01/05 Links Pt2: For Peace in Palestine, Start from Scratch; Phillips: Narrative is where you find fiction ~ EoZ

From Ian:

UN worker sentenced to 7 months in jail for aiding Hamas

A UN engineer, who had worked in the Gaza Strip and was indicted in August for abusing his post in order to aid Hamas, was sentenced to seven months in jail on Wednesday after reaching a plea deal with an Israeli court.
The man, Wahid Abdullah al-Bursh, is an employee of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which undertakes such projects as rehabilitating Gaza Strip homes damaged in warfare.
He has worked as a UNDP engineer since 2003 and was tasked with overseeing the demolition of homes and evacuating the waste.
According to a Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) investigation, Bursh was approached shortly after the 2014 Gaza war by Husseini Suleiman, a messenger for senior Hamas commander Abu Anas al-Andor, who asked him to use his position to help the terrorist organization.
He was found guilty of providing “services to an illegal organization without intent to cause harm”, by helping build the naval commando port in the northern Gaza Strip in April and May 2015 and using his authority to transfer to the site 300 tons of construction materials to Hamas.

For Peace in Palestine, Start from Scratch

The U.S. should stop opposing Israeli settlements and start diminishing Iranian power and Arab terrorism.
President Obama’s decision to stab Israel in the back at the United Nations could prove to be a blessing in disguise. Obama’s instinct for radical overreach has achieved a reductio ad absurdum of the whole U.S. framework toward the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and made it far more difficult for President-elect Trump to embrace that framework without wholesale revision. And that could give us something we don’t have now: a realistic path to peace in Palestine.
Current U.S. policy toward the Israeli–Palestinian conflict evolved in support of a goal — the two-state solution — set by President Bill Clinton and formally embraced by President George W. Bush. This goal has become completely disconnected from reality. That is not to say that a two-state solution is not the right ultimate goal; maybe it is. But given the circumstances of today’s Middle East, a negotiated settlement leading to a two-state solution is simply impossible. The combination of Israel’s international isolation, Palestinians’ steadfast commitment to incitement and terrorism, and Iranian ascendancy to regional hegemony and nuclear weapons means that Israel simply can’t risk the concessions that would be necessary for a final settlement of the conflict.
When Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, the territory immediately became a terrorist safe haven and a platform for missile-fired terrorism. If the same thing happens in the West Bank, which straddles Jerusalem on three sides and abuts most of Israel’s population, it will be the end of Israel. A two-state solution under current circumstances would be suicide. Peace in Palestine requires new circumstances. And the object of U.S. policy should be to create them. Hence, every element of U.S. policy, including the U.S. position on Israeli settlements, should be justifiable as part of a coherent and realistic strategy for getting from here to there.

Philosopher Bernard Henri-Levy revisits Jewish roots in new book

It’s a vague childhood memory, but the French celebrity philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy still remembers the first time he was bullied for being Jewish.
“Three idiots in a Paris play yard tell me: ‘You don’t get to have Christmas presents because you’re a dirty Jew and Jews killed Jesus.’ Maybe I cry a bit on the street later, but first I start hitting,” the 68-year-old Levy, who was born in what is today is Algeria but grew up in France, recalled in an interview earlier this month with JTA.
More than half a century later, Levy — a slender man with wavy, gray hair who is one of France’s most recognizable individuals — is still embracing his Jewish identity and confronting anti-Semites.
But since that childhood incident, Muslim extremists have taken anti-Semitism in France from schoolyard taunts to terrorism, with multiple deadly attacks on Jewish targets.
This “return of anti-Semitism,” Levy said, “perhaps” prompted him to pen one of his most Jewish books ever, “The Genius of Judaism.” The English-language translation will be released next month in the United States, and Levy will do a Q&A (with Charlie Rose) at the 92nd Street Y in New York on January 11.
In the book Levy, a non-observant Jew, traces the Jews’ “misunderstanding with the nations” to their definition as a “chosen people.”

