יום שבת, 2 בנובמבר 2013

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

11/01 Links Pt2: A pro-Palestinian 'activist' shills for Assad, Praising the EU Definition of Antisemitism

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 02:00 PM PDT

From Ian:
Sarah Honig: They just don't get it
And as they seek to twist Netanyahu's arms to create another artificial Arab state for the Ramallah figurehead, it would serve us well to envision what things would be like had such a state already existed. Islamist fanatics from the world over would be streaming southward from Syria to the new Palestine, all armed to the teeth, and hell-bent on "liberating" the lands still left under the jurisdiction of hair-raisingly slender, vulnerable and enfeebled little Israel.
This is the security Kerry guarantees us. He could learn to live with the unprecedentedly escalated dangers to our continued self-preservation. We probably wouldn't live for long.
Odds are that Kerry isn't intentionally inimical. He just doesn't get it. So – before he sets out imperiously to help Obama dominate the world – perhaps the Secretary of State just ought to busy himself with securing his own house first and leave our security to us.
JPost Editorial: Settlements aren't the problem
The idea that Jewish settlements are "an obstacle to peace" is based on the morally repugnant premise – supported by the international community – that the very presence of Jews in these territories is an affront to the Palestinians, while Palestinians expect Israel to absorb not just the 1.6 million Arabs with Israeli citizenship but also an unknown number of Palestinian "refugees."
'Palestinian State' Would Leave Israel 'Indefensible'
One prominent Israel advocate who has taken it upon himself to clearly illustrate the case is New York based attorney Mark Langfan. On Tuesday Langfan appeared on the CBN News show "The Watchman with Erick Stakelbeck," and, with the aid of three topographical maps set out to prove why in his view a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria would create an indefensible security situation for Israel.
The show starts with a regional map showing how Israel provides "the first and last line of defense" between Islamic terror and NATO nations, first among them Greece.
What is a pro-Palestine activist doing promoting an Assadist nun?
Not that any of this stopped Agnes from being invited last week on a coast-to-coast speaking tour of the United States by, of all people, a pro-Palestine activist. Paul Larudee is a founder of the Free Gaza Movement, whose aid boats famously challenged Israel's naval blockade of the Strip's waters, and is also involved with the International Solidarity Movement, which carries out non-violent activism in the West Bank. One might have thought a man with such a background would take a dim view of a regime that now air-strikes Palestinian refugee camps. But Larudee has found a new calling, and recently started a nonprofit called the Syria Solidarity Movement (which, like the "Hands Off Syria" slogans, would be more accurately worded if 'Syria' were replaced with 'Assad'), whose website appears to double as a clearinghouse for the latest Press TV and Russia Today reports. It is this organization that brought Agnes, whom Larudee describes as "charismatic," to America's shores on Thursday.
Survey: Most Israelis Feel 'Very Secure'
Fifty-eight percent said they feel a high sense of personal security in their hometown, and 56% said they feel very safe at enclosed shopping and entertainment centers with security.
Forty-one percent said they feel very safe at unsecured stores and entertainment centers as well, and 38% said they feel very safe on public transportation. Forty-four percent said they feel their children are very safe in school or daycare.
Groundbreaking Law to Facilitate Jewish Prayer on Temple Mount
Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) has advanced new laws this morning (Friday) that would enact the establishment of regular prayer hours for Jews visiting the Temple Mount, Yediot Ahronot reports.
Arab Family Fails in Campaign to Build Over Ancient Village
An attempt by far-left Israeli groups to win approval for Arabs to build at the site of an ancient Jewish village has been rejected.
The groups had sought construction approvals for land in Susiya, in the Hevron region, immediately adjacent to the modern-day Jewish community of Susiya.
The Independent or Richard Silverstein? An internet rumor of rabbis, soy and sex
Yair Rosenberg writes the following in an Oct. 30 story for Tablet:
Visit the web site of the national British daily newspaper, the Independent, and you'll find an article titled, "Rabbi bans students from eating soy in case it leads to gay sex."
Actually you won't find it anymore, because, after Rosenberg's superb fisking of the story – which demonstrated that the Hebrew source for the claim said the exact opposite - the Independent completely removed the article from their website.
In praise of the EUMC Working Definition of Antisemitism
In 2005, following several years which saw a disturbing rise in antisemitic violence across Europe, the European Union Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) reached a Working Definition of Antisemitism.
