I saw the Idan Raichel Project in concert this weekend. The music was extremely inspiring. The concert was even better than I expected. I was particularly impressed and touched by Cabra Casey's performance. She's very talented and quite beautiful. My maternal grandfather (z"l) was an Ethiopian Jew and I've always felt an immediate affinity with the Ethiopian people.
Here is Cabra Casey singing about her visit to Ethiopia in 2007:
Here is a clip of a recent song, "Sheriot Shel Ha Chaim" (Life's Leftovers), from the Idan Raichel Project:
As groups in Turkey have been cracking down on so-called honor killings, women are now told to commit suicide so that family members may avoid jail sentences.
"Honor killings" in Turkey have reached record levels. According to government figures, there are more than 200 honor killings per year.
Now that the country has introduced some legislation to outlaw the practice, honor suicides are on the rise.
In the UK Independent this weekend, one woman was quoted saying that her father had told her to kill herself after she brought dishonor to the family for refusing an arranged marriage. She says she considered doing what her father asked her, but she could not go through with it. The 18-year-old has spent the last eight months on the run.
A spectacular 1,500-year-old mosaic floor in an ancient synagogue in the western Negev was unveiled to the public on Monday. Here's the story:
The mosaic, which is part of a synagogue from the Byzantine period (fifth and sixth centuries in the Common Era) is located in the community of Ma'on-Nirim.
A stunning portrayal of symbols from the period, the 3.70 x 7.80-meter Byzantine work of art is decorated with a seven-branched menorah and the images of various animals common to the area, among them the Lion of Judah.
Scenes of everyday life, including wine production from the surrounding vineyards, grace the medallions that dance along a vine winding around the floor.
Archaeologists said that the coins, bone and metal artifacts that were found on the floor probably belonged to the Holy Ark and the ornamental curtain in front of the ark. Fragments of glass and ceramic lamps were also present, as were dozens of amulets, some of which were related to women who were asking for good health.
A large panel with an Aramaic inscription is also incorporated into the mosaic itself, the upper part of which blesses all of the community, followed by a dedication to three individuals who donated generous contributions.
Similar mosaics and panels have been found in synagogue ruins in Susya and at an archaeological site in the national park at Ein Gedi as well.
A special ceremony was held on Monday by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Eshkol Regional Council and the Jewish National Fund to officially inaugurate the new tourist attraction.
The mosaic floor and the remains of the synagogue were first discovered during salvage excavations that were undertaken on behalf of the Department of Antiquities in 1957. It was damaged when the road to Kibbutz Nir Oz was paved that year.
However, the condition of the mosaic deteriorated in recent years as a result of the unsuitable conditions in which the piece was kept, and a lack of maintenance.
In 2006, it was removed from the site and transferred for treatment to the conservation laboratories at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem.
The conservation work on the mosaic and the archaeological remains of the ancient synagogue was carried out by a team of mosaic conservators with the Conservation Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
New signage, access roads, walking paths with disabled access and a new entrance to the site have all been created with special funding by Sandy Galet. Future development plans for the site include a picnic area and walking paths in the nearby forest. The entrance to the new-ancient mosaic and archaeological remains of the ancient synagogue may be accessed from Highway 232.
Photos by Niki Davidov, courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority.
It's crucial to remember that beneath mainstream news headlines, much of Iran's population likely does not support the regime in the country. I have met several Persians or Iranians of different faiths who are diametrically opposed to the grotesque values of their leaders. They fear for their lives in Iran or their remaining relatives in the country.
Amnesty International reports that in 2008 Iran executed at least 346 people. The figure includes students, reformists, alleged adulterers and even juveniles. The yearly statistics cite death by stoning and hanging as prominent method used by the Iranian regime.
The only country with a higher number of executions is China, which has a much larger population.
2008’s figure was higher than the 317 number of executions Amnesty said Iran had carried out in 2007. Amnesty International has stated that the true number of people executed in Iran is believed to be higher than that reported.
A week and a half ago Iranian blogger, Omidreza Mirsayafi, died in the Evin prison. Mirsayafi was sentenced to thirty months in prison for criticizing Ayatollah Khomeini.
Last week the United States urged Iran to grant access to jailed Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi. The woman was arrested in January when police accused her of working in the country illegally after her press credentials were revoked. Ms. Saberi is being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.
Vandals sprayed anti-Semitic slogans and Nazi symbols on the walls and windows of a Jewish community center in Riverside, California.
“We are shocked. We are saddened. We are surprised. We didn’t imagine this is something that would take place in Riverside,” Shmuel Fuss, the rabbi of the center, said.
RIVERSIDE - Vandals targeted a Jewish community center in Riverside, spray-painting Nazi symbols and anti-Jewish slogans on walls and windows, authorities reported.
"We are shocked. We are saddened. We are surprised," said Rabbi Shmuel Fuss, who runs the Chabad Community Center, where vandals struck around 11 Thursday night. "We didn't imagine this is something that would take place in Riverside."
Since the center opened two years ago, there have been sporadic incidents that were cause for concern -- but not on this scale, he said.
"We have received hate threats by phone, but nothing to this extent," Fuss said. "We view this as a very serious threat ... We fear for our safety."
Vandals spray-painted swastikas, racial epithets and what appeared to be coded messages on the windows, doors and walls of the community center, located at 3579 Arlington Ave.
