Elder of Ziyon Daily News

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• ...And all that jazz
• Jordanians rally against peace with Israel
• A parade in Gaza
• Reuters' abridged history of Jews in Tunisia leaves out a lot
• Links (Ian)
• Vacation

...And all that jazz Posted: 06 May 2012 05:00 PM PDT From the NYT: Over the last 15 years, Israel has produced and exported so many serious young musicians that the jazz landscape is hard to picture without their influence, particularly in New York and especially now. Last week the Anzic label released a pair of albums that illustrate the point: "Suite of the East," by the bassist Omer Avital, and "Songs and Portraits," by the collective known as Third World Love, which consists of Mr. Avital, the trumpeter Avishai Cohen, the pianist Yonatan Avishai and the drummer Daniel Freedman. (The label also released "Bamako by Bus," by Mr. Freedman, the only member of the collective who wasn't born in Israel.) And over the next week and a half, a different contingent of musicians will take part in Jazzrael, a festival of jazz and world music presented by the Israeli Consulate in New York. The festival begins on Sunday night at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, with a trio led by Omri Mor, an articulate young pianist from Jerusalem. Its closing event, at Joe's Pub on May 16, will feature the multireedist Amir Gwirtzman and the singer Nurit Galron, both traveling from Israel for the occasion. Elsewhere on the schedule are Israeli musicians now residing in New York, like the pianist Alon Yavnai, who leads a big band at Joe's Pub on Tuesday. A concert next Saturday at Temple Israel of the City of New York, on East 75th Street, will feature Mr. Mor, the flutist Hadar Noiberg and the accordionist Uri Sharlin, among others. The recent outpouring of musical talent from Israel represents a different strain of Jewish jazz, one less concerned about connecting with a distant heritage. Even with a population under eight million, Israel has both the polyglot cultural mix and the educational infrastructure that are conducive to training in jazz. Yes, the BDSers are really calling it "jazzwashing." This also happens to be the 82nd anniversary of this: Constantinople, May. 6 (JTA) – Following a two week's run at a local theatre the American moving picture, "The Jazz Singer," starring Al Jolson, has been banned because it contains "Jewish religious propaganda." But I thought Jews weren't discriminated against in Muslim countries! I thought they were only angry at "Zionists"! Hmmm...Al Jolson must have been a Zionist. Yeah, that must be it. Is the analogy between those who boycott Israeli jazz today and those who boycotted a Jewish jazz story eight decades ago too obvious? (The Turkish ban was lifted two months later. The Nazis were not enamored with the movie either.)

Jordanians rally against peace with Israel Posted: 06 May 2012 02:00 PM PDT From Jordan Times: Hundreds of activists hit the streets in some urban centres in the country demanding an end to the Kingdom's ties with Israel. In protests organised by Islamists, leftists and youth activists, participants called on decision makers to scrap the 1994 Wadi Araba Peace Treaty, which they described as a "disaster". In a downtown Amman rally, some 200 leftists and youth activists called on authorities to expel the Israeli ambassador, burning US and Israeli flags and chanting: "Wadi Araba is not peace, Wadi Araba is surrender." Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood's youth wing rallied in downtown Amman's Al Nakheel Square, criticising the government for maintaining ties with Tel Aviv despite Israel's refusal to honour the agreement. Addressing the rally of some 300 Islamists, former Muslim Brotherhood overall leader Salem Falahat criticised Amman for supporting policies of normalisation with Israel during an ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands. Meanwhile, in a series of demonstrations held by governorate-based popular movements, hundreds of citizens rallied in Karak, Tafileh, Ajloun and Irbid, calling for an end to "normalisation" with Israel and protesting against rising prices of basic commodities. Activists said Friday's protests were a direct response to the appointment of Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh, a leading figure in the 1994 peace process, who recently stated that if given a second chance, he would still support the treaty, pointing out that Jordan has used the peace pact as a tool to help Palestinians and other Arabs. Are they still considered "peace activists" when they rally against peace?

A parade in Gaza Posted: 06 May 2012 11:00 AM PDT The Nasser Saladin Brigades of the Popular Resistance Committees held a parade in Gaza on Satuday: Hamas won't allow rallies or demonstrations that they disagree with, for example for unity with Fatah. But this parade by a supposedly independent military force is fine, complete with weapons. Just more proof that Hamas is encouraging the terrorists while it pretends to be comparatively "moderate" - a ploy that Yasir Arafat used to be the expert at.

