From Ian:
Dr. Mordechai Kedar: The World Needs a Muslim Martin Luther
The problem with these conferences is that they never have even one person who is prepared to state the painful truth: the Quran, the Hadith, the history and biography of our prophet are filled with ideas, commandments, precedents that push our youth to terror, just as they motivated our forefathers to conquer most of the known seventh century world. The concept of conquering strange lands, the rule of Islam through terrible violence is what got Islam out of the Arabian peninsula to conquer the region from Indonesia in the east to Spain and Morocco in the west, and it is this that pushes our young men and women to join jihad and continue subjugation of the rest of the world.
True, there are other factors - political, social and economic - that help promote terror, but the main, basic reason is the ideas and precedents in islam's holy works, and until real reformers arise and insert significant changes into these writings, instead of holding meaningless conferences like the recent Saudi one, Muslims will continue to hide their heads in the sand, and the world will continue to think that Islam is a religion of peace, because that is what the distinguished speakers at these conferences say. Denial of the real problem will perpetuate the problems derived from it.
We need a Muslim Martin Luther, who will ask the right questions, start an Islamic reformation, one that will quarantine all the notions of subjugation, violence, hatred and repulsion, changing Allah's religion into something that will bring the cycle of violence and death to an end, giving life to Muslims and others. Until that reformer is born, the Islamic world will continue shedding its own blood and that of others into the bloody swamp, fire and tears called Islamic state whose methods are exported from the depths of the seventh century to today's entire world.
Douglas Murray: Hate Crimes: US Lynches the Facts
Since the beginning of this year, we have had, alongside the usual violence aimed at the Jewish state, the targeting of Jews in Brussels, Paris and Copenhagen. In all instances, the sites were targeted because they were likely to have Jews.
Unfortunately, the leader of the free world, U.S. President Barack Obama, among others, seems loath to acknowledge this fact. Just recently, he described the Paris terrorists as "a bunch of violent, vicious zealots who behead people or randomly shoot a bunch of folks in a deli in Paris." There are not many ways in which it is possible to see the targeting of a kosher store in Paris as "random." But with U.S. administration spokesmen trying to pretend that the victims in that shop were not likely to be Jews, it would be surprising if they simply lacked the information. It was, in fact, a heroic Muslim worker, Lassana Bathily, who risked his life to save the lives of several Jews by hiding them in the basement freezer, which he shut off before going back upstairs.
It is probably not out of ignorance that the administration tries not to focus on the religious dimension of the recent terrorist attacks -- which also include members of ISIS in Libya slitting the throats of 21 Egyptian Christians because, the ISIS members said, the kidnapped men were Christians -- but rather for fear of what the general public might do with this information.
Because if you view your public as a lynch-mob-in-waiting, as so many Western leaders seem to do, then you assume you must do everything you can to restrain them from perpetrating constant acts of violence against Muslims.
If that is your view of your public, then talking about "random" folks being shot is the sort of circumlocution you will select.
Should you wish to address the problem, you might call together a summit aimed at tackling "violent extremism." But the whole exercise must continuously be directed away from identifying the problem. The Jews cannot have been targeted because they were Jews, because if they were, then you may find yourself having to explain the ideology that propels the killers.
Israel Agrees To All BDS Terms (satire)
The BDS Movement has won a landmark victory in what is called a historic decision in which the Israeli Government has unanimously voted in favour of agreeing to all BDS terms.
When the bill was introduced by MK Hanin Zoabi, most Knesset members were quick to jump on board.
“I believe the major turning point was when Sinead O’Conner cancelled her show in Israel in support of the boycott movement.” said Ayelet Shaked, a member of the formerly right wing Beit HaYehudi party.
“When Sinead cancelled, it created a shockwave through Knesset that really had us re-examining ourselves.”
Implementation of the new law will involve dismantling the protective barrier that has completely halted suicide bombings, awarding the Palestinians with a state with all of Jerusalem as a capital, a Gaza seaport for uninterrupted Iranian missile import and full right of return for all 6 generations of descendants of Arabs who left their homes so that Israel can be destroyed unhindered.
Imam Who Called For Hirsi Ali's Death Teaching In U.S. Prisons
The Department of Justice hired an imam who said in 2007 that activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali should receive the death penalty for her criticism of Islam to teach Muslims who are in federal prison, according to the Daily Caller. Federal spending records reveal that Fouad ElBayly was given two contracts, one dated Feb. 20, 2014, and the other Dec. 8, 2014, that stipulated he be paid a total of $12,900 to teach inmates at Cumberland Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Md.
