From Ian:
NGO Monitor: World Vision Finances in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza
On August 4, 2016, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced that Mohammed El-Halabi, manager of the Gaza operations of the international humanitarian non-governmental organization (NGO) World Vision, funneled 60% of the World Vision Gaza budget to the terrorist group Hamas. The Israeli indictment and media reported that these funds were used in the construction of Hamas tunnels, military installations, and other terrorist activities.
World Vision International (WVI) disputes these allegations, arguing that the budget for Gaza operations was smaller than the amount of funds the Shin Bet states were diverted. In a press release, WVI claimed that, “World Vision’s cumulative operating budget in Gaza for the past ten years was approximately $22.5 million, which makes the alleged amount of up to $50 million being diverted hard to reconcile.”
NGO Monitor research demonstrates the obstacles to independent verification of World Vision’s financial claims regarding operations in Gaza. World Vision operates an official Jerusalem-West Bank-Gaza office (JWB). In addition, according to the Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits, there is an Israeli World Vision entity, with offices in Jerusalem. The relationship between the entity registered in Israel and the JWG office is entirely unclear.
Anne Bayefsky: Anti-Semitism, Brought to You by the United Nations
The U.N. gives a platform to many NGOs that actively encourage violence against Jews and the destruction of Israel.
The United Nations was founded as a global pact among states, but over the decades in the name of transparency and to further the aim of globalization, it has opened its doors to more than 6,150 non-governmental organizations (NGOs). While governments wring their hands over incitement to terror and dangerous uses of social media, they ignore the alarming focal point within arms’ reach: the United Nations. An examination of U.N. NGOs reveals that the U.N. has handed a global megaphone to groups spreading hatred and inciting terror from the world stage. In short, the so-called representatives of “civil society” aren’t so civil after all.
In theory, the U.N. has processes for accreditation that share a common requirement: respect for the purposes and principles of the organization. In order to qualify for accreditation, NGOs must operate in conformity with, or promote, the U.N Charter. They must affirm “faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.”
In practice, NGOs have been welcomed into the world of international diplomacy and have gained access to international media platforms while they are simultaneously betraying the core U.N mission by advocating terror and intolerance.
Most striking for an organization founded on the ashes of the Holocaust, the U.N. has accredited NGOs that play a central role in promoting modern anti-Semitism and encouraging the destruction of the Jewish state.
How the UN Pitched the Media on Antisemitism Event: Don't Worry, Israel-bashing is OK
According to a UN summary provided to news media of a conference on antisemitism held at the UN on September 7, 2016, antisemitism is bad, but condemning Israel is fine. The summary was published on UNifeed, a UN website which provides videos and information about UN events to broadcast news providers. In the words of the UNifeed summary:
"UN / GLOBAL ANTISEMITISM (2:38)
At a high level forum on Global anti-Semitism, General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft said the UN has 'an enormous responsibility to go up against all expressions of prejudice and incitement,' but noted that 'it's not anti-Semitic to call for an end of the occupation and oppression of the people of Palestine and to demand an end to illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.' UNIFEED-UNTV"
Israel’s UN envoy: Rise of social media linked to growing Jew-hatred
Israel’s UN ambassador demanded Wednesday that media companies “stop providing a platform for hate sites,” saying there is a clear link between the rise of social media and the rise of anti-Semitism.
Danny Danon told a a first-ever High-Level Forum on anti-Semitism at the UN that on Twitter, 63 percent of all anti-Semitic tweets are calls for violence against Jews. But only 1 in 10 are ever removed, he said.
“We are living in a new era and we face a new kind of anti-Semitism,” Danon said. “Online communities of hate spread lies about Israel and conspiracy theories about the Jews to millions around the world. All they need is a wireless connection, a Facebook account, and a deep hatred for the Jewish people.”
In France, which has Europe’s largest Jewish population, anti-Semitic incidents today are seven times higher than in the 1990s, Danon said. And in Britain, 2014 saw the highest-ever number of attacks against Jews.
American UN Envoy Samantha Power: ‘Undeniable’ That Antisemitism Is Getting Worse in Some Parts of the World
It is “undeniable” that antisemitism still exists and is even getting worse in some places, a top-ranking American diplomat told a United Nations forum in New York on Wednesday.
