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1. Torah Scroll for Jewish Neighborhood Overlooking Temple Mount
by Rachel Sylvetsky & Hezki Ezra
For the first time in 2000 years, a Torah scroll was brought to the Mount of Olives as a joyous procession proceeded Thursday night from the Western Wall to the new Jewish neighborhood of Maaleh Zeitim in reunified Eastern Jerusalem. The procession was led by Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melammed, Shlita, head of the Beit El yeshiva, seen holding the Torah at the start of the video.
The Torah scroll, donated by the Rennert family, was in memory of Idan Zoldan, 29 year old father of two small children, murdered by terrorists who riddled his car with bullets as he drove near his home in Kedumim. His father Nachman is the contractor building the neighborhood as he has for many projects in Judea and Samaria. He holds the Torah in the second half of the film
Email readers click HERE and scroll down to see film.
Some 100 families live in the six-building complex of Maaleh Zeitim, on land purchased by Dr. Irving Moskowitz. The neighborhood is located just around the corner from a former Israel Police station, which is awaiting its first occupants after having been recently purchased by Jews and turned into residential apartments .....
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by Rachel Sylvetsky & Hezki Ezra
For the first time in 2000 years, a Torah scroll was brought to the Mount of Olives as a joyous procession proceeded Thursday night from the Western Wall to the new Jewish neighborhood of Maaleh Zeitim in reunified Eastern Jerusalem. The procession was led by Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melammed, Shlita, head of the Beit El yeshiva, seen holding the Torah at the start of the video.
The Torah scroll, donated by the Rennert family, was in memory of Idan Zoldan, 29 year old father of two small children, murdered by terrorists who riddled his car with bullets as he drove near his home in Kedumim. His father Nachman is the contractor building the neighborhood as he has for many projects in Judea and Samaria. He holds the Torah in the second half of the film
Email readers click HERE and scroll down to see film.
Some 100 families live in the six-building complex of Maaleh Zeitim, on land purchased by Dr. Irving Moskowitz. The neighborhood is located just around the corner from a former Israel Police station, which is awaiting its first occupants after having been recently purchased by Jews and turned into residential apartments .....
Comment on this story
2. Libyan Arms Pipeline to Gaza Feared
by Gavriel Queenann
Israeli defense experts are concerned a 'large quantity' of weapons have flowed from Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi's arsenal to terrorist arms dealers due to a loosening of the embattled dictator's grip on his government.
According to defense experts at least some of these weapons were smuggled to Gaza. It is believed hundreds of 120-122mm Grad missiles, which can reach ranges of 60-70 miles are now in Hamas hands. Such missiles could easily threaten Ber Sheva, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv.
It is also believed shorter-range 60 mm rockets, and stores of guns and ammunition, were smuggled from Libya to Gaza. In addition, Israel now believes surplus Russian anti-tank missiles from Libyan stores may be smuggled to Hamas from Sinai.
Officials believe the new smuggling route, departing from Libya, goes through Egypt into Sinai from which arms are smuggled to Gaza via tunnels. Egyptian military officials claim they are trying to fight the new phenomenon, but many - if not most - convoys still manage to get to the tunnels.
Rafiah An Invitation to Smugglers
Meanwhile, the opening of the Rafiah crossing by Egypt has led to Israeli concerns the crossing will be exploited by terrorists seeking to smuggle weapons into Gaza, along with continued activity through the smuggling tunnels.
Israel has made it clear it holds Egypt directly responsible for everything that passes through the Rafiah Crossing. On Sunday Egypt abruptly closed the crossing after catching two arms smugglers despite its touted 'security arrangements.'
Israeli officials say, despite Egyptian assurances, they do not know what measures Egypt has taken to curtail smuggling from Sinai to Gaza.
Amos Gilad, who heads the political-security staff at the Ministry of Defense, visited Cairo recently. The purpose of the visit was to discuss the issue of the Rafiah crossing, but also on the agenda were issues pertaining to Sinai, the captivity of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, and other security concerns.
