Hummus a long time favorite in the Middle East
(JNS.org) The Middle East has gone through monumental changes over thousands of years, but one thing has never changed: an affinity for hummus.
This conclusion was reached after fava seeds were discovered during an excavation by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) in the Galilee, showing that prehistoric man living in the southern Near East some 10,000 years ago preferred a diet consisting of legumes. The joint IAA-Weizmann Institute research project, which examined fava seeds unearthed in recent years at archaeological sites from the Neolithic period in the Galilee, sheds light on the eating habits of the prehistoric man living in the area.
According to archaeologists, advanced technological methods were used to determine the exact age of the fava beans, which led to the conclusion that they had found the world’s oldest domesticated fava seeds. The seeds, researchers say, teach us that the diet of the indigenous people at the time was comprised primarily of fava beans, chickpeas used to make hummus, lentils, and other types of peas.
According to the IAA, “The multitude of fava seeds found at the Neolithic sites excavated in the Galilee during the past few years indicates the preference placed on growing fava beans. The dating of the seeds, which was done at the Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science in the Weizmann Institute, indicated a range of dates between 9,890 and 10,160 YBP (years before present). These well-preserved seeds were found in excavations, inside storage pits [granaries] after they had been husked.”
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New England Patriots hold moment of silence for Ezra Schwartz
(JNS.org) The National Football League’s New England Patriots held a moment of silence before the start of their Monday Night Football game in honor of Ezra Schwartz, the Massachusetts teen who was killed in a Palestinian terrorist attack on Nov. 19 near Gush Etzion.
The decision to honor Sharon, Mass., native came in reaction to an email exchange between Patriot’s owner Robert Kraft, who is Jewish, and former Israeli Knesset member Dov Lipman.
“It would mean so much to the people of Israel, to supporters around the world, and to Ezra’s family and friends if the Patriots could do something in his memory,” Lipman wrote to Kraft, the Jerusalem Post reported.
According to Ezra Schwartz’s father, Ari, his son was a passionate fan of the New England Patriots and football helped the family stay close while Ezra was studying in Israel for his gap year between high school and college.
“Football kept us connected and we loved it together,” Ari Schwartz said at his son’s funeral on Sunday.
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Christian Zionist group to address EU parliament on labeling laws
(JNS.org) The head of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) will hold a symposium at the European Union Parliament in Brussels to address the recent European Union decision to label Israeli goods made in Judea and Samaria, the Golan Heights, and eastern Jerusalem.
The symposium will be held on Dec. 2 and will call on EU lawmakers to find an alternative approach in finding a solution between the two sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to foster economic cooperation, stability, and peace, ICEJ said.
“This labeling law will only divide Israelis and Palestinians further,” said ICEJ Executive Director Dr. Jürgen Bühler. “Co-existence is better achieved by establishing factories and business partnerships in areas where Palestinians and Israelis live side-by-side.”
Earlier this month, the EU introduced guidelines requiring member states to stop carrying the “Made in Israel” label for products made in Jewish communities situated beyond the 1967 lines. Bühler said he believes the recent EU decision is a “double standard” and that the EU does not make similar labeling requirements for goods from other disputed territories such as northern Cyprus or the Western Sahara.
“If the EU really wants to promote peace they should stop penalizing those Israelis and Palestinians who are working together to make a living. Instead, they should provide greater incentives for them to forge deeper bonds of co-operation, without using labeling laws which could further the anti-Israeli propaganda that is sweeping Europe,” he said.
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U.K.’s Labour Party approves boycott of firm with Israeli ties
(JNS.org) The United Kingdom’s Labour Party voted last week to boycott a multinational British company, G4S, reportedly over the company’s links with Israel.
G4S is a security firm employing more than 620,000 workers in over 120 countries, including 6,000 people in Israel. Activists accused the company of providing security to prisons in Israel and the West Bank as well as equipment and maintenance services to military checkpoints.
According to reports, Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) in a 12-4 vote approved a resolution boycotting G4S because it has ties to what the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign describes as “Israeli prisons which hold Palestinian political prisoners from occupied Palestinian territory inside Israel,” London’s Jewish Chronicle reported.
