[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] 10/15 Links Pt2: Islamic Help funds Hamas charitable front; Tear Down this Opera

From Ian:

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Islamic Help funds Hamas charitable front

Islamic Help, a large British charity, has revealed that it is funding projects run by the Gaza-based Al-Falah Benevolent Society (a.k.a. Al-Falah Society or Al-Falah Charitable Society), which, according to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre, is one of "Hamas's charitable societies".
Al-Falah is run by Ramadan Tamboura (aka Ramadan Tanbura), whom Ha'aretz newspaper describes as a "a well-known Hamas figure". One of Al-Falah's Directors, Jamal Hamdi al-Haddad, also manages one of Hamas' Hebrew-language education programmes, entitled "Know Your Enemy".
A number of extremist charities have also funded Al Falah, including: Interpal, a British charity banned under US law as a terrorist organisation; the Muslim World League, a Saudi charity that promotes fundamentalist Islam and is accused of providing financial support to a considerable number of terrorist organisations; the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, a Saudi-funded youth organisation that published anti-Shia and anti-Jewish literature; and Children in Deen, a British 'aid convoy' charity which was used by British suicide bomber Abdul Waheed Majeed to travel to war-torn Syria in 2013.
Islamic Help also funds the Islamic Society of Gaza, a Hamas-run organisation whose leading officials have included Ahmad Bahr, a senior Hamas leader who has said: "Oh Allah, vanquish the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them all, down to the very last one."

Will Westin Bonaventure permit anti-Israel discrimination on its premises?

The ASA is having its annual meeting in Los Angeles in early November at the Westin Bonaventure. The ASA has stated that it will apply its boycott rules to exclude from the conference Israeli academic institutions and any individual Israeli academics who are there on behalf of their institutions or who hold administrative capacity (e.g. Dean). Only individual Israelis who pass the test of not being there in a representative capacity will be allowed to attend.
These rules are unique to Israelis, and constitute national origin discrimination and potentially religious discrimination in violation of California's expansive anti-discrimination and public accommodation laws. That puts the Westin Bonaventure at legal risk, because those discriminatory rules are being applied at a conference on its premises.
The American Center for Law and Justice, headed by Jay Sekulow, has sent a letter to the Westin Bonaventure, its owner and operating management, alerting them to the Westin Bonaventure's legal risk and obligations.

Sound and Fury on the Israeli Left

Anyone who is unfamiliar with the rhetoric of the Israeli left might want to check out responses from Peace Now and Haaretz to the recent purchase of homes in Jerusalem – by Jews. With predictable frenzy they anticipated the imminent collapse of morality in the Jewish state after Jews moved into their new homes in Silwan, a few meters south of the Old City, duly purchased from a willing Arab seller. Arab property owners in Silwan denied any sale and initiated "legal procedures" to nullify it.
"The implication of this offensive act," declared Peace Now, "has far reaching consequences." With a mastery of arithmetic that would make any third-grader proud, it reported that 6 buildings, comprising 20 housing units, could increase "the settler presence" by 35%, enlarging the number of Jews by one hundred. For Peace Now, that is a shanda of monumental proportions, posing a severe threat to the population of Silwan, which already includes 500 Jews – and 50,000 Arabs. This "unjust and dangerous reality" climaxes more than twenty years during which "the Israeli government and police are allowing and supporting" settlements.
An editorial in Haaretz (October 10) condemned the occupancy by "dozens of Jewish settlers" in an "East Jerusalem Arab neighborhood" as proof that Prime Minister Netanyahu is "an enthusiastic supporter of annexing the territories and of handing the State of Israel . . . to the settlers." The "seizure" of homes in Silwan was "another nail in the coffin of the peace process" – which, Haaretz concluded, was its intended purpose. But Israel's "illegitimate colonialist policies" would surely "infuriate not only the Arab world but also Israel's closest friends." House buying in Jerusalem (but only by Jews) was "a destructive move," which "could exacerbate the tense situation and spark another round of violence."

