[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] 10/28 Links Pt2: Why liberals downplay terrorism; In BDS, B is For Blacklist, Not Boycott ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Amb. Alan Baker: Parliamentary Recognition of Palestine – Legally, Historically and Politically Questionable

Official political bodies in the UK, Ireland and Sweden have called for the recognition of Palestine, claiming that such recognition would "contribute to securing a two-state solution."
These actions, whether by votes in the UK parliament and in the Irish Upper House, or in a parliamentary speech by the prime minister of Sweden, are based on questionable legal, historic and political premises since no Palestinian state exists, and the issue of the status of the territories is subject to negotiation.
These actions actually hinder progress to a negotiated agreement since they attempt to prejudge the outcome of the very negotiation they purport to support.
It would be legally and politically prudent were the UK House of Commons and the Irish Upper House, as well as the prime minister of Sweden, to reconsider their ill-advised resolutions or statements.

Why liberals downplay terrorism

After any terrorist attack, why is the first instinct of liberals to downplay it?
Their first reflex is to deny that it's terrorism at all. Nidal Hasan, a Muslim U.S. soldier, shot 13 fellow soldiers to death at Fort Hood while shouting, "Allahu Akbar." Yet the Pentagon declared the attack "workplace violence," not terrorism.
The next liberal reflex is to deny that an attacker is Muslim. Last month there was a terrorist-style beheading in Oklahoma City. Media reports called the suspect "Alton Nolen." Which was the name his mother gave him. As opposed to the name he took for himself after he converted to Islam: Jah'Keem Yisrael. Media showed old pictures of him dressed as a factory worker, rather than his own Facebook pictures showing him in flowing Muslim robes and head-coverings.
The third liberal reflex is to say a terrorist attack was just the act of a madman. That was the early spin in Canada for last week's terrorist murders. Clearly Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was insane, they said.
The fourth liberal line of defence is to say the attacker is a lone wolf. And indeed, the terrorists listed above committed their murders by themselves. But Nidal was in e-mail contact with al-Qaida; the Canadian terrorists communicated with other extremists, including by Twitter. This weekend the RCMP announced Zehaf-Bibeau had "numerous" other interactions that they are investigating.
The attacking terrorist may have been a lone wolf. But each was part of a larger wolf pack.

In BDS, B is For Blacklist, Not Boycott

The BDS movement's boycott against Israel is, for all practical purposes, a blacklist designed to remove Israel from the world stage.
It's well documented that the movement is primarily a tool for spreading anti-Israel propaganda. It's time to use language about the movement that reflects its true nature.
The calls for boycott of Israel economically, culturally, and academically have virtually no effect in those areas other than to blacken Israel's name. But the use of the term "boycott" grants the movement an aura of righteousness it does not deserve.
As one student group said when it was discovered using Israeli web technology to promote a boycott of Israel, "BDS is a tactic, not a principle." It is a tactic for spreading hate, not for promoting peace and reconciliation.
Indeed, if it were a principle, standing for human rights or for justice, its supporters would fight for those values everywhere. But only Israel is subject to BDS campaigns, demonstrating that it is, in fact, a blacklist, not a boycott in the name of justice.

Anti-Israel Speaker Uses Racial Slur to Describe Palestinians

SJP is widely known for leading hostile anti-Israel campaigns on college campuses. It has compared the Jewish state to Nazi Germany and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The keynote speaker on Friday evening, the Reverend Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, received applause from the audience when he drew an elaborate comparison between Palestinians and African Americans.
"One of the fundamental things that was revealed to me when I was in Palestine in 2012 was a simple truth," said Sekou, a self-described author and public intellectual. "I was there for about 15 minutes and I got it: Y'all are n—. That's part of what it means to be a Palestinian in the context of Israeli apartheid."
Sekou went on to explain how, in his view, Palestinians and black Americans share a cultural status as refugees. (h/t Alexi)

Gypsy Kings star Chico defies Israel boycott despite Mossad assassination of brother

As a founder-member of the Gypsy Kings, Chico Bouchikhi introduced a new strain of pop music with a vibrant Mediterranean pulse to a global audience. However the music stopped when his elder brother was assassinated by agents from Mossad in a case of mistaken identity.
Despite the anger he retains over the bereavement, Bouchikhi has now urged fellow musicians to shun growing calls for a cultural boycott of Israel following the recent Gaza conflict and said he is happy to perform in the country, to assist reconciliation in the region.
In July 1973, Chico's older brother Ahmed Bouchikhi was assassinated by agents from Mossad, the Israeli secret service, in Lillehammer in Norway. They had mistaken him for Ali Hassan Salameh, one of the terrorists belonging to the Black September group responsible for the massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
"It was a clear case of mistaken identity. They killed him in cold blood. It's the hardest thing to forgive when it's your own flesh and blood," said Bouchikhi, who now performs as Chico & The Gypsies after walking out of The Gypsy Kings following a financial dispute.
Rather than stew in hatred following the killing, Chico became a special envoy for peace and an ambassador for UNESCO, following a path which eventually led him to shake hands with the former Israeli Prime Minister, who as foreign minister first pursued secret negotiations with Yasser Arafat's PLO.

