Disgusting, intimidating behavior against a Jew at a Scotland university

From The Courier (UK):
Two St Andrews University students have appeared in court following allegations they indulged in anti-semitic behaviour.

Samuel Colchester and Paul Donnachie are charged with fondling their genitals before rubbing their hands on a flag of Israel. It is claimed they were intending to cause "alarm or distress" to Jewish man Chanan Roziel Reitblat.

Colchester (20), of Andrew Melville Hall, and 18-year-old Donnachie, of McIntosh Hall, both deny the allegations.

Colchester and Donnachie face a charge alleging that, on March 12 at a building owned by the university in Links Crescent, they acted in a racially aggravated manner intended to cause alarm or distress to Mr Reitblat.

The charge states they placed their hands inside their trousers and on to their genitals before rubbing them on to a flag of Israel. It is also alleged they made comments of an offensive nature within Mr Reitblat's presence, contrary to the Criminal Law Act.

An alternative charge states the pair behaved in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm by acting in the manner described, contrary to the Criminal Justice Act.
Donnachie's reactions on his Facebook page:





Chanan Reitblat, the victim, tells me that this did not happen in a public area, like at a campus Zionist organization. The events happened in Reitblat's dorm room where he had put up an Israeli flag on his own personal bulletin board!

Reitblat emailed me that they told him...

...that I support terrorists and should be held liable for putting up a "terrorist symbol" in my room- pretty much that I deserve what's coming to me.

After they left my room, they went on an hour long rant throughout the hall about how Jews have no claim to Israel and that Israel is a terrorist, Nazi state.
Reitblat is traumatized by what happened in his own room, as one can imagine, telling me that this was an "awful month" for him.

This is what happens when anti-Israel hate is allowed to fester - it emboldens the haters to take things further and further.

And things are pretty bad in universities in Scotland nowadays.

UPDATE: Commenter Elise notes that this is the school that the new royal couple attended. Wonderful.

The last gasp effort to make the UNHRC relevant

A very interesting dispatch from AP:
Several members of the U.N.'s top human rights body are pressing for an emergency meeting to examine the government crackdowns against popular protests that have swept the Middle East and North Africa, Western diplomats said Wednesday.

The countries, from Latin America, Europe, North America and Asia, are trying to collect 16 signatures necessary to force a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council next week, the diplomats said.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, which was underlined by the innocuous title proposed for the meeting — "Promotion and protection of human rights in the context of recent peaceful protests."

The title was chosen to avoid singling out particular countries, the diplomats said. But they confirmed that Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria would be among the nations whose violent suppression of protests would be on the agenda.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference, whose members carry significant weight in the 47-nation Human Rights Council, said it wouldn't consent to holding such a meeting.

"We think that the events that are taking place do not merit some kind of a special session," said Zamir Akram, Pakistan's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva.

He accused those advocating a special session of double standards, and said the OIC would use any such meeting to focus on human rights abuses by Israel instead.
We already know that the UNHRC is a joke. (Leading UNHRC advisor Jean Ziegler edited a book that likened Libya's dictator Moammar Gaddafi to philosopher Jean Rousseau.) Yet there are those who cling to the idea that it has some relevance; pointing to the very few non-Israeli statements it has made or to the fact that it finally, belatedly kicked Libya out.

The UNHRC's actions over the next few days should be the final nail in the coffin of this thoroughly corrupt institution as well as proof positive that the Organization of Islamic States has an agenda that is fundamentally opposed to human rights.

And how much more proof do you need that Israel is used as a scapegoat for Muslim human rights abuses than the statement by the Pakistani ambassador to the UN?

05/09 Links: Brainwashed at Bowdoin; Bye-Bye, George Galloway, David Ward and Natalie Bennett

From Ian:
William Jacobson: Brainwashed at Bowdoin: Anti-Israel Boycotters Miss a Teachable Moment
Bowdoin College in Maine recently held a student-body referendum for a full academic and cultural boycott of Israel. Unlike more common student-government resolutions seeking “divestment” from a handful of companies, the Bowdoin referendum sought an unprecedented cutoff of all academic and cultural ties. The referendum was initiated by Bowdoin Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), part of a growing national SJP movement on campuses.
I have covered SJP antics at Vassar (the picketing of a classroom because a course involved a trip to Israel, and later posting of a Nazi cartoon), Cornell (a protest leads to physical and verbal harassment of pro-Israel students — and me!), Northeastern University (a protest over suspension included chants of “Long live the intifada,” the bloody suicide-bombing and terrorist campaign), and New York University (the posting of mock eviction notices), and elsewhere.
Wherever I see SJP, I see a messianic absolutism directed at the deligitimization and demonization of every aspect of Israeli society. It is a view that presents Israel as uniquely evil, and Palestinians as uniquely pure victims.
The most messianic of all are some (not all, by any means) left-wing Jews who lead SJP chapters or are fellow travelers like the members of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). For that sub-group of left-wing Jews, demonizing Israel has become a religion.
Ben-Dror Yemini: A manipulation of human rights
The IDF is not perfect, and some of Breaking the Silence's claims on the fighting in Gaza may be true, but these deviations have been put on display, without any context or proof.
The report released by Breaking the Silence is already making waves around the world. Isn't it simply wonderful to preach human rights? It's a position in high demand. The thing is, we're dealing here with another piece of major deception, another link in the chain of effort to turn Israel into a living monster, and more help for the BDS campaign.
Why deception? First, when Israel is accused of harming civilians, or when people talk about proportionality, one has to ask: What are the proportions? It turns out there aren't any – and not by chance either. Because every comparative review definitively shows that Israel causes less civilian casualties than those witnessed on other similar battlefields.
Second, a country like Britain also has anti-war organizations. But no foreign country supports exposing the testimonies of British troops who have returned from conflict zones. So why the hell does Britain allow itself to finance Breaking the Silence? Why do the British think their dual morality is morality?
Third, four other countries – Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark – are funding a Ramallah-based organization, the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat, which also aids Breaking the Silence. HR IHL funds a series of groups such as Al-Haq, BADIL, Al-Mizan and others, which are a part of the BDS campaign network.
We're not dealing with criticism of Israel, but an ideology that opposes the very existence of Israel. This is the ideological environment of the Breaking the Silence report.
Bye-Bye, George Galloway
Within that big picture are some huge specific wins. Specifically, the losses by anti-Israel maniacs George Galloway, David Ward and Natalie Bennett.
George Galloway is the poster child for anti-Israel hate, an obsessed creep who spews anti-Israel conspiracy theories, regularly appears on Iranian Press TV, attacks critics of the Mullah regime, and Jew-baits under the guise of anti-Zionism, British MP George Galloway storms out of debate when finds out opponent is Israeli:
Also losing was Liberal Democrat Party member David Ward, who had previously been suspended by his own party for his anti-Israel comments. Ward notoriously demanded that Holocaust Remembrance Day include remembrance of Palestinian refugees, and tweeted that if he lived in Gaza he would fire rockets at Israel. Ward’s reaction to the Paris unity march after the Charlie Hebdo massacre was to say he was “sick” that Benjamin Netanyahu was in attendance.
Rounding out the threesome, Natalie Bennett, Chair of the Green Party, also lost. Bennett is a big supporter of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Bennett’s fanaticism was just the tip of the iceberg, England’s Green Party Has an Anti-Semitism Problem:



Denmark Jewish Leader: Way We Want to Live Our Lives Not Possible
“The way we want to live our lives is no longer possible,” said the vice president of Denmark’s Jewish community at an annual conference of the American Jewish Committee on Tuesday, reflecting on the state of security for Europe’s Jews.
Jonathan Fischer was one of many speakers to address the discomfort of European Jewry as antisemitism is on the rise across the continent.
Such fears are exacerbated by the fact that European governments will ultimately move to scale back around-the-clock protection that has been provided since deadly attacks at a kosher supermarket in Paris and the Great Synagogue in Copenhagen in January.
“We can’t count only on security services, on intelligence services. Today makeshift jihadists are asked not to communicate, so intelligence services can’t spot them,” said Fischer, adding that the European Jewish “mindset” must adapt.
“Europeans have to adopt the ‘see something, say something’ policy, like in the US,” suggested Rutgers University law professor John Farmer, according to the British Jewish Chronicle, referring to a common security policy present not only at Jewish communities, but in public zones, such as New York’s subway system as well.
Bill Whittle: I Support Free Speech, But...
Speech is either free or it isn't! The attack in Texas wasn't against Conservatives--it was against every American. Check out this important Afterburner to find out why Bill says you're DEAD wrong if you think the cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo or attendees at the free speech event in Texas had it coming to them for being too "provocative" by drawing Mohammed.


Report: US, EU pressing for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
A senior Palestinian official claimed Saturday that the US and the European Union were urging the Palestinian Authority to resume peace negotiations with Israel, according to a report in the London-based Al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that Western diplomats had proposed to organize an urgent meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, either in a European country or in Washington.
The Palestinian official’s claims were not confirmed by Israel or the PA, according to Israel Radio.
Washington on Thursday called Israel’s approval of building 900 apartment units in a Jewish neighborhood of East Jerusalem “damaging and inconsistent” with its commitment to a two-state solution. The condemnation of the move by the State Department came less than a day after Netanyahu announced the formation of a new governing coalition.
'Obama mulls veto of French proposal for Palestinian state in UN Security Council'
US President Barack Obama has told associates that he intends to veto the French proposal for a UN Security Council resolution mandating the creation of a Palestinian state and an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank within two years, Channel 10 is reporting on Friday.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said this past March that Paris planned to start discussions with partners in the "coming weeks" on a United Nations Security Council resolution to lay out the parameters for ending the Middle East conflict.
"I hope that the partners who were reluctant will not be reluctant anymore," said Fabius, referring to the United States, which has traditionally shielded its ally Israel from any action at the United Nations.
The United States has said it would "reassess" its options on US-Israel relations and Middle East diplomacy after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a stand against Palestinian statehood during his election campaign.
United States taxpayers on hook to the United Nations for approximately $3.024 billion in 2015
The United States taxpayers will pay the United Nations approximately $3.024 billion in 2015, according to testimony by Brett Schaefer, a Heritage Foundation fellow, before the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee responsible for multilateral institutions on May 6, 2015. This total accounts for $621.9 million toward the UN regular budget and $2.402 billion toward the UN peacekeeping budget. In contrast, 35 nations will pay less than a total of $29,000. Schaefer testified that the US' contributions continue to rise due to the UN's runaway budget which increased from nearly $15 billion in 2002 to nearly $41.5 billion in 2012. A major factor behind that increase is the "failure to arrest growth" in UN personnel costs which accounts for 70% of UN spending.
Schaefer pointed out that US contributions to the UN may be higher than reported: "there is also a lack of transparency and analysis on the U.S. side...(the) 2006 report confirmed that actual U.S. contributions to the U.N. were higher by about 25 percent than previously reported by the State Department. The reporting requirement lapsed in 2011. As a result, a comprehensive accounting of U.S. contributions to the U.N. system after FY 2010 is not available and the last reliable accounting by the OMB was for FY 2010, which reported contributions totaling $7.692 billion."
This figure is more than double today's figure, raising the question of what exactly is the true cost of US' membership to the UN.
White House hopeful Jeb Bush turns to George W. for Israel advice
Jeb Bush said he was likeliest to take advice on Israel from his brother, former President George W. Bush.
“If you want to know who I listen to for advice, it’s him,” the former Florida governor and likely contender for the GOP presidential nod was quoted Thursday by the Washington Post as telling a group of potential campaign funders from the pro-Israel community.
Bush faced questions at the meeting Tuesday in New York City, organized by Paul Singer, about including on his team James Baker, the secretary of state under Bush’s father, President George HW Bush.
Baker had tense relations with the Israeli government at the time, led by the late Yitzhak Shamir, and more recently criticized the current Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for his policies toward the Palestinians.
Republican Jews are fond of the younger former President Bush, seen as among the friendliest presidents to Israel, but are wary of associations with the brothers’ father.
Santorum to Obama: ‘Iran, enemy. Israel, friend’
Rick Santorum hinted Saturday in South Carolina that he is close to announcing whether he will again run for president, telling a gathering of conservative activists he’s driven by what he called President Barack Obama’s failures on national security.
“Russia, China and yes, radical Islam, is threatening our country,” the former Pennsylvania senator said. “Heck, I would just be happy if our president would be able to tell the difference between our friends and enemies.
“Let me give our president a primer: Iran, enemy. Israel, friend.”
