Anti-Semitic Remarks on Facebook Prompt Police Arrests

Police in Glasgow, Scotland arrested six people over anti-Semitic remarks on Facebook that mocked the Jewish community of Giffnock.

Police in Glasgow, Scotland arrested six people over anti-Semitic remarks on Facebook that mocked the Jewish community of Giffnock, the BBC reported Wednesday.

Facebook logos

Facebook logos - Reuters

The page, titled “Welcome to Israel, only kidding you’re in Giffnock,” included a number of offensive posts against the Jewish community and received nearly 1,000 “likes” until it was shut down.

Fans of the page posted comments ranging from “Jewish scum” to “F*** the Jewish Zionist” while another person wrote: “Hebrew is not needed in the train station [because] all the Jews are f***ing rich c**** they have gold plated Bentleys,” the Jewish Chronicle reported. Continue Reading »

Iran to Hezbollah: Don’t strike Israel

Iranian media: Commander of al-Quds Force spoke with Nasrallah, said war against Israel would ‘hurt Iran and Hezbollah’; Revolutionary Guards later deny reports

Dudi Cohen

Iran scared of war against Israel? A senior Iranian official ordered Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah to refrain from striking Israel, several media outlets in Iran reported Wednesday.

Iran warns Hezbollah? Photo: EPA

Iran warns Hezbollah? - Photo: EPA

Websites affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards quoted the commander of Iran’s al-Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, as warning Nasrallah not to strike Israel during a phone conversation.

According to reports, Soleimani told Nasrallah that a war against Israel would “hurt Iran and Hezbollah.” Continue Reading »

Shapiro: US Military Ready for Iran Strike – If Needed

US Ambassador tells Israelis that America’s military is not only ready to strike Iran, but has made all the necessary preparations to do so.

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said this week his nation’s military is ready to execute “the military option” on Iran’s nuclear program if need be.

Makor Rishon reported that Shapiro, speaking at a meeting of the Israel Bar Association for Tel Aviv and the Central Region, said that not is an American military option available, but that made all necessary preparations to carry it out were complete.

“We do not know if sanctions and diplomacy will work,” Shapiro said of Western efforts to force Tehran to halt its controversial uranium enrichment program. Continue Reading »

Burn calories to avoid burnout at work

Working out not only keeps people physically fit but also keeps them happier on the job, according to Israeli university researchers.

If you don’t get enough physical activity, you’re more likely to experience on-the-job burnout and depression, according to research by occupational health expert Sharon Toker of Tel Aviv University and human resources management expert Michal Biron from the University of Haifa.

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The two women discovered that employees who took the time to engage in physical activity were healthier emotionally.  Continue Reading »

The Israeli pharmacologist who kick-started marijuana research

‘Working in a small country certainly has its positive aspects,’ Raphael Mechoulam says. ‘It couldn’t have happened in the United States.’

If some 7,000 Israelis can fill a prescription for marijuana to ease pain and enhance appetite, it’s only because half a century ago, Hebrew University Prof. Raphael Mechoulam isolated and synthesized THC, the main psychoactive compound in the cannabis plant.

Speaking at his office in the Department for Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products at the Hadassah-Hebrew University medical school, theoctogenarian pharmacologist explains that scientists as far back as the 1800s realized the beneficial effects of pot but legal problems stifled serious study. Continue Reading »

Abbas Accuses Israel of ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ in Jerusalem

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas uses a ‘Nakba Day’ speech to accuse Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas used a ‘Nakba Day’ speech on Tuesday to accuse Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem.

Nakba Day, or the day of catastrophe, is what the Arabs call the English date of May 15, when the State of Israel was re-established with a declaration of independence in 1948.

Mahmoud Abbas

Mahmoud Abbas - Reuters

“For decades, Israel has been building settlements in Jerusalem and around it,” Abbas said in a televised speech, according to a report on Israel’s Channel 2 News. Continue Reading »

Wikileak perhaps led to Iran’s ‘Mossad’ hanging

‘Times of London’ finds similarities between accused spy and Wikileaks description of Iranian intelligence source.

 

Iran may have used a secret cable published by Wikileaks to target and hang an alleged Israeli spy, The Times of London reported Wednesday.

While the report is inconclusive and the evidence anecdotal, it notes striking similarities between a Wikileak cable’s description of its Iranian source and twenty-four year old Majid Jamali Fashi, hanged in Tehran on Tuesday in connection with the murder of an Iranian nuclear scientist in 2010.

Majid Jamali Fashi, accused of killing scientist -Photo: REUTERS

Majid Jamali Fashi, accused of killing scientist -Photo: REUTERS

Though Wikileaks redacted the source’s name before releasing the cable penned by an intelligence operative in Baku, Azerbeijan, it published the description of the source as “a licensed martial arts coach and trainer.”

Continue Reading »

Israeli group wins terror suit against Syria, Iran

Washington court finds Iran, Syria guilty of supporting Islamic Jihad in attack which claimed 11 lives; awards Israeli advocacy group $323 million in damages

 

An Israeli advocacy group won a $323 million judgment in a US court against Iran and Syria for supporting Palestinian militants that killed an American teenager and ten others in a 2006 bombing, the group’s director said Tuesday.

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of the Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center that represents victims of Palestinian violence said Tuesday that the group had won courtroom victories against Iran but never before against Syria.