“[T]he sheer geographic diversity of the hate is really quite striking,” US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said during an address at the world body’s headquarters in New York.
Power made three recommendations on how to tackle the problem of antisemitism across the globe.
“First, we need to develop more effective tools to monitor and confront antisemitism online and in social media,” Power said, echoing Israeli UN envoy Danny Danon, who in a preceding speech to the same forum on Wednesday called for “immediate and concrete action” against antisemitism that is spread on the internet.
Also, Power said, “we must insist on maintaining a distinction between legitimate criticism of Israel and antisemitism.”
Finally, Power stated, “we must underscore the fact that antisemitism poses a threat not only to Jews, but to the principles of pluralism, diversity, and the fundamental freedoms that we hold most dear. Time and again throughout history, we have seen that when the human rights of Jews are violated, the rights of others are not far behind.”
'Isis plot to attack UK' smashed by anti-terror police
Scotland Yard today smashed a suspected plot to launch an Islamic State terror attack in Britain after arresting two men in London.
Counter terror detectives swooped on the pair in west London and held both on suspicion of being involved in the “preparation of terrorist acts.”
The men, aged 19 and 20, were held at the same address in an early morning raid involving officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command and the South East Counter Terrorism Unit.
A number of addresses in west and south west London and the Thames Valley were also being searched by specialist officers today. Police would not comment on any seizures.
The operation is understood to be “significant” and is linked to Islamic extremism but police refused to reveal further details of the plot or any intended target.
Both men are from London.
BREAKING: Two couples arrested after gas cylinders found in car near Notre-Dame in Paris
French police arrested the second pair on Wednesday evening and were taken into custody, a judicial official said on Thursday.
A first couple, aged 34 and 29, were arrested on a motorway on Tuesday in southern France in connection with the incident.
They remain in custody as well.
The car was found with seven gas cylinders inside it on Saturday on the bank of a stretch of the river Seine called the Quai de Montebello which is just metres from Notre-Dame.
Documents with Arabic writing on were also found in the car near the popular tourist attraction.
There was no detonating device found in the vehicle.
More than 200 people have been killed in attacks by militant Islamists in France over the past 18 months.
Update: The Islamists who sent Alan Henning to his death
Nearly two years ago I wrote articles (see below) asking why nobody in the main stream media was asking questions about the Islamic 'charity' that was behind the 'aid convey' in which Alan Henning ended up getting his head cut off publiclty by ISIS in Syria. It was very clear then that this was a Sunni Islamist terrorist supporting organisation. It now turns out - unsurprisingly as reported in today's Daily Mail - that Henning's mates in the charity were actually ISIS supporters. One of them is now on trial for murdering an Imam (of whom ISIS disapproved).
Can Only Trump Save Israel?
As Trump said in his security-policy speech delivered today in Philadelphia, he will “work with any country” provided they are willing to cooperate in the struggle against ISIS. While specifically eschewing regime change in any country in the region, he said “new friendships and partnerships” would be pursued in “this mission.”
What does that mean?
It means that Trump is interested in cooperating with Russia and, since he wants the U.S. to shoulder as little responsibility for Middle East security as possible, he seems just as willing as Obama to allow Vladimir Putin a free hand in Syria and other trouble spots. And because Russia is in business with Iran in their joint effort to preserve the Assad regime in Syria a Trump administration would appear to be pursuing the same strategic goals as Obama. Given Trump’s disdain for efforts to overturn the theocratic dictatorship in Tehran and his general opposition to U.S. military interventions, friends of the Jewish state may be forgiven for dismissing all this talk about preventing Israel’s destruction as mere rhetoric.
Pro-Israel advocates would do well to be just as skeptical of Clinton’s claims as a champion of Israel. We don’t know whether Trump would pursue renewed negotiations with the Palestinians or pressure Israel to help him create a peace deal. He is probably less interested, however, in a continuation of the same failed policies pursued by both the Clinton and the Obama administration. But if you’re judging the two candidates on their ability to enable Israel to survive the threat from Iran, Trump’s case seems less impressive in the context of his advocacy for more “realism” — a word that has always been synonymous with policies that are hostile to Israeli security. Moreover, Israelis know better than to rest their safety on anything other than their own strength.