Douglas Murray: European Immigration: Mainly Muslim, Mainly Male, Mainly Young

In the wake of the attack in Nice, there should have been a fulsome public discussion over what if anything can be done to ensure that people who have been in France for many years -- in some cases their entire lives -- are not indoctrinated to hate the country so much that they drive a truck through a crowded sea-front on Bastille Day.
Or there could have been a wide public debate over whether, with so many radicalised Muslims already in France, it was a wise or foolish idea to continue to import large numbers of Muslims into this already simmering situation.
Merkel seems to hope that with this raising of a burka ban the German public will forgive or forget the fact that here is a political leader so devoid of foresight that she unilaterally chose to allow an extra 1-2% of the population to be added to her country in a single year, mainly Muslim, mainly male and mainly young.
The burka and burkini, like the headscarf, are only issues because millions of people have been allowed, unchecked, into Europe for years. The garment is merely the simplest issue at which to take aim. Far harder are the issues of immigration and integration. It is possible that Europe's politicians cannot answer these questions, because any and all answers would point the finger at their own failings.
The European publics might get fed up with the distraction tactics of talking about garments and instead seek answers to the challenge we now face, as well as retribution at the polls for the politicians who brought us here.

Melanie Phillips: Narrative is where you find fiction

There is no reason to doubt this rise. However, many of these incidents took place just after the atrocities in Paris in January and November, just as previous spikes in anti-Muslim incidents took place after 9/11 and the near-decapitation of Drummer Lee Rigby.
That doesn’t mean they are any less reprehensible — all unprovoked attacks are wrong, on Muslims or anyone else — just that they mostly occur in response to Islamic terrorism rather than being a routine expression of intrinsic prejudice.
Moreover, the 437 figure has to be seen in the context of the size of Britain’s Muslim population, currently estimated at about three million.
Considering the intensity of public rage about Islamist aggression and the refusal by the Muslim world to take any responsibility for it, blaming it instead on “un-Islamic” or “anti-Islamic” forces, the number of hateful incidents against Muslims is thankfully remarkably low.
Now look at the number of attacks on Jews. Excluding social media abuse and threats, the Community Security Trust recorded 765 antisemitic incidents in 2015, with the highest number of violent assaults since 2011. Now put that 765 figure in the context of Britain’s Jewish population, estimated at around 270,000.
In other words, the rate of attacks on Jews proportionate to their population strength is vastly greater than the rate of attacks on Muslims, even though Jews have done nothing at all to provoke the general public. Narrative is not everything. Reality is.

Manhunt continues for Haifa shooter; possible terror motive suspected

On Thursday police raided an abandoned home in the neighborhood of Halisa, searching for the suspect. According to multiple Hebrew media reports, police suspect nationalistic motivations for the shootings. A Coastal District Police spokesman confirmed that the police have identified a suspect, however, declined to comment on the investigation stating that “all leads are being investigated”.
The first shooting occurred at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Ha’atzma’ut street, where Rabbi Yechiel Illouz, was seriously injured after being shot multiple times and was evacuated to the Rambam Medical Center. The police were attempting to locate the gunman when a second shooting occurred on Hagiborim Street around 10:20 a.m. Kafari, 47, was fatally wounded and pronounced dead on the scene by Magen David Adom medics.
Initially police suspected a criminal motive for the pair of shootings and the victims - who are not known to police as persons of interests - were shot in a case of mistaken identity. Yet, as the case developed nationalistic motivations have become the central suspicion.
’All the evidence points to Guy being murdered, murdered because he was Jewish - a nationalist motivation,” Kafari’s brother in law, Shachar Drori, said at the funeral according to The Jerusalem Post’s sister publication Maariv.
However according to family and friends that spoke with Channel 2 the suspect, whose name remains under gag order, is not the type of person they would expect to commit a murder.

Victim of suspected terror attack in Haifa
laid to rest

The victim of a suspected terror attack in Haifa was laid to rest Thursday, two days after he was shot dead.
Guy Kafri, 48, was buried in the cemetery in the small town of Ofer, just south of the northern city. His funeral was attended by hundreds of mourners.
Shahar Dror, brother-in-law of the deceased, said in his eulogy that Kafri was killed solely because he was a Jew.
“He was a good man who helped everyone,” Dror told Channel 2. “We don’t understand what happened and hope the police get to the truth and we find out was behind Guy’s murder. He had no enemies.”
Thirty minutes before Kafri was gunned down, Yehiel Iluz, 48, a senior judge on a Haifa rabbinic court for conversion, was moderately wounded in a shooting, also in Haifa, which police are treating as connected.

