Sept 27, 2013 23 Tishri 5774
-
Lest we forget -
at THE WALL
c.1904 Turkish and British rulers of Jerusalem barred Makita, Shofar, chairs for
Jewish worship
UPCOMING PROTEST
DATE:
OCT 14, MENLO PARK
CA-FACEBOOK HEADQUARTERS Remove Hate
From FB has called for an "offline" protest at Facebook's
headquarters. Facebook
Under Fire For Allowing Hate Speech Against Jews To Proliferate
Online
A group called
"Remove Hate From FB" said the
online site has gone far in blocking pages denigrating other minority groups,
but attacks against Jews are allowed to linger online. "Why is Facebook routinely and
automatically removing hate group pages which target African Americans and the
Gay Community, but when it comes to hate group pages that target Jews, they seem
to turn an anti-Semitic blind eye?" asks organizer Michael
Mendelson.
CENTRAL
DATABASE OF SHOAH VICTIMS'
NAMES
NAVY
YARD MASSACRE - DO I SMELL THE CAPITULATION TO ISLAMIC
SENSITIVITY REDUX:
DO YOU REMEMBER THE BOSTON MASSACRE SAUDI CONNECTION
which
was quickly axed from news coverage. (See extensive google coverage)
It was just disclosed that Aaron
Alexis created a webage with the name "Mohammed
Salem"
NBC News posted a story bylined by Kyle Eppler, Pete Williams, and Erin McClam, titled "Navy Yard gunman's mother says she is heartbroken and sorry for families." The following appears in the 21st paragraph:
Law enforcement officials told NBC News that Alexis created a webpage with the name "Mohammed Salem," but they said he never did anything with it. They said they had found nothing else that might indicate any interest in violent jihad or even in Islam.
Are we allowed to ask why this mass-murderer would've created a site called "Mohammed Salem"? Was he a fan of Emirati soccer player Mohammed Salem Saleh Al Saadi? Did he appreciate the work of Palestinian photojournalist Mohammed Salem, or the Dubai news anchorwith the same name? Or perhaps one of the other Mohammed Salems out there in the world? [Excuse the sarcasm.]
That
must be it. It couldn't have anything to do with Alexis' own religious beliefs,
because by now everybody knows he was a Buddhist. So it's safe to assume that
this whole "shooting" was a false flag operation by teabaggers who hate Obama
because he's black,
and they framed yet another innocent African-American and killed him for no
reason.
NAVY
YARD MASSACRE
Update:
Not Jihad? Navy Yard Massacre Jihad?: Debbie Schlussel-Three Shooters, Dressed as Military Killed 13,
Injured Many Others
So,
now, it turns out there was only one gunman, and his name is Aaron Alexis.
He claimed to have PTSD (from rescuing victims on
9/11),
was discharged from the Navy under negative circumstances, and is a trained
sniper. He also allegedly attended a Buddhist temple. I'm not sure why initial reports from DC Police
Chief-ette Lanier said there were two other snipers who were, respectively,
Black and White and in military uniforms. It's also odd that as I write
this at 8:29 p.m. Eastern, witnesses to the massacre are still under lockdown
and still being questioned. And there may still be another suspect at large. And
there's this:The
FBI asked the public to contact the bureau with any tips related to the shooter.
"This investigation is still very active," Valerie Parlave, the FBI's assistant
director-in-charge, said at a news conference. "No piece of information is too
small." [This
is the same FBI that Eliminates Training Material that
Is "Offensive" To Muslims ... Muslim organizations tell the FBI how to
train its agents...]
So,
were there others, and the government doesn't want us to know? Or was this guy
alone? Sure doesn't sound like he was.
"The Department of Homeland Security, raced to declare that there's "no
known connection to terrorism" in today's clear act of terrorism-a mass shooting
at the Navy Yard in Washington, DC, before anyone there knows a thing. I just
listened to DC Police Chief-ette Cathy Lanier, saying that while one of the
shooters was killed, there may be "two active shooter teams"
who've escaped-a Black man and a White man apparently dressed in military
clothing on the loose. We don't know who they are or where they went, and yet,
Homeland Security already knows this isn't terrorism? Hilarious. This isn't
about race or lone wolf craziness, since three men of various races are
involved. This is coordinated and engages a tactic frequently used by Islamic
terrorists: wearing the clothing of our Armed Forces to blend in and gain entry
and access. SO, IS THIS ISLAMIC
CORRECTNESS, ONCE AGAIN?
A
REMINDER - 6 MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD ASSOCIATES IN THE WHITE HOUSE + HUMA ABEDIN WHO
INFILTRATED THE STATE DEPARTMENT ON THE ARM OF HILARY
CLINTON
Arif
Alikhan - Assistant Secretary for Policy Development for the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Editors note: Scarry but true:
Google searches for these
persons are led by pro-Muslim entries, praising their service to their
individual States and U.S. Articles
from the Conservative right are
mocked.)
Mohammed
Elibiary - Homeland Security Adviser
Rashad
Hussain - Special Envoy to the (OIC) Organization of the
Islamic Conference
Salam
al-Marayati - Obama Adviser - founder Muslim Public Affairs
Council and its current executive director
Imam Mohamed
Magid - Obama's Sharia Czar - Islamic Society of North
America
Eboo
Patel - Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood
Partnerships
Huma
Abedin - Deputy Chief Advisor to former Secretary of State and likely
Presidential candidate 2016, Hillary Clinton!
****
Must watch-SHORT and JOLTING (UTube to hear informative, odious rhetoric)
SURPRISE!!! STARTLING REVELATIONS FROM AN IRANIAN SMUGGLING CASE IN HAMBURG GERMANY I rarely attend trials, but this one is special. On July 24, 2013, the main hearing in the case of German businessman Rudolf M. and Iranian-Germans Gholamali K., Kianzad K., and Hamid Kh. opened at Hamburg's Higher Regional Court. The defendants are charged with exporting 92 German-produced specialized valves for use in Iran's Arak plutonium reactor and arranging the shipment of 856 nuclear-usable valves from India to Iran in 2010 and 2011.
The reasons why the UN Security Council has ordered Iran to halt the construction of the Arak reactor are compelling. If this nuclear plant comes online in 2014, as the Iranians anticipate, it could produce enough weapons-grade plutonium for two bombs a year. The smuggling of nuclear valves from Germany is therefore of exceptional significance and tops the latest UN list of reported alleged violations of the sanction regime against Iran.Recently, an important detail of this smuggling operation was revealed on the German public television current affairs program, Fakt: "German officials clearly (knew) about this illegal trade since 2009 and did nothing about it for years." How so? Did such an explosive shipment really take place before the very eyes of the German security services? (read detailed report Algemeiner)
KNESSET
MEMBERS RALLY AGAINST LAND FOR PEACE
-
A group of 16 Members of Knesset (MKs) in Israel's governing coalition, many
from the Likud, on Sunday urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to give up
territory to the Palestinians. In a letter sent to the prime minister during his
meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the MKs called on Netanyahu
"not to return to the Oslo Accord template or cede any more parts of the
homeland to the Palestinian Authority."
The
letter was drafted by MK Yariv Levin (Likud-Beiteinu), chairmain of the
governing coalition, and MK Orit Struck (Habayit Hayehudi). It was also signed
by deputy ministers Zeev Elkin, Tzipi Hotovely, Ofir Akunis, Eli Ben-Dahan and
Avraham Wortzman."I will remain coalition chairman so long as we go down the right path of construction and settling throughout all of Israel," Levin said, according to Israel Hayom.
Meanwhile, Energy and Water Resources Minister Silvan Shalom (Likud-Beiteinu) said Sunday that "no one believes a permanent agreement can be reached in nine months," the timetable the U.S. has set for the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations. (JNS.org) (Algemeiner)
ANYTHING
LESS IS ALREADY A COMPROMISE - Reading the Haftorah on Simchat Torah, G-d
promises Joshua that the lands of Israel will stretch to the
Euphrates
Google:
The Euphrates flows thru Iraq, Turkey and Syria!!
ARE YOU EATING HEZBOLLAH'S POTATOES? Forget about the European Union's designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist group. The EU has. Europe will now finance Hezbollah, by buying its agricultural products from Lebanon, and spreading them all over Europe. If you live in Europe and eat potatoes, you are probably helping finance Hezbollah. And the United States encouraged this enterprise (because, apparently, American potato farmers need more competition financed by their own taxes . . . and from terrorists, to make matters worse).
