From Ian:
PMW: PMW report on PA Antisemitism in 2015 released in European Parliament
PMW has prepared a special report about Palestinian Antisemitism in 2015. PMW director Itamar Marcus is releasing it today at a conference in European Parliament.
The report documents that the Palestinian Authority continued to emit overtly Antisemitic messages throughout 2015, portraying Jews as inherently evil, comparing them to apes and pigs, and depicting them as a threat to all humanity. The PA has also continued to lend credence to the Antisemitic forgery Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which claims that Jews conspire to take over the entire world.
View the report in PDF or read it below:
Penn State Students Fail Israel IQ Test
Lions 4 Israel, a Penn State University Jewish student group, created a woman-on-the-street-style video in which random Penn State students were asked a few questions about which country in the Middle East is the only democracy, provides full rights to women and LGBT citizens, and is a major player in the high-tech world.
Needless to say, the students' wild guesses are further evidence that our institutions of higher learning are doing the job they've set out to do: keep our youth ignorant and indoctrinated.
In response to "In what country are LGBT citizens guaranteed full rights?" one student actually guessed Afghanistan.
Israel IQ at Penn State
Dershowitz: I Need Armed Guards When I Speak in Favor of Israel on Campuses
Attorney and Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz appeared on Fox & Friends to speak about free speech on campus and explained that he need armed guards when he speaks about Israel at universities.
Explained Dershowitz:
“In fact when I was first teaching in the ’50s there were attempts to censor speech by Senator McCarthy,” Dershowitz said. “The right-wing was trying to censor left-wing speech. Now it’s the hard left that’s trying to censor right-wing speech, conservative speech, Christian speech, pro-Israel speech, you name it. And this idea of safe spaces we have to distinguish between safe spaces for ideas, there should be none, and physically safe places where you’re not intimidated or you’re not threatened. And Christian speakers, pro-Israel speakers, speakers that are not politically correct today, have their physical safety endangered. I know when I speak on college campuses in favor of Israel, I need armed guards protecting me from radical leftist students who would use physical intimidation. They won’t give me a safe space. They won’t give pro-Israel students a safe space, they won’t give Christian students a safe space. For example, when a group of Christians who were against abortion said all lives matter, and you know, you may agree or disagree with that formulation, they were attacked. They were told to be subject to training, and sensitivity, and the president of Smith College had to apologize for using that term.”
With friends like these
The U.S.'s pathetic hypocrisy regarding the NGO bill was dramatically highlighted on Tuesday when it surfaced that former Secretary of State and current presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was considering using precisely those much-debated local NGOs to force the American administration's own agenda on Israel. The plan was to generate Tahrir Square-style demonstrations, which would catch the attention of the world and thus build pressure on the Israeli government to make the concessions that the U.S. had failed to force on it. The plan was outlined in an email sent by former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Pickering, which was recently made public as part of an investigation into Clinton's correspondence. It is clear from the email that the former ambassador was fully aware that this ostensibly low-key revolt might erupt into violence.
Pickering made the following suggestions in his email: "What will change the situation is a major effort to use nonviolent protests and demonstrations to put peace back in the center of people's aspirations as well as their thoughts, and use that to influence the political leadership. ... On the Israeli side, it must be public demonstrations and show growth as well. Outside the Prime Minister's Office and the major squares and parks in Jerusalem and elsewhere have been the traditional places for demonstrations like this for peace and change to begin and persevere. Rabin Square in Tel Aviv would be right. The Peace Now organization, despite its decline, is one starting point."
"Most of all the United States, in my view, cannot be seen to have stimulated, encouraged or be the power behind it for reasons you will understand better than anyone. I believe third parties and a number NGOs on both sides would help, particularly if there were an outline of a peace document with parameters which, like those at the end of the Clinton administration, promised a fair and lasting peace and which the women on both sides could agree to support."
The above email is beyond embarrassing, it shows an appalling lack of understanding of Israeli affairs by someone who had served as an ambassador to the country. It shows a commitment to a flawed and biased "narrative" of the Israeli situation.
