06/23 Links Pt2: Obama’s Humiliating Terror Blinders; Alan Dershowitz: Combating BDS by legislation ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Attorney General Loretta Lynch thinks you’re stupid. Or, at least, her boss does.
According to CBS News justice reporter Paula Reid, the Department of Justice is trying to shift the national conversation surrounding the massacre at an Orlando gay club “more to hate and not just terrorism.” The layperson may see only a modest distinction between “hate” and “terrorism.” The latter is generally a violent expression of the former. For the Obama administration, there is a world of difference in the two concepts—the foremost being that the White House can’t be directly blamed for increased incidents of hate.
“I cannot tell you definitely that we will ever narrow it down to one motivation,” Lynch told reporters while expounding on a litany of reasons why a disturbed and violent individual may go on a rampage. “This was clearly an act of terror and an act of hate.” CBS appropriately headlined the attorney general’s attempt at obfuscation “a motive may never be known.” Well, the attorney general’s motives are surely known.
The DOJ sacrificed all plausible deniability that it was not trying to confuse the public about the Orlando shooter’s true motives when they thought it prudent to omit the shooter’s references to the Islamic State in a transcript of the 911 call in which he confessed to his crime.
“In the name of God the Merciful, the beneficent,” said Omar Mateen on the night of his rampage. “I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may God protect him [said in Arabic], on behalf of the Islamic State.”
It is an act of extraordinary hubris to dismiss what this self-styled ISIS militant has said and impose upon him some other series of motives that complicate the story. Surely, Lynch would prefer we be talking about “hate” and the supposedly elusive definition of Islamist terror rather than her announcement that the FBI has apparently lost track of Mateen’s wife, who was almost certainly an accomplice in this murder.

Tarek Fatah: Whitewashing Islamist Terror

Almost 10 years ago, Maclean's magazine published an essay by Mark Steyn, titled "The future belongs to Islam." In it, he suggested, "the West is growing old and enfeebled, and lacks the will to rebuff those who would supplant it."
It was an extract from Steyn's then best-selling book America Alone, where he concluded, "It's the end of the world as we've known it." Steyn wrote:
We are witnessing the end of the late 20th-century progressive welfare democracy. The children and grandchildren of those fascists and republicans who waged a bitter civil war for the future of Spain now shrug when a bunch of foreigners blow up their capital. Too sedated even to sue for terms, they capitulate instantly.
There was an outcry among Canada's Islamists, who took Steyn and Maclean's to the Ontario and British Columbia Human Rights Commissions. My fellow Sun columnist, Farzana Hassan, and I wrote a rejoinder in Maclean's titled, "Mark Steyn has a right to be wrong."
Today, I recognize, Steyn was right and I was wrong.
If there were any doubts the West is abdicating its responsibility to stand up for Western values, the amateur attempts by the FBI to cover up the Islamist nature of the Orlando attack removed them.
President Barack Obama and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton deflected attention from the obvious Islamic nature of the terrorism to a debate about gun control.
An FBI spokesman did the same when he downplayed the role of Islamism in the attack, editorializing that the killer, "does not represent the religion of Islam, but a perverted view, which based on what we know today, was inspired by extremist killers."

No Way to Treat a child. Again, J Street finds itself on the wrong side

Ever the optimists, American Muslims for Palestine has proudly proclaimed that 20 of the 535 members of Congress have signed onto a letter filled with spurious accusations against Israel.
Twenty of of 535 Congressional Representatives. Just under 4%. The signers are listed below.

The letter, introduced by Betty McCollum, a Democrat from Minnesota asks "Does a life of utter hopelessness...directly contribute to the violence?" She's asking the wrong question.
The rampant abuse of Palestinians children by those responsible for their very safety- their parents and their government- goes unmentioned in the McCollum letter.
There is no mention of Hamas run summer camps, that teach soldiering skills to children as young as 12.