Rivlin pays condolence call to Istanbul attack victim’s family

President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday paid a condolence visit to the family of an Israeli teenager who was killed in a terror attack at an Istanbul club during New Year’s festivities.
Lian Zaher Nasser, 19, from the Arab city of Tira, was killed when a gunman went on a shooting rampage at the exclusive Reina nightclub in the Turkish capital in the early hours of January 1. The attack, which killed 39 people, most of them foreigners, was claimed by the Islamic State terror group.
“We are here to share in your grief and to tell the world that terrorism is terrorism, and we must fight it and not surrender to it,” the president told Nasser’s parents, Lucy and Zaher.
“We heard what an impressive and wonderful girl she was, and we are sorry for your pain,” Rivlin said.
The Nassers told the president that they had warned Lian against traveling to Turkey because of the surge in terror attacks throughout the country in recent months.

Hasidim arrested after illegal visit to West Bank holy site

Police arrested a group of Hasidic Jews who traveled without escort to the Joshua’s Tomb holy site in the Palestinian village of Kifl Hares early Thursday morning and came under attack by local residents, authorities said.
According to the IDF, 10 members of the Bratslav sect “illegally entered” the village, southwest of Nablus, after midnight on Thursday in order to visit a site that is traditionally believed to be the burial place of the biblical figure Joshua.
At some point during their visit, the men were attacked by residents of the village, who hurled rocks at them and their car.
“IDF troops arrived at the tomb to escort the worshipers safely out of the village,” an army spokesperson said.
Once the soldiers got them out, they handed the 10 men over to police for further questioning, the army said.
Israeli citizens are not allowed to enter parts of the West Bank under Palestinian Authority security control — known as Area A — without escort or prior authorization, as such incursions often result in violence, like in this case.

Indictment prepared against MK Ghattas for smuggling phones to Palestinian prisoners

An indictment was prepared Thursday against a member of Knesset who is charged with smuggling cellphones and coded messages to convicted Palestinian terrorists in an Israeli prison.
MK Basel Ghattas, of the Arab Joint List’s Balad faction, is undergoing a criminal investigation after he was caught on prison surveillance video passing envelopes to the prisoners last month. He was released to house arrest last week, five days after he was arrested.
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit authorized the indictment, which includes charges of using property to abet terror, fraud, breach of trust, and aggravated fraud.
The indictment will only be filed after a hearing with Ghattas where he, or his lawyer, will be able to present the attorney general with reasons he shouldn’t be charged. Then, or if Ghattas turns down the invitation for a hearing, a final decision on filing the indictment will be made.
According to the paperwork, Ghattas took advantage of his position as a member of Knesset, who is not subject to a body search, during a visit to Ketziot prison where he met with Walid Daka, who received a 37-year sentence for the 1984 abduction and murder of 19-year-old IDF soldier Moshe Tamam. The MK also met with Basel Ben Sulieman Bezre, who is serving a 15-year sentence on a terror conviction.

Gaza fisherman lost at sea after collision with IDF ship

A Palestinian fisherman went missing Wednesday night after his boat collided with an Israel Navy ship in the waters off the coast of the Gaza Strip, the army said.
The Israel Defense Forces said the incident was an accident caused by sea conditions, while Palestinians claimed the navy vessel had intentionally “attacked” the ship belonging to Muhammad al-Hissi.
Nizar Ayyash, head of the Gaza fishing union, told the Palestinian Ma’an news site that the incident occurred at approximately 10:30 p.m. off the coast of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, and that al-Hissi was reported missing shortly afterward.
Both the Israeli Navy and Palestinian sailors launched searches for al-Hissi, who remained missing as of Thursday afternoon.

Lebanon president accuses Mossad of murder in Angola

Lebanese President Michel Aoun suggested on Wednesday that Israel was responsible for the assassination of a Lebanese businessman in Angola.
At the opening of a cabinet session, Aoun said the Lebanese foreign ministry was looking into the murder of Amine Bakri, a 54-year-old Lebanese businessman.
Barki was killed by gunmen near his workplace Sunday in the Angolan capital Luanda.
“There is information that the Mossad stands behind this operation,” Aoun said.
The Lebanese president did not reveal the nature of the evidence, nor did he declare an alleged motive for the Israeli spy agency to target Bakri.