Bill Maher Latest Victim Of University PC Speech Codes

HBO talk show host Bill Maher finds himself the target of a college protest over his scheduled commencement address at UC Berkley this December. That's right, apparently it's not just conservatives such as Ann Coulter and David Horowitz whose speech is squelched on college campuses.
The liberal atheist who has degraded Republican women with the most vile language imaginable finds himself in hot water, but not for his "war on women" monologues. No, his sin is suggesting maybe, just maybe, Muslim nations have a problem with basic human rights due to their strict adherence to Shariah Law.
Josh Feldman at Mediate has a breakdown of the petition that was posted at Change.org, imploring Berkley administrators to revoke their invitation to the "bigot and racist" comedian:

NYT's Friedman Admits Likud 'Has Really Strong Arguments'

"The Israeli right today, led by Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, has some really strong arguments for maintaining the status quo," writes New York Times pundit Thomas Friedman in his latest column. He also admits that the terrorist militias operating on Israel's northern and southern borders do not inspire risk taking, but thinks the Jewish state should take risks anyway, and that in the long run, the arguments against this "are deadly for Israel as a Jewish democratic state."
"Israel today is surrounded on four out of five borders — South Lebanon, Gaza, Sinai and Syria — not by states but by militias, dressed as civilians, armed with rockets and nested among civilians," notes the pundit, who is considered close to President Barack Obama. "No other country faces such a threat. When Israeli commanders in the Golan Heights look over into Syria today, they see Russian and Iranian military advisers, along with Syrian Army units and Hezbollah militiamen from Lebanon, fighting jihadist Sunni militias — and the jihadists are usually winning."
"That is not a scene that inspires risk-taking on the West Bank, right next to Israel's only international airport," says Friedman. "The fact that Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and Hamas took over there in 2007 and then devoted most of its energies to fighting Israel rather than building Palestine also does not inspire risk-taking to move away from the status quo. Israel offered Hamas a cease-fire eight days into the Gaza war, but Hamas chose to expose its people to vast destruction and killing for 43 more days, hoping to generate global pressure on Israel to make concessions to Hamas. It was sick; it failed; and it's why some Gazans are trying to flee Hamas rule today."
And yet, Friedman blames Israel for its alleged intransigence. He quotes a leftist Hebrew University professor who says Israel should be "trying to think imaginatively about how to solve this problem," instead of "pushing those elements in Palestinian society that prefer nonviolence into a dead end."
Friedman does not offer a solution, except to advocate establishing "relationships of trust between neighbors that create healthy interdependencies — ecological and political."

Lee Rigby memorial will not bear his name

A memorial for Lee Rigby will not feature the murdered soldier's name, it has been revealed.
Greenwich Council said a stone would be placed in St George's Chapel garden, opposite Woolwich Barracks where Fusilier Rigby was based.
The council, which said its plan had the backing of the soldier's family, said the memorial would pay tribute to all fallen servicemen and woman.
Fusilier Rigby was murdered on 22 May 2013 by two Muslim converts.

Only 14 Western Sydney Wanderers fans headed to Saudi Arabia for ACL final

However, a club spokesperson said a strict and complex process for obtaining Saudi Arabia visas, along with the travel cost, had reduced the touring party leaving from Sydney to 13 men and one woman.
Under conservative Saudi law, single women must be in the company of their husband or a male family member to be able to obtain a visa, and a Western Sydney spokesperson confirmed the solitary female Wanderers supporter will make the journey with her father.
Another challenge facing supporters, members of the media and Wanderers management, has been the Saudi stipulation that people of the Jewish faith, and even people with Israeli stamps on their passport, are not allowed entry to the country.
Western Sydney declined to comment on whether their chairman Paul Lederer, who is Jewish, will travel to Riyadh.
Fairfax media reported earlier this month that the Asian Football Confederation may look to arrange a way for Lederer to attend under conditions usually reserved for diplomats.

