December 31, 2010
December 30, 2010
What if Israel ceases to be a democracy?
from Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street
Aimee --
"What If Israel Ceases to Be a Democracy?" was the provocative headline of a must-read Monday blog post by the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg imagining the unthinkable in Israel (pasted below). [1]
His concern? What if Israel's citizens, in the face of failing peace efforts, the march of settlements, growing anti-democratic trends and religious extremism, choose its Jewish character over its democratic values?
His warning? What if -- right now -- the opportunity to avoid this terrifying choice is staring us in the face, yet political leaders in Israel, on the West Bank, and here in America don't grasp the urgency?
Will we look back on this moment and wonder -- did we do enough when we still could?
This is why J Street exists. To urge the Obama Administration, Israel and the Palestinians to act before religious extremism, rejectionism, settlements, and a lack of political will overwhelm the prospects for peace.
We finish 2010 with a tale of two years.
On the one hand, the Middle East peace process is at a standstill, and our frustration could not be greater at the lack of progress toward a two-state solution particularly given our high hopes at the start of the Obama administration.
On the other, this was an incredible year for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans who fought harder than ever for our progressive, Jewish values and took our efforts to the next level.
We launched J Street Local, with over 13,000 people taking part in local activities in 37 cities. We expanded our J Street U presence to dozens of campuses. Our base grew to 165,000 Americans. Our Rabbinic Cabinet boasts 670 Rabbis.
It is no longer a question in Washington or around the country whether a broad base of support exists for pro-peace policies and a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict.
The challenges facing our movement are real - but so are the opportunities.
Together, we will transform this community and advance real peace and security for Israel and the region as a whole.
Thank you again for everything that you do. It has truly been a pleasure to work with all of you in 2010, and I am looking forward to building on that success in 2011.
Happy New Year,
- Jeremy
Jeremy Ben-Ami
President
J Street
December 30, 2010
President
J Street
December 30, 2010
What If Israel Ceases to Be a Democracy?
Jeffery Goldberg
Is it actually possible that one day Israelis -- Jewish Israelis -- would choose to give up democracy in order to maintain Israel's Jewish voting majority? Some people, of course, argue that Israel has ceased to be a democracy, because there is nothing temporary about the 43-year-old occupation of the West Bank. I believe it is premature to talk about the end of Israel as a democratic state -- mainly because the disposition of the West Bank is still undecided -- but I can't say that the thought hasn't crossed my mind that one day Israelis will make the conscious, active decision to preserve the state's Jewish character instead of its democratic character (I use the word "Jewish" in the demographic sense, not the moral sense, obviously).
As I wrote last week, there's very little Israel's right-wing government has done in the past year or so to suggest that it is willing to wean itself from its addiction to West Bank settlements, and the expansion of settlements bodes ill for the creation of a Palestinian state -- and the absence of Palestinian statehood means that Israel will one day soon confront this crucial question concerning its democratic nature: Will it grant West Bank Arabs the right to vote, or will it deny them the vote? If it grants them the vote, this will be the end of Israel as a Jewish state; if it denies them the vote in perpetuity, it will cease to be a democratic state.
I will admit here that my assumption has usually been that Israelis, when they finally realize the choice before them (many have already, of course, but many more haven't, it seems), will choose democracy, and somehow extract themselves from the management of the lives of West Bank Palestinians. But I've had a couple of conversations this week with people, in Jerusalem and out of Jerusalem, that suggest to me that democracy is something less than a religious value for wide swaths of Israeli Jewish society. I'm speaking here of four groups, each ascendant to varying degrees:The haredim, the ultra-Orthodox Jews, whose community continues to grow at a rapid clip; the working-class religious Sephardim -- Jews from Arab countries, mainly -- whose interests are represented in the Knesset by the obscurantist rabbis of the Shas Party; the settler movement, which still seems to get whatever it needs in order to grow; and the million or so recent immigrants from Russia, who support, in distressing numbers, the Putin-like Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister and leader of the "Israel is Our Home" party.
Let's just say, as a hypothetical, that one day in the near future, Prime Minister Lieberman's government (don't laugh, it's not funny) proposes a bill that echoes the recent call by some rabbis to discourage Jews from selling their homes to Arabs. Or let's say that Lieberman's government annexes swaths of the West Bank in order to take in Jewish settlements, but announces summarily that the Arabs in the annexed territory are in fact citizens of Jordan, and can vote there if they want to, but they won't be voting in Israel. What happens then? Do the courts come to the rescue? I hope so. Do the Israeli people come to the rescue? I'm not entirely sure. There are many Israelis who value democracy, but they might not possess the strength to fight. Does American Jewry come to the rescue? Well, most of American Jewry would be so disgusted by Israel's abandonment of democratic principles that I think the majority would simply write off Israel as a tragic, failed experiment.
Am I being apocalyptic? Yes. Am I exaggerating the depth of the problem? I certainly hope so. Israel is still a remarkably vibrant democracy, with a free press and an independent judiciary. But on the other hand, the Israel that I see today is not the Israel I was introduced to more than twenty years ago. The rise to power of the four groups I mentioned above has changed, in some very serious ways (which I will write about later) the nature and character of the Jewish state.
December 29, 2010
It's over for Benjamin Netanyahu
By Aluf Benn
Benjamin Netanyahu has in effect concluded his term as prime minister. It's all downhill until the next elections, without any achievements and without an agenda, passing the time buying political calm and deflecting diplomatic pressure. Instead of initiating and leading, Netanyahu will engage in fruitless holding actions until he falls from power.
The bewilderment and paralysis were apparent in Netanyahu's interview Monday with Channel 10 on the patio of his official residence in Jerusalem. He violated the first rule of political life: When you don't have anything to say, it's better to keep quiet. The prime minister came to the interview without any new message, without a way forward, and he wasted his airtime trying to dispel the contention that he's the dishrag of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his own wife, Sara. continued>>
December 28, 2010
Survey: Women Think About Food More Than Sex
Altrendo Images/Getty Images
By: Hanna Jones
According to a new survey, 25% of women think about food every half an hour, compared to the 10% of women who think about sex over the same time span.
These telling statistics come from a diet survey carried out by the slimming group Shape Smart, which devises a personal health plan based on what they calculate as your "EATERtype." Shape Smart interviewed some 5000 men and women and have revealed different attitudes towards sex and food which draws an unhappy picture for many women and their struggle with body issues. Some more statistics from the survey are:
- 60% of women in relationships are not happy eating in front of their partner
- 50% of women in relationships are shy undressing in front of their partner
- 40% of women feel as though they are constantly dieting
- 13% of women choose low-calorie meals instead of what they would actually like when eating out - more on Time>>
Stuxnet continue de ravager les infrastructures iraniennes
envoyé par Samy Baruch
Par Henri Bettan
Selon un expert allemand, l’action de ce virus introduit dans les ordinateurs iraniens surpasse les effets d’une frappe aérienne.
Bien que disparu des titres de la presse internationale, le virus Stuxnet continue son travail de démolition des infrastructures iraniennes.
Interrogé par le Jerusalem post, Ralf Langer, un expert allemand jouissant d’une réputation mondiale, estime qu’il faudrait deux années à l’Iran pour revenir au point de développement nucléaire où elle se trouvait avant l’attaque de Stuxnet, à supposer qu’elle vienne à bout du problème.
Ce virus, d’une sophistication inconnue à ce jour selon Ralf Langer, a nécessité un développement de plusieurs années – son code est constitué de 15 000 lignes de programme, une suite colossale – ne peut être que l’œuvre d’une puissance informatique développée ou de l’alliance de deux puissances comme les Etats-Unis et Israël. L’expert penche cependant pour l’hypothèse de l’unité 8200 comme maître d’œuvre, spécialisée dans la cyber guerre au sein de l’Amman, le service secret rattaché à Tsahal. suite>>
Par Henri Bettan
Selon un expert allemand, l’action de ce virus introduit dans les ordinateurs iraniens surpasse les effets d’une frappe aérienne.
Bien que disparu des titres de la presse internationale, le virus Stuxnet continue son travail de démolition des infrastructures iraniennes.
Interrogé par le Jerusalem post, Ralf Langer, un expert allemand jouissant d’une réputation mondiale, estime qu’il faudrait deux années à l’Iran pour revenir au point de développement nucléaire où elle se trouvait avant l’attaque de Stuxnet, à supposer qu’elle vienne à bout du problème.
Ce virus, d’une sophistication inconnue à ce jour selon Ralf Langer, a nécessité un développement de plusieurs années – son code est constitué de 15 000 lignes de programme, une suite colossale – ne peut être que l’œuvre d’une puissance informatique développée ou de l’alliance de deux puissances comme les Etats-Unis et Israël. L’expert penche cependant pour l’hypothèse de l’unité 8200 comme maître d’œuvre, spécialisée dans la cyber guerre au sein de l’Amman, le service secret rattaché à Tsahal. suite>>
ChemChina Buys Control of Israeli Agricultural-Chemicals Maker Makhteshim
sent by Soly Capeluto
China National Chemical Corp. offered to buy a controlling stake in Makhteshim-Agan Industries Ltd., the largest maker of generic agricultural chemicals, in a deal valuing the Israeli company at $2.4 billion.
ChemChina, as the company is known, agreed to acquire 7 percent of Makhteshim from Koor Industries Ltd. and offered to buy all the publicly traded stock to bring its stake to 60 percent, Makhteshim said today. The purchase price, based on current dollar exchange rates and taking into account some employee options, is 19.98 shekels a share, or 18 percent more than the stock’s closing price in Tel Aviv yesterday.
Makhteshim, based in Airport City outside Tel Aviv, jumped 6.8 percent today. Surging demand for raw materials in China to power the world’s fastest-growing major economy has prompted companies to make acquisitions beyond oil and gas industries and explore takeovers of agriculture and chemical assets. State- owned Sinochem Group, China’s largest fertilizer trader, earlier this year considered a rival bid to BHP Billiton Ltd.’s $40 billion offer for Potash Corp., people with knowledge of the matter said in October.
“It looks like the deal is about to close and we believe this offer will be received by the shareholders because the Chinese are paying such a high premium,” Guil Bashan, an analyst at IBI in Tel Aviv, said by telephone. “This is good news for Makhteshim and for Koor.” continued on bloombergnews>>
China National Chemical Corp. offered to buy a controlling stake in Makhteshim-Agan Industries Ltd., the largest maker of generic agricultural chemicals, in a deal valuing the Israeli company at $2.4 billion.
