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By BEN HARMTAN, Jerusalem Post
31/03/2010
A group of Jewish and Arab women from Jaffa are featured on Israeli folksinger Chava Alberstein’s new album Baruch Haba, released this week in time for Pessah, which demonstrates the power of music to bridge cultural and religious gaps.
The women are from Jaffa’s all-women’s choir Shirana , which was launched by the Arab Jewish Community Center of Jaffa in 2008 and includes Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women. The choir has performed at a number of festivals in the Jaffa area, singing a wide range of songs in Hebrew, Arabic, English, and Greek, among others.
Alberstein, who has recorded over 60 albums and is considered one of Israel’s seminal artists, contacted the women in August when she received a recording of the choir singing a version of her song “Had Gadya” in Hebrew and Arabic. The song is a play on the traditional Pessah song “Had Gadya,” but with additional lyrics at the end that are critical of the occupation and its effects on Palestinians and Israelis.
On her new album, she asked Shirana to sing with her on the title track “Baruch Haba,” bringing the sounds of the choir to a far wider audience. Like Shirana, Alberstein also had her first performance in Jaffa, albeit a bit earlier, in 1964 at the city’s Hamam club.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Judaism, Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on March 31, 2010 - ט"ז ניסן תש"ע at 11:37 pm
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29 March 2010 –The United Nations launched today a Twitter campaign for students in memory of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who died in the Holocaust 65 years ago but whose wartime diary has endured to become one of the world’s most widely read books and teaching tools.
In a joint effort with the Anne Frank Center USA, students are asked to travel back in time and write to Anne through “tweets” – which allow only 140 characters or fewer – as though she could communicate with the world in secret from her family’s hiding spot in Amsterdam.
“This exercise is meant to help young people make a meaningful connection to the Holocaust through the words of a courageous young girl,” said Kimberly Mann, Manager of the Holocaust and the UN Outreach Programme in the Department of Public Information’s Outreach Division.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, News Articles, Recent Posts on March 31, 2010 - ט"ז ניסן תש"ע at 11:25 pm
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Mar 31st 2010 | GAZA
From The Economist print edition
Hamas has done well to survive but it is threatened by rivalry among Islamists
AFTER four gruelling years under siege, the Gazans—and the Islamist movement, Hamas, that governs them—are still managing against the odds to survive. Some even prosper. The tunnels that snake under Gaza’s border with Egypt have multiplied so fast that supply sometimes exceeds demand. So stiff is commercial competition that tunnel-diggers complain that their work is no longer profitable. As a British parliamentary report recently noted, Israel officially allows Gaza to import only 73 of more than 4,000 items that are available in the strip. The rest is home-made—or acquired illicitly. For instance, cement, which cost 300 Israeli shekels ($80) a sack two years ago, has dropped almost tenfold in price, precipitating a spate of building for the first time since Israel’s attack a year ago reduced 4,000 houses to ruins. And eyewitnesses say that flashy 4×4 vehicles can actually drive through tunnels built from shipping containers.
Israel’s siege still causes misery. Yet some economists say the strip is growing faster than the West Bank run by Hamas’s rival Palestinian Authority (PA), albeit from a far lower base. The petrol pumped into Gaza by underground pipes and hoses from Egypt costs a third of what it does in Ramallah, the Palestinians’ West Bank capital, where Israel supplies it. Free health care is more widely available in Gaza. Imports travel faster through the tunnels than via Israel’s thickets of bureaucracy. The web of Israeli checkpoints that still impedes Palestinian movements and commerce on the West Bank is absent in Gaza.
As well as lower prices, Gazans benefit from civil-service payrolls. Several outfits pump cash into the strip’s economy: the local Hamas government; the UN, which employs 10,000 Gazans; and Salam Fayyad’s West Bank government, which is the largest employer of all. Payments to Hamas and its connected tunnel-operators boost the economy too. A car-dealer bringing in a new Hyundai saloon through the tunnels stands to make a profit of $13,000.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Business and Commerce, Islam, Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on March 31, 2010 - ט"ז ניסן תש"ע at 2:57 pm
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No demands are made on the Arabs to promote peaceful coexistence. Only Israel must make concessions and goodwill gestures
By Israel Zwick, CN Publications, March 28, 2010
Soon I will be shutting down my computer for the Passover holiday. I’m grateful for these extended holidays because it gives me a longer reprieve from reading about the incessant condemnations of Israel in the international media. Hardly a day goes by when there aren’t numerous articles that chastise Israel for building Jewish housing or for the way it treats the “poor, suffering, oppressed, tormented, deprived” Arabs living within its borders. Israel even gets blamed for the living conditions of Arabs in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority which aren’t even under Israeli control.