Bethlehem Bible College – purveyor of anti-Israel propaganda

According to its website, Bethlehem Bible College (BBC) is a Christian college founded for the purpose of training leaders to serve local Arab churches and communities.
BBC affirms the National Association of Evangelicals' Statement of Faith and believes the Bible to be the authoritative word of God.
But there is another side to BBC not evident on their website. The school has a deeply entrenched anti-Israel position, demonstrated through statements and publications of leaders associated with the school, and the biennial "Christ at the Checkpoint" conferences it sponsors. Most recently, its media center produced a video that employs numerous errors and false accusations in a blatant attempt to demonize Israel.
The video, Bethlehem Voices on Gaza , was made during Operation Protective Edge and was posted on YouTube on August 8, 2014. The production purports to "interview people on the streets of Bethlehem regarding the war in Gaza."

Church in east Jerusalem besieged by chronic attacks, harassment

A land dispute between a church and Arab residents of a Jerusalem neighborhood has devolved into chronic violence, theft, and harassment against the church's employees, including two disabled orphans living there, its pastor said Sunday.
According to Karen Dunham, pastor and director of Living Bread International Church – a non-denominational institution with offices in Jerusalem, Gaza and Jericho – the church has been housed in Musrara for seven years, with 20 years remaining on its lease.
Dunham said a campaign of violence and intimidation against the church's 45 employees, visitors and two Jewish orphans with Down's Syndrome living there, was undertaken by roughly a dozen Arab neighbors several months ago after she refused to sell the property.
"When we said we would not sell it, they decided to take it by force," she said.
The men have stolen two of the church's parking spaces, a metal security fence protecting its entrance, eight security cameras, threatened the two disabled orphans, and have assaulted nine of the church's employees and visitors, including herself, she said.

New York's Met Museum Honors Qatari Royal at Private Bash as Questions Over Qatar's Terrorism Financing Persist

As accusations continue to mount over Qatar's alleged involvement in the financing of terrorist groups including Hamas and Islamic State (IS,) The Algemeiner has learned that New York's Metropolitan Museum is tonight holding a glitzy, invitation-only party in honor of Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah al Thani. The sheikh is a prominent member of the ruling family in the Gulf emirate and the head of the Qatar Investment & Projects Development Holding Company (QIPCO.)
The black tie event, organized by Lady Elizabeth Anson – a London-based planner of exclusive parties who is also the first cousin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II – is being held to mark the opening at the museum of "Treasures from India: Jewels from the Al-Thani collection." According to Forbes magazine, "no one has amassed a more dazzling collection" of Indian royal jewelry than Sheikh Hamad, who is described in the same article as "a man accustomed to getting what he wants."
But Qatar's involvement in the financing of terrorism across the Middle East is casting a shadow over tonight's launch.

Police arrest 57 anti-Israel protesters at South Africa store

Johannesburg police said they arrested 57 people at an anti-Israel protest outside a Woolworths department store Saturday.
"They went to Woolies and started disturbing customers inside the shop," Constable Thabo Malatji told the South African Press Agency, adding that the protesters were charged with public disturbance.
Protest organizer Tasneem Essop contended that the protest was completely peaceful.
Woolworths maintained that it had called police as a precaution, citing concern for the safety of its customers.

The Apartheid of Poverty and Anti-Israel Hypocrisy in South Africa

My 2012 visit to South Africa to promote my book "Israel Reclaiming the Narrative" was timely.
My book highlights the lies and hypocrisy of the Arab narrative which positions Palestinians as the innocent victims of oppression. The truth is that they have a long history of violence and terror and have rejected every pragmatic peace deal offered to them. Whenever any group of organization pose as "pro-Palestinian" you can bet they are, at the same time, virulently anti-Israel. Scratch them and you will find, more often than not, this extends to them being anti-Semitic.
My visit coincided with the infamous and fraudulent "Israel Apartheid Week" in which South African campuses were the scene of hideous "Hate-Israel" theater where half-truths and innuendos posed as facts.
Most telling was the endorsement of this hateful circus by the South African Council of Churches who, in their official letter dated 24th February, spoke in anti-Semitic terms of Israeli violence against "non-Jews," positioning the Palestinians as a Jesus figure, and Israelis as a form of anti-Christ. This blasphemy harks back to the dark days when Jews were portrayed as Christ killers and demonized and led to their slaughter at the hands of the Church. Indeed, under the cloak of Replacement Theology, this Jew hatred festers today as was evidenced by the decision of the SACC to isolate one country, and one country only, for condemnation – Israel.

Another Anti-Semitic Hate Crime At Claremont McKenna College

Claremont McKenna College, which already played host to two anti-Semitic hate crimes during this school year, hosted a third incident occur on October 24th. Jewish student Bryan Turkel saw his dorm room vandalized for the third time thus far this year. The first two crimes were detailed on Chabad.org,
Shortly before Yom Kippur, Bryan Turkel, a Jewish student in his senior year at Claremont McKenna College—one of a consortium of five undergraduate liberal-arts schools and two graduate schools in Southern California called the Claremont Colleges—found the mezuzah on his doorframe torn down. The previous week, Turkel's dorm room had been broken into, and an Israeli flag he had displayed prominently had been stolen.
Turkel, who is a member of the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi), responded in coordination with the fraternity and the Chabad on Campus by installing mezuzot, parchment scroll affixed to the doorposts of a Jewish home or business containing ancient texts, on the dorms of every AEPi brother's living space.

Palestinian Terrorist Who Became U.S. Citizen Faces Setbacks in Court Case

Odeh confessed to the bombing, but later claimed that it was the result of extended torture and mistreatment. Her allies have waged a national campaign aimed at casting her as a victim of injustice and getting the charges dropped.
U.S. District Judge Gershwin A. Drain ruled that the torture claims, and a psychologist's theory that Odeh suffers from post-traumatic stress as a result, are inadmissible at trial. He reversed an original order that would have required that prosecutors prove that Odeh withheld the information about her conviction with the specific intent of illegally becoming an American citizen.
The psychologist would have testified that the omission could have been a result of the PTSD. Now, "the Government need only prove [Odeh] made a false statement knowing it to be false," Drain ruled. The PTSD testimony is inadmissible.
In a separate order, he rejected Odeh's motion to stop prosecutors from introducing records from the Israeli prosecution in order to prove that her conviction and 10 years in an Israeli prison really took place.

Oakland Block the Boat misses the boat, again

There was another anti-Israel promenade across the Oakland docks on Sunday. It was a picture perfect day by the bay, and yes, it was a lovely day for a walk. Holding signs calling for the destruction of Israel, 150 activists walked from West Oakland BART to the docks, aiming to stop a boat that wasn't even coming. (How could they fail?) What was particularly strange about this particular "block the boat protest" is that the anti-Israel activists were protesting the Zim Beijing, a ship heading due west, that was well over a thousand miles away.
Perhaps they hadn't bothered to check the schedule at Zim's website?

Toxic mix: The Guardian, British actress Miriam Margolyes and antisemitism

Additionally, Margolyes has suggested that Israeli treatment of Palestinians in Gaza was sub-human and morally comparable to the Nazi treatment of Jews during the Holocaust.
Margolyes also delivered a recorded speech to an extremist-affiliated anti-Israel rally in London in 2007, a gathering which included a speech by Ismail Haniyeh – political leader of Hamas, the antisemitic movement Margolyes claimed to "loathe".
In short, when you evoke Israel-Nazi analogies, participate in a play which vilifies Jews and Judaism and are willing to share a stage with the leader of an extremist movement that explicitly calls for the murder of Jews, you forfeit the assumption of good intentions when condemning the rise of antisemitism. (h/t NormanF)

BBC continues to describe terror in Jerusalem as a 'car attack' and terrorist as 'driver'

Both the headline and the text of the original version of the BBC News website's October 26th report on the death of a second victim of last week's terror attack in Jerusalem continued the corporation's earlier bizarre presentation of the incident as a "car attack".
Likewise, the article continued to use the word terror exclusively in the context of quotes from Israeli officials.

BBC playing wingman for Qatar's damage control in the UK?

The lead article on the BBC News website's Middle East page on October 27th (also appearing on the site's main homepage) was headlined "Qatar officials dismiss IS funding claims". Coincidentally or not, the report appeared just hours before the Emir of Qatar is due to arrive in the UK for a three-day official visit aimed at "enhancing bi-lateral relations" between the two countries.
BBC audiences are reassured in the report's opening sentences that:
"Senior officials from Qatar have strongly denied claims the country is supporting terrorist groups in Syria such as Islamic State.
They told the BBC that Qatar had only provided support to moderate militants, in co-ordination with the CIA and other Western and Arab intelligence agencies.
Strict financial controls had been put in place, they added."
So that's alright then. Or maybe not….

What kind of anti-Semite are You?