VIDEO satire “Real Housewives of ISIS” attacked as Islamophobic

This is the type of edgy comedy Saturday Night Live would produce, if it had the guts to offend the thought police.
Instead, it’s from the BBC2 show Revolting:
The satirists behind a controversial BBC sketch depicting “The Real Housewives of Isis” have argued that comedians must be allowed to tackle religious fundamentalism.
The sketch is due to feature in the first episode of Revolting, the new BBC2 series by Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein, the duo behind the Bafta-winning The Revolution Will Be Televised.
Shot during a turbulent year, ripe for satire, Revolting’s mix of political stunts and scripted sketches targets racist Brexit voters, Boris Johnson, Southern Trains and the NHS budget deficit.
The most daring sequence is a mock reality show, called The Real Housewives of Isis, which depicts Western women who are groomed online by Islamic extremists.

The Independent Deceives Readers to Attack Israel

The Independent claims in a headline that “2016 was ‘deadliest year’ for West Bank children in a decade,” but the misleading report fails to live up to fundamental journalistic standards.
Correspondent Bethan McKernan, who is based in Beirut, uses DCI-Palestine (an anti-Israel advocacy group, more on this group below) to accuse Israel of unnecessarily killing Palestinian youths. To a lesser extent the article quotes Human Rights Watch, which has its own axe to grind with Israel.
McKernan speaks about the period of time from October 2015 to the present, with a particular focus on children.
But she fails to acknowledge that the Palestinians carried out 2,732 terror attacks against Israelis, many perpetrated by minors. This wave of terror was characterized by shootings, stabbings, car rammings, and firebombings. In other words, the spike in Palestinian deaths corresponded with a spike in Palestinian attacks.
Moreover, only 228 Palestinians died in carrying out their attacks. So even when Israelis were under direct and often deadly assault, Palestinian attackers survived over 90 percent of the time.

Breitbart’s Aaron Klein to Israel’s Knesset – ‘Troll the World With the Truth’

Israel needs to view the issue of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as a “war” that should be centralized and waged on a massive scale, Breitbart Jerusalem’s bureau chief Aaron Klein told a Knesset plenum on Tuesday.
Klein, who also serves as Breitbart’s senior investigative reporter and hosts the popular weekend talk radio show, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio,” slammed the United Nations for the recent Security Council resolution condemning settlements as a “flagrant violation of international law.”
“This unprecedented assault at the United Nations is obviously going to put the anti-Semitic, illegitimate, racist, apartheid-supporting Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions BDS campaign on steroids,” Klein warned.
Israel must reevaluate its response to the radical international movement, Klein said, and create a “massive central hub to fight” the movement.
“Fighting BDS really needs to be put in the context of a war. Of a massive battle,” he said.

Palestinians seeking to expand BDS campaign against Israeli settlements

The Palestinian leadership plans to expand its campaign against settlement activity, focusing on the boycott of settlement products and settlers, a top Palestinian official said.
“We will come back to the settlements issue…not only regarding the labeling of settlement products, but pertaining to the boycott of settlement products,” Riyad al-Maliki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister told the Jordanian Al-Dustour newspaper on Thursday.
Maliki's statement comes approximately two weeks after the UN Security Council passed a resolution critical of settlements, which said they "have no legal validity."

In Aftermath of BDS Resolution at Portland State U, Israel-Advocates ‘Excited to Move On,’ Publicly Celebrate Jewish State

The head of Portland State University’s only pro-Israel society told Oregon Jewish Life about being “excited [to] move on,” two months after the conclusion of a contentious BDS campaign on campus.
Brennan Thorpe, the president of CHAI and a StandWithUs Emerson Fellow, was referring to the sense of resigned relief he and like-minded peers have been experiencing in the aftermath of the October passage of a pro-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions student government bill that they had spent nearly a year trying to prevent.
Despite their failed efforts to “defen[d] against blatantly antisemitic and anti-Israel lies” spread on campus by BDS activists, they said at the time that they were preparing to get past the disappointment and work on self-empowerment.
“Everyone as a community took a few weeks to deal with all the emotions, the frustration, the sadness,” Thorpe said, adding that many heaved a “sigh of relief” about the battle’s being over.
Thorpe said that his group, CHAI — along with PSU Hillel and the Jewish Student Union — are “planning different Israel-themed events this year…not just to celebrate Israel, but [to] bring Israel to Portland State and to other students.”

