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| Wednesday, Oct 21 '09, Cheshvan 3, 5770 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
1. Netanyahu: End Dependence on Oil by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the presidential “Facing Tomorrow" conference Tuesday night that the world must end its dependence on oil "that strengthens terror and damages planet Earth.” He said that the dependence on “black gold” raises the price of oil and stunts economic growth in Africa and other poor areas of the world, as well as in developed countries. Oil also pollutes the air and water, Prime Minister Netanyahu added. “By changing this dependence we can change the world.” He called for an international conference of scientists and businessmen to “produce a practical and efficient program for the development for efficient energy alternatives to replace oil in 10 years." The Prime Minister also repeated a call for Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to resume talks with Israel on the creation of a new Arab state within Israel's current borders. President Shimon Peres opened up the annual "Facing Tomorrow" conference by noting that the Ten Commandments are the basis for Israel’s morality. He told 1,500 guests, including Jewish and world leaders, that Israel is a small country with physical borders but that its progress is unlimited. The President focused on environmental issues after he noted the Jewish State has given a positive response to American efforts to resume negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, and has clearly said “no” to terror, which “destroys individual rights.” Peres declared that “We are a positive country for peace, freedom and justice [a must defend our own lives to achieve peace with neighbors," adding that “We have gone through nine wars and have won them all. Israel a strong and progressive state that can contribute [to the wor and not just struggle” along. Other speakers Tuesday night include Quarter Middle East envoy Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of Britain, and Mort Zuckerman, chairman of the conference and editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World Report. This year’s conference focuses on questions concerning the social, cultural, psychological, political and economic ramifications of the Internet and new media age. Comment on this story 2. End of Israel’s Historic Labor Party? by Hillel Fendel  A leader of the Labor Party’s youth wing welcomes MK Ben-Simon’s resignation as coalition whip, and says it could be the first step towards the forming of a breakaway party. Ben-Simon [pronounced See-mo, a rookie Labor MK who left journalism to enter the Knesset, resigned this week as Labor’s Knesset coalition faction chairman. He thus wished to protest his party’s participation in a government that allows the continued presence of Jewish civilian outposts in Judea and Samaria. Attorney Maayan Amudai, chairman of Labor’s Young Guard, told Arutz-7’s Hebrew newsmagazine that Ben-Simon’s move was overdue: “Better late than never, and we are happy that Ben-Simon finally understood. This [resignatio is apparently just another nail in the coffin of the Labor Party, and the time has come for this farce to end.” “Today’s Labor Party has no connection whatsoever with the historic Labor Movement,” Amudai said. “We have here a sad situation of a glorious party that has come to the end of its way. We hope that [Ben-Simon’s decisio will promote the re-organization of the Labor Party.” “I call upon the party to make an accounting of itself,” Ben-Simon said upon announcing his resignation. “This is a coalition of the extreme right, and the Labor Party contributes to its endurance. There are more outposts in Judea and Samaria today than there were before we entered this government. The party’s situation is critical, and the one who is responsible is its leader.” He did not mention party leader Defense Minister Ehud Barak by name. Wanted: A Fifth MK Four of the party’s 13 MKs have not hid their intention to split off from Labor, but they need a fifth one in order to represent at least a third of the parent party and thus receive Knesset recognition as a faction. The four party “rebels” are Yuli Tamir, Eitan Cabel, Amir Peretz, and Ophir Pines-Paz; Shelly Yechimovitch is sympathetic to their sentiments against Barak and his path, but she currently refuses to consider quitting. Ben-Simon could be the missing MK. Attorney Amudai called on all those who “still support” Barak to think again: “I see no reason to remain there in the government. I say to them: If you want to again rule the country, you have to detach yourselves from this millstone. I call on Fuad [Minister Binyamin Ben-Elieze, Barak and [Minister Shalo Simchon: You have nothing to look for there, and [Minister Braverman and Herzog should also join the rebels.” “I couldn’t care less about Netanyahu’s coalition,” Amudai continued. “What concerns me is that the Labor Party