From my personal observation, I have depicted some categories of anti-Semites:
1. Old fashion Nazis. Typical and traditional! For those, Jews are racially inferior and protagonists of the great conspiracy to conquer the world; they mostly like to draw swastikas on the wall of Jewish quarters and yelling that Anna Frank was a liar.
2. Go Right Go. They are mostly nationalists. They feel as Europeans to be ethnically and religiously homogeneous, so they are disturbed by minority groups as Roma, Muslims—and, of course, Jews.
3. Palestine mon amour. They are nostalgic communists and left party intellighenzia; they claim to be universalist and in favour of the poor and oppressed (in their mind pro-Palestinian); so Jews find disfavour following this attitude because they maintain a separate ethnic and cultural identity and also tend to achieve economic success and technological progress.
4. Muslim Extremists. Segments of those immigrants who have entered Europe from Muslim countries—and their descendants— are full of anti-Jewish prejudice based on select Islamic sources, reinforced by resentment that Jews today have a sovereign state in a region Islam teaches should be under its rule.
So which anti-Semite are you?

Bill to Finally Strip Confirmed Nazis of Federal Benefits

A bi-partisan effort is underway to end federal benefits for those with confirmed participation in the Nazi regime.
Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY-12) and Congressman Leonard Lance (R-NJ-7) on Sunday joined Holocaust survivors and Jewish community leaders in calling on Congress to act immediately to terminate Social Security benefits for former Nazis.
The bill, called the "Nazi Benefits Termination Act of 2014″ will be introduced when congress goes back into session in mid-November, following the elections. There was a bill introduced in 1999, intended to achieve the same goal, but it failed to receive the necessary votes to pass.
"Our bill will provide the Justice Department with the authority it needs to terminate benefits of Nazi war criminals," said Congresswoman Maloney.

Liege U. to address racism after Gaza-themed student game

Following the cancellation of a Gaza-themed students' game with anti-Semitic overtones, the University of Liege in Belgium set up a pedagogic team to sensitize students to race issues.
The event, which had been planned for October 18, was an initiation ceremony for students of the university's philosophy and literature faculty. Themed around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the pamphlet of the ceremony warned the students seeking to be initiated, whom the invitation called "little Palestinians," to "watch out for the big, mean Jew and to settle in safely and happily, if possible."
The university's rector, Albert Corhay, condemned the event and demanded it be canceled and that organizers publicly apologize. The university, he said in a statement, "cannot accept this insult in the form of a folkloric activity. There can be no question of hiding behind satire or humor. The nature of this activity is simply ignominious."
On Friday, faculty from the university told the Belga news agency they have set up the team for sensitizing students to ethnic issues.

Revolutionary Data Storage CTERA Picked by Amazon for Web Services

CTERA Networks has been designated by Amazon Web Services (AWS) to be a Storage Competency partner as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN) Competency Program. CTERA said that its inclusion in the program is based on customer successes, technical proficiency, and its cloud-enabled enterprise storage portfolio.
Cloud computing may be the wave of the future, but it is far from secure and a lot of work still needs to be done to perfect it. Just ask all of those women celebrities whose naked pictures were stolen and released over the Internet. And Snapchat just had a million private pictures belonging to its users hacked.
Based in Petah Tikva, CTERA declares that it revolutionizes storage, data protection and collaboration for enterprises and SMBs. Its hybrid architecture combines secure cloud storage services with on-premises appliances and managed agents. The company says that its scalable cloud service delivery platform is used by leading service providers and enterprises, on the public or private cloud infrastructure of their choice.

China backs 'easier-to-stomach' Israeli colon screening

A major Chinese company is investing Israel's Check-Cap, developer of a new technology to allow for non-invasive colon cancer screening that could save millions of lives. The company claims its little pill-like gadget avoids the extremely unpleasant laxative-enema colon "cleaning" process and the uncomfortable colonoscopy, too. The device is still in the testing stage, but if all this pans out, the hope is that many more people will go for a checkup that can catch deadly colon cancer before it's too late.
Fosun Pharmaceuticals, a division of the biggest company in China, led the round that brought an additional $12 million in financing. The funding is a line of credit that Check-Cap can draw on, and the investors have the option to convert the loans into shares in the company.

Dry California welcomes Israeli water expert

Prof. Eilon Adar, director of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev's Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, is visiting California to share technology and experience in dealing with scarce water resources.
The world-renowned hydrologist is touring East Bay water facilities with state and regional water experts, as part of a historic technology-sharing agreement signed last year by California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"As an issue of national security, Israel has successfully made itself water independent," said California Natural Resources Agency Secretary John Laird. "With a similar climate, California is poised to benefit greatly from Prof. Adar and researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev as we plan for ways to better manage water, particularly in times of severe drought."