The graffiti included the phrase "Achtung Juden" painted on a door and the word "Jewish" crossed out nearby.
Irma Flores, a spokeswoman for the center, said some of the graffiti was written in Spanish, but rife with misspellings.
Witnesses reported seeing two teenage boys clad in dark clothing, possibly wearing sweatshirts, fleeing the scene, according to Riverside police Lt. Tim Bacon.
He said the vandals also spray-painted a car parked nearby, and similar graffiti was discovered in a pedestrian alley that parallels the Chabad center.
"We know that we have to move on and fight these people by not allowing them to control us," Fuss said. "If we allow them to control us with fear, they win. Our job is to fight them by being proud and exposing people to our culture and traditions. Fear is the tool of thugs like this. But we won't let them win."
The 2,000-square-foot community center provides a range of educational and social services, catering to the public at large, as well as 20,000 Jewish families in the Inland Empire, according to Fuss.
"This is a center of goodness and kindness. Everybody's welcome," he said. "We're here to do a good thing, and that's why they chose us as a target."
The rabbi said he hoped the vandals would be caught and "the right sentence will be passed on to them, so they're not allowed back onto the street, to do this again to others."
The Los Angeles-based Anti-Defamation League released a statement condemning the vandalism as a "message of hate to the entire Jewish community."
"A crime such as this doesn't merely affect one building, but is of concern to the entire community," said ADL spokeswoman Alison Mayersohn.
The ADL and community center are jointly offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and prosecution of the individuals responsible.
Fuss said security will be improved at the community center, but he would not elaborate.
A "Unity Gathering" is planned at the center Sunday at 4:30 p.m., involving residents, community activists and possibly local politicians, the rabbi said.
"We will be clear that we won't tolerate this," he said. "We are going to grow and share our message of pride, goodness and kindness, so people will learn more tolerance, understanding and respect."
Anyone with information about the vandalism was urged to contact Riverside police at (951) 353-7100.
Israeli scientists have developed a new device that taps into the stem of a tree and when water levels are low, the tree can text a message, email the farmer, or turn on the irrigation tap to water itself.
Measuring electric conductivity inside the tree, a parameter of water stress, the Israeli researchers Eran Raveh and Arieh Nadler from the Volcani Institute of Agriculture, say that Californian citrus and mango farmers, banana plantations and vintners have already expressed interest in the technology, which can be programmed by the farmers themselves.
Now developing it into a product, Raveh tells ISRAEL21c that it will take about three to four years until the novel device is on the shelves: "We have a water crisis here in Israel and need a way to irrigate more accurately," says Raveh. The device, still without a name, will save farmers up to 30 to 40 percent in water use, he calculates. "The idea is that we were trying to find a way to give water more accurately to the trees. Usually [devices today] measure soil water content."
Measuring tree water content this way, says the plant and soil specialist, is "complicated and takes a lot of time until you get a 'true' measurement, because there are many varying parameters involved."
Cheap, simple, accurate
To get a true estimate of the moisture level in a plant or tree, a farmer must make a grueling check of 26 points in the ground around the plant.
"We've found a different way for measuring a tree's water status: by sticking probes - three simple nails -- into the main stem of the tree, we measure electric conductivity of the stem, and analyze the data to tell people if the tree is under good water conditions. It's important to be able to do this in a simple and cheap way," says Raveh, who came about the idea by accident: ?Our solution is cheap, it can be automated and is very accurate.
"We were doing some other work, and realized that the data that came out of it reflects tree water status," he says.
This data is the intellectual property that the future company will revolve around. Whether the information collected will be transmitted by SMS, email message, fax, or sent to switch on an automated tap, is a matter of simple programming.
On Tuesday afternoon terrorists in Gaza broke several days of quiet when they launched rockets at Southern Israel. The Ashkelon Coastal area was hit and put Israel back on alert. No one was hurt in the attack. This was the first rocket attack since last week.
More than 150 rockets and mortar shells have been fired on Israel. Rockets and mortars have reached as far north as Ashkelon since a unilateral truce began.
No terrorist group in Gaza has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
We're all familiar with the double-standards and hypocrisy of the media. However, it's important to criticize and expose shoddy journalism for what it is. Especially when lies and hearsay has such negative implications for Israel.
The UK's popular newspaper, The Guardian, recently printed nonsense that has been thoroughly debunked as "Palestinian" advocacy rather than honest journalism:
Melanie Phillips has produced a thorough and devastating debunking of The Guardian's stories, videos, commentary and editorial. She points out:
• The allegations are presented as facts even though they are unsupported by any evidence whatsoever.
• The proven unreliability of Palestinian "eyewitnesses".
• The lack of any verifiable information or any mention of the measures taken by the IDF to avoid civilian casualties while Hamas actively used human shields.
Phillips takes apart the three videos, including one in which we are told as a fact that three young brothers were used by the IDF as human shields. She notes:
Most ludicrously of all, the video shows what it solemnly states is an Israeli army magazine found in one of the destroyed houses showing a picture of one of the brothers bound and blindfolded before he said he was stripped to his underpants and used as a human shield.
Rub your eyes. Operation Cast Lead lasted from December 27 to January 18. Are we supposed to believe that the Israelis managed to publish during that time a magazine with a picture of a boy they had captured during that same operation? And then left it lying around in the rubble - miraculously without so much as a tear in its pages -- for him conveniently to find it?