WHAT WAS YOUR ROSH HASHANA-YOM KIPPUR MESSAGE. Did your Rabbi focus on Love-Love Thy Neighbor? In the Jewish Center of East Hampton we were told that though Torah is referred to as The Law, our (JCEH) message is one of Love. Was this the Reformed Movement MESSAGE OF THE YEAR?
Excuse my misbegotten notion that we are a Nation of Laws - a notion that in the year 2013 CE, to some has become de classe. I bring to your attention Jerold S Auerbach's The Journey From Torah to Constitution. Professor Auerbach is Professor Emeritus of History at Wellesley College and a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School. We have to make special effort to attend the courses of academics who support the State of Israel. Steve Plaut IsraCampus.org To subscribe to sites that protect pro-Israel academics and expose those working against Israel: Email: Steve Plaut isracampus@gmail.com and spme@spme.net
KOREAN
CHRISTIANS TRAVELED TO NEW YORK WITH A CAUSE: BRINGING COMFORT TO
JEWS
THE
gathering had all the hallmarks of a typical pro-Israel event: Israel's national
anthem was performed. Rabbis and other machers in attendance were acknowledged
from the stage. Light kosher refreshments were served afterward. There was even
a trio of black-hatted ultra-Orthodox Jews from the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta
sect protesting outside.
But
the program at Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan, on a warm August
evening, wasn't put on by a Jewish organization. The two-hour event was the
kickoff to the 2013 Shalom Yerushalayim Cultural Festival, a three-day,
three-borough summertime extravaganza organized by a brand-new
group: Korean
Christians for Shalom Israel.
August
15, 2013. (Courtesy
of Korean Christians for Shalom Israel)
While
less than a third of South Korea's population is Christian, the country is
sometimes called an evangelical
superpower.
Until fairly recently, South Korea sent more
Christian missionaries abroad than any country other than the United States. And
like their American counterparts, Korean evangelicals often feel very warmly
toward the State of Israel-none more so than Mansuk Song, the Seoul-based
founder of Korean Christians for Shalom Israel. During the opening festivities,
a video played
in which Song, accompanied by the mournful theme music from Schindler's
List, recounted in Korean how the existence of modern Israel had led
him to question traditional Christian teachings that God had forsaken the Jews,
and the shame he felt learning about the Holocaust and historic Christian
anti-Semitism. "I made a decision to spend the rest of my life to comfort the
Jewish people," he said.
This
idea of comforting Jews, is inspired by Isaiah 40:1: "Comfort, O comfort My
people, says your God." (full article)
LET'S
REVIEW: WHO WAS BORN IN PALESTINE?
Some
people say that Arabs are "native Palestinians", while Jews are invaders" and
"settlers". But I read the
biographies of Israeli and Palestinian political leaders, and I was
confused. Who of Israeli or
Palestinian leaders were born in Palestine?
ISRAELI
LEADERS:
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Born 21
October 1949 in Tel Aviv.
EHUD BARAK, Born 12 February
1942 in Mishmar HaSharon, British Mandate of Palestine
ARIEL SHARON, Born 26 February
1928 in Kfar Malal, British Mandate of Palestine
EHUD OLMERT, Born 30 September
1945 in Binyamina-Giv'at Ada, British Mandate of Palestine.
ITZHAK RABIN, Born 1 March 1922
in Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine.
ITZHAK NAVON, Israeli President
in 1977-1982. Born 9 April 1921 in Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine.
EZER WEIZMAN, Israeli President
in 1993-2000. Born 15 June 1924 in Tel Aviv, British Mandate of Palestine.
ARAB PALESTINIAN
LEADERS:
YASSER ARAFAT, Born 24 August
1929 in Cairo, Egypt
SAEB BERAKAT, Born April 28,
1955, in Jordan. He has the Jordanian citizenship.
FAISAL ABDEL QADER AL-HUSSEINI,
Born in1948 in Bagdad, Iraq.
SARI NUSSEIBEH, Born in 1949 in
Damascus, Syria.
MAHMOUD AL-ZAHAR, Born in 1945,
in Cairo, Egypt.
So, Israeli leaders, born in
Palestine, are "settlers or invaders" while Palestinian Arab leaders were born
in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Tunisia are "native Palestinians"?
U.N.
AMBASSADOR SAMANTHA POWER IS A DRIVING FORCE URGING PRESIDENT OBAMA TO STRIKE IN
SYRIA,
according to informed Middle Eastern diplomats. Power was notably absent during
an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting last month concerning Syria's alleged
use of chemical weapons.