Put simply, Trump’s goals are mutually exclusive. The U.S. can’t abandon the region while simultaneously enhancing Israel’s security. And no matter how magical your negotiating skills might be, you can’t have better relations with Russia and work with Iran against ISIS while also pursuing a tougher policy against the latter’s nuclear program.
Clinton to Israeli TV: Iran was weeks from the bomb, but nuclear deal ‘put the lid on’
Iran was “weeks away” from the bomb, but the US-led nuclear agreement with Tehran “put the lid” on its weapons program and undoubtedly made Israel safer, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton told Israeli television.
In an interview to be broadcast on Thursday evening, Clinton, who served as US President Barack Obama’s first secretary of state, dismissed her Republican rival Donald Trump’s recent assertion that the year-old nuclear deal is so dangerous that it “is going to destroy Israel — unless I get elected.”
Said Clinton in her interview with Channel 2, “I believe with all my heart that putting a lid on Iran’s nuclear weapons program has made Israel safer, has made the region safer, prevented a nuclear arms race.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been bitterly and publicly opposed to the agreement, and Jerusalem firmly denied a recent assertion by Obama that Israeli security officials now supported it.
Saying that her approach to enforcing the deal was one of “distrust and verify,” Clinton vowed to hold the regime in Tehran “to every single element of the agreement that they have reached.”
'Israeli Jews prefer Clinton, but say Trump is better for Israel policy’
Most Israeli Jews would prefer Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump as the next president of the United States — even though more of them think Trump would be better for the “Israeli government’s policy.”
According to a poll released Wednesday, 43 percent of Israeli Jews prefer Clinton as president, compared to 34 percent who want Trump, when asked to choose between the two candidates. But 38 percent say Trump would be better for Israel, compared to 33 percent who say Clinton would be.
On both questions, a large number of people don’t pick a candidate.
Michael Lumish: Petition: End SFSU cooperation with An-Najah University
The Middle East Forum posted a petition entitled, End SFSU cooperation with An-Najah. Universities should not support glorifying terrorism.
I could hardly agree more and would very much encourage you guys to click through the link above and sign this petition which, when the period of the petition is concluded, will find itself on the desk of San Francisco State University President, Leslie Wong.
The Petition reads as follows:
We, the undersigned, petition San Francisco State University (SFSU) President Leslie Wong to take immediate action to end SFSU’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with An-Najah University in the West Bank. Described by Hamas as a “greenhouse for martyrs,” Najah is a Palestinian university where incitement to violence, anti-Semitism, and the glorification of terrorism against Israelis is routine:
‘BDS doesn’t want a better Israel — it wants no Israel’
Eminent Hebrew University historian Prof. Yehuda Bauer slammed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement on Tuesday night, at a speaking event in London at London’s Jewish community center, the JW3.
The Jewish Chronicle quoted Bauer, 90, as saying the BDS Movement does not want “a better Israel, they want no Israel at all.” He made the remark during an interview conducted by Labour MP Tulip Siddiq.
“Now of course, they love Jews. Especially dead Jews. The ones who died in the Holocaust, they’re marvelous, they were terrific. Live Jews is something else,” he was quoted as saying.
Bauer unequivocally equated anti-Zionism as anti-Semitism, describing the former as an empty slogan. “They want to destroy the Jewish state; they want to destroy it because it’s a Jewish state. That means you are an anti-Semite.”
Italian fans boo Israeli anthem, give Nazi salute at World Cup qualifier
The Israel Football Association has complained to the Italian Football Federation after two Italian fans were thrown out of Monday's 2018 World Cup qualifier between the national teams in Haifa for giving the Nazi salute during the Italian national anthem.
Police chose to only remove the fans and didn't arrest them. Italy supporters were also recorded booing during the Israeli national anthem ‘Hatikva’, with several others being seen taunting religious Jewish fans and spitting at them.
"The Israeli Football Association will send the photos to the Italian federation with which we have a warm and brave relationship so that it can find and prosecute the sickening minority that wanted to tarnish the visiting fans, their team and their country," read an IFA statement.
