01/19 Links Pt2: Palestine? No, Southern Syria; The Departure of the Jews and the Decline of Western Europe ~ EoZ

From Ian:

LEAGUE OF NATIONS PERMANENT MANDATES COMMISSION
MINUTES OF THE NINTH SESSION
Held at Geneva from June 8th to 25th, 1926
Arab Grievances.
M. PALACIOS, returning to the concrete questions of a general character of which the Arabs complained, recalled those concerning the national title, the national hymn and the flag. These were really thorny questions, like all sentimental and patriotic questions, regarding which it was necessary to observe complete prudence and tact.
As regards the first point, the Arabs claimed that it was not in conformity with Article 22 of the Mandate to print the initials and even the words "Eretz Israel" after the name "Palestine" while refusing the Arabs the title "Surial Janonbiah" ("Southern Syria"). The British Government had not accepted the use of this Arab title, but gave the place of honour to the Hebrew word used for 2,000 years and decided that the official name in Hebrew was "Palestina" followed by the initials signifying "Aleph Jod", the regular Hebrew name. Was the question still under discussion and could the accredited representative give the Commission any further information?
Colonel SYMES explained that the country was described as "Palestine" by Europeans and as "Falestin" by the Arabs. The Hebrew name for the country was the designation "Land of Israel", and the Government, to meet Jewish wishes, had agreed that the word "Palestine" in Hebrew characters should be followed in all official documents by the initials which stood for that designation. As a set-off to this, certain of the Arab politicians suggested that the country should be called "Southern Syria" in order to emphasise its close relation with another Arab State.

Breaking the Silence's Smear Campaign Only Serves Israel's Enemies

The operation of NATO air and ground forces in Bosnia and Kosovo in 1999 can hardly be held up as an example of moral standards in warfare for the IDF. Not to mention the Vietnam War. And who dares to look for earlier examples? All this is relevant to Breaking the Silence because of the funding this campaign receives from abroad. Close to 70 percent of the budget for this campaign comes from foreign governments. Which governments? Among them are the European Union, Norway, Germany, Holland, Britain and others whose armed forces participated in the NATO operations in Bosnia and Kosovo, where you would have to look very hard to find examples of moral standards that equal those of the IDF.
The best proof of the recognition by Israel’s enemies of the IDF’s moral standards and its attempts to minimize, as far as possible, civilian casualties is the strategy adopted by Hamas and Hezbollah of emplacing their weapons and command centers among the civilian population, and even in schools and hospitals, counting on Israel’s reticence to attack such targets. This is unprecedented in the annals of warfare. Armies in past wars saw no use in hiding behind civilians, knowing well that both sides to the conflict had little concern for civilian casualties.
Yes, the IDF can serve as an example of high moral standards to the armed forces of nations in the world. And yet, if the activists of Breaking the Silence were simply trying to bring to the attention of the IDF brass some infractions committed by soldiers that have come to their attention and that may have escaped their notice, it would be praiseworthy. But hawking these infractions, some no doubt imaginary, abroad, is an obvious attempt to smear Israel. Those who eagerly lap up the “stories’ they provide are the activists of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, the haters of Israel and anti-Semites around the world. They surely know that. The “silence” they claim to be breaking does not exist. They are simply aiding Israel’s enemies using funds provided by foreign governments. (h/t Bob Knot)