Evidently, the American push to defeat the NGO bill is not driven by any ostensible concern for "democracy" but by the U.S. administration's own vested interests. Because the NGO bill would severely diminish the U.S. ability to pull a stunt such as the one suggested by Pickering without being "seen to have stimulated, encouraged or be the power behind it." It shows just how crucial and important this NGO bill is!
When Anti-Semites Use Jews to Further Their Cause
Dr. Norman Finkelstein, a disgraced academic who was denied tenure at DePaul University, attended a panel at Boston University's Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) event titled "Zionism & Judaism: Separating Political Ideology from Religion" on December 10th at BU's College of General Studies. Alongside him were a transgender rabbi Ari Lev Fornari and a Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) member Lina Morales, a self-proclaimed anti-Israel and anti U.S political activist. The point of the event, supposedly, was to deconstruct Zionism away from Judaism to prevent conflation between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism.
The event coincided with the fourth night of Chanukah, but even this holy observance intended to unite the Jewish people was hijacked by the panelists' narcissistic fetish for selective moral purity by displaying a deep hatred of Israel. Rabbi Fornari explained that the candles she used were bought to support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, an anti-Semitic and immoral movement singling out Israel for supposed human rights violations against the Palestinian-Arabs.
Meanwhile, Rabbi Fornari and Lina Morales alluded to "progressive" values as to their hatred toward Zionism while maintaining their commitment to Judaism. Much of their rhetoric focused on opposing what they consider European based "colonialism," even going so far as having Morales saying, "as soon as we decolonize Israel, we should decolonize the United States."
French Authorities Calling Terrorists ‘Unbalanced’ to Cover Antisemitic Motives, Major Jewish Group Claims
Calling terrorists with seeming antisemitic motives “unbalanced” has become a politically correct cover for the perpetrators of antisemitic attacks, declared the director of international relations at the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
“While the [French] government takes firm protective measures, legal authorities now use a new euphemism as a politically correct cover for antisemitic terrorists, calling them ‘unbalanced’,” Dr. Shimon Samuels told the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) on Tuesday.
“The sheer repetition of incidents seems to have a numbing effect on public opinion, even more apparent in the wake of the indiscriminate Paris assaults that, last month, took more than 130 lives… The Jewish target becomes a lesser priority in the welter of generalized violence,” he said.
Samuels’ comments came a day after a teenage Turkish student stabbed a Jewish man in Marseilles outside the Jewish academy where he taught. He called for a thorough investigation of the stabber’s school, family, mosque and social media to discover what may have motivated the teen’s attack.
US Jewish Leaders Mark First Anniversary of Hyper Cacher Massacre
American Jewish leaders on Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the Islamist terror attack at the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in Paris.
“We again extend our condolences to the families of those who perished and our prayers for those injured in this brutal attack as well as the victims of the Charlie Hebdo and more recent terror assaults,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman and CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
In January of 2015, Muslim terrorist Amedy Coulibaly took nearly 20 Jewish shoppers hostage at the Hyper Cacher supermarket and killed four of them. The attack came just days after the office of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was also attacked by a Muslim terrorist in a shooting that killed 12 people.
“The courage and determination of French Jewry and its leadership has been inspiring. We all recognize that this scourge of terrorism and the spread of the extremist ideologies behind it are far from over. Their terrible network of death and destruction continues to spread around the globe taking countless lives of people of all faiths,” Hoenlein said.
France’s Hollande: ‘Intolerable’ for Jews to hide skullcaps
French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday rejected as “intolerable” the idea that fear of attack would prompt French Jews to “hide.”
“It is intolerable that in our country citizens should feel so upset and under assault because of their religious choice that they would conclude that they have to hide,” Hollande said following Monday’s attack on a kippa-wearing teacher in the southern city of Marseille.
The French leader’s comments came two days after a machete-wielding teen who claimed inspiration from the Islamic State attacked the Jewish teacher, lightly injuring him.
Teen jihadi ‘proud’ of attack on Jewish man in Marseille
A 15-year-old supporter of the Islamic State group who slashed a Jewish teacher with a machete in southern France has said he was “proud” of his attack, ahead of a court appearance Wednesday.
