Israeli Love Demonstration for Egypt, near the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv
Palestinian Arab "refugees" wouldn't be citizens of "Palestine" - even if they live there!
Did you think that 63 years of Arabs using the "refugees" as political pawns would end if there was a Palestinian Arab state?
If you want to know the depths of cynicism of the Palestinian Arab leadership towards their people, you must read this article in The Daily Star Lebanon:
"Even Palestinian refugees who are living in [refugee camps] inside the [Palestinian] state, they are still refugees. They will not be considered citizens."
Read more at The Elder of Ziyon »
If you want to know the depths of cynicism of the Palestinian Arab leadership towards their people, you must read this article in The Daily Star Lebanon:Palestinian refugees will not become citizens of a new Palestinian state,according to Palestine’s ambassador to Lebanon.Let's read that again, shall we?
From behind a desk topped by a miniature model of Palestine’s hoped-for blue United Nations chair, Ambassador Abdullah Abdullah spoke to The Daily Star Wednesday about Palestine’s upcoming bid for U.N. statehood.
The ambassador unequivocally says that Palestinian refugees would not become citizens of the sought for U.N.-recognized Palestinian state, an issue that has been much discussed. “They are Palestinians, that’s their identity,” he says. “But … they are not automatically citizens.”
This would not only apply to refugees in countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Jordan or the other 132 countries where Abdullah says Palestinians reside. Abdullah said that “even Palestinian refugees who are living in [refugee camps] inside the [Palestinian] state, they are still refugees. They will not be considered citizens.”
"Even Palestinian refugees who are living in [refugee camps] inside the [Palestinian] state, they are still refugees. They will not be considered citizens."
Read more at The Elder of Ziyon »
Tunick's Dead Sea shoot to be thwarted?
by Danny Adeno Abebe
After the Alps, the Sydney Opera House, the Vienna soccer stadium and other famous landmarks, the lowest place on earth will be hosting its first mass nude photo shoot this Saturday – if all goes as planned.
More than 3,000 Israelis have asked to take part in Spencer Tunick's Dead Sea shoot. But the 1,000 who have been selected may be in for a disappointment.
Read more at Ynet »
Palestinian ambassador to US wants Jew-free state
When asked by Jamie Weinstein, senior editor and columnist for The Daily Caller, whether a Jew could be elected Mayor of Ramallah in an independent Palestinian state, Areikat said: “But after the experience of 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it will be in the best interests of the two peoples to be separated first.”
Areikat added that “Well, I personally still believe that as a first step we need to be totally separated, and we can contemplate these issues in the future.”
Read more at JPost »
Making every drop count in Africa
By Rivka Borochov
Since its founding in 1948, Israel has had a thirst to grow crops in the desert. It wasn't just a technological challenge, but a matter of survival. Today, Israel offers some of the world's hottest technologies in desalination, water reclamation and crop irrigation.
But the Jewish nation hasn't forgotten those early days, when Israel hadn't enough to drink, let alone to water fields. To help Africans in a similar situation, the Israeli Foreign Ministry's MASHAV (Agency for International Development Cooperation) has developed Tipa ("drop") to transfer Israeli drip-irrigation water technology to remote areas in Senegal, where basic amenities, even electricity, are lacking.
Modern drip irrigation, the most efficient method of watering crops, evolved from an ancient method where clay pots were filled with water and buried underground so that the water would gradually seep out of the pots and into the crops. Later the same effect was achieved by using perforated pipes or hoses, applying water slowly and directly to plants' roots and allowing it to soak into the soil before it can evaporate or run off. In the 1960s, farmers in many countries began using an Israeli-pioneered plastic emitter that revolutionized and perfected the method for maximum growth with minimum water.
The Tipa system puts this technology into an easy-to-use kit. The hardware consists of a concrete reservoir, a plastic drip irrigation kit and a water pump. Using gravity, water can be pumped from a river or aquifer by hand, solar energy or diesel fuel, under the assumption that most farms are run by women who cannot operate heavy equipment.
It's been a boon for Senegal, situated in the drought-prone Sahelian region, where rainfall is irregular and the soil poor in nutrients. About 75 percent of the working population is engaged in farming, and a majority of these farms are dependant on rain.