Santorum said he had the experience to articulate a “vision of keeping America strong.”
He told the crowd: “I’ve been clear about the threat of radical Islam. This isn’t a war on terror. It’s a war on radical Islam.”
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Says Joint Arab Force to Combat ISIS, Iran Will be Ready Within Four Months
The idea of the Joint Arab Force was first introduced by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who said it was a necessity to combat the expansion of the Islamic State, which currently has strongholds in Syria and Iraq.
The rising threat of Iranian regional influence also adds urgency to the Arab countries’ plan, particularly as Iranian-backed Houthi rebels fight to take over Yemen, and the Saudi-led intervention to roll them back advances.
“The need for a unified Arab force is growing and becoming more pressing every day,” said Sisi back in February. The Egyptian president said he had received offers from both Jordan and the United Arab Emirates to help in the endeavor by sending troops.
“The challenges in the region and those facing our countries are huge … We can overcome those challenges once we are together,” said Sisi.
Last month, Shoukry said that the joint Arab force was necessary to combat the threats of extremism in the region, and that this force would undertake ”quick and effective missions” aimed at rebuffing growing threats to regional stability.
In late March, Arab foreign ministers assembled at an Arab League summit in Egypt’s Sharm Al-Sheikh adopted a draft resolution in support of the force’s creation.
The proposed force will be twice the size of NATO’s Response Force, at 40,000 men, according to an Arab League source. It will be based in Egypt, and will be led by a yet-to-be-determined Saudi officer.
IDF posts footage of medics saving Syrian rebel in Golan
The IDF on Saturday released rare footage of its medics performing a life-saving procedure on one of the most severely wounded Syrian combatants medical personnel have encountered in the Golan Heights, according to an assessment by the IDF chief medical officer in the area.
The man, a Syrian rebel who belongs to an unnamed organization fighting against the Assad regime and its allies, received treatment at the border and then inside Israel, and was ultimately able to return to Syria. It was not immediately clear when the incident occurred.
The IDF maintains a field hospital on the Syrian border, and has also treated hundreds of people wounded in the Syrian civil war at hospitals inside Israel.
The casualty in this case was transferred to an undisclosed location along Syria’s border with Israel by rebel forces working in conjunction with the IDF. He was treated by combat medics of the Givati infantry brigade.
CAMERA: A Closer Look at Who Funds Breaking the Silence
A previous post on May 6 observed that Breaking the Silence, the Israeli group that uses alleged soldier testimonials to accuse the Israeli defense forces of misconduct toward Palestinian civilians, is amply funded by European "humanitarian" organizations.
This raises the question as to why these European donors dedicate so much funding to exposing alleged misconduct by a few Israeli soldiers when the money would have greater humanitarian impact if it were used to sustain the countless victims of Islamic extremism and societal breakdown in the surrounding region. What makes the European fixation on Israel so baffling is that Israel already has in-place institutions to deal with such misconduct. The Israel Defense Forces enshrined a rigorous moral code to which its soldiers and officers are accountable. After every significant military operation, as a matter of routine, investigations into allegations of misconduct are pursued.
The largest donors to Breaking the Silence include European religious-based organizations and governmental groups who justify their support for Breaking the Silence, and other groups that seek to undermine Israel's standing, on humanitarian grounds. But are these groups fully forthcoming about their motivations? Is there more to this than just empathy for Palestinians, who are already at the top of the list as beneficiaries of financial and political support from western governments and non-governmental organizations and who enjoy the unique privilege of having a UN organization, UNRWA, solely dedicated to their needs?
One of the largest donors to Breaking the Silence is a Catholic organization from the Flemish portion of Belgium. A little history here is revelatory.
Wits University Vice Chairman Rebuffs ‘Jewish Puppet’ Critics: ‘It’s Racist and Antisemitic’
The vice chancellor of a major Johannesburg university struck back on Thursday at critics who claimed he had bowed to Jewish pressure over the sacking of student president Mcebo Dlamini, saying he is critical of Israel.
“I am a critic of the Israeli state,” said University of Witwatersrand Vice Chancellor Adam Habib, who had arrived at a debate on the subject of Dlamini’s dismissal to a chorus of boos.
“I was the only VC to write about the incursion into Gaza,” he said, referring to last summer’s IDF ground invasion of the Gaza Strip during the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas. “How did we go from the critique of Israel … to talking about all Jews? It’s racist and antisemitic.”
