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Israel prepares for massive military drill
Yesterday
Israel’s Home Front Command has said it is preparing to hold a massive nationwide military drill next week to focus on dealing with chemical weapons attacks which include the civilian population as well as military and emergency services.
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Riots and unrest in Sweden for third night
Yesterday
Stockholm suburbs have seen a third night of unrest, with youths setting fire to cars and throwing stones at police and firefighters, while the country's prime minister has condemned the violence and called for calm.
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US confirms Fort Hood suspect still getting paid
Yesterday
The United States Department of Defense has confirmed that the suspect in one of the bloodiest terrors attacks ever to strike the American military is still on full government pay and has received more than 278,000 dollars since he opened fire on soldiers and civilians in November 2009 .
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Gaza fishermen get expanded sailing limit
Yesterday
Israel has expanded the distance it permits Gaza fishermen to head out to sea, restoring a limit it cut in half two months ago in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave.
Amnesty condemns both sides: Amnesty International says both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law during Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza in November of last year
British blamed: The head of a banned British radical Islamist group who knew one of the men who hacked a soldier to death on London streets says British foreign policy was to blame for recent knife murder of a soldier
Uranium mine hit: Islamist suicide bombers strike a barracks and a French-run uranium mine in Niger, killing 20 people and wounding dozens
Spreading disease: Saudi Arabia confirms another death from a SARS-like virus
Execution for helping Israel: Hamas court in Gaza condemns man to death for collaboration with Israel
Illicit arms intercepted: A spokesperson for the Egyptian army says troops in Sinai seized large quantities of smuggled weapons en route to Gaza tunnels; confiscated weapons included Qassam rockets, 110 automatic rifles, 8 anti-aircraft missiles and 17 surface-to-air missiles
British blamed: The head of a banned British radical Islamist group who knew one of the men who hacked a soldier to death on London streets says British foreign policy was to blame for recent knife murder of a soldier
Uranium mine hit: Islamist suicide bombers strike a barracks and a French-run uranium mine in Niger, killing 20 people and wounding dozens
Spreading disease: Saudi Arabia confirms another death from a SARS-like virus
Execution for helping Israel: Hamas court in Gaza condemns man to death for collaboration with Israel
Illicit arms intercepted: A spokesperson for the Egyptian army says troops in Sinai seized large quantities of smuggled weapons en route to Gaza tunnels; confiscated weapons included Qassam rockets, 110 automatic rifles, 8 anti-aircraft missiles and 17 surface-to-air missiles
Syrian rebels shoot down government warplane
A Deputy Commander of the Free Syrian Army has confirmed the rebels shot down a government warplane in northern Syria using an anti-aircraft missile.
The announcement came just a day after amateur video showed Syrian rebel troops shooting down a military helicopter over the city of Daret Ezzeh, near Aleppo.
Meanwhile, at least 56 people have been confirmed dead and scores injured after four explosions rocked a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus. The suburb, Jaramana is dominated by Christians and Druze, and has witnessed a series of explosions over the past several months, indicating growing sectarian rivalries in the country, which has been engulfed by a bloody, 20-month crisis.
Opposition activists say 40,000 people have been killed in the revolt against the rule of Bashar al-Assad, which started out as peaceful protests only to descend into full civil war.
The crisis has divided the international community over whether to intervene, with some advocating arming rebel groups.
For NATO, the most immediate question is whether to deploy Patriot surface-to-air missiles near Turkey’s border with Syria to defend against missiles that Turkish officials worry could carry chemical weapons.
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Rabbis and Imams visit Nazi death camp together
Muslim religious leaders from the Middle East, US, Africa and Europe have joined Jewish scholars and rabbis on a visit to a former Nazi concentration camp in Germany. The tour group, led by US rabbi and Holocaust refugee Jack Bemporad, visited Dachau camp as part of an educational tour of concentration camps in Germany and Poland.
US rabbi and Holocaust refugee Jack Bemporad:
"The very fact that you have Jews, Christians and Muslims together going through and trying to learn something about what was one of the most atrocious and horrifying experiences of the last century and how we can unite to work together to educate people, inform people so that it never happens again, I can't think of anything more important that can be done."
Marshall Breger, a professor of law and vice-president of the conservative Jewish Policy Center in the United States, spoke of how he was touched by the visit.
Marshall Breger, Jewish Policy Center:
"What moved me here was to see how, in what an authentic manner the Muslim Imams and religious leaders could relate to the authentic horror of what happened here, and to be in some communion with the Jewish community and the other victims of the Holocaust.
Visiting imam Dr Ahmet Muharrem, who is the secretary-general of the Journalists and Writers Foundation in Turkey, said he was surprised that the camp was run in such a clinical way.
Visiting imam Dr Ahmet Muharrem:
"I was thinking something happened in the past by the uncivilised people, uneducated, and arrogant people. But I saw that here was very civilised, very technological torture I saw here."
A dozen imams and religious educators from countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine, Bosnia, Morocco and Turkey are taking part in the tour which aims to educate religious leaders about the Holocaust and to promote tolerance and diversity.
Later in the week the group will also visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland.
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Gefiltefest Food Festival
Here in North London JN1 was invited to attend the fourth annual Gefiltefest , and what fun it was, aside from the delicious food available, attendees were treated to live music and cookery demonstrations.
The food festival turned charity began by accident four years ago when Michael Leventhal won a competition. He decided to share the prize, a cookery class with his friends.
Michael Leventhal, Gefiltefest Founder:
"This year year for the first time we've got Silvia Nacamulli talking about the Jewish flavours of Tripoli from the Italian Jews that went to Tripoli. We've got an Ashkenazi versus Sephardi cook-off for the first time. We've got some of the favourite people back, some of the best speakers, but we try and give a platform to new speakers who aren't as well known, but some of the, you know, the most treasured speakers from the community as well".
The name of the festival is a play on gefilte fish, an popular Ashkenazi dish. For the past three years Gefiltefest has worked in partnership with the London Jewish Cultural Centre.
Louise Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer, London Jewish Cultural Centre:
"We're absolutely thrilled to be hosting it once again, we sold over three hundred tickets in advance, we expect many more people to be here on the day, over forty-five events both for adults and for children, and I think that the facilities, and the house and the garden here work very well for the event."
And for those daring enough, there was the opportunity to learn more about locusts. The edible insects have proved to be a popular snack for some people in several countries including Israel .
Rabbi Harvey Belovski, Golders Green Synagogue:
"One of the things that's wonderful about Gefiltefest is its an opportunity to explore and learn about unusual foods, and, locusts are something which most people in the West find to be a bit disgusting, but actually the Torah, the Jewish Bible permits at least some varieties and in some circumstances . You can fry them, or you can bake them. Through Yemenite tradition was to bake them very slowly and then to take the heads off, and serve them with sauce. What does it feel like to hold a locust?"
- I thought I'd be more afraid, but it's actually ok, it's, its not wriggling or trying to get out of my hand.
Rabbi Harvey Belovski, Golders Green Synagogue:
"I think if you prod it a little bit it might wriggle".
- Oh there we go.
Rabbi Harvey Belovski, Golders Green Synagogue:
"Yeah it's wriggling a little bit. It has a hard ex, it has a hard exoskeleton, so that's why it's a bit crunchy on the outside, but I think unless you press it very hard you won't hurt it".
And sessions like Jewish flavours of Tripoli and Indian kosher cookery explored how Jewish people have held on to their traditions, whilst experimenting with distinctive flavours.
Silvia Nacamulli, Italian-Jewish cooking expert:
"Jewish flavours of Tripoli is very much North African cooking with, keeping the Kosher rules, so making sure no mixture of meat and milk, no pork, no seafood, and a with a bit of an Italian addition to it. I made tershi which is a pumpkin dip, with homemade harissa; so I showed how to make a homemade harissa which is a very spicy chilli sauce".
