Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
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Wednesday, Apr. 13 '16, Nissan 5, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. 'ARAB WOMEN ASK NOT TO BE IN THE SAME ROOM WITH JEWS'
2. SANDERS 'JEWISH OUTREACH' DIRECTOR: ISRAEL-HATER EXTRAORDINAIRE
3. DOUBLE STANDARD? PM SAVES ILLEGAL ARAB HOME, BUT NOT SYNAGOGUE
4. TERRORIST WHO RAN OVER JEWISH COUPLE CONVICTED OF MURDER
5. IDF SOLDIERS BURN PA FLAG AT CHECKPOINT
6. PASSOVER SACRIFICE TO BE REENACTED FACING TEMPLE MOUNT NEXT WEEK
7. NEW SPECIES OF ANCIENT RODENT DISCOVERED IN THE NEGEV
8. WATCH: HOW DO PEOPLE REACT TO A JEW AND MUSLIM WALKING TOGETHER?
1. 'ARAB WOMEN ASK NOT TO BE IN THE SAME ROOM WITH JEWS'
by Hezki Baruch
Prof. Drorit Hochner, director of Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital's OBGYN department, surprised leftist and Arab MKs who took part in a stormy Knesset session Wednesday morning regarding the separation of Jewish and Arab women in maternity wards.
"There are Arab women who after birth ask not to be with Jewish women, they ask bluntly and point-blank," exposed Hochner.
She further revealed that there are Arab women who are afraid of being in the same room with a Jewish women and say to doctors: "maybe she'll kill me in the night."
"We are living in a problematic political reality and medical professionals give completely equal treatment to Jews and Arabs. When it isn't medical treatment - as in the maternity wards - we do our best to meet all requests," added Hochner.
The revelation is particularly significant in light of the media uproar since last week, when MK Betzalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) said separate rooms should be an option while noting on noisy Arab post-birth parties.
After his wife was recorded saying she had asked not to be with Arab women, Smotrich said many Jewish women including his own wife "wouldn't want to lie down (in a bed) next to a woman who just gave birth to a baby who might want to murder her baby twenty years from now." In response, his party chairperson Education Minister Naftali Bennett condemned him and rejected the idea of "hating Arabs."
In the Knesset session on Wednesday, Hochner exposed how racism charges over the matter are baseless by providing another example of how new mothers are allowed to request separation.
"We do a separation between haredi women and secular women on weekends. They always ask that haredi women be with haredi women so that they won't talk on the phone on Shabbat," she said.
"You can't call that discrimination. Of course we won't let an Arab mother lie in the hallway if there's only one bed left in a room with a Jewish woman."
MKs Yael German (Yesh Atid) and Aida Touma-Sliman (Joint List) attempted to interrupt Hochner from speaking, cutting across her words and charging her with discrimination.
In response, Hochner said, "we don't ask every mother where she wants to be, but of course we are considerate of all of them."
"A separation of haredi women and secular women is racism? It's discrimination?," she posed, noting how the accusations simply do not fit.
As the topic of separate maternity wards gains attention, a poll on Monday revealed that 69% of the Israeli public would prefer separate rooms for Jewish and Arab women.
2. SANDERS 'JEWISH OUTREACH' DIRECTOR: ISRAEL-HATER EXTRAORDINAIRE
by Ari Soffer
The Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) recently broke the news that Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders had hired an avowed anti-Zionist as his national Jewish outreach director.
Simone Zimmerman is a supporter of the extremist Jewish Voice for peace - which the ADL named as one of America's top 10 anti-Israel hate groups - and an advocate for the anti-Israel BDS boycott movement, who has regularly led far-left protests against establishment Jewish American groups such as the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
A taste of her beliefs can be found in a column she wrote for the far-left Haaretz publication last February:
"We're paying attention to what's happening in Israel -- and we are angry," she wrote.