Italian Football Federation President Carlo Tavecchio called the Israeli ambassador to Italy, Francesco Maria Talo, to condemn the incident, saying that he hopes "the relevant authorities can determine as soon as possible what happened and identify those responsible." Italy won the match 3-1.
IsraellyCool: Israel Haters Claim Italian Goalkeeper Gianlugi Buffon Is One Of Them (He’s Not)
Regular readers will know Israel-haters have a predilection towards lying and exaggerating in order to try and make Israel look bad.
One such manifestation of this is in the form of claims certain celebrities and sportspeople are fellow Israel haters. We saw it with Santana, and in the sports arena, soccer star Ronaldo.
In recent days, a new such claim about Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has been doing the rounds. And funnily enough, Arab site Al Bawaba has outed it as false.
Daphne Anson: "BDS Works": Aussie BDSers Claim A Victory & Skew An Online Poll
Paul Elliott is an official of the Health Services Union in Australia.
He's a bigshot in its national leadership
And in the leadership of its No 4 branch in the state of Victoria, of which he's secretary.
As reported by Anthony Galloway in the the Herald Sun on 25 August,
'The embattled Health Services Union has invited its members to embrace the anti-Israel boycott movement, prompting a furious response from Jewish leaders....
A motion passed by the union’s Victorian No. 4 Branch offers its support for the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich called on all union members to reject the “divisive” and “misguided” motion.
“It is alarming that the HSU, instead of advocating in matters of concern for their members, has decided to promote a fervently vicious and one-sided resolution that unfairly lays all of the blame at the feet of Israel,” Dr Abramovich said.
The branch’s secretary, Paul Elliott, defended the motion, saying he hoped it would help solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
German MPs call on teachers’ union to denounce anti-Semitic BDS campaign
German politicians from the Green and the Social Democratic parties urged the Oldenburg teachers’ union to condemn the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign targeting the Jewish state.
"I expect that the GEW Oldenburg will follow its federal union and condemn BDS as anti-Semitic. Everything else would be unacceptable,“ Volker Beck, the Green Party MP, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
The 1,200 Education and Science Workers’ Union (GEW) in Oldenburg has been engulfed in an anti-Israel scandal this week because of its September publication of an article calling for a total boycott of Israel.
The GEW member and teacher Christoph Glanz , who authored the pro-BDS article, faced sharp criticism from the Social Democratic party MP Michaela Engelmeier.
Musician Brian Eno upholds BDS, refuses to let Israeli dance company use music
British ambient composer Brian Eno will not allow Israeli dance company Batsheva to use his music in their upcoming performance due to his affiliation with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
According to The Guardian, Batsheva was planning to use his piece "Neroli" in a series of performances Tuesday in Italy that are sponsored by the Israeli embassy in a piece entitled "Humus." This particular piece is a prominent one in Batsheva's repertoire.
“It has recently come to my attention that you have been using a piece of my music in a work called Humus,” Eno wrote in a letter to Batsheva.
“I was not aware of this use until last week, and, though in one way I’m flattered that you chose my music for your work, I’m afraid it creates a serious conflict for me.
“To my understanding," Eno continued, "the Israeli embassy (and therefore the Israeli government) will be sponsoring the upcoming performances, and, given that I’ve been supporting the BDS campaign for several years now, this is an unacceptable prospect for me.
Guardian errs on Brian Eno boycott story – Batsheva in Italy evidently not funded by embassy
A British musician (and anti-Israel activist) named Brian Eno denied permission for the Israeli dance company Batsheva to continue using his music for a series of performances in Italy, the Guardian reported yesterday in a Sept. 7th article by their Jerusalem correspondent Peter Beaumont.
Of course, nobody familiar with Eno’s hatred towards Israel would be surprised by his decision to boycott Batsheva. However, there was one element of the Guardian article which caught our eye – the claim that the Israeli embassy sponsored the dance performance, which represents the main reason cited by Eno in denying them permission to use his music.
Tellingly, we’ve learned that Beaumont never contacted Batsheva for a comment prior to publishing his story.
