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Yemenis protest Guantanamo Bay prison
Today
Dozens of Yemeni activists and family members of prisoners detained at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre have held a protest outside the American Embassy in Yemen’s capital.
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7-11 exploits immigrants
Today
The owners of over a dozen 7-Eleven stores in the United States have been accused of hiring illegal immigrants while forcing them to live in substandard housing, giving them stolen identities, and stealing their wages.
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Netanyahu: Iran nuclear plans won’t change
Yesterday
Following the victory of relative ‘moderate’ Hasan Rowhani in the Iranian presidential election , the former nuclear negotiator has promised ‘greater transparency’ from the Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear programme.
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Morsi in support of jihad aid to Syrian rebels
Yesterday
Under the ruling of Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian authorities had taken a tough stance towards Egyptians returning home after conducting jihad in various countries, with the fear that they may bring back extremist mentality.
Hitler probe: Police launch probe into photo of Lapid as Hitler; Caption under picture of finance minister reads 'Enemy of the Israeli Economy'
Grave error: Wrong year etched on Ed Koch’s grave though engraver promises to speedily fix New York mayor birthdate error
Security farm: IDF controversially restricts access to agricultural fields belonging to Palestinian villagers in the West Bank for security reasons
Lebanon clashes: Fighting erupts in south Lebanon amid Syria tensions between unidentified gunmen and followers of anti-Hezbollah cleric
Tax haven: Israel’s tax chief warns on unreported capital abroad following revelations about Israeli assets in tax havens
Grave error: Wrong year etched on Ed Koch’s grave though engraver promises to speedily fix New York mayor birthdate error
Security farm: IDF controversially restricts access to agricultural fields belonging to Palestinian villagers in the West Bank for security reasons
Lebanon clashes: Fighting erupts in south Lebanon amid Syria tensions between unidentified gunmen and followers of anti-Hezbollah cleric
Tax haven: Israel’s tax chief warns on unreported capital abroad following revelations about Israeli assets in tax havens
Thousands of messages removed from wall’s stones
The ancient stones of Jerusalem’s Western Wall have been gently denuded of hundreds of thousands of prayer notes that are punched each day into every crack and crevice by visitors to the world’s holiest Jewish site, hoping that their wishes will be picked up by God.
The Western Wall is a remnant of the courtyard of the Second Temple, which was destroyed in 70 AD and stands beneath a religious plaza also used by Muslim worshippers called Temple Mount.
The Wall’s chief Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz and his army of helpers gently dislodged the multicoloured papers before wrapping them – still unread – to be buried on the Mount of Olives, another holy site. The cleanup operation to allow room for new messages takes place twice a year ahead of Rosh Hashanah – or Jewish New Year – and Passover.
Although the notes have never been counted, they generally fill around 200 shopping bags a year.
Many of the wishes are faxed or emailed by people from around the world, whilst hundreds of thousands of others send letters addressed simply to “God in Jerusalem”.
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President Shimon Peres celebrates 90th birthday
Although it isn’t until August 2 nd , Israeli President Shimon Peres is celebrating his 90 th birthday a bit early this year. Many high profile guests are invited, including Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. Born on August 2 nd , 1923 in Poland, Peres is widely respected for his Middle East peace efforts.
He has been a Labour Party prime minister two times, but Peres never won a general election outright over five tries from 1977 to 1996. He was elected Israel’s president by parliament in 2007.
Peres was popular during his first term as prime minister in 1985 – 1986 where he improved relations with Egypt and cut inflation down from 445 percent a year to under 20 percent.
In 1994 he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Peres took over after Rabin was shot dead in 1995, but 1996 saw an election loss to Benjamin Netanyahu.
In 2005 Peres surprised his supporters by leaving the Labour party to join the newly formed Kadima party that was established to end the conflict with the Palestinians.
As Israel’s president, Peres has promoted making peace with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas along with the isolation of Hamas.
Peres has written several books. He is married, with three children.
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4000 Iran troops to aid Assad forces in Syria
Iran is reportedly preparing to send 4,000 Revolutionary Guard troops to Syria to aid the regime of Bashar Assad . Syrian government forces have already been bolstered by Lebanese fighters from militant group Hezbollah. Shiite Iran and its proxy Hezbollah have vowed to help the Assad regime to crush the largely Sunni rebellion supported by the West and Sunni Arab states.
