Middle East

Climate Change Summit long on rhetoric, short on action

By Gary Rotto SAN DIEGO–The Guardian of Great Britain called the recently completed Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, “the biggest environmental meeting in history.”  But the final result is an agreement that calls for monitoring emissions but neither sets a target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and no deadline for reaching a formal international climate treaty.  […]

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Middle East, USA

Propagandists trying to conflate Abu Kabir experience with false charges of harvesting Palestinian organs

NEW YORK  (Press Release)—Recent press reports rehashing an interview from 10 years ago regarding the practices at Abu Kabir forensic institute have no relation to the false accusations that appeared this past August in the Swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet. In the 2000 interview, Dr. Yehuda Hiss, then head of the Abu Kabir facility, acknowledged that body

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Middle East, USA

Wiesel, Gov. Patterson join celebration of Kermaier installation as president of the New York Board of Rabbis

By Jeanette Friedman NEW YORK–Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Prof. Elie Wiesel and New York Governor David Patterson participated in the installation of Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier, spiritual leader of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, to his new post as President of The New York Board of Rabbis. Congregants and well-wishers packed the East 62th Street sanctuary on the seventh night

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Middle East

University of Haifa students mount video campaign for Gilad Shalit's release

HAIFA, Israel (Press Release) — Students of the School of Political Sciences at the University of Haifa have produced a series of short videos campaigning for the release of Gilad Shalit and to enroll volunteers in “Gilad’s Army of Friends”. The campaign, which can now be viewed on the Internet, was carried out as part

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Middle East

Recommended reading and viewing #7

Ethan Bronner, “Weighing Netanyahu as a Peacemaker,” in New York Times Dean Calbraith, “Sol Price valued his workers over stockholders,” in San Diego Union-Tribune Helen Gao, “Library’s Secret Treasure: Wangenheim Room,” in San Diego Union Tribune Blair Grubb, “It Should Again See Light,” on Chabad.org. (Thanks to Phyllis Kahn for spotting it) Donald H. Harrison,

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Middle East, San Diego Calendar

Barak says electronic isolation may be used to rein in West Bank settlers

JERUSALEM (WJC)–Israeli authorities could soon use special commando units, unmanned spy planes and cell phone-jamming equipment to enforce a moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank, military officials said on Sunday. Enraged settlers leaders vowed to resist the plan, prompting Defense Minister Ehud Barak to warn that settlers would face the full wrath of

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Middle East

Abbas says Olmert offered to swap land in Negev for Israeli settlement blocs

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Authority (WJC)–Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has confirmed media reports that former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered him Israeli land near the Gaza Strip in exchange for settlement blocs that Israel wanted to annex after a peace deal with the Palestinians. Abbas said that the proposed swap would have given the Palestinians

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Middle East

French broadcast authority warns carrying Hamas TV violates the law

PARIS (WJC)–The French authority in charge of regulating electronic media has warned the satellite broadcaster Eutelsat that carrying the Hamas TV channel ‘al-Aksa TV’ violated the law. The ‘Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel’ (CSA) said the law prohibited “all forms of incitement to hatred or violence on the ground of race, religion or nationality.” The Washington-based

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Middle East, USA

Haq trial shows the pitfalls for society of an insanity defense

‘Naveed Haq’s intention was to frighten Jews…The jury held that holding extremist views does not make you insane, but it does make you dangerous’— King County (Wash.) Prosecutor Dan Satterberg By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — With two trials, Naveed Haq could not snow his second Seattle jury with an insanity defense. After 2 ½ days of

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Middle East, USA

ZOA tells background of Supreme Court brief to protect foreign officeholders who acted in official capacities

NEW YORK (Press Release)–On December 7, 2009, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) joined three other Jewish organizations in filing an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief with the U.S. Supreme Court.  The brief urged the Court to reverse a Fourth Circuit decision and “establish as the law of the land” that foreign government officials

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Middle East, USA

Is Israel overly preoccupied with Iran's nuclear goals?

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–An American friend, who some time ago showed his disappointment with Israel, has sent another note that includes: “I scan three Israeli newspapers every day (well, actually, their web sites, in English). It’s less like visiting a foreign country than like visiting a foreign planet. The obsession with Iran’s supposed nuclear weapons

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA