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Reporting on the Middle East, Science, and Education for May 28, 2009 - ה' סיון תשס"ט
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National Post Canada, May 27, 2009
While Ottawa’s political leaders were meeting on Parliament Hill Tuesday with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, a group of businessmen (no women, for some reason) met for lunch in downtown Calgary with Khaled Abu Toameh, the Arab-born West Bank and Gaza correspondent for the Jerusalem Post. And while the Conservatives condemned Israel’s settlements as an obstacle to a peaceful "two-state solution", with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and Abbas also mouthing support for the same vision for Israel and the Palestinians, Toameh couldn’t help but chuckle. “I laugh when they talk about a two-state solution,” he said. “It’s unreal. It’s not going to work. But we all have to say we support it, maybe because that’s what [U.S. President Barack] Obama wants.”
Toameh—in town as a guest of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy—doesn’t dismiss the idea for the same reasons as Hamas, which considers Israel a temporary, alien cancer to be mercilessly excised from the Muslim Middle East, not co-existed with. He dismisses it because, as those living in the territories well know, the Palestinians cannot even co-exist with themselves, let alone with Israel. Since Yassir Arafat died—“the only good thing he ever did,” Toameh says—life for the average Palestinian has gone from miserable to worse; the territories descended into low-intensity civil war, with 2,000 Palestinians killed in the last three years amidst the political and revenge-motivated attacks of Hamas on Fatah and Fatah on Hamas, as well as the marginal mayhem of terrorist groups such as the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and the Popular Resistance Committees. For the first time, more Palestinians are killed from internecine violence than in conflicts with Israel. Election promises first by Abbas and then by Hamas of an end to corruption, lawlessness, poverty, and failure have all proven lies, Toameh points out: each has assumed power—Fatah in the West Bank, Hamas in Gaza—only to show themselves to be as abusive, crooked and ineffectual in building a civil society as Arafat was. Neither party enjoys credibility or actually governs in any real sense the anarchic territories, where unemployment exceeds 60%—though Hamas is at least closer to legitimacy, enjoying far more popular support than Abbas does (Palestinians see Western support for Fatah as Zionist meddling, he says, driving them further into the arms of Hamas and other jihadists). “Abbas doesn’t even have power in downtown Ramallah, where he works and lives,” he says.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, News Articles, Recent Posts on May 28, 2009 - ה' סיון תשס"ט at 10:17 am
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AMMAN, 27 May 2009 (IRIN) – A pay dispute between employees and the management of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) in Jordan could affect vulnerable refugees, especially in the many UNWRA-run schools and clinics.
Thousands of UNRWA employees went on strike 12-14 May in UNRWA facilities, members of the teachers committee who declined to be identified, said, and an all-out strike – potentially paralysing hundreds of clinics and schools across Jordan – is being threatened.
The employees are demanding a 7 percent pay rise, in line with a promised government pay rise of the same magnitude for civil servants.
During the three-day strike, about 124,000 students in different parts of the kingdom, including all 10 of the UNRWA-run refugee camps, were unable to attend classes, according to UNRWA.
The strike involved about 10,000 workers, including teachers, doctors, sanitation workers and administration officials, teachers committee members say. However, some media reports put the figure at 7,000.
Health centres and refuse collection activities also came to a halt, and the alleyways of the al-Hussein-camp in Amman filled up with rubbish during the three-day strike.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on May 28, 2009 - ה' סיון תשס"ט at 6:48 am
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By Robin Nixon, Special to LiveScience, May 26, 2009
Socialites and curmudgeons not only have different party demeanors, they may also have different brain structures, a new study suggests. But what came first — the incentive to charm or the bolstered brain anatomy — is still a matter of debate.
Forty-one randomly selected men filled out a questionnaire assessing their own tendency to, say, "make a warm personal connection." Those who reported being sociable and emotionally demonstrative also tended to have denser cell concentration in two brain structures: the orbitofrontal cortex and the ventral striatum, said the study’s head researcher Graham Murray of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
The research was published in the May 20 issue of the European Journal of Neuroscience.
Chicken or egg
Many studies have found correlations between the size of a particular brain structure and physical behavior, such as the classic finding that taxi drivers often have more developed hippocampi, structures associated with spatial memory. Whether the above-average geographic abilities existed before or only developed after the subjects became cabbies is unclear. The burgeoning field of social neuroscience is producing similar findings.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Men's Health, Mental Health, Science on May 27, 2009 - ד' סיון תשס"ט at 9:36 am
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by Maayana Miskin, Arutz Sheva, May 27, 2009
(IsraelNN.com) Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe (Boogie) Yaalon believes that the time has come for Israel to “free itself from the failed paradigm” of the “two-state solution.” Yaalon spoke Tuesday at a meeting of MKs dedicated to finding an alternative to the creation of a Palestinian Authority-led Arab state.