The teenager, an ethnic Kurd from Turkey, told police he did not regret the assault on a Jewish teacher in Marseille, the latest in a string of such attacks in recent months.
A source close to the investigation told local media the boy had said he was “ashamed” that he did not manage to kill the 35-year-old teacher, Benjamin Amsellem.
The teenager, who was to appear in front of a judge on Wednesday where he faces terrorism charges, said he became interested in jihadist theories in March 2014 after seeing documentaries arguing that Muslims were persecuting Westerners.
France's chief rabbi disagrees with call not to wear kippot
The chief rabbi of France, Rabbi Haim Corsia, on Tuesday rejected a call by the leader of Marseille's Jewish community for Jews in the city to stop wearing kippot (skullcaps) to avoid being targeted by extremists.
"We should not give an inch, we should continue wearing the kippah," Rabbi Corsia said, according to AFP.
Rabbi Corsia also took to Facebook, saying that conceding to the pressure and not wearing a kippah would be tantamount to recognizing the traditional Jewish head covering as a "provocation."
He was reacting to a call by Zvi Ammar, head of the Israelite Consistory in Marseille, which has witnessed a string of attacks on Jews recently.
Roger Cukierman, the head of France's umbrella grouping of Jewish organizations, CRIF, agreed with Rabbi Corsia, telling AFP that Ammar's advice reflected "a defeatist attitude."
French wear kippot as sign of solidarity with Jewish community
In an interview with Arutz Sheva, Amar said that his comments were taken out of context. “I wanted to say that we need to act carefully and be aware. Our security situation here is difficult. I suggested to the community, specifically to the children, that when they go outside into the street they should wear a hat.”
Amar emphasized his intent. “I did not say that we should hide, nor did I say that I am not a Jew. Just the opposite, we are a proud community. In my fifteen years in the community, we have grown from 22 synagogues to 58. We have increased from nine Jewish schools to 23, from just seven Kosher restaurants to over 60. This shows that our community is not only growing but flourishing. But a few months ago, things changed. What is happening all over France is affecting us as well.”
“Whoever wants to follow my advice is welcome to. It is completely legitimate for others to think differently,” he added.
Amar was asked about the responses he has received since the statements he made were published. “80 percent of the responses have been positive. Some mothers have called up crying and saying ‘God protect you.’ I tell them that I haven’t done anything wrong. I would be very happy to receive criticism from all corners, as long as it keeps us safe, as long as I have at least warned my community. If God Forbid something drastic does happen here it would have a very harsh impact on the community.”
Amar said that one of the unexpected reactions to his statement was that a number of non-Jewish Frenchman approached him and said that they will wear a kippah in solidarity with the Jews of the community. He told Arutz Sheva that these acts have brought him joy, to know that there is support for the community among the non-Jewish community as well.
Amar also said that French security forces are doing their utmost to protect the Jewish community, its schools and synagogues.
2 Arab Israelis attacked in Dresden amid far-right riots
Two Arab Israelis were attacked Monday by a gang on the sidelines of a rally in the German city of Dresden that railed at the record refugee influx and sexual violence against women at New Year’s Eve festivities.
The German daily Der Spiegel reported that two Arab Israeli men, aged 25 and 26, were speaking Arabic at the time of the attack, and were told to leave the by six men, who were dressed in black.
The same gang also targeted an Indian, African and German men that same evening.
Elsewhere in Germany, far-right protesters rallied against Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom they accuse of destroying their homeland by allowing in 1.1 million asylum seekers last year.
Pro-Palestinian group hacks Director of US National Intelligence
Only two months after the personal email account of CIA director John Brennan was hacked, a pro-Palestinian hacker group succeeded at breaching the firewalls of the personal email address of Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper.
Clapper's personal email account as well as others connected to his were hacked recently, as revealed in a report first published by a website known as Motherboard and then picked up by AP, which cited an official from within the intelligence community.
The group announced that personal emails, telephone conversations, as well as other correspondences were in its possession.