Michael Lumish: The Departure of the Jews and the Decline of Western Europe

Jews in Europe are not only losing their rights to walk in safety in the streets of their towns and neighborhoods, they are even being robbed of their public identity as Jews so that their "filthy-footed" presence does not incite the local Jihadis or Islamists into fits of bloody genocidal rage.
Meotti writes:
Before the attack in Copenhagen, a year ago, there were 23 children in the Jewish kindergarten in Malmö: today there are only 5 left. The armed guards in front of the school triggered panic and parents prefer to enroll their children in public school. It is the end of Jewish identity. Some people whispered that the synagogue of the city will soon be turned into a museum. From 2010 to today, the synagogue lost a third of the faithful. The rabbi, Shneur Kesselman, is constantly attacked in the streets: almost 200 episodes of anti-Semitism in ten years.
But this kind of thing has been going on for the Jews of western Europe, and particularly towns with high rates of Arab-Muslim immigration like Malmö, for many years now. It is not an exaggeration to say that traditional Arab-Muslim violent prejudice against Jews, now justified through the demonization of the Jewish state, is driving Jews out of their homes in Europe.
If a Jew cannot walk down the streets of Marseille without looking over his shoulder for the sudden appearance of a knife-wielding maniac screeching "Alahu Akbar" then Jews have lost their freedom to live like normal human beings in the European countries of their birth.
According to Meotti, a European Jewish Congress poll shows that around one-third of European Jewry, about 700,000 people, is considering emigration out of what is becoming a European nightmare.

PMW presenting to MPs in Swedish Parliament today

Following Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström's anti-Israel statements last week, PMW director Itamar Marcus was invited by Swedish MP Mikael Oscarsson to Swedish Parliament to discuss the current Palestinian terror wave.
Marcus will show that PA and Fatah leaders have been active supporters of the current terror campaign, encouraging the terror, and honoring, glorifying and rewarding the terrorists.
Marcus will also respond to Swedish FM Wallström's statement last week in which she called to investigate what she said may be "extrajudicial killings" of Palestinians. Marcus will demonstrate how such statements only serve to perpetuate the current terror campaign and the PA's promotion of continued terror.

Top diplomat: Israel has contacts with almost every Arab state

Israel can communicate today with “almost every Arab state,” as long as it then does not make it to the front page of the daily newspapers, Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold said Tuesday.
Gold's comments to the Institute of Security Studies' (INSS) annual conference in Tel Aviv came a day after reports that National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Minister Yuval Steinitz was in Abu Dhabi for talks with Emirati officials this week.
Gold himself was in Abu Dhabi in November, paving the way for the opening of an Israeli office accredited to the International Renewable Energy Agency located there.
“We have a lack of agreement with different countries in the world,” Gold said. “It is no secret that we have problems in Europe. But there are many countries open to Israel today, and those who say we are isolated do not know what they are talking about.”
The main change, and Gold called it a “dramatic change,” is “the willingness in the Arab world for ties with Israel under the table.” Gold said he travels to various capitals in the Arab world as part of his job, though he did not disclose which.

Israeli energy minister said to make secret visit to Abu Dhabi

Israel’s energy minister returned Monday from a visit to Abu Dhabi, where he met with several officials to discuss shared concerns over Iran, the Islamic State and other matters, a TV report said.
The Likud party’s Yuval Steinitz, who until recently also served as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s point man on matters relating to Iran’s nuclear program, made the trip under “heavy security,” Channel 2 reported, and his office declined to confirm that it had taken place.
The report noted that Israel, the Gulf principalities and other Sunni Arab states have several “shared concerns.” It added that the trip took place just as the international community began implementing the nuclear deal with Iran, marked by a lifting of economic sanctions.

PA official: Netanyahu has destroyed Arab 'culture of peace'

According to Erekat, this is not the first time Israel has kept agents and spies among the upper echelons of the PA's leadership, nor is it the first time to happen within his own offices.
Palestinian security forces confirmed to Channel 10 that despite the political deadlock, Israel still has spies operating in PA-controlled territories and an extensive search will soon be underway to locate them.
When asked about the freeze in negotiations, Erkat asserted he had "sent a letter to all of the EU's foreign ministers updating them on the 'achievements' of the Netanyahu government with regard to settlements, land confiscation and destruction of the two-state solution."
"I think Netanyahu has succeeded in destroying the culture of peace from the minds of our people," he added.

