11/18 Links Pt2: Palestinian kleptocracy: West accepts corruption, people suffer the consequences ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Palestinian kleptocracy: West accepts corruption, people suffer the consequences

The Abbas family’s corruption is a hot topic in the territories, but not here in the U.S. Tareq Abbas, son of the Palestinian Authority president, is a multi-millionaire owning villas in Amman, a Beirut rooftop pad and a luxury London flat. His older brother, Yasser, has made a fortune from, among other things, his monopoly sale of U.S.-made cigarettes in the Judea and Samaria a.k.a. the West Bank.
Leaked records from a Panamanian law firm show that PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his two sons used power and influence to control the two major Palestinian economic boards (Arab Palestinian Investment Company, Palestinian Investment Fund) and built a West Bank economic empire worth more than $300 million. Abbas’ authoritarian rule has allowed his family’s Falcon consortium to dominate the West Bank’s commerce and labor markets including owning shopping centers, media and insurance companies and distributing food, cigarettes, cosmetics and other consumer items. Falcon touches every aspect of Palestinian commercial life.
These documents, reports from senior Fatah officials and Palestinian social media reveal extensive corruption at the highest levels — the Abbas family and a Palestinian elite manipulating the political and financial systems to benefit themselves at the expense of the people.
The 1993 Oslo Accords established Palestinian self-rule over 98 percent of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza. Since then, the PA received an estimated $25 billion in financial aid from the U.S. and other Western countries, the highest per capita assistance in the world.
Instead of creating the independent and robust civil institutions necessary for good governance, promoting peace with Israel and improving the lives of its people, the billions of dollars of international aid were used to create a corrupt dictatorship focusing on enriching its elites, inciting its people against Israel, advocating terrorism and waging a massive international campaign to demonize, delegitimize and destroy the Jewish State. And the U.S. doesn’t seem to care, donating $442 million of taxpayer money in 2016.
Abbas is currently in the eleventh year of a four-year term. He rules by decree, and parliamentary and presidential elections are not on the horizon.

Dershowitz: BDS Activists ‘Miseducating Generation of Future Leaders’ About Israeli-Palestinian Conflict to Delegitimize Jewish Nation-State

While BDS activists have failed to get American educational institutions to boycott the Jewish state, they are succeeding in “miseducating a generation of future leaders” about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, internationally renowned legal expert Alan Dershowitz warned on Wednesday.
“Lawsuits and legislation are not enough,” Dershowitz said, during an anti-BDS conference hosted by Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon at the global intergovernmental organization’s New York City headquarters. “We have to increase our advocacy in the court of public opinion. We have to make sure that on every college campus, every claim made by BDS is refuted — on social media and by professors…We are losing the campaign for the minds and hearts of the college students today, while winning the campaign against the actual BDS program.”
Dershowitz made the comments during a discussion moderated by Dovid Efune — editor-in-chief of The Algemeiner — at the “Legal Scholars Against BDS” event.
“It will not be enough to win our war against BDS in the courts of law; we must also win it in the courts of public opinion,” Dershowitz emphasized.

In Jamaica, a once-in-a-lifetime reunion for Jews who weathered WWII in an island camp

Dutch Jew Inez Scheektor was only 11 years old when she boarded a ship from fascist Spain toward an unknown destination somewhere in the Western Hemisphere.
It was 1942, and along with her brother and parents, she ripped off her Star of David and walked through the woods across the border to Belgium. From there, the family rode freight trains through France, narrowly avoiding capture, before finally casting off from the coast of Spain.
Eventually, their ship docked in Jamaica, which was then a British colony.
“Coming from Europe, which was war-torn, and arriving in this lush paradise where the bananas and oranges were growing along the roads and the people were so friendly — it was fabulous,” remembered Scheektor, who is now 85 years old.
This weekend, Scheektor with her son and nephew returned to Jamaica for the first reunion remembering the Polish and Dutch Jewish refugees who were given safe haven here during World War II.

'He called Hamas friends' Israeli politician accuses Corbyn of having a problem with Jews

Appearing on BBC2’s Newsnight, Yair Lapid, the Chairman of the Yesh Atid Party, lashed out at the Labour leader for his support of what he branded a terrorist organisation.
Mr Lapid, who was Israeli finance minister between 2013-14, said it was clear Mr Corbyn had a problem with the Jews, as he had never expressed any support for them.
Speaking to Kirsty Wark, he said: “Jeremy Corbyn called Hamas his friends.
“This is a terrorist organisation for the EU, for international law, terrorists. He called them his friends.
“He never called us his friends, he has got a problem with Jews.”
Labour has been heavily criticised for failing to address anti-Semitism within its ranks and in October it was branded “institutionally anti-Semitic” after a much-criticsed inquiry by Shami Chakrabarti claimed there was not a problem in the party.
Ms Chakrabarti was later appointed to the House of Lords, fuelling suggestions her report was little more than a whitewash.