The center was representing the family of 16-year-old Daniel Wultz of Florida, who was among 11 killed when an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber set off his explosives at a Tel Aviv restaurant six years ago. Continue Reading »

Irish writer Gerard Donovan accuses pro-Palestinian group of ‘bullying’ him to boycott Israel

Israeli diplomats say Ireland one of the top three countries in Europe in terms of anti-Israel hostility; Irish Justice Minister accuses activists of ‘cyberbullying.’

Irish writer Gerard Donovan has attacked the pro-Palestinian boycott movement for trying to “bully” him to abstain from visiting Israel and take part in the International Writers Festival in Jerusalem this week. Donovan, a prominent novelist and poet, accused the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) of “outright intimidation.”

Boycott - Reuters - May 31, 2010

A demonstrator displays a sign reading "Boycott Israel, racist state" outside the Belgian foreign affairs building during a protest in Brussels - Photo by Reuters

Over the last few weeks, Donovan has been the focus of a campaign by pro-Palestinian activists to observe a pledge to boycott Israel, signed in 2010 by 219 Irish artists, and not to legitimize Israel’s occupation of the West Bank by participating in the writers’ festival. Continue Reading »

BGU, US Hospital Link on Pediatric Medical Technologies

Ben Gurion University is collaborating with the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to create new medical devices for children.

Ben Gurion University of the Negev is collaborating with the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to create medical devices for children.

The new project combines the medical expertise of doctors at the medical center with the technical and engineering expertise of faculty at BGU in Be’er Sheva.

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - Israel news photo: courtesy of BGU

The initiative is aimed at improving health outcomes for children by tailoring device designs to meet the unique physiological differences and medical needs of children, according to Netta Cohen, head of BGN, the technology commercialization company of BGU. Continue Reading »

EU issues second document blasting Israel

Document critiques Israel for anti-democratic bills, anti-Arab discrimination, not prosecuting settler violence.

 

For the second day in a row, the European Union issued a document that had some harsh words for Israel, saying a spate of “potentially discriminatory or even anti-democratic bills” were tabled in the Knesset, and blasting Jerusalem for not prosecuting those responsible for settler violence.

The criticism came in an annual document summarizing the political and economic situation in Israel as part of the EU’s review of its partnership with other countries, known as the European Neighborhood Policy.

European Union flags in Brussels

European Union flags in Brussels - Photo: Thinkstock/Imagebank

Regarding the Knesset bills the EU deems problematic, the report stated that while the democratic process ensured that many of the bills would not become law, “their number, and the scant effort made by their proponents to hide the fact that they were intended to benefit or target specific individuals or organizations, is worrying.
Continue Reading »

‘Israeli prison 5-star hotel compared to Syria jail’

Turkish journalist recently released from Syrian prison and formerly held in Israel over participation in flotilla compares jailing experiences

 

A Turkish journalist compared his experiences in Israeli and Syrian jails having recently been released from a Syrian prison after a two-month detention period.

Adam Özköse returned to Turkey on Monday and gave his account about his incarceration experiences in Syria and Israel, where he was briefly held in June 2010 together with other activists who arrived in Israel on board the Marmara ship.

Israeli prison (archive) Photo: Ido Erez

Israeli prison (archive) - Photo: Ido Erez

“Compared to Syria, Israeli prisons are 5-star hotels,” he said. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Military Intelligence chief visited U.S. for secret talks on Iran, Syria

Maj. Gen. Kochavi, warns against Hezbollah’s increasing strength in south Lebanon, says he sees possibility for convincing Russian President Vladimir Putin to cooperate with the west against Assad.

 

Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi made a secret visit two weeks ago to Washington and to UN headquarters in New York, where he discussed the Iranian nuclear program, the Syria crisis and Hezbollah’s increasing power in Lebanon, a senior Israeli official has said.

Kochavi met in Washington with senior White House and State Department officials, as well as senior officials in the Defense Department Intelligence agency and the CIA.

Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi

Military Intelligence chief Maj.

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Israel Launches ‘Bible-Birthright’ Program

The Bible Lands Museum is launching on Wednesday a new tour created for Birthright that shows the Bible as Israel’s true birthright.

The Bible Lands Museum is launching on Wednesday a new Jewish Heritage Tour created for Birthright-Taglit that shows the Bible as Israel’s true birthright.

The Museum is gearing up for 1,200 Birthright visitors from North America, and the tour is part of the Museum’s Birthright Israel Education Fair.

Birthright group arrives in Israel

Birthright group arrives in Israel - Israel news photo: Birthright PR

“Understanding the legacy of the Jewish people in modern Israel is inseparable from understanding the importance of our biblical history – our birthright,” says Amanda Weiss, director of the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem. Continue Reading »

PA issues international arrest warrant for Arafat confidante

Muhammad Rashid is accused of embezzling millions from the Palestinian people

The Palestinian Authority’s Anti-Corruption Commission has issued an international arrest warrant for Muhammad Rashid, known publicly as Khaled Salam, a close adviser and confidante of deceased Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Rashid, who left the Palestinian territories in 2004 following Arafat’s death, is accused of embezzling millions of dollars from the coffers of the Palestinian Authority.
Rashid, an Iraqi Kurd, has refused the request of the Palestinian prosecutor general to appear before a local court for questioning surrounding accusations of corruption and embezzlement during his tenure as head of the Palestinian Investment Fund (PIF), Rafiq Natsheh, head of the anti-corruption commission said in a press statement Tuesday.
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