We’ve contacted the Guardian asking for a correction.
We’ve also tweeted Mr. Eno, informing him that his assertion evidently was not true.
Guardian op-ed smears Israel with discredited NGO claim of “50 racist laws”
An op-ed published at the Guardian (Don’t worry! Clinton and Trump are going to fix Israel/Palestine, Sept. 6) by Moustafa Bayoumi argued that the situation in “Palestine” will get worse regardless of who is elected president.
Among Bayoumi’s litany of accusations against Israel was the following, alleging systemic discrimination against the country’s Arab minority.
Palestinian citizens of Israel struggle under a system that accords them fewer rights and opportunities than their Jewish counterparts.
His claim that Israeli Arabs (“Palestinian citizens of Israel”) are afforded less rights than Jews links to a widely cited report by the far-left NGO Adalah which alleges the existence of at least “50 racist laws” in Israel.
However, CAMERA and other watchdog groups have refuted Adalah’s claims of racism – a term used so carelessly by the NGO that even an Israeli public health law requiring that parents vaccinate their children is bizarrely included on their list of “racist laws”.
On Israel, the LA Times Promotes an Alternate Reality
Israel can win the battle of ideas, despite press bias and double standards. The only thing that can undermine its winning argument are media that utterly detach themselves from reality.
Unfortunately, we see such detachment more and more. In October 2015, for example, the Los Angeles Times ran the following headline: “6 Palestinian Teens Die Amid Mideast Unrest.” This headline ignored a series of critical facts, including that two of the dead were killed in the act of stabbing innocent Israelis.
The Los Angeles Times also exhibits its detachment from reality when it comes to events much closer to home. On August 21, the newspaper published a story by Teresa Watanabe highlighting a controversial campaign conducted on a number of California campuses. Someone had put up posters calling out BDS activists by name and accusing them of “Jew-hatred.”
Anyone who read the article’s headline and lede would have concluded that the Maccabee Task Force (MTF) and its chairman, Sheldon Adelson, had conducted this campaign. Only those who bothered reading further would have learned that another organization, the David Horowitz Freedom Center, was actually behind the effort.
The Maccabee Task Force had zero connection to this poster campaign. We did not request it. We did not authorize it. We didn’t even like it. And the David Horowitz Freedom Center has since confirmed that our funds were not used to pay for it. Yet in the Los Angeles Times’ alternate reality, this was a Maccabee project through and through.
LA Times and the 50 Year Gaza Occupation
The LA Times publishes a book review of “Zionism: The Birth and Transformation of an Ideal” by Milton Viorst. The reviewer Nicholas Goldberg is a former Middle East correspondent. Yet he still managed to include the error in this paragraph:
Of course, Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005, removing its settlements and soldiers. It isn’t occupied today and even when Israel packed up and left, it wasn’t even 40 let alone nearly 50 years at that point in time since Israel took over Gaza in 1967.
We’ve sent a request for a correction to the LA Times and publicly tweeted. Watch this space.
Times Buries Story of Anti-Israel Boycott by Oil Companies
The following passage appears about two-thirds of the way into a recent New York Times article that appeared under the headline, “Israel Courts Foreign Money in Effort To Become Gas Exporter”:
Israel may find it challenging to attract investors.
The environment has broadly cooled, as gas prices in Europe have dropped more than 50 percent in the last four years. Major oil companies, with revenue slashed, are being pickier about the projects they finance. And players with projects in the Arab countries may be politically wary of investing in Israel.
“I think there will be interest, but it won’t likely come from the majors due to political considerations,” said Martijn Murphy, an analyst at the Edinburgh energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, referring to the largest oil companies.
Well, that is interesting, especially in the context — not reported by the Times — of two American laws that forbid American companies to comply with the Arab boycott of Israel and penalize any that do. Those laws — the 1977 amendments to the Export Administration Act and the Ribicoff Amendment to the 1976 Tax Reform Act — provide for criminal penalties of up to five or ten years for anyone who knowingly violates the anti-boycott rules.
