Deputy foreign minister says new cooperation agreement 'doubles our power in the fight against the de-legitimization of Israel and anti-Semitism towards Jews around the world'
Ynetnews
Published: 07.22.10, 08:23 / Israel Jewish Scene
Former Knesset Speaker Dan Tichon, Chairman of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF) signed a cooperation agreement on Wednesday with Janez Lenarcic, head of the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which comprises the executive branch of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The event took place in the presence of Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon.
"This agreement is a step that doubles the power of 87 states' cooperation in the fight against the de-legitimization of Israel and anti-Semitism towards Jews around the world," Ayalon said.
"There are those who deny the Holocaust and are preparing for the next Holocaust. We must remember the Holocaust so that the horrors will not return, and we will make the world a safer place."
"This is the beginning of a long-term cooperation" said Janez Lenarcic. "We have recently published a review and received lots of useful information from the ITF. We have to all send out a message that anti-Semitism is a problem, while the ODIHR together with the ITF will team up and work together to fight for this important cause."
The Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF) was established about a decade ago, upon an initiative of the Swedish government.
The Israeli task force delegation is led by Aviva Raz Schechter, who heads the Foreign Ministry's Department for Combating Anti-Semitism and by Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad VaShem.
'Mazal tov' wishes
This year, Israel serves as chairman of the task force, pursuant to political measures initiated by the Foreign Ministry, with Mr. Dan Tichon, former Knesset Speaker, as chairman of the organization and Ambassador Yacov Rosen as its political coordinator.
As he closed the event, Tichon stated that "2009 was a year which consisted of the highest point of anti-Semitism across the world, while almost every country suffered from anti-Semitism."
The Israeli and European parties parted by wishing each other "Mazal tov", the Jewish traditional blessing.
The ITF, aiming to promote the remembrance of the Holocaust through education, research and memorial sites, currently comprises 27 member countries, mostly European, which consider this to be an important step.
The ODIHR is involved, inter alia, in educational programs and in monitoring instances of xenophobia and mainly anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Therefore, the cooperation may help promote the remembrance of the Holocaust and its uniqueness with the goal of combating anti-Semitism.
Ambassador Janez Lenarcic is a senior diplomat who served as a senior advisor to the Prime Minister of Slovenia. The ODIHR joins 6 other organizations which take part in the task force and whose representatives serve as observers, such as: UN Department of Public Information (DPI), UNESCO, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), and the European Council.
source:http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3923304,00.html
Friday, July 23, 2010
IDF Force Prevents Infiltration to Israeli Community Barqan
22 July 2010 , 15:47
Overnight an IDF force identified a number of Palestinians infiltrating the Israeli community of Barqan
Overnight an IDF force identified a number of Palestinians infiltrating the Israeli community of Barqan. A night-watch that was set by the IDF because of numerous attempts made to infiltrate the community in the past few weeks identified last night's attempt. The force identified the infiltrators, one of them suspected to be armed and opened fire. One of the infiltrators died as a result, and the other escaped. IDF soldiers have been searching the area.
Following the incident, the Head of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai, contacted the commanders of the Palestinian organizations and called them to conduct a joint investigation into the incident. In addition, messages were delievered to senior Palestinian officials in order to avert tention in the region. The civil administrations' call for a joint investigation was accepted and a Palestinian representative has already arrived on site. Additional details of the incident are being reviewed.
source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/07/2201.htm
Overnight an IDF force identified a number of Palestinians infiltrating the Israeli community of Barqan
Overnight an IDF force identified a number of Palestinians infiltrating the Israeli community of Barqan. A night-watch that was set by the IDF because of numerous attempts made to infiltrate the community in the past few weeks identified last night's attempt. The force identified the infiltrators, one of them suspected to be armed and opened fire. One of the infiltrators died as a result, and the other escaped. IDF soldiers have been searching the area.
Following the incident, the Head of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai, contacted the commanders of the Palestinian organizations and called them to conduct a joint investigation into the incident. In addition, messages were delievered to senior Palestinian officials in order to avert tention in the region. The civil administrations' call for a joint investigation was accepted and a Palestinian representative has already arrived on site. Additional details of the incident are being reviewed.
source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/07/2201.htm
GOP Lawmaker: WH Illegally Funding Kenya Abortion
A Republican congressman has accused the Obama administration of spending U.S. tax dollars on an initiative that would make abortion legal in Kenya.
Citing a report by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said $23 million has gone to Kenyan groups who are working for passage of a new constitution.
The document would expand current abortion laws, which currently allow the procedure only when the mother's life is in danger.
Smith also said the new constitution was not written by Kenyans, but by U.S.-funded non-governmental organizations working with Planned Parenthood.
Federal law forbids the U.S. government to lobby for abortion in other countries.
"Under no circumstances should the U.S. government take sides," Smith said at a news conference Wednesday. "Yet that is precisely what the Obama administration has done."
Smith and two other congressmen have called for a federal investigation into the administration's funding on the referendum.
"If violations of the law have occurred, which on the face of it they have, the information must be brought before law enforcement," Smith said. "Not even presidents are above the law."
Meanwhile, Christian churches in Kenya are encouraging people to vote against the proposed constitution next week.
