03/16 Links Pt2: Israel World’s 11th Happiest Country; When Saudi Arabia Was a Jewish Kingdom ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Israel World’s 11th Happiest Country Ahead of US, UK, France, Germany

The 2016 happiness index shows that there is a wide variation among countries and regions in their inequality of well-being, and in the extent to which these inequalities changed from 2005-2011 to 2012-2015. In the world as a whole, in eight of the 10 global regions, and in more than half of the countries surveyed there was a significant increase in the inequality of happiness. By contrast, no global region, and fewer than one in 10 countries, showed significant reductions in happiness inequality over that period.
But, according to the index, “people do care about the happiness of others, and how it is distributed. New research suggests that people are significantly happier living in societies where there is less inequality of happiness.”
Israel in 11th place is followed by Austria in 12th and the US in 13th. Germany is in 16th place, the UK in 23rd, and France is in 32nd, trailing the United Arab Emirate in 26th place. Surprisingly, Japan is in 53rd place.
The unhappiest country on the planet is Burundi, in 157th place, Syria is 156th, Afghanistan 154th and Yemen 147th. (h/t Yenta Press)

Before Islam: When Saudi Arabia Was a Jewish Kingdom

The discovery of the oldest-known pre-Islamic Arabic writing in Saudi Arabia, from ca. 470 CE, evidently caused some consternation, given its Christian and Jewish context.
In 2014, researchers from a French-Saudi expedition studying rock inscriptions in southern Saudi Arabia announced they had discovered what could be the oldest texts written in the Arabic alphabet. But they did so very quietly, perhaps because the context of the texts is something of an embarrassment to some.
The dozen or so engravings had been carved into the soft sandstone of the mountain passes around Bir Hima – a site about 100 kilometers north of the city of Najran, which over millennia has been plastered with thousands of inscriptions by passing travelers and officials. Conveniently, at least two of the early Arabic petroglyphs that were discovered cited dates in an ancient calendar, and expert epigraphists quickly calculated that the oldest one corresponded to the year 469 or 470 CE.
The discovery was sensational: the earliest ancient inscriptions using this pre-Islamic stage of Arabic script had been dated at least half a century later, and had all been found in Syria, which had suggested that the alphabet used to write the Koran had been developed far from the birthplace of Islam and its prophet.

High School Censors Swastikas, Missing Entire Point of Satirical Anti-Nazi Play, The Producers

Administrators have ordered the removal of swastikas from a high school production of The Producers, the famous Mel Brooks film that makes fun of Nazism.
The New York school district that oversees Tappan Zee High School considers the inclusion of a swastika to be offensive and, possibly, a hate crime—regardless of the context.
“There is no context in a public high school where a swastika is appropriate,” South Orangetown Superintendent Bob Pritchard told the local CBS station.
The kids in the play had a different reaction.
"It's satire, not supposed to be taken seriously," said Tyler Lowe, a student performer. CBS notes that Lowe is himself Jewish.

The Israel-Bashing Industry's "Intellectuals"

What is the only country about which can be said that its very existence is disputed? Clue: Not Zimbabwe, not Tuvalu, not even overrun Tibet. Which country's boundaries, bought with blood in wars initiated by others, are challenged by all nations, who now seem determined to destroy it through boycotts, unjust defamation and purported "laws" that are applied to no other nation?
Which country fully respects the rights of women and every kind of ethnic, religious and sexual minorities, notwithstanding that it is condemned at the United Nations for being "the worst violator of women's rights" -- worse than Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Sudan?
Which country provides its own enemy with water, electricity, food and medical treatment? Its military, to avoid enemy civilian casualties, warns its enemy to evacuate buildings before attacking them, and -- instead of simply carpet bombing the enemy as all other nations do, including most democracies -- sends its own soldiers possibly to die in ground operations?
The country is Israel -- the only country that even famous writers, intellectuals and Nobel laureates target, demonize and criminalize.