Her name
barely pops up in news media coverage of the crisis in
Syria.
Power's most
visible reaction to events in Syria so far has been a Tweet accusing Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad of using chemical weapons. Yet behind the scenes, Power is a
central player at pushing Obama to launch a military campaign in Syria, the
diplomats told WND.
The diplomats
said Power has been working with Syrian foes Turkey and Saudi Arabia as well as
with key Syrian opposition figures in trying to convince the White House to act
sooner in Syria.
The diplomats
say that last week, Power recommended Obama strike in Syria without first
consulting Congress, a move from which the president clearly seems to have
backed away.
Power's
central involvement may be telling.
As WND has
reported, Power served on the advisory board that created the "Responsibility to
Protect," or R2P doctrine that would be used to justify any U.S. strikes in
Syria. The U.S.-NATO bombings in
Libya in 2011 have been widely regarded as a test of R2P. The doctrine, now backed by the United
Nations, (is a SOROS construct) based on the idea that sovereignty is not a
privilege but a responsibility that can be revoked if a country is accused of
"war crimes," "genocide," "crimes against humanity" or "ethnic cleansing." George Soros supports R2P through grants
from his various foundations to the World Federalist Movement (WFM). Journalist Klein explains: "The
Responsibility to Protect doctrine has been described by its founders and
proponents, including Soros, as promoting global governance while allowing the
international community to penetrate a nation state's borders under certain
conditions."
PART
IRAN-OWNED NYC 5TH AVENUE OFFICE TOWER WORTH UP TO $700 MILLION CLEARED FOR
SEIZURE BY U.S. GOVERNMENT
The building, at 650 Fifth Avenue, was
built in the 1970s on property acquired by a not-for-profit corporation formed
in New York by then Iranian leader Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was
overthrown in 1979.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest made the forfeiture finding
in a case first brought by the U.S. government in 2008, ruling that the
building is subject to forfeiture because revenue from it was secretly
funneled to a state-owned Iranian bank, in violation of a U.S. trade embargo.
The U.S. government, on behalf of the Asset Forfeiture Unit and Terrorism
and National Security Unit of the United States Attorney's Office, argued
that the official owner, the Alavi Foundation, was partnered with a shell
company controlled by Bank Melli, the state-owned bank of Iran.
Because the Iranian government has been designated by the U.S. as a sponsor of
international terrorism, its assets in the U.S. can be seized by the
government to fund restitution to terror victims.
They intend to hand over the bulk of any proceeds derived from the
forfeiture to relatives of people who died in Iran-aided terror attacks,
including 9/11 and the 1993 bombing of a Marine Corps barracks in
Beirut that killed 241 U.S. servicemen, the Daily News said. (Algemeiner)
NEWS
REPORTS
1- UNDERMINING
OF THE BILL THAT WOULD SCRUTINIZE THE FINANCES OF SEDITIOUS LEFTIST NGOS AND
OTHER GROUPS INSIDE ISRAEL
Netanyahu has
turned the rewrite of the proposed law over to an open agent of the New Israel
Fund. Since the New Israel Fund was
probably the main group that the law's initiators wanted investigated in the
first place, this is a bit like allowing Tony Soprano to conduct his own RICO
investigation of organized crime.
2- NITSANA DARSHAN-LEITNER, ESQ, ISRAELI ATTORNEY SECURES MAJOR NY
COURT DECISION FOR VICTIMS OF ISRAELI ROCKET ATTACK, AGAINST THE BANK OF CHINA
IN TERROR FINANCING CASE
The families of twenty Israeli terror victims have won a monumental decision
in the New York State Appellate Division (1st Dept.) in their case against
the Bank of China (BOC). The Appellate Court affirmed that the civil action
brought in 2008 by the Israeli victims of Palestinian rocket attacks and
suicide bombings can proceed against the BOC in the United States. IMPORTANTLY, the Appellate Division also
held that the trial court will apply Israeli law in hearing the case.