The group of hackers calling themselves “Crackas With Attitude” or CWA, is the same group that had attacked Brennan’s account. The hackers claimed that officials were not aware of the attack.
According to the AP, however, DNI spokesman Brian Hale said the incident was known about before Motherboard's report was published, and that the proper authorities have been notified of the situation.
The hackers claimed that they gained access to a variety of Clapper’s accounts, including his home telephone, internet, his personal email, and his wife’s Yahoo email. Having gained control of Clapper’s Verizon account, the group claimed to have changed the settings so that every call to his house number would get forwarded to the Free Palestine Movement.
When they gained notoriety last year, the CWA claimed their actions were all in support of the Palestinian cause.
Cory Booker Brings Israel Critic, Muslim Brotherhood Defender to SOTU
Sen. Cory Booker’s (D., N.J.) guest of honor at tonight’s State of the Union address is an Islamic-American community leader who has publicly lashed out at Israel and once defended the Muslim Brotherhood organization as “misunderstood,” according to various reports.
Booker has invited as his guest to the annual speech Ahmed Shedeed, president of the Islamic Center of Jersey City, a community center tied to the 1993 World Trade Center bombings.
While Booker and others have long touted Shedeed as a moderate Muslim voice, the leader has gone on record in the past criticizing Israel and defending the Muslim Brotherhood, according to reports.
During a 2004 interview with the Associated Press about the similarities of the U.S. “occupation” in Iraq and Israel’s “occupation” of Palestinian lands, Shedeed noted the parallels between the two situations.
“An occupation is an occupation,” he reportedly said.
In 2000, as violence raged in Israel, Shedeed reportedly criticized Israel for its “gruesome killings” of Palestinians.
Clinton: I’m as Qualified as Any Male Candidate to Fail at Solving Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (satire)
In a statement to the media today, the leading Democratic Presidential candidate, besides Bernie Sanders, addressed sexist analyses of her qualifications. Hilary Clinton spoke directly to those critics claiming that America just isn’t ready for its first female President, maintaining her trademark air of stately confidence, with just a hint of bitterness at potentially having the Oval Office snatched out of her hands yet again. The number one concern seems to be the assumption that a female President can’t or won’t be as tough as an otherwise comparable Testosteronite, a claim which Clinton dismisses as “just as ridiculous as the thought that a black half-Kenyan could swoop in out of nowhere and steal the White House away from a WASPy former first lady in 2008.”
Obviously, one of the most contentious issues every POTUS has to address is that of the Israelis and Palestinians, a conflict that could defeat cute White House staffers in a competition titled “what do Presidents stick their fingers in more?” But Clinton attacked these accusations head on, maintaining that where her predecessors have failed, she will also fail. “I’ve been in politics my entire adult life,” said the Wall Street funded candidate, “I think I know a thing or two about setting a date for a peace agreement to be signed, and then just kind of forgetting about it and leaving it for the next guy… or gal!” So, it seems that despite this tin can having already been kicked down the road, the world can rest assured the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be left unsolved by our first female President for future generations.
Analysis: Why would Pyongyang fake it, and what are the implications for Iran?
Iran has fulfilled most of what it signed on to, and where it has not, the US and the other Western powers have given clear signs that they will look the other way. So the real question is whether this test matters at all once the initial shock passes and a determination is made as to whether or not it was a fake.
But what is more important than whether North Korea’s specific test was a success or not and whether the bomb was a hydrogen bomb or not, is whether Pyongyang’s test means it has advanced its technology sufficiently for mounting a nuclear device on a missile.
This would bring North Korea closer to being a threat in terms of the ability to deliver a nuclear warhead.
There would also be a greater danger that a transfer of North Korean technology could help Iran get past some obstacles that analysts believe it currently faces in its missile delivery experiments.
Such a technology swap could have an impact on Iran’s willingness to adhere to the nuclear deal down the road, and on its calculations about whether to try to break out.
For these reasons, the world might consider paying more substantive attention to North Korea on a continual basis.
Iran’s deputy nuclear chief denies that Arak reactor was sealed
Iran’s deputy nuclear chief is denying a report that technicians have dismantled the core of the country’s nearly finished heavy water reactor and filled it with concrete as part of Tehran’s obligations under the nuclear deal with the West.