should not be there. If Ehud Barak needs to be Defense Minister, let him do what Moshe Dayan did, serving as Defense Minister on his own, without dragging the whole party along with him. All over the world it’s understood that a party leader who leads his party to defeat must quit.” “Even those [within Labo who voted for the party’s entry into the coalition now realize their great mistake. There are now large groups of people who want to establish a new platform so that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel – because there must be a new social-democratic alternative.” Comment on this story  3. Chabad Recommends Revising New Youth Drinking Law by Hana Levi Julian  The Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidic movement in Israel this week recommended lawmakers revise a bill proposed this week by the Knesset Law Committee that would prohibit minors from drinking alcohol in public places. The bill would also prohibit a youth from holding a bottle that contains such a beverage. The law, advanced by Likud MK Yariv Levin, would also empower police to confiscate alcohol from minors observed to be breaking the law, and possibly detain the offending youth. During religious celebrations and Talmudic discourses, many Chassidic men and teenage boys observe the tradition of punctuating the end of a discourse with a toast of "L'chaim!" ("To life!"). In recent years, Chabad-Lubavitch educational institutions introduced a prohibition against young people drinking more than approximately three ounces of any alcoholic beverage at such events, noted the Chabad.info news service. Drinking alcoholic beverages such as wine is also an integral part of religiously observant Jewish life within the home: a blessing is made over wine (non-alcoholic grape juice may also be used) every week on the Sabbath, both at the meals on Friday night and on Saturday and at the Havdalah ceremony that marks the conclusion of the Sabbath. Four cups of wine (or grape juice) must be consumed during the Passover seder, and it is customary to consume alcoholic beverages during the holiday of Purim as well. Chabad spokesman Mendi Brod recommended changing the legislation to accommodate religious and cultural rituals with adult supervision. "I suggest an exception be made to permit drinking alcohol in limited quantities, in educational or religious frameworks and under the supervision of a responsible adult," he said. Brod emphasized that this did not mean giving approval for a youth to hide behind religious ritual as an excuse for getting drunk. "Making a l'chaim is supposed to end well before there is a danger of inebriation," he told Chabad.info . Levin said that juvenile crime rates have been skyrocketing over the past several years, with studies showing that many of the young perpetrators were drunk at the time they committed the crimes. Drinking causes a higher rate of traffic accidents, public disorder, indiscriminate disposal of trash, and violence, both verbal and physical, Levin said. He cited statistics that showed police opened 33,000 criminal cases against youths in 2008, as compared with 25,500 cases in 1996. Earlier this month, a survey conducted by the World Health Organization showed that Israeli sixth graders had the dubious distinction of being tied for second place around the world in the consumption of alcohol. The survey, conducted in 40 countries, was overseen in Israel by Dr. Yossi Harel, an expert researcher in youth violence who found that the number of Israeli boys who get drunk at least once a month is climbing sharply. Lawmakers have for some time been working on legislation aimed at curbing what Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently referred to as "a plague of alcohol that is spreading like a virus." Mathematics Professor Rabbi Eliyahu Zinni, head of the Ohr V'Yeshuah Yeshivat Hesder in Haifa and Rabbi of the Technion, spoke with Arutz Sheva in an interview about the issue two weeks ago. "We have to give our youths ideals to hold on to, and then they won't want to try to forget reality via drugs and drink," he said. Comment on this story 4. Religious Leadership Tested at Interfaith Conference by Hillel Fendel  Under the theme “The Future of Religious Leadership,” the Elijah Interfaith Institute is holding a five-day interfaith conference, hosted by the Municipality of Haifa. Over 50 religious leaders from around the world are participating, representing Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism/Sikh. Previous meetings were held in Spain, Taiwan and India. In keeping with the event’s theme, the Elijah Institute released results of a survey on the topic of religious leadership. Conducted in August and September of this year, the poll claims to show how members of different religions view their religious leadership. When asked about the appropriateness of the involvement of Jewish leaders in national politics, the highest response indicating that it is appropriate came from Jewish respondents, 59% of whom considered it appropriate. Literature emanating from the conference concluded, “There is room to consider that Jewish leadership is so implicated in politics as to have become identified by it.” Politics - No; Land of Israel - Yes Rabbi She’ar-Yashuv Cohen, Chief Rabbi of Haifa and a participant in the meeting, sees this issue differently. He told Israel National News, "Party politics is not the right venue for rabbinical leaders - but questions regarding the integrity of the Land of Israel and other religious issues that arise on our national agenda are a different story." Rabbi Cohen emphasized that the purpose of such interfaith meetings is "to reduce hatred. The Holocaust could not have happened without [generations o hatred for Judaism... But even during such meetings, the uniqueness of each religion must be maintained. Just like the Patriarch Abraham: He was very welcoming to all, but our Sages say that he was on one side and the entire world was on the other side. In this spirit, the meals at the meeting were held separately, as were, of course, the prayers... No missionizing is accepted at meetings of this type, of course, and no discussions of matters of faith." Straying Afield? Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Executive Director of Elijah Interfaith Institute, summed up, “Jewish leadership seems to be suffering a crisis. When these facts are compared with some of the data relating to other religions, this might suggest one of the causes why Jews seek spiritual inspiration from teachers of other traditions.” He did not specify how many Jews actually seek spiritual inspiration from teachers of other traditions, nor how many people of other religions do so. Note: The survey respondents did not include members of the hareidi-religious sector of Judaism. Some findings: * Only 65% of Jews believe Jewish leadership is important to their religion, compared to 86% of Christians and 79% of Muslims. * Only 34% of Jews say they have a national leader. * 59% of Jews who strongly identify as religious have a local leader. Among Jews who have a local leader, 84% trust in their leader. * National and international religious leadership receive only 58% trust among Jews, compared to 90% for Muslims and 74% for Christians. * Jews have the lowest level of willingness to forgive their leaders for their faults; 71% for local and 61% for national leaders. Among those who considered themselves “strongly religious,” 39% of Jews said they had become more so over the past five years, compared with 57-86% in other religions. The interfaith conference schedule included an opening ceremony on a Lake Kinneret cruise, a plenary session on “The Role and Challenges of Religious Leadership: Local and International Perspectives” at the Bahai Center in Haifa, and an interface between religious leaders and students at the University of Haifa. Comment on this story  5. Swedish Blood Libel Journalist Plans Visit to Israel by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu  A nationalist group has appealed to Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) to prevent the entry of Swedish journalist Donald Bostrom, who spread the blood libel alleging that IDF soldiers sold organs of Arab terrorists. Bostrom published his allegations in August and is planning to arrive in Israel next month for the Dimona Conference in the Negev. Im Tirtzu (If You Wish) wrote to the minister, “Everyone understands the difference between his poisonous anti-Semitic articles and freedom of expression” and knows that his articles "are a modern blood libel that recall the same form of anti-Semitism in Europe in the Middle Ages. Anyone who thinks this is freedom of expression should return to school learn history.” The group asked Yishai “to take all possible measures to prevent this journalist...from stepping foot on the Land of Israel." Last week, a media watchdog official wrote in The Wall Street Journal that Bostrom’s allegations "are ugly, false, and harmful to peace efforts.” Andrea Levin, executive director of CAMERA, (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), that Bostrom’s article in Aftonbladet, Sweden’s leading daily, “has quickly metastasized to mainstream Muslim media, spawning cartoons of Jews stealing body parts and drinking Arab blood. These have been published in Syria, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, to name a few.” Last month, an Algerian newspaper claimed that gangs directed by Jews round up and smuggle Algerian children into Israel, where they sell their organs. Iranian Press TV reported, “An international Jewish conspiracy to kidnap children and harvest their organs is gathering momentum." Levin noted that despite the blood libel, the National Federation of Algerian Journalists presented him with an award for excellence. Bostrom, in his acceptance speech, charged that 1,000 Arabs were victims of organ harvesting since 1960. After Israeli officials and media harshly condemned the report by Bostrom, who admitted that his report was unconfirmed and based on unsubstantiated claims by Arabs in Judea and Samaria, Aftonbladet stated there was no evidence of the charges but still demanded an international inquiry. However, Levin wrote, “Francis Delmonico, a Harvard surgeon and international transplant specialist who was quoted in the Aftonbladet article on the issue of organ theft in general, told me he found the Aftonbladet charges completely inconsistent with his extensive interaction with Israeli doctors…. Like many others, Dr. Delmonico noted that Mr. Bostrom's scenario in which Ghanem [an Ara was supposedly shot before having his organs removed for trafficking was ‘not feasible from a surgical vantage.’" Ghanem’s family refuted several "facts” that Bostrom wrote in his original accusations. Comment on this story 6. 100 Armed Feds Raid Muslim Meatpacking House by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu  Approximately 100 armed federal agents, backed by a helicopter, 50 vehicles and sharpshooters, raided a Muslim meat packing plant earlier this week but remain silent about the secret operation. Only half a dozen people work at the plant. No one was arrested, but one eyewitness said the huge police force indicates that the raid may involve criminal activity other than hiring illegal immigrants. Terror-related activity has not been ruled out, but officials have refused all comment on the case. Chicago news sources said the plant’s owner, a resident of Chicago, was arrested at his home and that documents were seized from the plant. The kosher AgriProcessers meat packing plant was raided last year because of the hiring of illegal Mexican immigrants. The Muslim meat packing plant is operated by First World Management in Kinsman, Illinois, where government workers involved in the raid did not explain why Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents joined immigration officers in the operation. Several officers pulled their guns as agents surrounded an unidentified man in Middle Eastern garb. The plant processes and packs goat meat in accordance with Muslim dietary laws. A Muslim prayer room in the plant also was raided. The number of agents involved in the raid “was too much overkill for immigration,” according to Jim Cavaness, a part-time handyman worker at the plant. "Obviously, it was more than what was needed here, but why they felt the need to come forward with that much manpower allegedly, it's too early to say,” said Company attorney George Jackson III. Illinois records show that the president of the plant is Tahawar Rana, who also owns another company that sells Halal food, prepared according to Muslim dietary laws. He also is listed as the director of the Canadian-based Macro Traders firm, an export and import agency. Comment on this story 7. Arabs Attack Jews in Eastern Jerusalem by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu  Arabs cursed and attacked Jews in an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood while police looked on, until they intervened by arresting Jews, eyewitnesses reported. The clash in the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood began when a new Jewish family began unloading possessions for their new apartment home. Arabs and anarchists, who have been maintaining a permanent presence at a protest tent opposite the community, wrestled with one young Jewish man in the group, according to Avichail Feld, a hero in the Yom Kippur War who witnessed the attack. He reported that police quietly stood by while the attackers brutally beat the victim, who required medical care. Feld called to police, who maintain a constant patrol in the neighborhood, to stop the assault, but they did nothing. Officers eventually intervened and stopped the clash by arresting four Jews, who were taken into custody for questioning. Police spokesmen were unavailable for comment. National Union Knesset Member Michael Ben-Ari, who arrived at the scene after being informed of the attack, told Arutz Sheva, “The handwriting was on the wall. I sent a letter to the police several weeks ago that Arabs were harassing Jews. I eventually received a letter from the police that they were dealing with the problem. Tonight’s clash proves that this was not the right answer, to make an understatement.” He said his party intends to put an end to this “farce” where "the victim becomes the accused." He added, “I do not understand why the police allow the tent protest to remain when it has become a tent of incitement for violence against Jewish residents.” Comment on this story | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Everyday of Freedom is an Act of Faith for my writings ============> http://robertoscaruffi.blogspot.com for something on religions ===> http://scaruffi1.blogspot.com
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
http://www.web-view.net/Show/0XFA093E69AFC5FDE65194E626AF32837B001E04F11E9434438186735DBD637488.htm