The vice chancellor had been labeled a “puppet” to Jewish donors by an alumni group and others for leading the panel that ultimately removed Dlamini, shortly after the student president with a knack for controversy posted to Facebook: “I love Adolf Hiter… There is an element of Hitler in every white person.”
How Medicine is Used to Promote the Demonization of Israel
Furthermore, two of the pro-Horton group leaders are also co-authors of the Gaza “open letter”—Drs. Iain Chalmers and Mads Gilbert. Chalmers has been caught on tape repeating David Duke-like hate rhetoric, referring to how “Zionists” exert “control in so many different domains,” labelingThe Lancet as one publication “they (Zionists) cannot suppress.” For his part, Gilbert is on record as a 9/11 apologist.
But these facts are erased as Horton and his team use their media connections to advance the attack. On April 24, 2015, the U.K.’s The Independent published a news story that completely sidesteps the ethical issues in the Gaza “Open Letter” and minimizes Manduca’s and Swee Ang’s blatant anti-Semitism. The article quotes unnamed “observers” who view the criticism of The Lancet as no less than “the most serious threat to The Lancet and free speech in academia” in almost 200 years.
While these lapses might merely suggest unprofessional journalism, the author—Jeremy Laurance—has a clear conflict of interest that was not disclosed. His brother is Tony Laurance, CEO of the U.K,-based Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), whose founder is none other than Swee Ang—one of the David Duke supporters and authors of the Gaza letter. MAP also partners with The Lancet in the Lancet Palestinian Health Alliance, a platform for anti-Israel political views under the guise of health advocacy.
As Horton and The Lancet’s refusals to genuinely address the issue of anti-Semitism, their position as ethical exemplars becomes increasingly tenuous. The contrast between their moral language and immoral actions could not be clearer. This discrepancy tarnishes The Lancet’s reputation as an academic journal as it demonizes Israel, Israeli academia, and Jews.
UK Jews condemn upcoming play on Second Intifada siege
British Jewish groups are “extremely concerned” about a new play set to premiere in England about a terrorist siege during the Second Intifada.
“The Siege,” which will open at the Lowry Theater in Manchester on May 13, is a re-telling of the April 2002 siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Over the course of a 39-day standoff, Palestinian terrorists holed up in the church, taking clergy and civilians hostage. Eight Palestinian gunmen were killed.
The Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland told the London Jewish Chronicle that the play is a “whitewashing of the Second Intifada,” and the Board of Deputies of British Jews said that it would be “extremely concerned if it turned out to be the case that British taxpayers were funding a play that promoted terrorism as positive and legitimate.”
Saudi Arabia cancels contract with company that flew airliner to Israel
Saudi Arabia has terminated its contract with the Portuguese airline Hi Fly after it flew an empty jumbo jet marked with the logo of the kingdom’s national carrier, Saudia, to Ben-Gurion Airport for repairs.
The announcement was reported in the Twitter feed of a Saudi news agency.
The arrival of the jet with the logo to Ben-Gurion Airport overnight Tuesday generated a stir in the Israeli media on Wednesday after surprised airport workers spotted the plane.
The plane in question, an Airbus A330-300 devoid of passengers, arrived from Brussels to Tel Aviv for routine maintenance work with the Bedek Aviation Company, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), officials said.
A European client that works with Bedek for plane maintenance happens to lease its jets to various corporations, including Saudia, they explained.
Mubarak sentenced to 3 years in prison for corruption
Egypt’s deposed leader Hosni Mubarak and his two sons were sentenced Saturday to three years in prison and a fine in a retrial on corruption charges they faced earlier. It wasn’t immediately clear whether it will include time he’s already served since his country’s 2011 revolt.
The corruption case — dubbed by the Egyptian media as the “presidential palaces” affair — concerns charges that Mubarak and his two sons embezzled millions of dollars’ worth of state funds over the course of a decade. The funds were meant to pay for renovating and maintaining presidential palaces but were instead allegedly spent on upgrading the family’s private residences.
Mubarak was sentenced to three years, his sons to four in the case. He later appealed, sparking the retrial.
Supporters shouted in anger as Judge Hassan Hassanin announced his verdict, which included a 125 million Egyptian pound ($16.3 million) fine to be paid among the three men, as well as the return of 21 million Egyptian pounds ($2.7 million) they embezzled.
Inspectors Find Chemical Weapons at Undeclared Site in Syria
