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Hezbollah Threatens Key Israeli Nuclear Research Facility

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Genocidal enemies ratchet up tensions just across the Jewish State’s border

On August 13, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened to bomb Israel’s Dimona nuclear research facility in the event of war between Israel and Hezbollah. Nasrallah made the threat via video linkup from an undisclosed hidden location while addressing a crowd of Shia supporters in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam. For all of his bravado, Nasrallah still finds it necessary to hide, and scurry from location to location for fear of being targeted by Israel.

This isn’t the first time that the terrorist leader issued such a threat. In February, he issued similar sinister pronouncements during a speech commemorating the 9th anniversary of the liquidation of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s chief special operations commander, who was eliminated in 2008 in a joint Mossad-CIA operation.

Nasrallah frequently issues threats to bomb civilian targets and other critical infrastructure in Israel. These threats are generally for internal public consumption but they are also directed at Israel as a form of psychological warfare. Nasrallah’s threats to target an ammonia storage plant in Haifa, Israel’s third largest city, likely factored into the decision by Israeli authorities to relocate the facility to a safer location further south, away from densely populated areas. 

Despite Nasrallah’s bluster, Israel takes the terrorist leader’s threats seriously. Like Hamas, ISIS and other terrorist groups, Hezbollah does not feel constrained by the laws of war. That means that in any future engagement with Israel, Hezbollah will violate the legal principles of “Distinction” and “Shielding” in that it will fire its guided and unguided missiles and rockets at Israel in indiscriminate fashion and will also deliberately utilize Lebanon’s civilian population as cover in an effort to shield itself from retaliation. 

These nefarious tactics were employed by Hezbollah in 2006 and by Hamas in 2009, 2012 and 2014, without legal consequence to either organization. For example, during the Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah fired rockets from the rooftop of a building housing a number of civilians in the southern Lebanese village of Qana. That rocket fire invariably drew Israeli counter fire, resulting in the deaths of some 60 civilians and an unknown number of terrorists. International outcry prompted a temporary halt of Israeli airstrikes which naturally benefitted Hezbollah. During Operation Protective Edge, Hamas utilized the basement of Al-Shifa hospital as a command and control center. Israel could have cut off the head of the snake with a couple of 1-ton bombs but that would have invariably led to enormous collateral damage – perhaps hundreds of civilian dead. Hamas was well aware of Israel’s weakness in this regard and its leadership continued to prosecute the war from Al-Shifa hospital, immune from aerial attack.

By contrast, despite the fact that Israel went above and beyond the requirements of international humanitarian law, often at risk to its own soldiers, the Jewish State was forced to contend with a plethora of legal complaints – including legal filings at the International Criminal Court – as a result of defensive actions undertaken by its armed forces. Western armies are often constrained by the laws of war and this is particularly true in the context of asymmetrical warfare where terrorist groups, operating under an immoral code, often utilize these known Western limitations to their advantage.

Nevertheless, in light of Hezbollah’s military build-up, its formidable rocket arsenal, genocidal threats and cynical exploitation of the civilian population, Israel may be compelled to relax the laws of war or at least argue that it is confronting a unique situation unparalleled in modern warfare, which dictates a reassessment of the doctrine of proportionality. That doctrine permits military action only if the military benefit derived from that specific action outweighs the collateral damage that would result therefrom.

Hezbollah possesses missiles that are within reach of all of Israel’s major population centers. The M-600/Fateh-110 for example, has a range of 300 km and can carry a conventional payload of between 500-650 kg. The missile is relatively accurate and has a 50-50 chance of landing within 100 meters of its intended target. Hezbollah is said to possess hundreds of these missiles, which can be fired from either fixed positions or from mobile platforms. Hezbollah is also said to possess the ability to manufacture surface -to-surface missiles, and with Iran’s assistance has constructed missile-building factories in fortified facilities 50 meters beneath the ground. Hezbollah is believed to possess at least two such factories in Lebanon.

Moreover, Hezbollah has constructed several missile launching facilities in and around the Syrian province of Qusair. Hezbollah took control of the region in 2013 and will likely use the area, which it treats as its own turf, as a platform to strike at Israel in any future conflict. Hezbollah’s rocket arsenal is believed to be 15 times greater than it was in 2006, dwarfing the collective inventories of all NATO countries, save for the United States. 

The combination of such a lethal arsenal, cynically deployed amidst Lebanese civilian infrastructure, for use against Israeli civilian infrastructure, means that in the next war, Israel must respond with massive and overwhelming force. Israel’s terror-sponsoring enemies, chiefly Syria and Iran, should be on notice that the target bank will not be limited to Lebanon, and the world should be on notice that Hezbollah, and not Israel will bear full responsibility for all civilian casualties that ensue. The days where Israel is forced to fight with one hand tied behind its back due to the pernicious nature of its genocidal enemies, and overzealous application of the rules of war exclusively to one side but not the other, are over.  

By: Ari Lieberman 
(Front Page Mag)

State Witness in Submarine Graft Probe Moved to Safe House

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The development is the latest in a mass corruption scandal engulfing Netanyahu’s inner circle

The former representative of German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp in Israel and state witness Miki Ganor has been moved to a safe house for his own protection, after turning state witness  in a graft probe involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner circle, Channel 2 Hebrew news outlet reported Tuesday.

The police have declined to comment but the report stated Ganor has been relocated to an undisclosed location for his own safety.  

Ganor turned state witness following his arrest on July 10 on suspicion of fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit a crime.

The development is the latest twist in the submarine affair, also known as ‘Case 3000’, to differentiate it from the other corruption probes surrounding senior government officials including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Case 3000 centers on allegations that Netanyahu’s personal lawyer, David Shimron, pushed for multi-billion shekel deals in favor of German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp, which is his client in Israel.

Ganor’s arrest earlier in July was among a raft of suspects detained for questioning, including Maj. Gen. (res.) Eliezer Marom.

The detained are suspected of several crimes including taking bribes, tax offenses, money laundering and corruption.

Scrutiny over a 2014 submarine deal between Israel and the German industrial giant surfaced in November after a Channel 10 investigative report said that David Shimron once worked as an intermediary for Miki Ganor, who was then the head of ThyssenKrupp in Israel. 

(i24News)

Netanyahu to Putin: Iran Seeks to “Annihilate Israel”

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russiau2019s President Vladimir Putin last Wednesday in the Russian resort town of Sochi to discuss how Iranu2019s u201cacceleratedu201d presence in Syria threatens the Jewish state and the Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin last Wednesday in the Russian resort town of Sochi to discuss how Iran’s “accelerated” presence in Syria threatens the Jewish state and the Middle East.

Netanyahu was joined in Sochi by Yossi Cohen, director of the Mossad intelligence agency, and Meir Ben-Shabbat, the recently appointed leader of Israel’s National Security Council.