‘Intersectionality’ and the Bizarre World of Hating Israel

Have you heard of “intersectionality,” the latest strategy of Israel-haters who, like Alice in Lewis Carroll’s classic, reside in a “looking-glass world,” where clocks run backwards, language is nonsensical and everything is topsy-turvy?
Have you wondered why Black Lives Matter activists carry signs “Justice From Ferguson to Palestine,” seeking to link claims of American racism and police violence with claims of Israeli brutality against Palestinians?
How about the National Women’s Studies Association endorsing a boycott of Israel to condemn the “sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated [by Israel] against Palestinians,” making a fictitious claim about the only Middle Eastern country with full gender equality and ignoring repression of women’s rights in Palestinian society?
Jewish Voice for Peace, a rabidly anti-Israel organization, links the Palestinian issue to “the struggles of students of color, student survivors of sexual assault, and all others who on campus fight against oppression, whether imperialism, racism, patriarchy, police violence, or other systemic inequities.”

Brother of Toulouse killer to face special court

A special court will try the brother of Mohamed Merah, who killed seven people in a murderous spree in the French city of Toulouse in 2012, for complicity in the attacks, judicial sources said Wednesday.
Merah, a self-described Al-Qaeda sympathizer who had traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan, shot dead three Jewish schoolchildren, a teacher and three soldiers in Toulouse and nearby Montauban in a nine-day killing spree in March 2012.
His brother Abdelkader, who had been under closer scrutiny by intelligence services than Mohamed, claimed he was unaware of the plans for the attacks, which prompted stepped-up surveillance of suspected Islamic extremists.
Three anti-terrorist judges also ruled that another alleged accomplice, Fettah Malki, should appear before the panel of expert judges.

Brussels shootout: Four arrested as Islamic State flag found near the body of gunman

Paris and Brussels were at the heart of European anti-terror operations on Wednesday as secret agents swooped on four people thought to be planning an attack on the French capital while Belgium named an Algerian killed in a shootout on Tuesday.
In the Paris raid, three men and a woman were arrested in in the 18th arrondissement, home to Montmartre, and Seine-Saint-Denis, a northeastern suburb.
No weapons were found but electronic equipment was being analysed, French media reported. While police do not believe an attack was "imminent", they believe a plot was underway.
One of the suspects, a 28-year old Frenchman, was on a security watchlist after trying to travel to Syria in 2014.

The Mottle Wolfe Show [PodCast]:BDS Idiot

Author and Israel activist Barry Shaw discusses his new book ‘BDS for Idiots’ with Mottle on the show. Also US election update and a beautiful only in Israel ‘spooky’ story.

Im Tirzu report exposes Israelis behind 'Apartheid Week'

According to the report, one of the starring participants is Israeli organization Zochrot, with its Film Festival on Nakba and the Right of Return, which was aired at Columbia University in New York during this year's Israeli Apartheid Week earlier this month.
Additionally, the University of Valencia in Spain, the University of the West of England and the University of Sheffield in England each held viewings of the film "Five Broken Cameras," in which Israeli producer Guy Davidi documents the violent protests in the village of Bil’in. The film received 200,000 shekels ($51,000) in state funding and from the New Fund for Cinema and Television.
Another Israeli film shown during Israel Apartheid Week was "Roadmap to Apartheid" by Israeli filmmaker Eron Davidson.
According to Im Tirtzu, Israeli filmmaker Dror Dayan's film, "Even Though My Land is Burning," was shown in Berlin. The film documents Palestinian and Israeli activities against "the daily oppression and violence of the Israeli occupation."

LSE criticised after Islamic Society holds segregated gala dinner

The Islamic society at an elite university has been criticised for not being ‘open-minded’ after it held its annual gala dinner where men and women were separated by a screen running down the middle of the hall.
Muslim students from the London School of Economics (LSE) even had to purchase separate tickets at £20 each for ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’, it has emerged.
And when they arrived at the gala dinner, which was held Grand Connaught Rooms in central London, men and women were divided by a 7ft screen and left unable to see each other.
One of the attendees even made a joke of the segregation by posting a picture that said ‘Hello from the brothers’ side’, a reference to Adele’s hit song, MailOnline reported.
However, academics said the university context was not appropriate for ‘segregated events’ and it shows Muslim students are not being ‘open-minded’.
Yet, the LSE’s student union defended the event as being held in a ‘relaxed’ atmosphere where men and women did interact with each other.