Inspectors from the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found traces of the deadly nerve agents sarin and VX at a research facility in Syria that had not been publicly declared, Reuters reported today.
Samples taken by experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in December and January tested positive for chemical precursors needed to make the toxic agents, the sources told Reuters on the condition of anonymity because the information is confidential.
“This is a pretty strong indication they have been lying about what they did with sarin,” one diplomatic source said. “They have so far been unable to give a satisfactory explanation about this finding.”
Syria pledged to rid its of its deadly chemical agents, as well as eliminate the ability to manufacture them, in a deal to avert a military strike in the wake of a deadly chemical attack against residents of a Damascus suburb in August 2013. The OPCW was charged with certifying Syria’s compliance.
Even after Syria was declared to be free of chemical weapons last year, there were doubts that Syria had fully complied with its obligations. A few months later, Syria admitted to four more chemical weapons facilities that it had not previously declared.
More Evidence Turkey Supports Al Qaeda
First, there’s the passive support. If Turkey wanted to stop the flow of foreign fighters into Syria, it could simply tweak its visa rules for those countries that are the source to require visas for those under the age of 40. This wouldn’t impact most businessmen, but would stop the impulsive Jihadi. It could stop allowing thousands of foreign fighters to traverse its territory virtually unmolested. Stopping two dozen, when more than 100 times as many get a free pass, isn’t counter-terrorism; it is optics, equivalent to when Pakistan arrests a Taliban shadow governor, all the while supporting the rest. It could stop extending its medical services to wounded terrorists, all the while denying care to pro-democracy protestors beaten by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Brown Shirts.
Then, there is more active Turkish support, including allegations that Turkey has armed and supplied al Qaeda elements in Syria. These accusations are now more fire than smoke. One Islamic State commander, for example, has acknowledged Turkey’s material help. There is also documentary evidence about the relationship.
Last month, Turkey arrested 17 Turkish soldiers who intercepted an arms shipment destined to radicals in Syria. The arms shipment had been authorized by Turkish intelligence. Now, a Turkish judge has issued an arrest warrant for five more who sought to prevent the Turkish supply of weaponry to al Qaeda. So, here we have a titular NATO ally, which instead of arresting al Qaeda and Islamic State terrorists instead throws the book at those seeking to stop their supply. Welcome to the reality of Turkey, an undeniable sponsor of terror and a force for instability and sectarian hatred throughout the region. Diplomats can put lipstick on a pig, but there’s no denying this pig.
Turkey's Angry Reactions To Mounting International Recognition of Armenian Genocide Continue; New Voices in Turkey Demand The Country Face Up To The Past
As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, AKP government officials, and pro-AKP partisan Islamist media continue their attacks against the Vatican, the European Parliament, France, Austria, Germany, and Russia for their official and unofficial recognition of the mass killing of Armenians in 1915 by Ottoman Turks as genocide on the events' centennial, new voices in Turkey's anti-AKP media are advocating for Turkish recognition of the events as genocide.
Also on April 24, 2015, Turkey celebrated the centennial of its victory at the Battle of Gallipoli with grand ceremonies, with the participation of British Crown Prince Charles and Prince Harry, prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand, and dignitaries from a number of Middle Eastern and African countries. The same day, a solemn ceremony in the Armenian capital of Yerevan commemorated the massacred Ottoman Armenians, attended by, inter alia, French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Turkish leaders expressed their displeasure at these leaders' attendance in Yerevan; President Erdogan said that at the ceremony they would "get together, play, and dance to their own music" and that he wished that they had not gone there. He also boasted that while two heads of state had gone to Yerevan, "thanks to Allah, 20 came to Turkey" for its Gallipoli centennial.
This year, U.S. President Barack Obama again refrained from using the word "genocide" in his annual statement on the Armenian commemoration of the 1915 events, enraging Armenian-Americans, but that did not stop Turkish criticism of the U.S., as well as of other Western countries.
Turkey Recalls Luxembourg Envoy Over Armenian Genocide
Turkey on Thursday recalled its envoy to Luxembourg to Ankara for consultations, after that country’s parliament recognized the mass killings of Armenians in World War I as genocide, AFP reported.
The recall of the envoy is the latest such move by Ankara after it withdrew its ambassadors to the Vatican and Austria over the same controversy last month.
