From PressTV
War-stricken Gazans urge greater medical assistance
Palestinians have taken to the streets in Gaza to mark the 47th anniversary of the Palestinian Wounded Persons Day, slamming the global community for turning a blind eye to the lack of medication to treat those wounded in Israel’s 50-day war, Press TV reports.
On Thursday, hundreds of Gazans rallied from the Palestinian Legislative Council building toward the United Nations office, calling for more medical assistance to those injured in the Israeli regime’s latest aggression against the besieged coastal sliver last summer.
“The world has been watching in silence while the Zionist enemy was killing and wounding Palestinians. We are alive but we feel like the living dead because Egypt keeps the Rafah crossing closed and prevents us from receiving medical care abroad,” a wounded Palestinian protester said.
Last October, Egypt sealed the border crossing after briefly reopening it, claiming security concerns. It has opened it intermittently since.
The annual march also paid tribute to tens of thousands of Palestinians who were injured during Israel’s bloody military offensives over the past years.
“This rally is the least we can do to express our gratitude to the victims of Zionist attacks. Tens of thousands of Palestinians were wounded in Israeli wars and we must highlight their suffering and make sure they are not forgotten,” said Ahmad al-Modallal (shown below) from the Palestinian resistance movement Islamic Jihad.
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From Ynet News
Israel security officials recommend barrier on Jordan border
Defense officials suggest building security barrier at only frontier that does not yet have fence, to protect new airport which will be built at Timna.
Israeli security officials have recommended building a barrier along the border with Jordan – the Jewish state’s only frontier that does not yet feature a fence.
“Security officials recommended the construction of a security barrier to protect the new airport which will be built at Timna” some 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of resort city Eilat, an army spokeswoman said, without elaborating.
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From The Times of Israel
Final polls before elections give Herzog 4-point lead
Zionist Union projected to take between 24 to 26 seats, Joint Arab List appears secure as third largest Knesset party
With just four days until election day, the final polls published Friday indicated that the Zionist Union has a comfortable four-seat lead over Likud going into the final stretch. Likud still seems slightly better placed to build a majority coalition in the 120-seat Knesset, the polls showed, but forming a stable majority could be a complex task for either of the two main parties.
Israeli election rules prohibit the publication of voter surveys after the last Friday before elections, making the Channel 2 and Channel 10 polls the last glimpse at the prospective outcome of the national elections before ballots close Tuesday evening.
According to a survey conducted by Channel 2, the Zionist Union held a projected four-point lead over Likud, with 26 seats to 22. The Joint (Arab) List came in third place with 13 seats, followed by Yesh Atid with 12 and Jewish Home with 11.
Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu party took eight seats, Shas seven, the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism list with six, and Yisrael Beytenu, Meretz and Yahad with five apiece.
The survey, which polled 1,230 Israeli adults, had a margin of error of 5.2 percent.
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From The Times of Israel
US boosts non-lethal aid to Syrian opposition
Kurds call for coalition airstrikes against IS as Obama pushes to allocate additional $70 million to rebel groups
The Obama administration said Friday that it wants to boost non-lethal assistance to moderate Syrian opposition groups.
In an announcement coinciding with the fourth anniversary of the start of the conflict, the US State Department said Friday it is working with Congress to provide an additional $70 million in aid to opposition groups. That amount includes $25 million for vetted members of the armed opposition to enhance their ability to defend themselves. The department did elaborate on the exact nature of that support, which in the past has included vehicles, medical kits and food.
Another $30 million will go to local authorities in rebel-held areas. The rest is for training to secure communications and collect evidence of possible war crimes.
If Congress approves it, the new aid will bring to nearly $400 million the amount the US has given the opposition since 2011.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Syria’s main Kurdish force called on the US-led coalition on Friday to attack Islamic State group positions in northeastern Syria where the jihadis are on the offensive.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Sure, Jesus Was Son of God. But How Was His Fiction?
Amy-Jill Levine Makes Contribution to Jewish New Testament Lit
By Amy-Jill Levine
HarperOne, 320 pages, $25.99
When we were children, many of us (especially those of us in yeshivot) were taught to abominate the Christian Scriptures; they were precursors to 2,000 years of Jew hatred. At the very least, it was suggested by our teachers that we could learn nothing from the New Testamant about Jews and Judaism, and that the Christian Bible was the quintessential expression of avodah zara, or idolatry.
To Amy-Jill Levine, who enjoys regnancy among Jewish New Testament scholars, this view is nonsense. Levine, a professor at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School, conceived of and co-edited “The Jewish Annotated New Testament.” An important volume whatever its flaws and holes, it is based on twin premises: First, Jews can learn much about Judaism — especially Judaism in Second Temple Judea — from the Christian Bible; and secondly and more important, illiteracy in Christian Scripture precludes ecumenical dialogue.
From PressTV
Israeli forces fire at Palestinian protesters, four wounded
Four young Palestinian men have suffered gunshot wounds when Israeli forces opened fire on tens of Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank.
