Archive for February 16, 2014

| February 16, 2014
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Assad regime blames Israel & US for continued Syrian stalemate

2nd round of peace talks in Geneva reach impasse, accusing Israel of undermining

 the negotiations

. Syria’s envoy to the UN says the U.S. helps rebels ‘escalate militarily.’

By AFP

 

Syria’s regime on Saturday accused Israel and the United States for undermining UN-brokered peace talks and blamed the opposition’s refusal to settle the issue of “terrorism” for the deadlock.

Syria’s Ambassador to the UN Bashar Ja’afari – Photo: PressTV

“Everybody is trying his best to undermine the whole process, either Israel or unfortunately the Americans, or even the sponsors of the so-called coalition and the opposition,” Syria’s top negotiator Bashar Jaafari told reporters after a second round of talks wrapped up fruitlessly. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| February 16, 2014
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Canadian businessman claims Ottawa granted Israeli Mossad agent new identity

Arian Azarbar claims a  Israeli agent was granted a new identity & passport after allegedly participating in the 2010 Dubai mission of assassinating senior Hamas terrorist, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in his hotel room.

By

 

An Israeli Mossad agent living in Canada was secretly provided a new identity and passport by the government, a Canadian-Iranian businessman alleged in an interview, the Canoe website reported Saturday.

Mossad operatives who allegedly assassinated Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in 2010.

Mossad operatives who allegedly assassinated Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in 2010, dressed in tennis garb. – Photo: Courtesy Israel Ch. 2

Arian Azarbar says the Israeli spy was granted the new identity after participating in the 2010 plot to kill Hamas terrorist leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel.

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Category: The Diaspora | Tags: , ,
| February 15, 2014
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Portugal follows Spain in granting citizenship to descendants of exiled Sephardic Jews

Just 3 years after initially being granted refuge in Portugal after fleeing the Spanish expulsion of 1492, the exiled Jews again faced expulsion.

By SAM SOKOL

 

 

Portugal intends to follow Spain’s lead in granting citizenship to to the descendants of Sephardic Jews exiled in the fifteenth century, the country’s tourism minister said this week.

A man holds a Torah scroll during the festive procession returning it to Trancoso.

A man holds a Torah scroll during the festive procession returning it to Trancoso. Photo: Courtesy Michael Freund

Minister Adolfo Mesquita Nunes told Channel One’s “View of the World” program, broadcast on Saturday night, that the the rding of a draft bill, similar to that announced by Spain just over a week ago, will soon be ready. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| February 15, 2014
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Hamas: Abbas’ PA has no authority to invite NATO forces to West Bank

 

Hamas leaders calls on Fatah chief Abbas to end peace talks with Israel: ‘No one has authorized him to speak for the Palestinian people.’

Elior Levy

 

Hamas has vowed to treat the deployment of any international force in Palestinian territory under the auspices of a peace accord with Israel as an occupying force, the organization’s spokesman said on Friday, Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported.

The Palestinian Authority president, Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas (right) and the prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas. - Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP

The Palestinian Authority president, Fatah’s Mahmoud Abbas (right) and the Gaza prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas. – Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP

Speaking at a rally in the Gaza Strip organized by Palestinian factions opposed to the talks with Israel, Sami Abu Zuhri said Hamas would work to “defeat this initiative.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| February 15, 2014
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No.1 :Israel sent more ‘I love you’ tweets than all other country

Data released for Valentine’s Day 2013, shows 481 million “I love you” tweets. 

By

 

Israel tweeted the words “I love you” more than any other country in 2013, Twitter said on Friday.

Twitter bird with heart

Twitter bird with heart. – Photo: Dreamstime

According to data released by the micro-blogging site on the occasion of Valentine’s Day, people used the site to say “I love you” in 481 million Tweets and 116 languages in 2013.

“Where in the world Tweets ‘I love you the most’? Israel #ValentinesDay,” said a tweet on Friday.

Sweden came in second, followed by Norway, Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| February 15, 2014
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Gas Stations in Palestinian Controlled Areas Refuse to Serve PA Gov’t Vehicles

Anger over unpaid gasoline bills boils over as petrol stations throughout West Bank refuse to serve official Palestinian Authority vehicles.

By Ari Soffer

 

Fuel stations in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) are refusing to serve PA officials due to a row over unpaid bills.

Gas pump (illustration) – Thinkstock

According to the Bethlehem based Maan news, the West Bank Union of Gas Station Owners said the PA has not paid its fuel bills for half a year, ratcheting up a debt of $15.7 million.

The Union’s deputy spokesperson,  Nizar al-Jaabari, said officials had been given an ultimatum of February 15th to pay their bills. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| February 15, 2014
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French courts punish anti-Israel BDS activists in hate crime

 

About 20 anti-Israel BDS activists have been convicted under the Lellouche law, which has France spearheading the efforts to neutralize the movement through legal means.

By

 

 

When Farida Trichine and 11 of her friends burst into a French supermarket in 2009 and began applying stickers with anti-Israel slogans to vegetables imported from the Jewish state, she expected to be escorted from the store by police.

Farida Trichine (third from right) and fellow BDS activists in Mulhouse, France, September 11, 2010.

Farida Trichine (third from right) and fellow BDS activists in Mulhouse, France, September 11, 2010. – Photo by Collectif Palestine 68, via JTA

What she didn’t expect was to be convicted of inciting racial hatred and slapped with a $650 fine.

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Category: The Diaspora | Tags: , , , , ,
| February 15, 2014
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Known criminal killed in drive-by shooting on Tel Aviv’s boardwalk

 

The shooting of a Jaffa man known to police, occurred while thousands of visitors were at Tel Aviv shopping complex.