Bush slams Clinton, Slaughter over proposal to ‘shame Israel’

Republican presidential candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s campaign attacked Democratic rival Hillary Clinton Sunday for expressing interest in a “proposal to ‘shame’ Israel.”
Last week, after the State Department released nearly 3,000 pages of Clinton’s emails from her tenure as secretary of state from 2009 till 2013, it came to light that former State Department Director of Policy Planning Anne Marie Slaughter emailed then-secretary Clinton to propose the launch of a “Pledge for Palestine” campaign modeled after Warren Buffett’s “The Giving Pledge,” which encourages wealthy individuals to donate to charitable causes.
In her email, sent on September 28, 2010, Slaughter said that such a campaign would shame Israelis into supporting Palestinian statehood and halting settlement construction in the West Bank.
Coming near the end of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 10-month settlement freeze, which began in November 2009, Slaughter insisted that “a campaign among billionaires/multi-millionaires around the world would reflect a strong vote of confidence in the building of a Palestinian state and could offset the ending of the moratorium for Palestinians.” She added, “There would be a certain shaming effect [regarding] Israelis, who would be building settlements in the face of the pledge for peace.”

UK Parliament considers bill supporting IDF draft dodger

English MP Caroline Lucas has submitted a proposal to express solidarity with Tair Kaminer, an Israeli teen who received a 20-day jail sentence for refusing to join the IDF.
The motion states that "This house... applauds the courage, tenacity and principles of Tair Kaminer, and all other conscientious objectors, in taking a brave position in a country which has been at war since its creation in 1948 and in a society which is seems to continue to become increasingly militarised."
Lucas is the first Green Party member to be elected to the UK's parliament. She has previously expressed her admiration for vandals who destroyed £200,000 ($285,000 US) worth of industrial equipment because the factory produces materials used by the IDF. Despite being a member of the Greens, she has called for a boycott against Arad Technologies, a company that produced environmentally-friendly water filters.
Kaminer says that she is protesting against Israel's policies towards Palestinians, and has called on the government to renew negotiations.

J Street takes aim at GOP senators who opposed Iran deal

J Street will focus this year on unseating Republican senators in Illinois and Wisconsin who led opposition to the Iran nuclear deal.
In an interview with JTA on Friday, Ben Shnider, political director of the liberal Jewish Middle East policy group, said the organization would focus on defeating Sen. Mark Kirk from Illinois and Sen. Ron Johnson from Wisconsin.
“They were two of the biggest detractors of the deal,” said Shnider, referring to the nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers. “Iran is being defanged, and they stood in the way.”
The deal, in which Iran gained relief from international sanctions in exchange for rolling back elements of its nuclear program, went into effect this weekend after UN inspectors confirmed Iran had met its obligations under the agreement.

Al-Aksa incitement propaganda and the dirty role of Palestinian politics in Pakistan

The Palestinians were different. What I found out was disturbing. Our mosques were getting funds from international Islamic NGOs run by Saudi Arabia and Iran to promote anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and Anti-Jewish sentiment in the country, to further their political agendas.
Local mullahs were trained to recruit innocent Pakistani Muslims – many of whom would willingly give their lives based on these imams’ fatwas. The government of Pakistan had continually sponsored PLO fighters by issuing thousands of university scholarships. These mullahs had never visited Israel, had never met with any Palestinian before and had never studied the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. These hateful mullahs had only one concern: international Islamic funds to satisfy their greed.
PLO fighters were more interested in their un-Islamic activities than in study, they were fighting with locals and police had strict orders not to arrest them.
I was heartbroken, crushed. All my life I had been taught to hate the Jews – but my Palestinian neighbors forced me to change my thinking. In Pakistan, we are taught the lie that al-Aksa is in danger, that the Israelis are faithfully plotting to destroy our first house of Allah and that we need to stop the Zionists. What we are not told is that Jordan maintains administrative oversight of the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif. There is effectively no Israeli control of al-Aksa whatsoever.
In over 40 years, despite the constant religious incitement I have yet to see al-Aksa endangered by Israelis in any way. Palestinians, on the other hand, have disrespected the purity of the Holy Masjid several times during that period – and no Muslim ever condemned these unholy acts committed by violent Palestinians.
The author is an independent researcher focusing on counter- terrorism and violent extremism.