Daniel Pipes: Islamist Groups Are Contributing More to Democrats Than Republicans by a Ratio of 17 to 1

In politics, the adage goes, follow the money. And so, data abound for contributions from trial lawyers, insurance brokers, and even optometrists.
But what about Islamists, those Muslims who seek to replace the Constitution with the Koran and apply Islamic law in its entirety and severity — who, in other words, seek not just to tweak the tax code but to change the nature of the United States?
Until now, their campaign contributions have been unknown. A new initiative of the Middle East Forum's Islamist Watch provides a first look at the dimensions of this lobby, using a sortable database. The Islamist Money in Politics (IMIP) project finds that, over the past 15 years, prominent figures associated with six leading American Islamist organizations have donated almost $700,000 to federal U.S. candidates.

Is Israel ostracized?

The elitist media outlets in Israel, Western Europe and the U.S. are wrong! Israel is increasingly appreciated and embraced -- not ostracized -- by the global community.
In defiance of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in Britain, and despite the recent Gaza war, Israel's exports to Britain and the Israel-Britain trade balance, surged by 38 percent and 28 percent respectively between January and August 2014 (as compared to the same period in 2013), expanding employment in both countries. In addition, there were 37 Israeli-British mergers, acquisitions and British stock market initial public offerings during the same period.
The swelling Israel-Britain trade balance highlights Israel's special capabilities in the global market, generating cutting-edge technological and scientific developments which have given rise to unique medical, health care, agricultural, software and defense technologies and products. Moreover, most of Israel's export is business-to-business based, supplying leading international businesses with critical components and technologies, which enhance the quality and reduces the cost of their own products, revolutionizing quality of life, in general, and commercial/defense performance, in particular. Israeli exports provide American, European, Russian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, South Korean and additional global giants with a competitive edge in the global market.

New Israel app aims to counter BDS counterparts

The latest Israel technology wasn't developed at the Technion, nor was it hatched by a startup in Tel Aviv. In fact, it didn't come from Israel at all.
Am Yisrael Buy, a new app (available on Apple, Android and Windows Phone) designed to help users locate and buy Israeli products, is the brainchild of Rabbi Daniel Cohen, 49, the spiritual leader at Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange, New Jersey.
After learning this summer about apps being developed to advance the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, the rabbi said he "went looking for a pro-Israel app and couldn't find one that was standing up to BDS."

No Peace, No Recognition, No Negotiations For Greta Berlin

Ms. Berlin, you call yourself a Palestinian activist, you claim to be someone who supports Palestinian rights and justice. But instead of constructively discussing with those in power who matter, you wasted an hour of my life on Facebook, calling me an oppressor. Ms. Berlin, it pains me to see "that someone as passionate as you will never be able to create true change because your arguments and views are so destructive".
Ms. Berlin, I wrote to you in the hopes that we could come to an understanding, in the hopes that you were a reasonable individual. Your comparisons of Israel to ISIS, your anti-Semitic rhetoric, and so much more, I thought only to be misguided. Unfortunately, throughout your "47 years fighting for justice for the Palestinians" you have become hardened to the truth. It is people like you who take away from the Palestinian cause. And that isn't just coming from me, that comes from Ali Abunimah, a radically anti-Israel journalist who more often than not I cannot stand to read.
After consistently following your comments on "Israel Unlimited" and "A Free Sovereign Palestine and Safe Israel", two Facebook groups dedicated to discussing the conflict, I reached out to you in the hopes that you could be reasoned with. Instead, you stated, "I don't care what you oppressors think…if you were truly Pro-Palestinian, you would never consider being pro-Israeli. At this point, shocked to be declared an oppressor in my support for peace, I attempted to restart a dialogue with you.
Ms. Berlin, I tried to remind you that a "just peace" requires members of all parties to be present at all negotiations. Peace cannot be achieved unilaterally; at no point in history has any country achieved any semblance of peace by unilaterally declaring itself victor in a conflict. It simply doesn't work.