Alan Dershowitz: Combating BDS by legislation: Different approaches, same goal

Regardless, recent claims by the pro-BDS punditry that any anti-BDS regulations are McCarthyite is both misleading, and insulting to the victims of real McCarthyism who were punished for their ideas, speeches and associations, not for their actions in refusing to do business based on national origin. Yes, anti-BDS regulations often results in lists of companies that discriminate against Israel, just as there are lists today of store and building owners who refuse to do business with, for example, African-Americans, LGBTQ, or Muslims. Proof is required that a business engaged in a discriminatory boycott by singling out Israeli entities, or individuals based on their national origin, or political convictions, and there is a process for challenging inclusion on any list. The only McCarthyist blacklist is that which has been complied by BDS enforcers – a list I am proud to be on – of supporters of Israel and of those who seek to “normalize” relations between Israelis and Palestinians.
To be clear: anti-BDS regulations should go no further than the counterboycott of companies that actually engage in discriminatory actions. No one, not even the most rabid BDS-activist, should face legal recriminations for expressing an opinion that is supportive of BDS, or for encouraging others to support BDS. Political speech – even bigoted, misguided political speech – is clearly protected by the constitution. The wording of Governor Cuomo’s executive order in this regard raises some red flags: if regulators target institutions for “promot[ing] others to engage in any [BDS] activity” by means of speech rather than economic pressure, the courts should strike down that provision, while upholding the remainder of the order. Similarly, the bill currently under consideration in the Kansas legislature that would defund academic institutions for funding student associations supportive of BDS impacts speech and association rights of pro-Palestinian students and faculty members. It should be revised to avoid any constitutional challenges.
That said, most anti-BDS measures are clearly directed at discriminatory business activities, and not at speech or advocacy.
So applied, such counter-boycott regulations will promote political, artistic and cultural freedoms by imposing economic sanctions on those BDS bigots who are seeking to suppress such freedoms by discriminating against Israeli, and pro-Israeli advocates, artists, cultural figures and businesses.

JPost Editorial: Coping with BDS

Two recent international conferences indicate that Israel is finally being moved to do something officially about the BDS Movement, but, much like talk about the weather, such efforts accept the inevitability of boycott without being able to do anything effective to change it.
In March the first Israeli anti-BDS conference was held to much fanfare in Jerusalem, while this month an even grander production was mounted at the UN General Assembly.
Speakers at both events agreed that BDS is a modern instantiation of anti-Semitism that poses a danger to Israel, while asserting that this is not an existential threat. There was a consensus that, although BDS is succeeding, it cannot be termed a success; while it is not an existential threat, it must nevertheless be taken as a serious threat; and while Israel’s economy is strong enough to withstand it, Israel must devote increasing amounts of its budget to fighting it.
There are similar contradictions regarding the effects of BDS on American college youth. On the one hand, a recent Gallup poll found that 54 percent of all young respondents reported sympathizing more with Israel than with the Palestinians, while 23% sympathized more with the Palestinians.
In 2005, 51% reported sympathizing more with Israel. Nevertheless, this spring “Israeli Apartheid Week” was observed on some 250 campuses across the US.

Defying BDS, Liberty University to Invest Millions in Israel

In a show of solidarity with Israel and a move against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Liberty University will invest $5 million in Israel, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported on Monday.
Spearheaded by Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., the plan is to invest the money in a healthcare fund run by Permanens Capital, which has an office in Israel. According to a statement released by the university, the target will be Israeli companies dealing in “oncology, biopharmaceuticals, and digital health, with a strong focus on cancer immunotherapy.”
“Liberty is glad to be part of supporting the only democracy that’s a close ally of the United States that is in such turmoil right now,” Falwell told the newspaper. He said that the idea to invest in Israel came from author Gerald Strober — who wrote a book about his late father, Jerry Falwell Sr. — who suggested that to stand up against divestment calls, Liberty should make a point to invest specifically in Israel.
Falwell told the newspaper that Liberty University has a long-standing history of support for the Jewish state, dating back to when his father was the school’s president. Falwell said that his father’s support for Israel stemmed from his religious convictions and the teaching found in Genesis 12:3 regarding God’s covenant with Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Film Review: Promises

The Film's Target Audience
The biggest problem is that the target audience for the film is precisely those who are still unfamiliar with the details and history of the conflict. The filmmakers promote the documentary as a learning tool for young people. Co-producer Justine Shapiro suggests the documentary was tailored toward children and teens, age peers of the film's protagonists, to teach them about the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is marketed as part of an educational curriculum for middle schoolers, along with a 50+ page study guide that includes lesson plans correlating to different scenes, classroom activities, student worksheets, etc. The PBS documentary program "Point of View," which aired Promises in December 2001, similarly includes an online "lesson plan."
It is easy to see why a teacher might be attracted to a film whose protagonists are his students' age peers. The film draws viewers in, with charming, sweet and articulate children discussing the ongoing, grim situation in which they were born and raised.
Teachers, however, should not be seduced by the appealing protagonists. The documentary's drawbacks – the misleading information, omission of context, politicized scene editing and datedness – create an inaccurate and partisan image of the conflict which can leave a lasting but erroneous impression on vulnerable children.

