[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] 05/03 Links: Body of missing Israeli found in Nepal; Netanyahu: 'Not too late' to thwart bad nuclear deal

From Ian:

---

Rescue team: Body of missing Israeli found in Nepal

The body of missing Israeli trekker Or Asraf was located in Nepal early Sunday morning, an Israeli relief team announced, over a week after he disappeared following a devastating earthquake.
Relatives, friends and rescuers had held out hope of finding Asraf alive — he was the last unaccounted-for Israeli in the country — but a statement from the ZAKA emergency organization said his body had been located on the Langtang ridge.
“We regret to report that during the morning hours the team located a body identified as Or Asraf’s. The complex rescue operation will likely take place tomorrow morning,” the group stated on its Twitter account.
The Foreign Ministry did not offer official confirmation that Asraf’s body had been found, but did not deny the report.

JPost Editorial: Iran’s chutzpah

Whenever we assume that Iran’s chutzpah can get no more egregious, Tehran’s powers-thatbe spare no effort to prove us wrong.
On the face of it, Iran can claim moral equivalence. But this is a counterfeit claim. Iran and like-minded allies – to say nothing of the powers now negotiating a deal with the ayatollah regime – all know that Israel is as prudent a democracy as exists anywhere. If Israel actually has the bomb, then it has had it for more than 50 years – almost as long as the original “Atomic Club” members. In all that time no wrongful use was made.
Iran is the diametrical opposite to Israel – a regime professing extreme Islamist doomsday theology whose bywords are volatility and unpredictability. There’s no evenhandedness between a self-defending democracy and an expansionist, apocalyptic tyranny.
Moreover, it is outrageous to ignore the variety of WMD deployed in the internecine Arab massacres but speciously concentrate on the Middle East’s one beleaguered democracy. The implication is that democratic Israel can be pressured while autocratic Iran will get away with flagrant obstructionism. The good-guy will be disarmed while fanatic aggressors are armed to the teeth.
The danger is that bona fide democracies seem willing to play along with Iran and misdirect the frustration it foments by spotlighting Israel.

Rowan Dean: Don't worry Israel our MPs are mates with Palestine too

Dear Mr Fooley (or may I call you Luke?)
Just got back from my Labor parliamentary excursion, dividing my time equally between Israel and the Palestinian territories, as you requested. What a trip! My feet hardly touched the ground!
Monday: Arrived at Lod Airport, after circling around to avoid being blasted out of the sky by IS, Hamas, Hezbollah, and a bunch of other peace-loving friends of the Palestinian People's Struggle to Wipe The Perfidious Jew Off The Face Off The Earth Praise Be To Allah. Grabbed some duty-frees and headed into downtown Tel Aviv. Looks just like Surfers Paradise meets Surry Hills. Cool hipsters and hot chicks everywhere. Grabbed a quick beer and a burger, bought some fab new apps and software and …
Oops! Time to go to Palestine. Drove into downtown Ramallah. Looks like Mogadishu meets the Mudgee tip. Litter everywhere. Armed guards and machine gun-wielding Mafiosi types wandering around everywhere, too. Try to grab a quick beer, but, er …
Oops! Gotta get back to Israel. Meet some scientists who invented the smartphone industry, or all the cool stuff like Viber and Waze. Plus they invented all this bionic stuff that helps paraplegics and things that stop crib deaths and things that cure …
Yikes! Gotta get back to Palestine. Meet a bunch of dudes who invented the grievance industry. They explain how Israel has been oppressing them for decades. I ask them in what way exactly and they explain, "by existing".Cripes! Back to Jerusalem. Beautiful old city. Visit the Wailing Wall, which is all that's left of the original 3000-year-old Jewish temple where the dudes in black hats go and nod. Anyone can go but you gotta be careful coz Arab kids like to chuck rocks at you when you're praying.