While the creation of a PA-led state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza is perceived as a necessity both in Israel and worldwide, such a state would not solve the Israel-PA conflict, said Yaalon. In fact, he said, it is doubtful that the possibility of creating such a state exists, due to Arab and Muslim reluctance to take any step that would imply recognition of Israel or compromise on Arab claims to the entire Land of Israel.
Israel’s Mistakes
Israel’s mistake lies in accepting a-symmetrical talks with the PA, Yaalon said. From the beginning of talks, he explained, Israel has accepted the idea of a Palestinian national movement with the PA as its representative, while the PA has resolutely refused to accept the Jewish national movement of Zionism or the idea of a Jewish homeland in the land of Israel.
Furthermore, while the PA demands that Arabs and Muslims be allowed to live in Israel, Israel accepts that a PA state would not have Jewish citizens, he said. And while Israel gives in on crucial issues such as the status of Jerusalem or the borders of a PA state, the PA refuses to bend in the slightest.
Israel has also been mistaken in assuming that the Israeli presence in Judea, Samaria and Gaza is the cause of Israel-Arab tension, he said. Arab attacks on Israel began well before the 1967 Six Day War in which Israel gained control of those areas, he said, and the Arab world’s real goal is not a state in those areas, but rather, on the ruins of the State of Israel.
For this reason, he said, the PA is actually uninterested in a “two-state solution.” Former PA Chairman Yasser Arafat waged war on Israel in order to avoid the creation of a PA state, he argued.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on May 27, 2009 - ד' סיון תשס"ט at 9:05 am
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In the discussion and media coverage surrounding energy, center stage typically goes to the technology used to generate it: wind vs. natural gas, coal vs. solar.
Congress is currently considering the passage of a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) that will require all electric utilities, including those operating in Idaho, to generate significant portions of their electricity from suitable renewable sources in the coming decades.
Much of the debate surrounding this legislation will focus on its potential economic impact. Will we be forced to pay more for electricity, forcing further stagnation in the economy? Or will these regulations stimulate a new resurgence in manufacturing as we scramble to produce more wind turbines and solar panels? The discussion will be a fascinating one, and we will watch it unfold in the coming months.
But electricity generation represents only the supply side of the proposition. All too often, the demand side – consumption – gets lost in the shuffle. We look to renewable energy to help meet the “growing need” for power. The underlying assumptions are that we will continue to require more electricity, and that growth in consumption is unconditionally good.
I think it’s high time we examine that assumption. Is more better?
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Alternative Energy, Recent Posts on May 24, 2009 - א' סיון תשס"ט at 8:35 pm
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By Mordechai Kedar, YNet News, May 14, 2009
See also: Wise Men of Chelm
Thirty years ago, at the end of 1978 and beginning of 1979, US President Jimmy Carter’s blind approach and his obsessive concern for human rights everywhere, and particularly in the Shah-ruled Iran, prompted Khomeini’s rise and brought Khomeinism to power. Carter did not permit the Shah to handle the protests against him, that is, to disperse them with gunfire. The result was the ayatollah takeover of Iran and the murder of thousands of Shah supporters. Everything the world suffered, is suffering, and will suffer because of Iran is the direct result of the short-sightedness of an American president who understood nothing in the ways of the Middle East.
The enduring problem of American politicians is that they view the world via their own cultural lenses and think that “if only we engage in dialogue with the others” they will be “like us,” “just like everyone else,” and “will become nice”; if only we give them jobs and comply with their “just” demands (the right of return, our capital which never had Palestinian significance, unwillingness to recognize our state, etc.) they will go to work in the morning and return in the evening to play with their children and fish.
Obama is currently making the same mistakes Carter did. He naively thinks that through dialogue with the ayatollahs he will achieve what the Europeans have failed to achieve for many years. He refuses to read what many researchers, politicians, and statesmen worldwide write, and refuses to listen to all those concerned by Iran – Arabs, Israelis, and Europeans – who have no doubt that the ayatollahs intend to first take over the Middle East, and later possibly take over the entire world, should they be given the chance.