Yair Lapid On BBC 'Newsnight', 16th November, 2016

French baby named for killer of 4 Jews at Toulouse school

Prosecutors in the city of Nice in southern France were ordered to find legal ways to change the name of a baby whose parents named their son for the killer of four Jews at a school in Toulouse in 2012.
Unable to contest on legal grounds the parents’ choice of giving the boy the name Mohammed Nizar Merah, city officials listed the baby, who was born earlier this month, as requested by his parents, Nice Matain reported.
But Mayor Christian Estrosi said in a statement Friday that he had referred the case to the city prosecutor to have the baby renamed.
The jihadist Mohammed Merah in March 2012 shot dead Rabbi Jonathan Sandler and his two young sons, Arieh and Gavriel, as well as 8-year-old Miriam Monsonego, at the Otzar Hatorah Jewish school before fleeing on a motorcycle. Days before the shooting, Merah had killed three French soldiers. He was shot dead by police at his hiding place two days after the school massacre.
Estrosi said he would contest the registration of the baby’s name on several grounds, including regulations that prohibit names that are deemed “detrimental to the interests of the infant.” But the mayor also wrote that he would also fight the registration on grounds that encourages violence and terrorism. (h/t Elder of Lobby)

European Union Orders British Press NOT to Report when Terrorists are Muslims

This is the moment where hate speech laws become a greater threat to democracy and freedom of speech than hate speech itself.
In France, Muslim terrorists are never Muslim terrorists, but "lunatics," "maniacs" and "youths".
To attack freedom of the press and freedom of speech is not anti-hate speech; it is submission.
By following these recommendations, the British government would place Muslim organizations in a kind of monopoly position: they would become the only source of information about themselves. It is the perfect totalitarian information order.
Created to guard against the kind of xenophobic and anti-Semitic propaganda that gave rise to the Holocaust, national hate speech laws have increasingly been invoked to criminalize speech that is merely deemed insulting to one's race, ethnicity, religion, or nationality.
It is disturbing to wonder how long the EU will strongly engage its experts and influence to cut through existing legal obstacles, in a quest to criminalize any type of criticism of Islam, and to submit to the values of jihad.

Middle East Misjudgment

Review of 'Ike’s Gamble' By Michael Doran
In the middle of Israel’s 2014 war with Hamas, State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki defended a diplomatic move by Secretary John Kerry that had generated open fury in Jerusalem and at least five Arab capitals by suggesting to reporters that the firestorm had been whipped up by an Israeli misinformation campaign. “It’s simply not the way that partners and allies treat each other,” she complained. Then she declared that Kerry was Israel’s strongest supporter and a close personal friend of Israeli officials—and had been mediating at their invitation.
That last bit of gaslighting was too much for Matthew Lee, the curmudgeonly dean of the press corps at the State Department. “The Israelis fought tooth and nail, didn’t want him anywhere near this,” Lee said, and started listing individual Israelis one by one, asking her which ones Kerry was friends with. The official State Department transcript then reads, almost unkindly, “(Laughter.)”
Kerry had embraced a Turkish-Qatari ceasefire proposal that demanded capitulation to Hamas, at the expense of an Egyptian-sponsored draft Israel had accepted. It united Israelis across the political spectrum with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, and the Palestinian Authority in appalled horror. The Israeli cabinet unanimously and publicly rejected the proposal, the Egyptians made it known they wouldn’t forget the U.S.’s kneecapping them, and Hamas’s Fatah rivals issued a statement saying that any Palestinian who wanted to be represented by Turkey or Qatar could go live there. And the Obama administration blamed Israel.
There are several explanations for the crisis, but the broadest is this: U.S. foreign policy has always been hampered by solutionism. Instead of managing problems across decades by balancing scheming rivals and mercurial allies, we throw resources at problems until they go away. But that can’t explain why Kerry would choose a solution that aligned the U.S. against its traditional partners.
Michael Doran’s Ike’s Gamble, a riveting account of President Dwight Eisenhower’s conduct in Middle East, offers a key historical insight: Modern American diplomats have, going back to the beginning of the Cold War, been simply awful at distinguishing friends and foes in the Middle East. Doran, who is a Hudson Institute senior fellow and a former National Security Council senior director, describes Eisenhower’s trajectory as “nothing if not a lesson in the dangers of calibrating the distinction between ally and enemy incorrectly.”

