Saturday Snips

Report says Israel tested nuke virus
NEW YORK, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Israel tested the Stuxnet virus in its nuclear facility in Dimona before it was used on Iran's nuclear facilities a New York Times report said. Israel allegedly used Centrifuges identical to those in Iran to test out the virus that caused setbacks to Tehran's Nuclear Program, the U.S. newspaper said in a report published Sunday. "Israel has spun nuclear Centrifuges virtually identical to Iran's at Natanz, where Iranian scientists are struggling to enrich Uranium," the ...

Israel widens access to Jerusalem Muslim Quarter
Israel has widened access to a revered Jewish site in the heart of the Jerusalem Old City’s Muslim quarter, a move that threatens to inflame tensions at one of the world’s most contested religious sites. Municipal officials recently ordered the removal of scaffolding -- which propped up an arch underneath Palestinian homes -- to enlarge the courtyard in front of a small section of the ancient wall, a remnant of the Second Temple destroyed in 70 AD, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper r...

Israel clears out disputed site in Muslim quarter
Israel has widened access to a revered Jewish site in the heart of the Jerusalem Old City’s Muslim quarter, a move that threatens to inflame tensions at one of the world’s most contested religious sites. Municipal officials recently ordered the removal of scaffolding -- which propped up an arch underneath Palestinian homes -- to enlarge the courtyard in front of a small section of the ancient wall, a remnant of the Second Temple destroyed in 70 AD, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper r...

Israeli settlement plan could be approved next week
Meir Margalit told Reuters the Jerusalem city planning commission was set to consider on January 24 the building plans for Gilo, an urban settlement built on land Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed to Jerusalem. "It is another nail in the peace process's coffin," Margalit, a member of the left-wing opposition party Meretz, said about the project, which seemed certain to draw Palestinian and international condemnation. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week denounced the demoli...

Israeli settlement plan could be approved next week
Jerusalem | Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:01am EST Jerusalem (Reuters) - A plan to build 1,400 new homes for Jews on Israeli-annexed West Bank land could be approved as early as next week by Israel's Jerusalem municipality, a city Council Member said on Sunday. Meir Margalit told Reuters the Jerusalem city planning commission was set to consider on January 24 the building plans for Gilo, an urban settlement built on land Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed to Jerusalem. "It is another nail in the ...

Massive new settlement project in E.Jerusalem: Israeli radio
Stumble This! Jerusalem (AFP) - A massive new construction project of at least 1,400 homes is about to be authorised in a settlement neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli Military radio reported Sunday. Speaking on the radio, municipal councillors confirmed the project, which was denounced by leftwingers but hailed by the right. "There is no doubt that a green light for these constructions will deal a knockout blow to the peace process with the Palestinians," said Jerusalem ci...

The True Meaning of Blood Libel
Amid the fierce and often partisan debate sparked by Sarah Palin’s use of the words “blood Libel,” one thing is clear: The phrase has become increasingly detached from its historical context. For centuries, the phrase “the blood libel” — with the definite article — has been used to signify a unique false accusation against a specific group: the spurious and heinous charge that Jews kill Christian Children to use their blood to make matzo for Passover. But now, as

About Blood Libel
Although few in numbers, Jews have been my classmates and good friends since grade school and even though I knew very little about their religious beliefs, I respected those differences and went about my business, just as they did.  I know for a fact that at least a few of my FaceBook friends are Jewish and, undoubtedly, a few Jews are reading this post at this very moment.  That’s great, but I honestly don’t think you’re reading because your Jewish and I’m Cath...

They Broke Begin, but Wont Break Palin
Menachem Begin is today widely regarded as one of the most effective and far-sighted statesmen in Israeli history. At one end of the political spectrum, he is fondly remembered for surrendering the entire Sinai peninsula to Egypt and uprooting Israeli communities there. At the other end of the spectrum, he is hailed for taking strong action against PLO Terrorists and Saddam Hussein’s nuclear reactor. But when he was first elected Prime Minister in 1977, Begin was the object of an unprecedent...

Romancing The Golem: The Blood Libel and Sarah Palin
It takes courage to admit that you're wrong about something. I think we all agree on that. We all think that guarded, half-apologies or distracting, sugar-coated sentiments are just as spineless. And defending spineless sentiments with totally inappropriate terminology is obscenely insulting, unless, of course we take into account that the person perpetrating such an insult did so without having a clue as to what the term meant in the first place. "Blood Libel" certainly sounds like something...

Palin doesnt threaten pogroms
Last night on Chris Matthews David Corn said that Sarah Palin’s blood Libel comment was the kind of thing that had brought forth Pogroms against Jews once. He offered a similar fearful idea at Mother Jones: Yet for her to equate the criticism she's received with the genocidal persecution of an entire people demonstrates either ignorance or narcissism. Or both. "Blood libel" is a term that refers to Jews using the blood of Children (mainly Christians) for religious practices, and this false a...

This Jared Kid (Part One)...
It's been a week since Jared Lee Loughner went completely off his nut and shot twenty people, killing six. When I first heard about that, I initially thought it was some good-for-nothing lay-about who spent more time reading articles from the Whirled Nut Daily website in his mother's basement than he did looking for a job to pay for room and board. Then I heard about that cross-hairs map Sarah Palin tried to erase from everyone's memory, and even though there was, and is, no evidence that Loughn...

New plan for 1,400 apartments in east Jerusalem
Jerusalem officials say they are considering a new proposal to build 1,400 apartments in the contested eastern half of the city. Approval would certainly enrage the Palestinians, who have broken off Peace Talks with Israel for refusing to halt construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Palestinians claim both captured areas, along with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, for a future state. Jewish construction in East Jerusalem has stoked frictions with the United States as well. Jerusalem Ci...

