Archive for July 3, 2014

Noam Chomsky says BDS boycott of Israel risks harming Palestinian cause

Noam Chomsky, the American academic & pro-Palestinian activist claims that the ‘South Africa-apartheid-Israel’ analogy is erroneous.

 

The campaign calling to boycott Israel in an effort to change its policies toward the Palestinians risks backfiring because of limited support, leading American academic and political activist Noam Chomsky has said.

Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky – Photo: AP

In an article posted in The Nation on Wednesday, Chomsky targets the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. He says that while there is international support exists for two of the movement’s main goals – ending the occupation of territories captured in the 1967 war and granting equal rights to Arab citizens of Israel, there is no significant support for its third objective – allowing Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in Israel.

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Israel Retaliates: IAF Pounds 15 Hamas Targets in Gaza

IAF launches massive airstrikes against 15 terror sites in Gaza, in response to the Wednesday evening & Thursday morning rocket attacks.

By Elad Benari

 

Israel Air Force (IAF) aircraft targeted 15 terror sites in Gaza on Wednesday night.

Airstrike (illustrative)

Airstrike (illustrative) – Reuters

According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the airstrikes targeted concealed rocket launchers, training compounds and weapons storage sites, all of which belong to the Hamas terrorist group.

The statement said that the airstrikes were in retaliation for the latest escalation in rocket attacks on southern Israel.

“The IDF is prepared to defend the citizens of Israel from any threat and will continue to act decisively and as long as necessary until peace is restored,” said the IDF, noting that Hamas is directly responsible for the ongoing rocket fire. Continue Reading »

Portugal joined 6 European states advising against doing business beyond ’67 borders

Portugal joins after France, Spain & Italy’s similar warning last week, with Germany, Britain & the Netherlands doing so earlier.

Portugal joined six other European countries on Wednesday in warning its citizens against doing business beyond the Green Line, with another 10 European countries expected to issue similar recommendations by the end of the week.

View of Lisbon’s port, one of the largest and most important ports in Europe – Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The advisory, which appeared on Portugal’s Foreign Ministry website, employed similar language used by Spain and Italy last week in warning their nationals against doing business and investing in the West bank, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

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Study: Israelis Exploit the Internet More Than Europeans or Americans

Survey demonstrates Israelis pay less for it’s use, but, what do online media outlets have to do to get Israelis to spend more money?

By Amir Teig

 

 

Everyone knows that Israelis are quick to embrace new technology and are avid consumers of locally produced content. What’s surprising is that Israeli media organizations struggle to leverage these advantages in order to survive in the digital age. New and old media companies alike are fighting for survival worldwide, but because the Israeli market is a small one the stakes are higher.

Israel Supporter (Illustrative) - Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

Israeli on the internet (Illustrative) – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

The most interesting conclusion of a recent survey of Israelis and the Internet, commissioned by Google from the Boston Consulting Group, is that Israeli online consumers value the Internet more than their counterparts in Europe and twice as much as their counterparts in the United States.

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IAF strikes Gaza rocket-launchers as Hamas assaults Israel with more fire

 

7 mortars fired on Wednesday afternoon inspired tough IAF reaction; continued fire Thursday morning likely to cause another retaliatory IAF strike.

BY Ynetnews

 

The IAF responded quickly to seven mortars fired from Gaza Wednesday evening, striking rocket-launching terrorist cells in the southern Gaza Strip and continuing a general escalation in tensions since the bodies of three Israeli teenagers were discovered in the West Bank on Monday.

Two rockets were fired on Ashkelon after the IAF attack. One was shot down by the Iron Dome system and the other fell in an open area causing no damage. Another two rockets fell in open areas near Eshkol. Continue Reading »

Hamas Official : “Hamas will continue kidnapping soldiers & Israelis”

 

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhairi: “Hamas will continue kidnapping soldiers & Israelis until the last Palestinian in Israeli prison is freed.”

By Daniel Siryoti, Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

 

Hamas is continuing to threaten Israel even as concern grows in Palestinian circles over Israeli retaliation for the kidnapping and murder of three teens. Hamas official Mushir al-Masri in Gaza warned Israel against an escalation in the Gaza Strip, adding that Hamas possesses rockets and missiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv and the densely populated Gush Dan area.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh – Photo: AP

“Hamas will continue kidnapping soldiers and Israelis until the last Palestinian in Israeli prison is freed,” Masri said.

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Albania is proof Israel and a Muslim country can have close ties

Knesset Speaker Edelstein, “Albania is a Muslim country that shows things can be different.”

 

Albania is proof that Israel can have good relations with Muslim countries, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said in a meeting with his Albanian counterpart Ilir Meta Wednesday.

albania

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein meets with his Albanian counterpart Ilir Meta. – Photo: KNESSET SPOKESMAN’S OFFICE

“Albania is a Muslim country that shows things can be different,” Edelstein told Meta, who is visiting Israel for the first time. “Israel-Albania relations are continuing to grow closer and I that your visit hear will contribute to that.”

Edelstein also pointed out that Albania saved all of its approximately 800 Jewish residents during the Holocaust and had a larger Jewish population after World War II than it did before. Continue Reading »

Israel the trade gateway from Europe, via Israel, Jordan then the Arab world, truck by truck

 

Due to Iraqi, Lebanese & Syrian unrest, European exporters rely on Israel for route to Arab customers across the Sheikh Hussein Bridge to Jordan and then to the Arab world.

By Reuters

 

The hydraulic ramp of a Turkish freighter taps down on the eastern Mediterranean port of Haifa and, under a full moon, 37 trucks roll off onto an otherwise empty pier.