3-
BRITISH COLLEGE "UN-BANS" BURQA "People
are frightened of standing up and speaking out.because of political correctness
and the intolerant reaction from Muslim groups who jump up and down with fury
whenever anyone says it makes sense to for people to go around with their faces
perfectly visible to everyone else, which is the way human beings were created
in the first place.If we all covered our faces, the world would be a very
different place. Imagine Parliament where everyone had their faces covered." -
Philip Hollobone, MP
1<UPDATE ON THE UNDERMINING OF THE
BILL THAT WOULD SCRUTINIZE THE FINANCES OF SEDITIOUS LEFTIST NGOS AND OTHER
GROUPS INSIDE ISRAEL
Sept 17,
2013
Netanyahu has turned the
rewrite of the proposed law over to an open agent of the New Israel Fund. Since the New Israel Fund was probably
the main group that the law's initiators wanted investigated in the first place,
this is a bit like allowing Tony Soprano to conduct his own RICO investigation
of organized crime.
The rewrite of the law has
been handed over to Isaac "Buji" Herzog, a Labor Party stalwart and son of the
late Israeli President Haim Herzog.
Like so many Israeli politicians, Herzog likes to be known by an
infantile nickname, in his case "Buji."
Until a few days ago he was the Labor Party Minister of Welfare in the
coalition government. He is now a
member of one of the three factions left over from the breakup of the Labor
Party, after Ehud Barak and four others quit its ranks. Public opinion polls are reporting
Herzog as the most popular of the leaders of the rump Labor Party, and he is
generally respected more than the other Labor lightweights. But he also has a long track record of
working with the New Israel Fund.
Last year he led the campaign to demonize critics of the New Israel Fund
as "McCarthyists." More
troubling, he himself was up to his ears involved in the recruitment of foreign
tainted and illegal funds for various front groups set up in 1999, which were
involved in the Mugabe style campaign finances of Ehud Barak at that
time.
In charge of rewriting the
proposed law, Herzog is coordinating each and every letter and punctuation mark
in his draft law with the New Israel Fund.
By the time he finishes, the only seditious leftist groups whose finances
the law will allow to be investigated will be some mahjong clubs and
yeshivas.
2. Well I suppose we should be happy
whenever the Bible serves to provide a matter of current events interest and
public debate.
But this week the Bible is
the background material to the further Der-Sturmer-ization of Haaretz, the
Palestinian newspaper published in Hebrew.
Haaretz is becoming more and more openly hostile to Judaism
itself.
The
front page story today is this: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/who-is-advocating-death-camps-for-israel-s-moderate-rabbis-1.338588
You have to read the piece to
believe that it was actually published and is not some sort of Purim gag by the Haaretz muftis. There
it says in black and white that a religious groups is demanding the building of
extermination camps for moderate rabbis and no doubt also for
Arabs.
Here is the Haaretz banner
headline: "Who is advocating 'death
camps' for Israel's moderate rabbis?
Editorial calling for death camps for 'Amalekites' raises storm among
religious."
So what on earth is Haaretz
foaming at the mouth about? Where
did it come up with this nonsense?
The answer to the mystery is that
the editors of Haaretz have probably never been inside a synagogue or read the
Torah.
Most Israeli synagogues have
tables on which weekly leaflets discussing the weekly Torah portion and
sometimes other matters, including current events, are distributed. My own synagogue probably distributes 20
each week. They are part of the
universal discourse among Jews about the weekly Torah portion. The quality of the leaflets varies from
the highly scholarly and learned all the way down to the primitive and
superstitious. The leaflet that is
suddenly so controversial for the Haaretz Left is called Maayanei Ha-Yeshua, and
I put it in the upper half of the weekly leaflets in terms of interest and
quality. I read it myself
regularly, although there are some others I think are
better.
Now unbeknownst to the
Haaretz editors, because of their animosity towards Judaism, is the little fact
that the Torah portion two weeks back contained the Biblical Commandment to
exterminate the Nation of Amalek.
Here is not the place to expound about where the commandment comes from
and why it is there. But it is
there in black and white in the Torah.
You are free not to like the Commandment, although you will need to take
your objections up with God and not with me, and in any case there are no
certifiable descendents of Amalek that anyone is aware of in the real
world.
Now being about the weekly
Torah portion, the leaflet that was smuggled into the hands of Haaretz editors
naturally discussed the Amalek extermination commandment, the week in which it
is read from the Torah. Haaretz of
course would have been much happier had the leaflet called for Israel's
surrender to be negotiated with the Hamas, but alas the leaflet discussed that
week's Torah portion instead. Since
the leaflet was written by people who believe in the Torah, they also spoke
about the obligation to obliterate Amalek.