As further evidence that The Guardian chose activism over journalism, The Jerusalem Post reports that in a letter The Guardian sent out to blog and Web site owners, calling for them to support its work, the paper said the Gaza film clips were meant to "add weight to calls this week for a full inquiry into the events surrounding Operation Cast Lead, which was aimed at Hamas, but which left over 1,400 Palestinians dead - around 300 known to be children." Guardian Films then asked the bloggers to link to their "Gaza War Crimes" page.
The appeal, sent by Mustafa Khalili, who is one of those credited by The Guardian for the Gaza content, was inadvertently received by the ZioNation blog, which blew the whistle on The Guardian's partisan political activism.
The Guardian is carrying out a blatant and systematic campaign of demonization against Israel that goes well beyond journalistic norms. JPost blogger Edwin Bennatan even points out how the paper has apparently been selective in its willingness to publish responses from supporters of Israel criticizing what they say is The Guardian's extreme lack of balance and proportion. Bennatan publishes a very eloquent response to The Guardian that was removed from the paper's Comment is Free blog site.
Here is an excerpt from a May 2007 article featured in The Telegraph:
Lebanese tanks and artillery battered a Palestinian refugee camp for a third day after the army was ordered to finish off a group of Islamist militants sheltering there.
The latest battle erupted at dawn at the coastal Nahr al-Bared camp, just outside the northern port of Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city.
Fatah al-Islam, the al Qa’eda linked militant group, thought to have only a few hundred fighters holed up within the residential area, remained defiant.
"We are going to continue fighting until the last shot. There will not be another Jenin massacre," said Abu Salim, spokesman for Fatah al-Islam, told Reuters by telephone, referring to a deadly Israeli assault on a refugee camp in the West Bank in 2002.
Ghazi Aridi, the Lebanese information minister, announced today that the government had authorised the army to step up its campaign and "end the terrorist phenomenon that is alien to the values and nature of the Palestinian people."
But amid growing fears for the 40,000 civilians inside the camp, medical sources appealed for fighting to stop, saying there were dead and wounded lying on the streets. Dark smoke rose from the camp as shells crashed among the densely-packed breeze-block buildings.
Almost 80 people, including 27 civilians, have been killed since fighting between the army and Fatah al-Islam fighters erupted early on Sunday, making it Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
No one called Lebanon a Nazi country or asserted that Lebanon has no right to exist.... Israel certainly was a lot more careful about avoiding civilian casualty though. In fact, the Israeli Air Force boasts over a 99% accuracy during the operation to destroy Hamas in late December 2008/early January 2009. That's pretty incredible considering how Palestinians use their children as human shields.
Ten immigrants were rescued from Yemen and brought to Israel in February 2009. As they are welcomed at Ben Gurion Airport, the family, from youngest to oldest, expresses gratitude and joy at finally reaching Israel. [1]
The gunman involved in the gruesome Mumbai terror attacks late last year erupted into laughter in court on Monday.
He was asked by the court if he understood the charges against him, the Times of London reports, when he began laughing.
Twenty-one-year old Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was one of ten terrorists who killed 170 people last November in India's financial capital. The Pakistani national, who faces death by hanging if convicted of murder, was the only gunman to be caught alive.
Kasab was reportedly smiling throughout the hearing and stated that he was from Pakistan.
Mumbai, India was terrorized by Islamic militants in a series of attacks throughout the city. Indian civilians, foreign nationals and Jews were also targeted. The terrorists reportedly sexually mutilated their victims, including the nearly six-month pregnant wife of the slain Chabad rabbi.
On Thursday, April 23rd Irwin Cotler will be the keynote speaker at a special screening of "The Forgotten Refugees" in New York.
Professor Irwin Cotler is a Canadian parliament member and former Canadian minister of justice. He has spoken about the exodus of Middle Eastern Jewry from their native lands.
Here is a YouTube clip in which Professor Cotler discusses this important issue:
The film that will be screened, "The Forgotten Refugees," explores the history and destruction of Middle Eastern Jewish communities, some of which had existed for over 2,500 years. It chronicles the impact of the Arab Muslim conquest, the development of Judeo-Arab culture, and the modern rise of Arab nationalism that drove out hundreds of thousands of Jews from their homes and communities. This destruction is a significant loss for the Jewish people and for the Middle East.
Here are details about the event:
Thursday, April 23 at 7:30pm (Doors open at 7 pm) Edmond J.Safra Synagogue 11 East 63rd Street, New York
Limited Seating Available Tickets $10 in advance; $15 at the door
The Idan Raichel Project is a music initiative that seeks to give voice to the amazingly diverse blend of world cultures that comprise Israel's colorful musical landscape.
The clip above is from Raichel's latest CD, "Within My Walls" ("Bein Kirot Beiti"). The song is "Chalomot Shel Acherim" ("Other People's Dreams").
I have been following the situation of an Iranian blogger who was convicted of insulting the country's religious leaders and was jailed as a result. He was unfairly incarcerated in the notorious Evin prison.
Omidreza Mirsayafi, 29, was serving a 30-month sentence for insulting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. The blogger's lawyer, Mohammed Ali Dadkhah, said officials informed him that Mirsayafi died last Wednesday.