IsraellyCool: Fact: Anti-Zionism And Antisemitism Are Inseparable

For some time now Dave has been running the popular game show “Anti-Zionist not Antisemite”. I don’t think he’s found a genuine Anti-Zionist who could rightfully claim to harbour no antisemitic views (or Jew hating views as I prefer to say).
Which means we can put the following meticulous research in the box of things we’re not surprised to see backed up by very hard data
The main findings from the Amcha Initiative:
- Campus antisemitism is highly prevalent in public and private schools with significant Jewish undergraduate populations, irrespective of school size.
- Strong correlation between anti-Zionist student groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and antisemitism.
- Strong correlation between the presence of faculty who have expressed public support for an academic boycott of Israel and antisemitism.
- BDS activity strongly correlates with antisemitic activity.
- Presence of SJP, faculty boycotters and BDS strong predictors of antisemitism.
- Anti-Zionism permeates and is inseparable from contemporary campus antisemitism.

Toronto U Faculty Join Academics at Other Colleges in Endorsing BDS

More than 130 faculty members and librarians at the University of Toronto (UT) have signed a petition calling on the university to divest from several companies that do business with Israel, The Algemeiner has learned. These individuals join faculty members at other major universities who, in recent weeks, have signed similar statements at their own institutions.
The UT petition, “Declaration of Faculty and Librarians in Support of the Graduate Student Union Campaign for Divestment from the Israeli Occupation,” calls for divestment from Northrop Grumman, Hewlett Packard and Lockheed Martin, as companies that “manufacture and sell weaponry and other technologies that are being used to destroy Palestinian lives and welfare on a daily basis,” and therefore “directly profit from the ongoing military occupation of Palestinian territories.”
With signatories from all three UT campuses and from over 38 academic departments, according to the group Modern Language Association Members for Justice in Palestine, the petition follows last week’s “Israeli Apartheid Week” in Toronto.

Oberlin Prof: School Working to Confront “Unprecedented Situation” Created by Karega’s Posts

Blecher agreed that “Professor Karega’s posts were unambiguously anti-Semitic,” and that “the main problem in her case lies even more in the fact that her assertions are simply false and for that reason are unworthy of Oberlin.” After consultations with students and faculty, Blecher wrote that he believed the school was “now working actively to deal with this unprecedented situation.”
He also acknowledged that those ongoing efforts will take some time. For example, Blecher stated that Oberlin’s Multicultural Resource Center “has been silent on anti-Semitism,” but wrote that this “is finally going to change.” He closed by hoping that Oberlin’s “firm response” to Karega would allow the school to “deal much better with the small number of instances where, as on other campuses, the rhetoric and politics have become overheated.”
Karega herself linked to Blecher’s article on her Facebook page alongside a disapproving comment. She subsequently removed that post, and put up a new post stating that she would now be “taking a Facebook sabbatical for a while.” Karega wrote on Facebook earlier this month that on advice her legal counsel, she would “no longer be making any statements concerning my situation at Oberlin.”

The Real Scandal at Oberlin Is Much Bigger Than One Professor’s Anti-Semitism

Amidst all this controversy about Karega’s lurid anti-Semitic outbursts, however, a much wider and more troubling failure by Oberlin has been overlooked. Because the truth is, the scandal at the prestigious school is much bigger than one professor’s anti-Semitism.
As the New York Times reported, Karega, a professor of rhetoric and composition, teaches “social justice writing courses.” According to Oberlin’s course catalog, one such class is “RHET 204 – Writing for Social Justice.” In it, “Students will develop, negotiate, and revise their own writing strategies and ethics as they write on social justice issues relevant to their interests.”
In other words, Oberlin hired an unrepentant bigot to teach undergraduates to write about justice and guide them in their moral development.
This astounding fact suggests that the entire hiring process for social justice-related fields at Oberlin is fundamentally broken and easily gamed. After all, it’s difficult to imagine a greater or more systemic failure than Karega being chosen to teach students how to communicate about moral causes.

British Justice Secretary Slams BDS, Says ‘We’ve Seen This Before, Know Where It Takes Us’

British Justice Secretary Michael Gove strongly criticized the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement for indulging in “prejudice rather than fighting it,” at an antisemitism conference in Berlin.
In his speech at the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism Conference in Berlin, Gove said he considers the BDS movement’s comparisons of Israel to apartheid South Africa “offensive.”
“Israel is a democracy in which all citizens are equal: whether Jewish, Arab, Christian, Muslim, of Ethiopian heritage, Bedouin and Druze — all have the same votes and rights, which is why Arab Muslim politicians sit in the Knesset and a distinguished Arab lawyer sits on Israel’s Supreme Court.”
“[The BDS movement] calls for the shunning of Jewish academics, the boycott of Jewish goods, the de-legitimisation of Jewish commerce. We have seen these all before. And we know where it takes us,” Gove said.