To combat rampant crime on their streets, Israeli Arabs heed call to join police

In the Arab-Israeli village of Jaljulia, the metal gate to the municipality is ridden with bullet marks. The town’s mayor Fayik Auda is not surprised no suspect was arrested for shooting at the government building. In the 10,000 strong village whose history and name extend back to Roman rule, 12 people have been murdered over the past five years, he said, but only one suspect was arrested for these crimes. He turned himself in.
“It is evident there is a difference between [Jewish] blood and [Arab] blood in the state of Israel,” said Auda, who defines himself as a “realist” and “moderate” that respects Israel’s police.
Auda’s sentiment is wide-spread among Arab Israelis, who face far greater crime and poverty than their Jewish counterparts, but receive far less police services. In 2015, 59 percent of murders in Israel took place in the Arab community, even though Arabs are only 20% of the population.
This violent reality, however, may be about to change.
Israel’s current government has recently set into motion a $350 million (1,350,000,000 NIS) plan to root-out crime in the Arab community. And to do so, they are asking Arab citizens to join the effort by joining the force.
Of the 1,300 new cops expected to serve the Arab community in 12 new stations, Israeli police hope 600 of the recruits will be Arab citizens.

JPost Editorial: The New IDF

Two discernible and potentially conflicting trends arise from the manpower data published this week by the IDF on the percentage of eligible young men and women who are conscripted for mandatory military service.
On one hand, there has been a sharp rise in the number of religious women who are opting to enlist in the IDF instead of performing National Service or receiving an exemption. In all, 2,159 enlisted in 2015 compared to 1,853 in 2014. Women as a whole – both religious and non-religious – are enlisting at a rate of 58%, the same as in 2012.
Also, more and more women are being integrated into combat units. There has been a 400% rise in the number of women serving in combat roles, with more mixed-gender battalions opening every year.
Brig.-Gen. Eran Shani, speaking before the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday, noted that the IDF is considering allowing women to serve in the Armored Corps and in the elite 669 air force rescue unit.
In parallel with the increasing integration of women in the IDF, there is a potentially conflicting trend. The number of religious soldiers is growing. In 2015, 2,475 haredi young men were conscripted. And religious soldiers as a percentage of the total number of IDF soldiers is also growing due to demographic changes.

Salute to Holocaust survivor who funded Israel's 'brain trust'

Edward David Fischman died in 1995 with no direct heirs and directed his inheritance to help build the Jewish State.
In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the E. David Fischman Scholarship, founded a year after Fischman's passing, past recipients of the award and Israeli civic leaders will gather in Jerusalem on November 17 for a conference to offer tribute to the memory of its founder.
E. David Fischman passed away 21 years ago, leaving behind no surviving direct descendants, losing his only daughter and wife in the Holocaust. After arriving in the U.S. in 1949 with little to his name, he quietly built a successful real estate investment company leaving him with ample wealth at the time of his death.
Mr. Fischman chose to direct the majority of his assets for the creation of a scholarship fund specifically intended to benefit accomplished Israeli scholars looking to pursue doctorate programs in the United States.
Since its launch, the program has already given out $3,050,000 in scholarships to 71 recipients - including many who are helping to shape the future of Israel and the world at large. The scholarship is specifically designated for students pursuing doctorates in the fields of political science, law and economics.