Nikita Gulhane, Founder of the Spice Monkey:
"This particular recipe which comes from a Jewish hotel, or a house, which is owned by a Jewish man, is now called Koder House, this is a recipe from their restaurant kitchen there. It uses onions, basically they make a paste of onion and then they add cashew paste, and then you season it up, and then you add a lovely bit of kingfish, something like that. So the Jewish aspect is the use of onion".
And the fun-filled events also attracted VIP's including David Miliband.
David Miliband, Former UK Foreign Secretary:
"We were standing outside waiting for one of our kids to catch up, and the organisers saw us out there and invited us to come in and find out about it, so we did. The highlight is meeting Claudia Roden who is a great star of the cooking world, and who my mother tried to cook from, and did cook from her recipe books, so its nice to be able to meet her".
For more information on Gefiltefest and for future events go to www.gefiltefest.org.
Well today's certainly been a success, with a great turn out, and fantastic weather.
Celestina Olulode, JN1 , London
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Capital Market Conference
The Globes 2013 Capital Markets Conference is bringing together some of the financial leaders in Israel from both the private and public sector to discuss Israel's economic future.
It was Finance Minister, Yair Lapid, first public appearance since the announcement cutbacks in the upcoming budget which are going to hit hard the middle class of Israelis. Lapid, who ran to the Knesset on the ticket of the defender of the middle class, has come under harsh criticism for his financial plans.
Yair Lapid, Finance Minister:
“It is always the right thing to do the right thing. I am doing the right thing for the country and whenever I get an opportunity to choose between myself and the good of the country I am going to do whatever is good for the country, so, and you know what? If this will harm me politically, then this will harm me politically I can live with that. I don’t really know if they are criticizing me or they are criticizing the situation. We are stuck in a bit of hole now, fortunately this is one of those things, one of those bumps, that we can get out from in a short time so people are criticizing me now because nobody likes it when you raise taxes and they will be happy about living in a stable economy when we get out of it. So, I am not really worried about it, maybe I should be, but I am not really worried.”
Lapid spoke out recently about his vision of the peace process in a New York Times interview and we wanted to clarify what his exact views are.
Yair Lapid, Finance Minister:
“Everybody knows that I think that the two-state solution is the only solution on the table and we should do some progress about this. We should go back to the negotiation table with the Palestinians and make sure that the discourse is back to some the beginning, harmony would be an exaggerated word, but a beginning of a negotiation is a necessity. I hope that Secretary Kerry will come here and help the both sides to sit on the same table and we are looking forward to his visit.”
Global conglomerate, Dun and Bradstreet, has been providing business information for over 170-years and the Israeli branches CEO says, the country has to act and act fast before the situation gets out of control.
Haim Cohen, CEO, Dun & Bradstreet Israel:
“I think that we may face a very bad economic situation if we don’t look after the budget. We have to close the deficit in the budget. Being a risk manager, closing a deficit in the budget is number one target of anybody. Before you look at growth, before you look at prosperity, first of all make sure you have money to cover you debt. That your personal cover ratio, is positive. If you don’t do that, you may run into heavier risks and everything will go out of control.”
Low-Cost Supermarkets giant, Rami Levy, claims the government is making a huge fundamental mistake in all its dealings; it completely fails to see whom they are supposed to serve.
Rami Levy, CEO, Rami Levy Low-Cost Supermarkets:
“We see the bureaucracy here in Israel every day. The public sector does not take into consideration the citizens, they don’t think about their consumers. That’s why they allow themselves to behave with such a deficit. And where does this deficit come from ? They conduct themselves not like a profitable business. The behave in a manner that when they feel a little bit of constraints and wants to develop the economy they go and raise the taxes from the citizens and in the long run they ruin more than they build. My philosophy is that the customer is the most important factor this is who I serve, this is the foundation of all my businesses the customer, and I personally live off my customers so it is crucial to make him fell like he is getting the value for their money.”
It seems although the finance minister came under fire for his budgetary cuts and tax increases, at least the audience, here at the conference, of around 500 financical leaders were won over by Lapid's explanation of why he did what he had to do.
Ron Jacobsohn, JN1 , Tel-Aviv