Human rights campaigners called for prison officials to be prosecuted after Mirsayafi took extra doses of tranquilizers prescribed by prison doctors. Considering the reputation of the Evin prison, there is no way to verify if the statements by guards are actually true. There have been cases where students and reformists have been beaten or killed in the Evin prison.
Iran's semi-official Fars news agency also reported last week that authorities detained some people for allegedly setting up internet sites that are seen as anti-revolutionary, anti-religious or obscene. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards said its intelligence arm is involved in the crackdown.
According to the U.S. State Department's report on human rights in 2008, governmental organizations had reported an increase in Tehran's control over the Internet as more Iranians used it as source for news and debate. The report also references the case of Omidreza Mirsayafi.
In 2006, Mirsayafi wrote the following on his blog:
I feel like a stranger in my own house...Is it really the ancient Persia I am living in? Is it the land of Cyrus the Great?... It must be a nightmare I am having. This is not Persia. This is the Islamic Republic.
I have never been a person who would stoop to self-censoring and will never be.
On Saturday Islamists targeted a popular mall in Haifa, Israel.
The mall, known as Lev HaMifratz (trans: Heart of the Bay), contains over 100 stores and 23 movie theaters. The mall also contains popular eateries and social spots.
Roughly 40 kilograms of bombs were discovered in a stolen vehicle parked in the parking lot and could have collapsed the three-story building. A vigilant citizen noticed a small, initial explosion and alerted appropriate officials.
Authorities have suggested that the attack was well-planned by an organized terrorist infrastructure. According to Ha'aretz, the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah may be behind the attack.
The mall in Haifa was re-opened to the public on Sunday morning and security checks were intensified.
This latest occurred just six days after two Israeli policemen were brutally murdered by Arab terrorists near the West Bank. The victims had stopped to help a man who appeared to be motorists who needed help in changing a flat tire.
After reviewing the situation described below, please take action as specified at the end of the email.
Berkeley Hillel's Valentine's Day invitation demeaning Orthodox Jews, which was posted on Facebook by Hillel staff, was exposed and reported in the Jerusalem Post (see coverage here and here). The fact that Berkeley Hillel staff has been denigrating Jewish heritage in the past year became international news.
While we might be tempted to dismiss this latest occurrence as borderline trivial, it is important to recognize that it is indicative of a significantly more egregious pattern of conduct. Although Hillel apologized for its latest "mistake," the situation continues.
Since Ken Kramarz, Hillel's N. California regional head, took office in June 2007, under his leadership and guidance, a troubling situation has developed at Berkeley Hillel: Hillel has welcomed leaders of Students for Justice in Palestine ("SJP"), an extremist anti-Israel group (see here), into its student organization meetings (see here).
By allowing the SJP into its facility and groups, Hillel has allowed itself to become a breeding ground for anti-Israel extremists and activists. Impressionable Jewish students have fallen prey to SJP's leaders and have been closely cooperating with them.
Ken Kramarz himself has been discouraging pro-Israel students from rallying for Israel (telling them it makes Jews look "bloodthirsty") and from displaying Israeli flags (saying the star of David "represents militarism"). This gives an insight into the source of the problem at Berkeley Hillel.
Kramarz’s “leadership” of Hillel is having its natural effect: Hillel’s student group leaders and members participated in SJP’s “Israel Apartheid Week,” an annual anti-Israel hate-fest which took place this March 1-8, 2009 (see here). This is just the latest negative effect of the Hillel leadership on the future Jewish generation.
Ken Kramarz's superiors at Hillel International and the SF Jewish Federation could not refute any of the disturbing facts revealed and distributed recently; indeed each fact has evidence to substantiate it. They simply swept under the rug the disturbing pattern of misconduct of the N. California Hillel head. Rather than acknowledge, confront and rectify this troubling situation, they are concealing the true facts from the community and maintaining the status quo. Thus, they fail the students and the Jewish community.
The Hillel regional head is an important position. The person who fills it should reverse course and inspire and encourage students to develop pride in their Jewish heritage and stand up for Israel!
Under the leadership, guidance and advice of Ken Kramarz, Hillel's N. California regional head, an alarming situation has emerged!
The following are just a few examples of an increasingly dire situation( for background see also the eye-opening links):
Hillel Denigrates Jewish Traditions
• On Yom Ha'Shoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), Hillel held a dance party. When students complained about holding a party on that solemn day, they were told that "most students don't really care."
• On Yom Hazikaron, memorial day for fallen IDF soldiers and terror victims, Hillel held a Cinco de Mayo BBQ celebrating Mexican heritage and pride.
• Ignoring repeated student requests, Hillel has not held Passover Seders for the last two years. Rather, last Passover, Hillel's walls bore signs that said "matzah sucks."
Hillel Cooperates with Anti-Israel Hate Group (SJP) and Marginalizes Pro-Israel Students
Hillel has welcomed leaders of the extremist anti-Israel Students for Justice in Palestine ("SJP") into its student organization meetings (see here). SJP leaders Allison Deger (see here) and Yaman Salahi (see here) who attend Hillel meetings, have been at the forefront of anti-Israel activities, including violent demonstrations at Israel's SF Consulate (see here and here) and Berkeley's divest-from-Israel campaign (see here). This SJP divestment effort is part of international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaigns against Israel. In their continuing effort to demonize Israel, those SJP leaders organized an "Israel Apartheid Week" (see here) on campus. Several of Hillel's student group leaders and members participated in SJP's annual Israel-bashing ritual known as "Israel Apartheid Week."