If the passage in the Times article is accurate, it raises a whole series of other questions. Will the Obama administration’s Commerce Department pursue the oil companies and their officials for participating in the boycott? Will Democratic congressmen, senators and state attorneys general, who have already been hostile to the oil companies for their supposed obstructionism on the climate change issue, weigh in on the matter? What do the oil companies have to say, if anything, in their own defense? What do the big shareholders in those oil companies — including public pension funds in states such as New York and California that have a lot of Jewish voters — have to say about the matter? Why isn’t the headline on the Times story: “U.S. Oil Firms Complicit in Arab Boycott of Israel, Potentially Violating Law and Angering Politicians and Shareholders”?
Fremont High School student arrested for anti-Semitic threats
A 17 year old student was arrested for criminal threats and hate crimes directed against Jewish students at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale and Homestead High School in Cupertino.
From the Department of Public Safety in Sunnyvale;
Investigators believe the suspect was acting alone and there is no current danger to students and staff. DPS increased security at the school this morning to ensure everyone's safety. Sunnyvale DPS and the school will continue to work together to ensure the safety of the students. School administrators will continue to keep parents and students updated.
The messages were sent from an Instagram account with the name "Jewslaughter."
"Jews disgust me, I'll f***ing kill you. I got connections to the aryan brotherhood gang. You and the rest of your people are dead."
US Paralympian wows Rio Opening Ceremony in Israeli-designed 3D dress
Donning an Israeli-designed 3D-printed dress, American Paralympic snowboarder Amy Purdy dazzled crows with her show-stopping dance at the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games on Wednesday night in Rio de Janeiro.
The 2014 Bronze medalist and former 'Dancing With the Stars' contestant wowed the Maracana stadium with an energetic samba-style routine performed in a blush, knit-like dress created by Israeli fashion designer Danit Peleg.
"Wow. I have no words. So proud of Amy Purdy. She's dancing with my new 3D printed dress in front of hundreds of millions of people," Peleg said on Facebook following Purdy's display.
The Las Vegas native had both legs amputated after contracting Neisseria meningitis at age 19. Yet, the now 36-year-old fearlessly took the stage in the technology-inspired dance alongside a robotic industrial arm for the five-minute solo that she beautifully carried out while wearing high-tech running blades.
Hebrew U scientists win prize seen as precursor to Nobel
Two Hebrew University of Jerusalem professors seen as pioneers in the field of epigenetics were honored with an award often seen as a precursor to a Nobel Prize.
Howard Cedar and Aharon Razin have received Columbia University’s 2016 Horwitz Prize, the New York City school announced on Tuesday. Gary Felsenfeld of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, also was awarded the prize.
Forty-three previous Horwitz Prize winners have gone on to win the Nobel.
Cedar and Razin’s work has strongly influenced epigenetics, the study of how organisms change by altering gene expression and not genetic code.
Felsenfeld’s research has helped explain how chromatin, a combination of DNA and proteins, regulates gene expression.
Thumbs up for BBC News’ Temple Mount archaeology report
On September 6th the BBC News website published its own version of a story currently making headlines in Israel under the title “Jerusalem Biblical Temple floor designs ‘restored’“.
Given the BBC’s record of inaccurate reporting on Temple Mount, it was encouraging to see that this article avoided many of the issues seen in the past.
Earlier this year we documented changes in the terminology used by the BBC to describe the site and the replacement of the title Haram al Sharif with the politicised term ‘Al Aqsa Mosque compound’. This latest report adhered to the guidelines set out in the BBC Academy’s ‘style guide’.
“Archaeologists in Jerusalem say they have for the first time reconstructed likely designs of a Biblical Jewish temple floor using original fragments.
Experts reassembled pieces of tiles found amid tons of earth from the site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif.”
In the past we have also seen BBC reports in which audiences were inaccurately led to believe that the Western Wall is Judaism’s holiest site. This article gave readers an accurate representation of the significance of the site to Jews and Muslims.
Archeologists unearth 1,500-year-old livestock stable in southern Israel
Archeologists from the US and Israel, aided by area high school students, have unearthed a 1,500-year-old livestock stable in the Negev’s Ein Avdat National Park, the Antiquities Authority announced on Thursday.
The joint excavation at the Byzantine-era site was funded by a Fulbright Scholar grant and conducted by the authority, DePaul University and students from the Har Hanegev Field School.