Why I confronted George Galloway: One year on…

It's been exactly a year since an extremely fateful October evening which set me on a path I could have never imagined. The decisions you make sometimes seem mundane – but some choices we make have the potential to be life changing.
It took me 90 minutes to make a decision I will never regret. For 90 minutes, one of Britain's last truly disturbing demagogues ranted about his 'master plan' to apparently transform Britain for good.
My blood boiled – yet the audience were gripped. I saw a modern-day Lord Haw-Haw while others saw a champion of the underdog.

Tear Down this Opera

The Death of Klinghoffer is another example of capitulation to political correctness; of not identifying the perpetrator out of the fear of offending, of hoping that the threat of Arab extremists can merely be dismissed, by showing snuff opera propaganda which numbs the senses where the perpetrator and the victim are confused with one another. The Murder of Klinghoffer demonstrates a loss of moral clarity.
The words, "Tear down this opera" were pronounced by actor Tony Lo Bianco toward Peter Gelb, director of the Metropolitan Opera, at the September 22nd., protest at the Metropolitan Opera against the opening of The Death of Klinghoffer, echoing the famous phrase of Ronald Reagan at the Berlin wall to Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev.
The scheduled opening of The Death of Klinghoffer is October 20, and protestors will be returning.
Jewish Day Schools, join the protest! Show your students by deed how to stand up for Am Yisrael. Congregational Rabbis, pick up the mantle and lead your congregations in protest to the Met.
On October 20, come to the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on West 65th Street and Broadway in Manhattan at 6:00 p.m. and pay homage to the memory of Leon Klinghoffer. Awaken the slumberers from their sleep. Be a light unto the nations and speak truth to power! Show other freedom loving people that there can be no capitulation in the fight against forces of evil.

Teach-in on Klinghoffer Opera at Lincoln Center Tonight

The Metropolitan Opera will debut its new production of John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer next week. I have written several times here about the way the opera treats the war on Israel and the Jews as a debatable concept rather than an immoral manifestation of Jew hatred. Tonight, I will be joined by an all-star panel of scholars and writers to discuss both Klinghoffer and the rise of a new wave of anti-Semitism around the globe at a teach-in just across the plaza from the opera house at New York City's Lincoln Center.
The event is sponsored by The Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy (ISGAP.org) and will be held at 7:00 PM at the Walter Reade Theater of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, 165 West 65th Street in Manhattan. Other speakers will include Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Phyllis Chesler, COMMENTARY contributors Omri Ceren and Ben Cohen, Sudanese Human Rights Activist Simon Deng, playwright Dahn Hiuni, the World Jewish Congress's Betty Ehrenberg, and ISGAP executive director Charles Asher Small.

'Open Hillel' Legitimizes Anti-Semitism

Some Jews fought with the Greeks and Romans against their fellow Jews. Some sympathized with the crusades and the pogroms. Some Jews even supported the Nazis leading up to World War II.
The story is no different today. There is still a very small – but vocal – minority of Jews who sympathize with those who want to kill us. There is still a fringe sect of Jewish society that finds it necessary to love those who seek to kill us and blame us for our enemies' baseless hatred.
Enter 'Open Hillel', a fringe group of Jewish students and young professionals who seek to legitimize the world's worst anti-Semites and invite anti-Semitism into the Jewish community. From welcoming supporters of genocidal terrorist organizations (BDS advocates and other 'Open Hillel' conference speakers – see below) to partnering with those who seek to wipe Israel off the map (for example, Students for Justice in Palestine), 'Open Hillel' is newest version of Jewish legitimization of anti-Semitism.