UN guilt and Hamas war crimes

Even the UN has now admitted that its buildings and schools were used by Hamas to fire rockets at Israeli civilians during last year's Gaza operation. But the mainstream media and many UN institutions like UNRWA still play a very dishonest game against Israel, and in favour of terrorists
The hypocrisy, or deliberate ignorance, of officials of UNRWA, whose premises were the subject of the inquiry, remains unabated.
In spite of the clear evidence to the contrary, Chris Gunness, spokesman for UNRWA, said that its schools had been hit by the IDF though no weapons were discovered or fired from their premises. He stated that if militants did fire rockets from the schools, he would condemn them.
The reality, as found by the Board of Inquiry, was that three UNRWA schools were used by Palestinians to store weapons and that firing by a Palestinian armed group from them “probably” occurred in two of the schools.
A number of schools used by Palestinian fighters were mentioned. Among them are the Maghazi Preparatory Girls School, the Deir El Balah School, the Beit Hanoun Elementary, the Zaitoun Girls School, El Azhar Islamic College, the Abu Nur School, the Jabalia Elementary Girls School, and Rafah Boys School.
The defense of a senior Hamas official was that Hamas had no choice but to use residential areas from which to launch missiles into Israel. Hamas had pre-positioned weapons and military equipment and prepared fighters to move if hostilities occurred and to blend into the civilian population.

Carter says Hamas leader committed to peace, Netanyahu not

Former US president Jimmy Carter called Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal a strong proponent of the peace process Saturday, and said he wasn’t meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because it would be “a waste of time.”
The president, who has been visiting Israel and the West Bank, met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Saturday but didn’t meet with Netanyahu or President Reuven Rivlin.
He told reporters that he didn’t ask to meet with Netanyahu or his government, and never has, because it would be a “waste of time.” He told Channel 2 in an interview broadcast Saturday that he requested to meet Rivlin, but the president’s office declined.
Israel officials said last week that Netanyahu and Rivlin had refused invitations to meet with Carter, who was described by an Israeli diplomatic source as “a disaster for Israel,” who holds “anti-Israel positions.”
Carter, who cancelled a planned visit to Gaza on this trip, said Saturday he “deplored” criminal acts by members of Hamas, but said he was looking to support moderate members of the group, which he said wasn’t a terrorist organization.
“I don’t believe that he’s a terrorist. He’s strongly in favor of the peace process,” Carter said of Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal. He said Mashaal expressed interest in the Saudis hosting a “peace meeting” and that the Doha-based Hamas leader would recognize Israel’s right to exist based on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

Some of IDF team to leave Nepal, as search persists for missing hiker

Dozens of members of Israel’s emergency mission to Nepal will return home Sunday, as soldiers, rescuers and relatives keep up the search for Or Asraf, who has not been heard from since the devastating earthquake struck the Himalayan country over a week ago.
A Nepalese official said late Saturday that there was little hope that anyone who had not yet been found had survived the 7.8-magnitude temblor, but friends and relatives of Or Asraf have remained optimistic as they attempt to zero in on the trekker, Israel’s last remaining citizen unaccounted for in the disaster.
Police officials in Nepal raised the death toll early Sunday to 7,040 as more bodies were found in the debris.
Home Ministry official Laxmi Dhakal said hopes of finding any more survivors were fading away.
“Unless they were caught in an air pocket, there is not much possibility,” he said.

450 treated, 5 births at IDF hospital in Nepal

Rescue and relief organizations from Israel have assisted in dramatic rescues. IsraAID personnel led a 10-hour effort by search-and-rescue teams from France, Norway and Nepal to reach Krishna Devi Khadka, a 24-year-old maid trapped in a hotel for five days in an air pocket covered by a corpse.
“When the young woman was finally extracted and carried away to a waiting ambulance, it was to the great relief of the large crowd that had gathered, bringing hope that others may yet be alive,” reports IsraAID founder and director Shachar Zahavi.
Nepalese teenager Pemba Lama also was rescued after five days under debris. Like Khadka, he was treated at the Israel Defense Forces’ field hospital, set up on April 29 in Kathmandu.
The field hospital’s multidisciplinary Israeli medical team has so far treated about 450 patients in its trauma, pediatrics, OB/GYN, medical, surgical, orthopedic and intensive care units. The doctors and nurses have performed 33 lifesaving surgeries and aided in five births, including three Cesarean sections.

