Israeli man stabbed in suspected terror attack
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A 19-year-old Israeli man was stabbed in Maaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, on Sunday. He sustained moderate wounds and was rushed to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. Security forces, assisted by police helicopters, began searching the area for the assailant, who according to the victim was Palestinian.
The victim was reportedly waiting for a bus at the Mishor Adumim industrial park when he was attacked by a Palestinian man, who stabbed him and fled. The victim sustained wounds to the chest and shoulder, but was able to get to the nearby al-Zaim checkpoint, where border police called Magen David Adom paramedics to treat him. Once stabilized at the scene, the victim was taken to the hospital.
Quoting a Judea and Samaria Police official, Israel’s Channel 2 said the incident was being investigated as a terrorist attack. According to the report, eyewitness accounts suggested the attacker ran to the people waiting at the bus stop, stabbed one of them at random, and fled towards the nearby Palestinian city of Jericho.
*
Israel’s Rivlin visits Germany to mark 50 years of diplomatic ties
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli President Reuven Rivlin flew to Berlin on Sunday for a three-day official visit to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Israel and Germany.
German President Joachim Gauck invited Rivlin to make the trip.
“My visit to Germany is, for me, both emotional and deeply significant,” Rivlin said. “Together with the people of Germany, we will mark a long journey, a journey that has brought us from the unforgettable horrors of the past to the shared values of the present and, with cooperation and friendship, will lead us to a promising future.”
“It is important to remember that our friendship is in no way compensation for the Holocaust, it is built on a basis of shared values after Germany accepted upon itself responsibility for that dark period,” he added.
In the five decades since their establishment of diplomatic relations, Israel and Germany have forged close diplomatic, military, economic, and cultural ties.
*
Israeli invention fights stunted growth in children
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A new dietary supplement developed at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Israel has successfully helped children in the bottom 10th percentile for height and weight grow taller and gain weight. The supplement, named Up-Pro, will be available in stores in the near future.
Studies show that children who took the supplement grew 1-2 centimeters (0.4-0.8 inches) taller than the control group, who were given placebos. The children’s height-to-weight ratio was not affected, and the additive did not cause anyone to become overweight.
“Until now we did not have a solution for these kids,” the head of the hospital’s Endocrinology and Diabetes Institute, Professor Moshe Phillips, said.
“We created the supplement after years of research, and it contains ingredients that we are already familiar with, such as proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals,” he said.
Schneider Children’s Medical Center is currently studying the effects of the supplement on girls who begin taking it at age 10 and boys who begin at age 11. Each gender has its own version of the supplement.
*
Mubarak and sons likely to go free despite new three-year sentence
(JNS.org) An Egyptian court sentenced former President Hosni Mubarak and his sons Gamal and Alaa to three years in jail in a retrial of corruption charges, though they are not likely to actually remain in jail to serve the sentence.
“The ruling of the court is three years in prison without parole for Mohamed Hosni Mubarak and Gamal Mohamed Hosni Mubarak and Alaa Mohamed Hosni Mubarak,” Judge Hassan Hassanein said, Reuters reported.
The new ruling by the Cairo Court of Appeals on Saturday upheld a May 2014 ruling on charges against the three of using public funds to upgrade family properties. But those convictions were overturned, leading to Saturday’s retrial ruling.
However since Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for three decades prior to his ousting in 2011, and his sons have already been imprisoned for more than three years each on other charges, their newly added jail sentence will be considered already served, according to the court. This means Mubarak and his sons will likely soon be freed.
*
Austrian Catholic and Protestant churches apologize for anti-Semitism
(JNS.org) The Catholic and Protestant churches in Austria have apologized for their anti-Semitism during and prior to the Holocaust.
The two churches issued two separate apologies on Friday, the day Austria commemorated the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
During that war, many Austrians had supported their nation’s annexation to Nazi Germany in 1938, and the country had a greater number of Nazi Party members per capita than in Germany.
The Catholic Church “must acknowledge its share of responsibility for the creation of a climate of disdain and hatred” for Jews before the Nazi period and the lack of “pity and solidarity with our Jewish fellow citizens” during the Holocaust, said Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, the Associated Press reported.
The Austrian Protestant Council of Churches also expressed “particular shame” for “complicity against Jews and other groups… that were considered ‘unfit to live.’”
*
Survey: nearly 80% of secular Israeli Jews want civil marriage
(JNS.org) A new survey reveals that 80 percent of secular Jews in Israel do not want to marry through the Rabbinate, with most of those preferring a civil marriage.
The survey, conducted by the Smith Institute for Hiddush – For Religious Freedom and Equality, questioned 500 adult Jews living in Israel who had to choose between four marriage options.