The stable, which was first identified by the presence of millennia-old manure, was destroyed during an earthquake, according to DePaul University Prof. Scott Bucking and Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini of the IAA.
“The identification of the stable was corroborated by an almost one-meter thick layer of organic matter consisting of donkey, sheep and goat manure on the floor of the building,” a joint statement said. “It seems that the place was destroyed by an earthquake that decimated the city of Ein Avdat in the early seventh century CE.”
The stable was built near one of the rock-hewn caves on the park’s mountainside, and was used as a service structure by local residents, who were apparently monks, the professors said.
“It was divided into a number of stone-built rooms, whose walls were adorned with painted decorations of crosses,” they noted. “Stone basins were also discovered that were probably used for storing food and water for the animals.”
Israeli Aid Volunteer: Louisiana Flood Victims ‘Incredibly Grateful’ for Our Help (INTERVIEW)
Louisianans affected by recent flooding are “incredibly grateful” for Israel’s role in recovery efforts, a volunteer with a humanitarian group told The Algemeiner.
“People here are so moved by the fact that we came all the way from Israel to help them,” said Talya Feldman, an IsraAID volunteer who is on the ground in Baton Rouge assisting in recovery efforts, after a devastating flash flood destroyed thousands of homes across the state.
“Most people here have never met an Israeli before. It is a very powerful experience for many to see our huge team come in with shirts proudly displaying the Israeli flag,” she told The Algemeiner.
Feldman recounted entering the home of a woman, all of whose possessions were destroyed. The woman wept at the sight of the volunteers, and thanked “Jesus for sending someone from Israel to help me.”
The 10-man IsraAID team — which is partnering with the US-based group Team Rubicon — arrived in Louisiana on August 30 for a two-week mission. Feldman said it is the only foreign organization aiding in local recovery efforts. Over 109,000 people have been affected by the flood, which has caused an estimated $8.7 billion in damage.
According to Feldman, the IsraAID team had to wait for the flood waters — which reached great heights in some areas — to recede, before engaging in “muck and gut” efforts.
IDF Paramedic Describes Balancing Army Service, Hip-Hop (VIDEO)
A female Israeli soldier who serves as a paramedic on the Lebanese border said that though her job in the military is “one of the most meaningful things I’ve done in my life,” it doesn’t leave much time for pursuing her passion as a hip-hop dancer.
In a video posted on the IDF’s official Facebook page, Crpl. Inbar, 19, said,
It’s really, really hard to succeed in dancing and do all of this. [I dance] mostly on the weekend and I don’t have so many weekends to myself. When I get back home, I always go straight to the studio. It’s about investing and giving my all to train, even when I’m by myself. But I know I need to do it to succeed and for my [dance] team, because it’s something that I really love.
Inbar said that she uses dancing — which she has been doing since the age of 10 — as an emotional release from the “terrible” things she regularly witnesses as a military paramedic.
“It’s something you can only understand once you’ve experienced it,” she added. “All the adrenaline you feel when treating someone, the thrill, the stress, [these are] things you can only feel when you’re providing emergency treatment. The sentence ‘you saved my life’ is a sentence that only a person who experienced it can understand how it feels.”
IsraellyCool: WATCH: Christians To Israel “You Are Not Alone”
I just love this.
I know there are a fair share of Jews who are uncomfortable with the Christian support for Israel. Some cannot get past Christian history, while others feel that there is an agenda at work – one that involves bringing on the messiah they believe in (and which us Jews do not).
I personally welcome having the support of my Christian friends. It does not concern me that they believe in a different end of times scenario than us. If we are secure enough in our beliefs, then it should not matter.
Those who do bother me are the ones missionizing against Jews. What they are doing is really very wrong. Thankfully, I do not believe this is the case with the vast majority of Christians supporting Israel.
Whether or not you want to admit it, there is a religious war going on in the world. Fundamentalism Muslims are trying to reestablish an Islamic caliphate and supplant western civilization. Having Christians on our side to aid in the fight against this (and may I add some Muslims) is only a good thing.
Christian Support Says Israel 'You're Not Alone'
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