IDF Field Hospital Activity: Caring for Patients and Families


UN Condemns Israel for Occupation of Nepal (satire)

Following reports that more than 250 Israelis have made their way to Nepal in order to assist in recovery efforts following a devastating earthquake, the UN has issued its latest condemnation of the Jewish State for its sudden occupation of the South-Asian nation.
“We are dismayed to learn that Israeli forces are currently using the chaos in Nepal to colonize the country, and we order all these Israeli settlers to leave at once,” the UN Human Rights Council said in a statement over the weekend. “The people of Nepal are authorized to use all means available to repel the Zionist invaders.”
The UN condemnation was followed by a letter, written by Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters, and signed by Penelope Cruz and husband Javier Bardem, as well as self-declared revolutionist Russell Brand, condemning Israel for committing genocide and apartheid in Nepal, a statement from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry calling the Israeli presence in the country “unsustainable” and a host of celebrities tweeting #FreeNepalfromZionism. Hamas, meanwhile, fired a series of rockets towards Nepal, though most landed somewhere in the Jordanian desert.

BDS Movement Advises Nepalese Quake Victims to Boycott Israeli Aid (satire)

In the wake of a massive earthquake that left thousands dead, injured, homeless, and without basic necessities in Nepal this week, leaders of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) offered some advice to the small nation. “If you see people offering help under an Israeli flag in the coming weeks, we ask that you simply seek assistance elsewhere,” said BDS leader Yoni Katz.
Israel sent about 2,000 aid workers to Nepal, the largest personnel contribution of any nation. While many have praised the efforts, a number have criticized Israel for them. “Never is Israel’s inhumanity and brutality on clearer display than when they are helping those in need,” stated Katz.
“Think of all the other places in the world that need help,” said another BDS supporter. “It’s just, like, so evil that Israel would help Nepal and ignore so many other suffering peoples. It just makes me sick,” she concluded before vomiting on the floor with vigor.
The BDS movement is therefore advising that Nepalese earthquake victims reject any aid in any form from the Israeli delegation. “Nepalese people should keep in mind that every child rescued by Israeli doctors is equivalent to supporting the occupation of Palestine,” Katz continued earlier today. “Plus, think of how great it will be when the people who reject Israeli aid die, and then we can blame their deaths on Israel not helping enough!”

‘Not too late’ to thwart bad nuclear deal, Netanyahu says

In a message published on YouTube marking the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s 30th anniversary, the prime minister warned that the international community “cannot afford to let the planet’s foremost sponsor of terrorism have nuclear capabilities,” cataloging Iran’s backing of terrorist groups on Israel’s borders.
“But it’s not too late,” he said. “Countries around the world must have the courage and the resolve to hold out for a better deal, one that will actually do the job of blocking Iran’s path to the bomb.”
Netanyahu dismissed assertions by US President Barack Obama that the deal would make the world a safer place, saying that if implemented, the framework agreement reached on April 2 in Lausanne “will endanger Israel — big time. But it’s not just Israel that will be in danger: The Middle East and the entire world will be threatened.”
“A better deal is necessary. A better deal is possible. A better deal must and can be achieved,” Netanyahu said, repeating his outcry against the framework agreement with Iran. “But if not, no deal is better than this bad deal.”

Critics of Iran deal are guilty of ‘hysteria,’ Kerry tells Israeli TV

In a rare interview with Israeli television, US Secretary of State John Kerry pledged Saturday that inspections to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons would stay in place “forever,” and accused critics of the emerging deal with Iran of “hysteria.”
Evidently seeking to placate the public in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been a bitter and relentless critic of the deal, Kerry pledged: “We will not sign a deal that does not close off Iran’s pathways to a bomb and that doesn’t give us the confidence — to all of our experts, in fact to global experts — that we will be able to know what Iran is doing and prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon.”
“I believe that where we are heading will in fact protect Israel,” Kerry told Israel’s Channel 10 news, in an interview at the State Department in Washington. “President Obama has absolutely pledged they will not get a nuclear weapon… We will have inspectors in there every single day. That is not a 10-year deal. That’s forever.”
In an apparent reference to Netanyahu — who has called the West “comatose” and “delusional” in its negotiations with the Iranians, and who has charged that the US-led negotiations will yield a deal “paving the way” to an Iranian nuclear arsenal — the secretary urged critics to look at the facts of the emerging accord.