PreOccupiedTerritory: World Waiting To See How Jews Have Decided UK Will Vote (satire)

Observers across the globe are watching the progress and outcome of Britain’s referendum today, anxious to discover whether the Jews who control global affairs have ruled that the UK will remain in the European Union or leave.
As of this morning (Thursday), polling stations began registering voters’ choices, but the result of the process – which the Jews have secretly manipulated to get the result that cements their control of world government and finance – will not be announced at least until tomorrow morning, with reviews and challenges possible afterwards. Given the suspense in which the country, the Continent, and all the affected trade partners now find themselves, financial markets have reacted with jitters over the possible departure of Britain from the Union, a fact that experts say reflects both the fateful nature of the referendum and the Jewish control of those markets.
“Part of the control this cabal exerts over us is the anxiety it cultivates in us over money matters,” explained noted Jewish expert and MP Ken Livingstone. “It’s a convincing façade to have the financial markets all over the world reacting to various developments, as if it isn’t all controlled by a shadowy Jewish group of elders. They’ve got enough people duped into thinking their vote matters and that the Elders of Zion haven’t already decided whether Britain stays or leaves that people are out and voting. The important thing is, though, that no matter what the result, we have a way of explaining how it benefits Jewish control of the world.”

UK Media Watch prompts substantive improvement to Times of London water story

However, though the Independent still refuses to budge, after a series of emails to editors at Times of London – which included information we received from COGAT and Mekorot – they agreed to make one substantive change, adding the following additional text to the online version of their article:

This is important, and reinforces our central arguments from the beginning of this story – facts which totally undermine Palestinian charges.
Water Shortages were largely caused by an increase in demand and a shortage of supply from the mountain aquifer.
These water shortages has affected both Jewish and Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
Israel actually increased the water supply to Palestinians in Hebron and Bethlehem to accommodate Muslims observing Ramadan.
Unfortunately, they only made a small, relatively insignificant revision to the headline and opening sentence.
However, we sincerely commend editors at Times of London for agreeing to add the additional text.

Israel Recycles Water, Amira Hass Recycles False Water Charges

Amira Hass must really like false Palestinian charges that Israel is stealing their water, since she keeps on repeating those false Palestinian charges, requiring us to repeat the refutation.
Whereas previously Hass charged that profligate Israelis "use three times more water a day in their households as West Bank Palestinians do," in her latest effort she charges that:
On average, the Palestinians consume 73 liters per person per day. Below the recommended minimum. Israelis consume a daily 180 liters on average, and there are those who say even more.
She also charges that "Israel sells the Palestinians water that it first stole from them," and:
With the Oslo Accords, Israel imposed an outrageous, racist, arrogant and brutal division of water sources in the West Bank: 80 percent for Israelis (on both sides of the Green Line), and 20 percent for the Palestinians ...
Hass is dead wrong about the relative usage of water by Israelis and Palestinians, and about her other charges too, but before getting into details and numbers, it's important to illustrate a deeper distortion in her claims.

BBC R4 reveals what ‘really’ threatens to reignite Hamas-Israel conflict

Listeners also heard from a similarly unchallenged porter whom Hosken asked “what he thought about the attack in Tel Aviv”.
“I feel happy because they have taken Jerusalem, they have taken our land and it’s right to defend ourself. The operation is a natural because they took our land and look what they are doing in Gaza: they cut the electricity, they close the border.”
Hosken did not explain to listeners that the electricity cuts in the Gaza Strip have nothing at all to do with Israel and are the result of a dispute between Hamas and the PA. He went on:
“…but could there be another war soon? Even before Tel Aviv there was concern at the appointment as Israeli defence minister of Avigdor Lieberman – a hawk when it comes to the Palestinians and a man who has supported the assassination of Hamas leaders in the past.”

Mapping changes in the terminology used by the BBC to describe Temple Mount

Earlier this month the BBC Trust’s Editorial Standards Committee responded to an appeal concerning a complaint about the inaccuracy of the statement “It’s [Jerusalem’s Old City] home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, sacred to Muslims and Jews” with findings which support the earlier response from BBC Complaints:
“They note your points and accept that [the reporter] shouldn’t have said that the Al-Aqsa Mosque was sacred to both Jews and Muslims. She meant to say the compound (which includes the Mosque and the Dome of the Rock).”
In addition to promoting its preferred terminology “al Aqsa Mosque compound”, the PLO document from November 5th also states:
“Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound, sometimes referred to as the Noble Sanctuary (“Haram al-Sharif” in Arabic), is the compound that contains Al Aqsa building itself, ablution fountains, open spaces for prayer, monuments and the Dome of the Rock building. This entire area enclosed by the walls which spans 144 dunums (almost 36 acres), forms the Mosque.”
A response from BBC Complaints received by BBC Watch earlier this year suggests that the BBC has internalised that claim:
“In the context of the interview “the area” he was referring to was the expanded prayer plaza which Muslims believe is an inseparable part of al-Aksa Mosque…”
So despite the BBC’s style guide not having undergone any changes, we see that de facto the BBC has adopted both the language – ‘al Aqsa Mosque compound’ – and the political ideology found in the PLO’s November 2014 recommendations. Apparently BBC editorial staff do not grasp how that compromises the corporation’s supposed impartiality.

‘Holy of Holies’ Apparently is as Washington Post Does, Not Judaism Says

Heard the one about the Holy of Holies? At The Washington Post, when it comes to Christianity, yes; Judaism, no.
On June 16, CAMERA requested a clarification from The Washington Post to an article headlined “Israelis parade through Jerusalem's Muslim Quarter,” which ran in the Post's June 6 print edition (as “Israeli revelers give Palestinians the finger in march through Jerusalem's Muslim Quarter,” online June 5).
The article, by Post Jerusalem Bureau Chief William Booth with Jerusalem correspondent Ruth Eglash contributing, said, among other things:
“Earlier in the day, Israel's High Court of Justice turned down a last-minute appeal and ruled that the annual parade could take place on its schedule route through the Muslim Quarter to the Western Wall, a site of Jewish prayer and devotion.
“But hundreds of marchers could be seen wearing T-shirts that showed the destruction of the al-Aqsa Mosque and the imagined rebuilding of the Third Jewish Temple on the raised esplanade in the Old City that is holy to both religions.”
The wording emphasized was not only vague where specificity was called for, but implicitly diminished the Jewish nature of and connection to the locations noted.

Context missing from BBC News’ backgrounder on Strait of Tiran

On June 21st an article was published on the BBC News website’s Middle East page under the headline “Egypt court quashes Red Sea islands’ transfer to Saudis“. At the bottom of that article concerning an internal Egyptian debate appears a background insert titled “Why the Red Sea islands matter”.
There, BBC audiences were correctly informed that:
“Sanafir and Tiran are islands that lie about 4km (2 nautical miles) apart in the Red Sea. Tiran sits at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, on a strategically important stretch of water called the Strait of Tiran, used by Israel to access the Red Sea”
However, they were also given the following context-free information:
“Israel captured the islands in 1956 and 1967, subsequently returning them to Egypt both times”
The BBC did not bother to inform readers why that was the case.

Four Publications Fix False Michael Oren Quote

The New York Times, Telegraph, Huffington Post, and Daily Caller have all corrected or pulled an inaccurate quote following communication with CAMERA and its British department, UK Media Watch.
The misquote of Israel's former ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, originated on Twitter and quickly spread to the media organizations. (For details, see CAMERA's fact check.)
The Telegraph, Huffington Post, and Daily Caller each pulled the misquote shortly after it was brought to their attention and replaced it with the actual quotation.

NY anti-Semitism exhibit shows how history repeats itself

In 1938 Helga Fränkel carefully filled out a detailed questionnaire, requesting permission to marry the father of her children. Her request was denied: She was Jewish and he was not, and in Nazi Germany that violated the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor, which forbade marriages and extramarital relations between Jews and non-Jews.
Today that questionnaire sits under glass, one of 50 objects on display in “Anti-Semitism 1919-1939,” an exhibit at the New-York Historical Society. But more than history is on display in this narrow gallery — the exhibit serves as a reminder about what happens when authorities tap into reservoirs of hatred, bigotry and fear.
“When we decided to do this exhibit anti-Semitism was once again on the rise in Europe; but it was not yet so apparent that anti-Semitism was again on the rise in the US. It is important to see how hate can be transmitted, and how present and dangerous it is today,” said Dr. Louise Mirrer, President and CEO of the New-York Historical Society.
For those who see a link between the objects on display and continued increase in anti-Semitism here in the US and abroad means the exhibit is fulfilling its mission, Mirrer said.

'Anti-Semitic' rhetoric in NY Congressional race

Accusations of anti-Semitism have arisen in the congressional race for New York's 13th district.
Last week Assemblyman Keith Wright shared an article accusing an opponent of not helping his district because the opponent is Jewish. Councilman Mark Levine accused Wright of using anti-Jewish hatred in an effort to appeal to Dominican voters.
Levine's office translated part of the article, which was in Spanish, as: "In 2013 he did not support the community leader Luis Tejada for a seat on the City Council for District 7 and supported the Jew Mark Levine, among other slights the Dominicans remember."
At first a spokesperson for Wright countered that charges of anti-Semitism are "absurd" because Wright did not write the article himself. Later, however, the assemblyman said that the staffer responsible the tweet "violated protocol." It has since been taken down.
"I've come to expect this kind of ugly rhetoric from the gutters of New York politics. Shame on Assemblyman Wright for peddling it" Levine told Jewish Insider.

Jewish man beaten in Berlin anti-Semitic attack

Unknown perpetrators kicked and beat a 21-year-old Jewish man wearing a kippah after slurring him with anti-Semitic insults.
The victim, identified as Oliver Geffers of Bonn, was slightly injured in the Tuesday evening attack but did not seek medical help, according to the police report on the incident. The state criminal police agency is investigating.
Geffers is not Orthodox but wears a kippah in public because he strongly identifies as Jewish and believes Jews should not be afraid to show their identity, a source close to Geffers told JTA. Geffers works as a volunteer at a refugee center in Cologne and said he does not experience open anti-Semitism from refugees, according to the source.
According to the police report, the incident occurred Tuesday at approximately 9:30 p.m. in a park along Puschkinallee, a main thoroughfare. The victim said the three attackers appeared to be Middle Eastern. They commented on his yarmulke and insulted him with anti-Semitic comments. One of them then beat and kicked him, he reported, before all the men fled.

Lithuanian mayor dismantles building made from Jewish headstones

The municipality of Vilnius in Lithuania began dismantling a Soviet-era structure made from Jewish headstones.
Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius removed the first stone from the structure housing an electricity and heating generator on Olandų Street Wednesday, the mayor‘s office said in a statement.
The generator was built by the Soviet authorities of Lithuania between 1965 and 1968, when it was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR. The headstones had been removed from a Jewish cemetery on Olandų Street.
“After 26 years as an independent country it is now the time to remove these stones, which are a clear mark of disrespect to our Jewish community,” said Šimašius. “The stones will be removed from the generator and moved to a memorial, which will be built on Olandų Street with the cooperation of Vilnius’ Jewish community.”

Sarah Silverman target of anti-Semitic rant by ex-reality TV star Tila Tequila

Former reality TV star Tila Tequila accused Sarah Silverman and the Jews of killing Jesus before saying the comedian was next on a “celebrity sacrifice” list.
Tequila, born Tila Nguyen, was responding on Monday to a fan’s suggestion that a Donald Trump presidency would bring Jesus back to life.
“Jesus will come back too just don’t tell the Jews about it,” Twitter user Kaiser Poopfist I tweeted at Tequila.
The former “A Shot at Love” star wrote back that Silverman and the Jews should be informed.
The triple parentheses around “(((People)))” is known as the echo symbol, which is used by white supremacists and anti-Semites to identify Jews online. It was added to the Anti-Defamation League’s hate symbols database earlier this month after it appeared in a publicized anti-Semitic attack on Jewish New York Times editor Jonathan Weisman.
Silverman responded to Tequila’s attack in comedic fashion on Twitter.