Only a blind person would not see the manner in which Iran, even before it has turned nuclear, quickly changes the face of the Middle East. Iran’s long arms are already tightly grasping Lebanon, Iraq, and Gaza, and are also decisively and powerfully directed at other states such as Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Oman, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on May 14, 2009 - כ' אייר תשס"ט at 9:02 am
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by Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
This is the text of the speech given by the British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Saks at the Finchley Road Synagogue on Yom Haatzmaut 5765/2005
Reprinted for Israeli Independence Day, May 14, 2009
Not lightly does the Torah give the name Israel to our people, for it means “you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” To be a Jew, to be a member of the people Israel, has always been a struggle, sometimes with God, sometimes with our fellow human beings. But that is our destiny, our call, our task…
The American writer Milton Himmelfarb once said that we are a tiny people, but great things happen around us and to us. Already before the 20th century Jewish history was recognized as unique: by Pascal, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Tolstoy. Little could they have known that some of its most dramatic chapters were yet to be written:
The Shoah, the attempt once and for all to silence the Jewish voice and eliminate the Jewish presence. Yom Hazikaron, when we remember those who fell in Israel’s defense as they discovered that the Jewish people still has to fight for the right to be, to exist, to have one place on earth where we can defend ourselves. Yet out of the depths of those very tragedies came two of the greatest moments in 2000 years of history, Yom Ha’atzmaut — the restoration of Jewish sovereignty after 1900 years, and Yom Yerushalayim, the return to the ancient and holy city, home of the Jewish heart, focus of all our prayers, embodiment of all our hopes.
Yet once again Israel is under attack, after four years of a savage, ceaseless, brutal onslaught of terror. At the very moment that terror is being contained, Israel is facing a new attack — a systematic campaign of delegitimization and demonization among the media, non-governmental organizations, university teachers, and perhaps even among the churches — as if the cause of peace, or justice, or reconciliation, or coexistence were served by listening to only one voice in the conversation, one side in the conflict.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on May 14, 2009 - כ' אייר תשס"ט at 6:38 am
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Israel’s winning song, “There Must Be Another Way,” which is performed by a Jewish singer and a Christian Arab, was greeted by one of the most exuberant groups of fans, who waved Israeli flags and inflatable hammers and sang along word-perfect.
13 May 2009
By Anna Malpas / The Moscow Times
There were tears, rubber hammers and an inflatable pink tank on Tuesday night, as 18 contestants were narrowed down to 10 in the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Going through to the final are performers representing Israel, Sweden, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Malta, Armenia, Turkey, Romania, Finland, Portugal and Iceland.
Meanwhile, contestants from Bulgaria, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belgium, Montenegro, Macedonia and Andorra had to part with the dream for another year.
The show featured pop duo t.A.T.u. performing their hit “Not Gonna Get Us” with the deep-voiced Alexandrov army choir filling in the chorus line. The stage was decorated with a inflatable pink tank and military jet. “Don’t tell me that’s not political,” one fan commented.
The Eurovision contest is supposed to be a nonpolitical event. The Georgian entry was disqualified this year for a song which played on the name of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Monotheistic Religions, News Articles, Recent Posts on May 13, 2009 - י"ט אייר תשס"ט at 10:34 am
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by Maayana Miskin, Arutz Sheva, May 11, 2009
See Also: No Jews in Judea
(IsraelNN.com) The ‘B’Emuna’ construction company, which has built projects in Judea and Samaria, is now facing criticism for its latest initiative – a housing project in the Israeli city of Yafo (Jaffa), in pre-1967 Israel. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) has termed the company “racist” over the plan, while local Arabs have threatened to take the matter to the Supreme Court.
“This means war,” a member of Yafo’s Arab Residents’ Committee said Monday to the Hebrew-language daily Yediot Aharonot. “We will not tolerate this, and we will not allow this neighborhood to be built.”
Opposition to the project stems from the fact that the housing will be marketed to young Jewish couples in the religious Zionist community. Arabs in Yafo and other mixed cities have accused religious Zionists, and B’Emuna in particular, of attempting to “Judaize” Arab areas.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Judaism, Middle East Report, Monotheistic Religions, News Articles, Recent Posts on May 11, 2009 - י"ז אייר תשס"ט at 5:01 pm
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By People’s Daily Online, May 07, 2009
As of May 6, Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant, which is the first large-scale commercial nuclear power station on the Chinese mainland, has recorded 15 consecutive years of safe and stable operation. It has provided 205.12 billion kilowatt-hours accumulatively to the power grid.
In comparison with the original feasibility study report, the electricity generated at Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant has increased from 10 billion kilowatt-hours annually to over 15 billion kilowatt-hours, and the usability ratio of the generating units has risen from 65 percent to over 90 percent.
The benefits achieved in environmental protection and resource conservation are as remarkable as the economic benefits it has achieved.
It is estimated that the electricity generated from the plant to the power grid in its 15 years of operation is equivalent to a reduction of 86 million tons of standard coal consumption, based on the conversion of the average coal consumption of conventional power plants. Moreover, it has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 134 million tons and sulfur dioxide emissions by 33,900 tons.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Alternative Energy, Climate Change, Nuclear Energy, Recent Posts on May 8, 2009 - י"ד אייר תשס"ט at 4:42 pm
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