To compensate for all this “brutal aggression” that Israel is inflicting on the “suffering, stateless, disadvantaged, disenfranchised Palestinians,” Israel is repeatedly ordered by the UN, EU, and USA, to make “concessions for peace.” Sometimes the lexicon varies and Israel is asked to make “conciliatory gestures” or “goodwill measures” or “gestures for peace.” Among these concessions that Israel is asked to make are the following, which is only a partial list:
1. Ease the “blockade” of Gaza to allow more goods to get through, preferably on ships carrying “humanitarian” supplies. This should include an ample supply of building materials which can also be used to build concrete bunkers, tunnels, rockets, and armaments.
2. Completely stop building any housing for Jews in Eastern Jerusalem around Sheikh Jarrah, Northern Jerusalem around Ramat Shlomo and Pisgat Zev, or Southern Jerusalem around Gilo. Of course, there should be no restrictions on Arab housing anywhere in Jerusalem because that would be a violation of their humanitarian rights.
3. Remove more roadblocks and checkpoints in Judea and Samaria to make it easier for the Palestinian Arabs to go to Jerusalem for medical visits, shopping, and recreational facilities. It would also make it easier for terrorists who want to blow up buses and restaurants.
4. Relinquish more territory in Judea and Samaria to PA control. This would produce more areas like Ramallah where Israelis are not permitted to go to at all. It would also make it easier to shoot more rockets at Israeli population centers and provide safe havens for fugitive terrorists.
5. Allow PA troops trained by General Keith Dayton to assume more security functions in Judea and Samaria. This would prevent IDF troops from pursuing the fugitive terrorists who have found safe havens in the increased areas under PA jurisdiction.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Judaism, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts, Zwick's Picks on March 28, 2010 - י"ג ניסן תש"ע at 5:01 pm
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By Karin Kloosterman, Israel21C
March 28, 2010
With Israel’s GreenRoad solution on board, fuel consumption is reduced by seven to 10 percent and the accident rate’s cut in half. Al Gore liked the idea so much, he invested in it.
Both average folk and environmentalists wait in earnest for all-electric vehicles like the Nissan LEAF, the Chevy Volt or Israel’s Better Place-Renault car to roll out of the plants, but greener transportation solutions are needed now. Bridging the gap is Israel’s GreenRoad, which has found such an efficient way to save fuel and reduce accidents that even the insurance companies are impressed.
The company hasn’t built a hybrid-electric powered turbo engine that runs for hundreds of miles. It hasn’t figured out how to power road vehicles with hydrogen or water. And you won’t find it selling a solution that will only be ready sometime down the line.
Instead, GreenRoad has an attractive tool that saves gas for trucking fleets and cuts down on accidents – simple as that.
The GreenRoad solution is a software- and technology-based tool that gives drivers and fleet managers real-time feedback and analysis of drivers’ abilities and driving patterns. The system tells drivers how to improve fuel consumption, so that managers can begin to see improvements almost immediately. Measuring such things as G-force, as drivers round the bend, GreenRoad can accurately point out where driving patterns cross the line between safe and risky.
Generation Investment Management, the investment firm chaired by former US vice president and long-term environmental activist Al Gore, liked the idea so much, that it has just pumped $10 million into the company.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Alternative Energy, Business and Commerce, Climate Change, Middle East Report on March 28, 2010 - י"ג ניסן תש"ע at 3:37 pm
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By Jonathan Rosenblum, http://www.JewishWorldReview.com
For Passover, 5770
Pesach celebrates G-d’s removal of the Jewish people from servitude to flesh and blood to become His servants. The American people are Israel’s strongest supporters and most important allies; we share with them defining values and vital interests. But this Pesach, we must remember that President Obama is not our master and will not determine our fate.