ChemChina, as the company is known, agreed to acquire 7 percent of Makhteshim from Koor Industries Ltd. and offered to buy all the publicly traded stock to bring its stake to 60 percent, Makhteshim said today. The purchase price, based on current dollar exchange rates and taking into account some employee options, is 19.98 shekels a share, or 18 percent more than the stock’s closing price in Tel Aviv yesterday.
Makhteshim, based in Airport City outside Tel Aviv, jumped 6.8 percent today. Surging demand for raw materials in China to power the world’s fastest-growing major economy has prompted companies to make acquisitions beyond oil and gas industries and explore takeovers of agriculture and chemical assets. State- owned Sinochem Group, China’s largest fertilizer trader, earlier this year considered a rival bid to BHP Billiton Ltd.’s $40 billion offer for Potash Corp., people with knowledge of the matter said in October.
“It looks like the deal is about to close and we believe this offer will be received by the shareholders because the Chinese are paying such a high premium,” Guil Bashan, an analyst at IBI in Tel Aviv, said by telephone. “This is good news for Makhteshim and for Koor.” continued on bloombergnews>>
Beatings and intimidation in the West Bank
by Joseph Dana
Egypte : Gamal Moubarak se refuse à dire ses intentions pour la présidence.
Le fils cadet du président égyptien Hosni Moubarak, Gamal, s’est refusé lundi à révéler ses intentions sur une possible candidature à l’élection présidentielle de 2011, se bornant à indiquer que le parti au pouvoir annoncerait son candidat lors d’un congrès spécial.
Le choix se fera "selon les règles internes du parti" et en fonction des délais constitutionnels, a-t-il déclaré, interrogé lors d’une conférence de presse à l’issue du congrès annuel du Parti national démocrate (PND), dont il est l’un des principaux dirigeants. Gamal Moubarak a souligné que l’élection présidentielle devait se tenir en septembre 2011, avec une période de préparation de deux mois prévue par la constitution avant laquelle les candidats doivent être désignés. "Vous saurez qui sera le candidat quand le parti se réunira pour procéder à sa décision finale, avant évidemment que le processus (pré-électoral) ne commence en juillet prochain", a-t-il dit. en savoir plus>>
Le choix se fera "selon les règles internes du parti" et en fonction des délais constitutionnels, a-t-il déclaré, interrogé lors d’une conférence de presse à l’issue du congrès annuel du Parti national démocrate (PND), dont il est l’un des principaux dirigeants. Gamal Moubarak a souligné que l’élection présidentielle devait se tenir en septembre 2011, avec une période de préparation de deux mois prévue par la constitution avant laquelle les candidats doivent être désignés. "Vous saurez qui sera le candidat quand le parti se réunira pour procéder à sa décision finale, avant évidemment que le processus (pré-électoral) ne commence en juillet prochain", a-t-il dit. en savoir plus>>
Ce que Maimonide peut nous apporter aujourd’hui.
Rares sont les personnalités du Moyen Age qui ont encore quelque chose à nous apprendre aujourd’hui. Moïse Maimonide fait partie de ces quelques philosophes-théologiens qui ont, presque sans encombre, franchi les siècles, aux côtés d’Averroès (Ibn Rushd), de Thomas d’Aquin, d’Albert le grand et de Maître Eckhart ; sa méthodologie reste d’actualité, plus de huit siècles après sa disparition (ob. 1204)
Philosophe juif, persécuté en raison de son appartenance à une communauté religieuse honnie pendant la période médiévale et même bien au-delà, son approche philosophique de la religion révélée et de ses documents réputés sacrés reste un modèle en raison de son approche dénuée de préjugés. Ce penseur est un pur produit du judaïsme rabbinique des siècles précédents et son père, rabbi Maimon, a même été un Dayan, c’est-à-dire un juge rabbinique. Pourtant, une telle ascendance n’a pas étouffé sa soif de vérité philosophique, anticipant de huit siècles la définition qu’Hermann Cohen (ob. 1918) donnera du judaïsme, une religion-culture (eine Kulturreligion). suite>>
Book review: correcting mistaken notions on Arabs in America
Many Americans think anti-Arab sentiment in the United States began after 11 September 2001. Others think Arabs are recent immigrants to America. Some think the Arab community has kept to itself, not participating in struggles like the civil rights and labor movements. Alia Malek's A Country Called Amreeka is a welcome corrective to these mistaken notions.
Malek tells the stories of Arabs in America of all ages, national origins and religions -- from Randa, the avid Republican supporter of George W. Bush, to Rabih, the man struggling to deal with his sexuality and Arab identity during the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, to Omar, the young college student sharing the "Gaza Towel Rack" and "West Closet" with a Jewish roommate. more on electronicintifada>>
Malek tells the stories of Arabs in America of all ages, national origins and religions -- from Randa, the avid Republican supporter of George W. Bush, to Rabih, the man struggling to deal with his sexuality and Arab identity during the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, to Omar, the young college student sharing the "Gaza Towel Rack" and "West Closet" with a Jewish roommate. more on electronicintifada>>
Walking through Aleppo to where Abraham milked his cows
Aleppo, Syria - Aleppo has always existed in the shadow of Damascus, the city of 1,001 nights. But the view that Syria's second-largest city in the north of the country is somehow less interesting is unjustified as it has all the ambiance, history, mosques and bazaars that would be expected in a Middle Eastern city.
On arrival, the sprawling metropolis of Aleppo feels like one huge bazaar to the average tourist. Syria's largest city is home to a bustling and loud 12-kilometre-long covered shopping street, the largest bazaar in the Near East, exceeding the markets to be found in Damascus, Cairo and Istanbul.
The Aleppo souk, as the traditional Arabian market is called, is a vast labyrinth covered by stone archways taking up a large part of the city, where thousands of shops can be found in an area stretching to 350 hectares. conitnued>>
On arrival, the sprawling metropolis of Aleppo feels like one huge bazaar to the average tourist. Syria's largest city is home to a bustling and loud 12-kilometre-long covered shopping street, the largest bazaar in the Near East, exceeding the markets to be found in Damascus, Cairo and Istanbul.
The Aleppo souk, as the traditional Arabian market is called, is a vast labyrinth covered by stone archways taking up a large part of the city, where thousands of shops can be found in an area stretching to 350 hectares. conitnued>>
Venezuelan Jews report shift in tone from Chavez government
Venezuelan Jews celebrate the opening of a new synagogue
in Caracas, December 2010 (Jasmina Kelemen)
CARACAS, Venezuela (JTA) -- On a balmy tropical evening in early December, a few hundred families, mostly of Moroccan descent, gathered to inaugurate the first phase of what eventually will be a grand, two-story marble shul located in a wealthy Caracas neighborhood.
Among them, Claudio Benaim’s family beamed as Benaim stood with Rabbi Isaac Cohen as he recited a prayer into a microphone and affixed a mezuzah on the synagogue’s doorpost. Others admired the new flat-screen TVs listing daily prayer times.
U.S. Military Aid to Israel Delayed
United States military aid to Israel for 2011 has been delayed for three months.
The more than $3 billion in military aid, one of the largest amounts ever earmarked for Israel, includes grants to upgrade the Iron Dome and Arrow anti-ballistic missile systems.
The delay is a result of the Obama administration’s difficulty in passing the 2011 U.S. budget, which forced the president to sign a presidential order extending the current budget through March. Until then, funding for the budget will be disbursed on a month-to-month basis. more on jewishtimes>>
The Holocaust's Uneasy Relationship With Literature
by Menachem KaiserLiterature and the Holocaust have a complicated relationship. This isn't to say, of course, that the pairing isn't a fruitful one—the Holocaust has influenced, if not defined, nearly every Jewish writer since, from Saul Bellow to Jonathan Safran Foer, and many non-Jews besides, like W.G. Sebald and Jorge Semprun. Still, literature qua art—innately concerned with representation and appropriation—seemingly stands opposed to the immutability of the Holocaust and our oversized obligations to its memory. Good literature makes artistic demands, flexes and contorts narratives, resists limpid morality, compromises reality's details. Regarding the Holocaust, this seems unconscionable, even blasphemous. The horrors of Auschwitz and Buchenwald need no artistic amplification. more>>
Archaeologists May Have Found the Earliest Evidence Yet for the Existence of Modern Man
By: Daniel Estrin, Associated Press more>>
2010 was record year for tourism in Israel, estimates show
Preliminary numbers released by the Tourism Ministry indicate that Israel received 3.45 million tourists in 2010, a 14 percent increase from the previous record in 2008.The increase reflects improved security in Israel, where Israeli-Palestinian violence last decade sent tourist numbers plummeting.
Misezhnikov said about one-fifth of the tourists came from the United States, followed by visitors from Russia, France, the United Kingdom and Germany. More than two-thirds were Christian and 23 percent were Jewish.
The ministry expects to have final 2010 numbers in January.
source: Ha'aretz
En finir avec la politique de la peur
Dans Ha'Aretz, le journaliste israélien Akiva Eldar fustige la politique du Premier ministre israélien, Benyamin Nétanyahou, fondée selon lui uniquement sur l'entretien de la "haine de l'autre". Il estime qu'il faut cesser d'inquiéter la population avec de fausses menaces, mais plutôt l'alerter sur l'urgence d'une paix durable.
Des flots de réfugiés soudanais menacent de détruire ce que nous avons construit et de ruiner notre existence en tant qu'Etat juif et démocratique. Cela fait peur. L'Iran menace de nous anéantir et le monde, encore une fois, n'intervient pas. Cela fait peur. Si nous partons de Judée et Samarie [Cisjordanie], les Palestiniens enverront des missiles antiaériens sur l'aéroport international Ben Gourion. Cela fait peur. Les Palestiniens refusent de reconnaître Israël comme l'Etat-nation du peuple juif afin de pouvoir inonder l'Etat d'Israël de réfugiés arabes et faire main basse sur une partie de la Galilée et du Néguev. Ceux qui veulent détruire Israël ont entamé une campagne de délégitimation contre l'Etat juif dans ses frontières de 1948. Cela fait peur.
Cette collection de scénarios catastrophe est issue de l'école de pensée de Benyamin Nétanyahou. suite>>
Instead of warning of the dangers of continuing the conflict, Netanyahu chooses to exploit the primitive fear of the other.
By Akiva Eldar
How frightening! Masses of Sudanese refugees are threatening to erode our achievements and corrode our existence as a Jewish and democratic state. How frightening!
Iran is threatening to destroy us, and the world is once again standing by. How frightening! If we get out of "Judea and Samaria," the Palestinians will fire anti-aircraft missiles at Ben-Gurion International Airport. How frightening!
The Palestinians are refusing to recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, so as to flood the State of Israel with Arab refugees and rip out parts of the Galilee and the Negev. And those who wish to destroy Israel have begun a deligitimization campaign against the Jewish state within the 1948 borders. How frightening!