• Hillel has tacitly given SJP a platform to proselytize Jewish students and convert them to its anti-Israel cause.
• In allowing SJP into its facility and groups, Hillel has allowed itself to become a breeding ground for anti-Israel extremists and activists.
• Rather than support the pro-Israel students, Hillel, its affiliated students groups, and Kramarz have echoed SJP's smear campaign against pro-Israel students. Kramarz has done so in statements to media, to the Jewish community, and in a national conference call -- without soliciting the pro-Israel students' response to the SJP's false allegations (see here and here).
• These highly damaging and irresponsible actions of Kramarz and Hillel have helped the extremist SJP legitimize itself and marginalize the pro-Israel students at Berkeley - so much so that the SJP not only thanked notorious anti-Israel organizations such as the Muslim Students Association (MSA), but first and foremost thanked Hillel and its Jewish Student Union (JSU) for their solidarity and cooperation.
Ken Kramarz and Hillel Discourage Pro-Israel Students and Activities
• After the recent Israeli operation in Gaza, Kramarz urged students (on January 16 and 21) not to rally in solidarity with Israel or to carry Israeli flags, saying they would make the Jews look "bloodthirsty" and that the flag's Star of David represents militarism.
• When a pro-Israel student asked Kramarz on February 3 for Hillel to take a public stance against anti-Israel speakers such as Hamas/Hizbullah advocate (see here) and obsessive anti-Zionist Norman Finkelstein, whom the SJP presented in October 2008, Kramarz said he does not consider Norman Finkelstein to be anti-Israel (see here and here).
• When pro-Israel students protested the Finkelstein event, moderated by the notorious Hatem Bazian (see here), by briefly making noise while walking out, they were banned from using Hillel facilities unless they "publicly and formally" apologized to the SJP (Kramarz personally advocated this outrageous demand). But the SJP leaders who invited the Israel demonizer and their friends are welcome at Hillel.
Berkeley Hillel, under the advice and guidance of Hillel's regional head, Ken Kramarz, and with his direct involvement, has repeatedly failed Jewish and pro-Israel students. There are already serious consequences!
The students are the future leaders of the Jewish community. They will determine the American Jewish community's future attitudes toward, and support for, Israel. This year's sophomore is next year's shaper of public opinion, congressman or senator.
Kramarz, who is funded by the S.F. Jewish Federation and Hillel International, has known of, and cooperated with, Berkeley Hillel's reprehensible conduct. Kramarz has whitewashed and concealed Hillel's misconduct while attempting to discredit those who spotlight the problems.
If we fail to act and Hillel's leadership remains unchanged, we should not be surprised when more and more Jewish students join the ranks of anti-Israel activists on campus. Last year's anti-Israel youth protest at the SF JCC on Israel's Independence Day (see here and here) may serve as a troubling example of what the future holds. The growing number of anti-Israel Jewish activists will eventually constitute the mainstream.
Please Act Now! Your Voice Makes a Difference!
• Contact Hillel International (wfirestone@hillel.org) and the S.F. Jewish Federation [(jimk@sfjcf.org) and (daniels@sfjcf.org)]. You are funding them. Let them know that our Jewish students deserve much better!
• Demand that the position of Hillel regional head be filled by a leader who is proud of our Jewish heritage and encourages students to stand up for Israel.
Here is an excerpt from a recent article written by Frank Gaffney:
On Friday, President Obama reiterated for the umpteenth time his determination to develop a "new relationship" with the Muslim world. On this occasion, the audience were the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Unfortunately, it increasingly appears that, in so doing, he will be embracing the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood - an organization dedicated to promoting the theo-political-legal program authoritative Islam calls Shariah and that has the self-described mission of "destroying Western civilization from within."
As part of Mr. Obama's "Respect Islam" campaign, he will travel to Turkey in early April. While there, he will not only pay tribute to an Islamist government that has systematically wrested every institution from the secular tradition of Ataturk and put the country squarely on the path to Islamification. He will also participate in something called the "Alliance of Civilizations."
The Alliance is a UN-sponsored affair that reflects - as, increasingly do most things the United Nations is involved in - the views of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The OIC is made up of 57 Muslim-majority nations. Thanks to support from Saudi Arabia and its proxies, the Muslim Brotherhood has become a driving force within the Conference and their agendas largely coincide.
For example, in 2005 a communiqué issued after a summit in Mecca declared: "The Conference underlined the need to collectively endeavor to reflect the noble Islamic values, counter Islamophobia, defamation of Islam and its values and desecration of Islamic holy sites, and to effectively coordinate with States as well as regional and international institutions and organizations to urge them to criminalize this phenomenon as a form of racism."
Ominously, as part of its bid to "criminalize" Islamophobia, the OIC is seeking "deterrent punishments." It insists that not only freedom of expression but all human rights be circumscribed by the OIC's 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, which concludes with the caveat that, "All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shariah." Translation: Liberties enshrined in the UN's foundational Universal Declaration of Human Rights are largely rendered null and void.
The demand that no criticism of Islam be permitted is the preeminent feature of the Muslim Brotherhood's efforts in the West. In fact, it is but the leading edge of the Brothers' bid to suppress public awareness of the threat posed by their program in societies that pride themselves on religious tolerance, thereby facilitating seditious penetration and influence operations by the Shariah-adherent.