Unbeknownst to the same learned Haaretz staff, all of the Purim holiday,
which is celebrated even by children of Haaretz readers, is a celebration of the
annihilation of Amalek!! So
wait until Adar Bet comes round this year to see if Haaretz denounces Purim as a
fascist Nazi racist event that must be stopped.
Anyhow, the Haaretz
sages read the leaflet in question, and saw that it spoke about obliterating the
memory of Amalek. They also learned
that the same leaflet criticized the critics of the Rabbis who had issued the
call not to rent property in Jewish neighborhoods to Arabs. Putting two plus two together, and - as
always at Haaretz - getting 13 as the sum, Haaretz concluded that the leaflet's
discussion of eliminating Amalek was actually code for murdering moderate
rabbis.
The Haaretz coverage goes on: "The leaflet's editors declined to say
who they meant by 'the Amalekites.'"
That of course is because any reader of the leaflet who found his way to
synagogue services already knows who and what Amalek is! Haaretz continues: "There are no known
descendants of the biblical Amalekites today, but the term is sometimes used to
describe anyone deemed an irreconcilable enemy of the Jews." So in other words, if some people
use the term Amalek loosely and in allegorical manner as a term of derision, it
must mean that they are planning to carry out genocide. The Haaretz sleaze is mimicking
anti-Semitic smears of rabbis appearing in other forums.
See
the second item down the page here:
The attack against Sarah
Palin for her "target" sign on Arizona pales in significance with this Haaretz
idiocy. By the same logic, calling
someone an arrogant bastard must literally refer to the nature of the
relationship between that person's parents. Calling someone spacey must mean they
are seriously considered to have arrived on a Chamish UFO!! We could go on and on. So in order to demonize rabbis, Haaretz
pretends to have lost the ability to understand metaphor and
hyperbole.
Add that to its inability to
understand the Middle East conflict and to its gutter anti-Judaism
incitement.
3. Moronic but not quite
Amalek:
and
2>ISRAELI
ROCKET ATTACK VICTIMS WIN MAJOR NY COURT DECISION AGAINST THE BANK OF CHINA IN
TERROR FINANCING CASE
Sept. 17,
2013
www.israpundit.com/archives/57689?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm...
Tags: Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Bank of China, International Law, Terrorist support, Hamas, Israeli Rocket Attack Victims, Jihad
Tags: Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Bank of China, International Law, Terrorist support, Hamas, Israeli Rocket Attack Victims, Jihad
(New York) The families of twenty Israeli terror victims have won a monumental decision in the New York State Appellate Division (1st Dept.) in their case against the Bank of China (BOC). The Appellate Court affirmed that the civil action brought in 2008 by the Israeli victims of Palestinian rocket attacks and suicide bombings can proceed against the BOC in the United States.
Importantly, the Appellate Division also held that the trial court will apply Israeli law in hearing the case. The defendant had argued that Chinese law should apply as the BOC is headquartered in Beijing. This ruling will allow the non-American plaintiffs in the case to maintain their claims that the BOC was liable for providing financial services to Hamas and the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror organizations. Applying Israeli law, which differs from the Chinese law, would make it easier for the plaintiffs to prove that BOC officials had illegally violated banking regulations and US criminal statutes by carrying out money transfers for the terror organizations.
As the Court held: "We find that there is nothing repugnant to New York public policy in holding that Israeli law applies to this action. We also find that the complaint has sufficiently alleged negligence under Israeli law . . . Although a straightforward reading of the Israeli enactments would lead to the conclusion that they concern conduct that is broader in scope than most of what BOC is alleged to have done, the record contains opinions written by experts in Israeli law; plaintiffs' expert explains that BOC's
alleged transmission of funds is sufficient to bring it under the enactment forbidding the "giving" or "payment" of funds to terrorist groups."
The plaintiffs, are represented by New York attorney Robert Tolchin and Israeli attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner.
The civil action brought on behalf of the victims and family members of victims of terror attacks perpetrated between 2004 and 2007 in Israel alleges that starting in 2003, the BOC executed dozens of wire transfers for the Hamas and PIJ totaling several million dollars. These dollar transfers were initiated by the PIJ and Hamas leadership in Iran and Syria, were processed through BOC's branches in the United States and were sent on to a BOC account in Beijing administered by a senior operative of the Hamas and PIJ. From there, the funds were transferred to Hamas and PIJ leaders in the Gaza Strip and West Bank and used to carry out terrorist attacks. The families are seeking both compensatory and punitive damages.