“We condemn and strongly reject the unfair resolution the Luxembourg parliament has adopted by distorting the historical facts and the law,” the foreign ministry said in a statement quoted by AFP.
It said it had summoned the Luxembourg ambassador to Ankara to protest the resolution, which it said was “far from understanding” the role of parliaments in such issues.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s ambassador to Luxembourg Levent Sahinkaya “has been recalled to Ankara for consultations,” it added.
Austrian Catholic, Protestant churches apologize to Jews
Austria’s Roman Catholic and Protestant churches have apologized for their anti-Semitic attitudes before and during World War II.
The separate apologies were issued Friday, a day of nationwide commemorations of the end of World War II 70 years ago.
Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn said the Catholic Church “must acknowledge its share of responsibility for the creation of a climate of disdain and hatred” for Jews before the Nazi era. He spoke of a lack of “pity and solidarity with our Jewish fellow citizens” during the Holocaust.
Austria’s Protestant Council of Churches expressed “particular shame” for “complicity against Jews and other groups … that were considered ‘unfit to live.'”
US, EU reps concerned with anti-Semitism to partake in 'Solidarity Shabbat'
Twelve members of the US Congress and a number of European ambassadors will attend synagogues this month and participate in other activities to show their concern about anti-Semitism.
Among 11 Democrats and the Republican pledged to observe the May 22 “Solidarity Sabbat” is Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate minority leader and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), one of two Muslims in Congress. The sole Republican so far pledged is Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.).
Also pledged to participate, according to the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, which is organizing the event, are ambassadors to Washington from Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Georgia and Cyprus. Noted human rights activists Chen Guangcheng, formerly of China, and Paul Rusesabagina, formerly of Rwanda, also are signed on.
In addition to visiting synagogues, options for participation include hosting a Shabbat dinner and organizing a meeting on religious intolerance.
New Birthright-Inspired Program Set to Bring Young Christians to Israel
The Covenant Journey, a new initiative inspired by the popular Taglit-Birthright Israel program, is set to bring young Christians to Israel this summer in order to strengthen their faith and encourage them to become goodwill ambassadors for Israel.
“There’s one thing better than standing with Israel, and that’s standing in Israel,” Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer said Thursday at the annual Christian Solidarity Event at the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, where the new program was announced. “It is critical to bring the next generation of leaders in the Christian community to Israel. If they walk in the places where the patriarchs and the prophets and the kings and that young rabbi from the Galilee walked, then they will stand with Israel here and they will strengthen their Christian identity.”
The program will bring hundreds of Christian students to Israel on a Birthright-style trip at a cost of only $500 per person, thanks to donors including the Museum of the Bible and the Philos Project. (Birthright trips for Jews ages 18-26, by comparison, are free.) Students are selected for the Christian program based on their leadership roles on campus as well as their desire to advocate for Israel and strengthen their Christian faith.
Israeli invention to end cooking, hunger?
Plenty of mobile apps help consumers order meals for delivery or offer recipes.
But a new app developed by Israeli entrepreneurs will actually prepare the food for you on your kitchen counter.
While not quite as fantastical as it sounds — to use the app you also need a coffeemaker-sized appliance called The Genie — the invention promises to prepare mess-free, all-natural, healthy food in just seconds.
Described by one writer as “like a Keurig [coffeemaker] for food,” the device, which looks sort of like a fancy rice cooker, uses Keurig-like single-serving, disposable (but in this case recyclable) pods.
Genie creators Ayelet Carasso and Doron Marco told Reuters the food in the pods will be nutritious and free of preservatives, the ingredients kept fresh simply through freeze-drying technology.
BBC report on Israeli field hospital in Nepal
It is always a pleasure to be able to note the appearance of accurate and impartial BBC produced content on Israel-related topics and just such reporting appeared on the BBC News website’s Asia page on May 1st in the form of a filmed report which was also shown on BBC television news.
The BBC’s Clive Myrie visited the IDF’s field hospital in Nepal and filed the following report.
The IDF field hospital has already treated more than a thousand patients and also in Nepal are a team of Israeli medical clowns and an IsraAID delegation which is offering medical care in more remote areas.
Nepal earthquake Inside Kathmandu field hospital BBC News