David Collier: A three day nightmare, living within an industry of hate

50 years since the 1967 war. 100 Years since Balfour. 70 years since partition. A launch of another anti-Israel campaign. And breathe. This week I have been busy, Friends of Al-Aqsa, suspect academia and Ben White. It is going to be a long year.
What was notable about the 3 events, was that they came from different spheres of the anti-Israel movement. The first from the Islamic community. The second from Marxists within Israeli Jewish society and the final, from inside a Christian church. Here is my report:
Tuesday 15 Nov. Queen Mary, University of London
A talk on the importance of the Al Aqsa Mosque by Ismail Patel, founder of the Friends of Al-Aqsa group. The hall only half full. In the past Queen Mary FOAPatel has saluted Hamas for “standing up to Israel”, and has a long history of walking on or over the line. On Tuesday the Ismail Patel I witnessed was careful, guarded. He was clearly aware of the presence of supporters of Israel. There were no references to terrorism or Hamas at all. But terror related comments are only the headline act of the Friends of Al-Aqsa. Their underlying premise remains constant. The Mosque is under threat by right wing elements inside Israel and must be protected.
In this, Friends of Al Aqsa present the true face of the Palestinian cause. It is not humanitarian in nature, but rather anti-Jewish and easily incited through talk of religious threats. Patel’s talk did exactly this. He firstly created myths around the mosque, using a recently fabricated historical narrative that places Jerusalem and the mosque at the pinnacle of the Islamic ladder. Patel then launched into a carefully worded attack on Israeli intentions. Using selected quotes and badly distorted information to suggest the movement to destroy Al-Aqsa and build a Third Temple, is moving into the mainstream.

21 Questions for Anti-Israel Activist Ben White

Prolific anti-Israel campaigner Ben White has announced the publication of his latest book: “The 2014 Gaza War: 21 Questions And Answers.” Given that White is perhaps best known for publishing a book titled “Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide,” the book will no doubt skew heavily towards absolving Palestinians (and Hamas) of any culpability or wrong-doing during the Gaza war, while conversely finding Israel guilty of every conceivable evil.
In keeping with the theme of his book, however, here are 21 questions that perhaps White might also like to answer:

Why has Israel’s total withdrawal from Gaza actually increased the level of violence between Israelis and Palestinians?

Do you think there would be fewer civilian casualties if Hamas didn’t fire rockets into Israel directly from civilian areas?

Why does Hamas keep soldiers and weapons in civilian buildings like mosques, hospitals and schools?

What does it say about Hamas that ISIS have adopted so many of their tactics and strategies?

Why are materials intended for civilian reconstruction being used by Hamas to rebuild their military infrastructure instead?

How many Palestinians lives would have been saved if Hamas respected ceasefires instead of unfailingly breaking them?

How can there ever be peace if Hamas are theologically committed to rejecting the existence of a Jewish state?

Head of Alumni Group That Pushed for Ouster of Antisemitic Oberlin Faculty Member Says Other Colleges Should ‘Follow Suit, Stamp Out Bigotry’

The recent dismissal of an Oberlin College assistant professor who blamed Jews and Israel for the 9/11 terror attacks should serve as a warning to university faculty everywhere that “there is no place for bigotry on campus,” the head of an alumni group that pushed for her ouster told The Algemeiner on Thursday.
Melissa Landa of Oberlin Alums for Campus Fairness (ACF) — part of a national network engaged in combating antisemitism and anti-Israel bias on campus — was referring to the termination on Tuesday of Dr. Joy Karega over a slew of antisemitic social media postings.
“We hope other campuses will follow Oberlin’s example,” Landa said.
The decision to fire Karega was handed down by the Ohio school’s board of trustees, which released a statement explaining that Karega was let go from her position for “failing to meet the academic standards Oberlin requires of its faculty and failing to demonstrate intellectual honesty.”
During an extensive investigation carried out by the Board and her peers, the statement continued, Karega “disclaimed all responsibility for her misconduct. And she continues to blame Oberlin and its faculty committees for undertaking a shared governance review process.”

McGill Student Newspaper Under Fire for Refusing to Publish Pro-Israel Op-eds

McGill University’s student newspaper has come under fire after announcing that it no longer publishes articles that “promote a Zionist worldview,” the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported Wednesday.
The policy was communicated in a statement made in response to a complaint about the paper’s coverage of anti-Semitism. “Upon reviewing this complaint, we found that it largely rested on the conflation of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, which we understand to be distinct from one another,” the statement read. “The Daily maintains an editorial line of not publishing pieces which promote a Zionist worldview, or any other ideology which we consider to be oppressive.”
According to the Daily, the paper has no Jewish editorial board members, though it acknowledged that “the broader Daily community contains Jewish voices.”
The Canaidan Jewish News reported that McGill student Molly Harris had filed a complaint to the university’s Students’ Society about “a set of virulently anti-Semitic tweets” tweeted by a member of the Daily‘s staff and that a “culture of anti-Semitism” was blocking pro-Israel opinions from being published at the paper. Harris published an article in The Washington Post in August, in which she recounted a number of anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist incidents that occurred on campus, including one involving an on-campus publication. “When I asked if a student publication would write about instances of anti-Semitism on campus in its end-of-year issue, I was told that those instances were already covered in ‘mainstream Zionist media,’” she wrote.