This is a collection of the nightmare scenarios of the Benjamin Netanyahu school of thought. One day Netanyahu - the scariest prime minister in the history of Israel - is complaining about the Palestinians refusing to speak with him about Nablus and Hebron, and the next day he's scaring the populace with statements about the Palestinians plot to take over Carmiel and Be'er Sheva. continued in Haaretz>>
Cette collection de scénarios catastrophe est issue de l'école de pensée de Benyamin Nétanyahou. suite>>
ed: Cet article est si important que je le reproduis en anglais aussi pour ceux qui ne parlent pas français:
Instead of warning of the dangers of continuing the conflict, Netanyahu chooses to exploit the primitive fear of the other.
By Akiva Eldar
How frightening! Masses of Sudanese refugees are threatening to erode our achievements and corrode our existence as a Jewish and democratic state. How frightening!
Iran is threatening to destroy us, and the world is once again standing by. How frightening! If we get out of "Judea and Samaria," the Palestinians will fire anti-aircraft missiles at Ben-Gurion International Airport. How frightening!
The Palestinians are refusing to recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, so as to flood the State of Israel with Arab refugees and rip out parts of the Galilee and the Negev. And those who wish to destroy Israel have begun a deligitimization campaign against the Jewish state within the 1948 borders. How frightening!
This is a collection of the nightmare scenarios of the Benjamin Netanyahu school of thought. One day Netanyahu - the scariest prime minister in the history of Israel - is complaining about the Palestinians refusing to speak with him about Nablus and Hebron, and the next day he's scaring the populace with statements about the Palestinians plot to take over Carmiel and Be'er Sheva. continued in Haaretz>>
December 27, 2010
Bloomberg: Jon Stewart ‘Without a Doubt One of the Biggest Factors’ in Passing 9/11 Bill
Photo: Christopher Peterson/BuzzFoto/FilmMagic
"Success always has a thousand fathers. But Jon shining such a big, bright spotlight on Washington’s potentially tragic failure to put aside differences and get this done for America was, without a doubt, one of the biggest factors that led to the final agreement." —Mayor Bloomberg, in an e-mail to the New York Times regarding the Daily Show host's influential role in the passage of the 9/11 First Responders Bill. The paper has compared Stewart to Edward R. Murrow.NYT] [
Earlier: So Who Is Jon Stewart, Exactly?
Related: New York's September 2010 profile of Stewart [NYM]
Related: New York's September 2010 profile of Stewart [NYM]
ed: the only comedian who does news better than the news channels
Discurso de Silvio Berlusconi en la Knesset, el Parlamento israelí
spedito da Elie Mangoubi
El Jefe de Gobierno de Italia, Silvio Berlusconi, en su discurso ante el Plenario del Parlamento de Israel afirmó: "Italia está orgullosa de alistarse junto al Estado de Israel en su confrontación con las acusaciones del Informe del Juez Goldstone, como así también en su lucha contra el antisemitismo en Europa y en el resto del mundo".
Support Women's Rights in 2011
It’s mid-November, and we’re weaving through the Champs de Mars camp. The tent city sits on the plaza before Haiti’s collapsed Presidential Palace, a once majestic building that is now a heartbreaking monument to the earthquake’s devastation.
As we walk, children dart back and forth around women washing clothes before stopping to giggle and watch us with curiosity. Over the strains of kompa music coming from a radio, there is a rattling of pots and pans, but the gaunt faces that look up as we approach tell us that there is not enough to eat.
A row of toilets sits at the edge of the camp. Toilets are in desperately short supply, and many residents have resorted to defecating in plastic bags. Some plastic outhouses have been spray painted with the word “kolera,” conveying the panic caused by the outbreak. When we saw the toilets, I immediately thought of safety. Many are located at the edge of camps with no nearby lighting, leaving woman who use them at night vulnerable to sexual assault.
We reach the shack where we’ll be doing interviews, and the women begin to come. One after another, they arrive, anxious to tell their story. Soon the space is full. Even with two researchers, it may be hours before we talk with all of them individually. Many of the women are pregnant or carrying infants, and we’re concerned that they’ll find waiting uncomfortable. But they wait. With visible determination, they wait to be heard.
In the immediate aftermath of the January 12 quake, Human Rights Watch conducted an emergency research mission to assess the human rights situation in the camps – this is what we found >>
Gems Fit for a Screen Goddess
By Suzy Menkes
PARIS — They were the cinematic titans with curves: Sophia Loren with her hour glass figure, Gina Lollobrigida’s swelling bosom and Anna Magnani’s earthy sexuality.
Something in those ripe Italian stars of the 1950s and ’60s melded perfectly with Bulgari. The Roman jeweler’s sensual, rounded cabochon jewels, melon-shaped evening purses and splashes of vivid color expressed the sensuality of the stars.
And those were the days, as Amanda Triossi, the exhibition’s curator points out, when the movie divas not only bought, rather than borrowed, their jewels, but even wore their gems proudly in films and elsewhere. Photographs of the era show Anita Ekberg wearing flower jewelry at the premiere of Frederico Fellini’s “Boccaccio 70” in 1961 or Claudia Cardinale wearing Bulgari at an embassy event.
Never has La Dolce Vita — the sweet life — seemed more appropriate than in the splendid display of jewels in the Grand Palais in Paris.
“Bulgari: 125 years of Italian Magnificence” (until Jan. 12) has 603 jewels on display — each more exceptional than the other, from the big, bold colorful breast plates of cabochon stones, through the “tremblant” flower bouquets to the serpent watches winding around the wrist. continued>>
Jewish activist faces jail for West Bank resistance
It is not every day that a leading Palestinian activist issues an emphatic statement of support for a Jewish Israeli – "this friend, whose friendship I am proud to share" – facing prison.
AFP/GETTY
Jonathan Pollak could be jailed for up to six months
But then Jonathan Pollak, who could be jailed for between three and six months when the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court decides on his prosecution for illegal assembly today, is an unusual figure even in the long history of Israeli dissent. more>>
UK considers recognizing PA diplomats
LONDON – After several South American countries recognized an independent Palestinian state, Britain is now considering upgrading the Palestinian delegation in London to the status of a diplomatic mission.
The move, which would grant the Palestinian delegation with a status similar to that of an independent state, will turn the Palestinian delegates into diplomats for all intents and purposes.
Israel fears that the move may lead to a future British recognition of a one-sided Palestinian statehood declaration, following steps taken recently by Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia.
Should the move be completed, Britain would not be the first European country to recognize the Palestinian delegation as a diplomatic mission, as France, Spain and Portugal have already done so. more on ynetnews>>
The move, which would grant the Palestinian delegation with a status similar to that of an independent state, will turn the Palestinian delegates into diplomats for all intents and purposes.
Israel fears that the move may lead to a future British recognition of a one-sided Palestinian statehood declaration, following steps taken recently by Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia.
Should the move be completed, Britain would not be the first European country to recognize the Palestinian delegation as a diplomatic mission, as France, Spain and Portugal have already done so. more on ynetnews>>
Israël prêt à boycotter la conférence sur le racisme de Durban en 2011.
"La conférence de Durban, avec ses connotations antisémites et ses expressions de haine envers Israël et le peuple juif, nous a laissé des cicatrices qui ne sont pas prêtes à se refermer", a affirmé le ministère. "Dans les conditions actuelles, tant que la rencontre sera considérée comme faisant partie du processus infâmant de Durban, Israël ne participera pas à la réunion (sur le racisme) qui doit se tenir au QG de l’ONU à New York, en septembre 2011", a-t-il ajouté. suite sur jforum>>
Man dies in fight over bread in Daqahlia
Mohamed al-Shabrawi, 47, died on Saturday after a reported altercation with a bakery owner in Daqahlia.
Eyewitnesses said after queuing for more than two hours, al-Shabrawi requested LE3 worth of bread, but the owner told him he could only buy LE1 worth, and hit him with a stick.
Bakery owner Mahmoud Ibrahim denied assaulting the man when police later arrested him. “I only pushed him away,” he said. continued>>
In Congress, a harder line on illegal immigrants
AP – FILE - In this Aug. 10, 2010 file photo, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas speaks during a news conference on …
In a matter of weeks, Congress will go from trying to help young, illegal immigrants become legal to debating whether children born to parents who are in the country illegally should continue to enjoy automatic U.S. citizenship.
Such a hardened approach — and the rhetoric certain to accompany it — should resonate with the GOP faithful who helped swing the House in Republicans' favor. But it also could further hurt the GOP in its endeavor to grab a large enough share of the growing Latino vote to win the White House and the Senate majority in 2012. more on rsn>>
Olympic Documentary Filmmaker Bud Greenspan Dies at Age 84 in New York City
This June 3, 1980 file photo shows filmmaker Bud Greenspan in New York. Greenspan, who spent decades documenting the stories of Olympic athletes has died, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2010. He was 84. AP Photo.
NEW YORK (AP).- Oh, to catch Bud Greenspan's eye and then turn up in one of his Olympic documentaries. For many athletes, from the famous to the obscure, the honor ranked just behind winning a medal.
The filmmaker, whose riveting tales soared as triumphantly as the men and women he chronicled for more than six decades, died Saturday at his home in New York City of complications from Parkinson's disease, companion Nancy Beffa said. He was 84.
The filmmaker, whose riveting tales soared as triumphantly as the men and women he chronicled for more than six decades, died Saturday at his home in New York City of complications from Parkinson's disease, companion Nancy Beffa said. He was 84.
Greenspan received lifetime achievement awards from the Directors Guild of America and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, as well as a Peabody and the Olympic Order award. His best-known work was "The Olympiad," the culmination of 10 years of research, more than 3 million feet of rare, archival film, hundreds of interviews and visits to more than 30 nations. The 10-part series he produced was aired in more than 80 countries. more>>
Galerie ACTE 2 Presents Exhibition of Photographs by American Artist Melvin Sokolsky
Délices sucrés d'Orient
"La douceur irrésistible par excellence : fruits secs, cannelle, fleur d'oranger, miel, le tout dans un feuilletage croustillant à souhait...", confie l'auteur. Allez, on se laisse séduire et on fait la recette de ce pas !