"The hypocrisy of expecting feel-good social justice projects to offset millennials' deep outrage at the grave injustices committed by the Jewish state is almost too much to bear. No public relations trick can save Israel's image. The problem isn't with the hasbara [public relations]. The problem is nearly 50 years of occupation. The problem is rampant racism in Israeli society. The problem is attacks on human rights defenders by extremists and by the state. The problem is a Jewish establishment that ignores or justifies all of this."
She went further still, suggesting to bring "American Jews to do civil resistance work in solidarity with West Bank Palestinians."
But while the JTA and others made to with mulling her journey from a nominally pro-Israel Jew to radical anti-Zionist - which began, unsurprisingly, with her affiliation to the liberal J Street group which campaigns for American pressure on Israel - some of her more extreme beliefs went unreported.
Some of these are easily accessible, such as a numerous posts on her Twitter account which insist that anti-Zionism - namely, denying the Jewish people the right to self-determination - isn't anti-Semitism (Britain's former Chief Rabbi certainly disagrees.)
Screenshot
Even more shocking is another claim Zimmerman proudly endorses in the Tweet above, which linked to a Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) online form encouraging people to lobby the University of California not to change its Principles against Intolerance to condemn anti-Semitism. (The amendment passed anyway on March 23 2016).
The pre-prepared letter - composed by JVP - absurdly claims that "it is irresponsible to make an unsupported claim that anti-Semitism is "often expressed (as) assertions of prejudice and intolerance toward Jewish people and culture."" According to JVP - and Zimmerman - "assertions of prejudice and intolerance towards Jewish people and culture" are somehow deemed acceptable.
Screenshot
This, then, is the face of "Jewish outreach" for the Sanders campaign: avowed anti-Zionism and views considered extreme even by many Jews on the left. Perhaps more worryingly, however, are the numbers of young American Jews - albeit still a minority - failed by the US Jewish education system, for whom such ideas will in fact resonate.
And if a private Facebook post reported by the Forward is anything to go by, she's certainly confident they will:
"The first Jew in history just won a primary, as a proud socialist calling for political revolution, backed 85-15 by millennials," Zimmerman wrote.
"Hil (Hillary Clinton - ed.) thinks she can win us back with hawkish Israel policies? Wake the f—k up."
3. DOUBLE STANDARD? PM SAVES ILLEGAL ARAB HOME, BUT NOT SYNAGOGUE
by David Rosenberg
On Tuesday the city of Jerusalem, supported by the Israeli police, were about to demolish an illegal Arab home built in the middle of a national park, when a call from the office of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered police to stand down.
The building in question, occupied by the Tutunji family, was constructed in 1992 on land designated as a national park some 18 years beforehand. The park borders the Wadi Joz neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem.
Due to the building's location and lack of permits, demolition orders were issued. On Tuesday morning it appeared that after 24 years, the law was finally going to catch up with the illegal home.
A government official claimed the decision was necessary to lower tensions, Yediot Ahronot reported.
"These days, everyone needs to make calculated decisions in order not to enflame the region."
Aref Tutunji, who claims ownership of the illegal structure, said he was appreciative of the decision, and noted the various other benefits the state had afforded him
"I was hospitalized for a year in an Israeli hospital and the state pays for my children's education. I won't argue with police officers if they come over to demolish, but I ask one thing from the state: I just want my home."
While the Prime Minister's Office claims the demolition orders were merely deferred temporarily, no new date has been given for the building's destruction.
Despite the Prime Minister's intervention on behalf of the Tutunji family, another demolition was carried out early Wednesday morning – in the Jewish town of Beit El.
At around 3 a.m. Civil Administration enforcement units, supported by Israeli police, arrived at the home of Inbal and Uri Aloni. Within minutes the house was destroyed, leaving the couple – who are expecting their first child – homeless ahead of the Pesach holiday.
Nor did the Prime Minister's Office intervene on behalf of a Carmei Tzur synagogue, which had been desecrated by Arab arsons in February.
While the Prime Minister harshly condemned the arson attack, pledging to catch those responsible, no action was taken to halt or delay the demolition of the synagogue less than two months later.
The synagogue was built in memory of three murdered Israeli youths, who had been abducted and killed by Hamas terrorists not far from where the synagogue stood.
4. TERRORIST WHO RAN OVER JEWISH COUPLE CONVICTED OF MURDER
by Ido Ben-Porat
Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday convicted the Arab terrorist who ran over a young couple in Jerusalem - killing him and leaving her seriously wounded - of murder and attempted murder.
Shalom Sherki was murdered in the attack, which also left Shira Klein hospitalized in serious condition.
The indictment against 37-year-old Khaled Kutina from Shuafat stated that he acted out of nationalistic motivations when he ran down the couple in Jerusalem last year.
Kutina struck on the eve of Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day along Route 1 in the capital, towards Pisgat Ze'ev. CCTV footage from the site showed how he stopped his car at a junction and then, upon noticing the young Jewish couple, hit the gas, veered in from the left lane onto the sidewalk and plowed into them at high speed.
Kutina then reversed into a concrete bollard, in an apparent botched escape, and was arrested by police.
The conviction comes nearly a year to the day of the attack itself.
5. IDF SOLDIERS BURN PA FLAG AT CHECKPOINT
by Arutz Sheva staff
A group of IDF soldiers burned a Palestinian Authority (PA) flag at the Awarta checkpoint, near the Huwarra military base, on Wednesday, causing an uproar.
Palestinian Arab witnesses have submitted a formal complaint to the IDF following the incident, Maan news reports.
IDF sources confirmed that the incident, despite being reported in the Palestinian media, both happened and will be dealt with.
"The commanding officer is aware of the incident, which will be investigated," an IDF spokesperson stated to Arutz Sheva Wednesday afternoon. "An initial investigation reveals that we are talking about an exceptional situation wherein the IDF forces operated against what is expected of it, and against the instructions of commanders - and it will be dealt with."
6. PASSOVER SACRIFICE TO BE REENACTED FACING TEMPLE MOUNT NEXT WEEK
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The public reenactment of the Passover Sacrifice, which has become a popular spring-time event over the past few years, will be getting closer to the actual site of the Temple Mount next week.
This year's reenactment may prove to be an even more festive event than ever, as many new participants are planning to arrive from all parts of the country.
The past Paschal Reenactments were held in a school courtyard which became more cramped each year due to the growing popularity of the important event. For this reason the organizers decided to move the event this year to the more spacious location of Mitzpeh Beit Orot, between Mount Scopus and the Mount of Olives, near Emek Tzurim, which faces Judaism's holiest and most relevant site for the occasion, the Temple Mount.
The reenactment will take place next Monday, just four days before the prescribed time of the Paschal Offering. Event organizers say they want to offer a taste of an exciting, authentic Jewish experience, "with its smells, sounds, and colors that have been lost to us these 2000 years, and to thus arouse a longing to renew this Temple ritual in our day."
Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick at previous eevent Courtesy
Numerous rabbis and public figures will be attending. Among them is the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Aryeh Shtern, who at last year's reenactment expressed his great amazement at the public's desire to reinstate the Paschal Sacrifice, which in his words was, "much greater than he expected." Also attending will be several Members of Knesset and the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Dov Kalmanovitch.
The ancient ritual is being revived this year with the help of the cutting-edge HeadStart Campaign Website under the name Passover Reenactment, which is proving to finance the event through the public's support. In its first week alone, the campaign became listed as one of the website's most popular causes, and it is enjoying a wave of pledged support that has covered about two thirds of the project's goal.
This year the event will begin with a rabbinical round table debate about "how much we should strive in our day to renew the Temple service with its sacrifices, if at all." Following will be Torah classes given by rabbis and rashei yeshivot, including Rabbis Menachem Borstein, Uri Shreki, Menachem Makover, Benayahu Bruner, and Rabbi Yitzhak Yavetz , graduate of the Ponivitch Yeshiva.
During all hours of the panel discussions and Torah lessons there will be children's activities such as craft tables, sheep petting, and an inflatable playground available.
Preparing the lamb Courtesy
Finally, there will be a procession with the sheep simulating the Passover pilgrimage to the Temple Mount as in the time of the Holy Temple, culminating in an exact reenactment of the Paschal Sacrifice, including the slaughtering of a lamb and the ritual offering of its blood and fats on a model altar by actual Cohanim dressed in authentic priestly garments.
Performer Mordechai Yitzhar and his band will be on hand to sing the Hallel accompanied by silver trumpets, just as was the practice in the days of the Temple.
7. NEW SPECIES OF ANCIENT RODENT DISCOVERED IN THE NEGEV
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A mere handful of tiny teeth found in the Negev desert allowed an international research team to discover a new species of rodent that has been extinct for around 18 million years.
The researchers explain that the discovery of Sayimys negevensis enables a new understanding of how mammals and other species were dispersed between Eurasia and Africa in the Early Miocene, a period 23 million to 16 million years ago.
It also illustrates how crucial Israel's paleogeographic position is as a key point in the Levantine corridor connecting Eurasia with North Africa.
The research, published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE accessible here and announced in a Hebrew University press release on Wednesday, describes the Sayimys negevensis as a forerunner of the present-day gundi or "comb-rat" - a small rodent with comb-like bristles sprouting from the two middle toes of its back feet.
"It is a pivotal species that bridges the gap between an array of primitive Ctenodactylines and the most derived, Early Miocene and later, gundis," the researchers wrote in the article.
Ctenodactylidae are a family of rodents who first appeared in Asia around 40 million years ago, with gundis constituting their last descendants. Currently they are found living in groups on rocky outcrops in deserts in East and North Africa.
The name Sayimys negevensis references the Negev where the ancient species was found, and Israel is indeed the only site along the Eastern Mediterranean stretching from Anatolia to the Sinai where Early Miocene fossil sites have been found.
"The fossil sites of Israel are in a unique position to offer data on the early times of the large waves of faunal exchanges that took place around 19 million years ago between Eurasia and Africa," said Dr. Raquel Lopez-Antoñanzas, a senior researcher at the University of Bristol, who led the research.
Back in the Early Miocene, Israel was more firmly attached to Africa according to the researchers, and many local mammals at the time were of African origin. Sayimys negevensis is one of the few species found in Israel with Eurasian affinities.
"The new Israeli species is closer in morphology to nearly coeval species found in Pakistan, therefore demonstrating that mammals were already using the Levantine corridor to travel between Eurasia and Africa in the Early Miocene," said research co-author Dr. Rivka Rabinovich, of Hebrew University's Institute of Earth Sciences and the National Natural History Collections.
The new rodent's discovery is part of an international focus on Israel's Early Miocene fauna and the country's paleogeographic implications.
This focus is being led by Dr. Rivka Rabinovich, Dr. Rani Calvo of the Israel Geological Survey and Dr. Ari Grossman of Midwestern University in Glendale Arizona. Other international experts taking part in the research include Dr. Raquel López-Antoñanzas, Dr. Fabien Knoll of the University of Manchester and Dr. Gideon Hartmann from the University of Connecticut.
8. WATCH: HOW DO PEOPLE REACT TO A JEW AND MUSLIM WALKING TOGETHER?
by Ari Soffer
[youtube:2014426]
Jewish-Muslim relations are often fraught, with the two communities largely falling on opposite sides of support for the Arab-Israeli conflict, and with some Muslim communities harboring worrying levels of anti-Semitic sentiment.
But an Arab YouTube duo from New York decided to put that perception to the test with an unusual social experiment. Dressed as a religious Jew and Muslim respectively, the two walked together through three different neighborhoods to gauge reactions: a predominantly Jewish area, a predominantly Arab/Muslim neighborhood, and a "diverse" neighborhood.
The results are telling.
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