Many American scholars regret ‘misguided’ ASA boycott of Israeli academia

ASA scholars stand behind the symbolic decision to boycott, but many of their colleagues worry that Israel-bashing has become too trendy in U.S. academia.

 

 

As the American Studies Association endorsed a boycott of Israeli universities and academic institutions Monday, colleagues at the Association for Jewish Studies gathered in Boston for their annual conference where several called the boycott “misguided” and even “offensive”.

Boycott Israel illustration.

Boycott Israel illustration. – Photo: Dreamstime

The ASA boycott, which is effectively more a symbolic than practical blow to Israel, was waged in protest of what the organization termed Israel’s human rights violations against Palestinians and its occupation of Palestinian lands. Continue Reading »

Arabs ‘Illegal Building’ is Coordinated Takeover of State Land

Illegal Arab construction on open state land is part of a deliberate strategic takeover with orders from Palestinian Authority, Civil Administration official warns.

By Maayana Miskin

 

There is an ongoing coordinated effort among Palestinian Arabs to take over Israeli-owned land in Judea and Samaria (Shomron), a senior Civil Authority official warned Tuesday.

“Over the past two to three years, there’s been a battle for Area C,” said Marco Ben-Shabbat. “It’s not like what we saw before, with a single Palestinian building a private home illegally. It is much more organized.”

Ben-Shabbat indicated that those establishing illegal communities in Area C are receiving orders from above, but declined to say who was behind the campaign. Continue Reading »

Israel Electric fires engineering heads who flocked to Eilat during snow storm

 

Most of Israel once again connected to the electricity grid.

IEC Chairman Ron-Tal stressed those who went to Eilat were not representative of the company where 12,900 workers for several days have not slept & battled for electricity

 

 

After some 200 Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) engineers spent the stormy weekend in the comfort of an Eilat conference, IEC Chairman Yiftach Ron-Tal announced his intention to fire the department’s bosses on Tuesday morning.

Electricity on the way to the Palestinians

Electric lines (illustrative) – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

“We informed the heads of the engineering committee of our intention to fire them from their positions in the company,” Ron-Tal said.

Continue Reading »

Tel Aviv Farmers Market presents the best Israeli produce

 

Video:  In following tradition already well established in many countries, once a week at the Tel Aviv Farmers Market, farmers from across Israel showcase & test their new brands and varieties of produce to the public.

By jn1.tv

VIDEO – The Tel Aviv Farmers Market lets farmers from across Israel showcase and test their new brands and varieties to the public once a week.

Tel Aviv Farmers' Market offers a dozen varieties of cherry tomatoes  -   jn1.tv screanshot

Tel Aviv Farmers’ Market offers a dozen varieties of cherry tomatoes – jn1.tv screenshot

The market was founded by Shir Halpern and Michal Ansky, best known from reality show “Master Chef,” to bring to Israel a tradition which is already well established in many countries of the world. Continue Reading »

‘Pro-Israel’ discussion in NYC ends in insults, storming off the stage & recriminations

Commentary editor John Podhoretz storms off the stage at a ‘Pro-Israel’ debate at New York’s 92nd Street Y, leaving the panelists puzzled & the audience stunned.

 

When the planners at 92nd Street Y in New York decided to host a “community discussion” on Monday on the question “What it means to be pro-Israel in America?” they couldn’t know that they would be getting a clear-cut answer before the night was over.

New York's 92nd Street Y.

New York’s 92nd Street Y. – Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Because based on the course of the debate, “being pro-Israel in America” means ideological chasms, professional rivalries, frayed nerves, inflamed tempers, one of the participants storming out in a huff and then exchanging barbs and insults on the internet with the moderator. Continue Reading »

New Legal Precedent: Family Court Rules Equality Trumps Child Support Payments

Family Court judge rules ‘courts’ verdicts must be fitted to the sweeping changes in family relations in our times.’

Feminists aghast but gender equality
campaigners, delighted.

By Gil Ronen

 

A ruling by a Family Court judge in Rishon Letzion is being hailed as a precedent by campaigners for gender equality in divorce, reports Maariv.

Divorce (illustration) – Thinkstock

Judge Yaakov Cohen ruled that a divorced father will not have to pay child support money to his ex-wife, because they took equal parts in raising the children when they were married, and have continued to do so since their divorce. Continue Reading »

Museum directors protest misleading term: ‘Polish death camps’

Directors of Polish museums of Nazi camps criticized the decision not open an investigation of the term ‘Polish death camps’ used by the German newspaper Rheinische Post.

WARSAW, Poland — Directors of museums located at the sites of former Nazi death camps are protesting a Polish prosecutor’s office decision not to initiate an investigation into the phrase “Polish death camps.”

Auschwitz Barracks - Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

Auschwitz Barracks – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

On Monday, a joint letter to the Polish Attorney General and Polish Minister of Justice signed by the heads of state museums at Auschwitz, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Kulmhof, Stutthof, Gross-Rosen and Majdanek , criticized the decision not open an investigation, saying that it undermines national efforts to eradicate the use of the term.

Continue Reading »

Illegal African Infiltrators protest: ‘We’re in danger, not dangerous’

 

Dozens of African asylum seekers who walked out of the southern detention facility marched to the country’s capital to hold a demonstration outside Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Office.