IDF chief: Iran deal raises specter of proxy wars with Israel

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot said Monday that Iran will likely honor the nuclear deal reached with world powers in the coming years, but intensify its proxy war with Israel through the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and other armed groups. He also anticipated that Iran would start allocating increased funds to terror groups, and called the deal a “strategic turning point” as regards the challenges to Israel.
Still, Eisenkot said the landmark agreement could present Israel with opportunities in the future.
He also warned that terror in the West Bank was unlikely to abate anytime soon.
“The [nuclear] deal presents a number of challenges, But also opportunities” in the coming five years as Iran acts more behind the scene, Eisenkot said.
He did not elaborate on what the opportunities could be, but Israeli officials in the past have pointed to an opening for increased cooperation with Sunni Gulf states also opposed to Iranian hegemony in the wake of the agreement.

Sherman: Iran Will Never Get Nuclear Weapon Because It Committed Not to in Deal

Ambassador Wendy Sherman, who led U.S. nuclear negotiations with Iran for President Obama, said Monday that the Iran nuclear deal ensures the Islamic Republic will never get a nuclear weapon because Tehran said in the agreement that it will not do so.
Sherman made her comment while appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss U.S.-Iran relations after the nuclear accord’s implementation on Saturday. The deal stipulates that Iran will take steps to curb its nuclear program in exchange for large-scale sanctions relief in an effort to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, challenged Sherman’s assertion that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon because of the nuclear deal.
“I understand why you would say that this deal makes it difficult for Iran to get a nuclear weapon for the next 10 or 15 years, but I don’t understand your use of the word ‘never,’” Haass said. “Because, as you know better than anyone, the limits on centrifuges and enriched uranium expire after 10 and 15 years. So how can you or anyone say this agreement makes sure Iran will never get nuclear weapons?”
“The reason I say never is, A, the deal makes the commitment by Iran that it will never get a nuclear weapon,” Sherman said.

Obama Pardons 21 Iranians Convicted of Violating Sanctions

The Obama administration confirmed late Sunday it had delayed the imposition of new ballistic missile sanctions on Iran to ensure the Islamic Republic released five imprisoned Americans under a secret agreement reached on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations, according to senior administration officials.
The officials confirmed that “secret” talks between U.S. and Iranian officials had been taking place for the past 14 months.
In exchange for the release of the five Americans—including a Washington Post reporter and Christian pastor—the Obama administration pardoned or dropped charges on 21 Iranians convicted of violating U.S. sanctions, including seven who had been detained in the United States, according to a State Department official who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon on background.
Iran, however, said that the number of those “privileged by the deal” stands at 28, though it did not provide evidence to back this claim.

Family of American Still Held Hostage in Iran: We Feel ‘Betrayed’ by Obama Administration

The family of Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who was taken hostage in Iran in 2007, told ABC News Monday that they feel “betrayed” by the Obama administration.
“I’m very disappointed and feel extremely betrayed by them. They have done nothing to get in touch with me, other than after I asked them to,” Christine Levinson, Robert’s wife, said.
ABC anchor David Muir said that the Levinson family “never got a call from the White House that their loved one would not be included” in the recent exchange of four Americans that were imprisoned in Iran. Instead, the Levinson family heard about the prisoner exchange “on television.”
Levinson’s family said that Robert is a patriot whose loyalty to his country has not been reciprocated by the current administration.
“Your father is the American left behind,” ABC reporter Brian Ross said.
“Absolutely,” Dan Levinson, Robert’s son, said. “Who was serving his country, and his country hasn’t done its duty to get him home.”

Iraqi Police Say 3 Americans Abducted by Iran-Backed Shiite Militia

Iraqi security forces believe that the three Americans recently kidnapped in Baghdad were taken by Iran-backed Shiite militias.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Iraqi police were engaged in a search effort Monday for the Americans, flying helicopters over the southern Dora neighborhood of the Iraqi capital where authorities say the Americans were abducted. Police had also set up checkpoints in the area.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad confirmed earlier that “several” Americans were reported missing in the city. The State Department has also said that it was aware of the reports and working with Iraqi authorities to locate the missing individuals.
American officials have not offered details on the Americans nor on the circumstances surrounding their disappearance. According to Iraqi officials, the three individuals were kidnapped in the Dora neighborhood, which is controlled by Shiite militias, including some backed by Iran that the U.S. government designates as terrorist groups.
The abductors were reportedly wearing military uniforms when they took the three Americans.