According to the plaintiffs' complaint, in April 2005, Israeli counter terrorism officers met with officials from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and China's Central Bank regarding these Hamas and PIJ wire transfers. The Israelis demanded that the Chinese officials take action to prevent BOC from making any further such transfers. Despite the Israeli warnings, the BOC - with the Chinese government's approval - continued to wire terrorist funds for the Hamas and PIJ. The suit was brought against the BOC on behalf of the Israeli victims, alleging that the BOC had knowingly transferred funds for the Palestinian terror organizations.
Plaintiffs include the families of Emi Elmaliah, Israel Zamalloa and Michael Saadon, who were murdered on January 27, 2007 in a suicide bombing in a bakery in Eilat. The attack was carried out by a PIJ bomber from Gaza.
The Court's ruling means that the families of the victims of the Hamas and PIJ rocket attacks can now proceed to the discovery and trial stages.
According to Nitsana Darshan-Leitner: "This is another obstacle we overcame in our journey to get justice for the terror victims. The court decision to apply Israeli law allows the terror victims to receive their day in court and to prove their allegations against the Bank of China. This decision joins previous decisions of the New York courts that ruled, that banks around the world will not be able to get away without pay in cases they were involved with terror financing That in the end of the day they will have to
pay for their wrong doing and compensate the terror victims."
FOR A COPY OF THE COURT'S DECISION:http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2013/2013_05858.htm
Contact: Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Esq . / 10 Hata'as St., Ramat Gan 52512 Israel
Tel. 516-684-9983 / 972-3-7514175 / f. 972-3-7514174
Email: nitsanad@zahav.net.il; nitsanaleitner@gmail.com
3<BRITISH COLLEGE "UNBANS" BURQA
Soeren Kern
September
18, 2013 at 5:00 am
Soeren Kern
is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based
Gatestone Institute.
He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de
Estudios Estrat?gicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on
Facebook.
"People are frightened of standing up and speaking out.because of
political correctness and the intolerant reaction from Muslim groups who jump up
and down with fury whenever anyone says it makes sense to for people to go
around with their faces perfectly visible to everyone else, which is the way
human beings were created in the first place.If we all covered our faces, the
world would be a very different place. Imagine Parliament where everyone had
their faces covered." - Philip Hollobone, MP
A
college in England has reversed a ban on Islamic veils after furious Muslim
students complained of discrimination, and launched an online petition drive
that gathered more than 8,000 signatures in just two days.Birmingham Metropolitan College backed away from its ban on September 12, just hours before a mass demonstration by hundreds of Muslim students threatened to disrupt the normal functioning of the college.
The controversy began on September 9, the first day of the autumn term, when the college announced that students and employees would be ordered to remove any face coverings so that individuals are "easily identifiable at all times."
The college's ban on face-covering niqabs or the body-covering burqas -- as well as caps, hoodies and other types of head covering -- was billed as a security measure.
Christine Braddock, the college's principal, said the policy had been developed to keep students safe. In an interview with the Birmingham Mail, she said:
We have a very robust equality, diversity and inclusion policy at Birmingham Metropolitan College but we are committed to ensuring that students are provided with a safe and welcoming learning environment whilst studying with us.
To ensure that safeguarding is a priority, we have developed our policy alongside student views to ensure we keep them safe," Braddock added. "This needs individuals to be easily identifiable at all times when they are on college premises and this includes the removal of hoodies, hats, caps and veils so that faces are visible. All prospective and progressing students, as well as staff, have been advised of the policy, which will mean everyone allowed on the premises can understand and know each other in a safe environment.
Muslims were livid. One prospective Muslim student said she was so upset about the policy that she decided to look for another college in the city. The angry 17-year-old girl, who did not want to be named, told the Mail: "It's disgusting. It is a personal choice and I find it absolutely shocking that this has been brought in at a college in Birmingham city center when the city is so multicultural and so many of the students are Muslim. It upsets me that we are being discriminated against."
Another student at the college, Imaani Ali, also 17, told the Mail that her "freedom has been breached" by the rule. "Me and another friend who wears the veil were only told we wouldn't be allowed inside the college after we had enrolled," she said. "They haven't provided us with another alternative. We said we would happily show the men at security our faces so they could check them against our IDs, but they won't let us. It's a breach of my freedom and I feel discriminated against. This is my religion, it is what I believe in. I don't really want to go to a place that doesn't accept me but I have no choice now."