Fifty-one percent said they prefer an Orthodox wedding, though this is a 17 percent drop from the most recent prior measurement by the association. Twenty-eight percent said they prefer a civil marriage, 17 percent said they prefer a Jewish Reform or Conservative wedding, and 4 percent said they prefer to cohabitate without getting married.
Among secular Jews a vast majority did not favor a religious marriage and preferred a civil ceremony. Currently Israeli law recognizes Jewish religious marriage only if conducted by an Orthodox rabbi under the authority of the Rabbinate, and does not allow civil marriage. However the marriages of couples who marry in a civil ceremony abroad are recognized by the state.
*
Islamic State-linked group claims mortar attack on Hamas base in Gaza
(JNS.org) A terror group that claims affiliation with Islamic State reportedly launched a mortar attack on a Hamas terrorist base in southern Gaza on Friday.
The group, which calls itself “Supporters of the Islamic State in Jerusalem,” said it fired two 82mm-mortar rounds at a Hamas military base near Khan Yunis, AFP reported. Another bomb last week had targeted Hamas’s security headquarters in Gaza.
Hamas has launched a widespread crackdown on pro-Islamic State groups in the coastal enclave it governs, including the deployment of masked gunmen into Salafi extremist strongholds and the establishment of checkpoints.
The current tensions between the two terrorist groups began May 3, when Hamas destroyed a mosque belonging to the Jerusalem-based Islamic State supporters. That group responded by threatening to kill Hamas members unless the Palestinian terror group releases several men whom it detained, including a local Salafi sheikh.
*
Anti-Israel British politician George Galloway blames ‘Zionists’ for election defeat
(JNS.org) Vehemently anti-Israel British politician George Galloway blamed “racists” and “Zionists” for his defeat in Thursday’s U.K. election.
Galloway, who represented the Bradford West constituency for the Respect Party, overwhelmingly lost to Naseem Shah of the Labour Party, 50-21 percent.
“But there will be others who are already celebrating: the venal, the vile, the racists, and the Zionists will all be celebrating,” Galloway said in his concession speech, The Telegraph reported. “The hyena can bounce on the lion’s grave but it can never be a lion and in any case, I’m not in my grave. As a matter of fact I’m going off now to plan the next campaign.”
Last year, Galloway declared his city of Bradford as an “Israel-free zone,” in which Israeli tourists, academics, and products are not welcome. He said he “rejects this illegal, barbarous, savage state that calls itself Israel.”
*
Netanyahu congratulates U.K.’s Cameron on election victory
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his congratulations to newly re-elected British Prime Minister David Cameron.
“Congrats to @David_Cameron on impressive victory & renewed mandate. I look forward to working with you on shared goals of peace & prosperity,” Netanyahu, who just finished forming his own government, tweeted on Friday.
Despite poll predictions of a close election, Friday’s results indicate that Cameron’s Conservative Party won a slim majority in the British Parliament, 331 of 650 seats.
The strong showing for the Conservatives likely enables Cameron to govern without any coalition partners. Following the results, Ed Miliband—the Jewish leader of the Labour Party, which came in second with 232 seats—resigned his position.
Leading up to the election, Miliband was heavily criticized by his own religious community due to Labour’s stances on Israel, including introducing legislation last year that called on the U.K. to recognize Palestinian statehood.
*
American, European political leaders to show solidarity against anti-Semitism
(JNS.org) American and European political leaders will take part in a “Solidarity Sabbath” against anti-Semitism on May 22.
Organized by the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, the initiative encourages participating officials to take the following steps: attend Shabbat services on May 22 at a local synagogue, host or attend a Shabbat dinner, issue a public statement, or host a meeting about combating religious intolerance in their country.
Participating leaders are from Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, The Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Spain, Sweden, and the U.S.
Members of Congress joining the initiative include Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.); Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.); Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.); Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.); Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.); Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.); Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla); Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.); Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla); Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.); Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.); and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio).
*
Items dealing with Jewish women in Congress are sponsored on San Diego Jewish World by Laura Galinson in memory of her father, Murray Galinson.
*
Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman
__________________________________________________________________
Care to comment? We require the following information on any letter for publication: 1) Your full name 2) Your city and state (or country) of residence. Letters lacking such information will be automatically deleted. San Diego Jewish World is intended as a forum for the entire Jewish community, whatever your political leanings. Letters may be posted below provided they are responsive to the article that prompted them, and civil in their tone. Ad hominem attacks against any religion, country, gender, race, sexual orientation, or physical disability will not be considered for publication. There is a limit of one letter per writer on any given day.
__________________________________________________________________