Results tagged “israel”

Shocking claim from British newspaper the Daily Telegraph: Iranian leader (and Holocaust denier) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is Jewish!

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu produced evidence for the Holocaust on the floor of the UN General Assembly yesterday, in an attempt to put down once and for all the Iranian election-stealer's declaration that the whole thing is based on "a lie and a mythical claim." The Post's front page today shows Netanyahu holding the actual minutes from the German government meeting that planned out the "final solution." He also showed the Assembly plans from Auschwitz, and said of Ahmadinejad, "Have you no shame? Have you no decency?"

You may have to suspend disbelief here, but we assure you this is real life; you didn't just wake up in a 1984 Ron Howard film. Somewhat recently there were multiple mermaid sightings off the coast of Kiryat Yam (near Haifa in Northern Israel) which prompted the town to offer up a $1 million reward for anyone who could prove the mythical creature exists. Once this news traveled all the way to New York, the Brooklyn-based Mermaid Medical Association got involved. (Also: there is a Mermaid Medical Association.)

A flight that had taken off from JFK heading for Tel Aviv was quickly diverted after a passenger charged at the cockpit trying to get in. The plane and its 206 passengers landed safely at Logan International Airport in Boston. 22-year-old Israel citizen Itay Atmor was charged with interfering with a flight after the incident which an official emphasized was "not an act of terrorism." A Massachusetts Port Authority spokesman told reporters, "He was making some noise and banging on doors, possibly the cockpit. But he was subdued by some passengers who wrestled him to the ground." Delta Flight 86 had left JFK at 7:55 p.m. and touched down at Logan around 10.

Another day, another political cartoon controversy! This time the center of attention is Pat Oliphant, the world's most widely syndicated political cartoonist, and his recent cartoon depicting a goose-stepping soldier pushing a giant Star of David shark into a defenseless woman and child. In case anyone misses the subtle message here, the woman is labeled "Gaza," and the illustration is tagged "jackboot justice" on the United Press Syndicate site.

Some members of the Park Slope Food Coop are pushing for a ban on products bought from Israel; the proposal, which will be put to a vote soon, is being floated in response to Israel's most recent military action in Gaza. "Hima B.," the sponsor of the proposal, tells the Jewish Daily Forward, "Economic sanctions worked in South Africa. Why shouldn’t we ask for an end to practices that are violating human rights?" Because, member Rabbi Andy Bachman says, it's "an irrelevant gesture to 5 million Israelis and 2 million Palestinians, but it will make someone in Park Slope feel really good about themselves. That’s what this is about; it’s about the political purity, which is part of Park Slope’s unique self-absorption." Bachman's synagogue happens to host the Co-op's monthly meetings, and he says that should the proposal pass, he'll kindly ask them to have their little gatherings elsewhere. And last year Co-op members voted to ban bottled water, sending a tough message to Aquaman.

At 10:00 p.m. last night, some 70 students from NYU and the New School barricaded themselves inside a cafeteria on the third floor of NYU's Kimmel Center. The group, which includes members of "Take Back NYU!", is vowing to extend the occupation "indefinitely" until the university's administrators comply with a series of demands "to make our school more democratic, accountable and socially just."

Morning rush hour drivers along the BQE this morning encountered a series of signs protesting the occupation of Gaza and what is seen as Israeli war crimes hung by the group Jews Against the Occupation. Signs such as "FREE GAZA" and "JEWS SAY: STOP ISRAEL" were draped from overpasses as commuters headed southbound along the highway.

Both sides in the three-week long Gaza conflict have agreed to come to a temporary cease fire that began just earlier today. After Israel called off attacks at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, Hamas followed suit around twelve hours later, agreeing to a one-week truce. Now Egypt will step forward and continue their role as mediator in an attempt to bring forth a longer-term deal between the two sides.

       

Thousands of people who support Israel's actions gathered near the Israeli Consulate yesterday afternoon. Governor David Paterson, one of many elected officials on hand, wore a red hat, which NY1 explains "symboliz[e] the red alerts many in Israel experience day after day, under rocket fire from Hamas-controlled Gaza." He said, "We recognize the right of the state of Israel to protect itself. We recognize the right of the men and women of that great state to protect its own children." Paterson added, "For the last three and a half years, Israel's been bombarded daily by a number of rockets coming from Gaza. The founding charter of Hamas calls for the obliteration of the state of Israel."