Assyrian Bishop Wants Friendship With Israel

“Israel has stability, the ear of the world community, and the ability to be a modern state in the Middle East. Israel has withstood the test of time,” says Mar Awa Royel, the first American-born Assyrian bishop in history. Born David Royel in Chicago, Illinois on July 4, 1975, His Grace Mar Awa, Bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East, who presides over the Diocese of California, conveys his desire for friendship between Israel and the Assyrian people.
Noting that “we’ve had a long history,” he cites prophecy in the Book of Isaiah in order to provide a biblical foundation for his desired brotherhood with Israel, and describes several church-organized pilgrimages that he has led to Israel.
While there are very few Assyrian Christians in Israel, until 1853 the Assyrian Church of the East shared a part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Numerous records and Assyrian manuscripts are now in the possession of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Israel.
Bishop Royel also described the relations and commonalities between Jews and Assyrian Christians in Iraq prior to the establishment of the state of Israel. Even after the Arab Muslim conquest of the Middle East, which installed Arabic as the lingua franca of the region, Assyrians continued to speak Assyrian.

EFI acquires OptiTex in $52.8 million deal

Electronics For Imaging (EFI) recently announced its buyout of Optitex, an emerging leader in integrated 3D design software that enables the textile industry’s digital transformation and accelerates the adoption of fast fashion. The deal is worth up to $52.8 million.
“We are thrilled to add the OptiTex team and its fast-growing base of industry-leading customers to the EFI family,” said Gabriel Matsliach, senior vice president and general manager, EFI Productivity Software. “Optitex technology, combined with EFI Reggiani digital printers, will expand our textile ecosystem and help our customers set new standards for time-to-market, on-demand manufacturing, cost efficiency and automation in the Textile industry.”
Optitex, based in Petah Tikva, has offices in the US, Italy, India, and Hong Kong.
“We are very excited to join the EFI family,” said Asaf Landau, CEO of OptiTex. “EFI’s global presence, holistic solution approach, strong professional services abilities, and growing portfolio of innovative textile industry-specific products will be of great benefit to the leading companies we serve worldwide in the fashion, automotive, aerospace and technical textiles industries. I am truly enthusiastic about what is to come for these industries in the years ahead.”

Israel’s Airobotics raises $28.5m for operator-free drones

Israeli start-up Airobotics said today it has built a new kind of drone platform that will allow companies to operate drones without the need for expensive and skilled drone operators.
The Petah Tikva, Israel-based company said it has raised $28.5 million in funding from investors including California’s BlueRun Ventures; Noam Bardin, the former chief executive of Waze, the navigation app that was bought by Google; and Richard Wooldridge, Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects chief operating officer.
By taking the drone pilot and operator out of the equation, Airobotics removes the most expensive and hard-to-find component of industrial drone operations, the company said in a statement.
The system is made up of three major parts: a drone, which can fly 30-minute missions at a time while carrying a one kilogram payload and using videos to provide customers with real time aerial insight; the airbase, a completely automated base station from which the drone launches and lands on its own, without needing human intervention, and software, which enables users “to control and manage missions with one click.”

Off The Beaten Track: Urban Navigation App Sidekix Bases Walking Routes On Your Interests

Have you ever unintentionally stumbled upon a hidden gem along the way to a main attraction when exploring a new city? A new Israeli app seeks to intentionally lead people to these lesser known spots that are worth a slight detour.
Called Sidekix, this urban on-foot navigation app customizes routes based on the interests and needs of its users. “Sidekix is an app for people who walk, which is different from other navigation apps that are primarily geared toward driving,” founder Jenny Drezin tells NoCamels.
Unlike many other popular navigation apps, Sidekix prioritizes unique routes over fastest routes, always by foot. According to Drezin, “the idea behind Sidekix is that there are many ways to get to the same point, and often taking a different route or going a bit out of your way can give you a completely different experience.”
Before embarking on your trip, you can select among a wide variety of interest spots on Sidekix: Historical landmarks, art galleries, restaurants or bars. Once you define your set of passions, the app will lead you through a personalized journey, using recommendations from social media, lifestyle websites and local bloggers.

Israel Military Industries Inks $39 Million Deal with US Civilian Market

The Israel Military Industries (IMI) weapons manufacturer confirmed Tuesday that it has signed a $39 million deal to supply the US civilian market with small caliber ammunition.
The deal includes supplying US-based distributors with light munitions used for hunting, sports, and in shooting ranges, the company said.
The order was placed by distributors that IMI has been collaborating with for more than two years, and is based on a business strategy seeking to direct one-third of the company’s sales to the civilian market.
“Working with the Israel Defense Forces and various special forces gives the Small Caliber Ammunition Division a significant advantage in the international market,” said Israel Shmilovitz, head of the IMI Small Caliber Ammunition Division.
Meanwhile, the US Army has recently increased its orders with IMI, including key components for its flagship Modular Active Protection System program.

Accenture buys Israel’s Maglan, sets up cyber security R&D lab

Accenture, a New York Stock Exchange-traded professional services and consulting company, said it has acquired Maglan, a privately held Israeli cyber security company, in a move to increase its ability to provide clients with cyber defense services using Israeli innovation.
Accenture, which has been active in Israel since 2001, also said it has set up a new research and development lab in Herzliya, focusing on cyber security projects. Both announcements were made at Israel’s 6th Annual International Cybersecurity Conference taking place in Tel Aviv this week.
Maglan specializes in offensive cyber simulation, vulnerability countermeasures, cyber forensics and malware defenses, Accenture said, without disclosing financial terms of the deal.
Based in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, Maglan was founded in 1998 and has a number of clients in the financial services, telecommunications and automotive industries, Accenture said in a statement.

LightCyber raises $20 million to boost sales globally

LightCyber, the Israeli cybersecurity company headquartered in Los Altos, California, has raised $20 million from investors to boost its sales and marketing efforts.
Investors included US-based Access Industries, through its Israeli technology investments entity, Claltech, and Shlomo Kramer, the founder and chief executive of Cato Networks, the company said in a statement. Existing investors Battery Ventures, Glilot Capital Partners and Amplify Partners also participated in this second funding round, bringing the total amount of funds raised to $34 million.
LightCyber says its Magna platform “accurately and efficiently” detects attacks on companies regardless of the kind of attack, reducing the length of the event and minimizing the damage. Using behavioral and active breach detection, the platform continuously monitors the network, its users and device behavior to find attacker activities. Once the system alerts customers about an attack, it is an actual meaningful event and not a false alarm, the company says on its website.
Lloyd’s of London has estimated that cyberattacks cost businesses $400 billion a year while Juniper Research says that the average cost of each data breach will top $150 million by 2020. Today, less than 1 percent of enterprises have the capability to find an active attacker at work on their network before theft or damage occurs, the company said.

New high-tech weapon in the war on cervical cancer

In the 1940s, George Papanicolaou’s Pap smear was introduced and became the standard cancer screening test for cervical cancer, then the number one killer of women and today the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide.
Incredibly, Pap remains the standard despite severe drawbacks. The smear must be sent to a lab for analysis (which takes several days), has a high rate of inaccurate results, and samples only the outer surface of the cervix although cancer begins in the inner layers.
Furthermore, the Pap test isn’t readily available in developing parts of the world such as India, Africa and China, where cervical cancer is still the leading cause of death among women.
The Israeli company Biop Medical is designing and testing a better alternative: a state-of-the-art colposcope, the instrument used to check women for gynecological disease. Colposcopy is usually performed after a positive Pap smear, and if it detects suspicious cells the woman must schedule a biopsy.
Biop’s device does everything in one visit. It optically scans the inner layers of the cervix for early signs of cancer, analyzes the images instantly and indicates where to perform a biopsy if necessary.

Israeli Spokesman in New Delhi: Indian Water Minister’s Upcoming Trip to Jerusalem Signifies Additional Boost to Bilateral Agricultural Ties (INTERVIEW)

The upcoming visit of India’s water minister to Israel is a “very important step forward” in furthering bilateral ties, a spokesman from the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi told The Algemeiner on Wednesday.
Ohad Horsandi said that one of the main purposes of Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti’s trip to Israel is “to gain first-hand knowledge of Israeli technologies and expertise in the water sector — including desalination and urban water systems — and how these techniques can be implemented back in India.”
According to Horsandi, one of the most significant aspects of the relationship between the two countries is the optimization of Israeli agricultural expertise and technology — and water conservation. As India grapples with the latter, he said, “This year, water has been at the center of our attention.”
And Israel, he said, is a world leader in making agriculture flourish in an arid environment with limited water.
Horsandi told The Algemeiner that 80 percent of Israel’s domestic wastewater is treated and recycled for agricultural use, with nearly 50 percent of total water used for agriculture. India is one of many countries to have adopted the Israel-pioneered drip irrigation system, which provides just the amount of water needed, drop by drop, to the roots of plants, thereby conserving water.

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