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Reporting on the Middle East, Science, and Education for April 30, 2009 - ו' אייר תשס"ט
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By Karin Kloosterman, Israel 21C, April 30, 2009
Growing tomatoes and raising dairy cows in 113 degree Fahrenheit is no easy feat, but over the last 30 years or so, Israeli agriculture technologies have been made to cope with whatever Mother Nature throws at them. It’s taken special fans, software, innovative dew collectors, drip irrigation, integrated pest control tactics, and state of the art greenhouses along with some “mother of invention” — Israeli style.
Old Macdonald would be proud: mainly as a means to survive in the hostile desert climate, Israeli agronomists, entrepreneurs, academics, and government agencies, started focusing on agriculture as a means to survive. The fruits of their labor will be on show next week at Israel’s international agriculture exhibition Agritech, from May 3 to 5 in Tel Aviv.
Over the years, Israel married pure science with know how and technology, and today the country exports more agriculture technologies than the fresh produce which inspired the innovations in the first place.
Three thousand international guests are expected to take part in next week’s exhibition — including 25 ministerial and 80 commercial delegations from around the world, as well as up to 15,000 Israelis. This year, as attendees pour over the 200 plus Israeli companies being showcased, they will also be able to take part in a world-class conference — Feeding the Future.
“First of all this conference is aimed at a foreign audience and visitors,” says Agritech co-chair Arie Regev, who is also the director of foreign relations for Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
With the first Agritech exhibition in 2003, followed by another in 2006, this will be the third, and despite the slumping economy, Regev expects the same turn out as the last event which included visitors from over 100 countries.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts, Science, Science and Technology on April 30, 2009 - ו' אייר תשס"ט at 8:49 pm
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By Raja Kamal and Tom G. Palmer, Daily Star, April 27, 2009
Recently, a Saudi judge shocked many Saudis and global public opinion by upholding a marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man. That ruling brought to public awareness an appalling practice that has for too long been hidden from view and shielded from open discussion and criticism.
The case was not unique. Another highly publicized recent case in Yemen featured a 10-year-old girl who sought a divorce after being forced by her parents to marry a 30-year-old man, who took advantage of his power in order to rape and abuse her. It is disgraceful that such blatantly coerced “marriages” are allowed to take place at all. Yet, those familiar with educational systems in the Arab world are not surprised.
Shameful traditional systems of education that suppress critical thinking make it possible for such backward practices to continue, shielded beyond a local, narrow, and unexamined view of religion. Rulings like that in Saudi Arabia are the outcomes of that failing educational system. Some Arab societies have failed miserably to produce well prepared generations capable of catching up with most corners of the world. The Saudi religious curriculum, which couples rote memorization of texts with uncritical acceptance of tribal practices, keeps the country backward. It does not prepare students to cope with modernity, nor to be productive participants in an increasingly global economy.
Despite the flood of billions and billions in oil money to public education, Saudi students consistently score among the worst in math and science. The greatest culprit is the suppression of critical thinking, coupled with limited and weak exposure to math and science. An impressive investment in the infrastructure of higher education has not yielded positive returns. It is as if the state had purchased the most advanced computer hardware, but neglected to secure any software to run it.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Education Report, Islam, Middle East Report, Opinion on April 30, 2009 - ו' אייר תשס"ט at 11:13 am
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Our foes have not yet begun to wield their full might against us. Harsh times and bitter auguries lie in store for us. Many have already fallen, but many more will fall, and the boundaries between front and rear will become blurred. The great test still awaits us and we must all meet it.
Today is the world’s birthday for Israel. Today is the end of one period, and today is the onset of a new period. Today is the end of the British Mandate in Palestine, the Mandate for which the Jewish people held out tremendous hopes – almost messianic hopes – a quarter of a century ago, but which over the years came to symbolize a great moral failure. Today marks the expiration of the White Paper, that shameful document, which tried vainly to cloak in legal garb the vast betrayal of the historic rights of the Jewish people, but which in its nine years of existence succeeded in closing the gates of the country to tens and hundreds of thousands of Jews who could have been saved from the Nazi furnaces.
Today Hebrew independence has been revived on the soil of Israel after 1,900 years of exile. In the course of that lengthy period, the face of the world changed, the face of this land changed and so, too, the face of the Jewish people changed. But the bond between the people and its land was not severed, and today, as thousands of years ago, our ancient and rejuvenated nation, after an unexampled period of subjugation and suffering, sets about laying the foundations for a life of freedom and independence on its soil. And today we enter a new stage, a stage of heightened danger, in our desperate struggle with the neighboring Arab peoples, who have so far refused to accept the historic necessity of Israel’s return to its land.
