(NEWS) In Venezuela, Remarks Like 'Hitler Didn't Finish The Job' Are Routine

"More than half the Jews in Venezuela left the country since Chavez has been in power, and those who remain say there is official antisemitism in the country.

'I am not even horrified anymore when I see swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans such as 'Hitler didn't finish the job' on walls near my synagogue,' says a former Israeli who lives in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.

'This is an influence that trickles down from the top – from the government – against the Jews. I know that Chavez is exerting efforts not to appear anti-Semitic to the outside world, and that he welcomed the leaders of the Jewish community, but I haven't heard of him ever punishing someone for anti-Semitic writings or remarks.'"

(EDU) The World’s First Interactive Online Torah Study Program

"Jews of every color, shape and size unite in cyberspace to study topics ranging from traditional Gemara to Jewish culture, Zionism, and Jewish weddings.

What do an 85-year-old Israeli, a 10-year-old homeschooler, and a 33-year-old Polish Jew have in common? They all study at WebYeshiva.org, the world’s first fully interactive online Torah study program. The site, founded in 2007, brings Jews from across the world together to study Torah in real-time using video-conferencing technology.

Students enrolled at the site can participate in interactive classroom sessions via webcam and direct questions to rabbis in every time zone. The yeshiva/midrasha (women’s seminary) offers courses at various levels, covering topics ranging from traditional Gemara to Jewish culture, Zionism, and Jewish weddings."

(NEWS) Holocaust-Denying Bishop Hires Neo-Nazi Lawyer Ahead Of Germany Trial

"Richard Williamson, planned to stand trial over questioning the scope of the Holocaust, hires member of far-right NPD part after previous lawyer pulled out the case.

British Bishop Richard Williamson has appointed a radical right-wing lawyer to defend him in a German trial over his denial of scope of the Holocaust, Spiegel news magazine reported Saturday.

The lawyer, Wolfram Nahrath, is a member of the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD), the magazine wrote. He also led the Viking Youth, a neo-Nazi organization modeled on the Hitler Youth, until it was banned in 1994."





Related Article:

• Holocaust-denying bishop threatened with expulsion

(NEWS) Leonardo DiCaprio Reportedly Looking To Build House In Israel

"Israel Hayom newspaper reports that the Hollywood star, currently in Israel with girlfriend Bar Refaeli, is looking to buy a plot of land on which to build a home to serve as a base during his visits.

American actor Leonardo DiCaprio is looking to build a house in Israel, the Israel Hayom daily newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Citing associates of DiCaprio, the report said that the actor - the boyfriend of Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli - wants to buy a plot of land on which to build a house that will serve as his base during visits to Israel."

(NEWS) Leonardo DiCaprio Celebrates Birthday In Israel With Girlfriend Bar Refaeli

"Celebrating his 36th birthday, DiCaprio, along with Refaeli, his mother Irmelin and 'Entourage' actor Kevin Connolly, lands in Israel for week-long visit.

Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli and her boyfriend, American actor Leonardo DiCaprio landed in Israel late Sunday night. The couple was accompanied by DiCaprio's mother Irmelin and Entourage star Kevin Connolly.

The four are expected to be in Israel for the week."

(NEWS) Swastikas Drawn On Jewish Youth Center In Chile

"Incidents reported to Santiago police after Nazi symbols found; local Jewish community experiences a number of anti-Semitic acts of late.

Three swastikas were drawn on the walls of a building of the Zionist Jewish youth group Hashomer Hatzair in the Chilean capital of Santiago over the weekend. At the conclusion of a charity activity, about a hundred members of the group exited the building and discovered the graffiti.

The group has lodged a complaint with the Santiago police over the incident. The youth set out to repaint the wall in order to remove the offensive symbols as soon as possible, according to Dario Teitelbaum, Hashomer Hatzair organizer in Latin America."

(NEWS) Israel To Approve Airlift Of 8,000 Ethiopian Falashmura

"Operation will end campaign to bring in Ethiopia's remaining Falashmura, whose opponents claim they should not be recognized as Jews.