Voir la recette : Baklavas
Auteur : Natalia Kriskova
Mon livre : ajouter la recette
Makroutte a louzVoir la recette : Makroutte a louz
Auteur : Yasmine Gh
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Voir la recette : Cornes de gazelle
Auteur : Rouia Haine
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De la farce à base d'amandes en poudre, de sucre, de beurre fondu, cannelle et fleur d'oranger, le tout roulé dans une pâte à base de sésame... Voici ce que vous réserve ce dessert pas si difficile à préparer. Attention cependant de ne pas mettre trop de farce pour réussir à réaliser vos torsades ! Voir la recette : Torsades sucrées au sésame et fleur d'oranger
Auteur : Nora Abdallaoui
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On reprend les mêmes ingrédients, ou presque, mais cette fois-ci on va confectionner des petits bâtonnets avec des amandes, du sucre, de la cannelle que l'on cuira au four. Délice assuré !
Voir la recette : Doigts aux amandes et sésame à la fleur d'oranger
Auteur : Nedra Lise
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"Les pâtisseries marocaines sont parfois très sucrées et collantes mais ces petits biscuits secs, en forme d'anneaux, sentent bon l'anis et la fleur d'oranger. Idéals à l'heure du thé ou du café, les "kâak" sont une des spécialités de la région d'Essaouira à Safi". Qui n'aurait pas envie de les goûter ?
Voir la recette : Kâak ou anneaux biscuités du Maghreb
Auteur : Emilie Vivenot
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Afin d'éviter toute polémique, l'auteur pose les bases et précise : "une recette "pied noir" ou espagnole, ou les deux ? Avec du saindoux (c'est la mienne), du beurre ou de l'huile d'arachide". Ensuite, à vous de voir comment vous souhaitez les préparer...
Voir la recette : Montecaos
Auteur : Dominique Guibourg
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Losanges marbrés
Les gourmands vont être servis avec cette recette qui met cette fois-ci non pas les amandes, mais les cacahuètes à l'honneur. Sans oublier les graines de sésame ou la fleur d'oranger bien sûr ! Après, il faudra faire preuve d'un peu de doigté pour marbrer le chocolat.
Voir la recette : Losanges marbrés
Auteur : Nora Abdallaoui
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Pour changer un peu, voici une recette que l'auteur confectionne au moment du ramadan. Ici, plus d'amandes mais de la noix de coco...
Voir la recette : Gâteau noix de coco confiture
Auteur : Sandra Dufour
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Ghribiya à la noix de coco
"Je vous propose de délicieuses petites gourmandises algériennes, gourmandises qui ont été appréciées aussi bien à la maison qu'au boulot" dixit l'auteur. Cela donne envie de tenter l'expérience, non ?
Voir la recette : Ghribiya à la noix de coco
Auteur : Laurence Gisolo
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Faciles et si bons à préparer, tout le monde les réussira à coup sûr. Et tout le monde les aimera, à l'image du fils d'une lectrice qui trouve que "ça déchire"...
Voir la recette : Croissants orientaux aux amandes et pistaches
Auteur : Sabrina Choual
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Makrout de soltane
L'auteur nous livre ici la recette de sa belle-mère. Vous verrez, elle est simple et réussie à tous les coups... ou presque !
Voir la recette : Makrout de soltane
Auteur : Samira Bouazize
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Escargots marocains
Rien de bien compliqué dans cette recette, dont la base est de mélanger tous les ingrédients et de former une pâte qu'on laissera reposer afin de la façonner en escargot.
Voir la recette : Escargots marocains
Auteur : Laurence Gisolo
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Pastilla au chocolat, fruits secs et caramel"Chocolat et fruits secs, le tout servi dans une feuille de brick et accompagné d'une sauce caramel au beurre salé. Voilà un dessert à faire chavirer les cœurs et... les papilles" souligne l'auteur qui propose ici une recette inspirée du chef Christian Peyre.
Voir la recette : Pastilla au chocolat, fruits secs et caramel
Auteur : Sabrina Choual
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Makrouds
Comment ne pas revenir sur cette spécialité orientale dans cette sélection. Des dattes, de la cannelle, des clous de girofle : retrouvez toutes ces saveurs propres à l'Orient.
Voir la recette : Makrouds
Auteur : Nicole Salardon
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Le «monde entier» pourrait reconnaître un Etat palestinien
Le « monde entier » pourrait reconnaître un Etat palestinien d'ici un an, a averti, dimanche 27 décembre 2010, le ministre israélien de l'Industrie et du Commerce, Benjamin Ben Eliezer, en appelant à une reprise des négociations de paix.
Cet avertissement survient alors que quatre pays d'Amérique latine - le Brésil, l'Argentine, la Bolivie et l'Equateur - ont reconnu la Palestine comme Etat indépendant et qu'un cinquième, l'Uruguay, s'apprête à le faire. « Je ne serais pas surpris si dans l'année à venir, le monde entier, y compris les Etats-Unis, reconnaissait un Etat palestinien. Ensuite, il ne faudra pas s'étonner de la façon dont cela s'est passé », s'est inquiété M. Ben Eliezer.
Photo (Benjamin Ben Eliezer) : D.R.
ed: et c'est exactement ce qui se passera.
December 26, 2010
« Le monde sens dessus dessous » de Marc Chagall à l’Ara Pacis de Rome
Chagall devant une de ses œuvres
« Le monde sens dessus dessous », produite par le Musée national Marc Chagall de Nice où elle a été présentée jusqu'en octobre, rassemble près de 140 œuvres du peintre provenant de collections privées, du Musée national d'art moderne Georges Pompidou et du Musée de Nice.