In April 2007, ElBayly, the imam at the Islamic Center of Johnston, joined Mahmood Qazi, the Islamic Center of Johnstown’s founder and past president, to protest Ali’s scheduled appearance at the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown. Referring to Ali, ElBayly told a newspaper, “If you come into the faith, you must abide by the laws, and when you decide to defame it deliberately, the sentence is death.” Qazi added at the time, “I don’t want her to poison anyone’s mind. She doesn’t believe in God. How can she talk about God?”
Ali, who left Islam, fled Somalia when young, after having been sexually mutilated, and has been outspoken in her denunciation of how Islam treats women.
Despite the two men’s actions, Ali spoke at the university. The Daily Caller reports that ElBayly “seemingly resigned his post. But that resignation was temporary, it turns out.” ElBayly is listed on recent news reports as the imam at the Center.
ElBayly’s hiring may flout one of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ requirements, which states that applicants must state, ”I do not endorse nor will I practice or use language in the institution that will support violence, terrorism, discrimination against other inmates.”
Farrakhan: Lying, Murderous Israelis and Zionist Jews Behind 9/11
Sunday in Chicago at Saviours’ Day 2015 Part 2, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said, “Israelis and Zionist Jews,” were behind the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, calling them “thieves, liars and murderers.”
Farrakhan said “We now know that the crime they say is at the root of terrorism was not committed by Arabs or Muslims at all.”
Quoting truthers, he said, “They say the world trade buildings were brought down by carefully placed explosives, not by planes.” Farrakhan feverishly continued, “It is now becoming apparent that there were many Israelis and Zionist Jews in key roles in the 9/11 attacks. Now look, if they can prove me wrong, like I said I’ll pay with my life. Since they want to kill me anyway. Prove me wrong We’re dealing with thieves, liars and murderers. Listen to this. We know that many Israelis were arrested immediately after the attack, but quickly released and sent to Israel.”
NYU prof admits MESA’s anti-Israel stance, rails against “Israel Lobby”
How does a detail-oriented lecture on research methodology and academic field building in Middle Eastern Studies (MES) descend into a one-sided and unprovoked salvo against Israel? Last month, Zachary Lockman, a professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at New York University (NYU), provided the answer with a talk entitled, “Anxieties of Field-Building in U.S. Middle East Studies.” It was the first in a new series at NYU meant to introduce students to faculty members’ methodological approaches; however, Lockman used the occasion of the question and answer period to peddle “Israel Lobby” conspiracy theories that bordered on classical anti-Semitism.
The talk took place in the museum-like Richard Ettinghausen Library in the Hagop Kevorkian Center. Half the room was high-ceilinged with built-in mosaic-covered arches in the Islamic style along one wall and floors with inlaid mosaics, the other half walled in honey-stained wood and lined with reference books. The audience of approximately fifty, primarily graduate students and research fellows, filled the room.
Part of the research for a new project, Lockman focused on political vectors influencing how the field of Middle Eastern studies was built in the post-WWII period. In particular, he examined the role of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), their multi-decade lavish funding from the Ford Foundation, and, ultimately, their failure to create an agenda to influence the study of the modern Middle East. His project ends in the 1980s, the point at which the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) began, as he put it, to accommodate “the opposition left wing caucus within Middle East studies” composed “of people, myself included” with the resultant “political [and] intellectual consequences.” Indeed, from that point onwards, MESA’s politicization took on a leftward and anti-Zionist slant, causing many scholars to leave the organization and, in some cases, to form alternatives.
Israel says Argentina responsible for embassy bombing investigation
Israel told Argentina’s president that her country is responsible for investigating a 1992 attack on its embassy in Buenos Aires.
The statement from Israel’s embassy in the Argentine capital came in response to an accusation made earlier in the week by Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who rebuked Israel for not working to bring the perpetrators of the 1992 bombing of its embassy in Buenos Aires to justice.
“Why is Israel not an appellant in the case of the Israeli embassy bombing attack?” the president asked during a televised address to the nation.
The Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires said in a statement emailed to reporters on Tuesday that “as international treaties state, the safety of all diplomatic delegations is the responsibility of the recipient country. It is Argentina’s responsibility to investigate the attack perpetrated against the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires. During the last 23 years, Israel has supported the continuity of actions aimed at taking the responsible to trial.”
Argentine Prosecutors to Appeal Case Against Kirchner
Argentine prosecutors said Wednesday they have appealed a judge's decision to dismiss their case against President Cristina Kirchner for allegedly protecting Iranian officials accused of orchestrating a lethal 1994 bombing on a Jewish center.
Prosecutors are seeking to relaunch the case against Kirchner that was being brought by their late colleague Alberto Nisman, who died mysteriously on January 18 after accusing the president of shielding high-ranking Iranians suspected of ordering the deadly bombing at a Buenos Aires Jewish center.
Nisman had previously proven the links between Iranian officials to the Iran-proxy Hezbollah terrorists who carried out the attack at the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association, which killed 85 people and wounded 300.
Argentina seeks to revive deal with Iran to solve 1994 Jewish center attack
The Argentinian government took out full-page advertisements in local newspapers on Wednesday, stressing that a stalled agreement with Iran remained the best way to get to the bottom of the deadly 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center.
An Argentine federal court last year struck down the controversial deal, which would have allowed the interrogation of Iranian suspects. Tehran denies any responsibility for the attack that killed 85 and refuses to extradite its citizens.
The investigation has become front-page news again since the beginning of the year, when the lead prosecutor accused President Cristina Fernandez of seeking to derail his probe. Four days later, he was found dead with a bullet wound to the head.
Jewish Voice for Peace whitewashes anti-Semitism in the anti-Israel movement
Why is a self-styled “Jewish organization” collaborating with rabid anti-Israel campaigners, including anti-Semites? This is a question that Oakland, Calif.-based Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) should answer, as it played a leading role in this week’s two pronged anti-Israel campaign, “Shut Down AIPAC” and “Skip the Speech,” in Washington, DC.
JVP, whose funding sources are a complete mystery, partnered with the radical organizations CODEPINK, If Americans Knew, Sabeel, and the Answer Coalition. Who are the activists behind these groups?
Anti-war group CODEPINK’s co-founder Medea Benjamin appeared at the October 2014 New Horizon conference in Tehran. Despite the participation of well-known anti-Semites at the conference, Benjamin somehow thought this was an appropriate venue to advance CODEPINK’s mission of “support [for] peace and human rights initiatives.”
This “peace and human rights” group remains mum on the Iranian conference, which boasted a range of anti-Jewish activists. This included French antisemitic “comedian” Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, who created the “quenelle” gesture that is modeled after the Nazi seig heil salute. There was also conspiracy theorist Wayne Madsen, who has accused Israel of carrying out the 9/11 attacks. Holocaust-deniers Maria Poumier and Claudio Moffa also presented. The conference featured discussions titled “Mossad’s Role in the 9/11 Coup d’Etat,” “Zionist Fingerprints on the 9/11 Cover-up,” and “9/11 and the Holocaust as pro-Zionist ‘Public Myths.’”
If CODEPINK or Benjamin had anything to say about Iran’s abysmal human rights record or this conference’s racist agenda, it is not readily apparent.
The Four Causes of Anti-Israelism
So why can’t Israel get a fair hearing in certain segments of campus communities and elsewhere? It comes down to Israel’s character.
Israel’s first crime is that it is a Western nation. In the minds of Israel’s critics, to be Western is to be suspect, especially when your country is juxtaposed with non-Western nations. Israeli actions are confused with colonialism by those who erroneously insist that, to this day, imperialism drives relations between Western and non-Western peoples. To attack Israel is to give non-Westerners a leg up in these supposedly colonial interactions.
Israel’s second offense is that it is pro-American. It is little surprise that Israel’s fiercest opponents are also militant critics of the United States. They deride America’s invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq as modern-day imperialism and look forward to a day when America will be forced to relinquish its superpower status.
Because Israel and America have such strong links, Israel is tarred as a mere instrument of America’s supposedly nefarious interests abroad. Bashing Israel is just their way of expressing contempt for the policies of the United States, and as such serves as an outlet for virulent anti-Americanism. They treat the Jewish State as America in the Middle East.
Israel’s third “flaw” is that it is economically and politically successful. To far-left academics, students and activists, success must necessarily come at the expense of others. They adhere to the discredited, primitive notion that development is a zero-sum game. If someone becomes rich, someone else must have been made poor as a result. To them, accomplishment is synonymous with an oppressor status.
Palestinians serve as the victim in Israel’s success story.
Egyptians hold IS-themed wedding
In what was described as an act of defiance against the jihadist group, an Egyptian couple held an Islamic State-themed wedding, complete with guests in executioner masks, the group’s propaganda anthems, and to top it all off — a cage for the bride and groom, similar to the one in which a Jordanian pilot was burned alive.