By Noam (Dabul) Dvir

 

Dozens of African asylum seekers who left the Holot open detention facility in southern Israel two days ago, arrived in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning for a protest outside the Prime Minister’s Office.

Sign reads: 'We're in danger, not dangerous' (Photo: Yariv Katz)

Sign reads: ‘We’re in danger, not dangerous’ – Photo: Yariv Kat

The protestors arrived on buses from Kibbutz Nachshon, where they spent the night. They held signs reading, “We’re in danger, not dangerous,” and were received with a round of applause from some 100 additional protestors who arrived to support them. Continue Reading »

Louis Farrakhan defends Kanye West against ADL objection to anti-Semitic generalization

Nation of Islam leader urges rapper Kanye West not to ‘bow to pressure’ by ADL suggestion to recant, says the performer was right and has no reasons to apologize.

 

 

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan defended Kanye West’s remarks on Jewish “connections” in a video released over the weekend and carried by the Hip-Hop DX website.

Louis Farrakhan

Minister Louis Farrakhan displays the book, “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews,” during a speech on March 25, 2011.-  Photo: AP

In the video, Farrakjan urges the rapper not to “bow to pressure” by the Anti-Defamation League, which deemed the comments anti-Semitic and called on West to “take responsibility… and apologize” for his words. Continue Reading »

IDF Military Academy Plans for Mount Scopus Delayed by PM Netanyahu

IDF military academy plans approved in 2012, but Netanyahu delays program – probably due to fears of an unpleasant US reaction.

By Tova Dvorin

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has delayed plans to move the IDF’s military training academy to Mount Scopus, probably due to international pressures, Maariv reported Tuesday. Sources say the IDF has begun looking for other sites for its military program as a result.

The District Planning and Building Committee of Jerusalem has prevented the program from advancing for over a year, despite its importance. The move is part of a greater initiative to strengthen Jerusalem’s position as the symbolic and practical capital of Israel. Continue Reading »

EU promises ‘unprecedented’ aid to Palestinians & Israel to cement peace deal

28 EU foreign ministers in Brussels offer “package of European economic, political, and security support to both parties in context of a final status agreement”.

 

 

 

The EU’s foreign ministers, who often fill their periodic conclusions on the “Middle East peace process” with vinegar toward Israel, decided this month to add some honey, promising unparalleled support for Israel and the Palestinians if a peace accord is signed.

The European Parliament building in Strasbourg - Photo: REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

The European Parliament building in Strasbourg – Photo: REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

“The EU will provide an unprecedented package of European political, economic and security support to both parties in the context of a final status agreement,” the conclusions read at the end of Monday’s monthly meeting of 28 EU foreign ministers in Brussels. Continue Reading »

Israel extends arm to save American Jewish community

 

 

Representatives of the 2 largest Jewish populations met in Jerusalem last month to discuss how to maintain the American Jewish community despite political & religious disagreements.

Associated Press

 

More than 100 Israeli leaders gathered with Jewish-American counterparts in Jerusalem last month with a daunting mission: to save Jewish life in North America.

Los Angeles Jews celebrate Thanksgivukkah (Photo: AP)

Los Angeles Jews celebrate Thanksgivukkah – Photo: AP

Jewish American leaders have known for years that assimilation and intermarriage were slowly shrinking their communities, but the early November gathering took on an extra sense of urgency. Just weeks earlier, a landmark study had found that young American Jews are growing increasingly estranged from Judaism. Continue Reading »

U.S. academic association endorses academic boycott of Israel


5,000 members strong, the American Studies Association, cites ‘Israel’s violation of int’l law & UN resolutions’ as reasons to boycott Israeli academic institutions.

By and

 

 

The American Studies Association has endorsed a boycott of Israeli academic institutions in a vote that took place over the past few days, the organization said on Monday.

Protester calling for a boycott of Israel - Photo: REUTERS

Protester calling for a boycott of Israel – Photo: REUTERS

Out of the 1,252 members who participated in the vote, 66 percent voted in support of the boycott. The voting was conducted electronically

The decision to boycott Israeli academic institutions was made unanimously by the ASA’s 20-member national council on December 5. Continue Reading »

Failed Coup in South Sudan imperiled Israeli aid group in capital

 

By JTA

 

Intense fighting amid a coup attempt in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, has forced the Israeli aid group IsraAid to suspend its operations in the country and go on lockdown.

James Lago, a street merchant in Juba, South Sudan, with the Israeli flag. -  Photo: Armin Rosen

James Lago, a street merchant in Juba, South Sudan, with the Israeli flag. – Photo: Armin Rosen

The heavy gunfire in Juba began late Sunday night.

Continue Reading »

Professor Alan Dershowitz: Ignore Int’l Law, it’s out of date, unjust

Israel legal advocate urges Israel to act as it sees fit on Iran. Int’l law is ‘a construct in the mind of a bunch of left wing academics.’

 

Video: Professor Alan Dershowitz explains irrelevancy of Int’l Laws

By Gil Ronen

 

 

Esteemed advocate Alan Dershowitz says that Israel should ignore international law when deciding how to deal with Iran.

Professor Alan Dershowitz: Obama is making a mistake with P5+1 agreement – Photo: Dudi Vaaknin

International law is “a construct in the mind of a bunch of left wing academics,” he said, in a lecture at the Institute of National Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv last week “There is no basis for international law in any reality. Continue Reading »