À l'image de L'homme à la tête renversée (1919), les personnages, les animaux et les objets qui peuplent l'univers pictural de Chagall défient les lois de la gravité : le monde que Chagall représente est véritablement « sens dessus dessous », fruit d'une vision fondée sur plusieurs mondes : la religion juive, la Révolution d'Octobre à laquelle il a pris part, les influences culturelles et artistiques... en savoir plus>>
À l'image de L'homme à la tête renversée (1919), les personnages, les animaux et les objets qui peuplent l'univers pictural de Chagall défient les lois de la gravité : le monde que Chagall représente est véritablement « sens dessus dessous », fruit d'une vision fondée sur plusieurs mondes : la religion juive, la Révolution d'Octobre à laquelle il a pris part, les influences culturelles et artistiques... en savoir plus>>
Gaza's fallen women: doing time for moral crime
Najwa Abu Amra cries inside a Gaza jail as she explains how she got here. Struggling to care for two sons and a drug-addicted husband, she agreed to sleep with a man for about 50 dollars.
She had resisted prostitution in the past, but she was getting desperate.
"My husband isn't normal, he was telling me to sleep with men because they would give him money," she said. "He did what he liked and he didn't give me anything. I didn't know what to do."
Her husband showed no interest in caring for their two boys, one aged nine, the other just three. When she walked out, trying to prod him into better behavior, he married a second wife. more>>
Lady Gaga: disques d’or et scandales à gogo
Lady Gaga sur scène, à Londres, la semaine dernière. | Photo Pete Mariner/MaxPPP
Même la grande Cher n’a pu masquer sa surprise quand ce monstre en fourreau de côtelettes a reçu un énième prix. Lady Gaga semblait mécaniquement émue avant de monter sur la scène des MTV Awards. En raison de la remise de cette atroce statuette de plastique ? Peu probable. Elle a deviné qu’en bout de viande avec deux yeux, elle enfoncerait la performance de Madonna, Christina Aguilera et Britney Spears s’embrassant goulûment, lors de la même cérémonie, des années auparavant. Elle s’est mise à chanter ses remerciements a cappella : « Je suis belle à ma manière parce que Dieu ne fait pas d’erreur, je suis sur le bon chemin, je suis née comme ça. » On comprend l’idée de Gaga malgré la faiblesse du style : Dieu est à l’œuvre dans sa réussite. suite sur parismatch>>
« Retourne dans ta cuisine » : elles luttent pour le ring
Boxe, judo : les femmes qui veulent pratiquer un autre sport que la danse ou la gym affrontent des préjugés machistes tenaces.
Une écrasante majorité des pratiquants des sports de combat sont des hommes. Difficile de s'affranchir de la pression sociale, qui voudrait que les femmes se cantonnent à la danse ou au patinage artistique, quand on ne leur demande pas de rester simplement dans leur cuisine.
Pour celles qui franchissent le pas et montent sur le ring, reste à se débarrasser de l'image de garçon manqué qui leur colle à la peau. Et à être prises au sérieux autant que les hommes.
Sarah Ourahmoune fut longtemps la seule fille à enfiler les gants rouges, à monter sur le ring et à finir avec l'œil au beurre noir. A 13 ans, la future championne du monde de boxe pousse un jour la porte d'un entraînement « un peu par hasard » à Aubervilliers. suite>>
Turkey wants peace with Israel, but insists on apology
Ankara--Turkey's Foreign Minister has said Turkey wants to repair ties with Israel but insisted the Jewish state must first apologize and offer compensation for its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound ship.
"Turkey has the will to make peace with Israel," Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters on Saturday, reiterating Ankara's conditions for the re-establishment of full diplomatic ties.
"Turkey has the will to make peace with everybody," Davutoglu said, according to state-run Anatolian. "Why should Israel remain excluded? It is a country with which we had very good relations until 2008." continued>>
Former Venezuelan president dies
Perez shows a caricature he received for his 73rd birthday
while serving house arrest in Caracas in 1995 [AFP]
Carlos Andres Perez, the 88-year-old former president of venezuela, has died in a Miami hospital, according to his family.
"He was happy and well when he awoke this morning. Suddenly he had difficulty breathing," Maria Francia Perez, his daughter, told the Associated Press news agency on Saturday.
She told the Venezuelan television channel Globovision he died of a heart attack.
Perez's popularity soared with Venezuela's oil-based economy, but he later faced riots, a severe economic downturn and impeachment.
In the final years of his life, Perez came to personify the old guard Venezuelan political establishment which is bitterly opposed by Hugo Chavez, the current president. more on aljazeera>>
Peace In the Middle East? - Over the bodies of 3 million Palestinians
By Joe Quinn
By now it should be clear to all Middle East analysts that the main impediment to peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is Israel and the right-wing Zionist extremists in Israeli politics. Time and again the Palestinians have expressed their sincere desire to end the inhuman conditions under which they are forced to live by the occupying IDF forces. Yet every time that a peaceful settlement seems to be within their grasp, bizarrely, Hamas or Islamic Jihad decide to fire a few, usually harmless, Qasam rockets at an illegal Israeli settlement, or unknown "Palestinian gunmen" will murder an Israeli settler, inviting the IDF to retaliate with deadly and overwhelmingly superior force. more on opednews>>>
"Everybody has to move, run and grab as many hilltops as they can to enlarge the settlements because everything we take now will stay ours... Everything we don't grab will go to them." - Ariel Sharon, as Israeli Foreign Minister, addressing a meeting of militants from the extreme right-wing Tsomet Party, Agence France Presse, November 15, 1998.
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