Elder of Ziyon Daily News

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Last synagogue in Basra on verge of collapse Posted: 19 Oct 2013 06:15 PM PDT Al Sumaria TV reports that the last remaining synagogue in Basra, Iraq, is in danger of collapse. The synagogue was looted in 2003 with the fall of the former regime, and it had been converted into a warehouse for construction materials. However, but there are still some indications of its former use. The walls are cracking and the owners of surrounding shops are alarmed that its collapse will affect the structural integrity of their stores. The synagogue was built in 1915 when this was a Jewish neighborhood. The last Jew in Basra, an elderly woman who lived in an apartment adjacent to the synagogue, left in 2003. As of 2009, there eight Jews left in Baghdad.

10/19 Links: The Video Pro-Israel Students Need to See; Iran stalls while centrifuges spin. Posted: 19 Oct 2013 04:45 PM PDT From Ian: Stand With Us: Pro-Israel Students Need to Watch This Missing Peace: What's behind the new talks about Iran's nuclear weapon program? It is clear from earlier leaked details that Iran's offer in Geneva was a far cry from what Cottler summed up in his op-ed. The question is why in light of the real meaning of the Iranian offer in Geneva the US and EU hailed the talks as a new beginning? Israeli commentators think they have the answer. The US and EU have in fact changed their game in order to trap Israel into inaction, they say. Israel cannot take military action against Iran's nuclear program as long as talks in Geneva continue. The West fears an Israeli strike more than an Iranian nuclear weapon since such a strike would have a disastrous affect on the price of oil and on the world economy. Caroline Glick: Israel and the new Munich And now he is involved in negotiations with Iran that will necessarily lead to Iran's emergence as a nuclear power. From Netanyahu's repeated declarations that Israel will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, it is unclear whether he realizes what is going on. More than anything else, those statements represent an attempt to negotiate with Obama. Netanyahu is still trying to win Obama over. If there was ever an argument to be made in favor of Netanyahu's pleading, their time is long past. In nothing else, the obscene diplomatic theater in Geneva this week made that clear. Israel is alone. We have no diplomatic option. Iran stalls, centrifuges spin That's the mindset of many eager in the media to help the administration paint a picture of progress at the nuclear arms talks just concluded in Geneva, Switzerland. In fact, in the words of an official of a pro-Israel organization, "Nothing — nothing has changed." Iran is still enriching, the centrifuges are spinning and Iran is still insisting it has a "right" to enrich and has no nuclear arms program. As the official put it, "This isn't the first time we've seen this rodeo." The regime has spent all of Obama's first term and some of George W. Bush's talking, but not deviating one iota from its nuclear weapons plans. Report - Source reveals details of Iranian offer at nuclear talks Despite the various ideas presented, Al-Monitor stated that the plan did not meet various demands made previously by the United States, such as its insistence that Tehran to remove its stock of 20% enriched uranium from the country. The Middle East news site listed other calls made by the US that the plan did not address, like the complete suspension of activity at Frodow and Arak, and the country's increasing production of low-enriched uranium. Iran presented 'no serious proposals' at nuke talks, US officials tell Israel Iran made "no serious proposals" during the two days of talks on its nuclear program in Geneva this week, senior US officials reportedly told their Israeli counterparts. The talks were "exploratory" rather than substantive, the US officials told Jerusalem, Israel's Channel 2 news reported Friday night. US said to weigh gradually unfreezing Iranian assets The plan calls for a graduated unfreezing of Iranian oversees assets without rescinding the sanctions themselves, affording US President Barack Obama the capacity to respond to offers made by Iran in the course of negotiations without undoing the years-long effort to put the existing sanctions regime into place, a unnamed senior official in the Obama administration told The New York Times late Thursday. Most Israelis support Netanyahu over Iran, according to poll Some 58 percent of respondents to the question "how would you rate Netanyahu's recent performance in the global arena vis-a-vis Iran?" said it was good (41 percent) or very good (17 percent), according to the poll published in the Haaretz newspaper. The Israeli-Palestinian "Distraction" Fallacy Western countries primarily fund both the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA, the agency that deals with Palestinian refugees. Wealthy Arab