IDF Imposes Closure on PA-Controlled Areas

As it goes on high alert for Passover, the IDF imposes a closure on the PA-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria.

The IDF Spokesman announced on Thursday that, following a decision by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a general closure will be imposed on the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria.

IDF combs fields near Nir Am

IDF combs fields near Nir Am - Reuters

The closure began at 11:59 p.m. (Israel time) on Thursday and will end after the Passover holiday, on Saturday evening at 11:59 p.m., depending on the security situation at the time.

According to the IDF announcement, during the closure movement into Israeli territory will be allowed only for humanitarian reasons, medical reasons and other exceptions, all subject to the approval of the Civil Administration. Continue Reading »

It’s official: Israel will pursue justice for the modern-day Exodus

“We believe that settling the refugee problems on both sides —the  Arab and the Jewish side — is the only way to really bring about a durable, comprehensive and lasting peace. Peace that will be built on truth and justice for all.” – Danny Ayalon

Justice for Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim countries has at long last become official Israeli government policy. It has taken more than sixty years, but here at Harif, the UK Association of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa, we are celebrating this momentous event.

No amount of grassroots campaigning could work without the official support of the Israeli government.

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New Film Exposes Northeastern’s Radical Holocaust Program

The “see no evil” response from Northeastern’s provost is part of the problem.

Americans for Peace and Tolerance has released a documentary on Northeastern’s Holocaust Awareness Week, and Charles Jacobs has published a column in the Jewish Advocate summarizing his criticisms of it. In response, Northeastern Provost Stephen Director has complained that Jacobs “cherry-picked his examples”:

The present-day facts are clear: Northeastern is a vibrant academic community where people of all backgrounds and faiths come together in pursuit of knowledge.

In dismissing a dozen examples of intellectual and moral abuse of the Holocaust program at Northeastern as “cherry-picked,” Director expresses either a lack of awareness or a dishonesty about the nature of the intellectual and moral stakes.

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Introducing the invisible keyboard

Jerusalem-based SnapKeys is bringing smart phone users a whole new way to type, for a free mobile experience.

Unlike the QWERTY keyboard, SnapKeys arranged letters by primary shape.

It’s always easy to see who chose typing class at high school when watching grownups in the boardroom. Those who didn’t learn how to type properly stumble over laptop keyboards with two fingers or thumbs.

Today’s smart phones have made most of us just as awkward whether we learned QWERTY or not. Our fingers feel like big fat sausages as we aim for the tiny letters. Could there be another way?

An Israeli company called SnapKeys has introduced an invisible keyboard that is based on letter shapes rather than frequency of letter use, frees up screen space and lets a smart phone user communicate better.

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Jordan’s crown prince holds secret visit to Temple Mount

King Abdullah’s eldest son escorted around Temple Mount by Israeli security forces, may also visit Cave of Patriarchs

Jordan‘s Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, 18, held a secret visit to Temple Mount in Jerusalem escorted by Israeli security forces. He arrived at the site via the Mughrabi Bridge.

ביקור ראשון של יורש העצר הירדני בהר הבית (ארכיון) (צילום: נועם מושקוביץ')

Temple Mount in Jerusalem - Photo Noam Moskowitz

A Palestinian official told Ynet that the prince will also be visiting the Cave of Patriarchs later on Wednesday. He said that the visit had been coordinated and initiated by Israel and that consequently Prince Hussein will be visiting the cave’s Israeli side. Continue Reading »

Much of East Jerusalem’s Pisgat Ze’ev built on land owned by Holocaust victims, study says

Company for Location and Restitution of Holocaust Victims’ Assets says lands in northern Jerusalem neighborhood, now worth tens of millions of shekels, purchased before World War II by European Jews

 

Much of the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev was built on land belonging to Jewish victims of the Holocaust. This discovery was made recently by the Company for Location and Restitution of Holocaust Victims’ Assets, established in 2007 by the Israeli government for the purpose of finding assets in Israel belonging to Holocaust victims and restoring them to their legal heirs.

Pisgat Ze'ev, Tess Scheflan

The neighborhood of Pisgat Ze'ev in East Jerusalem - Photo by Tess Scheflan

The lands, now worth tens of millions of shekels, were purchased before World War II by European Jews – mainly in Latvia and Estonia, but also in Romania and Belgium.

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Terrorists Fire Two Grad Rockets at Eilat

Terrorists fired two Grad rockets at the city of Eilat Wednesday night. No reports of physical injuries or damages.

 

Terrorists fired two Grad-type rockets at the city of Eilat on Wednesday night, according to a report on Kol Yisrael radio.

One of the rockets exploded in a construction zone located in a residential neighborhood in the city. Security forces were conducting searches in the area to locate the second rocket. There were no reports of physical injuries or damages.

It is unknown as of yet exactly from the rockets were fired, but officials said it is highly likely they were fired from the Sinai Peninsula. Continue Reading »

Egypt jails Christian student for insulting Islam

17-year-old gets three years for publishing cartoons on his Facebook page mocking Islam and the Prophet Mohammad.

Egypt lower parliament, Majlis As-Shaab - Photo by Reuters

Egypt lower parliament, Majlis As-Shaab - Photo by Reuters

CAIRO – An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced a 17-year-old Christian boy to three years in jail for publishing cartoons on his Facebook page that mocked Islam and the Prophet Mohammad, actions that sparked sectarian violence.