UK Labour activist suspended, again, for anti-Semitic remarks

The Labour Party in Britain has suspended a member for the second time for saying Jews have “big noses” and “slaughter the oppressed.”
Vicki Kirby, a former parliamentary candidate, was suspended Monday. Her comments in old tweets resurfaced after she was made a local vice chair of the party last week.
Other tweets claimed that Hitler might be the “Zionist God” and that she would make sure to have her “kids teach their children how evil Israel is.”
Kirby originally was suspended from the party in 2014. She was readmitted and appointed vice chairman of Labour’s branch in Woking, a town in the southeast Surrey county.

IsraellyCool: Ali Abunimah Boasts Of Receiving Visa To Australia

Despite seeming to fail the character requirements for entry into Australia, terror supporter Ali Abunimah has boasted of receiving the visa today.
....
Note the number of palestinians killed in Gaza they quote includes the terrorists – in addition to civilians deliberately placed in harm’s way by Hamas. Perhaps the Australian Immigration Minister can consult with retired Australian Major-General Jim Molan about Israel’s conduct during the wars.
They also portray Abunimah as a human rights advocate, as well as an advocate of peace. Yeah right.
This is a highly disappointing decision since Abunimah will now be able to spread his hate propaganda in Australia, inciting against Israel supporters there, of which the Jewish community are the majority. I truly hope the Australian Immigration Minister reconsiders.

LA Times Obscures Judith Butler's Anti-Zionism

She describes Judith Butler, a long-time anti-Zionist activist only as "a Berkeley professor of comparative literature who has written on Zionism." From Watanabe's incomplete and misleading description, readers would incorrectly conclude that Butler is an impartial academic who has written objectively about Zionism and who therefore is well positioned to give a balanced take on the UC draft.
The reality could not be further from the truth. Writing in Al Jazeera, Mark Levine, a professor of Middle Eastern History at UC Irvine, described Butler as "the literary critic and philosopher whose criticism of Israel and support for the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement have recently defined her in the public eye for more than her seminal research on feminist, queer, literary theory and political philosophy."
A member of the radical Jewish Voices for Peace, Butler's anti-Zionist views envision a "binational" state, commonly understood to mean the dissolution of the Jewish nation state.
Her anti-Israel views were on display in 2011 when she defended the anti-Israel terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah. She stated that "understanding Hamas, Hezbollah as social movements that are progressive, that are on the Left, that are part of a global Left, is extremely important."

Tortuous headlines for BBC report on Palestinian teacher’s prize

The Dehisheh refugee camp where Ms Al Hroub grew up and Al Bireh where she now works have of course both been under the full control of the Palestinian Authority for more than two decades and no effort is made to explain to readers why – unlike other descendants of refugees around the world – Ms Al Hroub’s pupils are still classified as refugees.
Associated Press staff in Dubai where the award ceremony took place reported that:
“As al-Hroub accepted her award, Palestinians in the audience waved their country’s flag and some chanted, fists pumping in the air, “With our souls, our blood, we sacrifice for you Palestine.””
That part of the story did not however appear in the BBC’s version of events.

Russia Reminds Obama: You Caved on Iran’s Missile Program, Bro

Russia and Iran cited language about ballistic missiles that was changed during last summer’s nuclear negotiations in Vienna. UN Security Council Resolution 1929 had stated plainly: “Iran shall not undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles.” During the negotiations, Iran demanded the removal of this uncompromising language in favor of a new, softer formulation.
The Obama administration complied, resulting in the passage of a new UN Security Council Resolution after the Iran agreement was reached. The new resolution merely “calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles.”
The change in language—from the “shall not” requirement of the original resolution to the “calls upon” suggestion of the new one—was the subject of intense questioning by Congress precisely due to the suspicion that the administration had provided a loophole Iran would use to justify missile development.
In one exchange, Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) pressed Secretary of State John Kerry to acknowledge that the change in language was substantive.