Bernie Sanders calls for normalizing ties with Iran

Bernie Sanders, the Jewish senator vying for the Democratic presidential nod, called for normalizing relations with Iran.
“I think what we’ve got to do is move as aggressively as we can to normalize relations with Iran,” Sen. Sanders, I-Vt., said Sunday evening during a debate with his rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Martin O’Malley in South Carolina.
The NBC debate moderators launched the foreign policy section of the debate in its second hour with a request for responses to the formal implementation this weekend of the sanctions relief for nuclear restrictions deal reached last year between Iran and six major powers. On Saturday, UN inspectors certified Iran had rolled back its nuclear program and the United States and Europe lifted some sanctions.
Sanders’s call for normalization goes beyond President Barack Obama’s stated agenda, which is to neutralize Iran’s nuclear threat while continuing to confront its disruptions in the region through separate sanctions and diplomatic pressure.

Thousands call for justice at memorial for slain Argentine prosecutor

A year after the mysterious death of Argentinian prosecutor Alberto Nisman, thousands turned out Monday to pay their respects in Buenos Aires in a ceremony marked by a single word: justicia.
A candlelight vigil organized by the Jewish community was held at sundown at Buenos Aires’s Plaza Alemania, a wooded park in the northern neighborhood of Palermo.
Ariel Cohen Sabban, president of the Argentine Jewish umbrella group DAIA, said that Nisman’s shooting death, originally ruled a suicide but which many are calling an assassination, “constitutes a new attack that conspires against the possibility of advancing justice” over the 1994 AMIA bombing that left 85 dead and a Jewish community traumatized.
Nisman, who had identified the Hezbollah suicide bomber and traced the AMIA bombing to Iran, was investigating due to testify against then-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s alleged coverup of Iranian responsibility on the day after he was found dead in his Buenos Aires apartment.
“The tragic death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman marked a sinister turning point in our recent history,” Sabban said. “We want to know how the gun went off and who did it.
“How is it possible that a year of investigations led to absolutely nothing?”

Washington Times Ed: Bloviation, demand and swagger

The Palestinians make a point of saying the BDS movement must be nonviolent, making it easier to recruit allies in the faculty lounges of American and British universities, but some demonstrations, particularly in Australia and South Africa, became violent. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which monitors these things, notes that the BDS movement has made a point of not denouncing political violence against Israelis and other Jews.
The campaign has hardly succeeded — the Wall is still there, and so is Israel — but the beat goes on. The reason it has not accomplished its goals, Adrienne Yaron observes in the Jerusalem Post, is that it can’t succeed unless millions of people across the globe are willing to give up their necessities, luxuries and even their health. Of Israel’s top 10 exports, only two are consumer products, ordinarily vulnerable to boycotts, and these two are pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
Do the boycotters propose, she asks, that “anyone with AIDS or HIV [infections] boycott the best HIV medications available? Or that diabetics will boycott the easiest and most painless insulin administrators, or the newly developed artificial pancreas? Will blind people really refuse to use technology that describes the world to them in real time because it was engineered by an Israeli?”

LGBTQ group bows to pressure from pro-Palestinians, cancels event with Israeli gay leader

The National LGBTQ Task Force, a US umbrella organization, announced Tuesday it was reversing an earlier decision to cancel an event hosted by A Wider Bridge, an NGO that seeks to build ties between the US and Israeli gay communities.
“Having taken in a range of information and seeing what has happened over the last couple of days, I have decided to reverse our decision to cancel the ‘Beyond the Bridge’ reception hosted by A Wider Bridge with guest speakers from the Jerusalem Open House,” said Rea Carey, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, in a statement Tuesday.
“It is our belief that when faced with choices, we should move towards our core value of inclusion and opportunities for constructive dialogue and canceling the reception was a mistake.”
The reception was originally schedule to go ahead this Friday as part of the task force’s “Creating Change” conference in Chicago this week.
But on Sunday, National LGBTQ Task Force deputy executive director Russell Roybal issued a statement saying: “We canceled the event as we were concerned about the possibility of this reception becoming intensely divisive rather than a casual and fun social event.”
Activists critical of Israel had been pressuring the organizers of the conference to cancel the event. (h/t Bob Knot)