“Mr. President, with joint efforts we are defeating Islamic State, and this is a very important thing,” Netanyahu told Putin. “But the bad thing is that where the defeated Islamic State group vanishes, Iran is stepping in.”

“We cannot forget for a single minute that Iran threatens every day to annihilate Israel,” he said. “It arms terrorist organizations, it sponsors and initiates terror.”

Netanyahu also noted that the Islamic Republic is “well on its way” to controlling not only Syria, but other countries in the Middle East, including Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

“Beyond making the argument that Iran’s growing sphere of influence threatens Israel, I hope Netanyahu pointed out to Putin [in their private meeting] that Moscow’s short-term benefits from working with Tehran pale in comparison with the long-term dangers,” Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum think tank, told JNS.org.

“When strong enough, the mullahs inevitably will turn their aggressive ideological attentions on an increasingly Muslim Russia,” he said.

During the portion of the leaders’ meeting that was open to the public, Putin did not respond to Netanyahu’s comments regarding Iran’s role in Syria.

In the closed-door part of the meeting, the Mossad’s Cohen reportedly presented the Russian leader with “sensitive, credible and very disturbing detailed intelligence” of Iran’s expanding military presence in Syria.

Citing a senior Israeli official, Haaretz reported in July that Israel is aware of Iranian plans to build up its forces in Syria through the establishment of permanent air and naval bases.

“[Israel must] put pressure on the Russians” to protect its security interests in Syria, Prof. Eyal Zisser, a senior research fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and the vice rector of Tel Aviv University, told JNS.org.

Yet Israel has “relatively little leverage” over the Russians, said Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank.

“Israel has its own missile defense and air defense systems for its own perimeter, which gives it a seat at the table,” Schanzer told JNS.org, “but in terms of telling the Russians or the U.S. what to do, this is a heavier lift.”

Netanyahu’s visit to Russia comes after a high-level Israeli security delegation met with senior U.S. defense officials last week in Washington, D.C. The Israeli officials were dismayed over a failure to secure a commitment from the U.S. for an inclusion of a clause demanding the full withdrawal of Iranian forces from Syria in the event of a peace deal to end that country’s civil war.

By: Adam Abrams
(JNS)

Israeli Defense Minister: No More Lopsided Prisoner Swaps

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Israel will not agree to release Hamas terrorists in exchange for Israeli bodies, Liberman clarified. 

Israel must not repeat the mistakes made in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange with Hamas, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said Sunday in the wake of criticism directed against the government following Thursday’s resignation of Lior Lotan, the government official charged with negotiating the release of Israeli civilians held by Hamas and the return of the bodies of Israeli soldiers killed during the 2014 Gaza war.

Following Lotan’s resignation, the family of Lt. Hadar Goldin, one of two Israeli soldiers whose bodies are believed to be held by Hamas, said they felt “abandoned” by the government.

“Following Lior’s resignation, we feel that we have been abandoned by the government,” the family said in a statement. “Lotan’s resignation comes as no surprise, given recent events. Beyond the words ‘the government is doing everything to bring back Hadar and Oron [Shaul]’ the sad reality is that nothing has been done to bring the boys back.”

Liberman said that while he accepted the criticism of the Shaul and Goldin families “with understanding and with love,” he added that Israel would no longer participate in lopsided prisoner swaps in which large numbers of terrorists are released. He said that Israel must adopt the recommendations of the Shamgar Committee, which was formed in 2008 to create guidelines for prisoner exchanges. The Committee’s recommendations have not been made public and have yet to be formally adopted.

Releasing Terrorists Generates More Terrorism

The minister said he remains “personally committed” to bringing back Goldin and Shaul and the Israeli civilians held in Gaza, but also noted that many of the terrorists who have murdered Israelis in recent years were included in the 1,027-for-one deal to obtain Shalit’s release.

Among those released were “murderers and those who sent them; including Muhammad Kawasme, who was freed to the Gaza Strip only to fund the kidnap of the three teens [Gil-Ad Sha’er, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah, who were murdered after being kidnapped while hitchhiking near Alon Shvut in the Etzion bloc]; and Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza [who served 22 years of a life sentence for masterminding the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers] who is now making exorbitant demands that are preventing a deal.”

Liberman noted that seven Israelis had been murdered “with the direct or indirect involvement” of Palestinians released in the Shalit exchange and that 202 Palestinians released in the deal have been rearrested.

“Therefore,” Liberman said, “before appointing a replacement for Lior Lotan,” it is important to adopt the Shamgar Committee’s recommendations in their entirety and thus to draw a clear framework for the state of Israel and its envoys, and in particular to stand firm against our enemies and to clarify to them that we have no intention of compromising on Israel’s security.”

In addition to the bodies of Goldin and Shaul, Hamas also holds three Israeli civilians: Avera Mengistu, Hisham al-Sayed and Jumaa Abu Ghanima. All three suffer from mental illness and are believed to have crossed into Gaza of their own volition. 

By: Ilan Evyatar
(TPS)

Intact Byzantine-Era Inscription Unearthed in Jerusalem

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Archaeologists announced last Wednesday that they have unearthed a Greek inscription mentioning the Byzantine emperor Justinian on a mosaic floor near Damascus Gate, in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The 1,500 year old mosaic was discovered earlier this summer following groundwork to lay cable infrastructure in the area. Given the proximity to Damascus Gate, historically the main entrance to Jerusalem from the north, archaeologists said the floor was probably used as a hostel for pilgrims.

“The Damascus Gate served for hundreds of years as the main northern entrance to Jerusalem. Knowing that, it is no surprise that this area is rich with archaeological remains. In the Byzantine period, with the emergence of Christianity, churches, monasteries and hostels for pilgrims were built in the area north of the gate, and the area became one of the most important and active areas of the city, said David Gellman, who directed the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Gellman added that although ancient artifacts are common in the area, the new discovery is significant because it is almost completely intact.

“The fact that the inscription survived is an archaeological miracle,” he said. “The excavation in a relatively small area, exposed ancient remains that were severely damaged by infrastructure groundwork over the last few decades. We were about to close the excavation, when all of a sudden, a corner of the mosaic inscription peeked out between the pipes and cables. Amazingly, it had not been damaged.

“Every archaeologist dreams of finding an inscription in their excavations, especially one so well preserved and almost entirely intact,” Gellman concluded.

According to Dr. Leah Di Segni, an expert on ancient Greek at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who deciphered the inscription, the text mentions the Byzantine emperor Flavius Justinian as well as the well-known priest Constantine. She said the inscription reads, “in the time of our most pious emperor Flavius Justinian, also this entire building Constantine the most God-loving priest and abbot, established and raised, in the 14thindiction.

‘Indiction’ is an ancient method of counting years for taxation purposes, Di Segni said. Based on historical sources, she added that the mosaic can be dated to the year 550/551 CE.

The two people mentioned in the inscription, Justinian and Constantine are well known from both ancient historical sources and archaeological finds. The IAA said in a release that the emperor Flavius Justinian ruled the Roman empire at its height and oversaw its conversion to Christianity, eventually building a large church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The structure, built in the 543 CE and known as the Nea Church, was the largest church built in Jerusalem and one of the largest in the entire empire. The abbot of the church was Constantine, whose name appears in the inscription revealed Wednesday. Remains of the Nea Church were partially unearthed in 1970 during a rash of excavations in the Old City following the Six Day War three years earlier

“This new inscription helps us understand Justinian’s building projects in Jerusalem, especially the Nea Church. The rare combination of archaeological finds and historical sources, woven together, is incredible to witness, and they throw important light on Jerusalem’s past, Di Segni added.

IAA officials said the inscription was removed from its site by conservation experts and is being treated in the IAA ‘s mosaic workshop in Jerusalem. 

(TPS)

Netanyahu: Israel Will Stay in Judea and Samaria Forever

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Israel will never withdraw from any Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday night at a ceremony marking 50 years of Jewish settlement in Samaria.

“This is the land of our fathers, this is our land. We are here to stay, forever,” Netanyahu said at the event held at the Barkan industrial park. “There will be no uprooting of communities in the Land of Israel.”

Netanyahu told a crowd of several thousand that past experience showed that withdrawing from Jewish settlements had not furthered the cause of peace. “Communities were uprooted and what did we get? We got missiles. That will not happen again,” the prime minister said.

Netanyahu called Samaria a “strategic asset” for the state of Israel. “From these hills we can see the Land of Israel from one end to the other,” he said.

“My friends, I have to tell you that we have gone through a difficult period. But [now] there is momentum in development and construction in Judea and Samaria. We are leading this great endeavor together. There is no government that acted more for the sake of settlement than the government I headed,” Netanyahu said.

He promised that “in the Land of Israel, no communities will be uprooted.”

“It has been proven that this does not advance peace. We have uprooted communities and received rockets [in return]. It will not happen anymore. We will take care and watch over this place, and it protects us and is a strategic asset for Israel.”

“Imagine that radical Islamic forces were stationed on these hills,” Netanyahu continued. “That would be a danger not only to us, but to all our neighbors. It would endanger the whole region and the entire Middle East. Given everything that is happening around us, one could only imagine the consequences.”

Prior to his speech, the Prime Minister met with the parents of Hadar Goldin, one of the IDF soldiers whose body has been held by the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip for the last three years.

Netanyahu told the parents that he had spoken with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres about the return of the captives held by Hamas. 

(TPS)

Are Yesterday’s Heroes Today’s Villains?

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So we now observe that the frenzy created in Charlottesville by the clash of Right Wing Nazis thugs with Left Wing hoodlums has quickly morphed into a crusade to cleanse America of its Civil War and wildly racist past. Communities, churches, universities and cities are now in sort of a scorecard frenzy to see which could take down the most statues of Confederate generals and leaders, rename streets, schools and buildings to cleanse themselves from what they consider, the bigotry and hatred represented by the South before and during the Civil War. 

We here in NYC seem to have acquired this virus big time. Mayor DeBlasio and some lesser city “leaders” have scanned the city’s thoroughfares hunting for any and all monuments dedicated to Southern war heroes. These Sherlocks uncovered heretofore unnoticed busts of Generals Lee and Stonewall Jackson at Bronx Community College where students, too busy studying for their spelling and multiplication tests, never ever noticed them. Not to be outdone, some politicos have even unearthed a statue of a doctor who began the modern study of gynecology and want that taken down because he tried out his techniques on black women slaves hundreds of years ago. But, the hunt for purity and righteousness goes on.

The Christopher Columbus statue sitting right smack in, you guessed it, Columbus Circle may be on the demo list. Forget that without his explorations, who knows where we and the world would be today? But, hold on….what about Columbus Avenue? Will its street signs be changed to…. Rev. Al Sharpton Avenue? Or how about Rev. Jeremiah Wright Boulevard? And what about this guy Henry Hudson who once punched a time clock for the Dutch East India Company which used his reports of his explorations to settle and ferry slaves across the Atlantic to North America? Because of his relationship with these slave traders should we drain the Hudson River of its history? 

But Jews have now joined in the erase-our-history game with Shurat HaDin clamoring for Peter Stuyvesant’s name to be erased and statues of him to be removed. As director of the North American Dutch Colonies back over 360 years ago he discriminated against Jews and Catholics. He called on Jews, “to depart” the colony. He called them, “the deceitful race “ and he would not allow them to “further infect and trouble this new colony.” No synagogues were permitted to be built under his governorship. So let’s, as Jews, start making lists in order to expunge Old Pegleg’s name from Stuyvesant High School, Stuyvesant Town, the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Stuyvesant Square and Stuyvesant Street. 

When will this lunacy end? Who will be next? Yesterday’s heroes are today’s villains. 

Sheriff Joe and Double Standards

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Sheriff Joe Arpaio was pardoned by President Trump after being convicted by a federal judge who found the Arizona law enforcement official guilty of being in contempt for continuing to have his officers enforce immigration laws that the Obama administration deemed illegal

Sheriff Joe Arpaio was pardoned by President Trump after being convicted by a federal judge who found the Arizona law enforcement official guilty of being in contempt for continuing to have his officers enforce immigration laws that the Obama administration deemed illegal. That’s called by the Left, 

“Racial Profiling.” If you go after illegals, that’s illegal, they say. Sheriff Joe, as he’s familiarly called, is a hard liner on illegal immigration and ordered his deputies to aggressively search out and report illegal aliens to the federal government. The judge who had found him guilty, Susan Bolton, was a Bill Clinton appointee and a proponent of going easy on illegals. In other words, he was railroaded by a Leftist judge who refused to give him the right to be judged by his peers, namely a jury. She assumed that role. He never had a fighting chance.

And Progressive groups together with the loyal Democrat controlled media jumped all over Trump for releasing a criminal whom they claim deserved the punishment. The guy is now 85 years old, a Korean veteran and has been in law enforcement for over 65 years. Strange that the media and those who were shocked by the release of Arpaio never uttered a whimper of complaint when President Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, who had fled the nation and our court system after stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from investors. And not much was made of the fact that Rich’s ex-wife donated nearly one half million dollars to the Clinton Library as payoff money for that action. Clearly a bribe. Nor did the Progressives flinch when Big Bill pardoned FALN terrorists who murdered Americans, as a ploy to sway Puerto Rican voters to cast their ballots for his wife, then considering running for a Senate seat in NY. And not much noise was made when President Obama freed five murderous Taliban terrorists from Gitmo in exchange for an American soldier who was a deserter. 