“The Labour Party has a longstanding policy of oppositions to boycotts which the NEC’s decision directly contravenes. I am writing to the party’s general secretary, Iain McNicol, today to express my deep concern at this development,” the Labour Friends of Israel parliamentary group’s chair, MP Joan Ryan, told the U.K.’s Jewish News.
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Israeli researchers create ‘self-healing’ material
(JNS.org) Israeli researchers at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa have created a new, flexible material that is sensitive to touch and can heal itself automatically if there is damage within 10-30 minutes, according to research published in the Advanced Materials journal.
The material is described as electronic skin with sensors that can simulate human skin in its ability to respond to pressure and heat, even monitoring a person’s health while attached to them.
“The self-repair function can occur in any part of the material, so anywhere that the platform is ‘injured,’ it can renew itself. This way full repair can take place while it continues to function under varying temperatures, pressure and while exposed to volatile particles,” Prof. Hossam Haick, head of one of the labs at Technion, said.
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Palestinian workers barred from Gush Etzion over security fears
(JNS.org) Israeli soldiers barred Palestinian workers from entering the Gush Etzion area on Monday following recent terror attacks in the region, a Gush Etzion Regional Council spokesman said.
According to Israel’s Channel 2, security forces are discussing steps to separate Israelis and Palestinians in the area in order to prevent more attacks.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel will revoke work permits belonging to families of terrorists.
Netanyahu said that the families “know that it has in its midst someone who is extreme or someone liable to attack, and a family like that does not have the right to work in Israel.”
Other security measures will be implemented, including checks on Palestinian cars driving on main roads and increased security forces in the Gush Etzion region.
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Israeli soldier killed in terror attack north of Jerusalem
(JNS.org) Eighteen-year-old Israel Defense Forces soldier Ziv Mizrahi was stabbed and killed at a gas station on Route 443 north of Jerusalem on Monday. Mizrahi is the 21st Jew to be murdered in the current wave of Palestinian terror.
According to reports, Mizrahi and a woman arrived at the gas station when a Palestinian terrorist tackled then stabbed and eventually killed Mizrahi. A police officer then shot and killed the terrorist.
Two other Israelis were lightly wounded in the attack, including the woman with Mizrahi and another woman hurt by gunfire from security forces.
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Israeli-made airplane protection system passes NATO test
(JNS.org) A new civilian aircraft system that protects against shoulder-launched missiles—created by the Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems—successfully passed a demonstration in Germany for NATO last month, according to a company report issued Monday.
A NATO team conducted the test of the Directed Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) systems, which is integrated with the advanced Passive Airborne Warning System (PAWS) IR based missile warning system, and the results proved its “capability to detect, acquire, track and jam the trial test equipment on the ground, under extreme conditions,” the report said.
The DIRCM system can jam man-portable air defense systems or infra-red, ground to air heat-seeking man-portable missiles that would potentially be used to shoot down jets. The test was demonstrated on an Airbus C295 aircraft.
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Avis apologizes for refusing to rent car over businessman’s Israeli identity
(JNS.org) The Avis car rental agency apologized for refusing to provide an Israeli businessman with a rental vehicle because of his Israeli identity, following a report on the incident by the New York Observer on Sunday.
Dov Bergwerk, a senior executive at Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva, said that on Friday he and his wife arrived at the Avis branch on West 76th Street and Broadway in New York City and were planning to join friends for dinner in Westchester.
Bergwerk told the Observer he has rented from Avis dozens of times before—but when he handed the agent his driver’s license, reservation number, and Wizard loyalty card, the unforeseen trouble started.
According to the Observer, a reservation agent named Angelline said it was company policy not to recognize Israeli documents. The branch manager, named Shamoura, sided with her reservation agent and refused to honor the reservation or recognize Bergwerk’s documents.
Avis said Tuesday on Facebook, “We have investigated the denial of a rental that recently occurred in Manhattan. We have found that we have been inconsistent in applying our policies with respect to documentation requirements with this customer, who has rented from us in the past without providing a second form of identification. We are committed to providing an outstanding car rental experience to our customers and believe that we should have done better here. We have spoken with the customer and apologized for the misunderstanding that occurred as a result of this inconsistency in applying our documentation policy, and the customer has accepted our apology.”
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