Report: Israel monitoring Iran from Eritrea
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israel is operating an intelligence gathering base in the East African nation of Eritrea to monitor Iran’s activities in the Red Sea, the Stratfor Global Intelligence company revealed Tuesday.
The company says it uses a unique, intelligence-based approach to gathering information via open-source monitoring and a global network of human contacts.
In its report on Tuesday, Stratfor wrote: “The tiny country of Eritrea has been accommodating two Middle Eastern rivals in order to face its geopolitical challenges—mainly its fear of invasion by Ethiopia. Iran wants to expand its presence in Eritrea and other East African nations in order to gain influence along the Red Sea, an important route for seaborne international trade. Israel, meanwhile, wants to monitor Iranian activities in the region. By allowing foreign security operations in its territory, Eritrea has become another venue for Israel and Iran’s ongoing rivalry.”
In exchange for resources, possibly including modest amounts of cash and weapons, Eritrea has exhibited a willingness to become a base of support for Middle Eastern powers that want to exert greater influence in the Horn of Africa. As a result, Eritrea and its waters in the Gulf of Aden have become another venue for Iran and Israel’s rivalry. Israel and Iran’s engagement with Eritrea is an extension of their rivalry over the Red Sea, which allegedly led to the bombing of the Yarmouk weapons factory in Sudan, Stratfor reported.
Fatah anniversary logo marks all of Israel as ‘Palestine’
(JNS.org) Fatah marked its 48th anniversary with a logo calling a map of all of Israel “Palestine,” along with the slogan “The state and the victory,” Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reported.
The logo, published Dec. 10 in the Palestinian Authority’s Al-Hayat Al-Jadida newspaper, also features a dove breaking a chain, symbolizing the “freeing of all Palestinian prisoners,” a golden dome representing “both Islam and the Palestinian claim to Jerusalem,” and a rifle for “the Palestinian claim of ownership to houses within Israel,” PMW explained.
While the Palestinians’ nonmember observer state status at the United Nations—obtained Nov. 29—is new, Fatah’s anniversary logo continues a longstanding PA trend of official maps that label Israeli territory as “Palestine.” Those maps can be found on PMW’s website here: http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=413
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BDS-linked professor to chair California university anti-Semitism task force
(JNS.org) Manzar Foroohar, a professor connected to the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, has been selected to chair a committee aimed at combating anti-Semitism in the California State University (CSU) system.
Foroohar, who teaches modern Middle East and Latin American history at California Polytechnic State University, was tabbed to chair a CSU Academic Senate 2012/2013 committee tasked with implementing the “Governor’s Task Force on Tolerance and Anti-Semitism,” an effort that began in 2010 to address anti-Semitism at California schools.
The professor, however, serves on the organizing committees of two prominent BDS groups, the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and the Israel Divestment Campaign.
“Her selection defeats the whole purpose of the task force. We urge the [CSU] Academic Senate to take its responsibility seriously, and replace Professor Foroohar with someone more suitable for this role,” Roz Rothstein, CEO of the pro-Israel education group StandWithUs, told JNS.org.
Both CSU and Foroohar did not immediately return requests for comment from JNS.org.
In July 2012, a report released by the University of California Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture, and Inclusion found that “Jewish students are confronting significant and difficult climate issues as a result of activities on campus which focus specifically on Israel, its right to exist and its treatment of Palestinians.”
“The anti-Zionism and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movements and other manifestations of anti-Israel sentiment and activity create significant issues,” the report added.
Foroohar’s appointment to the task force raises questions about CSU’s commitment to effectively addressing campus anti-Semitism, according to pro-Israel activists like Rothstein.
“Unfortunately, given Professor Foroohar’s record of anti-Israel views and activism, she will likely make the problem worse, not better,” she told JNS.org.
But Diana Guerin, chairwoman of the Academic Senate of CSU (ASCSU), told columnist Lee Kaplan of Campus Watch that she considers anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism as “two separate issues” and that “it was important for faculty to have a voice on this type of training for our students.”
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Google launches Tel Aviv start-up campus
(JNS.org) Google launched its start-up incubator, called Campus Tel Aviv, in the heart of the Israeli largest metropolis on Dec. 10, Globes reported.
According to the Google, Campus Tel Aviv “is a hub for entrepreneurs and developers located in the heart of the startup nation” and will serve as “a space for developers and entrepreneurs to attend and organize events with speakers, mentors and other entrepreneurs.”
Google will also provide two-week boot camps called “Launchpad” to train prospective start-up entrepreneurs. The campus will work with other partners, including tech incubators, accelerator programs, and educational institutions in Israel.
“The ongoing investment in Israel is proof of the extraordinary talent we have here, and we are committed to continue strengthening the Internet’s contribution to the Israeli economy and public,” said Google Israel CEO Meir Brand.
Speaking at the inauguration of the campus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Google’s investment in Israel and promised continued government support.
“We are committed to promoting and supporting entrepreneurship, which is not only important economically, but also socioeconomically, especially in the reality in which we live,” Netanyahu said.
Arab-Christian hospital receives honor from Israeli Knesset
(JNS.org) The Nazareth Hospital has become the first non-Jewish hospital to receive the annual Chairman of the Knesset award for its service to the predominately Arab community in Northern Galilee region of Israel.
The 150-year-old hospital, which is run by the U.K. Christian charity, The Nazareth Trust, received the award for “demonstrating a positive, national impact on the country, its cross-community cultural sensitivity, educational outreach and contribution to Arab healthcare,” according to a press release.
“At a time when the world is focused on conflict and its aftermath in the Middle East, it is significant for an organisation such as ours—that is a Scottish Christian Charity, delivering the general hospital in an Arab city, in the Jewish State of Israel—and even older than the Modern State of Israel itself—to be honoured by the Israeli Parliamentary body in this way,” said Joseph R. Main, CEO, The Nazareth Trust.
The Chairman of the Knesset award is presented annually to recognize organizations that have made a contribution of national importance to communities and the wider society.
NY Hassidic man found guilty of 59 counts of child sex abuse
(JNS.org) In a high-profile court case, a New York State Supreme Court jury in Brooklyn found 54-year-old Nechemya Weberman, of the Hassidic Satmar Jewish community, guilty on 59 counts of sexual abuse of a child and endangering the welfare of a child, the New York Times reported.
Weberman, an unlicensed therapist, was accused by a young woman of sexual abuse occurring between the ages of 12-15 during counseling with Weberman.
The case was a significant milestone for New York prosecutors, who have had difficulty prosecuting sexual abuse cases within ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities. Many in the Satmar community, whose members are generally highly suspicious of outside interference, believe that matters such as sexual abuse should be handled by their private rabbinic court, or beit din. Accusers and witnesses are sometimes intimidated through bribery and threats to back down from going to secular authorities.
“The veil of secrecy has been lifted,” said Charles J. Hynes, the Brooklyn district attorney.
“The wall that has existed in parts of these communities has now been broken through. And as far as I’m concerned, it is very clear to me that it is only going to get better for people who are victimized in these various communities,” Hynes said.
Weberman faces at least 25 years in prison and his sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 9.
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Preceding provided by JNS.org