So let’s get back to Sheriff Joe. The initial racial profiling suit that led to his conviction was political prosecution. The judge in that case refused to recuse himself based on the fact that his brother-in-law was a partner in the law firm that represented those suing Arpaio. The decision to criminally prosecute Arpaio was taken while the DOJ was run by guess who…. Loretta Lynch, the gal who spent a half hour with Bill Clinton on some tarmac as a result of a gazillion to one chance airport meeting “discussing family matters” while their respective super jets were spewing tons of CO2 into the air waiting for them to finish their non-political discussions.

We wish Sheriff Joe well and to live his life out in peace knowing he tried his best to protect and defend the citizens under his jurisdiction. And we pray as well that America wakes up to the threat of illegal immigration that threatens to overwhelm our cities, schools, hospitals, prisons and workplaces. Our municipalities will surely pay the same price as Europe for their stupidity in welcoming in millions of undocumented aliens. 

Letters to the Editor

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NYS Lawmakers Write to Joe Lhota

Dear Editor: 

New York State Assembly member Jeffrey Dinowitz and 45 of his colleagues recently signed a letter to Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman Joe Lhota expressing concern about declining bus service and ongoing transit crises.  Perhaps they are unaware of many bus capital projects funded under the ongoing MTA Five Year $32 billion 2015 – 2019 Five Year Capital Plan.    

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York City Transit previously awarded contracts for $200 million to purchase and install a new bus radio system along with $150 million for purchase and installation of a new East New York Brooklyn Bus Command Center.  Although both projects are already several years behind schedule (what else is new!), riders will eventually see benefits from completion of both the Bus Radio System and Command Bus Center.  

They will support operations of over 6,000 buses providing service in all five boroughs.  Once in use, they will support proper dispatching and monitoring of service which assist in avoiding bus bunching.    

Transit signal improvements affording buses priority movement on streets saving riders time involves the cooperation and financial support of NYC DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Boarding of buses in both the front and back

has other issues to contend with. While riders are encouraged to exit in the rear, many depart via both the front and back doors.  Conflicts will arise between riders attempting to board via both front and back door versus those wanting to exit.  How many times have you been delayed by riders who fumble around trying to find their Metro Card, attempt to use a Metro Card with insufficient fare or look for right amount of lose change resulting in more delays before a bus can depart the stop?

MTA NYC Transit as part of the $32 billion 2015 – 2019 Five Year Capital Plan are also in the process of spending $1 billion for purchasing over 1,000 new buses. MTA Bus has programmed $300 million to buy over 400 new buses serving neighborhoods around NYC.

In the end, quality and frequency of service is dependent upon secure revenue streams. We all have to contribute — be it at the fare box or tax revenues generated by different levels of government redistributed back to the MTA. 

TANSTAFFL or “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch” or in this case a free ride.

Sincerely,

Larry Penner 

(Larry Penner is a transportation historian and advocate who previously worked 31 years for the US Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration Region 2 NY Office) .


Doing The Right Thing in Lakewood

Dear Editor: 

For the last few months the Lakewood community has been the focus of media attention throughout New Jersey.  The comments on social media are frightening.  We are portrayed as tax evading swindlers. We have been portrayed as opportunistic carpetbaggers that are taking advantage of an entire region with only our own needs in mind. It has been a very rough few months.  The rhetoric could sometimes remind us of old Nazi propaganda films. 

Images from Der Ewige Jude of Jews working towards world domination are not so different than the images being portrayed about the Lakewood Jewish community.  These recent events emboldened the already numerous Neo Nazi organizations in our area . Flyers were distributed on cars warning of the awful influence the Jewish community has brought to New Jersey.  The reaction of our self appointed VAAD

was swift.  They quickly blamed a few “Bad Apples”, effectively removing themselves from any accusations.

The community response to the VAAD response was mostly unanimous.  We were shocked and dismayed that in interview after interview there was no defense of the mostly innocent victims of an overzealous prosecution of mistakes made reporting income. No VAAD member mentioned that many of the accused were truly people facing financial or medical hardships and had done nothing wrong intentionally.  Whether the reason was fear of their own prosecution or a hesitancy to question people they need favors from, the end result was they did not do their job. A community VAAD is supposed to be there for the communities’ needs, and they failed miserably. 

Sincerely

Harold Hershkowitz


Anti-Semitism on the Rise

Dear Editor:

The other day innocent civilians were murdered by Arab terrorists in Israel while sitting at their Shabbat meal. Most of the liberal media did not report on this incident and certainly except for the Jews, I doubt most of the world cares. We have learned nothing from the Holocaust. The world sat in silence while six million died. The NY Times and London Times, even though they knew mass murder was occurring by the end of 1942, wrote very little about it. Instead of protesting about the separation of men and women praying at the kotel and threatening to hold back donations to Israel, liberal Jews should protest the anti Semitism and anti Zionism prevalent throughout the world. 

If you look at the various newspapers we

see stories about Lakewood pious Jews and Medicare fraud. The story is repeated over and over. Last week the same story regarding an Orthodox Jew molesting a child was blasted daily in the local secular newspaper. In both cases, what the Jews did was a desecration, however the responses by readers are totally anti-Semitic. Politicians believe that Jared & Ivanka run the White House and are making a fortune. Read today’s papers. Jews, are you blind? Don’t you recognize that anti-Semitism is rising daily. While it is nice to join with Muslims for Shabbat dinner, it is nicer to protect our fellow Jews when they are massacred at their own Shabbat dinner.

Sincerely

Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg

The Time Has Come to Stop the War on Free Speech

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If local authorities won’t do it, the Federal government must

Freedom of Assembly is the first and most important right of the Bill of Rights. Today it is being denied in cities like Berkeley and Portland where local left-wing governments have contrived to deny rally permits while giving the masked thugs of their leftist Antifa allies a blank check to assault those whose views they oppose.

In Berkley, Boston and San Francisco, the First Amendment doesn’t exist anymore.

The threat of violence that shut down the Patriot Prayer demonstration in San Francisco, an event scheduled to feature African American, Samoan and Latino speakers, is a case of fascism justifying itself by flying the false flag of “anti-fascism.” And it is the third such case this week – the others being Boston and Berkeley. The founder of Patriot Prayer, Joey Gibson, is a Japanese American who regards himself as a “person of color” and who had made it very clear that he opposes Neo-Nazis and white supremacists, and who has publicly stated that his goal is to promote “love” not hate.

This time the violence and hate were coming from one side, and one side only.

Gibson’s attempt to hold a demonstration to end hate was torpedoed by Nancy Pelosi and Mayor David Lee who falsely claimed that it was a proposed gathering of “white supremacists.” Pelosi insisted that Patriot Prayer should not be allowed a permit for Crissy Field in San Francisco. “The Constitution does not say that a person can yell ‘wolf’ in a crowded theater,” she insisted. But the only people crying wolf were Pelosi and the leftist thugs who caused it to be shut down.