Congressmen call for sanctions against Russia

Leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee urged US President Barack Obama to consider using sanctions to stop Russia’s planned delivery of missiles to Iran.
Republican Representative Ed Royce from California, the committee chairman, and Democrat from New York Representative Eliot Engel, the committee’s ranking member, sent a letter to Obama concerning the proposed delivery of the S-300 surface to air missile system to Iran.
“If completed, the transfer of this sophisticated weapons system would significantly bolster Iran’s military capabilities and introduce new obstacles to our ability to eliminate the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon,” the legislators wrote.
While the UN Security Council does not prohibit the transfer of this weapons system to Iran, the Iran-Iraq Arms Nonproliferation Act and the Iran Sanctions Act do give Obama authority to sanction countries deemed to be aiding Iran’s efforts to acquire weapons, according to the congressmen.

The Maersk Tigris game change: Iran’s big little maneuver in the Strait of Hormuz

Two points to take this forward on. First, the Maersk Tigris, the Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship detained by Iran on Tuesday, is still being held by Iran. The situation remains unresolved.
Second, the U.S. Navy will begin accompanying U.S.-flagged commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz (SOH). This is not the robust use of force it may seem to be, nor is it a repeat of the tanker-escort operation (Earnest Will)* in 1987-88, during the Iran-Iraq war. It’s a tacit surrender, in fact.
The decision to accompany U.S.-flagged shipping in the SOH is a finger in a dike, and what it actually means is that the international convention that has governed safe transit of the Strait of Hormuz for decades has already collapsed. Appointing a U.S. Navy escort in the conditions of 2015 is an acknowledgment that there’s nothing we can do about the chaos that is now cracking the pillars of international order. We can try to protect our own shipping, but there will be no enforcement of a principle of safe passage through international straits, as a basic building block of order among the nations.
The circumstances of 2015 are very different from those of the 1980s. One of the key ways they’re different is that there has been no war-related threat to Persian Gulf shipping in the 2010s. Although Iraq is basically in a civil war, there is no war between nations spilling over into the Gulf, and no generalized threat of mine, missile, or air attacks on shipping.
Instead, Iran is breaching the conventions of the Law of the Sea in order to assert a hegemonic veto over shipping in the SOH. Iran purports to be at war with no one, and hasn’t claimed a national-defense need to take the unusual and arguably criminal step of detaining a ship exercising the right of innocent passage in an international strait.

Ice Cream Party Celebrating Iran's 1,000 Hangings (h/t IsraellyCool)


Israel warns of terror attack against Jews in Tunisia

Israeli officials warned citizens Saturday night to stay away from Tunisia, citing “concrete threats” of terror attacks against Jewish or Israeli targets in the country.
The Tunisian government quickly denied the claims, saying no such threats existed.
“Information indicates that there are plans for terrorist attacks against Israelis and/or Jews in Tunisia,” a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
But a senior official in the Tunisian interior ministry, who asked not to be named, told AFP: “We have nothing on that. There are no threats.”
Jews of Tunisian descent were planning a pilgrimage to the island of Djerba, off the coast of Tunisia, for later this week to celebrate the holiday of Lag Ba’Omer.

Hamas 'No Longer Wants' Technocratic Government

A senior official in Hamas on Saturday called on Palestinian Arabs to “resolve the suffering of Gazans” by forming a national unity government comprising all Palestinian factions, the Ma’an news agency reported.
Ismail al-Ashraq, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said that Hamas no longer wanted the technocratic government composed of politically-independent members following that the "failure" of that government in ending Palestinian division.
He reiterated Hamas' call for elections, the report said.
Al-Ashraq's comments came a week after a government minister announced that the unity government had cut off contact with Hamas following a high-profile visit to Gaza that ended in disarray on April 20.
The visit had been aimed at resolving an employee dispute between the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority and Hamas, but the delegation of eight ministers alleged that Hamas had prevented them from leaving them the hotel or meeting with anyone.