John Kerry pressed on loophole in nuclear deal allowing Iran to engage in ballistic missile testing

U.S. Official: Iran Could Launch 3-Stage Rocket ‘At Any Minute’

Hard on the heels of its provocative missile tests Monday, a U.S. official told CNN Iran could launch an even more advanced 3-stage missile “at any minute.”
CNN compares such a vehicle to the rocket North Korea employed to launch a satellite last month, and notes a successful test “would give Iran further insights into intercontinental ballistic missile technology.”
The Obama administration has been trying to get the U.N. Security Council and European Union to sanction Iran for these ballistic missile tests, but so far the Obama team has been reduced to sputtering helplessly as Iran argues the tests do not actually violate Barack Obama’s nuclear deal and, in fact, the nuclear deal prevents the U.S. and its allies from taking steps to halt their missile research.
“Since we do not have nuclear warheads and we have undertaken not to develop them, and the international community has put in place the best mechanisms money can buy in order to make sure that we do not develop nuclear weapons… we do not design any missiles to carry things we do not have. So these missiles do not fall within the purview of (resolution) 2231 and they are not illegal,” argued Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, as quoted by CNN.

Shmuley Boteach: Will Obama call out Iran on its nuclear violations?

The attitude toward a nuclear Iran in this country today is dangerously naive. Many have supported and feel safe knowing that we’ve made the agreement with the Iranian ayatollahs, even as the very politicians who voted in favor of this deal expressed concern at the flaws and weaknesses within it.
Seeing as how the Iran nuke deal is a cornerstone of Obama’s foreign policy legacy, the mullahs in Tehran know that they can get away with serious violations of the deal and UN resolutions with no fear of repercussions. Just this last Tuesday, Iran violated another UN resolution by testing two ballistic missiles. On the missiles were written the words “Israel must be wiped out” in Hebrew. However, the White House does not want to do anything that could lead the Iranians to kick out inspectors and tear up the agreement.
The administration seems unconcerned that the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism continues to cheat on the agreement. It seems similarly unconcerned at how Iran has been emboldened by the agreement to go on a killing spree. Last week Newsweek reported, “Executions in Iran rose to almost 1,000 in 2015, according to a United Nations investigator, the highest level since 1989... The figure represents a two-fold increase on those executed in 2010 and a ten-fold increase on those executed in 2005.” Much more worrisome, however, is the prospect of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. And their repeated violations of the nuclear accord this early in the game does not bode well.

Schumer: Iranian Cyber-Attack on New York Dam Was “Shot Across the Bow”

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D – N.Y.) said that an Iranian cyber-attack on a dam near New York City was a “shot across the bow” of the United States, which should be answered with harsher sanctions, the Associated Press reported on Friday.
“Now it looks clear that the Iranians did it,” Schumer said during an appearance on Long Island. “What were they doing? They were sending a shot across our bow. They were saying that we can damage, seriously damage, our critical infrastructure and put the lives and property of people at risk.”
The breach in the dam’s control system was first reported in December of last year, and Schumer indicated that there would a federal indictment in the case as early as April. The congressman added that the breach suggested that Iranian hackers possibly posed even greater threats. “Hackers can come in, as these Iranian hackers did, and hurt our critical infrastructure,” he observed. “What if they open the sluice gates of a dam with a whole lot of people behind it? What if they shut off the power for a large part of the area?”

Anti-Semitism in Australia - the current situation

The mainstreaming of anti-Semitism in Australia is most vividly seen in the ABC, the national public broadcaster, and other major mainstream media outlets. For example, a documentary produced by the ABC, “Stone Cold Justice”, was aired in February 2014, which made some uninvestigated and unsubstantiated allegations that Jewish soldiers crucify Palestinian boys, and other equally absurd and inflammatory claims tinged with classical antisemitic tropes. In response, virulently anti-Semitic comments were posted on ABC Facebook pages. This ABC documentary is still eliciting anti-Semitic comments to this day via its posting on Youtube.
When mainstream media outlets are prepared to publish or host unsubstantiated claims and irrational bias, which is combined with outright demonizing of Jews, then a signal is sent that anti-Semitism is acceptable and even respectable, and Jew-haters feel emboldened to promote their views and to act on them. This an area which the peak Jewish representative organization, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, monitors closely, and where warranted, raises objections. Fortunately, most of the anti-Semitic content on mainstream media has ultimately been removed following representations to those media outlets.
For a diverse society such as Australia's to be harmonious, it is imperative that all Australians, regardless of race or religion, are able to live without harassment and hatred, without vilification and violence. anti-Semitism is pervasive and pernicious. It targets Jews but has always had a wider fall-out, as a litmus test for the degree to which a society tolerates racism generally. Countering anti-Semitic and other racist expressions is therefore in everyone's interests.