Israel Sailing demands assurances of future participation from World Sailing

Israel's Yoav Omer and Noy Drihan did not have an opportunity to defend their titles at the championships in Langkawi, Malaysia earlier this month after the ISA said that it will not be participating in the event due to the demands made by the organizers and the fact the surfers had yet to receive visas. The ISA claimed that it was told the surfers would not compete under the Israel flag and wouldn't be allowed to use any symbol identifiable with Israel on their cloths or surfboards.
"The ISA is demanding to receive a guarantee that Israel's athletes will compete as equals according to the Olympic Charter, including with all accepted national symbols," said ISA chairman Gili Amir. "We are also demanding that a competition will be moved should visas not be provided and should athletes be unable to compete with national symbols." World Sailing wrote in its statement last week that "all World Sailing championships involve an element of country representation, and at all these regattas, flags shall be displayed and winners' anthems played.
They shall be displayed and played equally for all competitors.
Organizing Authorities who are not able to meet this requirement should not bid, and will not be selected, to host future World Sailing championships."

Police Complaint Filed Against New Israel Fund Today in Jerusalem

A complaint was filed with the Jerusalem police against the New Israel Fund (NIF) today following a rejection by the city of Jerusalem of their proposed ads, which were rejected for incitement to violence or to terrorism, and of publishing libelous speech with the intent to cause harm.
NIF attempted to place ads throughout Jerusalem in which a picture of the late Prime Minister Rabin appears with the text “They already dealt with this planted agent.”
The NIF’s campaign attempts to spin the Israeli public following the arrest of a left-wing extremist, Ezra Nawi for turning in to the Palestinian authorities Arab citizens who chose to sell land to Jews, and it was revealed that “Breaking the Silence” gave Nawi cash in order to organize protests against soldiers, and the ties between “Breaking the Silence” and the BDS movement against Israel.
It is believed NIF attempted to run these ads to accuse “Im Tirtzu,” an Israeli NGO, of Rabin’s assassination.

MLK Day Conference to Defend Christian Support for Israel

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) will host a conference in Los Angeles on Monday to “challenge Palestinian lies” and address efforts to undermine Evangelical Christian support for the State of Israel.
Antisemitism has reached new heights throughout the western world. While Christians are among the strongest allies of the Jewish state and its people, CAMERA points out that a new anti-Israel effort is attempting to dismantle Christian support for Israel. In a video ad promoting Monday’s conference, CAMERA says that “Palestinian advocates are pushing a false narrative that Jesus wasn’t Jewish, but a Palestinian. This false narrative is making inroads into the Evangelical Christian community and undermining traditional Christian support for Israel.”
CAMERA notes that Israel’s enemies are well aware that evangelical support for Israel is a major political obstacle in their effort to turn the United States against Israel. As such, one major goal of the January 18 conference is to provide attendees with “the tools to understand and respond to deceptive assault on Christian support for Israel” and to offer ways to strengthen joint Christian and Jewish efforts to combat growing anti-Israel movements in the church.
Christianity has also been on the decline in many parts of the Middle East as the rise of Muslim extremists, like the so-called Islamic State, target followers of the faith.

IsraellyCool: YouTube Convicts Brian Of Spreading Hate Speech

The story so far: Shurat Ha’din makes a simple video showing how Facebook tolerates hate speech toward Jews and Israel more than toward Palestinians.
I make a simple video showing that features of Facebook allow hate speech about Jews to be hidden (by page administrators often) from the largest population of Jews, in Israel. My video gets shared by Shurat Ha’din and even Channel 10 news starts talking to me. I uploaded my video to YouTube because YouTube videos are easier to share on Israellycool.
Yup, that’s right, my video highlighting hate has been classified as hate and removed and I get a “Community Guidelines” strike against my name for hate speech!
Clearly this is the usual scheme of a team of Jew haters ganging up to report my video as hate speech. Perhaps a human reviewed the title, even that’s doubtful and bang it’s gone and I stand convicted of disseminating “hate speech”.