The Israeli solution, based on easy-to-install drip irrigation systems and an economic model, is becoming so wildly successful that towns and villages beyond the perimeters of the Israeli projects are copying them, says Ilan Fluss, Director of MASHAV'S Planning and External Relations Department. "Irrigation is one of the main pillars of the activities of MASHAV," says Fluss. The Senegal model was implemented seven years ago, introduced first by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev at a sustainable development summit in Johannesburg in 2002. Two years later, the project was up and running.
Increasing crop value and village income
Tipa is intended for sustainable development in rural areas in the South Sahara, where farmers rely on traditional methods that are inefficient and unreliable sources of livelihood for communities.
Drip irrigation gives the Senegalese food security in regions of Ngoe, M'bassis, Daptior, Keur Yaba and Mbisau. "Instead of one crop per year, they can have three, and higher yields from each small plot of land," says Fluss.
"Today a lot of them are growing maize and vegetables but we have introduced to them high-value crops, and what can happen when the [small farms] are organized into communities so they are working together. They plant together and try to work in a coordinated way to solve issues of [food] security, and obviously they can sell into the markets what they are producing."
The Israeli solution is complete, scalable and replicable, even without direct Israeli input - and that's the beauty of it. Once the idea is fully understood, the Senegalese can develop it themselves. "We are bringing a solution to small farmers without the abilities to invest in modern agriculture," says Fluss. "But our solutions are loaded with technology. We bring them simple solutions that are sustainable and which can be applied in a rural setting."
The seeds they use also can be improved, says Fluss, and they can cut down on the abundance of chemicals and pesticides now damaging their natural resources.
The highest form of aid
This is no handout, Fluss stresses. In the 12 regions Israel is aiding in Senegal, the technologies are financed through low-interest micro-loans granted by NGOs working in the region. Israel provides the technological know-how, and equipment is supplied via competitive tenders. Some farmers already have been able to triple their income, and have found the system reduces the amount of time needed in the fields for weeding.
Israel also gives the Senegalese capacity-building support, Fluss says. "We are working with them to make sure they produce [their crops] in the right way, overseeing their production efforts to help make sure that the farmers will be productive and independent after a couple of years."
According to Judaic values, giving a person the ability to earn a living is the highest level of charity, so this project in Senegal fulfills a very basic tenet for the Jewish state.
And the success? "We can already see that around those communities where we are working, people are copying this model independently," reports Fluss, who estimates that the Israeli intervention has directly impacted about 700 Senegalese families.
The Senegalese government has turned the Israeli model into a national program. A new trilateral partnership established between the governments of Israel, Italy and Senegal will install some 500 hectares of Tipa to directly benefit 10,000 people in rural Senegal. "These are the direct ones," Fluss says of the system that is being used in Kenya, South Africa, Benin and Niger. "It's like a satellite which influences the area around it."
Source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Egypt’s Arab Spring Blossoms Into War With Israel
by Robert Spencer
Speaking about the Libyan revolution in March, Barack Obama hailed “the rights of peaceful assembly, free speech, and the ability of the Libyan people to determine their own destiny,” and also praised “the peaceful transition to democracy in both Tunisia and in Egypt.” Now, as Egypt rushes headlong toward becoming a Sharia state and going to war with Israel, Obama is scrambling to hold at bay the forces he is largely responsible for unleashing.
After prayers in the mosques on Friday, jihad-minded Egyptians destroyed a protective wall around Israel’s embassy in Cairo and stormed the building, casting Israel’s national flag out the window, along with embassy documents. The police stood by nonchalantly as the wall was destroyed, doing nothing to stop the thugs. An Egyptian security official even admitted openly that “police will not do anything to the protesters, and they will be left unharmed to continue demolishing the wall." The thugs repaid this passive support by burning a police car near the Israeli embassy. Egyptian military also stood by and did nothing to protect the embassy.
Read more »
"Cyprus and Israel should join forces"
Globes | by Amiram Barkat
From the interview with Cypriot Energy Service director Solon Kassinis:
"In my last meeting in Israel, I raised five proposals: to build a pipeline from Leviathan and Block 12 to Cyprus; to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility; to build a methanol plant; to build power stations to supply electricity from Cyprus to Israel and vice-versa; and to build an oil and gas storage terminals that could be used for the strategic reserves of both countries.Read more »
"It is not within my professional authority, but I think it is possible to expand cooperation to the military sphere. For example, you will secure Leviathan with your ships and submarines; why shouldn’t you also secure Block 12, which is only 33 kilometers away?"
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