On Friday, Palestinians staged a demonstration in the town of Kafr Qaddum, located about 13 kilometers (8 miles) west of Nablus, in protest against the Tel Aviv regime’s expropriation of land in the West Bank in violation of international law, and the closure of a main road linking the town to Nablus.
Clashes broke out when Israeli forces attacked the stone-throwing Palestinians, hurled tear gas canisters and sprayed skunk water onto the protesters to disperse the crowd. The Israeli troops then fired rubber-coated and live bullets.
Three Palestinians, among them a 10-year-old boy identified as Ahmad Daas, were injured.
In another development on Friday, a 17-year-old boy was shot in the ankle when Israeli troops opened fire on more than 100 Palestinian protesters at Jalazone refugee camp, about seven kilometers (4.3 miles) north of Ramallah. He was transferred to a nearby hospital.
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From Russia Today
Most Germans are now in favor of Grexit – survey
In the survey – conducted via telephone by the authoritative Politbarometer of the Mannheim Research Group between March 10-12 – only 40 percent of Germans said they wanted Greece to remain in the fold. Eight percent said they were unsure.
Greece’s national debt stands at just under €445 billion (US$472 billion), including €240 million ($251 million) owed to the “troika” of international lenders, which restructured the country’s debt in 2012 in exchange for Athens’ promise to implement key structural reforms.
Only 14 percent of Germans now believe Greece is committed to those reforms, while 82 percent do not believe the ruling Syriza party will carry them out.
The left-wing government of Alexis Tsipras, elected in January, has resorted to increasingly hostile tactics to combat what it says is an unmanageable burden. On Wednesday, Tsipras repeated an often voiced threat to demand reparations for Nazi war damages, threatening to nationalize German assets in the country. A day later, Greece’s defense minister from the anti-immigration coalition partner ANEL said the country would “flood” Europe with “refugees, including jihadists” if it was not given financial aid by the rest of Europe.
From Russia Today
Iraqi govt urged to probe killing of 22 soldiers, US-led airstrikes blamed
The soldiers were killed on Wednesday when an airplane bombed the HQ of an army company near Ramadi, a city in central Iraq, about 110 kilometers west of Baghdad, an Iraqi military officer and a police source said, as cited by Reuters.
“The aviation of international coalition repeatedly carried out air strikes on the positions of the national militia forces and the armed forces, who are leading a fierce war against terrorists of ISIL [also formerly known ISIS, currently the Islamic State (IS)],” said a statement from Al-Moaten bloc, a member party in the government coalition.
No one has yet admitted responsibility for the deaths. Iraqi forces have blamed the killing of 22 soldiers on the US-led coalition. A military source told Reuters that a missile was launched from a foreign aircraft. However, coalition spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gilleran said that the alliance fired the only strike in the province and it didn’t result in any “friendly casualties.”
From The Times of Israel
Kerry tells Abbas he’ll press Israel to transfer withheld funds
At economic conference in Egypt, US diplomat gives no word on military aid to Cairo, encourages foreign investment
US Secretary of State John Kerry held talks Friday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the leaders of Egypt and Jordan on the stalled Middle East peace process, officials said.
Kerry was attending an investment conference in Egypt’s Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh along with hundreds of prominent figures to jumpstart its economy.
Ahead of the conference Kerry met Abbas, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II to discuss the peace process, a State Department official and Sissi’s office said.
Referring to the breakdown in relations with Israel and the ongoing financial crisis in the PA due to withheld tax funds, Abbas said that “there’s no alternative but to re-evaluate the security and economic relations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.” Abbas has threatened several times recently to halt security cooperation between his forces and the IDF in the West Bank.
Kerry promised Abbas that he would press Israel to resume transferring the tax funds, Israel’s Channel 10 news said. The funds have been withheld in recent months in punishment for the PA’s decision to join the International Criminal Court in The Hague and seek to indict Israel for war crimes.
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From The Times of Israel
French journalist rapped for ‘Jewish influence’ question
Broadcaster watchdog reprimands Jean-Jacques Bourdin for asking ex-foreign minister about PM’s alleged bias
France’s national watchdog on broadcasters reprimanded a journalist who asked a politician whether the country’s prime minister was “under Jewish influence.”
The Superior Audiovisual Council, or CSA, criticized a presenter for the BFMTV television station and the RMC radio broadcaster, over an interview he conducted last month with ex-French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas, the Le Figaro daily reported Sunday.
During the Feb. 16 interview, Dumas said of Prime Minister Manuel Valls, “He has personal alliances, everyone knows he is married to someone – a distinguished person – who has influence over him.”
Following up on Dumas’ statement, Jean-Jacques Bourdin asked Dumas, “Is Valls under Jewish influence?” Dumas replied, “Probably, I would think so.”
Valls, who many Jews hold in high esteem for his strong-worded rejections of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism and prosecution of inciters of hate, is married to Jewish violinist Anne Garvoin. In 2011 he said during a public appearance that his marriage connected him “in an eternal way” to Israel and the Jewish people.