Ali Asghar Zarean, in remarks to state TV Tuesday, dismissed the report by the Fars news agency from the previous day. He says Iran will sign an agreement with China to modify the Arak reactor, a deal that is expected next week.
Under the nuclear agreement, Iran must redesign the Arak reactor so it can’t produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. Zarean says once modifications are done and Arak goes online, Iran hopes to export excess heavy water produced there to the US through a third country, for use in research.
On Monday, the official Fars news agency quoted Iran Atomic Energy Organization spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi saying that work to dismantle the Arak reactor would be complete in about a week.
Iran Executed 1,084 People In 2015
Iran again led the globe in the number of state-sanctioned executions in 2015, killing 1,084 people, which marks the highest rate of executions in the country in 25 years, according to statistics compiled by human rights and advocacy organizations.
Iran, which continues “to execute more individuals per capita than any other country in the world,” according to the United Nations, carried out an average of three executions per day in 2015, according to numbers issued by a leading Iranian human rights organization.
Since the election of President Hassan Rouhani, who was celebrated by many in the West as a moderate reformer, executions in Iran have soared, hitting record numbers in each of the last several years. The U.N. recorded 753 executions in 2014, though some human rights organizations have claimed that the number is higher.
Iran executed an American citizen in November.
Iranian Animation Simulates Yemeni Missile Attacks on Saudi Oil Fields, Military & Civilian Targets
Spain, Germany, Greece drop proceedings against Israeli officials over Gaza flotilla raid
Spain, Germany and Greece have all officially dropped legal proceedings against Israel over the 2010 raid of the Mavi Marmara ship, which belonged to a flotilla seeking to breach Israel's blockade on Gaza.
Israeli commandos who boarded the ship at the time were met with violence, and killed 10 Turkish activists in the ensuing clash.
Spain dropped arrest warrants that had been issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, former Defense Minister Ehud Barak, current Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, former Interior Minister Eli Yishai, former Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor and former Minister Without Portfolio Benny Begin.
The arrest warrants were issued in November and canceled following a debate on the matter.
Similar undertakings were dropped in both Greece and Germany.
Meanwhile, legal proceedings over the incident continue in the United States and at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Four sue Israel in US court over Mavi Marmara raid
Three Americans and a Belgian are suing Israel in US court for injuries sustained when Israeli naval commandos turned back a flotilla attempting to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in Washington, the Washington Post reported.
The plaintiffs were aboard the US-flagged Challenger 1, one of the six ships in a May 2010 flotilla that was said to be carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza Palestinians but had a stated goal of breaking the Gaza blockade. According to the suit, the plaintiffs suffered injuries including partial loss of sight from a stun grenade and a broken nose from a rubber bullet.
The Challenger 1 was carrying media equipment and 17 passengers and crew members, according to the Post.
Nine Turks and a Turkish-American were killed on another ship, the Mavi Marmara, during a raid by the commandos.
The plaintiffs are Americans David Schermerhorn and Mary Ann Wright, a retired US diplomat; a dual US-Israeli citizen, Huwaida Arraf, and Belgian national Margriet Deknopper.
Marmara Islamists angered by Turkey-Israel talks
The Islamist Turkish organization IHH, which organized the 2010 flotilla to Gaza, on Monday criticized Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) over its attempts to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel.
It was the 2010 flotilla to Gaza, in which IDF soldiers had to raid the Mavi Marmara after IHH Islamists on board violated the naval blockade on Gaza and refused to obey orders to turn around, which resulted in the breaking of ties after between the two countries.
According to the Today’s Zaman newspaper, the IHH posted a series of tweets on Monday stating that the families of those who were killed on the Marmara were not consulted in any way regarding the articles of a possible agreement between Israel and Turkey.
“Families of martyrs: We would like to state, first and foremost, that the negotiations with Israel are ongoing without our consent,” one of the tweets read.
Another tweet stated that the families of the dead were upset that the government overlooked the “reason for their [family members'] departure” and engaged in negotiations that prioritize compensation.