Jewish Cemetery In Germany Desecrated for Third Time in Three Months

A Jewish cemetery in Germany was desecrated for the third time in three months, according to a UK project that cited the German newspaper Hannoversche Allgemeine.
The project — #Everyday Antisemitism — part of the UK’s Campaign Against Antisemitism, reported on Friday that unknown perpetrators ripped out two Jewish gravestones at the cemetery in Hannover and smashed a window adjacent to a sermon hall. The month before, in December, gravestones were also pulled out and desecrated. In November, vandals spray-painted a grave with a swastika and broke the glass windows of the sermon hall.

Oscar nominee 'Son of Saul' draws anti-Semitic backlash

Some in Hungary see Oscar nominee 'Son of Saul' as Holocaust hoax
Some Hungarians have responded with anti-Semitic abuse to the news that the acclaimed film "Son of Saul," which is set in Auschwitz during World War II, may win this year's Academy Award for best foreign film.
Directed by Laszlo Nemes, the film won the jury's Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in May and a Golden Globe earlier this month.
The movie tells the tale of a Jewish Sonderkommando in Auschwitz, who finds a corpse he believes to be his son and decides to provide him with a dignified burial. Sonderkommandos were prisoners who were forced to dispose of the gas chamber victims in the death camps during the Holocaust.
According to the Australian newspaper The Age, some Hungarians are calling the movie "Holokamu" ("Holocaust hoax"). One Holocaust-denier denounced the film as "science fiction" on his Facebook page.
Other responses included "Jewish propaganda!" and "For Jews, about Jews," the Jewish Press reported, while other responses were far more extreme.

Israeli tech aids Amazon with its new target: the T-shirt business

After revolutionizing electronic publishing, essentially enabling anyone who was interested to become a self-published author of e-books, Amazon is turning its attention to another business – T-shirts. With its new Merch program, Amazon allows anyone to get into the T-shirt business, with custom designs, logos, photos, or anything else – and it’s using digital apparel printing technology from Israel’s Kornit Digital to do it.
Last week, Rosh Ha’ayin-based Kornit announced that its flagship high-productivity system, the Avalanche 1000, was chosen for the on-demand production of promotional textiles as part of Amazon’s recently announced Merch program.
“State-of-the-art mass customization means benefiting from the economies of scale while providing a customized, high-quality product to every single customer,” said Sarel Ashkenazy, Kornit’s executive vice president of sales. “Kornit has a reputation and solid expertise in this field, based on its vast worldwide installed base.”

World Bank wants Israeli heath-tech for India

A new project of the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation will seek out Israeli technologies to develop and commercialize for emerging markets, beginning with India.
The agreement launching TechEmerge in Israel was signed on January 13 at the second annual Foreign Trade Conference hosted by the Foreign Trade Administration at the Ministry of Economy and Industry in Tel Aviv.
“We are looking at companies from Israel and elsewhere to be able to bring their technology to where it is needed most – emerging markets where there is an opportunity, where there is a scale and where there is a chance to do something which hasn’t been done before,” said Alzbeta Klein, global co-head of the IFC Investment Fund of the World Bank Group.
The pilot phase of TechEmerge will focus on health in India, matching top health technology innovators with interested healthcare providers in India. These pairs will explore how the technology can be implemented to benefit healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.
“Around a dozen leading private-sector healthcare providers in India have signed up and are looking for new technologies for point of care, remote monitoring, patient engagement, and telehealth, among others,” said Ruzgar Barisik, IFC Venture Capital senior investment officer.