The Idan Raichel Project will perform at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, on March 29th (Sunday).
Led by Israeli keyboardist/producer Idan Raichel, the Idan Raichel Project seeks to give voice to the amazingly diverse blend of world cultures that comprise Israel's colorful musical landscape. Cabra Casey, a Israeli-Jewish woman of Ethiopian origins, will also be performing. Two of her most well-known songs are "Milim Yafot Me'ele" and "Habayta."
I interviewed Steven Emerson about radical Muslim groups in America.
Future guests on the show will include:
• Frank Gaffney (Center for Security Policy) • Walid Phares (Foundation for Defense of Democracies) • Walid Shoebat (Ex Palestinian Terrorist) • Robert Spencer (Jihad Watch) • Nonie Darwish (Arabs for Israel) • Steven Emerson (Investigative Project) • Brigitte Gabrielle (ACT for America) • Zuhdi Jasser (American Islamic Forum for Democracy) • Ibn Warraq (Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society)
...and many more
Topics will cover issues of sharia law and political Islam. We will also cover current events in the Middle East, South East Asia, and the Western world.
Senior Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan confirmed on Tuesday that Fatah, which leads the Palestinian Authority, does not recognize Israel, one of the basic demands of the Roadmap plan. The Western world has boycotted the Hamas terrorist organization because of the same refusal to acknowledge the existence of the Jewish state.
The other two requirements in the American-backed Roadmap plan - renouncing violence and accepting existing agreements - also have been violated by the PA. [1]
In 2008 Shi 360 from Tact Family was busy traveling. During that time he worked on his new album and filmed the video for the first single. "The Tribal Dance" (in Hebrew "Rikud Hashvatim" or "ריקוד השבטים") is a North African rhythm. [1] Shi 360 (aka Shai Haddad) is a Jew of Moroccan origins.
Sgt. Gilad Shalit has been held captive for 995 days by Hamas, the Iranian-backed terror organization. Hamas expects hundreds of Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisoners in order to conduct the swap. 325 names out of 450 terrorist names have been approved by Israeli government for release. Here are some details:
Among those Israel refused to release were Abdullah Barghouti, given 67 life sentences for his role in a string of terror attacks, including at the Sbarro restaurant and Moment Café in Jerusalem, that killed 66 Israelis and wounded 500 others; Mohand Sarim, one of the planners of the Park Hotel bombing in Netanya, which killed 29 Israelis and wounded 64 others on Pessah 2002; and Ra'ad Hutari, convicted of recruiting a number of suicide bombers, including the one who perpetrated the 2001 attack at the Dolphinarium in Tel Aviv, which killed 22 people and wounded 83 others.
At the same time, Israel agreed to release hundreds of terrorists "with blood on their hands," including Nassar Nazal, a senior Hamas operative in Kalkilya who dispatched the suicide bomber who carried out an attack in October 2002 on the Bar-Ilan Bridge, killing one person and wounding 20.
This is an interesting point of comparison, as these Islamist murderers of children are revered by a depraved, brainwashed culture of people living in the West Bank and Gaza.
The following are statements from the Jerusalem Post regarding the father of Gilad Shalit:
Following a meeting on Tuesday evening with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Noam Schalit, father of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad, told reporters that he still held hope that the government would be able to secure the release of his son.
"The prime minister briefed us on everything which has taken place up until now," Schalit said after he exited the premier's Jerusalem residence. "We received a number of clarifications and explanations [for the current status of the talks]."
"The prime minister will continue [negotiations], and is not throwing up his hands," he said. "It will continue until the very last moment, and we hope that there will be a slight increase in effort - in the hopes that, despite the brief amount of time left in this current government, we'll be able to secure a [breakthrough] so that we'll be able to see Gilad back home."
On Monday the militant Islamist president of Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir, said he wants all international aid groups out of the country within a year. This latest demand comes after foreign aid workers were abducted in Sudan's Darfur region last week.
Omar Al-Bashir has expelled 13 large foreign aid agencies. He has accused them of spying for an international court that issued an arrest warrant against him on March 4th, 2009 for war crimes in the western Sudanese region. Al-Bashir also shut down three local aid groups, including one of the largest local groups operating in Darfur.
Hamas, as well as Hezbollah and their mutual sponsor, Iran, spoke out strongly in defense of Sudan's Muslim extremist president. Much of the Islamic/Arabic world has been reluctant or unwilling to criticize the genocidal actions of Al-Bashir.
Here is an excerpt from USA Today regarding the latest:
Having already ousted 13 foreign aid groups from the Darfur region, Sudan's president said Monday he would expel all international aid workers from the country over the next year, a move that threatens to cut off millions from their only source of food and water.
The announcement by Omar al-Bashir, who this month became the target of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity relating to killings in Darfur, prompted new calls for President Obama to respond to what the United Nations calls a looming humanitarian disaster.
The United Nations has said that 1.1 million people in Darfur refugee camps will soon be without food and medicine. Sudanese troops and allied militia groups have attacked civilians in the region of western Sudan in a long-running conflict over control of the area.
A leading activist on Darfur and two members of Congress questioned Monday whether Obama's muted response to the worsening situation in the western region of Sudan matched up with his bold campaign rhetoric, which included a call for American military action to stop the government-sponsored killing.