The cabinet is expected to approve plans today to bring another 7,846 members of the Ethiopian Falashmura community to Israel over the next four years. Activists who support the rights of the Falashmura to immigrate to Israel have promised to end all lobbying activities on their behalf if the proposal is approved.

Over the past decade, the cabinet has voted several times to bring to Israel the remaining members of the Falashmura in Ethiopia. But each time, it discovered that the transit camps in northern Ethiopia, where they were based, were being filled with Ethiopians who claimed to belong to the 'Seed of Israel' and had relatives in Israel."

(NEWS) Gaza Militants Launch Bomb Attack Against IDF Patrol

"Two bombs explode as army convoy passes along Gaza border - no casualties reported.

Two bombs exploded along Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the army confirmed.

The explosions were targeted at a passing Israel Defense Forces patrol compromising paratroopers, armored and engineering units, causing no casualties."

(NEWS) Netanyahu At GA: Goldstone Authors Owe Israel's Army An Apology

"Speaking at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, PM warns against the delegitimization of Israel and the perils of a nuclear Iran.

Speaking at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned U.S. Jews against the threats posed by Iran's nuclear ambitions, and against the delegitimization of Israel.

Netanyahu told the American Jews at the annual conference that the militant Islamist group Hamas had recently admitted that during Israel's assault in Gaza at the end of 2008, many of the group's operatives had been killed, as opposed to previous denials by the group."

(NEWS) EU Project Aims At Creating Network Of Holocaust Archives

"The European Holocaust Research Infrastructure Project will be inaugurated this week at a ceremony in Brussels.

David Pastel was a Jew of Polish origin who emigrated to France before World War II, as shown in a number of documents that piece together his fate during the Holocaust. He was caught early in the war and put in an internment camp at Beaune-la-Rolande. On June 28, 1942 he was sent to Auschwitz.

He survived the camp but was murdered in January 1945 in a death march. The local priest decided to bury the dead in a mass grave. Because he didn't know their names, he asked his assistant to register the numbers tattooed on their arms. The numbers were later put on gravestones."

(NEWS) IDF Presents: Missile Alerts On Your Cell Phone

"Home Front Command to launch new cellular application alerting citizens about missile attacks starting June 2011.

Israel Defense Forces will announce Monday an NIS 27 million investment in a new cellular system that will alert citizens in case of a missile attack.

The cellular application, developed by Israeli high-tech company eViglio, in cooperation with Ericsson, is expected to be activated June 2011."

(TECH) High-Tech Company Aims To Be First Israeli Firm To Hire Palestinian Engineers

"Forget the Far East, says CEO. Palestinian workers are good, cheap, close - and take shekels.

As part of its never-ending search for talented manpower at reasonable prices, a high-tech company found itself opening an office in an unconventional location: Ramallah.

Mellanox Technologies CEO Eyal Waldman said he had considered employing Palestinians for some time, for both economic and ideological reasons."

(NEWS) Report: Iran Gave Hezbollah UAVs, Attack Aircraft

"Iranian experts were sent to Lebanon to aid Hezbollah in building the aerial array and train militants, Hezbollah sources tell Kuwaiti newspaper.

Hezbollah has obtained a complete aerial array from Iran, including an attack aircraft and several unmanned aerial vehicles, Channel 10 quoted the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyasa on Saturday.

According to sources close to the Hezbollah military leadership, Hezbollah has at least three different kinds of UAVs and an Iranian aircraft that could reach long distances and attack specific targets on the ground."

(SCI) Israel Funds Courses On Ties Between Jewish Law & Science

"Program, funded by the Science and Technology Ministry, is drawing fire from academic quarters for not being science based.

The Science and Technology Ministry is continuing to fund enrichment courses for the general public on the relationship between science and Jewish law (halakha ), according to a tender published last week inviting groups to apply for grants. The tender stipulates that bodies applying for the funding must be those dealing with 'halakhic-scientific research' and in finding 'technological-halakhic solutions.'

