Archive for February 23, 2014

| February 23, 2014
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Palestinian militants, masked & armed, march near Jerusalem

 

Marking the 45th anniversary of establishment of DFLP Palestinian militants march in Abu Dis, next to Jerusalem, supposedly under Israeli security control.

By Ynetnews

 

Dozens of masked Palestinians, some of them armed, marched over weekend in the West Bank town of Abu Dis, next to Jerusalem. The town in in Area B, which is under joint Palestinian and Israeli security control.

PFLPAccording to Israel Radio, the marchers were clad in army uniforms and carried a variety of weaponry, including Kalashnikov and M-16 rifles, guns and hand grenades. They were also reportedly firing into the air during the demonstration, which marked 45 years of the establishment of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| February 23, 2014
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Holy City of Jerusalem Becomes Break-Dancing Mecca

Israel’s style may yet meet the Bronx standards, but Israeli immigrants from the Ukraine, Ethiopia & Russia are putting together their own unique repertoire.

By

 

They have names like Elastic, G-Rock, Aladdin, Pac Man and Splinter. They sport hoodies, backwards baseball caps and Adidas footwear. They dance in circles, but they don’t do the hora; they’re Israeli b-boys and b-girls, and they have serious flavor.

Break dancing

Action from a Break dancing competition at the Israel Goldstein Youth Village in Jerusalem, February 2014. – Photo: Emil Salman

Israel’s top break dancers took part in the “Prove Yourself B-Boy Jam” on Thursday, competing in head-to-head battles before a transfixed crowd of students and friends at the Israel Goldstein Youth Village in Jerusalem. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| February 23, 2014
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Israel’s Deputy FM: PA President Should Learn Some History

Deputy Foreign Minister Elkin suggests a trip to Israel’s ancient Galilee Druze town might do PA leader’s understanding of history some good.

By Maayana Miskin

 

Deputy Foreign Minister Zev Elkin returned Sunday from a weekend in the Galilee, during which he visited the village of Pekiin, including the town’s ancient synagogue.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - Photo Mark Israel Sellem

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas – Photo Mark Israel Sellem

Elkin followed his visit with a post to Facebook suggesting that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas might benefit from a similar trip.

“Next time that Abu Mazen [Abbas – ed.] argues that the Palestinians are the original inhabitants of the land, going back thousands of years, it should be recommended that he visit Pekiin,” Elkin wrote. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| February 23, 2014
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U.S. Congressional Committee Debates Stopping Aid to PA Until Incitement Stops

According to Israel’s TV2 report, House Appropriations Committee weighing bill cutting off scheduled financial aid to the PA until antisemitic & anti-Israel incitement stops.

By Tova Dvorin

 

Channel 2 reports Saturday night that the US Congress House Appropriations Committee is debating cutting off aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) unless its ongoing incitement against Israel stops or is significantly curtailed.

Under the new law, aid to the PA will be frozen until a reliable report is released proving that it has begun cutting down its incitement against the Jewish state.

US lawmakers believe that the bill is expected to pass by a large majority vote in Congress, according to the daily. Continue Reading »

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| February 23, 2014
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Syrian army begins taking control of its side of Golan Heights

 

Israelis in Golan Heights on Friday could hear the Syrian army as they launched offensive in southern Syria near it border with Israel.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
 

 

Opposition activists reported air raids in the southern province of Deraa, Syria, that killed at least two people, the Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star reported on Saturday.

Israeli Syrian border in the Golan Heights

Israeli Syrian border in the Golan Heights – Photo: REUTERS/Baz Ratner

The Syrian army had launched an aerial offensive in southern Syria near the border with Israel’s Golan Heights on Friday.

Concurrently, unidentified opposition activists said rebel fighters are preparing for a new campaign that will begin in Deraa and push toward Damascus. Continue Reading »

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| February 23, 2014
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IDF among top ‘gay friendly’ armies

 

New Hague Center report indexing gay treatment in the different military ranks, finds IDF in top-10, in terms of admission, inclusion & lack of persecution of sexual minorities.

By Ynetnews

 

Tel Aviv is known world-wide as extremely gay-friendly, but a new report now claims the same about the IDF.

IDF Gay Pride Month Facebook post

IDF Gay Pride Month Facebook post

The Hague Center for Strategic Studies has recently launched the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Military Index and in its first report has ranked the IDF in the 9th place world wide in terms of acceptance of sexual minorities, beating out the US and neighbors Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| February 23, 2014
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Israel considering gas-pipeline from Mediterranean Leviathan field to Turkey

 

Estimated $2 billion construction cost for pipeline is far cheaper option than building a $10 billion onshore facility for liquefied natural gas in Cyprus.

By Avi Bar-Eli

 

 

The key stakeholders in Israel’s Leviathan offshore natural gas field are to discuss laying an undersea pipeline from the Mediterranean site to the southern Turkish coast, according to the Turkish daily Hurriyet.

Leviathan gas field - Albatross - 09012012

A drilling rig in the Leviathan gas field in the Mediterranean.- Photo: Albatross

The paper reported over the weekend that Delek and the American company Noble Energy, which hold 85 percent of the rights to Leviathan, are to discuss construction of the pipeline with the companies Calik, Turcas, Enka and Zorlu.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| February 23, 2014
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Former CIA Director James Woolsey: Only the IDF Can Stop Iran

This video is unlisted. Only those with the link can see it.