370+ US Anthro-Apology Academics Sign Petition Against Israel

In the never-ending battle of American academics attempting to prove that their own specialty is more devoted to the 'Palestinian' cause and more interested in teaching their students and the rest of the world how evil Israel is, the American Anthropological Association has entered the petition activism olympics.
The anthropology academics are so brave they not only tell everyone how bad Israel is (even when they get some of the facts wrong), by signing the petition they assert their right to "boycott" the Israeli institutions they believe are "complicit" in "Israel's ongoing violations" of 'Palestinian' rights.
The anthropologists, you see, are taking this opportunity to distance themselves from their discipline's historical complicity with the evils of colonialism. And so, who better to work out their own guilt issues than the Jewish State, of course.
What they are trying to do, like Lady Macbeth, is remove the bloodstains from their hands, through their own inverted apology, spun as a reprimand of Israel.
These are not anthropologists, they are anthro-apologists.

UC System: BDS Propaganda in Classroom Not OK

The University of California school system has taken a stand against advocacy efforts on behalf of the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement within its classrooms. The BDS movement seeks to solely boycott the Jewish State, Israel, and encourage a complete disassociation with the democratic and free country. Reports J Weekly:
"The Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Zionist Organization of America and 10 other Jewish advocacy groups are applauding a letter from a high-ranking University of California official that they say protects the well-being of Jewish students.
The letter to U.C. chancellors from provost Aimée Dorr, executive vice president for academic affairs, affirms that university policy prohibits graduate student instructors from using the classroom to support a cause such as the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS)."
In her letter, Dorr, the provost, explicitly encouraged UC chancellors to prohibit professors from abusing their classrooms as opportunities to encourage boycotts of Israel:

BBC WS presenter Razia Iqbal amplifies Palestinian claims of 'genocide' in Gaza

Readers no doubt recall that we recently documented two additional cases in which the BBC's supposed commitment to accurate and impartial reporting was yet again trumped by the corporation's self-conscription to the provision of publicity for campaigners using 'lawfare' against Israel.
In both those cases – one of which appeared on BBC Radio 4's 'Today' programme and the other on the BBC News website – the BBC amplified baseless Palestinian claims that 'war crimes' and even 'genocide' were carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip and column space and air-time were allotted to the amplification of the following unfounded accusations made by BBC regular Mustafa Barghouti.
"Targeting civilians and targeting children and killing them. Indiscriminate destruction of very wide areas as well as using forbidden weapons like depleted uranium and other weapons that include…eh…cancerogenous [sic – carcinogenic – Ed.] materials. One very important point here was the unjustified massive destruction of whole neighbourhoods in Gaza."

BBC's Bowen promotes BDS in 'analysis' of Commons vote

As we see, Jeremy Bowen's provision of promotion and publicity for the BDS campaign continues – see previous examples in 'related articles' below. With absolutely no effort having been made by the BBC to date to clarify to its audiences that the BDS movement is a major actor in the anti-peace campaign which seeks to isolate and delegitimize the Jewish state to the point of extinction, the majority of viewers of this item will have been unable to appreciate the redundant nature of Bowen's suggestion that the 'one-stater' advocates of the BDS campaign will be "encouraged" by the passing of a motion which was defined by its supporters "as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution". Those viewers would therefore also be unable to recognize the gratuitous nature of Bowen's irrelevant shoe-horning of the BDS campaign into the topic under discussion.
As this example once again shows very clearly, Bowen's repeated promotion of the BDS campaign on assorted BBC platforms can only be viewed as inappropriate and unacceptable exploitation of his position to advance his own political views.

Obama's Kobani Crossroads

President Obama has consistently disregarded the advice of his military experts on the ISIS threat. And he seems to have written off the Kurdish-Syrian town of Kobani, which may soon be overrun by ISIS.
Whatever the U.S. accomplished after about a decade of war in Iraq has, in a matter of months, deteriorated to a situation that may become unprecedented in its instability and threat to Western interests. Obama's clumsy departure from Iraq, his military mismanagement of the mess that ensued, and his refusal to intervene in Syria – again, overruling his top security advisers – are what produced the current quagmire.