By Eli Senior

 

A Jaffa man was killed in a drive-by shooting in broad daylight on Saturday by two masked assailants near Hatachana shopping complex on the Tel Aviv boardwalk.

Bullets cover ground at scene of shooting (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Bullets cover ground at scene of shooting – Photo: Motti Kimchi

The deceased, Taar Lala, 27, is known to the police and has a criminal record.

The shooting occurred while thousands of visitors were in the complex to attend Israel’s Chocolate Festival.

“We were at Hatachana shopping complex when we heard gunshots,” said a mother of two that was at the scene. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags:
| February 15, 2014
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BDS Facebook page hassling Rolling Stones on boycott is phony

The Facebook page calling on the Rolling Stones to boycott their scheduled performance in Israel has been revealed as a spoof.

 

WASHINGTON — A Facebook page claiming victory in getting the Rolling Stones to boycott Israel is an apparent hoax.

BDS Rolling Stones Facebook page The “Rolling Stones: Boycott Israel” page, established Wednesday, on Thursday reported that the group had cancelled a planned June 10 concert.

It cited “sources with the Rolling Stones,” but there has been no such announcement.

The page also posted a letter asking the group to boycott Israel and  signed by the page organizers as well as supposedly by Electronic Intifada and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| February 15, 2014
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Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood Islamists Protest Against Israel-Palestinian Peace

1200 Muslim Brotherhood supporters demonstrated in Jordan against Kerry’s peace initiative, burning Israeli flags.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

Hundreds of Islamists rallied in Jordan on Friday against a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), The Associated Press (AP) reported.

Jordanians protests against Kerry’s framework – Photo: Reuters

The largest protest in months came hours before Jordan’s King Abdullah was scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in California.

The 1,200 protesters affiliated with Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, who demonstrated against Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace framework, also burned the Israeli flag, reported AP.

The protesters also demanded that King Abdullah II “revoke the peace treaty with the Zionists,” the report said, referring to the 1994 peace treaty signed between the two countries. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| February 15, 2014
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Israeli tech company Viber sold to Japan’s Rakuten for $900 million

 

Israeli-founded Skype rival, video & chat platform Viber, is registered in Cyprus but was founded by Israelis & has development offices in Israel.

By JPOST.COM STAFF


 
Rakuten Inc. a large Japanese Internet services company, announced on Friday its acquisition of pioneering messaging and VoIP company, Viber. The pricetag: $900 million.

Viber logo

Following the sale, Rakuten’s Chairman and CEO, Hiroshi Mikitani said, “Viber understands how people actually want to engage and have built the only service that truly delivers on all fronts.”

Viber CEO Talmon Marco said  that Viber’s vision, “is to be the world’s number one communications platform and our combination with Rakuten is an important step in that direction.”

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Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags: , , ,
| February 15, 2014
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Planned Med-Red rail freight line may become ‘Israel’s Suez Canal’

Whether or not the plans to connect Red Sea resort city of Eilat with Ashdod on the Mediterranean by rail, competes with Egypt, it’s likely to boost ties with China.

By Blair Cunningham

 

It has been called Israel’s potential Suez Canal. A planned rail freight link could provide an alternative to the famed Egyptian waterway.

A convoy of container ships pass southbound along the Suez Canal towards Suez, Egypt.

A convoy of container ships pass southbound along the Suez Canal towards Suez, Egypt, on Saturday, April 6, 2013.- Photo: Bloomberg

The project would connect the 300-plus kilometers between Eilat on the Red Sea and Ashdod Port on the Mediterranean. And it could be the chance for China to gain a foothold in the region.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| February 14, 2014
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17 Gazans Wounded Friday in Latest Palestinian Provocation

Gaza Palestinians begin provocation by throwing rocks at IDF soldiers on other side of border fence in northern Strip.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

In the latest incident of Arab provocation, Palestinian Arabs on Friday attacked IDF soldiers with rocks near the border fence in northern Gaza.

Demonstrators protest near the border fence with Gaza – Reuters

The troops responded by firing tear gas and live bullets. Local medics told the AFP news agency that 17 Gazans were wounded in the clashes, which are common on Fridays, when Arabs hold regular protests near the border in support of Gaza farmers who say troops uprooted their trees to create a buffer zone. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , , ,
| February 14, 2014
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BDS Trailer: Anti-Israeli Apartheid Week Coming To Universities Near You

A new video promo-trailer has been released to aid the BDS in their Israel-bashing events for ‘Israel Apartheid Week 2014’.

By Dalit Halevi, Ari Yashar

 

Anti-Israel advocates are ramping up their rhetoric this week in a new promotional “trailer” for the events of “Israeli Apartheid Week 2014.” The annual week-long event, starting in the last week of February, will see opponents of Israel protesting in dozens of nations around the world.

Anti-Israel demonstrators – Reuters

The short video calls on viewers to take part in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to delegitimize Israel by pressuring the Jewish state over its alleged “racism” in not letting descendants of Arabs who left the country around the War of Independence in 1948 “return.” Continue Reading »

Category: The Diaspora | Tags: , ,
| February 14, 2014
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Israelis thank US colleagues for fighting academic boycott

 

 

Presidents of Israeli universities sent a letter of appreciation to their colleagues in the U.S. thanking them for taking up fight against academic boycott of Israeli institutions.

By Yori Yalon

 

The presidents of universities in Israel sent a letter Thursday to their colleagues in the United States thanking them for fighting against the academic boycott against Israel.

Harvard University – Photo: Reuters

The letter was sent to 150 leading universities and colleges, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia and Duke.

“We are honored that you stand beside us in this unacceptable situation,” Hebrew University of Jerusalem President Professor Menachem Ben-Sasson wrote.

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