The passage of Obamacare confirms Fouad Ajami’s characterization of President Obama as America’s first "cosmopolitian" president — i.e., the first to see the European model of governance by centralized bureaucracies as a model for emulation. Obamacare marks a transformative moment in the relationship of Americans to their government. It will vastly expand the federal bureaucracy and limit the freedom of choice of every "private" actor in the health care system — patients, doctors, and insurers.
America has embarked on the European path of economic stagnation and declining influence. Since 1945, Europe has depended on America to defend it, while spending ever smaller percentages of its GNP on defense. The huge budget deficits resulting from Obamacare will push America in the same direction.
The nearest American model to Obamacare, the Massachusetts health care plan, has plunged the state into near bankruptcy, and led to the election of the first Republican senator in nearly forty years. People and jobs are fleeing big government, bankrupt California and flocking to small government Texas.
Yet despite these cautionary tales, the Democratic-controlled Congress pushed ahead with Obamacare. Why? Because no matter how much crummier health care becomes for most Americans, no matter how much higher the taxes on the middle class, no matter how much larger the federal bureaucracy overseeing health care, no matter how great the shortage of doctors, as the profession becomes ever less attractive, and no matter how great the drag on the American economy of skyrocketing deficits — medical care will at least be equally crummy for everyone.
The Democrats pushed forward with the most ambitious possible revamp of one-sixth of the American economy, rather than opt for incremental steps aimed at specific aspects of the health care delivery system — e.g., the uninsured, spiraling costs — not despite the increase in the size of government entailed but because of it.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Judaism, Middle East, Opinion, Recent Posts on March 28, 2010 - י"ג ניסן תש"ע at 7:17 am
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IDF officers, reserve troops issue letter addressed to Benjamin Netanyahu protesting the fact that captive soldier Gilad Shalit has been in captivity for nearly four years. ‘You must take responsibility and make a brave decision,’ letter notes
Ahiya Raved, YNet News, March 28, 2010
A group of Israel Defense Forces officers and reserve troops sent a letter Sunday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in protest of the fact that captive soldier Gilad Shalit will be spending his fourth Passover in captivity.
The reserve soldiers, members of "Gilad’s Army of Friends," expressed protest that a deal to release Shalit has yet to be implemented. "It appears that the prime minister is unwilling to complete the necessary step to save Gilad Shalit’s life," the letter noted.
The reservists place responsibility for the deal’s failure on Netanyahu and his government. "To the best of out knowledge and according to various media reports, in July 2009 Israeli mediator Hagai Hadas together with the German mediator reached an understanding with Hamas which stipulated the names of Hamas prisoners to be released in exchange for Gilad Shalit.
"However, in December 2009 the Israeli government and the prime minister decided to cancel all agreements reached after great efforts on the part of the Israeli and German mediators. The direct result of Israel’s withdrawal from the understandings is a grave injury to Gilad Shalit while putting his life at risk."
The reserve troops called on Netanyahu to take responsibility and make a brave decision. "We call on you as citizens and soldiers aware of the Shalit family’s pain – restore Gilad his freedom."
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on March 28, 2010 - י"ג ניסן תש"ע at 4:41 am
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Vancouver Sun, March 27, 2010
Passover may not be the most important holy day on the Jewish calendar — the sombre fast of Yom Kippur and, the rabbis tell us, the weekly Sabbath take top billing — but it is arguably the most widely recognized of the Jewish festivals, in part because of its mistaken association with Christianity.
Some people believe the Last Supper, at which Jesus foretold his betrayal by Judas, was a Passover seder, although modern scholarship has refuted that theory. Some Christian writers have gone so far as to claim the three pieces of matzo, the flat boards of unleavened bread introduced at the seder, the symbolism-sated banquet that recounts the Israelites’ flight to freedom, represent the Holy Trinity, with the broken middle matzo serving as a stand-in for Christ.
The fact is, the story of the Exodus precedes the birth of Christ by 1,400 years and the reign of King David by 500 years, if historians have calculated the dates correctly. It is the defining experience of the Jewish people and has nothing to do with Christianity.