Newsday reports that Nassau County police arrested Stephen Buttafuoco, 23, who "interrupted the celebration's final prayers with recorded Arabic chants of 'God is great'" last week. That chant "spark[ed] fear among the 700 guests of a terrorist attack." Buttafuoco, a waiter for the wedding's catering company at the Woodbury Jewish Center (natch, he was fired), recorded the chants—"Allahu Akbar"— from the January 3 pro-Palestine rally in NYC and then played them over the PA system. He was charged with aggravated harassment; a grand jury will decide whether to charge him with disruption of a religious service. His lawyer, who suggested his client might be rebelling against his pro-Israel church preacher father, told Newsday the charges were harsh but added, "On the other hand, I can understand the concern of the members of Jewish community who were at this wedding." We'll wait for the newlyweds and/or Woodbury Jewish Center suing the catering company.

      

Mayor Bloomberg's high-profile support for Israel's actions against Hamas—from press conferences to actually traveling to Israel—has not gone unnoticed. Yesterday, a group of protesters gathered outside City Hall to throw shoes at Bloomberg (okay, a picture of him).

NY1 reports that a group supporting Palestinians protested in Union Square yesterday. NYC Labor Against War's Michael Letwin said, "We know the Jews have experienced oppression throughout the centuries and we can recognize oppression when we see it. And we know that the Palestinians here are the victims not the perpetrators." However, over at the United Nations, a rally with local politicians was held in support of Israel. City Councilman David Weprin said, "Israel should not cease fire now, until either Hamas is defeated or Hamas relinquishes its power. Until that time comes, Israel must continue its current course of action. Israel must finish the job," and Rep. Anthony Weiner said, "Hamas began a campaign of terror that's gone on for years. And I think Israel is doing all it can to end it in the only way they have left." Today, it's reported that Israel is moving its offensive to the southern part of Gaza.

Mayor Bloomberg's brush with a Hamas rocket yesterday made headlines in today's papers—some of which may have exaggerated just how much danger the mayor was in (the Post's headline reads that a "rocket rocks his 'boom!' town visit.") Bloomberg himself told the press, “Let’s not overstate the risks to me" and emphasized, "I feel safe here."

       

As the situation in the Gaza Strip escalates—besides Mayor Bloomberg heading to Israel to show support, diplomats say the U.S. blocked a U.N. statement asking for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas—tensions are high. The Daily News reports, "thousands of Palestinian supporters demonstrated in Times Square Saturday to protest Israel's punishing military offensive..." with the "wave of protesters stretched across three blocks, dwarfing the dozens of boisterous supporters of Israel assembled across Seventh Ave".

As Israeli forces gained control of the eastern section of northern Gaza and pushed deeper into the territory, Mayor Bloomberg visited Israel and continued to emphasize his support for the continued strikes. He told the AP, "You should rest assured, if anyone in New York was being threatened, my instruction to the NYPD would be to use all the resources at their disposal to protect civilians."

    

Last night, protestors gathered to protest both Israel and Hamas outside the Israeli Consulate in Midtown East. The AP reports the pro-Palestine group "held Palestinian flags and chanted 'Free Palestine,' and one demonstrator said that Israel is "punishing an entire population for the actions of a few." Across the street, a smaller pro-Israel group had gathered (with signs like "Israel must defend itself").

If the debate over extending term limits didn't make the point clear enough, Mayor Bloomberg wants us as New Yorkers to look at ourselves in the mirror during this time of crisis and ask ourselves, "Can we as a city survive without him?"

The Daily News reports that a dancer in the Alvin Ailey dance company was forced to dance "to convince Israeli airport security he was no Islamic terrorist." Abdur-Rhaim Jackson's first name aroused attention, and he explained that his father "converted to Islam and gave me this name." He also showed them a brochure with his photographs in it, prompting them to ask him to dance, "I was embarrassed, but I was afraid to do something wrong that may cause me to look suspicious." So he did and then was asked to dance again for another guard before being allowed to pass. Jackson said he would not formally complain, "We're only here to bring positive light to our lives and the people here." The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an international tour and many other events.

Yesterday's Israel Day Parade along Fifth Avenue attracted thousands of people during this 60th anniversary of Israel's founding. One parade watcher told the AP, "It's important to show our solidarity with the only Democratic state in the Mideast."