Five years on, Guardian continues to mislead over Mavi Marmara incident
Here’s the opening sentence of the article:
Four activists are attempting to make legal history by arguing that Israel attacked American territory when it raided a US-registered ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza six years ago
However, as noted by our colleague Tamar Sternthal in a post about a recent Los Angeles Times piece, the Mavi Marmara was not in fact carrying any “humanitarian supplies”.
As Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported at the time:
Of the seven flotilla ships, only four were freight ships. The Challenger 1 (small yacht), the Sfendonh (small passenger boat) and the Mavi Marmara (passenger ship) did not carry any humanitarian aid, except for the passengers’ personal belongings. (Emphasis added.)
The UN Palmer Report appeared to back up this conclusion, when they questioned the intentions of the pro-Gaza activists on board by noting that what little aid was on the Mavi Marmara was merely “intended for the voyage itself”.
Additionally, the Guardian reporter fails to question the claim of one of the plaintiffs in the suit, who alleges that the passengers were “unarmed”. In fact, in Sept, 2012, the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) ruled against Guardian contributor Conal Urquhart, who had similarly claimed, in a story earlier that year, that the pro-Gaza ‘activists’ on the Mavi Marmara were “unarmed”.
NGO Monitor: Methodist and NGOs Join Forces for BDS: Immoral and Harmful to Peace
The United Methodist Church’s decision to embrace BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) against Israel is immoral and damages prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, NGO Monitor said Wednesday, following the church’s announcement. The decision follows years of campaigns by highly political non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that exploit the language of human rights to delegitimize Israel.
“Isolating Israel and damaging the prospect of peace are entirely inconsistent with universal values and morality,” Professor Gerald Steinberg of NGO Monitor said. “By adopting this resolution, the UMC handed a victory to anti-Israel extremists who would are more interested in causing harm to the Jewish state than to improve the lives of Palestinians and Israelis.”
A small group of radical and anti-peace NGOs are running intense campaigns calling for boycotts and divestments from Israeli banks, as part of broader BDS attacks. The funders and partners of these NGOs share culpability for this immoral warfare.
An NGO called “Who Profits” leads these attacks. In 2014-2015, its donors included Trocaire (a church group in Ireland), Fagforbundet (Norway, Labor Organization), Bread for the World (church group, Germany),Medico International (Germany), ICCO (church group in Netherlands), and Nova (funded by the Spanish government).
Methodist pension board divests from 5 Israeli banks
The pension fund for the United Methodist Church has blocked five Israeli banks from its investment portfolio in what it describes as a broad review meant to weed out companies that profit from abuse of human rights.
The fund, called the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits, excluded Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, First International Bank of Israel, Israel Discount Bank, and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, according to the pension board’s website.
The Israeli bank stock the board sold off was worth a few million dollars in a fund with $20 billion in assets. The fund also sold holdings worth about $5,000 in the Israeli real estate and construction company Shikun & Binui, and barred the company from the pension group’s investment portfolio.
The pension board identified Israel and the Palestinian territories among more than a dozen “high risk” countries or regions with “a prolonged and systematic pattern of human rights abuses.” Other countries on the list include Saudi Arabia, the Central African Republic and North Korea.
Manfred Mann cancels Israel show: Too dangerous
Citing security fears, veteran rock ban Manfred Mann canceled its Israel concert, planned for Tel Aviv next Tuesday.
Announcing the cancellation in a letter to the Tel Aviv show’s promoter, the band cited “ongoing problems in Israel,” including “people being shot and beaten to death in the streets,” Israel Radio reported on Wednesday.
Curiously, the band had posted on its Facebook page in November that it had canceled its January 19 Tel Aviv gig, but no official announcement to that effect was made at the time.
“Hamas attorney” Stanley Cohen out of prison, but back in the legal saddle?
The last we wrote about Stanley Cohen was when he was released from prison in late December 2015, “Hamas lawyer” Stanley Cohen out of prison.