Muslim woman exudes love for 'magical' Israel

Farhana Rahman, a young Muslim woman from New York who is employed in an Israeli mobile app startup named Zula, posted a Facebook status full of boundless love for the state of Israel and its citizens Sunday. For those demoralized by the news these days, it is a true must-read.
"As I am typing this," she wrote upon returning to the US from her second-ever trip to Israel, "my heart is still pounding quite hard, and there is still that yearning to go back."
What followed was an exuberant post full of love for the Jewish state and its residents:
"Muslim me went to the heart of Israel, and exploded- with emotions. And with sentiment," she declared.
"Because everyone loved me. Everyone went out of their way to love me. No one could dare say that my online friends in Israel aren't real friends. Because yes they are. It's insulting for me to even refer to them as my friends. It is also insulting for me to refer to them as my family. They are a part of me. My lifeblood. They collectively transformed me into a much better version of myself."

Baryshnikov returns to Tel Aviv with solo show

When Mikhail Baryshnikov performs his one-man show “Brodsky/Baryshnikov” on the Suzanne Dellal stage this week, he’ll be continuing a long romance with the Israeli dance theater, said Yair Vardi, director of the Tel Aviv center for dance and theater.
“It’s a long romance, it’s not something that started a minute ago,” Vardi added.
In fact, Baryshnikov likes Tel Aviv so much that he is starting the international tour of “Brodsky/Baryshnikov” in Tel Aviv before debuting in New York this spring.
“Why not?” crowed Vardi, who first saw the play in Riga, Baryshnikov’s birthplace, and where it ran for three weeks in December of last year. “We’re the second and then to New York. We’re before New York!”

Aussie singer Sia to play Tel Aviv in May

Sia, the Australian pop singer known for her hits “Chandelier” and “Elastic Heart,” will reportedly appear in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park at the end of May.
Concert promoter Ilan Elkayam of 3A Productions — LIVE in Israel told Israeli news website Ynet on Tuesday that Sia has signed a contract, but that no further information is available.
The pop star, whose full name is Sia Kate Isobelle Furler, has plenty of fans in Israel, plus Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an unwitting imitator of the pop singer.
Netanyahu was placed in 2014 in a video clip in which he sings along to Sia’s “Chandelier,” the song that describes her desire to enjoy life by wanting to drink a lot and “swing from the chandelier.”

UK Paralympic Star Calls for Minute's Silence to Honour Munich Olympic Massacre Dead

The 11 Israeli athletes massacred by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics should be honoured by a minute’s silence in Rio this year, according to one of Britain’s leading Paralympic competitors.
Ade Adepitan, who was awarded an MBE for his services to disability sport, told the Jewish News: “It was an atrocity which was committed in the Olympic Village, and of course that’s how we should remember and commemorate within the Olympic world”.
His call is not without precedent. The UK Jewish community lobbied hard for a minute’s silence to be included at the London Games in 2012 without success. A petition for such a tribute gained more than 80,000 signatures but the plea was still not granted.
munich massacre
Proponents were keen for the world to remember the horrific acts of violence visited on the Israeli team in the Olympic Village in Munich.

Archaeologists reveal shocking stories of their past

A European archaeologist completed excavations on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. According to the preliminary announcement, his team apparently tricked the Muslim authorities to conduct the courageous operation. He describes the guards as “African or Nubian men, of the most bigoted nature, who think nothing of life or the loss of it.” However, the excavator found a creative way to deceive the custodians.
First, the archaeologist managed to win the confidence of the Muslim guards, “So that instead of coming and throwing stones at me when I entered the Temple area by myself, they would stand up and deferentially salaam.” Then, the scholar, who had some impressive military experience, employed a diversionary tactic.
“On this occasion the guards were given a hint that they might obtain a smell of grilled lizard if they went in a certain direction. This was enough for them. They are greedily fond of the large lizards and were thus out of our way.”
“They once ate a very large pet lizard of mine which I wanted to send home to Zoological Gardens in London,” he added.
The above account is not a fictional scenario from a new Indiana Jones movie. The author of this fascinating description is British archaeologist Charles Warren, one of the most important explorers of Jerusalem.
These events took place in Jerusalem in 1867. Due to political and religious obstacles today, there have been no significant surveys below the ground on the Temple Mount since the 19th century. Warren’s reports on its underground chambers constitute probably most of what we know today about the concealed parts of the Sanctuary.

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