Palestinian Preacher Issam Amira: We Should Launch a Decisive Storm to Topple Arab Regimes

In a sermon delivered in Jerusalem, Palestinian preacher Sheik Issam Amira said: "It is a duty incumbent upon us to lead a pure, loyal, honest, and serious Islamic decisive storm, which will blow away their false entities, topple their oppressive thrones, and finish off their tyrannical rule." The sermon was posted on the Internet on April 3, 2015.

Palestinian hairstylist wins Israeli contest

Hairstylist Asma Massimi of Nablus defeated hundreds of competitors from Israel and around the world recently when she won the first place in the "everyday hairdo styling" category in an international championship organized by OMC – the Israeli association for national hairdressers, makeup artists and beauticians, which was held at Tel Aviv University.
Massimi brought along a model from Nablus and designed the hairdo on her head. While hairdressers from Jordan and Turkey boycotted the competition, she had no hesitations.
"I attended the competition in the past, and this time I decided to participate. I brought a lot of respect to Palestine," said Massimi, who won high-quality Japanese scissors worth NIS 6,000 (about $1,550).

Kenya is building an apartheid wall! Where’s the outcry?

When Israel built a wall in response to constant attacks by terrorists, it was quickly labelled an “apartheid wall” by the Israel haters, despite the fact that it was mostly fence and its purpose was to protect its multi-racial, multi-religious population from attacks by terrorists – who ironically do practice religious and racial apartheid. So would the Kenyan wall – which will also separate the diverse Kenyan population from its terrorist neighbours – also be dubbed an apartheid wall, and if not, what is the difference? Very little it would appear, as Kenya’s genocidal neighbour shares an ideology with Hamas and other jihadi groups.
We know that enemies of Israel don’t believe she has the right to defend her people against terrorists. If Kenya goes ahead and builds a separation wall, would it also be subject to a boycott by the Greens, as Israel was in 2010?

Gideon Levy's Swimming Pool Falsehood Resurfaces

Nearly seven years to the day after Haaretz's Gideon Levy falsely reported that West Bank Palestinians have just one single place where they can learn to swim (Banana Land water park near Jericho), this weekend he extends the fallacy to the Gaza Strip. "There are no swimming pools in the Gaza Strip," wrote the veteran journalist Friday ("When my Gazan friend saw a private swimming pool for the first time").
It's possible that the two Gazans have never previously laid eyes on a swimming pool, private and otherwise. But the reason is not because there are no pools in the Gaza Strip.
As reported by Maan News Agency, the Olympic-sized al-Sadaka pool, the Gaza Strip's first Olympic-sized pool, opened in 2010.
In addition, the al-Nour Resort, a Hamas-affiliated facility located near the former site of the Netzarim settlement, has two swimming pools, according to Al-Monitor. Last summer, The New York Times' Jodi Rudoren referred to a swimming pool in that area in an article about the Palestinian hopes for a Gaza port: "The designated site, next to a wedding hall and a swimming pool not far from the former Israeli settlement of Netzarim . . . "

Syria conflict: US-led strike on Aleppo kills 52 civilians, rebel rocket attack kills 15, monitor says

US-led strikes targeting the Islamic State (IS) group have killed at least 52 civilians, including seven children, in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo, a group monitoring the conflict said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitor also reported deadly violence elsewhere in Syria, including a rebel rocket attack that killed 15 civilians and wounded dozens in Aleppo.
SOHR director Rami Abdelrahman said the death toll from Friday's strike was the highest civilian loss in a single attack by US and Arab forces since they started air raids against hardline Islamist militant groups in Syria such as IS.
US-led forces are also targeting the group in Iraq.
The SOHR said the raid had mistakenly struck civilians in a village on the eastern banks of the Euphrates River in Aleppo province, killing members of at least six families.
Kurdish militiamen and Syrian rebel fighters were clashing with IS jihadists in a town roughly two kilometres away from Birmahle at the time of the strikes.
"Not a single IS fighter" was killed in the strikes on Birmahle, Mr Abdelrahman said, adding that the village is inhabited by civilians only with no IS presence.