Iran’s dramatic intervention comes hot on the heels of a US announcement last week that it is mulling imposing a non-fly-zone over Syria and would arm ‘vetted’ Syrian rebels, because of Washington’s belief that Assad’s government has crossed Washington’s ‘red line’ by using chemical weapons in the conflict. However, the Obama administration’s decision to align with the Sunni rebels has been described as a risky move.
The US says it will only arm secular Sunni rebels belonging to the officially recognized Free Syria Army, but there are real fears that many of the sophisticated weapons, including much-prized anti-aircraft missiles, could then fall into the hands of Hezbollah and the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusrah Front – by far the most potent and influential rebel group active in Syria.
However, extremist rebels may have already obtained such weapons. On Sunday, a rebel video posted to YouTube showed what appeared to be a large supply of the type of anti-aircraft missiles that the Obama administration has urgently tried to keep away from al-Nusrah and other extremist Sunni rebel groups; including a powerful new brigade from Chechnya.
The missiles, believed to be shoulder- launched SA-16s, are displayed in a video allegedly made by a Chechen-dominated jihadist group of foreign fighters. The weapons could hit most types of aircraft and may be a potent means of breaking the dominance over Syrian skies enjoyed by President Bashar al-Assad's air force.
There is increasing concern that the bloody re-opening of Islam’s ancient schism by the Syrian conflict will lead to a broader regional war , dragging in Syria’s neigbours, allies and foes. Lebanon is already suffering the deadly spillover effects and Israel, fearful of a new front on the Golan Heights, is keeping a watchful eye on developments.
The Netanyahu government has struck inside Syria at least three times in recent months to stop Syrian weaponry being shipped to Hezbollah in Lebanon, but Israel unlike its Western allies, may have more to fear from a new an Islamist caliphate than a continuation of Assad’s rule.
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NYC couple fight for WWII property
Since the 1989 democratic transition, Poland has pledged time after time to pass a law dealing with private property restitution from the Second World War . But no such law has passed and the number of heirs is fast dwindling. Still that hasn’t stopped a New York City couple from fighting for what they feel is their rightful property.
This yellowed schematic from 1929 outlines in rough detail the family property Lea Evron says belongs to her.
Lea Evron:
“Behind the building there was a little garden, and behind the garden was the factory that my father owned with his brother. And you know I have very nice memories from before the war, but that’s about it.”
Born to a Polish Jewish family in 1935, Lea was just four years old when the Nazis invaded. The Germans confiscated her father’s apartment house and factory in the southern city of Zywiec. Lea and her mother went into hiding -- her sister and father perished.
Lea Evron:
“When the communists came they took over the factory, and the -- as I was told -- some of the workers were living in the building, because when we came back we couldn’t get into our apartment.”
In the decades after the war, Lea hopscotched from Sweden to Switzerland to Israel and finally to the United States. And over the years, she and her husband Jehuda procured hundreds of pages of documents, including a deed that lists her as the rightful heir .
Jehuda Evron:
“We have all the deed and everything.”
- So you have all the paperwork?
Lea Evron:
“I have everything.”
Jehuda Evron:
“We have all the paperwork.”
Lea Evron:
“Everything.”
The documents fill drawers and shelves in the Evrons’ study. But because Poland has no mechanism for the reclamation of property seized during the war, Lea has so far been unsuccessful in her attempts to reclaim her father’s land -- despite multiple Polish court rulings in her favor.
Steven Schwager, World Jewish Restitution Organization:
“We know unofficially there are at least 40 thousand potential Jewish claims for heired property.”
Steven Schwager co-chairs the executive committee of the World Jewish Restitution Organization.
Steven Schwager, World Jewish Restitution Organization:
“The issue is not getting their property back and it’s not getting money for it. None of those things can make up for the horrors of the Holocaust. But it is a symbol of justice.”
Meanwhile, Jehuda and Lea have said they will continue their fight. Their children have pledged to carry the torch in the event of their deaths.
Jehuda Evron:
“You see, to give up, in my opinion, it’s not an option, because there’s too much of injustice.”
Lea Evron:
“And really why? Why? I mean, my father worked for it hard.”
Jehuda Evron:
“All his life!”
Lea Evron:
“All his life and his brother. Why should they get it? Why?”
Poland does have a law dealing with the restitution of communal property -- things like synagogues and schools, that were seized during the war. But the Polish Foreign Ministry says the courts are where private cases should be adjudicated, and that the legal situation of Jews is ‘no different from the situation of other persons.’
Stephen Fee, JN1 , New York