Anger as wounded Kurdish fighters die stranded at Turkish border

With medical supplies depleted in the war-ravaged north Syrian town of Kobani, Kurdish activist Blesa Omar rushed three comrades wounded in battle against Islamic State fighters straight to the border to dispatch them to a Turkish hospital.
He said he spent the next four hours watching them die, one by one, from what he thinks were treatable shrapnel wounds as Turkish border guards refused to let them through the frontier.
"To me it is clear they died because they waited so long. If they had received help, even up to one hour before their deaths, they could have lived," said Omar, 34, an ethnic Kurd originally from Iraq who holds Swedish nationality.
"Once the soldiers realized they were dead, they said, 'Now you can cross with the bodies.' I cannot forget that. It was total chaos, it was a catastrophe," he said, choking back tears.

President Erdoğan slams modern 'Lawrences of Arabia' in Middle East

British officer T. E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, helped Arab leaders fight a guerrilla insurgency against the forces of the Ottoman Empire in the desert during World War I.
Especially after the hugely successful 1960s film, Lawrence is still regarded as a hero in Britain and many Arab countries. But Erdoğan made clear he saw the iconic British officer - who famously adopted customs of Arab dress - as a symbol of unwanted outside meddling in a region where Turkish influence should count.
"Lawrence was an English spy disguised as an Arab," Erdoğan said in a televised speech at a university in Istanbul. "There are new voluntary Lawrences, disguised as journalists, religious men, writers and terrorists," he added.
"It is our duty to explain to the world that there are modern Lawrences who were fooled by a terror organization," he added, without specifying which organization.

Israel fumes at 'post-sanctions' Iran conference in London

The "1st Europe-Iran forum" seeks to prepare the ground for "post-sanctions investment and trade," according to its official website. Speakers at the conference, which has been endorsed by the office of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, include former foreign ministers from the United Kingdom and France, one British MP, and a senior official currently serving in the British Foreign Office.
"It's a manipulation orchestrated by Tehran and certain business circles and friends of Iran," a senior diplomatic official told The Times of Israel on Tuesday. "Their purpose is to create a public atmosphere that would eventually make European governments more amenable to compromise regarding the nuclear negotiations with Iran," he charged.
Confirmed speakers include Jack Straw, a British MP and former foreign secretary; Hubert Vedrine, a former French foreign minister; and Edward Oakden, the current director of the UK Foreign Office's Middle East directorate. British advertising mogul Sir Martin Sorrell, who is Jewish, is also listed as speaker, which has prompted objections from some pro-Israel groups.

Pro-Israel, Rights Groups Protest Iran-Europe Trade Event

The call is endorsed by the Zionist Federation, and grassroots groups NILI14, the Israeli Forum Task Force and UK Friends of Israel. The letter is also signed by counter-extremism thinktank Stand for Peace.
The organisations have also written to other conference speakers urging them to pull out, and will hand out leaflets at the event, which will take place on 15-16 October.
"For the past nine years, Iran has consistently denied access to weapons inspectors wishing to examine its nuclear facilities," said Zionist Federation chairman Paul Charney. "Although some sanctions may be lifted on November 24th, it is far too premature to discuss business with Iran, let alone attend a conference sponsored by a state which also sponsors global terror."

Iranian official says centrifuges are 'trivial' in nuclear deal

US nuclear negotiators should stop focusing on Iran's number of centrifuges and should push for a deal, which could help build confidence between Iran and the coalition of countries fighting against Islamic State militants, a senior Iranian politician said on Wednesday.
"This is something like a trivial matter and we should not bargain over trivial matters," Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani told a news conference in Geneva. "This is not going to be useful, this is not going to solve any real problems."
A senior US official said on Wednesday that world powers and Iran are not discussing extending a late November deadline for reaching an agreement over Tehran's nuclear program, adding there was still time to reach a deal.

Kerry: Iran Deal Still Possible

A final deal on Iran's nuclear program is still possible despite the difficulty of the negotiations, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday, according to The Hill.
"I don't believe it's out of reach, but we have some tough issues to resolve," Kerry was quoted as having told reporters during a press conference in Paris.

Report: Iran has Executed More Than 900 People Since Rouhani Assumed Office

The Washington Times reported yesterday that despite the hope for moderation with the election of Hassan Rouhani as president of Iran, executions in the Islamic Republic have surged since his inauguration.
During the 14 months since Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took office, Iranian authorities have carried out at least 936 executions, according to data compiled by the Connecticut-based Iran Human Rights Documentation Center.
The statistics are consistent with data collected separately by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a dissident organization with offices in Europe and Washington that is preparing to publish a book-length report on the executions titled "Behind Rouhani's Smile."

Turkey in 'tight race' for UN Security Council seat

Turkey is in "very tight race" with Spain and New Zealand for one of two available seats on the UN Security Council.
The UN General Assembly's 193 member states will vote Thursday to elect five new members to the UN's most powerful body and Venezuela's socialist government is virtually certain to win because it is unopposed for the single seat allocated to Latin America and the Caribbean.
Angola is the only candidate for an African seat and Malaysia has no opposition for a single seat for Asia, so their victories are also virtually assured.

French loathed Sarkozy because of his Jewish origins, says former FM

Bernard Kouchner, the previous foreign minister of France, said that former president Nicolas Sarkozy was widely disliked because of his Jewish origins.
Kouchner made the assertion during an interview Tuesday for RMC radio in responding to the interviewer's question about Kouchner's observations about Sarkozy in Kouchner's newly published book, "Crossed Memories."
In the book, which was published last month, Kouchner wrote: "Nicolas Sarkozy wasn't cherished; he was detested also because he was the son of a Hungarian and the grandson of a Jew."

French town names street for Palestinian murder convict Barghouti

The National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA, on Wednesday prepared to motion an administrative court to void the move by the municipality of Valenton near Paris, BNVCA founder Sammy Ghozlan told JTA. BNVCA also will complain to police of incitement to commit a crime, he added.
"This celebration of a murderer is unacceptable," Ghozlan said of the dedication in Venton last month of a street honoring Barghouti, a Palestinian man whom an Israeli court in 2004 sentenced to multiple life sentences for planning dozens of deadly terrorist attacks.
During the Sept. 15 inauguration of Marwan Barghouti Alley, Valenton's mayor, Françoise Baud, called Barghouti "the face of the unwavering resistance of the Palestinian people against the occupation, the crimes, the destruction, the apartheid and the colonization perpetrated by the Israeli government."

ADL calls kosher mart ransacking 'a shocking hate crime'

The ransacking of a Kosher store in New York drew harsh condemnation from a US anti-Semitism watchdog, which called the attack a "shocking hate crime" Tuesday.
In a statement, the Anti-Defamation League called for the perpetrators of the Saturday night storming of a Crown Heights Kosher supermarket to be prosecuted, possibly for hate crimes.
"This outrageous attack on a Jewish business is a shocking hate crime that has left the Jewish community in Crown Heights deeply shaken and understandably angry and concerned for their safety," Evan R. Bernstein, the ADL's regional director, wrote in a press release.
"Law enforcement must do their utmost to ensure that the perpetrators are identified and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, including hate crime charges if warranted," added Bernstein.

Headstones used in Warsaw park returning to Jewish cemetery

Jewish headstones used after World War II to help build a gazebo in a Warsaw park are on their way back to a historic Jewish cemetery in the city.
The return of the headstones from Praga Park to the Brodno Jewish Cemetery — the largest Jewish cemetery in Poland and among the biggest in Europe — began Sunday. The Warsaw Jewish community and the board of the city's Praga District cooperated in the effort.
Preparations for the process lasted nearly a year, Jerzy Gierszewski, a spokesman for the office of Praga-South, told JTA. The city allocated about $120,000 for the project.
"The project is important for the simplest reason: It will be a kind of act of historical justice," Gierszewski said.
The headstones had been used for part of a pergola and stairs at the park. Demolition of the pergola began last week and is expected to last until Nov. 30.