Saudi-led coalition probably used cluster bombs in Yemen

The Saudi-led coalition carrying out air strikes in Yemen has probably used cluster bombs which are banned by most countries, the international monitoring group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Sunday.
The coalition includes eight other Arab states and is receiving logistical support from the United States, Britain and France. It has been bombing Yemen's Houthi militia and allied army units for a month in an effort to restore the government.
"Credible evidence indicates that the Saudi-led coalition used banned cluster munitions supplied by the United States in air strikes against Houthi forces," Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement. It said it had not been able to obtain information on possible casualties from the attacks.
Saudi Arabia's coalition spokesman was not immediately available to comment on the report.

Saudi Arabia send ground forces into Yemen

Saudi Arabia led at least 20 ground troops into Aden, Yemen Sunday to support loyalist militia fighting rebels, an official said.
“A limited coalition force entered Aden and another force is on its way” to the southern port city, said the government official and militia commander.
The Saudi-led coalition has been conducting an air war against the Houthi rebels and their allies since March 26 but this is the first reported ground deployment inside the country.
Officials and witnesses in Aden said the black-clad and masked troops landed Sunday in a central area between the city’s neighborhood of al-Mansoura and the airport. They said helicopter gunships hovered above the landing area.

Expert: Obama “Siding with Iran” in Yemen Conflict

Badran noted that a number of administration officials, while publicly claiming to support the Saudis, have actually “tilted much more toward Iran.” Last week, for example, one administration official said that Saudi Arabia should stick to defending its border.
“At some point, an air campaign has diminishing and marginal returns,” another official told columnist David Ignatius the following day. “Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the Yemen conflict will have to be solved politically.” At the same time, other administration officials played up Iran’s supposedly positive intentions, claiming that Tehran had in fact discouraged the Houthis from taking over Sanaa.
Once the Saudis did announce an end to Operation Decisive Storm, the administration quickly took credit, leaking that it was US pressure that made Riyadh back down. “The Saudis,” a State Department spokesperson said on Wednesday, “understand that the path forward here needs to be dialogue.”
Obama was signaling a kind of indirect partnership with Tehran, which the Iranians were quick to exploit. On Tuesday, hours before the Saudis even made their announcement, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian preemptively declared “that in the coming hours, after many efforts, we will see a halt to military attacks in Yemen.” With this seemingly innocuous statement, the Iranians showed the world that they are negotiating with the Americans over the heads of the Saudis.

UN Report: Iran Helping Houthis Since 2009

Iran has been shipping weapons to Yemen's Houthi rebels since at least 2009, according to a confidential UN report seen by AFP, which reported about it on Friday.
The report indicates that Tehran's support for the rebels dates back to the early years of the Shiite militia's insurgency.
The report, by a panel of experts, was presented to the Security Council's Iran sanctions committee last week as the United Nations seeks to broker an end to the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen and a return to peace talks.
The panel of experts reported on the findings of an investigation into the 2013 seizure by Yemeni authorities of an Iranian ship, the Jihan, that was carrying weapons.

Iranian Plane Breaches Saudi No-Fly Zone in Yemen

An Iranian civilian plane breached the Saudi-led Arab coalition's no-fly zone in Yemen, leading coalition forces to bomb a runway at the Sana'a airport on Tuesday to prevent it from landing.
The no-fly zone has been in place since Operation Decisive Storm - meant to weaken via airstrikes the Iran-backed Shi'ite Houthi militia that seized power in Yemen - began on March 25, reports Al Arabiya.
The incident is particularly concerning given the high likelihood that Iranian planes will provide weapons and support to the Houthis, given that it has backed the group in their push to conquer Yemen.
While the Saudi operation was declared completed last Tuesday, it has morphed into a new phase termed Operation Restoration of Hope, as the Saudi-led military intervention continues.
"Iranian actions towards Yemen are irresponsible. Defying the no-fly zone doesn't serve the interest of Yemenis," Saudi operation spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri told Al Arabiya.