The council said that Bourdin’s question “served to banalize and advertise discriminatory behaviors,” Le Figaro reported. It put BFMTV, RMC and Bourdin on notice, but did not impose any fines.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Israel’s Debates Creep (Back) Into Our Bloodstream
American Jews Realize They Are Part of Election Drama
Regardless of how Israelis vote on March 17, it will take weeks of coalition negotiations before we learn what the next government in Jerusalem will look like. Still, it’s not too early to start surveying what we’ve already learned from Israel’s political drama — what it’s taught us about our lives here as American Jews, about our relationships with Israel, with America and with each other.
For starters, let’s note that Israel really is part of our lives. This may sound obvious, but it’s not. Conventional wisdom, backed by whole libraries of research, teaches that American Jews in large numbers have drifted away from Israel in recent decades. Now, suddenly, we can’t escape it. We drift away; Israel chases us to our own shores.
Scholars say this “distancing” from Israel is a natural outgrowth of assimilation, of our weakening ties to Judaism. It follows that it’s not a reaction to anything Israel does. There’s research on that, too. Surveys show greater Jewish traditionalism is strongly associated with greater attachment to Israel. Less synagogue attendance typically means less interest in Israel. That’s just how it is.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Poll shows Herzog maintaining lead
(JTA) — A survey in advance of Israel’s general elections showed the Zionist Union leading the Likud by four seats.
The poll of 1,032 voters, conducted this week by Yedioth Ahronoth and published Friday ahead of the March 17 vote, had the center-left Zionist Union, led by Isaac Herzog and Tzippi Livni, clinching 26 seats in parliament compared to 22 seats for Benjamin Netanyahu’s center-right Likud party.
The poll conducted by the Mina Tzemach polling firm has a 2.5 percent margin of error and is consistent with other polls that showed the Zionist Union maintaining similar leads over the Likud.
A survey published Thursday by Haaretz had Likud with 21 seats compared to Zionist Union’s 24 seats. That poll, which had a 3-percent margin of error, was conducted by the Dialog polling firm among 714 respondents.
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From PressTV
Sex offenses in Israeli military jumped by 40% in 2014
Israel’s military officials have admitted that sex offenses in the regime’s army increased by 40 percent in 2014.
On Friday, the chief prosecutor of the Israeli army, Udi Ben Eliezer, said that 37 Israeli officers and soldiers were indicted for sex offenses in 2014, showing a 40-percent jump in comparison with the previous year.
He added that most of the sexual harassment cases were perpetrated by military officials against their subordinates.
One of the indictments concerned an Israeli commander who pressured his female subordinates into sexual relationships “while utilizing his authority over them as their direct commander,” Eliezer confessed.
He also lashed out at the high-ranking officials of the regime’s military for turning a blind eye to the frequent sex offenses committed under their command.
“I expect commanders not to keep it to themselves but to come forward and report it. Sometimes we discover that there were large groups of people who knew of an abusive person for a long time, and no one was surprised when an investigation was opened. Commanders must not stand idly by and let these things happen,” he stated.
The issue of sexual misconduct in the Israeli army has given rise to heated debates over the past years.
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From Russia Today
US, Bulgaria to hold Balkans military drills amid Ukraine crisis
About 350 US army officers, as well as US tanks, helicopters and armored personnel carriers will arrive in the Balkan country for the bilateral drills, the Bulgarian Defense Ministry said Friday, Reuters reported.
The drills are to begin Sunday and will be conducted at the Novo Selo training range in southeastern Bulgaria, with about $30 million spent by the US for the modernization of Bulgaria’s military infrastructure, according to Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev.
From Ynet News
UC students vote to condemn anti-Semitism
Two University of California campuses pass resolutions after incidents which include painting of swastikas on doors of Jewish fraternity and tough grilling of Jewish candidate for a student office. Students at two University of California campuses have passed resolutions condemning anti-Semitism after incidents on two UC campuses, including the painting of swastikas on the doors of a Jewish fraternity at UC Davis.
The UCLA Undergraduate Students Association unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday amid controversy over the tough grilling of a Jewish candidate for a student office at UCLA in which student government representatives interviewing her questioned her ability to be impartial because of her religion.
At UC Berkeley, the student senate passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism late last month, after the Davis and UCLA incidents had occurred.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Echoes of McCarthyism in Smear Campaign Against New Israel Fund Backers
Do Creators of Attack Ads Have No Sense of Decency?
By Deborah Lipstadt and David Ellenson
Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin is a name that is infamous in American history.
The senator hurled scurrilous innuendos and attacked the character of those he opposed. He routinely labelled them as “Communists” in an attempt to squelch all political views at odds with his own.
In the spring of 1954, when his power was at its zenith, McCarthy charged that the Army was lax in its security. He demanded that its leaders appear before him in Senate hearing. The army hired the prominent Boston attorney Joseph Welch to defend it.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
The History of Jewish Feminism in 3 Minutes
By Sarah Breger
It’s no secret Jewish history has traditionally been told from a male perspective, but a new animated video depicting the development of Jewish feminist consciousness provides a different take.
Directed and narrated by singer-songwriter Michelle Citrin, the video focuses on biblical and historical figures such as Miriam the Prophet, Rabbi Regina Jonas, and Gloria Steinem and highlights the long history of women seeking empowerment in and through Judaism.
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