Nazi Waffen SS veterans join controversial march in Latvia

Several hundred ultra-nationalists, including seven veterans of Nazi Germany’s Waffen SS, marched through Riga on the independence day of the Baltic nation of Latvia.
The march Wednesday, a controversial affair which is Europe’s only annual event by Waffen SS veterans, drew a handful of counter-protesters from Latvia’s Jewish community and about 40 anti-fascist activists, including 20 Germans, Efraim Zuroff, the Israel director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told JTA in by phone from Riga.
Latvian authorities detained five Germans who crossed over to the Baltic nation from Lithuania and prevented another one from boarding a plane bound for Latvia, Zuroff said. He added several Latvian lawmakers from the far right also participated in the march.
Noting an absence of pressure by leading EU countries to curb the Latvian Nazi marches,” Zuroff said they were “a stain on the EU record of confronting the glorification of perpetrators of the Holocaust.”

Anti-Semitic slogans, swastikas painted on synagogue in France

Unidentified individuals painted anti-Semitic slogans and swastikas on a synagogue in the French city of Verdun but failed to break in.
Congregants discovered the vandalism on Saturday morning, Jean Blacharz, the local community’s vice president, told the L’Est Républicain daily. He added that the incident was the first of its kind in recent memory in Verdun, in northeast France.
“I am speechless, shocked and outraged at this incident,” Blacharz said.
Two black swastikas were drawn on a relief shaped like the Tablets of Testimony that adorns the synagogue’s entrance. “Screw the Jews” and another profanity were written on an exterior wall.

Chinese general says bond with Jews is ancient

General Zhao Keshi, member of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and director of the Logistics Support Department under the CMC, met with a logistics delegation of the Israel Defense Forces in Beijing last week.
Zhao Keshi welcomed the delegation Tuesday and said that the friendly exchange between the Chinese people and the Jewish people goes back to ancient times, an assertion that has little mention in credible historical sources. He also noted that the two nations had suffered catastrophes together and forged a profound friendship during World War 2.
Military relations between the two countries “have been developing smoothly in recent years, as manifested by the constantly deepened contacts in various areas and frequent exchange and pragmatic cooperation in military logistics,” Gen. Zhao noted, as reported by Chinese Ministry of Defense's news site.
He added that he hoped the exchange and cooperation in logistics between the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Israel Defense Forces would be further expanded and that this would elevate relations between the two armies in the area of logistics to a new high

Israel ‘Wonder Woman’ Gal Gadot Visits Ellen (VIDEO)

Israeli actress Gal Gadot appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show to promote the upcoming film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which she plays Wonder Woman.
Gadot got the role of Wonder Woman in American director Zack Snyder’s movie, which also stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill, in 2013.
“Wonder Woman is arguably one of the most powerful female characters of all time and a fan favorite in the DC Universe. Not only is Gal an amazing actress, but she also has that magical quality that makes her perfect for the role. We look forward to audiences discovering Gal in the first feature film incarnation of this beloved character,” Snyder said in a statement after casting Gadot.

The 'Wonder'ful Gal Gadot

$16.5 million raised at annual Israeli American Council gala

Around $16.5 million was raised on Sunday at the Israeli American Council's eighth annual Los Angeles Gala, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
The largest contribution -- $14 million -- was made by Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson.
Among the speakers at the event were National Chairman of the IAC Board Adam Milstein and Israeli Consul General in Los Angeles David Siegel. Some 1,200 people attended the gala.
In a video message, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told attendees, "You are proof of the inseparable bond between Israel and the U.S."

Postage stamp issued in honor of ‘British Schindler’

Britain’s Royal Mail issued a commemorative stamp featuring Sir Nicholas Winton, known as the “British Schindler.”
The first class stamp, which was issued Tuesday, is part of a set of six commemorative stamps honoring some of the United Kingdom’s greatest humanitarians and their achievements, the BBC reported.
Winton, who helped rescue 669 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, died July 1, 2015, at the age of 106. An online petition calling for the stamp set up later that month by the Jewish News garnered nearly 106,000 signatures. The Royal Mail commissions 12 new stamps each year that must be approved by the Queen.

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