In Berkeley, authorities denied free speech advocates a permit, and did little to prevent the leftist violence that broke out against a handful of individuals who showed up after the organizers had called it off.

James Queally, the crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, tweeted, “There is a complete mob mentality here. People are randomly accusing random people of being Nazis.” Another Tweet added, “The moderate counter protesters are livid with the violence. ‘We need to get Antifa out of here.’ said man who helped break up fight.’”

The authorities are not going to do it. The choice is simple. Either we have a First Amendment. Or we don’t. If mobs of violent leftists with the complicity of leftist authorities can shut down any protest or speaker they don’t like, then we no longer have a Bill of Rights. All that’s left is leftist tyranny.

In the sixties, Governor Reagan sent in the National Guard to stop the violence at Berkeley. Governor Brown won’t do it. It’s up to President Trump to act.

And there’s precedent.

Mob rule will not be tolerated.

That was the message that President Eisenhower delivered to Americans in the fall of ’57 when he returned to the White House and ordered the deployment of the 101st Airborne to Little Rock, Arkansas.

The Governor of Arkansas, a progressive Democrat who was a product of the radical leftist Commonwealth College, had allowed a racist mob to rampage at Central High School in Little Rock.

Eisenhower warned that “disorderly mobs” operating “under the leadership of demagogic extremists” would not be allowed to terrorize citizens with the complicity of local authorities. He showed that the President of the United States was willing to protect civil rights with armed force.

“The only assurance I can give you is that the Federal Constitution will be upheld by me by every legal means at my command,” Eisenhower vowed.

And that’s what he did.

California, under Democrat rule, has become a rogue state ruled by leftist mobs and their political godfathers, where there are a million regulations, but no rule of law, where there is a code for everything, but where the Constitution no longer operates.

Antifa is a criminal terrorist organization. Its masked thugs know they are criminals which is why they hide their identities. The first responsibility of government is the safety of its citizens.  When violent thugs shut down free assemblies, government is not doing its job.

Reagan and Eisenhower made it clear that mob violence would not be tolerated. And they were willing to back up the Constitution and our political freedoms with force.

That’s what must be done to restore First Amendment rights in Berkeley everywhere Antifa mobs seek to shut down the free speech of those they disagree with. If leftist governors and mayors won’t protect the rights and safety of their citizens, then it’s up to the federal government to step in and do it for them. 

By: Daniel Greenfield
(Front Page Mag)

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam.

How the Mainstream Media Operates – A Case Study – Part 1 

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"Our leading media" are characterized by "indefensibly corrupt manipulations of language repeated incessantly."

“Our leading media” are characterized by “indefensibly corrupt manipulations of language repeated incessantly.”

Patrick Lawrence in The Nation, Aug. 9, 2017, on the media’s reporting of the alleged collusion between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia

To understand America’s crises today, one must first understand what has happened to two institutions: the university and the news media. They do not regard their mission as educating and informing but indoctrinating.

In this column, I will focus on the media. I will dissect one issue that I know extremely well: the national and local coverage of the invitation extended to me to guest-conduct the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The concert took place last week. 

I am well aware that this event is far less significant than many other issues. But every aspect of the reporting of this issue applies to virtually every issue the media cover. Therefore, understanding how The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and NPR covered my story leads to an almost-perfect understanding of how the media cover every story where the left has a vested interest.

When it comes to straight news stories — say, an earthquake in Central America — the news media often do their job responsibly. But when a story has a left-wing interest, the media abandon straight news reporting and take on the role of advocates.

As I explained in detail in a previous column, the board of directors of the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra and its conductor, Guido Lamell, invited me to guest-conduct a Haydn symphony at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. I have conducted regional orchestras in Southern California over the last 20 years.

Sometime thereafter, four members of the orchestra published a letter asking their fellow musicians not to perform, claiming, “Dennis Prager is a right-wing radio host who promotes horribly bigoted positions.” They were joined by former Santa Monica Mayor Kevin McKeown, who announced, “I personally will most certainly not be attending a concert featuring a bigoted hate-monger,” among others.

Then, The New York Times decided to write a piece on the controversy.

The first question is why? Why would the Times write about a controversy begun by a few members of a community orchestra in California?

I am quite certain that one reason was to protect the left. My original column on the issue, titled “Can a Conservative Conduct an Orchestra?” went viral. And it made the left look bad. Not only was the left trying to prevent conservatives from speaking ; it was now trying to prevent a conservative from not speaking — from just making music.

Therefore, it was necessary to show that the left in Santa Monica had legitimate reasons to try to prevent me from conducting. And the only way to do that was to reaffirm that I am a hater and a bigot. 

The Times writer wasted no time in portraying me that way. He wrote, “a number of them are refusing to play the fund-raiser, saying that allowing the orchestra to be conducted by Mr. Prager, who has suggested that same-sex marriage would lead to polygamy and incest, among other contentious statements, would be tantamount to endorsing and normalizing bigotry.”

Lesson No. 1: When the mainstream media write or say that a conservative “suggested” something that sounds outrageous, it usually means the conservative never actually said it. After all, why write “suggested” and not “said” or “wrote”? Be suspicious whenever anything attributed to a conservative has no quotation marks and no source. 

Seven paragraphs later — long after having mischaracterized my words to prime the readers’ perception — the Times writer did quote me on the subject. He said, “Mr. Prager suggested that if same-sex marriage were legalized, then ‘there is no plausible argument for denying polygamous relationships, or brothers and sisters, or parents and adult children, the right to marry.’”

Though no context was given, the words quoted are accurate and a source was given. It was a 2014 column I wrote about judges having hubris for overturning voters in state after state who voted to keep marriage defined as the union of a man and a woman. I was responding to then-District Judge Vaughn Walker, who struck down California’s Proposition 8, which had amended the state’s constitution to define marriage as “the union of a man and woman.”

One of Judge Walker’s arguments was that “Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis.”

I wrote in the column, “If American society has a ‘constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis,’ then there is no plausible argument for denying polygamous relationships, or brothers and sisters, or parents and adult children, the right to marry.”

Had The New York Times author been intellectually honest, he would have written the context and the entire quote. Or, if he had wanted to merely paraphrase me, he could have written, “Prager suggested that if same-sex marriage were legalized, there were no arguments against legalizing polygamy and adult incest.”

But that would have sounded a lot less awful than saying I suggested same-sex marriage will lead to polygamy and incest.

So, for as long as human beings and the internet exist, people who wish to dismiss me or my views on same-sex marriage will quote The New York Times mischaracterization. Readers will not know that the quote about same-sex marriage and incest is not mine but that of a New York Times writer.

Lesson No. 2: When used by the mainstream media, the words “divisive” or “contentious” simply mean “leftists disagree with.”

Both words were used in The New York Times piece. The writer wrote that my “political views are divisive” and that I’ve made “other contentious statements.” 

But the only reason my views are “divisive” and “contentious” is The New York Times differs with them. 