Muslim politicians were quick to chime in. Birmingham MP Shabana Mahmood said she was "shocked" and "deeply concerned" at the policy, and demanded an urgent meeting with college leaders about the decision. "For those that chose to wear the full veil, it is an important article of faith," she said. "I would like to know how many students are affected and a full explanation as to why the compromise suggested by students at the College, that the veil is removed for security staff to check and verify identity before being put back on, was not accepted by the College."
"I am deeply concerned that other colleges may follow suit, as a result of which increasing numbers of women will be locked out of education and skills training," Mahmood added. "We must not allow this to happen."
A member of the Birmingham city council, Waseem Zaffar, called the move "baffling" and said: "How they dress in their lessons should be entirely up to the students as there is no uniform policy at the college. I hope the college comes to its senses and does a U-turn."
The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS), an umbrella organization of student groups that represents the interests of more than 100,000 Muslim college students in Britain and Ireland, issued a statement saying: "This senseless decision is massively divisive and will only lead to an environment in which the rights of many will be disproportionately suppressed. The fundamental rights to freedom of religious expression are at stake here and this sets out an extremely dangerous precedent not only for the Muslim community but for members of all faith backgrounds."
The college was ultimately forced into a climb-down after nearly 600 angry students threatened to participate in a campus demonstration on September 14 with the stated aim to "protest against this Islamophobic and illogical decision to ban the face veil...to take a stand against such hysterical and discriminatory decisions."
Fearing that the protest could potentially turn violent, the college issued a statement saying, "We are concerned that recent media attention is detracting from our core mission of providing high quality learning. As a consequence, we will modify our policies to allow individuals to wear specific items of personal clothing to reflect their cultural values."
Muslims reacted with jubilation. Protest organizer Sabiha Mahmood, 27, a former student at the college, said, "We are very happy that the ban has been overturned but there is still the wider issue of why it was ever allowed to happen in the first place. This is a victory for now but we have to make sure it does not happen again in Birmingham or in any other college in the UK. Our primary concern is that this student is part of British society and in this country we allow women to express themselves how they want to. We believe it is a fundamental right for Muslim women to be allowed to wear the face veil and to ban it was a violation of our human rights."
Waseem Zaffar, the city counsellor, said it had been a "sad few days" for Birmingham but was glad "common sense" had prevailed after the U-turn. "I think democracy has won here," he said. "The college has heard 8,000 people signed a petition in 48 hours and they have been brave enough to admit they were wrong. The reputation of the city and the college has been damaged but I hope we can move on now."
A spokeswoman for the Muslim Council of Britain, a Muslim umbrella group that is pressing the British government to implement Islamic Sharia law, described the ban as "shocking," "draconian" and "unBritish," and welcomed its reversal.
"This was a clear case of religious discrimination masquerading as a security measure," she said. "In Britain, we pride ourselves in the freedom of religion. While there may well be many views on whether this aspect of clothing is a religious obligation, we nevertheless respect a woman's right to wear the niqab if she freely wishes to do so."
But others say the college's reversal represents a capitulation for the British way of life.
Tory MP for Kettering Philip Hollobone told the British newspaper The Independent that the college's change of heart was a shameful disgrace and argued for the urgent need for legislation to ban the niqab in all public spaces.
"People are frightened of standing up and speaking out in this discussion because of political correctness and the intolerant reaction from Muslim groups who jump up and down with fury whenever anyone says that it makes sense for people to go around with their faces perfectly visible to everyone else, which is the way human beings were created in the first place," Hollobone said.
Hollobone presented a bill in the British Parliament on September 6 that would make it illegal to wear clothing obscuring the face in public; the bill will be considered on February 28, 2014.
In a live debate entitled, "Should Britain Ban the Veil?" and aired on BBC Radio 5 on September 6, Hollobone said, "Society can't function if people go around with facial coverings. If we all covered our faces the world would be a very different place. Imagine Parliament where everyone had their face covered. It makes it very difficult for the police to identify troublemakers. I am sad that legislation may be necessary to address this problem. It's basic common sense to most people. It would ultimately lead to the breakdown of our society."
Hollobone denied that his proposal amounted to an attack on Islam: "We have to be quite clear -- the burka isn't religious clothing. It's a choice."
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