Hebrew independence is not being renewed during an hour of mercy. Nor are we being measured with strict justice by the [UN] General Assembly or in the councils of the world’s rulers. We are not begging for the world’s mercy and are not fearful of its judgment. But it is our obligation to protest against the harsh perversion of justice, in which attempts were made to heap obstacles on the path of a persecuted nation that aspired to a tranquil haven. It was just half a year ago that this world, the world of power and materialism, sat in judgment of us, and despite everything, despite the intriguing and the scheming, we were exonerated. But the world of material power lacked the moral strength to execute its own judgment, and schemers and plotters of all types tried to abnegate it.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on April 29, 2009 - ה' אייר תשס"ט at 10:24 am
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The demand for the establishment of a Palestinian state, speaking of the recent Durban II conference, is another type of anti-Semitic trick against us. With all the giant states in the Middle East, it is the Jewish State that is required to share with the Palestinians the little territory that we have.
See Also: Reexamining Two-State Solution
By Hagai Segal, YNet News, April 27, 2009
Our independence celebrations this year will be held against the backdrop of the upcoming Palestinian independence. We are the only state in the world excited ahead of the establishment of an enemy state. Some groups around here are already planning huge parties.
To our new government’s credit, it’s not taking part in the celebrations. As opposed to the previous government, it does not show religious longing to the 1967 borders. However, it’s making life easy for itself by focusing on reciting the security risks posed to us by the Mitchell plan: A second Hamastan, Qassam rocket attacks on central Israel, the right of return, etc.
Netanyahu and his people are in fact admitting that the Palestinians deserve a state, but they claim that it won’t be safe enough to have one, and therefore it cannot be established now; perhaps we can do it later.
It appears that even the most right-wing Likudniks ran out of the courage to question the basic assumptions entrenched here by the Left. Only 30-40 years ago, we were arguing whether there’s even such thing as a Palestinian people, and today there are almost no reservations over its demand for complete sovereignty. Its sophisticated PR agents managed to bring it into the family of nations via a fast tracked registration procedure. As opposed to what is customarily required, it was not required to present documents that prove longtime existence, cultural uniqueness, and previous experience in running a country.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on April 27, 2009 - ג' אייר תשס"ט at 9:26 am
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by Avraham Zuroff, Arutz Sheva
Iyar 2, 5769, 26 April 09
(IsraelNN.com) An opportunity for spiritual self-improvement is available during the period between Passover and Shavuot (Pentecost). At this time, Jews around the world count the Omer, the measure of barley that is harvested in the spring and was brought to the Holy Temples as an offering on the second of Passover. The 49 days of counting, which began on the evening of the second day of Passover, continues until the day before the holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost), when the Torah was given to the Jewish People.
The Torah (Lev. 12:15) commands, “You shall count for yourselves – from the day after the Shabbat, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving – seven Shabbats, they shall be complete.” The phrase the “day after Shabbat” is interpreted as meaning the day after the first day of Passover, which is a Sabbath in the sense that specific acts of work are prohibited.
Each evening, Jews count both the days and weeks. According to the Sefer HaChinuch, the counting symbolizes the Jewish People’s renewed anticipation of receiving the Torah. Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov explains that each day that we progress on our ways of rectifying our character deficiencies, we should not look at the ultimate goal, for we might not be able to appreciate it. “Look behind you to the Omer, to your very first offering, and count from there so that you can measure your progress,” Rabbi Kitov writes.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, Middle East, Monotheistic Religions, Recent Posts on April 26, 2009 - ב' אייר תשס"ט at 9:46 am
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Launches Grass Roots Effort Aimed At Shifting U.S. Approach Towards Israel And The Palestinians
See Also: Reexamining Two-State Solution
The National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) today urged American political leaders to reconsider its “two-state solution” policy with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian situation. The NCYI also announced that they are initiating a grass roots effort intended to enlighten U.S. leaders as to the dangers of advocating for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. The National Council of Young Israel’s actions come in the wake of recent statements by U.S. diplomatic leaders which signal that the United States intends to aggressively pursue a “two-state solution” as a prerequisite to peace in the region.