By George, Vicar! Another Turbulent Priest!

The president of APAN (the top photo, rather tellingly showing Arabic poems superimposed on a certain map, was a prize at their annual dinner in 2015) is another cleric with a hostile view of Israel.
He's British-born, Aussie-raised George Browning, former Anglican Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn.
A firm and outspoken BDSer is he.
Yesterday (4 January) a letter by Browning was printed in Brisbane Courier Mail, which has long been one of the most anti-Israel of Australian newspapers.
It's behind a paywall, but is entitled "Malcolm Turnbull is wrong Australia must not side with Israel"
Intended as a riposte to prime minister Turnbull's condemnation of UN Security Council Resolution 2336, it consists of the usual bile, with all the usual Israel-hating disregard for Israeli sufferings, Hamas atrocities, and Arab rejectionism.

Modern Language Association BDS vote on January 7 comes as Congress formulates anti-boycott legislation

At one level, this is just another battle in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) war conducted by anti-Israeli faculty activists against Israel. There have been some successes for BDS, most notably the 4,000 member American Studies Association in December 2013, but the boycott has not been passed by larger faculty associations. That would change if MLA adopted the academic boycott of Israel.
It’s a battle that is destroying the credibility of the Humanities, in particular, at a time when those “soft” subjects are under pressure from lack of job opportunities for graduate students and widespread public mockery and disdain. I’ve always argued that the BDS academic boycott of Israel would destroy the Humanities long before it destroyed Israel.
We’ll cover the MLA voting this weekend, of course.
But there’s a bigger story here, the significance the MLA action takes on after the recent passage of the anti-Israel UN Security Council Resolution 2334.
Public and political outrage over Resolution 2334 has mostly centered on the attempt to strip Jews of their history in and right to even the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and the Western Wall. Much like recent UNESCO actions to expunge Jewish history in Jerusalem, UN Resolution 2334 properly is viewed a part of the Arab Muslim refusal to recognize any Jewish nation in any boundary in what they view as Muslim land. That, and not settlements, is the heart of the conflict.
But as I pointed out, Resolution 2334 had another pernicious side that people are only now beginning to recognize, UN Resolution 2334 advances the boycott of Israel:

HRC Prompts 2 Globe & Mail Corrections on Settlements and U.S. Aid to Israel

Today, the Globe and Mail published two corrections in print and online following complaints filed by HonestReporting Canada.
A December 30 editorial falsely asserted that Israel was building “new settlements” and a January 2 letter to the editor erroneously claimed that the new U.S. aid to package to Israel was $10-billion over the next 10 years.
Contrary to the Globe’s editorial, Israel hasn’t built “new settlements” in many years. Instead, Israel has built new homes in existing settlements, what’s commonly referred to as expansion to account for the natural growth of the Israelis who live there. As well, U.S. aid to Israel over the next 10 years will be $38-billion.
Here are the corrections which were published on page A2 today:

CBC Ombud Partially Upholds HRC Complaint: Report Should’ve Mentioned UNWRA Ties to Hamas

As we told the CBC, failure to mention this information may have led CBC readers to wrongly conclude that core funding to UNWRA was at the time cut for strictly political or other purposes.
Ms. Enkin agreed with our perspective by noting the following:
“It is true that this was not the main thrust of the larger article, but the way it is phrased can lead to the impression that the funding was withdrawn because the agency was assisting Palestinians in any way. It is too broad to be clear. The Conservatives ended the funding because there were allegations that it was too closely tied to Hamas. I agree some reference to the Conservative government’s concern that UNWRA had ties to Hamas as the reason for ending the funding would be more accurate and would provide context.”
On another matter, the Ombudsman rejected our contention that it was erroneous for the CBC to claim that Canada considers Israeli settlements as being “illegal”. As we argued, both the United States and Canada does not consider west bank and eastern Jerusalem settlements as being “illegal”. Both have opted instead for the non-legal designation of “illegitimate.”