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
Israeli defense experts are concerned a 'large quantity' of weapons have flowed from Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi's arsenal to terrorist arms dealers due to a loosening of the embattled dictator's grip on his government.
According to defense experts at least some of these weapons were smuggled to Gaza. It is believed hundreds of 120-122mm Grad missiles, which can reach ranges of 60-70 miles are now in Hamas hands. Such missiles could easily threaten Ber Sheva, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv.
It is also believed shorter-range 60 mm rockets, and stores of guns and ammunition, were smuggled from Libya to Gaza. In addition, Israel now believes surplus Russian anti-tank missiles from Libyan stores may be smuggled to Hamas from Sinai.
Officials believe the new smuggling route, departing from Libya, goes through Egypt into Sinai from which arms are smuggled to Gaza via tunnels. Egyptian military officials claim they are trying to fight the new phenomenon, but many - if not most - convoys still manage to get to the tunnels.
Rafiah An Invitation to Smugglers
Meanwhile, the opening of the Rafiah crossing by Egypt has led to Israeli concerns the crossing will be exploited by terrorists seeking to smuggle weapons into Gaza, along with continued activity through the smuggling tunnels.
Israel has made it clear it holds Egypt directly responsible for everything that passes through the Rafiah Crossing. On Sunday Egypt abruptly closed the crossing after catching two arms smugglers despite its touted 'security arrangements.'
Israeli officials say, despite Egyptian assurances, they do not know what measures Egypt has taken to curtail smuggling from Sinai to Gaza.
Amos Gilad, who heads the political-security staff at the Ministry of Defense, visited Cairo recently. The purpose of the visit was to discuss the issue of the Rafiah crossing, but also on the agenda were issues pertaining to Sinai, the captivity of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, and other security concerns.
Comment on this story
3. Abbas Is 'Trapped With September'
by Gavriel Queenann
Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas wants to "climb down from the tree" and restart talks with Israel, but can't due to widespread pressure, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
According to PA sources several senior PA officials are advising Abbas to forgo plans to seek a unilateral declaration of PA statehood at the UN in September due to opposition to the move from the United States.
However, the sources say the sense is that having announced his intentions to pursue the unilateral UN path, Abbas has "left himself with little room to maneuver and may proceed with the UN gambit simply to avoid a loss of credibility."
"We are trapped with September," one official told the AP. "We don't know what to do after that."
The PA officials, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity, said several top PA advisers were having second thoughts about the unilateralist track at the UN.
Among them are PLO second-in-command Yasser Abed Rabbo, PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat; and former PA representative to the UN Nasser Al-Qidwa.
Qidwa noted the limits of Abbas's unilateral UN track earlier this week, saying the PA should still rally behind statehood efforts at the UN, "but we should distinguish between getting support and getting recognition."
"We cannot get recognition simply because the US will veto it," the AP quoted Qidwa as saying.
Qidwa's comments suggest a growing realization that the unilateral UN track is problematic and promises an unclear conclusion that may not only change nothing, but may backfire and trigger a new wave of violence PA leaders cannot control.
Abbas attempt to step down from his self-created political precipice may be due to serious discussion in the US congress over cutting funding to the PA, which comes as the PA finds itself amidst another budget crisis. Abbas had previously said he would pursue the unilateral track irrespective of US objections - and even if US funds were cut.
Earlier this week, senior Israeli and PA negotiators traveled to Washington and held separate meetings with US officials to explore the possibility of restarting negotiations.
The meetings come as reports say that Hamas is considering leaving the business of politics and governance to Fatah saying its involvement therein has "weakened the resistance enterprise."
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by Gavriel Queenann
Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas wants to "climb down from the tree" and restart talks with Israel, but can't due to widespread pressure, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
According to PA sources several senior PA officials are advising Abbas to forgo plans to seek a unilateral declaration of PA statehood at the UN in September due to opposition to the move from the United States.
However, the sources say the sense is that having announced his intentions to pursue the unilateral UN path, Abbas has "left himself with little room to maneuver and may proceed with the UN gambit simply to avoid a loss of credibility."
"We are trapped with September," one official told the AP. "We don't know what to do after that."
The PA officials, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity, said several top PA advisers were having second thoughts about the unilateralist track at the UN.
Among them are PLO second-in-command Yasser Abed Rabbo, PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat; and former PA representative to the UN Nasser Al-Qidwa.
Qidwa noted the limits of Abbas's unilateral UN track earlier this week, saying the PA should still rally behind statehood efforts at the UN, "but we should distinguish between getting support and getting recognition."
"We cannot get recognition simply because the US will veto it," the AP quoted Qidwa as saying.
Qidwa's comments suggest a growing realization that the unilateral UN track is problematic and promises an unclear conclusion that may not only change nothing, but may backfire and trigger a new wave of violence PA leaders cannot control.
Abbas attempt to step down from his self-created political precipice may be due to serious discussion in the US congress over cutting funding to the PA, which comes as the PA finds itself amidst another budget crisis. Abbas had previously said he would pursue the unilateral track irrespective of US objections - and even if US funds were cut.
Earlier this week, senior Israeli and PA negotiators traveled to Washington and held separate meetings with US officials to explore the possibility of restarting negotiations.
The meetings come as reports say that Hamas is considering leaving the business of politics and governance to Fatah saying its involvement therein has "weakened the resistance enterprise."
Comment on this story
4. Hamas Summer Camps Train Next Generation Terrorists
by Gavriel Queenann
Hamas is reporting record turnouts for its summer camps for children in 2011.
The 'summer camps,' combining Islamic indoctrination, paramilitary training, and social activities are set to begin again this year as United Nation’s summer camps, considered competition by Hamas, are being openly denigrated by jihadists.
Children and adolescents are an important target demographic for Hamas, from which its future army of terrorists will be recruited. Summer camps are an important means for indoctrinating Gaza's youth with Hamas' jihadist ideology.
In 2010 Hamas ran camps for an estimated 100,000 campers, a number similar to 2009. The Islamic Jihad terror group ran 51 camps with 10,000 participating boys and girls.
Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan reported the objectives of the camps were to raise a generation of children with 'genuine Islamic values.'
"Children working for the interests of their homeland and to educate them to the culture of the Islamic faith so they will remember their goals, including Jerusalem and the prisoners," Radwan said
In addition to indoctrination, Hamas terrorists give children paramilitary training. Banners are hung on the walls with slogans extolling jihad and 'death for the sake of Allah.'
Other prominent motifs for this year are solidarity with Turkey in connection with the Mavi Marmara flotilla, a call for the release of Hamas prisoners (campers carried posters with their pictures) and organized expressions of hatred for Israel and the Jewish people.
UNRWA Programs Attacked
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency summer camp system hosted 250,000 children and adolescents in 2010. This year, as with previous years, the UN camps were harassed by jihadist terrorists.
On May 23, 2010 a group of 30 armed, masked men broke into an UNRWA summer camp site and burned it to the ground. On the night of June 28, 2010 armed, masked men broke into another UNRWA camp site in the Al-Zuweida region in central Gaza and set it on fire. In both incidents the arsonists were not identified.
A UNRWA spokesman called on the security services of the de facto Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip to investigate and determine who was behind the attacks.
But the groups of armed men who attack the UNRWA summer camps every year receive are inspired by, and probably supported by, Hamas and other terror networks networks operating in Gaza who say the UNRWA camps are 'undermining Palestinian values.'
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
Hamas is reporting record turnouts for its summer camps for children in 2011.
The 'summer camps,' combining Islamic indoctrination, paramilitary training, and social activities are set to begin again this year as United Nation’s summer camps, considered competition by Hamas, are being openly denigrated by jihadists.
Children and adolescents are an important target demographic for Hamas, from which its future army of terrorists will be recruited. Summer camps are an important means for indoctrinating Gaza's youth with Hamas' jihadist ideology.
In 2010 Hamas ran camps for an estimated 100,000 campers, a number similar to 2009. The Islamic Jihad terror group ran 51 camps with 10,000 participating boys and girls.
Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan reported the objectives of the camps were to raise a generation of children with 'genuine Islamic values.'
"Children working for the interests of their homeland and to educate them to the culture of the Islamic faith so they will remember their goals, including Jerusalem and the prisoners," Radwan said
In addition to indoctrination, Hamas terrorists give children paramilitary training. Banners are hung on the walls with slogans extolling jihad and 'death for the sake of Allah.'
Other prominent motifs for this year are solidarity with Turkey in connection with the Mavi Marmara flotilla, a call for the release of Hamas prisoners (campers carried posters with their pictures) and organized expressions of hatred for Israel and the Jewish people.
UNRWA Programs Attacked
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency summer camp system hosted 250,000 children and adolescents in 2010. This year, as with previous years, the UN camps were harassed by jihadist terrorists.
On May 23, 2010 a group of 30 armed, masked men broke into an UNRWA summer camp site and burned it to the ground. On the night of June 28, 2010 armed, masked men broke into another UNRWA camp site in the Al-Zuweida region in central Gaza and set it on fire. In both incidents the arsonists were not identified.
A UNRWA spokesman called on the security services of the de facto Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip to investigate and determine who was behind the attacks.
But the groups of armed men who attack the UNRWA summer camps every year receive are inspired by, and probably supported by, Hamas and other terror networks networks operating in Gaza who say the UNRWA camps are 'undermining Palestinian values.'
Comment on this story
5. PA: "If I Forget Thee, Oh Jerusalem" First Said by Crusader
by Gavriel Queenann
Continuing its policy of denying Jerusalem's Jewish heritage the Palestinian Authority publicized the claims of an Arab researcher that the well-known ancient Hebrew psalm, "If I forget three, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill," is not Jewish at all, the Israeli research institute Palestininian Media Watch reports.
Instead, Dr. Hayel Sanduqa insists the words were uttered by a Christian Crusader, and have only recently been "borrowed" by Jews and "falsified in the name of Zionism."
The verse in question, from Psalm 137 of the Hebrew Bible, opens with the words: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion." The researcher did not inform listeners of that fact.
Psalm 137, which mourns the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army in 586 BCE, is part of Jewish tradition and liturgy since then and has appeared in Jewish sources for thousands of years.
The oldest surviving manuscript of the Ketuvim, or 'Writings,' which includes the Hebrew Psalms, is dated between 175–164 BCE. It contains Psalm 137.
PMW says it has documented the PA policy of denying Israel's history, no matter how ludicrous such denials prove to be, as a means of denying Israel's right to exist as a nation. The PA often denies a Jewish temple ever existed in Jerusalem, calling it "the alleged Temple," possibly agreeing with Nazi leader Goebbel's oft-quoted remark that if a lie is repeated often enough as if it is truth, it will be believed.
The following are the words of Palestinian researcher Dr. Hayel Sanduqa on PA TV, claiming that the Hebrew Bible's psalm was actually first said by a Crusader:
"[The Israelis] have acted to change Jerusalem's character. Even the expression (Psalm 137:5) 'If I forget thee, oh Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember thee.'
"This statement, said by the Frankish [Crusader] ruler of Acre shortly before he left, was borrowed by the Zionist movement, which falsified it in the name of Zionism," Sanduqa said. [PA TV (Fatah), June 2, 2011 -Ed].
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
Continuing its policy of denying Jerusalem's Jewish heritage the Palestinian Authority publicized the claims of an Arab researcher that the well-known ancient Hebrew psalm, "If I forget three, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill," is not Jewish at all, the Israeli research institute Palestininian Media Watch reports.
Instead, Dr. Hayel Sanduqa insists the words were uttered by a Christian Crusader, and have only recently been "borrowed" by Jews and "falsified in the name of Zionism."
The verse in question, from Psalm 137 of the Hebrew Bible, opens with the words: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion." The researcher did not inform listeners of that fact.
Psalm 137, which mourns the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army in 586 BCE, is part of Jewish tradition and liturgy since then and has appeared in Jewish sources for thousands of years.
The oldest surviving manuscript of the Ketuvim, or 'Writings,' which includes the Hebrew Psalms, is dated between 175–164 BCE. It contains Psalm 137.
PMW says it has documented the PA policy of denying Israel's history, no matter how ludicrous such denials prove to be, as a means of denying Israel's right to exist as a nation. The PA often denies a Jewish temple ever existed in Jerusalem, calling it "the alleged Temple," possibly agreeing with Nazi leader Goebbel's oft-quoted remark that if a lie is repeated often enough as if it is truth, it will be believed.
The following are the words of Palestinian researcher Dr. Hayel Sanduqa on PA TV, claiming that the Hebrew Bible's psalm was actually first said by a Crusader:
"[The Israelis] have acted to change Jerusalem's character. Even the expression (Psalm 137:5) 'If I forget thee, oh Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember thee.'
"This statement, said by the Frankish [Crusader] ruler of Acre shortly before he left, was borrowed by the Zionist movement, which falsified it in the name of Zionism," Sanduqa said. [PA TV (Fatah), June 2, 2011 -Ed].
Comment on this story
6. IDF: Hizbullah Provocateurs Incited Syrian Border Riots
by Gavriel Queenann
Members of the Hizbullah terror organization were planted among the hundreds of Syrian rioters who tried to breach Israel's northern border on "Naksa day," according to documents released by the IDF spokesperson's office this week.
The IDF said, despite the Lebanese army declaring the border between the two countries a closed military area and attempting to prevent the arrival of the demonstrators, Hizbullah provocateurs were able to incite violent demonstrations on the Syrian border.
The attempted breach of Israel's border with Syria, in which it was claimed some 20 Syrians were killed, was vocally praised by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who spoke from his hiding place praising the rioters.
Nasrallah had previously issued a statement praising the protesters and saying they gave new meaning to the 'struggle against Israel.'
"...your homes, your land, your holy places are a right, a destiny and purpose ... For which blood, a life of heavy sacrifices, will be paid," Nasrallah said.
Last Sunday IDF forces confronted hundreds of Syrian protesters who made repeated, provocative attempts to breach Syria's the international border with Israel. During the riots demonstrators threw stones and Molotov cocktails at IDF forces, who responded with riot control measures.
The IDF had previously warned civilians against attempting to breach Israel's border, dropping flyers in Arabic and firing into the air. When warnings were ignored the IDF, suspecting the now confirmed presence of terrorists, opened fire on would-be infiltrators targeting the lower body.
In the afternoon, Molotov cocktails were thrown by Syrian protesters at IDF forces, which set fire to the Syrian side field of thorns. As a result of the ensuing blaze four mines detonated on the Syrian side of the border, causing the fatalities.
The IDF report that Hizbullah terrorists were among the rioters follows Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's pointed criticism of Assad's regime saying Syria intentionally allowed the rioters to reach the border.
It was broadly reported Assad paid the rioters $1000 dollars each to stir up trouble on Israel's border in an attempt to shift international attention away from his regime's bloody crackdown, which has resulted in more than 1000 Syrian deaths.
Collusion between Assad and Hizbullah, which the Syrian president regards as an important strategic partner, is not uncommon.
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
Members of the Hizbullah terror organization were planted among the hundreds of Syrian rioters who tried to breach Israel's northern border on "Naksa day," according to documents released by the IDF spokesperson's office this week.
The IDF said, despite the Lebanese army declaring the border between the two countries a closed military area and attempting to prevent the arrival of the demonstrators, Hizbullah provocateurs were able to incite violent demonstrations on the Syrian border.
The attempted breach of Israel's border with Syria, in which it was claimed some 20 Syrians were killed, was vocally praised by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who spoke from his hiding place praising the rioters.
Nasrallah had previously issued a statement praising the protesters and saying they gave new meaning to the 'struggle against Israel.'
"...your homes, your land, your holy places are a right, a destiny and purpose ... For which blood, a life of heavy sacrifices, will be paid," Nasrallah said.
Last Sunday IDF forces confronted hundreds of Syrian protesters who made repeated, provocative attempts to breach Syria's the international border with Israel. During the riots demonstrators threw stones and Molotov cocktails at IDF forces, who responded with riot control measures.
The IDF had previously warned civilians against attempting to breach Israel's border, dropping flyers in Arabic and firing into the air. When warnings were ignored the IDF, suspecting the now confirmed presence of terrorists, opened fire on would-be infiltrators targeting the lower body.
In the afternoon, Molotov cocktails were thrown by Syrian protesters at IDF forces, which set fire to the Syrian side field of thorns. As a result of the ensuing blaze four mines detonated on the Syrian side of the border, causing the fatalities.
The IDF report that Hizbullah terrorists were among the rioters follows Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's pointed criticism of Assad's regime saying Syria intentionally allowed the rioters to reach the border.
It was broadly reported Assad paid the rioters $1000 dollars each to stir up trouble on Israel's border in an attempt to shift international attention away from his regime's bloody crackdown, which has resulted in more than 1000 Syrian deaths.
Collusion between Assad and Hizbullah, which the Syrian president regards as an important strategic partner, is not uncommon.
Comment on this story
7. Solar Flares Could Disrupt Earth's Tech Infrastructure in 2013
by Gavriel Queenann
Tuesday's solar flare went unnoticed by most of Earth's inhabitants, but NASA says that might not be the case in 2013 when a peak in solar activity could cause trillions of dollars in damage to high-tech infrastructures.
Earlier this week the Sun had a massive solar flare shooting a bunch of radiation in our planet's direction. While the Earth isn't expected to be directly in the flare's path, it could agitate the planet's electromagnetic field on Thursday, possibly disrupting radio and satellite transmissions - not to mention creating some spectacular auroral light displays for those in the north.
NASA is calling this week's flare "medium-sized" and says its the biggest one seen in the last five years, but it's nothing compared to the "Carrington Event." In 1859, a huge solar flare set telegraph machines on fire and produced an auroral glow in many parts of the world bright enough to read by.
Even when telegraph operators disconnected their batteries, "aurora-induced electric currents in the wires still allowed messages to be transmitted," according to a NASA historical account.
Solar weather runs in cycles, and the current cycle is expected to peak in 2013. During that time experts say we are most vulnerably to a "Carrington Event" type occurrence. The only problem is that if such an event happened today, it would cause much, much more damage than it did in the 19th century.
"The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity," Richard Fisher, head of NASA's Heliophysics Division, said last year. "At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms."
In short, if the sun were to bombard the Earth with massive amounts of electromagnetic radiation it could knock out the backbone of our digital civilization, taking power grids, satellites and other communications systems offline for hours, possibly even days.
But there are precautions, such as back-up systems, that can be put in place, and solar weather watchers have been urging politicians to do so through conferences and other efforts over the past few years. Whether the Earth will be ready when the solar "Big One" comes remains to be seen, but scientists say it's not an apocalyptic scenario.
It could just be another Y2K.
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
Tuesday's solar flare went unnoticed by most of Earth's inhabitants, but NASA says that might not be the case in 2013 when a peak in solar activity could cause trillions of dollars in damage to high-tech infrastructures.
Earlier this week the Sun had a massive solar flare shooting a bunch of radiation in our planet's direction. While the Earth isn't expected to be directly in the flare's path, it could agitate the planet's electromagnetic field on Thursday, possibly disrupting radio and satellite transmissions - not to mention creating some spectacular auroral light displays for those in the north.
NASA is calling this week's flare "medium-sized" and says its the biggest one seen in the last five years, but it's nothing compared to the "Carrington Event." In 1859, a huge solar flare set telegraph machines on fire and produced an auroral glow in many parts of the world bright enough to read by.
Even when telegraph operators disconnected their batteries, "aurora-induced electric currents in the wires still allowed messages to be transmitted," according to a NASA historical account.
Solar weather runs in cycles, and the current cycle is expected to peak in 2013. During that time experts say we are most vulnerably to a "Carrington Event" type occurrence. The only problem is that if such an event happened today, it would cause much, much more damage than it did in the 19th century.
"The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity," Richard Fisher, head of NASA's Heliophysics Division, said last year. "At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms."
In short, if the sun were to bombard the Earth with massive amounts of electromagnetic radiation it could knock out the backbone of our digital civilization, taking power grids, satellites and other communications systems offline for hours, possibly even days.
But there are precautions, such as back-up systems, that can be put in place, and solar weather watchers have been urging politicians to do so through conferences and other efforts over the past few years. Whether the Earth will be ready when the solar "Big One" comes remains to be seen, but scientists say it's not an apocalyptic scenario.
It could just be another Y2K.
Comment on this story
8. Israel's Water Situation a Bit Better? Thanks to YU Students
by David Lev
The students were in Israel society, and this year, says Leadership Training Division program director Yehezkel Jesin, the students decided to deal with water conservation in Israel.
To that end, he said, they worked in partnership with the Jewish National Fund to raise $20,000 for the Parsons Water Fund, the JNF's comprehensive plan to combat Israel’s ongoing water crisis, Jesin said. “Each student had a personal goal of $1,100, and they all engaged in a variety of fund-raising techniques to get the money,” including raising money via e-mail and Facebook, running a “learn-a-thon,” and a raffle.
While water conservation and environmental issues were part of the motivation for getting involved in this particular project, said Jesin, last year's Carmel Forest Fire was also a major motivator, as it showed Israel's vulnerability in the face of drought.
“The students decided that water was an important enough issue in this day and age to dedicate their work to. Israel's water needs are great, and the students wanted to try to make a difference, in some small way,” says Jesin.
They actually had a bigger impact than even they themselves expected, says Jesin. “They worked on a desalination project up north, and built a water catchment system in Kfar Vradim to ensure that rainwater is efficiently used.” In the space of barely a week, in fact, the students initiated and completed several projects, putting in long, but satisfying, hours.
“In Yemin Orde, the students spent a day cleaning up and rehabilitating a playground that had been gutted by the Carmel Fire,” Jesin says. “It was a full day's activity, but they saw an amazing change – what in the morning had been a wasteland by evening was a beautiful green lot, ready for the children to come back to. They were so happy to see that they had made a difference – and it's a great example of what is meant by 'yishuv ha'aretz.'”
»
Comment on this story
by David Lev
The students were in Israel society, and this year, says Leadership Training Division program director Yehezkel Jesin, the students decided to deal with water conservation in Israel.
To that end, he said, they worked in partnership with the Jewish National Fund to raise $20,000 for the Parsons Water Fund, the JNF's comprehensive plan to combat Israel’s ongoing water crisis, Jesin said. “Each student had a personal goal of $1,100, and they all engaged in a variety of fund-raising techniques to get the money,” including raising money via e-mail and Facebook, running a “learn-a-thon,” and a raffle.
While water conservation and environmental issues were part of the motivation for getting involved in this particular project, said Jesin, last year's Carmel Forest Fire was also a major motivator, as it showed Israel's vulnerability in the face of drought.
“The students decided that water was an important enough issue in this day and age to dedicate their work to. Israel's water needs are great, and the students wanted to try to make a difference, in some small way,” says Jesin.
They actually had a bigger impact than even they themselves expected, says Jesin. “They worked on a desalination project up north, and built a water catchment system in Kfar Vradim to ensure that rainwater is efficiently used.” In the space of barely a week, in fact, the students initiated and completed several projects, putting in long, but satisfying, hours.
“In Yemin Orde, the students spent a day cleaning up and rehabilitating a playground that had been gutted by the Carmel Fire,” Jesin says. “It was a full day's activity, but they saw an amazing change – what in the morning had been a wasteland by evening was a beautiful green lot, ready for the children to come back to. They were so happy to see that they had made a difference – and it's a great example of what is meant by 'yishuv ha'aretz.'”
»
Comment on this story
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