Later in the year, the Working Definition of Antisemitism was prominently referenced at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Cordoba Conference. And, since then, many other bodies have advocated its usage. The one-page Working Definition of Antisemitism (below) evolved as a result of the efforts of a large number of European institutions and human rights experts.
Poll shows anti-Semitism in US down 3% in 2 years
Twenty-six percent said they believe "Jews were responsible for the death of Christ," down from 31 percent in 2011. Nearly a fourth said they agreed that "Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust."
Higher-than-average levels of anti-Semitism were measured within the African-American and foreign-born Hispanic communities, though in both cases levels had dropped significantly since 2011.
Extremist Islamic Web site founder admits to postings supporting terrorist attacks
A New Jersey man who prosecutors say used his Islamic Web site to advocate violence against those whose ideals he found offensive to his religion pleaded guilty Wednesday to using the Internet to put another in fear of death or injury, admitting that he posted material supportive of various terrorist attacks and hinted that his followers should target a Jewish organization in Brooklyn.
Yousef Mohamid al-Khattab, 45, an American-born man with dual citizenship in Israel, told a federal judge in Virginia that he wrote the posts "out of my stupidity." Yet he vigorously disagreed with prosecutors' assertion that he intended to incite violence.
New book examines Poles who killed Jews during WWII
He has suffered death threats, is boycotted in the Canadian Polish community where he lives today, and is not always welcome even in his homeland, but eminent Polish historian Jan Grabowski will not give up his struggle to expose the truth.
The son of a Holocaust survivor, Grabowski, 50, is a graduate of Warsaw University and is currently a history professor at University of Ottawa. For the past several years he has published a number of books with a common theme — Polish participation in the killings of their Jewish neighbors.
The film Poles don't want you to watch debuts in the US
The Times of Israel speaks with the director of controversial movie, 'Aftermath,' based on the true story of Polish massacres of their Jewish neighbors during WWII
Gestapo Chief Reportedly Buried in Jewish Cemetery
As head of the feared Gestapo secret police, Heinrich Müller perpetrated some of the worst crimes of the Nazi regime. His fate was unconfirmed -- but now a newspaper claims he was buried in a Berlin Jewish cemetery in 1945.
Kristallnacht 75th Anniversary: Berlin Shops to be 'Shattered'
Storefronts in the German capital will next month once again be marred by the jagged pattern of broken glass to mark the 75th anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom.
Adhesive film will be used to cover shop windows to create the illusion of large holes and hairline fractures to commemorate the violence unleashed during the infamous event.
Thirty two Jewish graves desecrated in South Africa
Ryan Machet, a local resident who has been leading fund-raising efforts to build a wall around the graveyard – which is over a century old – told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that unknown vandals broke the headstones by pushing them over causing them to shatter.
"We reported it to the Jewish board and they are coming out in the next day or two" to inspect the damage, Machet said, referring to the Board of Deputies, the representative body of South African Jewry.
New hope in untangling Alzheimer's Disease
The researchers also found several important microRNAs at low levels starting in the brains of young mice. If the same can be found in humans, these microRNAs could be used as biomarker to detect Alzheimer's disease at a much earlier age than is now possible — at 30 years of age, for example, instead of 60.
"Our biggest hope is to be able to one day use microRNAs to detect Alzheimer's disease in people at a young age and begin a tailor-made treatment based on our findings, right away," says Dr. Barak.
RackSpace buys out Israeli cloud tech start-up
Add the Texas-based RackSpace to the long list of international tech companies opening research and development facilities in Israel. Last week, the company acquired Israeli start-up ZeroVM, which has developed a virtual server system, called a hypervisor, specifically for cloud use. With the acquisition, ZeroVM's Tel Aviv office will be turned into RacksSpace's Israeli R&D center. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Paula Abdul continues tour of Israel with visit to Western Wall in Jerusalem
After meeting President Shimon Peres earlier this week, Paula Abdul visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Thursday evening.
Abdul, who was born to Jewish parents was in Israel as part of a 10-day tour in Israel where it was reported she would visit locations in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the Galilee.
StandWithUs UK

Toldot d'var Torah and a blog milestone

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 12:30 PM PDT


Seven years ago, I posted an original d'var Torah on this week's Torah portion. Here it is, slightly updated:
One major question that I never thought had an adequate answer is - why did Yitzchak (Isaac) favor Eisav (Esau)?  From the text is seems clear that Eisav was not a very good person, and this was very obvious to Rivka  (Rebecca) as well. How could Yitzchak have had such a blind spot?

