Mortar shell fired from Syria explodes in Israel’s Golan Heights
(JNS.org) A mortar shell fired from Syria exploded in the Alonei Habashan area of Israel’s Golan Heights on Sunday night. No injuries or damage were reported in the latest spillover of the Syrian civil war into Israel.
In recent days, there has been intense fighting on the Syrian side of the Israeli border with the country. Security officials were investigating whether Sunday’s mortar fire was accidental spillover from that fighting.
Three weeks ago, two mortar shells were accidentally fired from Syria into Israel, exploding in the groves of Kibbutz Ein Zivan. That same week, four terrorists trying to plant an explosive device near the border fence in the Golan Heights were killed by Israel Defense Forces fire.
*
1,400-year-old wine press unearthed by Israeli teen archaeology buffs
(JNS.org) A wine press used 1,400 years ago was recently unearthed by teenagers in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood in Jerusalem.
Local resident Tamar Simon was running with her dog in a nearby wooded area when she noticed the ancient remains. Simon alerted the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The ancient measures 16.4 feet across, is carved out of a boulder, and has a large square treading floor where grapes were laid down and crushed by barefoot workers. The newly extracted grape juice flowed into a square distributing vat through a conduit also carved into the rock. From there, the juice was moved into a collecting vat.
Amit Re’em, an IAA archaeologist assigned to the Jerusalem District, noted that the wine press had been excavated with care—but that archaeologists hadn’t conducted any dig in that location. When inspecting the site, the archaeologists spotted a teenager who told them enthusiastically that he and his friends are archaeology buffs and had decided to dig out the wine press together.
“The story touched our hearts and reminded us of our own childhoods,” Re’em said. “However, it’s important to know that a non-methodic excavation results in the loss of valuable archaeological information.”
*
Israel slams PA unilateralism after pope’s ‘angel of peace’ remark about Abbas
(JNS.org) After Pope Francis hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican on Saturday and appeared to call Abbas an “angel of peace,” Israel highlighted Abbas’s unilateral moves against Israel, such as joining the International Criminal Court.
“It is regrettable that Mahmoud Abbas uses international forums to attack Israel and refrains from returning to negotiation, which is the right way to implement a diplomatic vision and a solution of peace,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said.
Earlier last week, the Vatican had formally recognized the “State of Palestine.” On Saturday, Pope Francis presented Abbas with a medallion and said it represented the “angel of peace destroying the bad spirit of war.” The Vatican later said the pope’s remarks were taken out of context, claiming he was voicing his wish that Abbas would become an angel who would bring peace in the future.
*
Israeli Foreign Ministry seeks to shut down anti-Semitic websites
(JNS.org) Following a special forum of some 1,000 experts put together by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the ministry has decided to act to combat the spread of anti-Semitism in Europe, including online.
The Foreign Ministry’s Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism, which held a three-day conference in Jerusalem last week, determined a series of practical steps to change what it called “a discourse of hate speech.” The ministry will take action to have websites that promote Holocaust denial shut down, and to keep hate sites out of Google searches, particularly when searches for the word “Jew” direct users to anti-Semitic sites.
The Israeli ministry will also establish special units in each country where it has a presence to compel Internet companies to enforce their own rules against storing hate material, and to enforce existing legislation on the issue.
*
FIFA head calls for concessions to Palestinians ahead of vote on Israel’s status
(JNS.org) Sepp Blatter—head of FIFA, international soccer’s governing body—called on Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians ahead of a vote that could expel the Jewish state from FIFA.
Blatter will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on May 20 in an effort to find a solution to complaints over Israel’s alleged restrictions on Palestinian soccer players.
“The onus in this respect is on Israel with its outstanding infrastructure, fully functioning professional league, and economic context,” Blatter wrote in his column for FIFA’s weekly magazine, adding that Israel should make it easier for Palestinian and foreign soccer players, as well as equipment, to get in and out of the disputed territories.
The Palestinians have initiated a motion at the May 28 FIFA congress to bar Israel from international competition.
*
Rabbi Barry Freundel gets 6-1/2 years in prison for mikvah voyeurism
(JNS.org) Barry Freundel, a prominent Washington, D.C.-based rabbi who admitted to videotaping women during their preparations for mikvah (ritual bath) immersion, on Friday received a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence in D.C. Superior Court.
The prosecution had sought a 17-year prison sentence for Freundel, while the rabbi’s defense team argued that he deserved community service rather than jail time because he had already experience job loss and public humiliation.
In February, the 63-year-old Freundel pleaded guilty to the 52 misdemeanor counts of voyeurism brought against him. He was arrested last October on charges that he secretly videotaped six nude women at the mikvah located on the premises of Washington’s Kesher Israel Congregation, hiding a camera in a clock radio in an area where women undress for the mikvah. But prosecutors said as many as 150 women were videotaped by Freundel.
*
Germany donates funds to restore Tel Aviv’s Bauhaus-style buildings
(JNS.org) Germany said it will donate 2.5 million Euros ($2.86 million) over 10 years for the preservation and restoration of Tel Aviv’s famous “White City” of Bauhaus-style buildings.
The White City, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, is home to the world’s largest collection of buildings in the German Bauhaus style. The buildings were mostly designed by German Jews who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
“We will help the city of Tel Aviv preserve this significant cultural legacy,” said German Construction Minister Barbara Hendricks, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
“We plan as a first step to create a preservation center for the White City,” she said. “In this way we will create a platform for the future restoration of the buildings. I look forward to a fruitful partnership between German and Israeli authorities in all areas of construction.”
*
Obama promises to bolster U.S. military cooperation with Arab Gulf states
(JNS.org) President Barack Obama promised to bolster America’s military cooperation with its Arab allies at a U.S.-hosted summit for Arab leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The White House said in a statement after the summit that the U.S. is prepared to “work jointly with the GCC states” to “deter and confront external threat,” including through the use of military force.
The statement added that the U.S. and the Arab nations promised to “enhance” cooperation in “security cooperation, counter-terrorism, maritime security, cybersecurity, and ballistic missile defense.”
A number of prominent Arab leaders—including King Salman of Saudi Arabia—did not attend the summit in an apparent sign of displeasure with Obama’s Middle East policies, particularly regarding the nuclear talks between Iran and world powers.
*
U.S. House unanimously passes tougher sanctions against Hezbollah
(JNS.org) The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday unanimously passed the Hezbollah International Financial Prevention Act, which would enact tougher sanctions against the Lebanon-based and Iranian-funded Hezbollah terrorist organization.
The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-California) and cosponsored by nine other members of Congress, would sanction foreign financial institutions that facilitate Hezbollah’s activities through actions such as providing financial services or money laundering for the terror group.
“Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group, poses a direct threat to American and Israeli security, dominates the Lebanese government, fights for the Syrian Assad regime, and possesses an arsenal of more than 100,000 rockets,” said the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which urged the Senate to also adopt the legislation.
*
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.
__________________________________________________________________