[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] 11/26 Links Pt2: Sir Tom Jones speaks out against BDS, Boston Mayor Declares ‘Thanksgivukkah’

From Ian:

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Stand With Us: Fmr Israel Amb to the US, Michael Oren addresses the StandWithUs-IDC Ambassadors Club


Khaled Abu Toameh: PLO "Resignations" and the Peace Process

The message that Erekat and the PLO officials are sending to the world is: "Hold us back from resigning or else there will be no peace process."
The "resignations" and threats to quit are also intended to send a message to the Palestinian public, which long ago lost confidence in the PLO negotiators' performance, that Erekat and his colleagues are playing tough with Israel.
PLO officials are apparently convinced that they can "fool all of the people all of the time." The next time the Americans and Europeans hear threats to resign from PLO officials, they need to react the same way as Palestinians do -- with a wide smile.
They also need to be reminded that Abbas and his predecessor, Arafat, also threatened to quit at least 20 times since the beginning of the peace process.

Almagor: Abbas in Knesset 'Dances on Blood of Terror Victims'

The parents also emphasize their dedication to protesting the move, insisting that if Mahmoud Abbas comes to the Knesset, "we will be there in the name of morality and justice."
"We will block him ourselves, with our bodies," the statement affirmed. "On the day he gets to Jerusalem, heaven forbid, we will be there to [physically] block the Knesset, just as we did with many other [demonstrators] when Arafat wanted to go to Jerusalem."
"If Mahmoud Abbas is received by the Knesset, it will be like dancing on the blood of the terror victims who were murdered by his people," the letter concludes.

PMW:Fatah publicizes threats to kidnap, kill and bomb Israelis

"We are preparing to kidnap Zionist soldiers," is part of a promise made by the terror organization Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades - the military wing of Fatah, and published in a video on Fatah's official "Main Page" on Facebook.
In the video, a masked terrorist sitting among dozens of rockets states that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is preparing to kidnap Israeli soldiers in order to "empty out the Zionist prisons." This is a warning that Fatah terrorists plan to follow the precedent set by Hamas, who kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and held him hostage for five years until Israel released over 1,000 terrorists including many murderers, to enable Shalit's release:
"We are preparing to kidnap Zionist soldiers to settle accounts with the Zionist enemy properly, in order to empty out the Zionist prisons." (h/t Ilya Fainshtein)

PA TV: US created the "War of Terror myth" to increase its interference in other nations' affairs VIDEO

Harvard Publication Prints Anti-Semitic Article

The Harvard Ichthus, a Christian journal, published an essay by a Jewish convert to Christianity called "Why Us?" which argues that the Jews have deserved their suffering of the past 2,000 years because of their role in the death of Jesus Christ.
"We, the Jews, collectively rejected God and hung Him up on the cross to die, and thus we deserved the punishments that were heaped on our heads over the last 2000 years," the anonymous contributor wrote.

US College Sponsored Speakers: Israelis Kidnap, Torture Arab Children

There was an event at Haverford College on Sunday, Nov. 24, called "The Soldier and the Refusenik." The two speakers who presented are traveling throughout the U.S. on a fundraising tour for their organization, Anarchists Against the Wall. That organization attacks not only the "Occupation," but Israel's very existence.
During Sunday's program, students were told by Israel-critical Israelis such "facts" as:
- Israel uses the "West Bank" and Gaza as its own private lab where it experiments on Palestinian Arabs and then sells the weapons it perfects to the "worst dictators in the world, including the United States"

Sir Tom Jones speaks out against anti-Israel protesters

Now that the singer has performed his concerts, he has decided to speak out against the campaign which has seen musicians including Roger Waters, of Pink Floyd, Annie Lennox and Elvis Costello refuse to visit.
"I was in Israel two weeks ago, where a lot of singers won't go," says the entertainer, whose hits include It's Not Unusual, Delilah and The Green, Green Grass of Home. "I don't agree with that. I think entertainers should enter­tain. They should go wherever – there shouldn't be any restrictions. I did two shows in Tel Aviv, and it was fantastic."
Speaking at the annual dinner of Norwood, a charity supporting vulnerable children, families and people with learning disabilities, Sir Tom tells The Jewish News: "I wanted to go, because the Israeli people asked me. They would like me to sing, and I don't see any problem in doing that. I don't see why anyone would mix up the two things – entertainment and politics."

Deep Purple returning to Israel

Two years after its last successful visit, veteran British rock band Deep Purple is returning to Israel this winter for one concert at Tel Aviv's Nokia Arena on February 22.
The band will arrive in Israel as part of its "The Best of Deep Purple" concert tour, which will include performances of its greatest hits as well as songs from its new album, "Now What?!" (h/t Yoel)

At last: an accurate and impartial BBC report on Syrian patients in Israel

On November 3rd the Israeli media gave extensive coverage to the story of a baby boy born to a Syrian mother in Tsfat's Rifka Ziv hospital. On November 25th an article by the BBC Jerusalem Bureau's Kevin Connolly on that specific case and on the general subject of Syrian patients treated in Israel appeared in the 'Features & Analysis' section of the BBC News website's Middle East page. The report also includes filmed footage broadcast on BBC television news programmes.

This year's 21 UNGA resolutions against Israel (4 on rest of world)

The four that do not concern Israel are: one on Syria, a regime that has murdered 120,000 of its own people, and one each on Iran, North Korea and Myanmar.
There were will be zero UNGA resolutions on gross and systematic abuses committed by China, Cuba, Egypt, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Zimbabwe, nor on many other major perpetrators of grave violations of human rights.