Reuters' abridged history of Jews in Tunisia leaves out a lot Posted: 06 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT Reuters has an article about the upcoming annual Lag B'Omer pilgrimage of Jews to Djerba, Tunisia. The article says as background: Tunisia's Jewish community once numbered 100,000 people. But fear, poverty and discrimination prompted several waves of emigration after the creation of Israel in 1948. Many left after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Most went to France or Israel. Is that an accurate description? Here is how it is described elsewhere: After Tunisia gained independence in 1956, a series of anti-Jewish government decrees were promulgated. In 1958, Tunisia's Jewish Community Council was abolished by the government and ancient synagogues, cemeteries and Jewish quarters were destroyed for "urban renewal." The increasingly unstable situation caused more than 40,000 Tunisian Jews to immigrate to Israel. By 1967, the country's Jewish population had shrunk to 20,000. During the Six-Day War, Jews were attacked by rioting Arab mobs, and synagogues and shops were burned. The government denounced the violence, and President Habib Bourguiba apologized to the Chief Rabbi. The government appealed to the Jewish population to stay, but did not bar them from leaving. Subsequently, 7,000 Jews immigrated to France. Since 1948, 99% of Tunisia's Jews emigrated. Such a mass emigration does not come about because of vague fears or because of poverty - it comes from very specific threats to the entire community. And characterizing mob attacks on Jews and burning of synagogues "discrimination" is absurd. While the Tunisian government has been keen on protecting its remaining Jews over the past couple of decades, it is irresponsible for Reuters to downplay the very real reasons Jews were forced to flee.

Links (Ian) Posted: 06 May 2012 05:00 AM PDT What the Palestinians Want by Khaled Abu Toameh "The Palestinians want the US to endorse all their demands and force Israel to give them everything. Palestinians are reminded almost every day that the US, which has been providing them with billions of dollars, is a foe rather than a friend, although no one seems to ask how come a foe is so generous. US aid should be conditioned not only on transparency and accountability, but also on an end to the campaign of hatred and incitement, as officially agreed in the Oslo accords, but never implemented." "Many Palestinian journalists who were invited to cover the event also decided to stay away. Their representatives accused the US of supporting Israel and working toward "normalizing"  relations between Israelis and Palestinians." Hollywood Group Takes on Music Industry Anti-Israel Boycotters "We'll see. But in the meantime, CCFP is determined to fight back.  As Steve Schnur, worldwide head of music for Electronic Arts (EA) video games, put it: "Musicians that play there don't have to agree with the current or previous policies of the Israeli government — but they can go there and speak toward it or against it. Where else in the Middle East can an artist do that?" Red Hot Chili Peppers In Hot Water With BDSers  (They are playing in Lebanon as well this year, but no "pro-Palestinian" protester seems to have a problem with them playing in a country that has laws discriminating against Palestinians.) Breaking the silence on Jewish property rights "In 1876 Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities in Jerusalem jointly purchased the site next to Shimon Hatzaddik's tomb. They built dwellings for the pilgrims on part of the site. The Jewish residents of some 100 homes were among the first to be expelled when hostilities broke out at the end of 1947. Arab families moved into the empty Jewish homes. From 1949 to 1967 Jews could not visit the holy sites under Jordanian rule — a violation of the 1949 armistice agreement." Jewish and Israeli students attacked at Toulouse university event  "Toulouse - The president of the French Jewish student organisation has called on the University of Toulouse to combat antisemitism after a talk by Israeli students last week was disrupted by protesters shouting abuse, making threats and singing antisemitic chants." "Security had to intervene – it was very upsetting," said Mr Reingewitz. "The protesters were saying 'get out of here' and they sang an antisemitic slogan in Arabic: Khaybar Khaybar is Yahud, Jaysh Muhammad sawfa ya'ud" (Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return)." Two Egyptian Presidential Candidates Endorsed Jihad Against US Red Ken is off to a career at PressTV "Ken Livingstone announces retirement from politics after losing London Mayor election to Boris Johnson"

Vacation Posted: 06 May 2012 02:00 AM PDT I am going on a vacation this week, and am traveling today, so there will be fewer posts than normal  this week. I'm queuing up what I can. On the bright side, I should get a tan!

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