Even though Yitzchak is spoken about the least of all the forefathers, we do know enough about him to glean parts of his personality.

Clearly the defining event of his life was the Akeidah, a profoundly spiritual experience. We also know that he spent time meditating outdoors, as when he first saw Rivka he was praying outside. He also was a very accomplished farmer, with G-d granting him unimaginable yields on his crops. Similarly, the other major episodes mentioned in the Torah about him was how he dug wells - both re-opening those of his father and his digging new ones.

Looking at these examples, it appears that Yitzchak associated spirituality with the outdoors. Specifically, Yitzchak spent his most spiritual moments in the fields.

A Sadeh is the specific word that described Yitzchak's place of prayer, as well as the place that his father went to considerable trouble to purchase a burial ground for Sarah (the "s'dei Ephron." )

Now, look at the initial description of Eisav - Eisav is described as being "a man of the fields," an Ish Sadeh.

In other words, when given a choice of a son who spends his time outdoors and one who is seemingly a "bookworm" staying in tents, Yitzchak would tend to assume that the "man of the field" is a more likely spiritual heir than Yaakov -especially since Eisav is the first born.

In other words, Yitzchak could not even imagine a person who could spend time outside and not be a spiritual person. To him, the field was where G-d primarily manifested Himself and it was obvious that anyone who spent time with nature would see things the same way!

When Yitzchak asks Eisav to get food for him so he could bless him, he specifically asks him to go into the field. Far more striking, however, is when Yitzchak is speaking to Yaakov (Jacob) who is pretending to be Eisav:

וַיֹּאמֶר, רְאֵה רֵיחַ בְּנִי, כְּרֵיחַ שָׂדֶה, אֲשֶׁר בֵּרְכוֹ השם
"See, the smell of my son is like the smell of the field that G-d has blessed."

To Yitzchak, the concept of "field" and "G-d" were intertwined. And to a man like this, a man who spent his life outdoors and who associated the field with spirituality, it seemed clear that Eisav, the man of the field, was the chosen heir.

Perhaps only when he was faced with the juxtaposition of experiencing Yaakov speaking of G-d while smelling of the fields, immediately followed by Eisav's entrance without the reference to G-d, did he realize that his assumption that men of the field had to be spiritual was incorrect. Spirituality can be found everywhere. With this realization he reiterated the blessing for Yaakov, later on to add to Yaakov another blessing of "bechira", of being the chosen son to carry on in the ways of Avraham.

Now for the milestone:

This week, EoZ posted its 18,000th post. A thousand times "chai!"

Shabbat shalom!

The PLO says "jump," South Africa asks "how high?"

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 10:30 AM PDT

South Africa doesn't even pretend to be even-handed:
South African ministers do not visit Israel, International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said.

"Our Palestinian friends have never asked us to disengage with Israel [through cutting diplomatic relations]. They had asked us in formal meetings to not engage with the regime," she said at a Congress of SA Trade Unions international relations committee meeting.

"Ministers of South Africa do not visit Israel currently. Even the Jewish Board of Deputies that we engage with here, they know why our ministers are not going to Israel."

She said South Africa had not been asked to "close down" its diplomatic relations with Israel.

"We have agreed to slow down and curtail senior leadership contact with that regime until things begin to look better," Nkoana-Mashabane said.

"The struggle of the people of Palestine is our struggle."

She said South Africa had a Palestinian embassy, which was supported "100 percent".

Nkoana-Mashabane said the South African struggle was not just about itself, but also international solidarity.

"The last time I saw a map of Palestine, I couldn't go to sleep," she said.

"It is just dots, smaller than those of the homelands, and that broke my heart."

The meeting was also addressed by a group campaigning for the release of all Palestinian political prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti, who had become a symbol of the Palestinian struggle.
From her very words, it appears that the PLO is directing South African policy in the Middle East. Can anyone imagine a US leader saying that their policy is dictated by what their "Israeli friends" demand?