NCYI President Shlomo Z. Mostofsky, Esq. questioned the logic of putting forth a proposal that is virtually certain to fail. He cited a number of outstanding issues that essentially preclude the furtherance of any peace talks prior to them being addressed and resolved.
For example, Mostofsky pointed to the fact that the Palestinian Authority’s Chief Justice recently reminded Palestinians that selling land to Jews is considered “high treason,” a crime that carries with it a death sentence. In fact, numerous Palestinians have been put to death over the years for allegedly selling property to Jews. “It is unfathomable to engage in any serious discussion about peace while the Palestinians’ longstanding racist policy of equating selling land to a Jew with a death sentence remains in effect,” said Mostofsky. “We question how the United States could decide to engage in direct interaction with a regime that advocates a housing policy which undermines all of the protections that America’s fair housing policies expressly seek to preserve for its own citizenry.”
Mostofsky also cited the ongoing saga involving Israeli MIA Gilad Shalit as a barrier to any peace agreement. “So long as the Palestinians continue to use this young man’s life as a bargaining chip, their assertion that they are interested in peace is absolutely meaningless,” said Mostofsky. “Until Gilad Shalit is unconditionally released and reunited with his family, the prospect of peace is a mere fantasy.”
click here for a list of names and contact information
Source: National Council Young Israel
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on April 24, 2009 - ל' ניסן תשס"ט at 10:20 am
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— By Daniel Gorelick, Science Planet, 22 April 2009
Guest Blogger
Chaitan Khosla and Harmit Vora
Stanford University
Fossil fuels account for 95 percent of world energy usage. Consumption of coal, petroleum, and natural gas has increased significantly over the last several decades, as have carbon dioxide emissions, the primary reason for global climate change.
The implications of climate change have stimulated significant efforts to discover and commercialize renewable sources of energy that have zero or reduced net carbon dioxide emissions. Finding replacements for gasoline has received significant attention in the United States, where the transportation sector consumes the most energy. Biofuels, liquid fuels derived from renewable plants, have been viewed as prime candidates to replace gasoline.
Commercialized Biofuels
The two predominant biofuels on the U.S market today are corn ethanol and soybean biodiesel. Corn ethanol has drawbacks that might hurt its long-term chances in the biofuels market. It is not as energy-rich as gasoline – a gallon of ethanol contains less energy than a gallon of gasoline. Ethanol can’t be distributed using existing infrastructure because it has different chemical properties than gasoline. Unless significant modifications are made to current automobiles, ethanol can only be used in low percentage blends with gasoline.
The other major biofuel, biodiesel, is derived from lipids (fat) in plant seeds. Biodiesel’s biggest barrier to widespread use is the availability of raw material. A recent study showed that if all the plant (and even animal lipids) in the United States were dedicated to produce biofuels, the amount of biofuel produced would be less than five percent of the total volume of liquid fuels consumed each year.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Alternative Energy, Biomass fuels, Climate Change, Recent Posts on April 24, 2009 - ל' ניסן תשס"ט at 9:36 am
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The most tempting aspect of statelessness is that it permits a people to savor the pleasures of religious zeal, extremist ideologies, and moral absolutes, without having to make the kinds of messy, mundane compromises that accompany the work of looking after a geographical space.
by Robert D. Kaplan, Atlantic Monthly, April 21, 2009
See Also: Suffering Palestinians
The statelessness of Palestinian Arabs has been a principal feature of world politics for more than half a century. It is the signature issue of our time. The inability of Israelis and Palestinians to reach an accord of mutual recognition and land-for-peace has helped infect the globe with violence and radicalism—and has long been a bane of American foreign policy. While the problems of the Middle East cannot be substantially blamed on the injustice done to Palestinians, that injustice has nonetheless played a role in weakening America’s position in the region.
Obviously, part of the problem has been Israeli intransigence. Despite seeming to submit to territorial concessions, one Israeli government after another has quietly continued to bolster illegal settlements in the occupied territories. The new Israeli government may be the worst yet: Its foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, is so extreme in his anti-Arab views that he makes the right-wing Likud prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appear like the centrist he isn’t. The prospects for peace under this government are fundamentally bleak.