Filipino diplomat lauds Jewish community for typhoon aid

The Philippines ambassador to the United States praised the Jewish community for its help in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.
"The Filipino people will always remember that during their time of need, the Jewish people came to their succor the same way we did when we opened our door to them to save them from Nazi persecution more than seven decades ago," Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr. said in remarks during a recent screening of the documentary "Rescue in the Philippines: Refuge from the Holocaust" at the Philippine Embassy in Washington.
Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever, killed more than 6,000 people and displaced millions last November. While the damage was heaviest in the Philippines, the typhoon also killed people in China, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Israeli University honors Pope Francis for extending warmth towards Jewish nation

On Monday the Pope received an audience at the Vatican from Bar Ilan University to accept the Israeli university's highest honor and award of distinction.
A spokesperson from the Israeli university said they honored the Pope for "his contribution to understanding and tolerance between Christians and Jews and the warmth he has extended toward the Jewish nation, particularly during his official visit to Israel."
Pope Francis visited the Holy Land for the first time in May and he called for peace in the region. Since then, the Pope has been a voice of reason and worked to create peace in the Middle East not only in Israel, but in other countries too.

Israel to Deliver 49 Drones to India to Keep an Eye on China and Pakistan

Recently, the Northern Command of the Indian Army purchased 49 aerial drones from Israel to monitor the border region separating India from China and Pakistan.
According to Pakistan Today (PT), "The Indian Army will deploy the drones to carry out reconnaissance mission[s] over its disputed border areas after 50 soldiers from China's People's Liberation Army were found setting up camp in the remote region of eastern Ladakh, which is also claimed by India, on the night of April 15."
Breitbart News previously reported alleged Chinese troop incursions into Ladakh in mid-August. And The Times of India reported that "nearly 1,000 Chinese soldiers" entered the region on September 18 and "refused to go back" once inside the country.
Purchasing drones from Israel is meant to combat this, and PT reports that they are expected be "game changers" in the "territorial dispute with China."

7 Soldiers, 7 Countries, 7 Days

Israel is a country made up of a diverse social fabric of cultures and ethnicities. The IDF is the army of the nation and therefore also represents this diversity. The following are seven stories from seven distinct individuals, told over seven days.

Brothers in arms: Three brothers make aliyah to join IDF

Yarden Yaniv, 18, is the youngest of three brothers to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces as a combat soldier. He will be joining his brothers, Eitan, 20, who is serving in the Nahal Brigade, and Daniel, 22, who is in the Givati Brigade.
All three brothers left their parents, Wendy and Yaron, in Atlanta to fulfill their dream of joining the IDF and contributing to Israel's security.
Yarden Yaniv arrived in Israel during Operation Protective Edge and is staying at Kibbutz Magen along the Gaza border. He will be recruited in two months through the Garin Tzabar program, a joint initiative of the Israeli Scouts Movement, the Kibbutz Movement, the Jewish Agency's Masa program, Nefesh B'Nefesh and the Absorption Ministry.
"We all studied at Jewish schools and were part of Atlanta's Jewish community," Yarden said. "It's been clear to me since I was a child that after high school I would go to Israel and join the IDF.

Tel Aviv Named One of the World's Top Culinary Cities

Tel Aviv-Jaffa, the cultural capital of Israel, has now been declared an international culinary capital in Saveur Magazine's annual rankings of the world's best food destinations.
The prestigious American food and lifestyle magazine rated Tel Aviv "Outstanding" along with Florence, Italy, and the French city of Lyon in the category of Best Culinary Destination, Small International, which refers to cities with a population of under 800,000. It also rated Tel Aviv "Outstanding" in the category for Best Markets and Shops, International, where it appeared alongside culinary powerhouses Paris and Barcelona.

Ari Lesser Raps About Hamas on The Rick Amato Show, One America News Network, October 22, 2104

Ari Lesser, Israeli Rapper, Israel Advocate, @AriTheMC raps about Hamas on The Rick Amato how on One American News Network out of San Diego, California October 22, 2014
"Boycott Israel" points out the double standard in singling out only Israel for boycotts and not looking at abuses in other countries.
"Hamas" produced with StandWithUs, puts the blame on Hamas, which rules the Gaza strip, for provoking the violence there in the summer of 2014.
Both went viral with hundreds of thousands of views.