Cohen jumped right back into things, taking on the issue of New Jersey teenager Bethany Koval who was questioned by her school administrators over some pro-Hamas, anti-Israel tweets which the administrators claimed might constitute cyber bullying of other students. (She has walked back the pro-Hamas tweet and turned her account private.)
When Koval went public with the possible discipline, including secretly recording a meeting with a school administrator, it created a several day media frenzy, and Cohen was right in the middle of it.
I found out about Cohen’s involvement when I saw people tweeting the link to Cohen’s interview yesterday by Russia Today:
I was surprised that Cohen was introduced as Koval’s’s attorney.
Cohen’s New York law license was suspended by court order in April 2015 after his conviction on the tax charge that sent him to prison. As of today, the NY State Appellate Division still lists his license as suspended.
Uruguayan store investigated for selling Nazi-related items
A store specializing in military and historic articles has made headlines in Uruguay for selling a concentration camp prisoner uniform, which included a yellow Star of David.
Though the uniform is the main target of a police investigation launched over the weekend, the store located at a busy commercial center in downtown Montevideo also sells other Nazi-related articles, including copies of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”
“Displaying for sale is not the same thing as displaying at a museum,” Juan Faroppa, president of the National Institute of Human Rights and Defense of the People, who said that the store is being investigated under the racism, xenophobia and discrimination law.
NYC suburb investigating anti-Semitic vandalism
Police in Hastings-on-Hudson said Monday that they believe the perpetrators of the December 29 vandalism are youth and that the incident grew out of a conflict among individuals, Lohud.com reported.
Six swastikas and “Jews” were spray-painted on the house, which was also plastered with eggs.
“We don’t believe this was random,” Police Chief Anthony Visalli said, according to Lohud.com.
Mayor Peter Swiderski said, “This is not something that happens in our community. We have a reputation for tolerance and inclusiveness. This is sad and disturbing, but there is no indication of something blossoming in our community.”
Hastings-On-Hudson is in Westchester County, 20 miles north of New York City.
Worst-kept secret: Israel, Indonesia do business together
One of the worst-kept secrets in the business world is the growing business and tech ties between Israel and the biggest Muslim country in the world – Indonesia.
“There’s already a great deal of business going on between Indonesia and Israel, said one of the Indonesia’s top venture capitalist investors. “Indonesia is a quickly growing country with a lot of needs in areas where Israeli tech has made important breakthroughs, like agricultural technology.”
Still, politics is politics, and although the Indonesian investor spoke to a crowd of over 600 in Tel Aviv Wednesday at the second annual Israel Foreign Trade Conference – presenting his name and affiliation – his representative requested that his name not appear in this article.
“You never know who’s reading,” said one Israeli official charged with setting up the investor’s visit. “It was hard enough to get him to come to Israel. We don’t want to be responsible for endangering him at home.”
Indonesian delegation to Israel: We are going to retell your story
As Gadi Yarkoni, head of Eshkol Regional Council, finished an emotional account of his endeavors to protect his region in the face of Hamas rockets during 2014’s Israel- Gaza conflict, losing both his legs in the process, the room broke into applause.
Yarkoni spoke to a group of disaster and emergency experts taking part in a six-day seminar in Israel. Victor Rembeth, one of six Indonesian emergency relief experts, followed Yarkoni’s words with a simple message: “We Indonesians are blessed with your story and we are going to retell it.”
Individuals from India and Sri Lanka joined the Indonesian experts in a visit that marks a big step in the growing interaction between Israel and Muslim-majority states outside the Middle East.
Organized by Project Interchange – an educational institution within the American Jewish Committee – the delegation traveled around the main areas impacted by Operation Protective Edge, from the Hosen Trauma Center in Sderot to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.
Despite the negative portrayal of Israel that the Indonesian delegation members frequently see in their local media, the opportunity to visit the country was highly appealing to them.
Iswar Abidin, a disaster management consultant from Jakarta, revealed that his reaction to the opportunity of visiting Israel was one of disbelief.