The version of this article in the Mail & Guardian was headlined "Nkoana-Mashabane: SA ministers do not visit Palestine."

This same minister issued a completely one-sided condemnation of Israel in 2009. She mentions Hamas rockets but only condemns Israel's response.

(h/t @jethrosteve)

11/01 Links Pt1: The beautification of Bashar, the veneration of Rouhani, Erekat fake resigns again

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 09:00 AM PDT

From Ian:
Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians: The War between Mahmoud and Mohamed
The failure of the mediation efforts prompted Dahlan last week to launch a scathing attack on Abbas and his close aides in Ramallah, reigniting the war between the two men.
Dahlan was quoted as saying that Abbas and his team were not negotiating with Israel about the restoration of Palestinian rights, but in order to win American and Israeli backing. "The leadership of the Palestinian Authority is so weak that it can't turn down any Israeli request," Dahlan was quoted as saying.
Dahlan was also quoted as accusing unnamed Palestinian Authority officials of providing logistical aid to construction work in Jewish settlements.
The beautification of Bashar, the veneration of Rouhani
When he took power 13 years ago, Bashar Assad was considered the great white hope of the West. Western analysts told us that Bashar ("Baby Assad") was going to modernize and moderate-tize Syria. He was going to bring Syria into the civilized world, and make peace with Israel.
Now the same "experts" are working overtime to lionize and sanitize the new Iranian poster boy, President Hassan Rouhani.
Kerry to arrive as Palestinians threaten to walk away from talks
According to the Palestinian Ma'an News Agency, Erekat sent PA President Mahmoud Abbas a letter in which he cited Israel's lack of commitment to the peace process and continued construction beyond the Green Line as the reasons for his resignation.
The report was published as the PLO's Executive Committee was convening in Ramallah for a session chaired by Abbas.
Top PLO official Wassel Abu Yousef, however, denied the reports of Erekat's quitting.
At the end of the meeting, he said the subject of Erekat's resigning was not even discussed during the committee's session.
The Guardian corrects false Palestinian "political prisoner" claim
Though this may seem like a narrow issue to some, it needs to be understood as part of the British media's increasing tendency to submit to the corruption and politicization of ordinary language by radical ideologies which attempt to turn truth, logic and moral common sense upside down.
It is quite urgent that we continue to resist efforts to mainstream such horribly misleading euphemisms, so please contact us if you see other examples of British media reports on the Palestinian prisoner release issue which employ such propagandistic terms.
IAF strikes in southern Gaza after 5 soldiers injured by Hamas bomb
One soldier was seriously wounded and another was in moderate condition Friday after an IDF operation Thursday night to destroy part of a tunnel, east of Khan Younis inside the Gaza Strip, was targeted by Hamas. A total of five soldiers were injured when an explosive device planted by Hamas detonated, the IDF said in a statement Friday.
Four members of Hamas's armed wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, were killed in the clash, including three of the Islamist group's tunnel and rocket experts, an Israeli military source said.
IDF sources deny Palestinian killed by army fire
Ahmed Tazata, 20, a Palestinian who was reportedly shot and killed by IDF soldiers during a Thursday morning clash near Jenin in the West Bank, was actually injured in an "internal conflict" among Palestinian factions, according to a report Thursday afternoon.
Tazata had been injured and was already hospitalized at the time of the confrontation between Israeli troops and a group of Palestinian stone-throwers, during which he was reported by Palestinian media to have been killed, according to Israel Radio, which cited anonymous IDF sources.
Accuracy and impartiality failures in BBC report on incident in Kabatiya
The report – which is based entirely on claims made by Palestinian sources – leaves readers with the definite impression that Ahmed Tazaza was killed by Israeli forces during an operation in the town of Kabatiya (also Qabatiya), south of Jenin.
'Israel loaned Soviet jets to US for testing in 1968'
The US "secretly acquired" a Soviet MiG-21 aircraft from Israel in 1968 and tested the fighter jet at the legendary Area 51, a US government facility in the Nevada desert, The Guardian reported this week.
The US government – which released the relevant documents on Tuesday – declassified them after George Washington University's National Security Archive requested them through the Freedom of Information Act.
US fast-tracking six Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft to Israel
Israel will be the first U.S. ally to get the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, a star of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday night.
Hagel said in an address to the Anti-Defamation League in New York that delivery would be "expedited," meaning "Israel will get six V-22s out of the next order to go on the assembly line, and they will be compatible with other [Israeli defense] capabilities."
Israeli Security Official: Assad Still Transferring Advanced Weaponry to Hezbollah
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has not given up on his effort to move advanced weapons to Lebanon's Hezbollah, behavior Israel considers to be crossing a red line, an Israeli security official told Israel's Walla News website Thursday.