Following Defeat of BDS Motion at U of Toronto, Israel Advocates Say Anti-Jewish-State Activists 'Significantly Miscalculated' Opponents' Mobilization Power

In the wake of a major Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) fail at the University of Toronto this week, Israel advocates told The Algemeiner that the campus activists working tirelessly to delegitimize the Jewish state have “significantly miscalculated” both their own popularity and the mobilization power of their opponents.
“Increasing numbers on campus are willing to stand up and challenge the boycott movement whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head,” said Ari Blaff — a student at the school and member of the advocacy group Hasbara Fellowships Canada — explaining his take on why the U of T Graduate Students Union (GSU) rejected a motion to make its “BDS Ad Hoc Committee” into a permanent entity within its ranks.
The main hurdle to defeating the motion, acording to Hasbara Fellow Chaim Katz, was the fact that “very few students on campus even knew about the existence of the ad-hoc committee, let alone know what it stood for and that there was a permanent motion in place.” Nor had they realized, he said, that their student union dues would be contributing to BDS.
Katz told The Algemeiner that the most difficult part of mobilizing students to oppose the motion was informing them that a vote on it was about to take place and persuading them that their voice counts.

US blames ‘Post’ Pollard interview in ’86 for strict incarceration, parole

Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard’s strict parole conditions were set by the United States Parole Commission due in part to an interview he gave The Jerusalem Post nearly 30 years ago, documents submitted this week revealed.
That interview Pollard gave on November 20, 1986, to Post correspondent Wolf Blitzer was claimed at the time of sentencing to be in violation of a plea agreement he had signed – even though Pollard was in federal custody at the time of the interviews, which could only have taken place with the government’s permission, according to Pollard’s lawyer Eliot Lauer.
Now, 30 years later, Pollard is appealing the strict conditions for his parole which the parole commission imposed, based on that same interview. Those conditions prevent him from leaving his New York home after 7 p.m. or before 7 a.m., force him to submit any computer he uses for inspection, and requires him to wear a GPS monitoring device that forces him to violate the Sabbath.
In his appeal which was obtained by the Post, Lauer revealed information from documents submitted to the court by the parole commission, which attempted to explain why the special conditions were required for Pollard.

BBC News continues to under-report internal Palestinian politics

Towards the end of last month BBC audiences visiting the corporation’s English language and Arabic language websites were offered a rare but limited view of internal Palestinian affairs in an article by Yolande Knell which was discussed here.knell-abbas-art-main
As was noted at the time, BBC audiences suffer from a chronic lack of information concerning internal Palestinian affairs. Knell’s report did not, for example, inform readers of the series of violent clashes between PA security forces and locals in various locations in Palestinian Authority controlled areas and the continued violence has not received any subsequent BBC coverage.

Despite US veto, resolution condeming Nazi 'glorification' passes UN committee vote

The resolution speaks of the concern in the "glorification" of the Nazi movement and of neo-Nazism such as the erecting of monuments or memorials and public demonstrations that glorify anything to do with the Nazi and neo-Nazi movement.
Co-authored by 55 states including Russia, the resolution is set to be brought to the UN General Assembly by the end of the year.
The vote, which happens for the same resolution annually, was vetoed by the US in 2014 and 2015 as well.
In 2014 Terri Robl, who was at the time the US deputy representative to the UN Economic and Social Council, explained her opposition to the resolution, stating that the Russian government had thrown around terms such as Nazi and fascist for its own political ends.
“We believe Russia’s efforts at the General Assembly, via this resolution, are aimed at its opponents, rather than at promoting or protecting human rights,” she said.

Daphne Anson: Has Sizer's Bishop Been a Party Pooper?

At the time I'm writing the news hasn't caught up with the Vicar of Virginia Water's Christ Church site, but the launch of his brand new Peacemaker Mediators charity advertised for 3 December has been cancelled.
In what seems a low key fashion, a new date for this event has been announced, and as in the case of the old one, anybody who wants to go must RSVP.
The betting is that the Bishop of Guildford read the Riot Act to our old chum, telling him that he can't go ahead with this venture until after his retirement on Easter Sunday.