In a video of the event, several dozen guests are seen waving daggers, their faces obscured a la Islamic State executioners. One of the guests then approaches the startled bride and grinning groom and leads them toward the cage. Once in the enclosure, the couples — now equipped with daggers of their own — proceed to awkwardly bust a move.
According to The Guardian, the groom — Ahmed Shehata — was behind the bizarre wedding theme, and had told his bride Shaimaa Deif in advance that he was planning a surprise for the reception.
“I knew there would be a surprise,” she later said. “But I never imagined that the surprise would be like that.”
Iranian Commander Killed in Syrian Battle
Purim, the holiday celebrating the redemption of Jews from a genocidal plan in ancient Persia, seems not to be going well for Iran this year; aside from reports about its Supreme Leader being hospitalized, the Islamic regime announced one of its commanders has been killed in Syria.
Iran announced Thursday that a commander at the rank of colonel was killed by Syrian rebel fire during the fighting in the city of Daraa in the southwest of the country not far from the Golan Heights, reports Army Radio (Galei Tzahal).
The report added that an Iranian news agency had identified the killed colonel as Mohammed Sahab Karam Ardkani.
ISIS Threatens Twitter Employees
ISIS supporters have issued a threat to Twitter employees and co-founder Jack Dorsey for waging a "failed war" against Islamic militant group, saying, "We told you from the beginning it’s not your war, but you didn’t get it and kept closing our accounts on Twitter, but we always come back. But when our lions come and take your breath, you will never come back to life.”
The Guardian reports:
In an Arabic post uploaded to the image-sharing site JustPaste.it, the group told Twitter that “your virtual war on us will cause a real war on you”. It warned that Jack Dorsey and Twitter employees have “become a target for the soldiers of the Caliphate and supporters scattered among your midst!”
“You started this failed war … We told you from the beginning it’s not your war, but you didn’t get it and kept closing our accounts on Twitter, but we always come back. But when our lions come and take your breath, you will never come back to life.”
Vatican on alert for Islamic State attacks against Pope Francis
The Vatican is on alert in case of an attack by Islamist militants against the city-state or Pope Francis, but officials are not aware of any specific plot, the head of Vatican security said in a rare interview.
"The threat exists. This is what has emerged from conversations with Italian and foreign colleagues," Domenico Giani told Polizia Moderna, the magazine published by Italian police, when asked if threats from Islamic State militants were credible.
"(But) at the moment I can say that we are not aware of any plan to attack the Vatican or the Holy Father," he added in the interview, published on the magazine's website on Monday.
Islamic State militants have made threats against Catholic targets in Rome that have been given much space in Italian media.
Former Islamic State prisoner confirms Sotloff hid Jewishness
Pierre Torres, one of the French hostages released by the jihadis in April 2014, was held captive in Syria for 10 months alongside Sotloff and the other American and British hostages who were brutally beheaded.
Torres said he and the other ransomed European hostages were given 24 hours notice ahead of their release. During that time, Torres told journalist Tom Gross in an interview at the 2015 Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Sotloff entrusted Torres with personal messages for his family.
In the near-fluent English he learned from the American and British hostages during his imprisonment, Torres said Sotloff and other hostages “used me as a message carrier.”
Will the Last Jews of Yemen Be Able to Escape?
With Iranian backed Houthi Shi'ite rebels having taken over the capital city of Sana'a and expanding their control over the rest of Yemen, what is to become of the country's small remaining Jewish population?
To find out, Arutz Sheva spoke with Dr. Yigal Ben-Shalom, chairperson of the Association for Yemenite Jewish Tradition, who is in daily communication with the remaining Jews of Sana'a.
According to the chairperson, the Jews have been put in great danger since the Houthis seized the capital.
"As is known the aliyah (immigration to Israel) from Yemen never stopped, but still there are Jews left there who due to social and financial constraints are left in Sana'a and its surroundings," Ben-Shalom said.
'German Verdict Allows Attacks on Jews Based on Anti-Semitism'
Jewish community leaders plan to appeal the ruling of a German court that the perpetrators of an anti-Semitic attack on a synagogue should be released from custody.
According to the court, the two defendants' motives stem from anti-Zionism, not anti-Semitism - as a result they were released pending trial.
The attack took place last summer during Operation Protective Edge. The pair, both of Palestinian Arab origin, threw firebombs at a synagogue in Wuppertal. Fortunately, none of the worshippers were injured.
"The damage was mainly to the property, but this story reflects the readiness of Muslim extremists to act out against Jews," Rabbi Avichai Appel, the Chairman of the Orthodox Rabbinical Conference of Germany, told Walla! News.