It is interesting to note that the Old Testament emphasizes that the Lord’s works — from the 10 plagues that befell Egypt as a result of Pharaoh’s intransigence to the parting of the Red Sea, and from the miracle of manna to receipt of the 10 Commandments — were all witnessed by an entire nation, the children of Israel. Other religions emanate from third-party accounts of individuals apparently able to perform remarkable feats, but observed by only a chosen few. When Jews around the world celebrate Passover this coming week, they do so as one people united by their ancestors’ collective deliverance from slavery. Passover is part of their national psyche. The seder is the centrepiece of the Passover celebration, with the first one this year to be held Monday and the second, for those that conduct two, on the following evening. For many Jews, observing the Passover is not optional: it is an ordinance from the Almighty, who commanded that the story of the Exodus be passed down through every generation. For that reason, the youngest participant at the seder asks four questions that are answered in a retelling of the story through rituals, prayer and song.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, Monotheistic Religions, Recent Posts on March 28, 2010 - י"ג ניסן תש"ע at 4:32 am
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By CAROLINE GLICK
26/03/2010
As the local and international press corps converged on Jerusalem’s Old City to cover the Arab riots at the Temple Mount two weeks ago, little mention was made of the fact that Jerusalem was not the only flashpoint. In Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israeli Arab rioters supported by far-left protesters stoned buses. Israeli Arabs firebombed motorists on Highway 443 and on the roads to Beersheba. In the North, cars were stoned.
These little-reported attacks are the consequence of one of the most dangerous emerging threats to Israel’s national survival: the rapidly escalating radicalization of Israel’s Arab citizens.
Over the past decade and at a frenzied pace since the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, acting at least partially at the direction of the Israeli Islamic Movement and with the active support of the far left, Israeli Arabs and Beduin have launched a massive assault on the state. The relevant national authorities including the courts, the state prosecution, the police, the IDF, the Jewish National Fund, the Israel Lands Authority and the Ministry of Interior have failed to defend against it.
Firebombing Jewish-owned vehicles is small potatoes in comparison to developments at the center of mass of the Israeli Arab onslaught: state land. Over the past decade, Israeli Arabs have seized millions of dunams of state land.
The dimensions of this phenomenon were spelled out in last year’s State Comptroller’s Report. While the local and international Left pillories Israel when the state tries to demolish a handful of the thousands of illegal Arab buildings in Jerusalem, what goes unmentioned is that by the end of 2007 there were more than 100,000 illegally built structures in Israel. The overwhelming majority were constructed on state land seized by Arab land thieves in the Negev and the Galilee. By the end of 2009, the number of illegal buildings grew to an estimated 150,000. The scope of the theft is so vast that the Comptroller’s Report referred to it as a “national scourge.”
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Judaism, Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on March 28, 2010 - י"ג ניסן תש"ע at 4:17 am
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UPDATED ON:
Friday, March 26, 2010
15:07 Mecca time, 12:07 GMT
FOCUS: OPINION
By As’ad AbuKhalil
As’ad AbuKhalil is a professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus, and author of the Angry Arab blog.
Arab leaders have failed to offer meaningful help for Palestinians, says AbuKhalil [GALLO/GETTY]
Arab leaders are currently meeting in Libya in a ritual summit held almost annually since the end of the Second World War.
Although the League of Arab States (also commonly referred to as the Arab League) was established in 1945, it was not until 1964 that member states met for the first time at the Cairo headquarters to discuss the Israeli threat – to water resources.
Arab leaders met in a unified bid to study the danger of Israeli plans to divert the waters of the River Jordan. The summit plan was as effective as the subsequent Arab military plans to deal with the Israeli threat.
The Arab League was founded at the behest of the British, just as the Gulf Co-operation Council was founded at the urging of the US. One should not mistake these external pressures as efforts to push for Arab unity; in fact, quite the opposite is true.
Western powers have always been hostile toward all efforts of Arab unity, especially when Gamal Abdel Nasser,the late Egyptian president, stood as the symbol of Arab nationalism.But Western powers have favoured regional alliances that promoted Western security and political agendas.
The Arab League was a compromise between Arab popular expectations for a larger Arab political entity, and British concerns about Arab nationalism getting out of hand.
Arab summits have failedto get the Arab public’s attention since the defeat of Jordan Syria and Egypt by Israel in June 1967. Prior to that date, Arabs had hoped that their leaders would plan and execute a serious military operation to defeat Israel and liberate Palestine.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on March 26, 2010 - י"א ניסן תש"ע at 10:41 am
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