The ministry is to grant NIS 600,000 in funding to this year's programs, less than last year's NIS 1 million handed out."

(NEWS) Jewish Group: UNESCO Event Will Bolster Ahmadinejad's Propaganda

"AJC, ADL urge UNESCO to withdraw its support for World Philosophy Day event scheduled to take place in Tehran later this month.

Jewish organizations on Thursday urged UNESCO to cancel its endorsement of the World Philosophy Day scheduled to take place in the Iranian capital Tehran later this month.

Since 2002, UNESCO has marked World Philosophy Day with an event that brings together noted philosophers from throughout the world."

(BLOG) From Berlin Gangland Youth To IDF Spokesman

"Arye Sharuz Shalicar grew up on the mean streets of Berlin in a sea of Muslim immigrants and had one choice: fight or flight.

At school he was called a 'bloody Jew' who 'deserved to die,' while youths on the streets threatened to beat him up because of his religious belief.

This was not 1930s Germany. Shalicar grew up in 1990s Berlin, in the predominantly Muslim district of Wedding, where the children of Turkish and Arabic immigrants engaged in gang warfare and the Berlin Wall was simply another surface to spray graffiti on.

The 33-year-old now lives in Israel, where he is an army spokesman. Last week, he returned on a rare visit to Germany, where his book has just been published, documenting his violent teenage years in inner city Berlin."

(NEWS) Israel Assassinates Islamist Militant In Gaza

"IDF claims responsibility for attack on Mohammed Nimnim, killed when his car exploded in Gaza City earlier Wednesday.

Israel has admitted it was behind the assassination a Palestinian man killed when his car exploded in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

The Israel Defense Forces says it had killed Mohammed Nimnim, who the army says was a member of the Army of Islam, an extremist militant group."

(NEWS) Israel To Release Gauge Of Palestinian Incitement & Violence

"'Incitement meter' comprises four central components: clear incitement to violence; an atmosphere that encourages violence and terror; incitement to hatred, demonization and failure to create an environment for positive progress.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet deliberated on Wednesday a draft known as the 'incitement meter', measuring the levels of violence and anti-Israel sentiment in the Palestinian Authority.

Deliberations on the draft, which a team headed by Netanyahu's aide Ron Drummer and Brigadier General (res.) Yossi Kupperwasser consolidated nine months ago, has been postponed five times – due to both scheduling conflicts and policy-related reasons."

(NEWS) 200-300 Hamas Men Died In Cast Lead, Group Admits For First Time

"Israel Radio quotes Hamas minister as denying al Qaida is active in Gaza, saying 'We are moderates - we don't like extremists or fanatics.'

Hamas confirmed for the first time on Monday that between 200 and 300 members of the organization's military wing were killed during Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip at the end of 2008, Israel Radio reported.

Israel launched Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 in efforts to curb missile fire from the Palestinian territory into Israel's southern communities. Immediately following the operation, Hamas reported that less than 50 of its men had been killed."

(BLOG) Want To Weaken Hamas? Open Gaza's Gates

"Israel's policy, meant to overthrow Hamas by prohibiting production and manufacturing, has failed miserably.

Do you really want to weaken Hamas? Surprise it. Go back and open Gaza's gates - to ordinary human movement, not just to cherries, shavers and a handful of pious Muslims who manage to wend their way past the Egyptian bureaucracy. Open the Erez checkpoint. Then you'll see how Gazans yearn for life.

Let young people study outside the Gaza Strip. Despite the exasperating presence of Israel's foreign rule, in the Palestinian enclaves in the West Bank those young people will encounter a form of diversity that is becoming extinct in Gaza. They will discover that such diversity is better than the monolithic reality imposed by Israel's siege and messianic politics. Allow female pupils and female teachers to tour their land and see that the world is more complicated than brainwashing television programs and competitions to obtain relief packages. Consider this: Diplomats report that most Hamas summer camps in Gaza have been closed; most children preferred camps operated by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration."