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| Tuesday, Apr 30 '13, Iyar 20, 5773 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1. Father of Terror Victim: 'My Son Was a Tzaddik'
by Arutz Sheva staff  Baruch Borowski, the father of Evyatar Borowski, who was killed in the terrorist attack this morning at the Tapuach junction in Shomron (Samaria) said that upon originally heard news of the attack, he was unable to come to grips with the reality of the situation. "I saw the attack on television and knew it was not good, but I ignored it, hoping for the best, and moved on… until I received the message that the victim was Evyatar,” he said. "I did not tell my wife anything," he told Galei Tzahal Radio. "He was a righteous man,” Baruch said of his son, Evyatar, who was in the middle of a medical clowning course. That was "his life’s mission", he said. "He was not afraid to live in this area despite my efforts to dissuade him from living there.” Evyatar was murdered at the age of 31 on Tuesday morning by an Arab from the nearby Arab town of Tulkaram. He was the father of five children, the oldest of which is seven years old. The terrorist stabbed Evyatar in the upper body. Magen David Adom teams arrived at the scene and pronounced him dead on the spot. He will be laid to rest in Kfar Hassidim in the Zebulun Valley at the foot of the Galilee, where he grew up.
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2. US Holocaust Memorial Reunites Survivors, Veterans
by Arutz Sheva staff  More than 840 Holocaust survivors and some of the American soldiers who liberated them from Nazi death camps in World War II came together on Monday in what could be the last commemoration of its kind, the AFP news agency reported. They gathered under a large white tent by the National Mall for a 20th anniversary tribute to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, one of the most visited sites in Washington, with more than 1.6 million visitors a year. Returning to the institution he dedicated in 1993, former president Bill Clinton said that "the Holocaust Memorial will be our conscience ... for now and forever." With most Holocaust survivors and World War II veterans in their 80s or 90s, the museum opted not to wait until the usual 25th anniversary milestone to reassemble as many living witnesses to that dark period of history as possible, AFP reported. Although it gets part of its funding from the US government, the museum hopes to raise $540 million by 2018 to continue its work. Honored guests Monday included more than 100 US military veterans, some wearing their carefully preserved wartime uniforms, from units that liberated Nazi death camps as Allied forces swept through Europe. The event also paid tribute to Marc Toureille, who as a young boy in the Herault department of southern France, helped his pastor father Pierre-Charles Toureille to spirit hundreds of Jews to safety in Spain and Switzerland. Living in a railroad village deep inside Vichy France "we didn't know about the gas chambers, but we knew it would turn bad," 84-year-old Toureille, who now lives in Massachusetts, told AFP. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, 84, the museum's founding chairman and a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, appealed to younger generations never to forget. "It is your memory that inherits ours," he said. "Our memory will live in yours. Remember that, young people, that you have an ideal ... the ideal of saving whatever the past has to offer for the future."
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3. 'What If Exile Never Happened?' Documentary Pulled From BBC
by Arutz Sheva staff  A documentary, which makes highly controversial claims about Jewish history and was set to air on the BBC last Thursday night, was unexpectedly pulled from the broadcaster's line-up. The program, entitled, "Jerusalem: An Archaeological Mystery Story" questions the truth and validity of the Jewish exile and espouses a theory that the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD did not send the Jews into the Diaspora. "The exile of the Jewish people has played a central role in Christian and Jewish theology for nearly 2,000 years, even being mentioned in Israel's national anthem and its declaration of independence. But what if the exile never actually happened?,” states a description of the documentary by Israeli filmmaker Ilan Ziv, which appeared on The Radio Times website. "This documentary by Ilan Ziv looks at new evidence that suggests the majority of the Jewish people may not have been exiled following the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD,” the description states. “Travelling from Galilee to Jerusalem and the catacombs of Rome, the film invites us to review and rethink our ideas around the exile, raising important ethical questions about its impact on present-day Middle Eastern issues along the way." The BBC told The Commentator over its audience participation telephone service that the film was initially brought in to "supplement" the BBC Four series on archaeology and history but that the station's planning department decided at the last minute that the documentary would not "fit editorially". The BBC insisted that it "plans to show the program in the future", The Commentator reported.