French candidate under fire for Holocaust comparison

French Jews accused a left-wing presidential candidate of encouraging Holocaust denial following his comparison of the Nazi persecution of Jews to the situation of French Muslims today.
Vincent Peillon, who is running in the Socialist Party primaries ahead of the elections this year, made the analogy Tuesday during an interview aired by the France 2 television channel.
Peillon, a former education minister who has Jewish origins, was commenting on a question about France’s strict separation between state and religion, referred to in France as “laicite.”
“If some want to use laicite, as has been done in the past, against certain populations … Forty years ago it was the Jews who put on yellow stars. Today, some of our Muslim countrymen are often portrayed as radical Islamists. It is intolerable.”
In a statement Wednesday, CRIF, the umbrella group of French Jewish communities, accused Peillon of making “statements that only serve those trying to rewrite history.”

Montana neo-Nazi march still on, white supremacist website editor says

An armed neo-Nazi march proposed by a white supremacist website to harass a Montana Jewish community will go forward, the website’s editor said.
Andrew Anglin, who runs the Daily Stormer website, told the ABC-FOX affiliate in Montana that the march on Whitefish will be held January 15, which ironically is Martin Luther King Day.
Whitefish is home to white supremacist leader Richard Spencer, president of the National Policy Institute, a white supremacist think tank. Spencer’s mother also lives there. In November, Spencer spoke at a white supremacist event in Washington, DC, celebrating President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in which he called out “Hail Trump!” and was greeted by Nazi salutes.
Spencer has said that he doesn’t believe the march will happen, calling it a joke, according to ABC-FOX Montana, but he has not denounced it.

Jewish Museum poster defaced with swastikas in New York subway

Swastikas were scrawled on a poster in a Manhattan subway station advertising an exhibit at New York’s Jewish Museum.
The poster, hanging in the Dyckman Street station on the A train line, was found to be defaced with four swastikas, drawn in black marker, on Monday night and “Jewish Museum” crossed out. In addition, several strips of blue tape were affixed to the poster bearing the words “love > hate.”
The subway station is just north of the heavily Jewish Washington Heights neighborhood.
There was a 115 percent increase in bias crimes in New York City in the month following Election Day, with Jews being targeted in 24 of the 43 incidents during that period. The anti-Semitic incidents represented a threefold increase from November 2015, The New York Observer reported.

Nazi hunter calls for legal action over antisemitic Kiev march

The Simon Wiesenthal Center has called on the Ukrainian government to take legal action against marchers who yelled antisemitic slogans, in an event held on New Year’s Day to mark the birthday of Ukrainian Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, whose followers murdered thousands of Jews at the beginning of the Holocaust.
In a letter sent Wednesday to Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Hennadii Nadolenko by the Center’s director for Eastern European affairs, Holocaust historian and Nazi-hunter Dr. Efraim Zuroff urged legal action against those demonstrators who called for the Jews’ expulsion and noted the participation of Bandera’s followers in Holocaust crimes.
“On New Year’s Day, in the center of Kiev, thousands marched to mark the birthday of Ukrainian nationalist leader Stefan Bandera, whose followers actively participated in the mass murder of Jews during the initial months following the Nazi invasion of Ukraine,” he wrote.
“Even worse, according to media reports, some of the marchers shouted the notorious antisemitic slogan ‘Juden raus’ (Jews out!) in German, which clearly constitutes incitement to antisemitic violence. I urge you to convey our sense of pain and outrage to the Ukrainian government and encourage them to take immediate legal action against those responsible for this antisemitic behavior,” the letter stated.

Moroccan king gives Jewish neighborhood its name back

A historically Jewish neighborhood in Marrakesh will have its original name restored on the orders of King Mohammed VI.
The Essalam neighborhood will be renamed El Mellah, and the original names of the streets and town squares also will be restored, according to reports.
The order comes from the king, following a request by the president of the Jewish community, according to the Moroccan State Press Agency.
The Moroccan Interior Ministry made the announcement on Friday, saying the king made the decision in order to “safeguard the civilizational heritage of the Kingdom as well as the cultural heritage of all the components of Moroccan society.”
Variations of the word “mellah” in Arabic and Hebrew mean “salt.” The Jewish neighborhood was surrounded by a high wall.