By: Dennis Prager
(Front Page Mag)
(To Be Continued Next Week)

Christopher Columbus Gets the Sledgehammer

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The New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston was vandalized for the second time this summer

Every schoolchild knows that Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. He and his men sailed in the Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa Maria. The U.S. federal government in 1971 made Columbus Day a national holiday in October, with Columbus being the only person other than Martin Luther King so honored.

Born in the Republic of Genoa, and financed by the Spanish monarchy, not by any Italian, Columbus, explorer and navigator, made four voyages across the Atlantic in the hope of finding an alternative trade route to reach the East Indies by sailing west and finding gold and silver. Instead, sailing from the Canary Islands, he reached San Salvador, Bahamas.

Columbus is popularly regarded as the discoverer of the Americas, but he in fact was anticipated by the Viking Leif Erickson in the 11th century. Columbus is acclaimed as the starter of the European colonization of the New World, starting with the 2,500 who arrived with him in 1493. He did not find gold, but he did find natives, and his treatment of them has given risen to controversy.

Among other things, he headed the transatlantic slave trade. There remains controversy over the extent of his actions and those of his men. Differences exist among historians over the nature and degree of his responsibility for the poor treatment, at one extreme termed genocide, of native peoples – namely, the Taino people of Hispaniola and the Arawak people. Included in the criticism are the pressure of overwork; the importation and spread of European diseases, possibly syphilis; and the imposition of a form of slavery and sexual slavery.

Not surprisingly, Columbus is remembered in his hometown by an airport named after him and by his natal home becoming a museum. In the United States, his name, Columbus or Columbia, began appearing as a synonym for “America.” He is honored by statues, and his name is given to the U.S. capital, the District of Columbia, and the capital cities of Ohio and South Carolina, plus a busy traffic circle and intersection in Manhattan, New York City and the Columbia river.

The country this year has been troubled, even confused, by the fact that a number of cities in the United States have been the setting for the destruction of monuments of those disliked for various reasons. These have mostly been prominent figures of the old Confederacy in the South. On this issue, the country is divided, and an increasing volume of voices, not only President Donald Trump, has asked where this destruction will stop.

The most recent event was in the city of Baltimore, where in August four statues of people who were associated with the losing side in the Civil War, including Robert E. Lee; Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson; and Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who authored the 1857 Dred Scott decision, have been destroyed.

As far as one can tell, Christopher Columbus, whatever else he did, never fought for the Confederate side in the U.S. Civil War, and he may not have owned personal slaves. Yet, in 2015, red paint and a hatchet were applied to a statue of Columbus in Detroit, and another in Boston was painted red.

A more serious event occurred in the middle of the night on August 21, 2017, when a monument to Columbus built in 1792, erected by a Frenchman and the oldest in the country, was vandalized in northeast Baltimore. A group calling itself Popular Resistance used a sledgehammer to deface the base of the monument. A relevant video by someone naming himself Ty called Columbus a “genocidal terrorist” and declared, without detail, that the future is racial and economic justice.

For this group, Columbus represents the initial invasion of European capitalism into the Western hemisphere and the capitalist exploitation in the Americas on the backs of indigenous peoples.

Where does the destruction stop? The Rev. Al Sharpton appears to have called for the destruction of the Jefferson Memorial. There are two issues. One is that destruction becomes infectious, inside and outside the U.S. For example, in November 2015, vandals in Mielec, Poland pulled down a monument of gratitude to the Soviet Red Army. On August 14, 2017, the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston was vandalized for the second time this year.

The second wider problem is whether 19th-century behavior – and with Columbus, 15th-century behavior – should be judged by 21st-century morals and standards. Or should it be recognized as part of the history of the country, unwelcome though it may be to some? A number of the Founding Fathers owned slaves. Are their monuments to be destroyed, or are they to be kept because the Founders established the Constitution?

The fear is that history is being erased. Already, a number of cities in the U.S. have decided to change the name of Columbus Day to “Indigenous Peoples Day.”

Abraham Lincoln is probably one of the few beyond reproach. It is wise to remember his words about the two sides in the Civil War in his Second Inaugural on March 4, 1865: “both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other.” 

By: Michael Curtis
(American Thinker)

Iran Makes Mockery of Nuclear Deal

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Time for a serious reassessment

Things are unfolding rapidly in Syria as relentless offensives, undertaken by the joint might of Iran, Russia and Hezbollah against a plethora of rival Sunni militias, have taken their toll on the rebels. Analysts are fearful that the pending fall of Islamic State, which seems likely, will create a vacuum that the Islamic Republic will rush to fill. This coupled with the recent revelation that the United States terminated a covert military aid program to rebels seeking to topple Assad, virtually ensures that Iran will remain a dominant power in Syria. A troubling consequence of this development is that Iran will have essentially succeeded in creating a land bridge of sorts that travels through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea, a prospect that is inimical to both U.S and Israeli interests.

Israel is cognizant of the fact that as a result of the leadership vacuum created by the Obama administration, Moscow now pulls the strings in Syria. It also understands that the U.S. decision to terminate funding for certain Syrian rebel groups signals that the U.S. has limited its immediate aims in Syria to toppling the Islamic State. Malign Iranian and Hezbollah influences appear to have become secondary concerns. For good reason, Israel views Iran’s entrenchment in Syria as a direct strategic threat and regional challenge. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his concerns to Vladimir Putin in a meeting between the two leaders which took place on Wednesday in Sochi. Russia’s ambassador to Israel, Alexander Petrovich Shein, noted that Russia would take Israeli interests into consideration when dealing with Syria.  

While Iran’s cancerous spread of its hegemony is disconcerting, equally alarming is its continued violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also informally known as the Iran deal. The disastrous and dangerous Iran deal, mendaciously orchestrated by the Obama administration and sold to the American public through half-truths, cynical exploitation of the media and use of “echo chambers,” poses serious challenges to the Trump administration. 

Twice since the signing of the accord, Iran has exceeded the JCPOA’s prescribed limitations on heavy water production, and according to German intelligence, Iran continues to utilize front companies in efforts to purchase high-tech equipment for use in nuclear weapon and ballistic missile development. Moreover, Iran’s secretive Parchin facility, where the Islamic Republic conducts its most secretive nuclear experiments, continues to remain off limits to international inspectors. But Iranian malfeasance does not end there. 

According to a report compiled by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Iran, in flagrant violation of the JCPOA, has been using commercial airliners to transport Iranian Revolutionary Guardsmen and proxy militias to various Mideast hotspots including Syria. Photos obtained by the FDD, and forwarded to congressional leaders show militia fighters affiliated with the Fatemiyoun Brigade, an Afghan Shiite militia, seated in an Iranian commercial airliner bound for Syria. The aircraft belongs to Iran Air, a purported Iranian civilian airliner, and its logo is clearly visible in the photo.