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4. Expert: Women Abuse as Often as Men
by Yoni Kempinski  Domestic violence is not one-sided, Professor Murray Straus of the University of New Hampshire told Arutz Sheva on Monday. Straus participated at the two-day conference entitled "Violence, Conflicts and Unity in Family Context: A Reappraisal of Therapeutic and Judicial Doctrines." The conference is being held at the Ariel University. “The bottom line is that in domestic violence, about the same percentage of women assault their partners as men,” he said. “Women are more often injured, but that doesn’t change the fact that women attack as often as men.” Prof. Straus admitted that he’s been censored in the past for saying that domestic violence is not one-sided, because “generally people refuse to believe it, despite a lot of scientific evidence showing that these are the facts. There are 230 studies, as of several months ago, and yet people refuse to believe it. Everyone is supposed to know that men do this - and they do it, but so do women.” The solution to ending domestic violence, he said, is that “if we’re going to end violence against women, we have to take steps to end violence by women.” The opposition to Prof. Straus, he said, “comes from people who believe that the main cause of domestic violence is male dominance. And that is an important cause, but it’s only one of many causes and not even the most important cause. This group of people are fanatics. They insist on a single cause, and that it’s men who are the problem. Well, men are the problem, but so are women.”
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5. Israeli Father of Five Killed in Shomron Terror Attack
by Arutz Sheva Staff  An Arab terrorist armed with a knife stabbed an Israeli at the Tapuach junction in Shomron (Samaria) on Tuesday morning. The terrorist stabbed the victim, identified as Evyatar.Borovsky, in the upper body, wounding him critically. The terrorist then grabbed his gun and fired at the Border Police who were stationed in the area. Border Police officers fired back, wounding the perpetrator. Magen David Adom teams arrived at the scene and tried to revive the 31-year-old Israeli father of five from the Yitzhar, but pronounced him dead on the spot. Evyatar was an actor who appeared in various theater productions and also worked in Yitzhar, where he lived. One of three brothers, he was raised in the village of Kfar Hassidim in the Zebulun Valley and will be buried there this evening. The Tapuach junction in Samaria has known many attacks. The last one stabbing attack occurred in mid-January, when a terrorist stabbed a 17-year-old-boy near the checkpoint. Gershon Mesika, head of Shomron Regional Authority, speaking on Radio Kol Chai reminded listeners of critically injured Adelle Biton, aged 3, who has not woken from the coma caused by a rock that hit her while she was riding in her mother's car last month. "The terrorist had no problem getting to the junction with a weapon now that the IDF dismantled so many checkposts in recent weeks... the IDF can easily bring quiet to the area if it is allowed to by political echelons...the Palestinian Authority gets tens of millions of shekels from us every month and is behind every terrorist act," he said. A Border Police force chased the attacker and managed to stop him from escaping the scene of the attack. The terrorist, a resident of a village near Tul Karem, was turned over to security forces for questioning.
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6. 'How Can You Ban Jews from Judea?'
by David Lev  Marc Zell, the head of the Republican Party in Israel, was at Ariel University for an event, and he said that Israel needed to be more forthright in its just claims to the land on which the university was built. For historical, security religious, and other reasons, Zell said, “we have every right to live and prosper and create universities here in Judea and Samaria,” as well as in the rest of the land of Israel One reason this has not happened, said Zell, is that “in the past, people in the government and the organized Jewish community have been uncomfortable saying this. But we can say it. There is a legal basis for us to say this,” as well as the other factors based on history and religion, he said. The Bible testifies to the link between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel. “I'm not trying to sound like a religious fanatic, but the Bible is a historical document as well.” It testifies to the connection between the Jews and Israel, said Zell, “and specifically this part of the land. That Jews should be prohibited from settling in Judea?” We have to be sensitive to diplomatic issues, we are not living in a vacuum. But this goes to the core of our legitimacy as a state. If we have no right to live in Judea, in the very places where the Jewish people established its identity as a nation, as a major world religion, then we have to take the lead in changing that narrative and making the case for Jewish settlement in all of the Land of Israel. “If we don't make that case, it won't be made by others.” On his recent visit, many Israelis were somewhat surprised by the positive attitude President Obama displayed towards Israel – both its security problems, and its historic and religious heritage. It was a distinct change from the attitude to Israel Obama displayed during his first term, and Zell welcomed “the change of tone and attitude by the President. The fact that he is making some change and amends from his first term on his Middle East policy is a positive thing.” However, Zell added, Obama wasn't quite “there” yet. “There are some signs that he has not yet fully accepted the realities as they should be seen. For example, when Obama gave his speech here to college students, he specifically excluded students from this [Ariel] university. As a result, I protested and refused to attend, even though I was invited, because he was discriminating against Jews who attend this institution, because it happens to be over the green line. That's something he needs to come to grips with. I'm not optimistic, though, and I think the Republicans have a better sense of what Jewish rights are in the Land of Israel.” " We have to claim those rights", Zell added, “and not be afraid to say it.”