French Jewish immigration to Israel up by 49 percent

Through September, 2,185 French Jews have immigrated to Israel, compared to 1,469 immigrants during the same time frame in 2012, according to Jewish Agency for Israel figures. The number of immigrants who arrived from France to Israel during the whole of 2012 was 1,907.
Of the immigrants to Israel this year, 3,188 Jews arrived from Western Europe — a 26 percent increase from the same period last year.

Julie Bishop says Australia's shift on Israel UN resolutions is a bid for balance

Australia this month abstained from two UN General Assembly resolutions; one condemning the expansion of Jewish settlements and another calling for the Geneva Convention to apply in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Under Labor, Australia had supported the resolutions.
Ms Bishop said the shift "reflected the government's concern that Middle East resolutions should be balanced".
"The government will not support resolutions which are one-sided and which pre-judge the outcome of final status negotiations between the two sides," she said through a spokeswoman.

Almost 2/3 of anti-religious crimes in US targeted Jews in 2012

The ADL criticized the report as faulty, charging that the drop in incidents was due, at least in part, to the failure of many government bodies to properly report hate crimes.
"Due to a deeply disturbing trend of under-reporting and under-participation by law enforcement agencies, including more than a dozen of the largest agencies in the United States, the 2012 Hate Crime Statistics Act report is seriously flawed," National Director Abraham Foxman said in a written statement.

Point of No Return: Jews were targets before Israel's creation

Three popular myths surround the 870,000 Jews who left Arab countries after Israel was born. The first is that they departed of their own free will. Second, if they did flee as refugees, it was because Arab states lashed out spontaneously against their Jewish citizens like a bull to a red rag (and who could blame them?). Third, the Arab states took revenge on their Jews for the plight of Arabs driven out of Palestine.

India Marks 5 Years since Mumbai Massacre

Victims and government ministers laid wreaths at a memorial in south Mumbai dedicated to police and security forces killed trying to stop the Islamist gunmen during 60 hours of carnage.
Ten terrorists arrived by sea on the evening of November 26, carrying out a massacre at the Jewish Chabad center, hotels, a railway station and a cafe as terrified civilians tried to escape the bloodbath.
Six Jews were murdered at the Chabad House: Chabad emissaries Rabbi Gabriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivky, who was five months pregnant; Rabbi Aryeh Leibush Teitelbaum, Rabbi Benzion Korman, Norma Shvartzblat Rabinovich and Yocheved Orpaz.

One of the Most Remarkable Books About the Holocaust Was Just Published

"I think I can pinpoint exactly the hour and day when my childhood ended," writes Slavko Goldstein near the beginning of 1941: The Year That Keeps Returning. The date was April 13, 1941, when Goldstein was 13 years old. That morning, he asked his father if he could go out to play with friends. His father, Ivo, was hesitant: Just two days earlier, German troops had marched unopposed into Croatia, and tanks were on the streets of their small city, Karlovac. But he gave his permission, and Slavko went off.
When he returned that afternoon, his father was gone: He was part of the first group of Karlovac citizens arrested by the new fascist regime. Ivo would never return home again, and by August he was dead, one of thousands of prisoners executed at the Jadovno camp that summer.

Israel hosts 4-nation warplane drill over Negev Desert

Israel began hosting its largest joint air force drill this week with pilots from the U.S., Italy and Greece over the skies of southern Israel.
The exercise, called Blue Flag, will take place in the airspace between central Gush Dan and the Negev Desert.

IAF Launches Largest International Military Exercise in Israel's History


Spotlight: From Iran to the IDF

"On television, Iran did not show good things about Israel, always only bad things," S. explained. "The government there does not like Israel, but the people themselves do not care. They just want to live well. People do not like that the government is investing a lot of money in the nuclear program."
S. says that since her childhood she wanted to move to Israel and join the IDF. "When I got to Israel they asked me to say my name to get an ID card. It was my first time ever using my Jewish name," she recalls. "For me it was a significant moment in my life."

After treating 2,600 patients, Israeli medical team leaves Philippines

The 148-person medical team vacated the IDF's emergency field hospital in Bogo City on Monday after treating more than 2,600 patients, including 800 children. The team also conducted 52 surgeries and delivered 36 babies.
A European Union delegation replaced the IDF team, which left behind a range of medical supplies, including an X-ray machine and equipment for the delivery of newborns.

Meet the woman who coined the term 'Thanksgivukkah'

At this point, it is tough to live in America and not know that Thanksgiving and Hanukkah fall on the same night this year. It is also tough to not know that this doesn't usually happen. That popular wisdom has it we've got another 70,000 years to go before this comes up again. (Apparently popular wisdom is wrong.)
But a year ago, it wasn't a cultural reference point. It was just an oddity Dana Reichman Gitell, a marketing specialist at Hebrew Senior Life in Massachusetts, had noticed on the calendar.

Nov. 28 Declared 'Thanksgivukkah' by Boston Mayor

In light of the once-in-a-lifetime convergence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, Boston's retiring Mayor Thomas Menino has declared Nov. 28 to be "Thanksgivukkah" in the city.

Israel Daily Picture: The Chatham Library Photo Treasures Part 3, Jerusalem, Holy to All Religions

We express our admiration and gratitude to the archivists at Chatham University for digitizing these hand-colored slides dating back to about 1890.
The picture of Robinson's Arch published above is the base of a massive arch built by King Herod. Archaeologists believe it was the anchor for a large bridge or staircase from the top of the Temple Mount.

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Posted By Ian to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 11/26/2013 06:00:00 PM