Indeed, the paper reports that anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish institutions have multiplied steadily in the past month.
Among other instances, a pig's ear was placed at the entrance to a synagogue in Eisleben, swastikas were sprayed at the entrance to a Jewish cemetery in Oldenburg, and anti-Semitic graffiti was found adjacent to an apartment building in Bad Betrich.
'Last Jew in Pakistan' Beaten by Muslim Mob - Then Arrested
A Jewish activist in Pakistan was savagely beaten by a Muslim mob Wednesday - and then arrested and roughed up again by police.
Fishel Benkhald - who is leading a one-man campaign to preserve the old Jewish cemetery in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi - has been a vocal activist for minority rights in the country, which is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim and where minorities such as Christians, Hindus and non-Sunni Muslims are routinely persecuted.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva Thursday, Benkhald - the son of a Muslim father and a Jewish mother, but who identifies as Jewish - told how he had agreed to a face-to-face debate with a Muslim Pakistani man after a discussion on the topic of minority rights on Twitter.
"I was debating over Twitter with a young educated Pakistani Muslim that non-Muslim Pakistanis should be allowed in theory to be elected president according to our constitution," the discussion was purely theoretical, he noted, given that non-Muslims account for only around 3% of the Pakistani population.
After a back-and-forth "I proposed to debate face to face," said Benkhald. "He asked for me for my cell phone number and I gave it to him."
The two agreed to continue a friendly discussion at a restaurant in Karachi. But when he got there, Benkhald soon found himself ambushed.
Fanta ad ‘forgets’ Germany’s Nazi past
The Coca-Cola Company pulled a German television ad for the orange soft drink Fanta following complaints that the commercial referred to the 1940s, when the beverage was invented following an international trade embargo on the Nazi regime, as the “good old times.”
The ad celebrates Fanta’s 75th anniversary, but conveniently makes no mention of the role Nazi Germany played in the bubbly drink’s initial creation.
According to the ad, German bottling plants were forced to create new formulas during the 1940s since ingredients needed to make regular Coke were scarce at the time.
But the real, omitted reason Coke ingredients were unavailable during that period was due to sanctions instated by the Allies on Germany, which came as a response to Nazi aggression across Europe during World War II.
Korean VC, Akamai invest in Israeli data delivery firm Saguna
Korean investment firm SoftBank Ventures (SBVK) is making its first investment in Israel – in Yokne’am’s Saguna Networks, which has designed a system to speed up data delivery without requiring a hardware upgrade. The total amount of the investment was not disclosed.
“We are delighted that Saguna Networks will be SoftBank Ventures Korea Corp’s first investment in Israel,” said Daniel Kang, COO of SBVK. “Driven by users’ needs to feel constantly connected, mobile traffic is set to undergo explosive growth in the next 5 years with operators increasingly turning to technology to address bottlenecks. Saguna’s -Open-RAN is a compelling solution enabling operators to meet their critical future needs.”
SBVK is a venture capital firm owned by SoftBank Corp. Formed in 2000, it operates a $300 million fund and has invested in over 170 start-ups around the world. It focuses on Internet services and platforms, mobile services, digital contents and education.
Singaporean Fund to Invest in Israeli Start-Ups
A fund backed by the government of Singapore and holding $200 million is planning to invest directly in Israeli technology start-up companies, at a time when Israeli companies have become increasingly drawn to the Asian market.
Alex Lin, the head of Infocomm Investments, which is part of Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, said that his company is currently negotiating with several Israeli companies. The fund’s investments in various Israeli companies will range from $1 million to $5 million.
Although Infocomm has never directly invested in an Israeli company before, it has been involved with the venture capital fund Vertex, which itself was an investor in the Israeli navigation app Waze. In 2013, Waze was acquired by Google for $1 billion.
The Israeli tech start-up saving Australian water
TaKaDu, founded in 2009 by tech entrepreneur Amir Peleg, uses algorithms to analyse data from smart sensors in the water systems to identify bugs in the water meters, leaks and faults in other equipment.
Yarra Valley Water was the first to adopt the technology in Australia, but now Sydney Water, Unitywater on the Sunshine Coast and Queensland Urban Utilities in Brisbane have also started using it.
Mr Peleg said the complex process was based on the simple idea that water usage occurred in patterns.
"There are patterns of water flow in your neighbourhood ... they depend on the time of the day, the day of the week and seasonality," he told The Australian Financial Review.
