Israeli soldier lightly wounded in Jerusalem stabbing attack
(JNS.org) An Israeli soldier was lightly wounded Thursday morning when he was stabbed in the leg by unknown assailants in Jerusalem’s Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood, Israel Hayom reported.
Magen David Adom paramedics transported the soldier Hadassah Hospital-Mount Scopus. Passersby who saw the incident said there were two or three attackers who fled the scene immediately after the stabbing. Police believe, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses to the attack, that the assailants were Palestinians and that the incident was nationalistically motivated.
Also on Thursday, shots were fired at a Border Police position near Atarot, north of Jerusalem, from the direction of the Palestinian town of Al-Ram. No one was wounded in the incident, but the bullets caused damage to a pillbox. Thirteen bullet shells fired from an M-16 rifle were discovered at the scene.
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Israel divestment measure vetoed by Loyola U. student government president
(JNS.org) Pedro Guerrero, president of the United Student Government Association (USGA) at Chicago’s Loyola University, on Wednesday vetoed a USGA resolution calling for divestment from Israel.
The resolution—which had passed 12-10 with nine abstentions on Tuesday night after four-and-a-half hours of debate—urges the Loyola University administration to withdraw investments from eight corporations “complicit in Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.” In a prior USGA vote last week, the resolution had passed by a much larger margin of 26-0 with two abstentions.
In a letter on his decision to veto, Guerrero cited the undemocratic way in which the resolution was introduced, the harm the resolution caused to the Loyola University community, and the fact that divestment and socially responsible investment are two separate issues which the resolution conflated.
“This legislation was framed in a manner that infers socially responsible divestment in a vacuum,” Guerrero wrote. “If we want to enact change, we must understand that our university will respond to a broad coalition of student concern, not an isolated one.”
Guerrero’s veto of the resolution can only be overturned by a two-thirds vote, which is “not likely to succeed,” Brett Cohen wrote in a blog post for The Times of Israel. “The next step of this decision is now up to the Senate, who will be afforded the opportunity to override the veto at our final senate meeting,” Guerrero wrote. That meeting is scheduled for April 1.
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J Street U, Wash. U. Hillel hosting NGO that promotes criticism of IDF soldiers
(JNS.org) J Street U, the campus arm of the self-labeled “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobby, will host the Israeli NGO “Breaking the Silence”—which works with Israeli veterans who severely criticize Israel Defense Forces operations—at the Washington University in St. Louis Hillel center on March 31.
The event’s description, which was posted on Facebook, says, “Former Israel soldier Oded Na’aman speaks about life in the occupied territories. Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran combatants who have served in the Israeli military and have taken it upon themselves to expose the public to the reality of everyday life in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.”
Hillel International’s official guidelines on Israel prohibit its chapters from hosting speakers and activities that “delegitimize, demonize, or apply a double standard to Israel.” Haaretz reporter Amos Harel wrote in 2009 that Breaking the Silence “has a clear political agenda, and can no longer be classed as a ‘human rights organization.’ Any organization whose website includes the claim by members to expose the ‘corruption which permeates the military system’ is not a neutral observer.”
According a blog post by Daniel Mael on TruthRevolt.org, former IDF spokesman Barak Raz posted on Facebook in June 2013 that Breaking the Silence “is an organization that engages in nothing, but nothing other than a smear campaign targeting the IDF. This smear campaign has nothing to do with rooting out their observed problem. Furthermore, none of their work helps the IDF (or Israel, for that matter) provide a solution.”
“The information used by ‘Breaking the Silence’ by and large seems to derive from two sources—unverifiable hearsay or accounts from anonymous former soldiers who, sometimes, themselves deserve to be behind bars in military prison for what they did!” Raz wrote.
Rolling Stones concert ticket prices draw protest
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) –The hype surrounding the official confirmation of a June 4 Rolling Stones concert in Tel Aviv was mixed with anger over the high prices tickets were selling for. Calls to boycott the concert started surfacing on social media, as tickets run from NIS 695 ($199) for a space on the lawn to NIS 2,850 ($818) for a VIP ticket. Tickets go on sale Thursday morning.
Shuki Weiss, the Israeli promoter, assumed that ticket prices would cause a stir, an issue he addressed at the Tel Aviv press conference. “It’s a big event, so expenses are high,” he said, adding that prices in Israel were still lower than in other cities. He even handed out a document listing prices of concert tickets across the world. A ticket to see the Stones in Berlin costs around $270, while prices were $200 in Oslo and $170 in Zurich and Dusseldorf.
For years it has been rumored that the Rolling Stones were coming to Israel. While reports began arising again this year that the Stones were slated to perform in Tel Aviv, they faded last week after lead singer Mick Jagger’s girlfriend, designer L’Wren Scott, committed suicide.
Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian groups expressed outrage at the band members for agreeing to perform in Israel. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement’s spokesperson said the band would “go down in history as one of the few artists willing to perform in Israel despite the occupation, settlements and apartheid.”
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U.K.’s King’s College passes Israel divestment resolution
(JNS.org) The United Kingdom-based King’s College London Students Union (KCLSU) passed a resolution to endorse the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment movement against Israel.
The resolution, which passed 348-252, calls on King’s College to “divest from Israel and from companies directly or indirectly supporting the Israeli occupation and apartheid policies.”
“This is the latest petty assault on Israel and its supporters on campus. We will fight no end to overturn and ultimately defeat this divisive and one-sided motion,” said Jonathan Hunter, U.K. Campus Director for the pro-Israel education group StandWithUs.
A StandWithUs spokesperson told JNS.org that the KCLSU trustees are likely to veto the resolution.
Following the resolution, King’s College distanced itself from the student-led resolution, saying the student union is “constitutionally separate from, and independent of, King’s College London.”
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Israeli defense manufacturer to supply UAVs to protect 2014 FIFA World Cup
(JNS.org) The Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Israeli company Elbit Systems has been selected by the Brazilian Air Force to carry out safety and security missions during the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Globes reported.
The Hermes 900 will be equipped with a “new and advanced intelligence gathering system” for the Brazilian Air Force. It will operate alongside its predecessor, the Hermes 450, which is already used by the Brazilians.
“We are very proud to supply our Hermes 900 to FAB (the Brazilian Air Force), which is the eighth customer to be equipped with this leading platform,” stated Elad Aharonson, General Manager of Elbit Systems’s UAV Division.
According to Elbit Systems, the Hermes 900 is capable of flying up to 30,000 feet for more than hours with a primary mission of reconnaissance, surveillance, and communications relay.
Elbit Systems said that its Brazilian subsidiary, AEL Systemas SA, would help the Brazilian Air Force with technical and engineering support for the new aircraft. Founded in 1967, Haifa-based Elbit Systems is one of the world’s leading defense electronics manufacturers.
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Arab League vows to never recognize Israel as a Jewish state
(JNS.org) At a two-day Arab League summit in Kuwait, Arab leaders vowed to never recognize Israel as a Jewish state—a key Israeli demand for a peace agreement—while also squarely blaming Israel for the lack of progress in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations.
The Arab League’s focus on the Jewish state issue comes amid a number of Middle East crises, including the bloody Syrian civil war and growing regional instability fueled by Islamic extremism, poverty, and environmental problems.
“We hold Israel entirely responsible for the lack of progress in the peace process and continuing tension in the Middle East,” the Arab League communiqué said, the Associated Press reported. “We express our absolute and decisive rejection to recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.”
The Arab leaders added that Israel’s policies of “the continuation of settlements, Judaization of Jerusalem, attacks on its Muslim and Christian shrines, and changing its demographics and geography” are to blame for the inability to achieve peace.
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