"Why is there a disconnect between how passionate and articulate candidate Obama addressed the issue of Darfur … and what President Obama is doing now?" Jerry Fowler, executive director of the Save Darfur coalition, said Monday.
In debate at March 2009 session of the UN Human Rights Council, UN Watch's Hillel Neuer speaks out for victims from Darfur, Myanmar and Sri Lanka; and takes on UN rights chief Navi Pillay for blaming the victims of Durban 2 anti-Semitism instead of the perpetrators. [1]
For the children of Sderot, life is anything but normal. Eight years of Hamas rocket attacks have scarred a generation, leaving them suffering a range of psychological ailments. For at-risk youth, the dangers are even higher. But one creative project could have an answer: dogs.
Fido isn't called man's best friend without a reason. For over four years, Chavat HaChayot (The Animal Farm), has been transporting a truck full of rescued dogs to Sderot every week, whatever the danger, and however many missiles are falling.
The animal therapy team works with about 15 at-risk youth in Sderot, from the age of 13 to 17, teaching them how to train dogs, so that more people can enjoy the pleasure and calmness that dogs provide during dangerous times. For the at-risk youth, who even in better days have a challenge integrating normally into society, it's a vital, and unique, form of therapy.
"We're not dealing with ordinary kids, but kids who are at risk, which makes their situation in Sderot more complicated," says Paul Makias, a lead trainer at the five-year-old organization Chavat HaChayot, based in Moshav Bet Ezra outside of Ashdod.
"Working with dogs gives everyone pleasure and a great sense of comfort and security. It's a process: they are learning how to train dogs and to control them in the most professional way. And by giving [the at-risk youth] such goals with the dogs, we make them forget their situation."
Training dogs for adoption
Once they have learned their new skills as dog trainers, the youth volunteer with mentally disabled youngsters, teaching them in turn how to train dogs.
The kids not only learn how to train dogs, Makias stresses. "They learn how to have fun. When they?re running with the dogs, they can forget about everything around them and feel good," he explains, noting that Sderot City Hall has taken an interest in supporting the initiative, but additional funds could expand the program to reach more kids.
Sderot can be very dangerous. During the Gaza war hundreds of missiles fell there, and even today, though the Gaza operation is long over, missiles continue to rain down on the beleaguered city.
The kids, who meet once a week on Fridays to train their dogs, are located immediately next to a bomb shelter so that they and their dogs can race down to the shelter below the moment a siren sounds.
"Our dogs are well familiar with the sound of the Tzeva Adom [Red Alert] and the rocket explosions," says Makias. "When the siren alarm sounds, the kids and the dogs enter a bomb shelter nearby our training location and wait for the rocket explosion to pass. The dogs sense the danger of the incoming rocket but they also sense the fear of the children." Rebuilding shattered confidence
Makias is working with a social worker, Avi Benita from Sderot. Benita believes that by teaching Sderot kids how to build a relationship with a dog in these training sessions, the kids begin to rebuild their sense of confidence, which has been shattered by their personal situations at home, and further exacerbated by the sirens and Palestinian rocket attacks.
Makias believes the seven-man Chavat HaChayot, which also helps bring troubled kids and abandoned dogs together in Ashdod, Jerusalem and Rishon LeZion, offers a double bonus, because it doesn't just rehabilitate the war-scarred kids, but also the dogs.
After three months in service, the trained dog is a prime candidate for adoption -- either through a shelter or by one of the child handlers who was appointed that particular dog.
"The beauty of all this is the dogs we are taking from the animal shelter, after three months, go back to the shelter for adoption, but this time with a catalog of pictures of how they've worked with kids, and special needs people," says Makias.
They are normally adopted within three days, he explains.
Taglit Birthright registration has been closed for a little over a week. The Taglit-Birthright Israel Foundation offers a FREE ten day trip for young Jewish adults 18-26.
More information is available at http://www.birthrightisrael.com. If you missed registration this year, you may want to seriously consider registering for the upcoming winter trip (check the site regularly) or next year's summer trip. This is something I feel very comfortable with promoting as I had an amazing time in Israel through this organized and unique trip.
One of the most popular Israeli hip-hop groups, Tact, created a video mentioning the Taglit trip and referenced that thousands of Jews from all over the world have visited Israel courtesy of this amazing organization. The song/video, called "Home," features Tact's Shi 360.
Most recently Birthright Israel also inspired young people who participated in the trip to create solos which have been turned into show. The show is called "Monologues" and it chronicles the diverse experiences of people who each took ten days of their lives to participate in an in-depth tour of Israel. The cast of "Monologues" created their pieces during a series of group workshops and individual rehearsals with director Vanessa Hidary, of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. Please go here for more information and dates regarding upcoming shows.
Dr. Yaron Brook, the president and executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, had his first piece published in the Wall Street Journal last Friday. His piece is currently the most emailed article on the site. From WSJ:
By Yaron Brook
Ayn Rand died more than a quarter of a century ago, yet her name appears regularly in discussions of our current economic turmoil. Pundits including Rush Limbaugh and Rick Santelli urge listeners to read her books, and her magnum opus, "Atlas Shrugged," is selling at a faster rate today than at any time during its 51-year history.