'Turkey behind strike on Latakia airbase in Syria'
A report by Lebanon's MTV Thursday cited Turkey as being behind the Wednesday attack in Latakia, Syria, which targeted "missiles and related equipment" meant for Lebanese terror group Hezbollah. The Lebanese report cited Israeli officials who allegedly claimed the attack came in response to the June 2012 interception of a Turkish jet, which Syrian forces shot down. The pilots were subsequently killed. The report could not be independently confirmed.
Syrian refugees face hardships in Jordan's cities
Most can't legally work, aid officials say. Some scrounge for off-the-books jobs in construction or on farms. Refugees say they earn less than Jordanians and live in fear of getting caught by police. All are eligible for UN food vouchers, but fewer than half qualify for cash aid.
Psychological burdens compound the struggle. The refugees often feel isolated or say they are resented by their Jordanian neighbors, whose own rents have risen and wages fallen in areas with large numbers of Syrians.
The vast majority of refugees have settled in cities: Of the 550,000 in the country, about 423,000 are in urban areas rather than in camps.
Largest camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan becoming a city
The manager of the region's largest camp for Syrian refugees arranges toy figures, trucks and houses on a map in his office trailer to illustrate his ambitious vision. In a year, he wants to turn the chaotic shantytown of 100,000 into a city with local councils, paved streets, parks, an electricity grid and sewage pipes.
Zaatari, a desert camp near Jordan's border with Syria, is far from that ideal. Life is tough here. The strong often take from the weak, women fear going to communal bathrooms after dark, sewage runs between pre-fab trailers and boys hustle for pennies carting goods in wheelbarrows instead of going to school.
Elkin briefs Israeli ambassadors in countries near Iran
According to a report in Walla News Friday, the meeting was held in Tbilisi, Georgia, and was aimed at discussing efforts to strengthen ties with these countries. The Israeli ambassadors to Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan — three countries that share a direct border with the Islamic Republic — as well as those from Kazakhstan and Georgia, were reportedly in attendance.
Iran Enrichment Commitment Repeats Increasingly Familiar Pattern of Rumored Concessions, Explicit Walkbac
The dynamic – in which optimistic coverage produced in Western outlets was quickly followed by an explicit Iranian walkback – repeats a pattern that has become almost routine since the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Analysis: As Iran closes in on nuclear capability, regional states pursue their own programs
For example, in 2011, Saudi Arabia's Prince Turki al-Faisal said his country might produce nuclear weapons if Iran got them. The Guardian reported in 2010 that Western intelligence officials believe Pakistan promised to provide Saudi Arabia with nuclear weapons in a crisis.
And in a TV interview on Egypt's Channel 1 this month, Egyptian Prof. Muhammad al-Naschie said that nuclear energy was needed for energy, desalination and military defense, according to a transcript provided by MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute).
This Turkey is cold
We have not yet reached the point of seeing the end of Turkey, according to the Americans, but this could certainly be the direction things are headed. Washington is not alone in asking itself, unhappily, if under the stewardship of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey has distanced itself from its traditional ties to the West to the point that its 61-year membership in NATO is becoming increasingly meaningless.
Turkey Government Conducts "Purge" Against Economic Technocrats for Supporting Protesters
Now Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) is moving against the country's cadre of economic technocrats in general, and especially those who were linked to this summer's anti-government protests. Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News described the moves under the headline "The Great Purge in Turkish economic policymaking":
Turkish military 'trying to provoke an incident' with Israelis in Mediterranean
The sources said Ankara has been dismayed by Israel's growing military cooperation with Greece. They said the Israeli cooperation, which included
military exercises, training and arms projects, replaced Turkey with Greece as a leading defense partner of the Jewish state. In November, Israel plans to host three NATO members in the largest international exercise in the country.
"Erdogan thought that Turkey could isolate Israel militarily, particularly in NATO, when the opposite has taken place," another source said. "Israel has more military exchanges than ever with individual NATO members while Ankara has been marginalized."
Shrugging Off Turkey Isolation Efforts, Israeli Air Force Preps Trilateral Air Exercises
Last August the Israeli Defense Forces and U.S. European Command ran two weeks of bilateral naval and air exercises military exercises.
Now the Israeli Air Force is prepping for wider, trilateral exercises. Next month Israel will assemble nearly 1,000 personnel from three nations for two weeks of air-to-air and air-to-ground exercises modeled on the U.S. Air Force's annual Red Flag military training exercise. Dubbed Blue Flag, the drill will take place at the Ovda training range in the Jewish state's south.