The draft document would also establish Islamic Sharia law courts where Muslims could resolve social and family disputes according to their beliefs.
source:http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/politics/2010/July/GOP-Lawmaker-WH-Illegally-Funding-Kenya-Abortion/
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Counterproductive boycott of Israeli goods is harming Israeli businesses and Palestinian workers alike
As Washington and the European Union maintain their policy of portraying the Middle East peace process as being on the brink of a breakthrough (a fantasy they have clung to for decades), the growing Palestinian boycott of Israeli goods is starting to take a toll, both on Palestinians and Israelis.
The boycott started to pick up steam in recent months as Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad - the "moderate" whom Western power brokers insist is the key to peace - instigated and supported a number of public burnings of Israeli-made goods.
Fayyad also implemented legislation making it illegal for Palestinian stores to stock Israeli goods, or for average Palestinians to shop at Israeli stores. A team of 66,000 volunteers have been tasked by the Palestinian Authority with inspecting stores across the Palestinian-controlled territories. Those approved by the inspectors are given a large sticker to display declaring to all that their store has no Jewish products.
The boycott is ostensibly aimed only at Israeli factories and stores in Judea and Samaria - the so-called "West Bank" - but has inevitably extended to all Israeli-made goods.
Even if it were confined to Judea and Samaria, the boycott is having a huge impact on the financial well-being of local Palestinians, tens of thousands of whom are employed by the very factories and stores being boycotted. The economy of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, the fastest growing sector of Israeli society, is also taking a major hit.
According to media reports, hundreds of factories have had to cut back production, and many have had to shut down. In the large industrial park outside the Jerusalem suburb of Maaleh Adumim, no fewer than 17 factories have closed their doors.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=180&view=item&idx=2058
The boycott started to pick up steam in recent months as Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad - the "moderate" whom Western power brokers insist is the key to peace - instigated and supported a number of public burnings of Israeli-made goods.
Fayyad also implemented legislation making it illegal for Palestinian stores to stock Israeli goods, or for average Palestinians to shop at Israeli stores. A team of 66,000 volunteers have been tasked by the Palestinian Authority with inspecting stores across the Palestinian-controlled territories. Those approved by the inspectors are given a large sticker to display declaring to all that their store has no Jewish products.
The boycott is ostensibly aimed only at Israeli factories and stores in Judea and Samaria - the so-called "West Bank" - but has inevitably extended to all Israeli-made goods.
Even if it were confined to Judea and Samaria, the boycott is having a huge impact on the financial well-being of local Palestinians, tens of thousands of whom are employed by the very factories and stores being boycotted. The economy of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, the fastest growing sector of Israeli society, is also taking a major hit.
According to media reports, hundreds of factories have had to cut back production, and many have had to shut down. In the large industrial park outside the Jerusalem suburb of Maaleh Adumim, no fewer than 17 factories have closed their doors.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=180&view=item&idx=2058
Obama Funds Vote on Abortion in Kenya -- Is This How He'll Fund Abortion in the U.S.?
by Staff
July 21, 2010
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- New evidence reveals that the Obama administration has given up to $10 million to groups in Kenya that are campaigning for a "Yes" vote on a new constitution that would legalize abortion. Though officials denied the U.S. government is trying to influence the election, documents from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) show funding agreements with organizations to target certain populations to "drum up political support" for the draft constitution.
The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi claims the U.S. is neutral on the constitution. But an investigation launched by U.S. congressmen unearthed documents showing how the Obama Administration is funding outside organizations to influence the vote.
This same week, the Obama Administration was caught giving $160 million to Pennsylvania to fund a plan under ObamaCare that will cover any legal abortion in the state. Federal officials claim that, despite what is written in the plan, it will be limited to abortions in the case of rape, incest, and life of the mother.
"We can learn how the Obama Administration will behave in our own country by its actions in Kenya. Despite a federal law banning the government from using foreign aid to lobby for or against abortion, the Administration has given up to $10 million to sway an election that would result in legalizing abortion. If President Obama is sincere in his promise to 'reduce the need for abortions,' then he must stop funding organizations -- internationally and domestically -- that are dedicated to increasing abortions," said Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America.
Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09512.shtml
July 21, 2010
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- New evidence reveals that the Obama administration has given up to $10 million to groups in Kenya that are campaigning for a "Yes" vote on a new constitution that would legalize abortion. Though officials denied the U.S. government is trying to influence the election, documents from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) show funding agreements with organizations to target certain populations to "drum up political support" for the draft constitution.
The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi claims the U.S. is neutral on the constitution. But an investigation launched by U.S. congressmen unearthed documents showing how the Obama Administration is funding outside organizations to influence the vote.
This same week, the Obama Administration was caught giving $160 million to Pennsylvania to fund a plan under ObamaCare that will cover any legal abortion in the state. Federal officials claim that, despite what is written in the plan, it will be limited to abortions in the case of rape, incest, and life of the mother.
"We can learn how the Obama Administration will behave in our own country by its actions in Kenya. Despite a federal law banning the government from using foreign aid to lobby for or against abortion, the Administration has given up to $10 million to sway an election that would result in legalizing abortion. If President Obama is sincere in his promise to 'reduce the need for abortions,' then he must stop funding organizations -- internationally and domestically -- that are dedicated to increasing abortions," said Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America.
Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09512.shtml
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