“It was very shocking, but immediately I said, ‘OK, let’s do it.’ I think it’s something new and challenging,” he said. (h/t Zvi)
Israel Hosts International Conference of Emergency Medical Professionals
Hundreds of emergency health professionals from across the world are in Tel Aviv and Beersheva this week to share the latest findings and new experiences concerning health system readiness for disasters and emergencies of all types.
The Israeli Ministry of Health and the Home Front Command are hosting delegates from 30 countries – among them the U.S., Brazil, Germany, Belgium, China, South Africa, Singapore, Austria, Ukraine, UK, Canada — as well as from the WHO, at the Fourth Israeli International Conference on Healthcare System, Preparedness and Response to Emergencies and Disasters.
Israel is a world leader in emergency response.
Special attention is being dedicated to emerging or re-emerging threats, such as the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) or the Ebola outbreak as well as threats posed by natural or man-made disasters that present a great challenge to human health and global stability.
The January 10-13, 2016 meeting includes workshops, lectures, a large scale toxicological drill and a simulated Mass Casualty Event (MCE) at Soroka Medical Center.
Israel Aerospace Industries Close to Sealing Deals With Philippines, Germany
The Israel Aerospace Industries sold radar systems to the Philippines for about $62 million, Hebrew news site nrg reported on Tuesday.
The island nation agreed in February 2014 to buy the systems — designed by the Elta subsidiary of IAI — to protect its maritime boundaries in the South China Sea, amid rising tensions with China over its territorial claims in the region.
According the website rappler, which reported on the sale last year, the systems were to be deployed in the western island of Palawan, as well as Lubang Island and the Pasuquin Air Station, and would provide coverage for an area 650 kilometers long.
At the same time, Israel’s Army Radio reported that Germany was interested in leasing Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles. According to the reports, the Germany army is interested in the Israel Aerospace Industries’ Eitan reconnaissance drone.
Ripple Maker and Vuze take top prizes at CES 2016
The hype around Israeli technologies at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas was more than justified when two blue-and-white companies – HumanEyes and Steam CC – scored the top two innovation prizes from a field of thousands.
Tech experts and gadget geeks voted the Ripple Maker — Steam CC’s 3D printing system that draws coffee-extract pictures on foamy drinks — as the Last Gadget Standing Online winner.
“Latte art is one of the most shared images on social media. We’re taking latte art to a whole new level,” said CEO Yossi Meshulam. “When you put something beautiful in someone’s hands, they want to share it. That’s how we’re making a ripple on the world.”
HumanEyes won the Last Standing Live Audience prize for Vuze, the world’s first consumer portable 360° 3D VR camera and software studio to bring immersive content creation to the masses.
HumanEyes was founded by Yissum and Professor Shmuel Peleg, from the School of Engineering and Computer Science of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
“The technology combines 3D and 2D capture technology using eight full HD cameras within an easy-to-use ‘point and shoot’ form factor,” write the judges. “Vuze is both a technological breakthrough as well as a quantum leap forward for the industry.”
“Until now, these two worlds – virtual reality and video recording – weren’t able to combine as the technology, cost and skills required to create virtual reality video were simply beyond the layperson’s reach. So the Vuze VR camera was born,” said Shahar Bin-Nun, CEO of HumanEyes Technologies.
Maccabeats honor MLK in new video collaboration
The Maccabeats have released a new video, their first in honor of a non-Jewish holiday. Ahead of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 18, the a cappella group collaborated on a moving cover of James Taylor’s “Shed A Little Light” with renowned a cappella group Naturally 7.
“We grew up listening to Naturally 7, one of the best groups around, and we had been talking with them about doing something for a over a year,” said Maccabeats founding member and musical director Julian Horowitz.
“The a cappella community is really friendly… It was an absolute pleasure working with Naturally 7. They’re not only creative and talented but also total mensches and very easygoing,” Horowitz told The Times of Israel.
Like the Maccabeats, Naturally 7 originated in New York. Founded in the late 1990s, the group is known for its “vocal play,” in which its members “become” musical instruments through the use of their voices. Naturally 7 has performed internationally, sometimes appearing with major artists like Michael Bublé and Coldplay. They recorded numbers with Quincy Jones and Ludacris for their most recent album.
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