donors haven't built state-of-the-art hospitals in Palestine like Hadassah or Laniado in Israel; Palestinians seeking top-notch medical care still go to Israel for it. They haven't founded schools like the ORT network or daycare centers like the WIZO network, which still serve thousands of Israelis today. And if Arabs haven't done this in 65 years, when so many other peoples have, there's no reason to think a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would suddenly make them start. This failure is entirely a product of their own culture. And therefore, change can only come from within. Study - Arab Towns Bad for Arabs The concentration of Israel's Arab population in Arab towns and cities is bad for Arabs, and creates mistrust and passivity, Maariv/nrg reports. The report was based on new research from Ariel University. Researcher Dr. Yael Brender-Ilan sought to resolve a dispute between two views on ethnically homogeneous towns. Germany urges settlement 'restraint,' pledges aid to PA Merkel also vowed to provide continued financial succor to the perennially cash-strapped Palestinian Authority. "We have always advocated a two-state solution. We have always advocated aiding and supporting the Palestinian territories, advancing the peace process, advancing economic development, and I am pretty sure we will conduct our foreign policy with this continuity," Merkel was quoted as saying. Euros Don't Care PA Steals Their Money The question is, why does a nation like Germany, that was rightly prepared to pull the plug on a debt-ridden fellow EU member state like Greece unless they got their fiscal house in order, not care that the Palestinians are stealing their money? Merkel, who in many ways functions as the financier of the continent, is not as hostile to Israel as many of her European colleagues. But like everyone else in the EU, she thinks nothing of pouring her people's money down the rat hole of the PA. The reasons for this are not hard to figure out. IDF Officer - Latest Terror Attacks 'Very Alarming' The officer said that the latest attacks are an alarming sequence of events which show that Palestinian Authority Arabs are very much motivated to carry out attacks. "We view the attempted attack tonight very seriously and are prepared for future similar incidents," said the official, referring to the tractor attack that was thwarted near Jerusalem on Thursday evening. Terrorist's Uncle - He Didn't Mean to Attack "He got lost, the soldiers did not wait, they should not have shot him right away," the uncle of Younes al-Ubeidi was quoted by Channel 2 News as having said. The uncle added that despite the death of his older brother Marai, the terrorist who tried to carry out a similar attack in Jerusalem in 2009, "Younes had nothing against Jews." Haniyeh calls for 'popular uprising,' praises recent terror attacks Urging a renewal of intifada "resistance," Haniyeh praised the "heroic martyrs" responsible for a series of recent terrorist attacks in the West Bank, in which two soldiers were killed, a retired army colonel was bludgeoned to death, and a nine-year-old girl was shot and lightly injured. In the latest suspected terrorist attack, on Thursday, a Palestinian man rammed a tractor through the gate of an army base north of Jerusalem and was shot dead by IDF forces. Speaking at celebrations marking the second anniversary of the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, Haniyeh said the deal was a "historic achievement" for the Palestinian people but charged that more needed to be done to free "all the prisoners." Top 10 Non-Jews Positively Influencing the Jewish Future 2013 Since publishing my first annual list of non-Jews who have wielded significant positive influence over the Jewish future, it seems that the popularity of the practice of list-making has ballooned. It is my sincere hope, however, that this list merits special attention, both in the Jewish world and beyond, as the individuals who are featured herein are truly worthy of recognition. Israel Daily Picture: The Walls & Gates of Jerusalem -- More Pictures from the Emory University Collection, Part 3 In this feature we present the pictures of Jerusalem's walls and gates. By comparing the photos to the photo essays presented here over the last two years we are able to date the pictures. Damascus Gate 1: The shops on the right of the square belonged to a Jewish banker name Chaim Aharon Valero (circa 1905). The domes of the Hurva and Tiferet Yisrael synagogues are on the horizon on the left of the picture. Both were destroyed by the Jordanian Legion in 1948. World's Oldest Holocaust Survivor Finally Gets Her Close-Up At 109 years old, Alice Herz-Sommer can make multiple claims: she is the world's oldest pianist, as well as its oldest Holocaust survivor. Now she's also a leading lady, the centerpiece of a film charting her remarkable life, "The Lady in Number 6."

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