Goods unloading in Port of Haifa (Photo: Reuters)

Goods unloading in Port of Haifa – Photo: Reuters

In a convoy that stretches hundreds of meters, the trucks travel east across northern Israel, bringing goods from Europe to customers in Jordan and beyond.

Until three years ago the cargo these trucks carry – fruits, cheese, raw material for the textile industry, spare parts, and second-hand trucks – would have come through Syria. Continue Reading »

WATCH: Israel’s demolition team raze terrorist’s house

Israel destroys house of Hamas convicted murderer Ziad Awad, who after being released is charged with the killing of Baruch Mizrahi who was on his way to Passover seder with his family.

By , , and

 

Israeli security forces were engaged in clashes Wednesday with about 250 Palestinians gathered in the West Bank village of Idna to protest Israel’s demolition early in the day of the home of the Hamas operative suspected of killing a senior police officer on his way to the seder on Passover eve.

IDF demolition

IDF’s demolition of terrorist’s home – Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s office

The army said Isareli forces were attempting to disperse the protest with rubber bullets and tear gas and that Palestinian protesters were throwing firebombs and stones.

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Knesset Member Hotovely: It’s Time Israel Imposes Death Penalty for Terrorists

Deputy Transportation Minister Hotovely announces it’s time to “change the rules” following the Hamas inspired kidnapping-murder of the 3 Israeli youths.

By Benny Toker and Elad Benari

 

Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud Beytenu) on Tuesday said it was time to “change the rules of the game” following the murder of the three Israeli teenagers by Hamas terrorists.

Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Hotovely said that increased construction in Judea and Samaria and targeted killings of terrorists were no longer sufficient as responses, adding that it was time to impose a death penalty on terrorists.

“This is the first incident to come out of Judea and Samaria after the Hamas and Fatah unity. Continue Reading »

ISIS Parades Captured Iraqi Scud Missiles in Syria, ‘Heading Towards Israel’

ISIS parades its captured Iraqi Scud missile and tanks in Al-Raqqah, Syria, as ISIS member threatens that their missiles will be ‘heading towards Israel.’

By Dalit Halevy, Ari Yashar

 

Video footage reveals that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has transferred some of the advanced weaponry it has captured in its blitz conquest of Iraq to Syria – weaponry which includes long range Scud missiles.

ISIS scud missile in Syria

ISIS scud missile in Syria – Screenshot

ISIS, which on Sunday declared itself an Islamic “caliphate” and proclaimed its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as “Caliph,” has been busy looting Iraq after capturing large areas of the country from the American-armed and trained Iraqi army. Continue Reading »

Hamas empties its Gaza HQ & bases in anticipation of Israeli reprisals over murder of 3 teens

 

Israel Air Force hits dozens of targets in Gaza.

PA president calls U.S. & European leaders to pressure Israel to show restraint.

By Daniel Siryoti & Lilach Shoval

 

Israel bombed dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, striking at Hamas after finding the bodies of three missing teenagers — Gil-ad Shaer, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frenkel — whose abduction and killing it blames on the Palestinian Islamist group.

A ball of fire is seen following an Israel airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza, overnight Monday – Photo: AFP

Israel’s security cabinet, which held an emergency session late on Monday and was due to meet again on Tuesday, was currently split on the scope of any further action in the coastal enclave and Judea and Samaria, officials said.

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60,000 Israelis download free SOS app since kidnapping of 3 Jewish teens

Free lifesaving Israeli phone app will set in motion emergency distress alert with a simple swipe of your finger.

 

Following the tragic murders of the kidnapped youths, 60,000 Israelis have already downloaded the one-swipe emergency alert application that was recently offered free to the public by the volunteer rescue organization, United Hatzalah (UH).

sos

United Hatzalah’s SOS app. – Photo: Courtesy

Parents are urged to download the lifesaving app called SOS, which could prevent future abductions, said UH founder and president Eli Beer. With one simple swipe of the finger, SOS subscribers can inform the non-profit organization, which has an active switchboard around the clock, that they are in distress and give the security forces permission to track their exact location using patented GPS technology. Continue Reading »

Israel Police release recording from Gil-Ad Shaer’s emergency call: “We’ve been kidnapped”

 

Some Police officers were dismissed & may possibly be fired after release of emergency police call from kidnapped Gil-Ad Shaer, shortly after his abduction.

By Omri Efraim

 

 

Israel Police on Tuesday released a recording of the emergency call made by Gil-Ad Shaer shortly after his abduction in the West Bank on June 12, whose bodies were found Monday near Hebron.

These are the most dramatic moments in the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens – Naftali Frenkel, Gil-Ad Shaer, Eyal Yifrach.

At 10:25pm on Thursday, June 12, Gil-Ad Shaer make a chilling call to the police’s 100 call center, saying “I’ve been kidnapped.” Continue Reading »

Holocaust memorial in Athens desecrated with anti-Semitic graffiti

The graffiti included threats that a synagogue in Athens would be destroyed.

By

 

Anti-Semitic graffiti has been scrawled on the Holocaust memorial in Athens, including threats against the Jewish community.

Holocaust memorial in Athens, Greece.

Holocaust memorial in Athens, Greece. – Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Police have opened an investigation into Friday’s vandalism, according to Victor Eliezer, the secretary general of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece.

The graffiti included a purported quote from the Talmud saying that Jews who convert should be put to death, and threats that the synagogue in Athens would be destroyed.

“Regretfully, 70 years after the end of World War II, which left millions of victims of bigotry, racism, Nazism and anti-Semitism behind, there are people beyond redemption aiming at terrorizing us by molesting the memory of our brothers, victims of the Holocaust,” said a statement from the Jewish community, issued Monday.

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