Gamal Abdou Massoud was also accused of distributing some of his cartoons to his school friends in a village in the southern city of Assiut, home to a large Christian population and the hometown of the late Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda.
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Palestinians, leftists try to take over Hebron house

Security forces evacuate 20 Palestinians, left-wing activists from house located one kilometer from Machpelah house. Palestinians: We have permit from Civil Administration

Some 20 Palestinians and left wing activists on Wednesday were evacuated from a house in Hebron after attempting to barricade inside the building.

The Palestinians claimed they obtained a permit from the Civil Administration to enter the house, which was ordered by the IDF to remain uninhabited due to its strategic location.

Photo: Eli Mandelbaum

Scene near Hebron house -Photo by Eli Mandelbaum

The house is located about a kilometer from the Machpelah house, which was evicted Wednesday afternoon by Yasam police officers after Jewish settlers claimed to have purchased it legally. Continue Reading »

התאבדות היא חטא(SUICIDE IS A SIN)

There is no law on Earth that commits nations to commit suicide. Rather, there are compendiums of law that have been passed down over the centuries, in dozens of languages, that detail in a myriad of complex situations from war to international piracy, the rights that sovereign nations inherently possess when they are required to defend their territory, citizens, and whatever national interests they deem vital to the survival of their civilization. Treaties, agreements between individual sovereign states, or groups of states, exist in the form of alliances, pacts and international organizations that define in absolute terms the justification for the use of military force against a perceived threat or territorial invasion. Continue Reading »

Israelis Divided Over Changing Anthem

Despite Controversy, Some See ‘Hatikva’ as Song of Hope

To Change or Not? Israelis are split over whether the country’s national anthem should be changed.
Richard Harrington 
To Change or Not? Israelis are split over whether the country’s national anthem should be changed.

Tel Aviv — When an Arab Supreme Court justice stood silent instead of singing the national anthem at a public ceremony in late February, it sparked a furor on Israel’s nationalist right. Some lawmakers said that the judge, Salim Joubran, should be dismissed, and Yisrael Beiteinu’s David Rotem went so far as to claim that he “spat in the face of the State of Israel.”

But perhaps more telling was the fact that many officials at the very highest levels of the state accepted, and even defended, Joubran’s silence. Continue Reading »

Israeli security forces evacuate settlers from Hebron house

IDF says that the evacuation of the settlers, who resided in the house for more than two weeks, was completed ‘without any unusual events.’

Israeli security forces on Wednesday evacuated Israeli settlers from a house in a Palestinian neighborhood in Hebron, an affair that sparked controversy across Israel and created a rift in the government.

Border Patrol - Hebron

Border Patrol Police outside of the house in Hebron - Photo by: Emil Salman

The IDF said that the evacuation of the settlers, who resided in the house for more than two weeks, was completed “without any unusual events.”

Earlier on Wednesday, defense officials said that Defense Minister Ehud Barak and a ministerial committee agreed that the house will be evacuated by April 26. Continue Reading »

NYPD Beefs Up Security Around Synagogues

NYPD announces it will be beefing up security at the city’s synagogues and other Jewish sites for the Passover holiday.

The New York Police Department said Tuesday it would be beefing up security at the city’s synagogues and other Jewish sites for the Passover holiday, in the wake of the recent attack on a religious school in Toulouse, France.

NY police car outside Center for Jewish History

NY police car outside Center for Jewish History - Reuters

According to The Associated Press, authorities have stressed that there have been no specific threats reported in the city for the holiday, which starts at sundown Friday.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly was quoted as having said there would be heightened security and the deployment of heavily armed roving counter-terrorism units. Continue Reading »

Meretz goes to High Court over TA Shabbat buses

Meretz Councilwoman Zandberg proposed motion in conjunction with Be Free Israel organization, with support of Tel Aviv mayor.

 

Members of left-wing party Meretz petitioned the High Court of Justice on Wednesday morning, asking the court to order the Transport Ministry to allow public transport on Shabbat in Tel Aviv.
Israeli buses - By Marc Israel Sellem
Israeli buses – By Marc Israel Sellem

In February, the Tel Aviv Municipal Council approved a resolution to ask the Transport Ministry for permission to operate public transport on Shabbat. Meretz Councilwoman Tamar Zandberg proposed the motion in conjunction with the secularist Be Free Israel organization, and Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldaialso supported it.
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PA, Hamas reach deal to end power crisis in Gaza

Israeli firm to supply Gaza with fuel; Palestinian Authority to act as middleman for Hamas’ bill payments

The Gaza Strip’s Hamas government and the rival Palestinian Authority (PA) agreed to an Egyptian-brokered deal on Tuesday to end a fuel crisis that has caused daily power cuts in the territory, officials said.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas Photo: EPA

PA President Mahmoud Abbas - Photo: EPA

Under the agreement, an Israeli company will supply industrial diesel for the Gaza Strip’s only power plant and a temporary mechanism will be put in place whereby Hamas can pay the bill without dealing directly with its enemy, Israel.

“The Hamas authorities in Gaza will pay the money … to the PA and the PA will take care of the payment to the Israeli side,” said the official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the deal. Continue Reading »