And yet this Israeli government faithfully represents the Israeli electorate, which is in utter despair over the impossibility of finding credible partners on the Palestinian side with which to negotiate. Hamas is dedicated to the destruction of Israel. President Mahmoud Abbas’s more moderate Fatah movement may be willing to live in peace with Israel, but it has insufficient political legitimacy among Palestinians to negotiate such a deal. With Fatah and Hamas facing off against each other, the Palestinians are simply too divided to plausibly meet Israel across the table. And because the Palestinians are unable to cut a deal, a majority of Israelis, as shown by the recent election results, have apparently given up any hope for peace.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on April 22, 2009 - כ"ח ניסן תשס"ט at 9:12 am
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At the Weekly Cabinet Meeting 20.04.09
“This evening, the State of Israel marks Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day. Six million of our brethren were massacred during the Holocaust. Sadly, not everyone learned the lesson. While we gather to honor their memory, in Switzerland there will assemble a conference allegedly aimed against racism. Its guest-of-honor is a racist Holocaust-denier who does not hide his intentions to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. I commend the countries that are boycotting this show of hatred. As opposed to those dark days, today a strong Jewish state stands to ensure the continued existence of the Jewish people in the face of this new anti-Semitism.
We do not forget the survivors. In a joint proposal with my colleagues, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Social Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog, we have decided to allocate NIS 20 million from the basket of services intended for Holocaust survivors and NIS 10 million in additional funds from the Company for Restitution of Holocaust Victims Assets, NIS 30 million which we want to earmark to subsidize medicines for survivors. I am glad that we have found a solution for this vital need of Holocaust survivors who live among us. It is suitable that they should live out their lives in honor and in health.
In the final reckoning, the State of Israel is the answer and the key to ensuring the existence of the Jewish People, to ensuring its security as well as its welfare and the welfare of the survivors.
My Government will check the dangers to the security of the state even as we move forward in a responsible and realistic diplomatic process.”
“We are currently formulating security-diplomatic policy. This process will conclude ahead of my trip to Washington in four weeks. In the framework of these deliberations, we will hold Cabinet and Government discussions. I would like to set one thing straight in advance simply because it has been in the media incorrectly today. We insist that the Palestinians – in any diplomatic settlement with us – will recognize the State of Israel as the national state of the Jewish people. The entire international community demands that we recognize the principle of two states for two peoples and we are discovering that this is two states but not for two peoples but two states for one people, or two states for a people-and-a-half. That is to say, there is no doubt that we are being asked to recognize the Palestinian state as the national state for the Palestinian people but there is doubt and not just doubt, it is clear from the quick check that we carried out that the Palestinians have no intention of recognizing the national state of the Jewish People. Of course, this is completely unacceptable. I will not now respond to the question of what will be the nature of the settlement, what will be its components and what authority the Palestinians will have. We reiterate that we have no intention of ruling over the Palestinians. We want for them to rule themselves, except for those powers that could threaten our security and our existence. But there is no doubt that we insist that they recognize the State of Israel as the national state of the Jewish People. We have never conditioned the start and existence of talks on advance agreement about this but neither can we see progress on a future settlement without their agreement to this condition. Therefore, not only have we not backtracked from it, we stand behind it strongly and I think that in this regard, we reflect a very broad consensus, not only around this table but among the entire nation, a great part of the nation, and rightly so.”
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on April 21, 2009 - כ"ז ניסן תשס"ט at 9:14 am
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See Also: Zwick’s Picks
When the Palestinians declare with great self-righteousness that “settlements are an obstacle to peace,” what they are actually pushing for is the total removal of Jewish presence on the land they are seeking for their state. It’s past time to ask why this is all right.
By Arlene Kushner, YNet News, April 20, 2009
We here in Israel have been asleep at the wheel. In a rush of concessionary zeal after Oslo, we chose to refrain from making our own case. At first this decision, made at a governmental level, was intended to demonstrate our eagerness for peace. But after a time it was almost as if we had forgotten how to speak for ourselves with vigor and forthrightness.
Meanwhile, the Palestinians have waxed inordinately successful at promoting their positions – you’ll find no concessionary zeal on their part. And today the international community swallows those positions whole – without either setting them into historical context or doing a fair and reasonable analysis of precisely what it is that is being promoted as a “given.”
In fairness to the members of the international community, there has been scant reason for them to analyze the validity of Palestinian Authority premises as we haven’t been doing so ourselves. This situation must change, and that change must begin here at home with a forthright challenge to several Palestinian presumptions. The Netanyahu government, at long last, gives hope of being ready to do this. Among the many issues that require a public airing are these:
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on April 20, 2009 - כ"ו ניסן תשס"ט at 8:17 am
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