Video of Bedouin who supports Israel's Prawer plan

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 07:00 AM PDT

This video is from Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs, so the people who hate Israel anyway won't believe a word of it, but what he is saying is exactly in line with what I saw when I last visited the Negev.



It should be required viewing for those who are only hearing the lies that "Israel is stealing Bedouin land".

China says attack in Tiananmen Square was from Islamic terrorists

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 05:06 AM PDT

From AFP:
China's top security official has named an Islamic movement as "behind-the-scenes supporters" of this week's fatal attack in Tiananmen Square, in Beijing's first claim of an organised link to the incident.

"Its behind-the-scenes supporters were the terrorist group the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) based in Central and West Asia," Meng Jianzhu said when asked about the Tiananmen incident on a visit to Tashkent in Uzbekistan, video posted online Thursday showed.

A high-profile car crash on Monday killed two tourists and injured dozens at the popular site and symbolic heart of the Chinese state. The three people in the car -- a man, his wife and his mother -- all died in the crash, police say.

They said the vehicle had a licence plate from Xinjiang, the far western region where China's mostly Muslim Uighur minority is concentrated, while the names released of the three people inside and five other detained suspects sounded Uighur.

ETIM is known as a militant Islamic separatist group that seeks an independent state in Xinjiang.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Friday called the group "the most immediate and realistic security threat in China".
Come on, China. If Muslims demand a state, and threaten terrorism when you don't give it to them, the rule is - give it to them! It might take a couple of decades for them to convince the world that they are the victims, but there are enough idiots in the West who will take their side. Might as well give it to them now. I mean, you know they won't demand more after they get their state, right? They are honorable terrorists and they would never lie.

And that goes for you, too, Philippines.

Gaza to run out of fuel this morning because it isn't paying its bills

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 02:46 AM PDT

Get ready for more heartbreaking photos of Gaza children using candlelight and riding donkeys and blaming Israel for the "siege".

The truth is, Israel has been providing all the fuel needed both for petroleum and for the Gaza power plant - but Gazans haven't been paying for it.

Palestine Press Agency reports that the head of the gas station consortium in Gaza says that stations will run dry today because the debt owed to Israeli fuel companies has exceeded NIS 600 million (about $170 million.) Existing agreements between the PA and Israel agree that Israel will not provide fuel when the debt exceeds that value.

Palestine Today says that the Gaza power plant will cease operations today as well, but they blame the PA for imposing taxes on the fuel. Chief of the Energy Authority in Gaza, Fathi al-Sheikh Khalil said "All attempts to provide diesel fuel needed to operate the plant at the right price failed."

He said that the stockpiles of fuel for the power plant have been going down all week and will run out this morning.

Khalil said "the only solution" is for the PA to stop taxing diesel.

This means that the Gaza energy chief could have paid the higher price to at least the plant going for several hours a day, but instead decided to turn the plant completely off rather than pay for more expensive fuel.

Either way, you know that when Reuters publishes photos of dark streets in Gaza City, it will blame the "Israeli siege."

Why are there so many Jewish Nobel laureates? (Zvi)

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 12:00 AM PDT

From Zvi:
Why so many Jewish Nobel Laureates?

The medicine, physics, and other such Nobel Prizes are typically awarded for major game-changing contributions in their fields.

A Nobel laureate in physics, chemistry or medicine is an expert in his/her field. But rather than becoming dogmatic, s/he remained open-minded, keeping eyes open and searching intensively for the truth rather than in following the intellectual fashion of the day (I am thinking, for example, of the discovery of quasi-crystals).