There's a reason. In "Atlas," Rand tells the story of the U.S. economy crumbling under the weight of crushing government interventions and regulations. Meanwhile, blaming greed and the free market, Washington responds with more controls that only deepen the crisis. Sound familiar?
The novel's eerily prophetic nature is no coincidence. "If you understand the dominant philosophy of a society," Rand wrote elsewhere in "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal," "you can predict its course." Economic crises and runaway government power grabs don't just happen by themselves; they are the product of the philosophical ideas prevalent in a society -- particularly its dominant moral ideas.
Why do we accept the budget-busting costs of a welfare state? Because it implements the moral ideal of self-sacrifice to the needy. Why do so few protest the endless regulatory burdens placed on businessmen? Because businessmen are pursuing their self-interest, which we have been taught is dangerous and immoral. Why did the government go on a crusade to promote "affordable housing," which meant forcing banks to make loans to unqualified home buyers? Because we believe people need to be homeowners, whether or not they can afford to pay for houses.
The message is always the same: "Selfishness is evil; sacrifice for the needs of others is good." But Rand said this message is wrong -- selfishness, rather than being evil, is a virtue. By this she did not mean exploiting others à la Bernie Madoff. Selfishness -- that is, concern with one's genuine, long-range interest -- she wrote, required a man to think, to produce, and to prosper by trading with others voluntarily to mutual benefit.
Rand also noted that only an ethic of rational selfishness can justify the pursuit of profit that is the basis of capitalism -- and that so long as self-interest is tainted by moral suspicion, the profit motive will continue to take the rap for every imaginable (or imagined) social ill and economic disaster. Just look how our present crisis has been attributed to the free market instead of government intervention -- and how proposed solutions inevitably involve yet more government intervention to rein in the pursuit of self-interest.
Rand offered us a way out -- to fight for a morality of rational self-interest, and for capitalism, the system which is its expression. And that is the source of her relevance today.
There is a particularly interesting discussion going on WSJ Forum regarding this article. Click here to view the discussion and/or to participate.
There is one brief expletive during this clip, otherwise it is appropriate for all viewers.
Actress/Poet/Playwright/Native New Yorker Vanessa Hidary grew up on Manhattan's culturally diverse Upper West Side, graduating from LaGuardia High School of the Arts and Hunter College. Her experiences as a Sephardic Jew with close friends from different ethnic and religious backgrounds inspired her to write "Culture Bandit," a solo show that chronicles Vanessa's coming of age during the golden age of Hip-Hop and her dedication to fostering understanding and friendship between all people. [1]
"You Must Believe That We Will Fight, Defeat, and Annihilate Them, Until Not a Single Jew Remains on the Face of the Earth"
Muhammad Hussein Ya’qoub: "If the Jews left Palestine to us, would we start loving them? Of course not. We will never love them. Absolutely not. The Jews are infidels – not because I say so, and not because they are killing Muslims, but because Allah said: 'The Jews say that Uzair is the son of Allah, and the Christians say that Christ is the son of Allah. These are the words from their mouths. They imitate the sayings of the disbelievers before. May Allah fight them. How deluded they are.' It is Allah who said that they are infidels.
"Your belief regarding the Jews should be, first, that they are infidels, and second, that they are enemies. They are enemies not because they occupied Palestine. They would have been enemies even if they did not occupy a thing. Allah said: 'You shall find the strongest men in enmity to the disbelievers [sic] to be the Jews and the polytheists.' Third, you must believe that the Jews will never stop fighting and killing us. They [fight] not for the sake of land and security, as they claim, but for the sake of their religion: 'And they will not cease fighting you until they turn you back you’re your religion, if they can.'
"This is it. We must believe that our fighting with the Jews is eternal, and it will not end until the final battle – and this is the fourth point. You must believe that we will fight, defeat, and annihilate them, until not a single Jew remains on the face of the Earth."
"As For You Jews – The Curse of Allah Upon You... You Pigs of the Earth! You Kill the Muslims With That Cold Pig [Blood] Of Yours"
"It is not me who says so. The Prophet said: 'Judgment Day will not come until you fight the Jews and kill them. The Jews will hide behind stones and trees, and the stones and tree will call: Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him – except for the Gharqad tree, which is the tree of the Jews.' I have heard that they are planting many of these trees now.
[...]
"As for you Jews – the curse of Allah upon you. The curse of Allah upon you, whose ancestors were apes and pigs. You Jews have sown hatred in our hearts, and we have bequeathed it to our children and grandchildren. You will not survive as long as a single one of us remains.
[...]
"Oh Jews, may the curse of Allah be upon you. Oh Jews... Oh Allah, bring Your wrath, punishment, and torment down upon them. Allah, we pray that you transform them again, and make the Muslims rejoice again in seeing them as apes and pigs. You pigs of the earth! You pigs of the earth! You kill the Muslims with that cold pig [blood] of yours."
I am a journalist and researcher, and have written numerous research and investigative pieces. My work has been published with several notable organizations, including CAMERA on Campus, the Jewish Policy Center, Pajamas Media, and the Investigative Project on Terror.
My interests include ethics and epistemology, history, economics, and international relations.
I graduated from the University of California, Irvine with distinguished honors, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English. Presently I am pursuing a Master's degree at USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism in the field of Broadcast Journalism. I can be reached at Reut AT reutrcohen DOT com.