Cyber security co Checkmarx prepares for Nasdaq IPO

Deloitte described Checkmarx as Israel's fastest growing cyber company.
Information security company Checkmarx is preparing for an IPO on Nasdaq, sources inform "Globes." The company's preparations include the appointment of Shmuel Arvatz as CFO. Checkmarx is also recruiting 100 new employees in the very near future, mostly for the company R&D center in the Amot Platinum high-tech tower in Petah Tikva.
Arvatz resigned as CFO of Allot Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:ALLT; TASE: ALLT) in early December. He was previously CFO of ClickSoftware, another listed company before it was acquired in 2015 for $440 million. Checkmarx CEO Emmanuel Benzaquen appointed Arvatz to promote the planned IPO.
The company reported accelerated expansion over the past year, with substantial contracts being signed with major companies. Checkmarx was listed among Israel's 50 fastest growing companies by global accounting firm Deloitte for the second straight year, and for the second straight year was described as the cyber company with the highest revenue growth rate in Israel. Checkmarx currently has 300 employees, compared with 180 a year ago.

Israeli Company Hired to Improve Public Safety in Uruguay

A state in Uruguay recently inaugurated a $20 million video surveillance monitoring center using Israeli technologies from the Israeli company Elbit Systems.
The departamento of Maldonado turned to Israeli technology for the Safe District project, which spans across six municipal authorities including the well-known Punta Del Este tourist resort. The Safe District project will include more than 1,200 cameras and sensors, including vehicle traffic control, laid out at strategic standpoints.
The collected information will be transferred to a control center with unique analytics capabilities, Elbit explained in a statement. The sensors and cameras infrastructure will allow the operators of the control room to obtain real-time data from the field and contact law enforcement officials, including logistics and emergency personnel, in conjunction with an event.
“We are proud to have won this Safe District contract, demonstrating our ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) and HLS (Homeland Security) capabilities. I hope that more customers, with similar needs will follow the Maldonado District and will choose our unique operational solution as the means to maintain the security of both tourists and residents,” said Elad Aharonson, Elbit Systems ISTAR Division’s General Manager.

Phone uses Israeli tech to scan insides of food for calories, other data

Israel’s Consumer Physics Inc. has developed, together with Chinese and US partners, the world’s first material-sensing smartphone.
The Israeli startup previously developed the world’s first product scanner to show components, calories and other data for food, pharmaceuticals and plants.
Called the Changhong H2, the phone will be unveiled this week at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show by the Israeli company and Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. (Changhong), a supplier of consumer electronics in Asia and Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), a designer and manufacturer of semiconductor products and solutions.
The collaboration has enabled the integration of Consumer Physics’ breakthrough SCiO material-sensing technology into smartphones. The phone, to be launched this year, will “for the first time in human history” allow consumers to scan materials and immediately receive insights about their underlying chemical composition, the companies said.

Israel harnessing sunshine with world’s tallest solar tower

In sunny Israel, aside from the ubiquitous solar water heaters adorning the roofs, solar energy supplies only a small percentage of the nation’s power needs, leaving it far behind countries with cloudier and colder climates.
Now the fledgling solar industry is trying to make a leap forward with a large-scale project boasting the world’s tallest solar tower, as a symbol of Israel’s renewal energy ambitions.
With Israel traditionally running its economy on fossil fuels, renewable energy has long been hobbled by bureaucracy and a lack of incentives. But the country is starting to make an effort, setting a goal of generating 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, up from the current 2.5%.
The Ashalim project, deep in the Negev desert, is made up of three plots, with a fourth planned for the future, each with a different solar technology. Together, the fields will be Israel’s largest renewable energy project when completed by 2018. They are set to generate some 310 megawatts of power, about 1.6% of the country’s energy needs — enough for about 130,000 households, or roughly 5% of Israel’s population, according to the Israel Electricity Authority.
“It’s the most significant single building block in Israel’s commitment to CO2 reduction and renewable energy,” said Eran Gartner, chief executive of Megalim Solar Power Ltd., which is building one part of the project.
The centerpiece is a solar tower that will be the world’s tallest at 250 meters (820 feet).

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