As a result, the Nobel laureate saw something that nobody else saw. Given the same data that others had in their possession, s/he had game-changing insights. And s/he pursued these insights instead of following the crowd, and ultimately persevered.

Why are there so many Jewish Nobel laureates in these particular fields?

Jewish culture values discussion, not suppression. And this tendency is thousands of years old, part of our cultural and religious DNA. There is no pope in Judaism, and a page of the Talmud is a discussion, not a dictate. Jewish scholars have been debating and discussing and publishing their ideas for millennia. Ask two Jews for an opinion, and you famously get three opinions. And we're not shy about sharing those opinions with you. Look at Israel's political culture. This is a country of only 8 million people, and yet the diversity and fluidity of political opinion is incredible.

Jewish culture values truth, not convenient falsehood. Consider, for example, how readily Israel's enemies resort to the simple Big Lie ("Israel is Apartheid", for example), while Jewish advocates for Israel struggle to communicate the truth to the world. NGOs and media publish utter nonsense moments after something happens; the IDF refuses to comment until it has actually investigated and knows what happened.

Jewish culture values knowledge, not blind obedience. While Jews are as likely as the next person to cheer a prince or a sports hero, not all cultures have historically treated scholars and philosophers like "rock stars," as Jews have historically done. Also, with Jewish history littered with expulsions, pogroms, laws designed to prevent us from owning land, and attempts to destroy our people, prestige and measures of success among Jews tended to be based on something portable: knowledge, education, skills, ability.

"Modern" Jewish culture is relatively merit-driven, rather than worshipping authority or staying in hereditary boxes. Sure, leadership has been hereditary in a few cases, and sure, there are Levites and Cohanim. But Jewish communities throughout history have been repeatedly uprooted, expelled or smashed. The relatively well-off family of one generation might be driven out by antisemitic forces and forced to start over in the next generation. In the succeeding generations, talent and abilities allowed Jews to make a new start.

Jewish culture values entrepreneurship, and also values improving the world. This has been true for millennia, too. There has always been a willingness to start from scratch and build a new life, rather than simply crying in our wine. Memory impels us rather than debilitating us. And there have always been people - our prophets, our entrepreneurs and merchants, our pioneering doctors, the ingathered exiles who rebuilt Israel. Faced with an empty desert, these people see its potential to bloom. Even the crazy Jewish leftists are responding, at some level, to Jewish instincts (sadly, their minds have been trapped in the mirror-world of socialist nonsense, and they have closed their eyes and their minds to what is real). And there have been people who, faced with a scienti fic theory or approach that sort of works but isn't quite good enough, are willing to strike out on their own and find one that works better.

Jewish culture values perseverance. Of course it does. We would not be here otherwise.

So is it any wonder that Jews win a lot of Nobel Prizes in the sciences and medicine, despite the ridiculously small number of Jews in the world?

Peace and Literature

What about the Peace and Literature Prizes? Jews have indeed won a number of these prizes. However, the number here is drastically smaller than in the sciences and economics. Jews tend to win in the sciences and also in economics (often in areas related to psychology or modeling) because in these areas, the impacts of discoveries are more readily measurable. The personal, political, antisemitic or in some cases severe anti-American biases of Nobel committee members are less able to decide the matter.

Literature is interesting. Only 8 Literature prizes have been awarded to the United States since 1945, reflecting a near-permanent anti-American / pro-European bias on the part of the Nobel committee. Israel, the US, and a handful of other countries host the vast majority of Jews. Of the 8 US prizes, 3 were awarded to American Jews (Isaac Bashevis Singer, Saul Bellow and Joseph Brodsky). If the US were not virtually blacklisted by the Nobel Literature committee, it is likely that there would be many more Jews on the list (Philip Roth, for one).

In any event, forget about the Nobel literature committee. The real test of quality literature is time. Some of the most important Jewish books have lasted for thousands of years, and yet remain extremely relevant; they have been translated into virtually every human language, and are consulted daily by hundreds of millions of people. Now that's great literature. And with a literary tradition like that in our family, how could we help but strive for excellence in writing?
פורסם על ידי zoom ב- 0:04

אין תגובות:

הוסף רשומת תגובה

הירשם ל- תגובות לפרסום (Atom)