Around the Clock Action of our Field Hospital in Nepal

Soldier describes how immoral Hamas is

Looking at more of the "Breaking the Silence" testimonies, here's an example where the leftist group is trying hard to pretend that the IDF is doing something immoral - but in fact it is Hamas that is trying to get the IDF to kill civilians.

There was this mentally handicapped girl in the neighborhood, apparently, and the fact that shots were fired near her feet only made her laugh (earlier in his testimony the soldier described a practice of shooting near people’s feet in order to get them to distance themselves from the forces). She would keep getting closer and it was clear to everyone that she was mentally handicapped, so no one shot at her. No one knew how to deal with this situation. She wandered around the areas of the advance guard company and some other company – I assume she just wanted to return home, I assume she ran away from her parents, I don’t think they would have sent her there. It is possible that she was being taken advantage of – perhaps it was a show, I don’t know. I thought to myself that it was a show, and I admit that I really, really wanted to shoot her in the knees because I was convinced it was one. I was sure she was being sent by Hamas to test our alertness, to test our limits, to figure out how we respond to civilians.
Later they also let loose a flock of sheep on us, seven or ten of whom had bombs tied to their bellies from below.
I don’t know if I was right or wrong, but I was convinced that this girl was a test. Eventually, enough people fired shots near her feet for her to apparently get the message that ‘OK, maybe I shouldn’t be here,’ and she turned and walked away.
The reason this happened is that earlier that day we heard about an old man who went in the direction of a house held by a different force; [the soldiers] didn’t really know what to do so they went up to him. This guy, 70 or 80 years old, turned out to be booby-trapped from head to toe. From that moment on the protocol was very, very clear: shoot toward the feet. And if they don’t go away, shoot to kill.
Here we see that the IDF soldiers held their fire even though there was a very real chance that the girl was booby-trapped, that Hamas had booby trapped sheep, and that Hamas had booby-trapped an old man.

But what is the headline that Breaking the Silence uses for this story?

“I really, really wanted to shoot her in the knees”

This shows quite clearly that BTS is not interested in showing the truth about the IDF, but that they are fishing for dirt to make it look bad.

In other cases the BTS interviewer tried very hard to get the soldier to denounce IDF's rules of engagement:

There were cases in which families were apparently killed by fighter jet strikes. How do you explain that?
A lot of houses were hit, and some of those houses were also shared by occupants aside from [Hamas] militants. I think most of the families that were hurt were in cases like Shuja’iyya, (the testifier is referring to the artillery shot in the aftermath of the event in which seven IDF soldiers were killed when their APC was hit by a rocket) where the threshold for opening fire was more lax because forces were in immediate danger.

But the forces were operating in neighborhoods that were supposed to be uninhabited.
‘Supposed to be’ is one thing, but in reality there were people in there sometimes. In the urban areas of Rafah and Khuza’a, every other house was marked as ‘active’ (being used by militants). It was a real hornet’s nest in there, and they took down those houses systematically. ‘Roof knocking’ (a method by which a small missile is fired on the roof of a building as a warning shot to its residents that it is about to be struck) followed by a boom, ‘roof knocking,’ a boom. Despite the fact that no one was ‘supposed to be’ in there.
Showing that the IDF still tried to warn residents even in areas thatthey shouldn't have been and that they were under active fire from Hamas!
But there are means of confirming that there aren’t any people [in the houses], so how did it happen that they got killed anyway?
We can’t know everything. We did everything we could in order to know. If the family had no phone and a ‘roof knocking’ was conducted, and after a few minutes no one came out, then the assumption was that there was no one there.

You were working under the assumption that once a ‘roof knocking’ was conducted everyone leaves the building immediately, and if nobody leaves it means there was no one inside?
People who are willing to sacrifice themselves, there’s nothing you can do. We have no way of knowing if there were people in there who decided not to get out.

But the bomb was dropped on the house?
Yes.

And say after a ‘roof knocking’ 10 people go up on the roof of the house?
Then you don’t strike the house.

And what if after a ‘roof knocking’ 10 people stay inside the living room?
If people were inside the house I didn’t know about it. But I don’t think that was taken into consideration [over whether or not to bomb the house].

Is it a requirement to make sure no civilians are in a structure before it’s attacked by a fighter jet?
It’s not obligatory. Say the target was [Hamas’] deputy battalion commander in Shuja’iyya, an attack would be launched if the number of civilians wasn’t too high. By too high, I mean a two-digit number.
Everything this soldier says isperfectly legal in the laws of armed conflict. What else could soldiers do to determine if civilians are in the house after leaflets, phone calls and roof-knocking? Should they ring the doorbell and ask politely to speak to the head of the household?

These examples show that Breaking the Silence is not a human rights organization. Its entire purpose is to demonize the IDF, to make it look bad even when it does nothing remotely wrong.

If only real reporters who know something about real wars would read these and write about it.