Economies wilting in Arab Spring
July 26, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
There are very few who will deny that democracy is of great value to the people living within a democratic society; certainly, overthrowing dictatorships often comes at a great cost – which, hopefully, will be offset by the benefits of outcome. What seldom comes to the fore is precisely what this cost entails. To tackle this problem, Foreign Policy researcher Ty McCormick has attempted to put a dollar value on the democracy efforts within the Arab Spring – observing that the unrest has caused numerous economic blows to the countries in which uprisings have occured.
The economies of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia are projected to shrink by a collective 0.5 percent this year, reversing 4.4 percent growth in 2010, according to a report published by the Institute of International Finance in May. In Yemen and Libya, which are still in turmoil, the numbers will likely be worse; and the growth forecast for the North African region as a whole has fallen from 4.5 percent in 2010 to less than 1 percent this year, according to the African Central Bank…
On the Oslo attacks: Neo-Nazis and Islamist extremists share a worldview
July 25, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
Israel’s leaders certainly know where Israel sits with regard to the horrific massacre that took place in Oslo over the weekend. Both President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu have expressed their sorrow over the tragic events and expressed Israel’s empathy with the Norwegian people, given the terrorist attacks that Israel is all too used to facing. As The Jerusalem Post reports:
After sending a message of condolence to King Harald V of Norway on Saturday, President Shimon Peres on Sunday followed up with a phone call to the King to personally voice his own and the nation’s condolences…
Gaza Arms Smuggling Thrives After Mubarak’s Fall
July 25, 2011 | Geoffrey Levin
The fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February led to a sharp increase in weapons smuggling to the Gaza Strip and continues today, according to a recent piece by Israeli security correspondent Ron Ben-Yishai. In the past six months alone, Bedouin smugglers have transferred three times the quantity of industrial explosives to Gaza as they did in all of 2010, as Gaza’s terrorist organisations roughly doubled their number of rockets to an estimate 10,000, an amount equivalent to Hezbollah’s arsenal at the start of the 2006 War.
Durban III – An Exodus Begins?
July 25, 2011 | Sharyn Mittelman
Over the weekend, the Czech Republic, Italy and Holland have all pulled out of the UN’s September 22 meeting to commemorate the 2001 Durban conference, a supposed anti-racism meeting that turned into a mass display of antisemitism and anti-Israel propaganda. Canada, Israel and the US have already stated that they will not be attending the “Durban III” summit.
As the explanations for the pullout given by the Czech Republic, Italy and Holland demonstrate, we can expect this years Durban III summit to be a repeat of the first Durban conference in 2001 – which essentially labeled Zionism as racism, and Israel as the world’s only racist state.
Israeli start-up offers ‘Energy from the Roads’
July 22, 2011 | Geoffrey Levin
As the world continues to search for ways to meet the growing global energy demand without further damaging the environment, a new technology that harvests energy from the pressure caused by cars driving on roads is currently being tested in Israel. Developed by the Israeli start-up Innowattech, the innovation could soon be powering streetlights and homes in Israel. As Sara Toth Stub writes in the Wall Street Journal:
Using piezoelectric technology-the same technology that enables cigarette lighters to produce a spark-the pressure of vehicles on metallic crystals embedded under the surface produces electrical energy, explains Haim Abramovich, professor of aerospace engineering at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and founder of the start-up Innowattech.
The camera never lies?
July 22, 2011 | Allon Lee
It would appear that the photo used online to illustrate pro-Palestinian activist Randa Abdel-Fattah’s latest anti-Israel screed features a recycled picture from 2010 that has been discredited as a piece of confected theatre.
Can Hamas be coaxed into changing its tune?
July 22, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
Lawlessness in North Africa appears to have opened up a new route for weapons smuggling into Gaza. Reuters has reported Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon explaining that weapons are now being smuggled from Libya through Egypt and into the Palestinian enclave.
“Weapons are available in Libya as a result of the unstable situation there, and Hamas has exploited it to buy weapons from Libyan smugglers,” Yaalon told foreign journalists in a briefing, without elaborating on the kind of munitions involved.
The prospect of more weapons being funneled to Hamas is rather grim for Israel, suggesting that the conflict will never end…
Beware, the Jews and Zionists are everywhere!
July 22, 2011 | Allon Lee
What do Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Egypt have in common?
In the past week, all four countries have been abuzz with conspiratorial news stories suggesting that Israel has been maliciously meddling in their internal affairs.
New study: male circumcision is effective in preventing HIV in men
July 22, 2011 | Or Avi Guy
An international public debate about male circumcision has been reignited by a San Francisco referendum – see an Australian report on this issue here – with anti-circumcision activists demanding that the circumcision of a minor be made a criminal act and treated as an assault. However, inconveniently for those who insist that circumcision is “barbararic” or comparable to the the terrible practice of female genital mutiliation, this week additional scientific proof of the possible medical benefits of circumcision revealed in a UN Announcement.
The Goal of Eliminating Israel/Aid to the Palestinians
July 22, 2011
This Update features a couple of pieces on the apparent continued prevalence amongst Palestinians of the goal of eliminating the State of Israel, as well as an important comment on the problems created by the overwhelming importance of aid to the Palestinian economy.