Burned Jew effigy represented Soros, Polish court hears

The defendant on trial in Poland for burning an effigy of an ultra-Orthodox Jew said it was supposed to represent Jewish philanthropist George Soros.
Piotr Ryba testified Monday in a Wroclaw municipal court about the effigy burned in the central market of the city in November 2015 at the end of a demonstration against taking in Muslim refugees.
Ryba is accused of “public incitement to hatred on the grounds of religion and nationality to an unspecified group of Jews by burning an effigy.”
Soros, an Israeli-American Jewish billionaire, is not an Orthodox Jew.
“The effigy was prepared by the National Radical Camp,” Ryba told the court, according to reports. “It was to be an effigy of George Soros. I have not seen him. I did not know how Soros looks. I feel manipulated by the whole situation. I was, and I am, a patriot.”
The trial has been ongoing for several weeks.

Gett offers hurried New Yorkers new car pool service

Carrie Bradshaw may not have to struggle anymore in her quest to find elusive taxis in New York. Gett, the Israeli rideshare startup, has just started a carpooling service for New York City.
The company, which is already providing New Yorkers with $10 fixed fare rides in Manhattan, is now offering them “Gett Together,” — a new service that will provide commuters in Manhattan with $3 direct rides at a flat rate, helping make up for the lack of public transport along the East and West Sides, the company said, and offering an alternative to buses and subway.
Riders who request a Gett Together can be picked up and dropped off, by cars that are driven by professional drivers and during traffic hours, along set routes during designated commuting hours. The riders will be able to share the vehicles with others, headed the same way. The pre-established and set routes will allow users to know exactly where they are going, so there won’t be unexpected detours or surprise stops along the way, Gett said.
Gett, which defines itself as an an on-demand mobility company, is already offering ride-hailing services in more than 80 cities around the world, including London, Moscow and New York. In London, more than half of all the black cabs run on Gett, which has an app that allows customers to pre-book their rides or order them on the spot.
To promote the service, New Yorkers will be able to initially use Gett Together for free.

Kim Kardashian Is Reportedly Learning Self Defense Developed by the Israeli Defense Forces

After being robbed at gunpoint inside her Paris apartment in October, Kim Kardashian has reportedly decided to start taking Krav Maga classes. Kardashian is now taking personalized classes on the self-defense system at home, In Touch Weekly reported Thursday. The system, originally developed for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), includes techniques from boxing and incorporates realistic battle training into the education process.
"She's started taking classes three times a week at home," an alleged insider said Thursday. "She amped up her security, but it wasn't enough. She wants to take back control of her space and safety." Though her family has made some major changes in their security detail, Kardashian reportedly feels these classes are "a necessity" in order to ensure protection.
Following the October robbery, Kardashian and husband Kanye West reportedly parted ways with longtime bodyguard Pascal Duvier. "Pascal, along with a couple other security members of their team, were recently let go by Kim and Kanye," a source told Entertainment Tonight earlier this month. "It's a pretty tough situation overall and they love Pascal, but they couldn't take any more chances."

Ariel University: How a tiny Israeli city builds a high-tech bridge to India

With Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin touring India on an 8-day visit, Ariel University is taking this historic opportunity to connect with Indian universities and tap into South Asian country’s huge talent pool. Professor Yehuda Danon, President of Ariel University, is accompanying the presidential delegation, along with fifteen other heads of Israeli universities. Along with student and faculty exchange programmes, Ariel University hopes to set up a joint research fund aimed at promoting research projects with India counterparts.
Ariel University, located in Samaria hills, is already home to many Indian research scholars, working mainly in industrial and technological fields. During my visit to Israel, earlier this year, I met few of the doctoral students from India and learned about the path-breaking work they were doing in collaboration with their Israeli teammates.
Froim Ditza, Head of Public Diplomacy at the Embassy of Israel, confirmed that more than twenty agreements were signed today between Israeli and Indian universities at an event attended by President Rivlin in New Delhi. “Israeli Academia is important for the country’s successful ecosystem of innovation. Universities are meeting point for ideas, research and industry,” Ditza said, emphasising the role of research and higher education in Israel.

Air Supply: Israel “A Beautiful Country..A Pleasure To Be There Every Time”

It seems when it comes to Israel, Aussie soft rock duo Air Supply are not all out of love. They are coming to Israel for the 4th time in only 8 years, performing in 3 concerts in the coming weeks.
In a recent phone interview with the Jerusalem Post, they had this to say about Israel:
“We always have a great time there, and the fans have been great to us,” Hitchcock says in a recent phone interview. “It’s a beautiful country, love the food, love the wine. It’s a pleasure to be there every time.”
It’s a beautiful country, love the food, love the wine. It’s a pleasure to be there every time.

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