The stunning revelation comes on the heels of a report by the German media outlet Welt am Sonntag that Iran was using commercial airliners to transport military hardware to Syria from where it was shipped to Russia for maintenance and upgrading. Welt am Sonntag featured a satellite image of an Iranian Boeing commercial airliner parked on the tarmac at Khmeimim airbase, Russia’s largest and most important military airbase in Syria. The plane was likely purchased by Iran in the 1970s during the Shah’s era.

These disturbing incidents prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Iran is using dual use platforms for military applications. It is a fact that in Iran, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has spread its tentacles far and wide and maintains rooted interests in various civilian enterprises including the airline and banking industries. As noted, it utilizes commercial airlines to ferry troops and military equipment to Syria and elsewhere but it also uses its banking sector to launder money and finance overseas terror operations. In 2016, former secretary of state and Iranian lobbyist wannabee, John Kerry, attempted to persuade Western banks to do business with the Iranians, a request flatly rejected by banking executives who noted the IRGC’s well known infiltration of the Iranian banking sector and other civilian institutions. 

Two Iranian commercial airliners – Aseman Airlines and the aforementioned Iran Air – have contracted with Boeing and its European competitor, Airbus, to purchase several dozen commercial airliners in deals collectively worth almost $50 billion. But Boeing needs the U.S. Treasury Department’s approval before the sale can be finalized. Airbus too requires Treasury’s approval because at least 10 percent of the airplanes’ components are of American origin.

Clearly, events of late dictate denial of all sales to the Iranians. Moreover, sanctions must be imposed on all Iranian commercials airline companies for flagrantly breaching international obligations. Those sanctions should be imposed in collaboration with our allies and should include denial of air and landing rights. As noted by Reps. Peter Roskam (R., Ill.), Lee Zeldin (R., N.Y.), Andy Barr (R., Ken.), and David Reichert (R., Wash.) in a letter addressed to Treasury Department, Iran Air is culpable in “facilitating the ongoing atrocities committed against the Syrian people by the Assad regime and its allies.” Lastly, it is patently obvious that Iran, by both word and deed, is defying the terms of the JCPOA. It is time for a serious reassessment of this dreadful accord that is worth less than the paper it is written on.

 By: Ari Lieberman
 (Front Page Mag)

Ari Lieberman is an attorney and former prosecutor who has authored numerous articles and publications on matters concerning the Middle East and is considered an authority on geo-political and military developments affecting the region

World Jewish Congress Publishes New Book that Chronicles its 80-Year-Long History

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The World Jewish Congress played a leadership role in the international efforts to force Swiss banks to disgorge more than one billion dollars they had wrongfully withheld from Jewish Holocaust victims and their heirs.
The World Jewish Congress provided invaluable assistance to the prosecutors at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg in the years after the Holocaust
The late Robert Herzstein, center, presenting documents linking Kurt Waldheim to Nazi war crimes in 1986.
In his foreword, World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder (pictured above) writes that “this book reminds us not only what the WJC did in the past, but why the Jewish people need this vital organization now more than ever and will continue to need it in the future.”

World Jewish Congress publishes new book chronicling its 80-year-long history

A new book chronicling the history of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), the umbrella organization of Jewish communities across the globe, has been released to the public and is now available for purchase on Amazon. The World Jewish Congress, 1936-2016 details the dramatic diplomatic efforts and achievements of this preeminent international Jewish organization, from its founding in Geneva 80 years ago through the present.

In his foreword, World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder writes that “this book reminds us not only what the WJC did in the past, but why the Jewish people need this vital organization now more than ever and will continue to need it in the future.”

Among the episodes chronicled in the anthology are the WJC’s multifaceted rescue efforts during the years of the Holocaust; its pioneering role in crafting the groundbreaking Jewish-Catholic dialogue that fundamentally and profoundly changed the relationship between the Jewish people and the Vatican; its role in providing invaluable assistance to the prosecutors at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg; its high-level diplomatic negotiations that enabled Jews from Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria to emigrate to Israel, France, and elsewhere during the 1950s and 1960s; its exposure of Kurt Waldheim’s Nazi past; and its leadership of the international efforts to force Swiss banks to disgorge more than one billion dollars they had wrongfully withheld from Jewish Holocaust victims and their heirs.

The book also details the World Jewish Congress’ critical hand in fighting the UN’s resolution that equated Zionism and racism; its focus in preserving the historical integrity of the site of the Auschwitz death camp; its efforts on behalf of Soviet Jewry; its attitude toward Jews living in post-Holocaust Germany; and its work to bring the perpetrators of terrorist bombings in Buenos Aires to justice. In the book’s concluding chapters, WJC CEO Robert R. Singer describes the activities of the World Jewish Congress today, and Ambassador Lauder lays out his vision of the Jewish future.

Contributors include historians Michael Brenner, Jonathan A. Bush, Suzanne Rutland, Zohar Segev, and Gregory J. Wallance; Monsignor Pier Francesco Fumagalli, vice prefect of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan; Natan Lerner, professor of law emeritus at IDC Herzliya; Gregg J. Rickman, who led the US Senate Banking Committee’s examination of Swiss banks and their treatment of Holocaust-era assets during and after World War II; Eli M. Rosenbaum, longtime head of the US Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations; and Evelyn Sommer, chairperson of the WJC’s North American Section.

The World Jewish Congress, 1936-2016 (ISBN 978-0-9969361-1-8; $36) is edited by WJC General Counsel Menachem Z. Rosensaft. 

About the World Jewish Congress

The World Jewish Congress (WJC) is the international organization representing Jewish communities in 100 countries to governments, parliaments and international organizations.

Jerusalem Gets Smart with New Digital Gadget Library

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Inside Jerusalemu2019s new Device Lab. Photo courtesy of Intel Israel
Jerusalem’s gadget lab is a place for exploration without breaking the bank. Photo courtesy of Intel Israel
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, center, and other dignitaries at the ribbon-cutting for The Device Lab. Photo courtesy of Intel Israel

On loan are smart watches and laptops, 3D cameras, smart computer chips, gaming computers, tablets, and Android and iOS smartphones

Israel’s startup community has inaugurated its first gadget library. The Jerusalem venue, called The Device Lab, has cutting-edge technologies and devices on loan for entrepreneurs and students to try out their ideas.

US colleges have long offered their academic communities the opportunity to come try out new and old technologies on an array of gadgets and computers at so-called gadget libraries.

Now, Israeli developers – new and veteran – have a library of their own in which to tinker about.

Intel Israel, the government, the Jerusalem municipality and a group of young Jerusalemites known as Tze’irim Bamerkaz are backing the new project at 22 Shivtey Israel Street.

On loan are smartwatches and laptops, 3D cameras, smart computer chips, gaming computers, tablets, and Android and iOS smartphones by top brands such as Lenovo, Intel, Asus, Apple, Tag Heuer, RealSense and Edison. The library’s collection will constantly evolve.