"When you have a pattern you can model it statistically. You learn what the right pattern is for a Tuesday in February in a certain neighbourhood ... the computer tracks these patterns and then you can see if there is a leak, or a burst, or if there's abnormal consumption going on."
Yarra Valley Water managing director Patrick McCafferty said the technology had saved the company millions of dollars and thousands of megalitres since its implementation.
ISRAEL21c, AIPAC applaud Israeli innovation
The first three days of March brought 16,000 people to Washington, DC, for the AIPAC Policy Conference, the largest gathering of America’s pro-Israel community.
Participants in this annual event always say that one of the highlights is the showcase of groundbreaking Israeli innovations – the kinds of innovations ISRAEL21c brings to readers every day.
One of the most emotional moments was when past Innovation Showcase presenter Elie Isaacson, co-founder of Agilite portable rescue equipment used across the world, shared a touching story at the 2015 conference.
The former paratrooper explained how Agilite’s Injured Personnel Carrier (IPC), initially developed for soldiers to carry injured comrades on their backs while leaving their hands free, is used by the Jennings family of New York for their son Kieran, who has cerebral palsy.
The audience saw how the lightweight IPC enables them to indulge Kieran’s passion for hiking. The 12-year-old was even able to participate with his family in his hometown’s annual adventure race, carried on his dad’s back in an IPC.
Netafim gets $500m for India, China project financing
Netafim, the Israeli firm that is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of irrigation technology, announced Wednesday that it had received half a billion dollars in financing for the establishment of new projects in developing companies, including India, China, Brazil and Africa.
With the financing, said Netafim CEO Ran Maidan, the company will engage in “engage in strategic growth” in developing markets, and significantly increase its involvement in large irrigation projects.
The financing consists of a $150 million long-term loan and $350 million of revolving short term loans and lines of credit for working capital and project-related guarantees, supplied by Israeli and foreign banks, including HSBC, Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank, Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings, Union Bank of Israel, and Israel Discount Bank.
Nielsen buys Israeli data firm eXelate for $200 million
Data firm Nielsen on Wednesday announced that it was acquiring Israeli data collection firm eXelate. Terms of the deal were not announced, but industry sources said that Nielsen paid about $200 million for the Israeli company.
“This acquisition creates a tremendous opportunity for Nielsen in the programmatic media ecosystem,” said Steve Hasker, Global President, Nielsen. “Adding eXelate’s solutions to the Nielsen family furthers our ability to help marketers improve the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and to help media companies better sell their content.”
Nielsen is known to most people as the company that collects data on viewers’ television watching habits, but the company is involved in many more aspects of “ratings,” analyzing sentiment by customers of products and services in hundreds of industries. The company uses a wide variety of tools to collect that data, from in-person polls to online questionnaires to game centers in shopping centers, where participants are asked to rate perfumes, chocolates, and other consumer products.
Lauryn Hill returning to Zion
Former Fugees star Lauryn Hill is heading back to Israel.
The hip-hop singer/songwriter will perform hits from the Fugees and Bob Marley classics at a May 7 concert in Rishon Lezion, reported Ynet. Hill last performed in Israel in 2007, to less-than-stellar reviews.
Hill, who is best known from her Fugees years and for her solo album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” hasn’t released a new album in 15 years.
It was Hill’s rendition of “Killing Me Softly” on the Fugees album “The Score,” that brought her a first round of fame. Her solo album received much critical acclaim, selling some eight million copies and winning five awards at the 41st Grammy Awards.
JRoast Purim spoof: Kanya West finally gets elusive recognition with Temple Mount statue
See all our mock headlines in honor of the Jewish holiday.
Jihad Johni to head UN Human Rights Council By WENNY BEINTHALL
Jihad Johni, the British- born Islamic State executioner, will take his seat Wednesday at the head of the newly elected UN Human Rights Council, alongside Iran, Hezbollah, the Taliban, Iceland and Boko Haram.
Against routine objections from the US and Australia, Mr. Johni strode into the council in Geneva and proclaimed it a “new day for human rights.” He carried his traditional knife that he had just used to behead a person and wore all black, the trademark outfit of Islamic State.
Prominent human rights groups in Europe applauded the move to make the council more inclusive. “For years, Islamic State has been sidelined, stereotyped and disenfranchised, but now they can be represented and speak for their own interpretation of human rights.”
Prof. Moore L.E Banquerupt explained that Western states had discriminated against Islamic State, which suffered “emotional abuse” and had to be “understood in all its complexities, as a profoundly an anti-imperialist movement.”