Israel sees gas as key to transforming Mideast relations

After this summer's war in Gaza battered Israel's international reputation, the country's leaders say they have a new foreign policy tool to build relations with its neighbors: natural gas.
By the the end of the year, Israel may have binding agreements to sell billions of dollars of gas to Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Preliminary talks are taking place with customers in Turkey, even though President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is among Israel's fiercest critics. Gas may even help improve relationships in the Gaza Strip.
"There are now extraordinary opportunities for Israel based on energy policy, both economically and diplomatically," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon. "This is a real game-changer of common interests and benefits for many actors in the region. It could also bring about better relations with Turkey, and with other regional actors with whom Israel is not yet in close contact."

'Israel gas deal will save Jordan JD700m annually'

The government said Thursday the state-owned National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) is expected to buy 250-300 million cubic feet per day of natural gas from Noble Energy, which experts said will save around JD700 million annually of the energy bill.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Mohammad Hamed said Thursday that NEPCO is in talks with the American company Noble Energy to determine the prices of gas it will buy from Israeli fields late 2017, expecting a deal soon.
The quantities, experts said, will help slash Jordan's energy bill that exceeds JD4 billion a year and reduce the losses of NEPCO, which are expected to reach JD1.3 billion by the end of 2014.
"We will receive large quantities of gas from Israel, Cyprus and the Gaza Strip. The liquefied natural gas terminal, which will be ready early 2015, will also boost our reserves of gas," said the minister at a meeting held by EDAMA Association under the title "The Alternatives of Resolving Gas Shortages in Jordan".
"All the large quantities of gas we will receive will not only be used for power generation; we will encourage industries to use gas to increase their competitiveness," the minister said.

Female IDF soldiers pose in racy calendar

A Tel Aviv-based fashion firm is launching a calendar whose female models are also Israeli soldiers in an effort to promote its new line.
The calendar features scantly clad women who are, according to the company, "real soldiers" sporting the company's military inspired apparel line MTKL, an Anglicization of the Hebrew acronym "matkal," which refers to the IDF's General Staff unit.
The company launched an Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign in order raise its profile and help finance its launch through the sale of the unabashedly racy calendar.

Police Allege Conspiracy To Make Israel Safest Place In Mideast For Arabs (satire)

A police investigation has uncovered what officials say is convincing evidence that Israel is attempting to develop and maintain its status as the safest place in the region for Arabs to live, a spokesman for the police force said today.
With a robust free press, universal suffrage, socialized healthcare, the strongest and largest economy in the Middle East, antidiscrimination legislation, freedom of religion, the longest average lifespan of all its neighbors, and a standard of living across all demographics far above those of the nearby countries, Israel is posed to remain the most secure and comfortable country in the region for Arabs, the police claim, alleging that this status is the result of an intentional, century-long attempt to establish and maintain a thriving state in which even ethnic minorities enjoy political freedom and physical safety.
Commissioner Yochanan Danino pointed to the existence of several independent Arab parties with representation in the Knesset, an Arab judge on the High Court, and thousands of Arabs voluntarily serving in the IDF, as incriminating evidence that Israel has knowingly and consistently conspired to provide a stable, democratic society for all of the country's Arab residents. "This conspiracy to maintain a democracy that includes the non-Jewish population of the country, even though they represent little more than one-fifth of the citizens, can only be the result of a premeditated course of action on the part of successive governments and national institutions," charged Danino. "This willful scheme goes all the way to the highest echelons of government and society."

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Posted By Ian to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 10/15/2014 05:00:00 PM