“The new gadget library provides an international starting point for the young and innovative entrepreneurs in Jerusalem. Whoever succeeds in Jerusalem will succeed in the world,” Mayor Nir Barkat said in a statement.

Jerusalem’s startup ecosystem is growing all the time. In 2012, there were no accelerators in the city, according to Made in Jerusalem organization for the city’s entrepreneurs. To date, there are 15 startup hubs and accelerators in Jerusalem, according to Made in Jerusalem.

With the new gadget library now open, students and early-stage entrepreneurs no longer need to break the bank to try their ideas on new devices.

An annual subscription costs $212 and devices are loaned out for different amounts of time depending on demand.

Organizers say the library lab will also be a venue for demos, workshops and lectures.

“We are very pleased that we have the chance to promote technology and entrepreneurship in Jerusalem,” said Shahaf Kiselstein, Intel’s Vice President for Platform Engineering. “A vibrant entrepreneurial community is an important asset for Jerusalem.” 

By: Viva Sarah Press
(Israel 21c)

The Third Jerusalem Biennale for Contemporary Jewish Art: October 1 – November 16, 2017

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The Tower of David Museum (pictured above) will host two Jerusalem Biennale exhibitions
Lili Almog (pictured above) transforms the women obscured under their black dresses into silhouettes creating a barrier within the urban landscape and instilling curiosity over the missing information.
Israeli architect-artist Avner Sher explores the tension between permanence and the ephemeral that is arguably inherent in Jerusalem’s spiritual and urban geography. Alternative Topography is comprised of two series, Maps of Jerusalem and Spolia, which address city space that is perpetually devolving. Sher will build a large scale temporary structure on the balcony of the Tower of David Museum, visible from the city
Siona Benjamin – Exodus
Bilha Zussman

The 3rd Jerusalem Biennale for Contemporary Jewish Art, which will showcase the work of nearly 200 professional artists, Israeli and international, in dozens of exhibitions and installations in eight venues around the city, will run from October 1 through November 16. The Jerusalem Biennale, which explores the places where contemporary art intersects with the Jewish world of content, will take the concept of Watershed as its theme.

Jerusalem Biennale Founder Rami Ozeri: “The Jerusalem Biennale provides a stage for professional artists – from secular to ultra-Orthodox – who refer in their artwork to Jewish thought, spirit, tradition or experience. After two successful Biennales and invitations to exhibit contemporary Jewish art around the world, the Biennale will throw the spotlight onto the concept of watershed, examining it from a literal, metaphorical and even historical perspective. The theme finds its expression in issues as varied as Jewish identity, immigration and refugees, alongside watershed moments in history such as the Balfour Declaration and even the US presidential election.”

Several exhibitions and projects entitled People on the Move explore the watershed and life-shaping experience of moving from one place to another for individuals as well as communities – be it a proactive decision to emigrate, make aliya or yerida, or a forced decision to find refuge. These exhibitions include: 

Dreamland Never Found, in which artists who emigrated from the FSU as children, address migration from the perspective of a longing for childhood memories.  Dreamland explores the artists’ desire to uncover their individual and collective roots and search for a past which ultimately is nowhere to be found.  Curator: Maria Veitz.

Homelands explores artists’ reflections on one of the defining watershed moments from the last century: the disbanding of Jewish communities throughout the Muslim world, presenting this issue from both a personal and communal perspective. Curator: Dr. Meirav Balas.

585,000 m2 features Hungarian artists who reflect upon symbolic spaces found in the 7th district of Budapest’s Jewish Quarter, through visual art statements from the pre-World War II period to the present day.  Curator: Andrea Ausztrics.

The Tower of David Museum will host two Jerusalem Biennale exhibitions:

Alternative Topography –  Israeli architect-artist Avner Sher explores the tension between permanence and the ephemeral that is arguably inherent in Jerusalem’s spiritual and urban geography. Alternative Topography is comprised of two series, Maps of Jerusalem and Spolia, which address city space that is perpetually devolving. Sher will build a large scale temporary structure on the balcony of the Tower of David Museum, visible from the city. Curator: Dr. Smadar Shefi

The Space Within –  Lili Almog transforms the women obscured under their black dresses into silhouettes creating a barrier within the urban landscape and instilling curiosity over the missing information. Curator Eilat Lieber

Other exhibitions include:

  • Mamzerim – an exhibition in which four Israeli artists explore the painful realities of Judaism’s “untouchable” caste, probing the very heart of the complex relations between state and religion in Israel.  Curator Nurit Jacobs Yinon will launch a book on the subject at the Biennale.
  • Adam: Created as Male and Female showcases four well established Israeli artists: Micha Ullman, Efrat Natan, Hila Ben-Ari and Nechama Golan.  Bringing together works from these artists who come from differing social and religious circles reveals a common ground- that of Jewish culture and its position of full equality between women and men. Curators: Rivka Baklash and Ruti Rubenstein
  • To and Fro is a group exhibition of French artists or artists residing in France who relate to the French interpretation of the texts of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav. Curator: Dr. Batsheva Goldman-Ida 
  • Water, Heart, Face – the exhibition, whose title comes from the verse in Proverbs “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man to man” focuses on the entanglement between artist and observer when a work of art is presented. Curator: Avital Naor Wexler
  • The Biennale will also host an American Pavilion with three exhibitions hailing from the States:
  • Flashpoints: A Collective Response, a collaborative exhibition from the Jewish Arts Initiative of Southern California that highlights America’s fractured soul, exposed subsequent to the US presidential election.
  • Jerusalem Between Heaven and Earth, from the Jewish Art Salon in New York City addresses watershed issues related to Jerusalem and its topography.
  • Jerusalem Artists in the New World, in which three artists from Dallas Texas explore the watershed moment of Judaism’s arrival into the New World.

In honor of the Balfour Declaration centennial, Biennale2017 will showcase specially-commissioned works by three British artists exploring this watershed in recent Jewish history and host a special event in the Knesset (November). 

Biennale2017 exhibition venues include the Tower of David Museum; the Bible Lands Museum; the Polonsky Building at the Van Leer Institute, the Austrian Hospice in the Old City, Beit Hasid on Emek Refaim, the Bezeq building on Chopin Street, the Skirball Museum at the Hebrew Union College and the Museum of Underground Prisoners in the Russian Compound.

Gallery talks and panel discussions with artists and curators will be available, as well as private and group tours guided in English and Hebrew.  Tours in additional languages can be arranged on request and based on availability – [email protected]

The Jerusalem Biennale is supported by The Leichtag Foundation (San Diego), The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund (New York), The Lambert Family Foundation (New York), Matthew Bronfman and IKEA Israel, The Leir Charitable Foundations and private donors, as well as The Jerusalem Municipality and The Jerusalem Development Authority.