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7. Report: Afghan President Confirms Receiving Cash from CIA
by Arutz Sheva staff  Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed Monday that his office has received money from the US Central Intelligence Agency over the past decade, with piles of cash reportedly handed over in suitcases and backpacks. Karzai thanked the United States spy agency for what he said was money well spent just hours after The New York Times reported that Karzai's office received tens of millions of dollars in cash in a CIA effort to gain influence. "Yes, the NSC of Afghanistan has received money from CIA in the past 10 years. The amount was not big, rather it was small," Karzai said in a statement, referring to the National Security Council which is part of his office. Karzai said the money had been used for good causes in Afghanistan, where endemic corruption has undermined efforts to establish a stable state, more than 11 years after the US-led invasion to dislodge the Taliban, the AFP news agency reported. "The money was spent for different reasons: operation objectives, helping wounded and sick (people) and for house rents and others objectives," the president said, without giving further details. "These assistances were very productive and we thank them," he said at a press conference in Finland in response to The New York Times article. There appeared to be no oversight of the secret CIA money, which was aimed at gaining influence by paying off warlords and politicians including some linked to the drug trade and even the Taliban, the Times reported. The newspaper, citing anonymous officials, said the CIA money had fueled corruption and funded warlords as the US tries to secure stability in Afghanistan before international troops pull out next year. "The biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan was the United States," one American official was quoted as saying. Khalil Roman, who served as Karzai's deputy chief of staff from 2002-2005, told the Times that the cash -- which sometimes arrived at the president's office in plastic shopping bags -- was known as "ghost money". "It came in secret, and it left in secret," Roman said. The United States has long been known to funnel cash to supporters in Afghanistan, as it did in Iraq. The Times report, however, is one of the first accounts to put a figure on the amount of cash sent specifically to Karzai's office. Iran earlier made cash payments to one of Karzai's top aides, the Afghan president acknowledged in 2010. However the Iranians have stopped such payments while the CIA payments continued, the Times reported. The revelations will fuel fears about Afghanistan's progress towards becoming a sovereign country after more than 11 years of international intervention, according to AFP. The outgoing French ambassador last week delivered a starkly pessimistic farewell speech with harsh words of warning about Afghanistan's prospects when the NATO-led military combat mission ends next year. "We should be lucid: a country that depends almost entirely on the international community for the salaries of its soldiers and policemen, for most of its investments and partly on it for its current civil expenditure cannot be really independent," he said. Taliban terrorists have battled the Western-backed government and US-led foreign troops ever since their 1996-2001 government was toppled. The 100,000-strong international military force will end its combat mission by the end of next year and Afghan forces will soon take nationwide responsibility for security despite concerns about their effectiveness. Billions of dollars in aid have been pledged to help Afghanistan after NATO troops withdraw, but only on condition that corruption is brought under control.
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8. Exporters 'Near Panic' As Shekel Breaks NIS 3.60
by David Lev  Israeli exporters were besides themselves Monday, as the dollar sank below the NIS 3.60 level. The lower the value of the dollar, the more expensive Israeli exports become in dollar terms, and the less competitive Israeli products are on foreign markets. The dollar closed 0.3% lower Monday, at NIS 3.592. The dollar has been rallying of late on international markets, so, analysts said, the recent depreciation of the greenback in Israel is a result of the strength of the shekel. The two main reasons for this, the analysts said, was due to the expected influx of foreign currency in the wake of upcoming sales of gas from Israel's offshore fields, and Israel's relatively higher interest rates. An additional reason for the shekel's popularity, they said, was a series of pro-business statements made recently by Finance Minister Yair Lapid. One traditional way to correct the value of the dollar has been to cut interest rates, causing investors to sell shekels and lower their value relative to the dollar. However, that tends to cause inflation, and the Bank of Israel has been reluctant to cut rates too much. Analysts said that BOI chief Stanley Fischer realizes that the problem of dollar weakness in general, despite recent rallies, is a worldwide one, and that it doesn't pay to try and fight the world markets. The analysts said that Fischer would tolerate a further appreciation of the shekel, to the area of NIS 3.5. Meanwhile, exporters were appealing to the BOI for relief, saying that they were having a hard time as it is competing for market share, and that a further increase in the shekel's value would be “devastating.”
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Everyday of Freedom is an Act of Faith for my writings ============> http://robertoscaruffi.blogspot.com for something on religions ===> http://scaruffi1.blogspot.com
Wednesday 1 May 2013