Gay Muslim director threatened over Mecca documentary

An award-winning Muslim documentary-maker and prominent LBGT activist said he received death threats ahead of the premier at the Hot Docs festival in Toronto earlier this week of his film, A Sinner in Mecca, which follows his personal experiences during a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
India-born Parvez Sharma, who is openly gay, filmed his trip to Mecca for the hajj, a pilgrimage to the holy city which Muslim believers are required to go on at least once in their lifetimes. The film deals with the conflict between Sharma’s sexuality and his faith.
According to the Guardian, Sharma received “a barrage of hate mail” from Muslim countries before the film was even screened on April 29, “including direct threats.” The threats prompted the organizers of the festival to heighten security measures for the screening.

Irish Bachelor Party Revelers Wear Hitler Masks, Verbally Abuse Locals Near Prague’s Jewish Quarter

Participants in an Irish bachelor party donned Hitler masks and verbally abused locals who confronted them just feet away from the Jewish Quarter in Prague, the Irish Mirror reported on Friday.
The incident occurred on April 24 when a group of 25 to 30 men from the Irish city of Cork gathered at the patio of a bar in the Czech capital, said pub owner Frank Haughton. He said the revelers harangued people who approached them about the inappropriate masks, saying “we can do whatever we want.” The rowdy group also groped Haughton’s female staff and made sexually offensive comments.
“They were a disgrace to themselves, their families, and a huge embarrassment to Ireland,” he told the Irish Examiner. “The sad part is that these guys were of mixed ages, some of whom should have known better. But their language, their inability to have any respect for anything, was repulsive. These guys just didn’t give a damn.”

PreOccupiedTerritory: The Nazis Lost, So Caricaturing Them Is “Punching Down” By Garry Trudeau, cartoonist (satire)

People trying to defend Charlie Hebdo’s artists on free speech grounds might have an argument, but the exercise of free expression carries responsibility. One may not abuse that right just to offend a persecuted minority – which is why I pose the question: with the Nazis out of power and long ago subjected to humiliating defeat, who among us would now exploit that downtrodden Nazi status by caricaturing them? That would be punching down, when satirists must always punch up.
That such a question, rhetorical as it may be, should even be asked speaks to the troubled nature of our times. The Charlie Hebdo caricaturists forgot an important rule of ethics in opting to depict Muhammad and thus offend large numbers of Muslims: never kick a man when he’s down.
Just because we can offend does not mean we should – do the Muslims among us need reminding that their culture is still associated with genital mutilation, repression of dissent, racism, naked conquest, tribal warfare, forced conversion, mass rape, mass killing, and economic failure, when right here in the Western world they might not be allowed to attend school in a headscarf? We should know better. The same goes for Nazis. When did you last see a Nazi exerting any kind of political power? They lost in 1945, and never again wielded control. The rest of us, then, had better think twice before using a Nazi as an object of ridicule or caricature. It unnecessarily offends the powerless.

Gal Gadot is the new face of Gucci Fragrances

“Guess who is the new face of @Gucci Fragrances?” Israeli model, director and actress Gal Gadot recently posted on her Facebook page.
Followers of her page quickly responded with ‘congratulations’ and over 127,000 likes.
The 29-year-old, who will be starring as Wonder Woman in the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, added the new high-profile gig to her resume.
Gadot, a former Miss Israel, will promote Gucci’s upcoming Bamboo fragrance.

40,000 Israelis let pop star Robbie Williams entertain them

Some 40,000 people packed Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park Saturday night to watch, cheer and sing along with British songster Robbie Williams.
Williams kicked off the concert with his 1998 hit “Let Me Entertain You,” which is also the name of his 2015 world tour.
Decked out with tattoos, devil horns, black leather and bright red backlighting, Williams gave the concert a deliberate “Doesn’t it feel good to be bad?” vibe.
“Do you feel me, Israel?” he asked his tens of thousands of fans. They did. With the crowd sufficiently riled, the Stokie singer started into some of his classics: “Rock DJ,” followed by “Monsoon” and “Come Undone.”
Williams did not respond directly to Rogers’ piece during his concert, but did make sure to properly praise Israel and the adoring fans.
“I’ve been here for two days and when I go back home and they ask me how Israel was,” he told the gathered masses, “I’ll tell them it was f__king amazing.”

--
Posted By Ian to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 5/03/2015 01:00:00 PM