In an Arutz Sheva interview James Woolsey, Former CIA Director says Only the IDF Can Stop Iran

 

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| February 22, 2014
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Palestinians arrests former Hamas spokesman, confiscate property over alleged corruption


Hamas says former spokesman Ayman Taha, known in Gaza for his extravagant lifestyle, was not suspected of working with foreign powers such as Israel or Egypt.

By

 

 

Hamas, the Islamist movement ruling the Gaza Strip, announced that Ayman Taha, a senior member of the organization and former spokesman, was arrested several days ago and interrogated by the authorities for alleged corruption charges.

Hundreds of Palestinian Hamas policemen march

Hundreds of Palestinian Hamas policemen march during their graduation ceremony at the Arafat Police Academy in Gaza City, Wednesday, January 29, 2014 – Photo: AP

A statement issued by the organization on Friday explicitly stated that Taha was not suspected of working with foreign powers such as Israel or Egypt.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| February 22, 2014
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NY Jewish Museum Cancels BDS Speaker

Decision to invite BDS activist Judith Butler, a noted academic & extremely anti-Israel activist, sparked heated debate and anger among Jewish community. 

By Tova Dvorin

 

Anti-Israel activist Judith Butler’s scheduled speaking event at the New York Jewish Museum has been cancelled, according to the Forward.

Anti-Israel demonstration in Istanbul – Photo: Reuters

Butler, a literary professor and sociolinguistics expert, is a high-profile supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. While the scheduled event was due to be about Franz Kafka – not the Jewish state – the museum faced a strong backlash over the choice of speaker, initiated by public relations executive Ronn Torossian’s op-ed on Arutz Sheva and continued by mainstream Jewish groups. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , , ,
| February 22, 2014
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Egyptian naval vessel fires warning shots at Gaza fishermen

Gaza news service reports that an Egyptian navy vessel fired warning shots at Palestinian fishermen heading towards Egyptian territorial waters.

By Ma’an News Agency

 

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — An Egyptian naval ship opened fire at a Palestinian fishing boat off the coast of the southern Gaza Strip early Saturday, a Palestinian union official said.

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Gaza fishermen – Photo: MaanImages/File

Nizar Ayyash, spokesman for the union of Gaza fishermen, told Ma’an that the Egyptian navy fired warning shots at a fishing boat off the coast of Rafah.

The fishing boat was nearing Egyptian territorial waters, Ayyash said.

The Egyptian ship was stationed just within Palestinian territorial waters at the time, he added. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| February 22, 2014
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Australian Book: Israeli Secret Agent ‘Prisoner X’ passed intel to an Iranian

In a new book by an old friend from a Zionist youth group in Australia, arrested & jailed Mossad agent Ben Zygier told an Iranian contact too much.

By YOSSI MELMAN
 

 

The former Mossad agent, Australian born Ben Zygier, who committed suicide in an Israeli prison cell more than three years ago passed classified information about Israeli espionage activities to an Iranian businessman. The information Zygier shared included details on operations that he was involved in.

Ben Zygier

These claims were made in the book Prisoner X by journalist Rafael Epstein that was recently published in Australia.

Epstein was Zygier’s counselor at the Australian Zionist youth groups Netzer and Hashomer Hatzair and together they participated in a workshop for diaspora youth leaders in Jerusalem. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, The Diaspora | Tags: , , ,
| February 21, 2014
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10 Palestinians hurt by IDF while trying to sabotage border fence

 

Palestinian mob throwing stones at IDF soldiers from the Gaza side of the border were attempting to damage & destroy border fence.

By AFP

 

Ten Palestinians were injured Friday by IDF fire during clashes near the border fence in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian medical official said.

Palestinian boy injured during clashes with IDF on border of the Gaza Strip, February 21, 2014 - Photo AFP, Mahmud Hams

Palestinian boy injured during clashes with IDF on border of the Gaza Strip, February 21, 2014 – Photo AFP, Mahmud Hams

Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesman for the Hamas-run health ministry, said one man was in serious condition after being shot in the head.

Qudra said the shooting, not far from Jabaliya northeast of Gaza City, came after the Palestinians threw stones at Israeli soldiers. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| February 21, 2014
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Germany to assist Israelis in countries without Israel embassy

Arrangement offered by Merkel is ‘a special message’ from Berlin, says Yakov Hadas-Handelsman, Israel’s ambassador to Germany.

By Reuters

 

Germany is to offer Israeli citizens consular assistance in states such as Indonesia or Malaysia where Israel has no official diplomatic representation, under a new deal to be signed by Angela Merkel when she visits Jerusalem next week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, near Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, January 22, 2014.- Photo: AP

Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Yakov Hadas-Handelsman, said the offer was “a special message” from Germany and underscored the importance of relations between the two countries.

Chancellor Merkel travels to Jerusalem on Monday with her cabinet for consultations between the two governments.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News, The Diaspora | Tags:
| February 21, 2014
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Hamas Legislator Calls Abbas a ‘Coward’ Over Kerry’s Framework Deal

Hamas member of “parliament” in Gaza claim PA’s role in peace talks infringes on ‘fundamental Palestinian principles,’ including Arabs’ Right of Return.

By Dalit Halevy, Tova Dvorin

 

Salah Bardawil, a member of Hamas’s “parliament” in Gaza, attacked Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Friday, calling him a “coward” for considering accepting the US framework agreement.

Kerry and Abbas meet in Paris – Reuters

“If the US framework agreement is accepted, the Palestinian problem will lose all meaning,” Bardawil fired. “The situation is very dangerous because of the denial of the right of return to their homes of six million Palestinian refugees.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
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