New plan for 1,400 apartments in east Jerusalem
JERUSALEM - Jerusalem officials say they are considering a new proposal to build 1,400 apartments in the contested eastern half of the city. Approval would certainly enrage the Palestinians, who have broken off Peace Talks with Israel for refusing to halt construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Palestinians claim both captured areas, along with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, for a future state. Jewish construction in East Jerusalem has stoked frictions with the United States as ...

Massive new settlement project in E.Jerusalem: radio
A massive new construction project in a district of annexed East Jerusalem where there are already Jewish settlements is about to be authorised, with 1,400 homes planned, Israeli Military radio reported Sunday. The homes will be built in the settlement of Gilo, near Bethlehem, the report said. It is expected to be given the green light by the district planning commission in the coming days, it added. ...

To become a professor at Yale, it helps to be a slacker
It's funny how Amy Chua's book about "Tiger Mothers," on the superiority of Chinese family culture, is giving a successful American caste, Jews, an opening to say, hey guess what we're not driven! This is the theme of Ayelet Waldman's piece in the Wall Street Journal. And of Lawrence Solomon's piece in the Financial Post criticizing Chinese mothering as too regimented and pointing out how few Nobel Prizes they've gotten. (Hint hint, Jews have won a bazillion.) I pass this along not because of ...

Diana Butler Bass: Gabby Opened Her Eyes and We Should Too
"Gabby opened her eyes." When President Obama uttered these simple words, the crowd at the Tucson memorial service cheered wildly. "Gabby opened her eyes." Four simple words. Four very spiritual words. Congresswoman Giffords was shot at the beginning of the Christian season called Epiphany. This year, Epiphany lasts until March 8, the day before Ash Wednesday. The word, epiphany, means "manifestation," "revelation," or "unveiling." As it follows Christmas, it is the time of the year in which C...

A stunning survey from Baltimore
This is not directly related to Israel, but it's too important not to discuss. How many of you remember this chart and this post? There's a new survey out in Baltimore - one of America's largest Jewish communities - that's confirming the chart above: Some of the study’s more dramatic finds show a community that has surged from being 21 percent to 32 percent Orthodox, has seen those “just managing” economically or worse shoot from one in five to one in three, and has witnessed people ages

Eastern Exposure
Emmanuel Evzerikhim, Filmmaker, in Stalingrad, 1942. When a person is asked to name a seminal Jewish photographer from the 20th century, she might respond with the names Robert Capa or Roman Vishniac. Less frequently is her answer Georgii Zelma, Semyon Fridlyand, or Evgenii Khaldei, who were among a group of Soviet Jewish photographers who documented their times from an Eastern vantage point. Among other phenomena, they took pictures of Soviet industrialization under Stalin, the creation of Biro...

Deja vu all over again?
When last we left 'Uri Brodsky,' the alleged procurer of a German passport for 'Michael Bodenheimer,' which was allegedly used by the liquidators of Hamas Terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, had been extradited from Poland to Germany, where he was released on bail. Now, the Germans have decided that they want him back. This is from a Google translation of the German side of Der Spiegel. been a year after the Assassination of the Hamas official Mahmud al-Mabhouh is a case against the alleged Mossad a...

Israelis protest for democracy
TEL AVIV, Israel, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Thousands of Israelis affiliated with the left protested Saturday night over what organizers described as a growing attack on Democracy in Israel. Joined by Knesset members, some 10,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv to Protest a recent decision to establish a parliamentary committee of inquiry to investigate the foreign funding of left-wing organizations in Israel, Ynetnews.com said. Last week, the Knesset voted 41 to 16 to establish such a committee in a bill in...

Jerusalem housing units to be approved
JERUSALEM, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- A Jerusalem planning commission is expected to approve the construction of 1,400 housing units in a neighborhood on its southwestern outskirts, officials said. The plan dubbed Gilo: Southern Slopes, calls for the building of 1,400 housing units in an area between Gilo, a large residential district on Jerusalem's south western outskirts and Mount Gilo, Haaretz said Sunday. The planning commission is expected to approve construction of 780 housing units in the first st...

Israeli PM: Tunisia highlights instability
JERUSALEM, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- The turmoil in Tunisia highlights the instability of the Middle East, Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at Sunday's cabinet meeting. "We are vigorously following the developments," Netanyahu said of the civil uprising in Tunisia that forced its president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country for Saudi Arabia. "The area we live in is unstable. Everyone today sees centers of great instability in the geographical area we live in. We hope that quiet a...

66415
How Much Anti-Semitism Is Too Much? Recent Wikileaks cables reveal that Diplomats at the UN are haunted by a thorny question: How much UN-driven anti-Semitism is too much? The original UN was built on the ashes of the Jewish people and owes its Human Rights foundations to the Victims of the Holocaust. At today's UN, we have now learned, Diplomats hunker down near the General Assembly hall "listening outside with headphones on" trying to figure out the extent of the hate-speech that those on the ...

Israel tested worm linked to Iran atom woes: report
In what the Times described as a joint Israeli-U.S. effort to undermine Iran's nuclear ambitions, it said the tests of the destructive Stuxnet worm had occurred over the past two years at the heavily guarded Dimona complex in the Negev desert. The newspaper cited unidentified intelligence and Military experts familiar with Dimona who said Israel had spun Centrifuges virtually identical to those at Iran's Natanz facility, where Iranian scientists are struggling to enrich Uranium. "To check out t...