Friday, 25 September 2009

World news

  • VIDEO: Netanyahu's UN speech in full

    September 25, 2009
    The full speech from Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the UN, where he launched a savage attack on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmidinejad and the UN countries who gave him an audience.

  • Jews cost me UN job, says Egyptian minister

    September 24, 2009
    Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni has blamed the Jews for his defeat in his bid to become head of UNESCO, the UN’s agency for culture and education, this week. A Western conspiracy “cooked up in New York” was at fault, he said. “European countries and the world’s Jews” wanted him to lose. Mr Hosni was considered a leading opponent of “normalisation” of relations with Israel and last year threatened to personally burn any Israeli books found in Egyptian libraries.

  • US: It was mistake to say we will block Goldstone

    September 24, 2009
    The White House has claimed reports that the Goldstone report would be blocked by the US from going to the International Criminal Court, were a mistake. White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said an anonymous official "misspoke" when he told Jewish organisations that the US would not allow the report’s recommendations to go beyond the Human Rights Council. Mr Vietor said the US policy towards the Goldstone report remained the same as was given in the statement by Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN.

  • Egypt's Farouk Hosni beaten to UN job

    September 23, 2009
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    The Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, tipped to become head of Unesco, has been beaten to the post by former Bulgarian Foreign Minister Irina Bokova. It took a committee five rounds of votes to decide that the new Director General of Unesco, the United Nations’ cultural arm, would be Ms Bokova. Mr Hosni, who would have been the first Arab to hold the position, has been an outspoken critic of Israel and his campaign was dogged with allegations of antisemitism.

  • Israel 'would consider Iran attack'

    September 22, 2009
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    Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister has said it would not rule out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, despite alleged assurances to the contrary to Russia. Danny Ayalon said: "I don't think that, with all due respect, the Russian President [Dmitry Medvedev] is authorised to speak for Israel and certainly we have not taken any option off the table." Echoing Mr Ayalon's sentiments, IDF chief Lt Gen Gabi Ashkenazi stressed that Israel had "the right to defend itself and all options are on the table".

  • Obama to meet Abbas and Netanyahu

    September 21, 2009
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    Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are set to meet US President Barack Obama separately in New York this week, with a trilateral meeting likely. Mr Obama is expected to meet Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas individually before chairing a joint session. If the meeting goes ahead, the three leaders are likely to meet at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York, where Mr Obama is staying for the meeting of the UN general assembly. Israeli commentators denounced the meeting as a "photo opportunity" and said it would be wholly symbolic.

  • No pensions for Chernobyl workers in Israel

    September 18, 2009
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    Israel’s immigration minister, Sofa Landver, ended a visit to the Ukraine this week without managing to settle the contentious issue of pensions for immigrants to Israel. Unlike Russians living in Israel, who receive their full pensions from the Russian government, Ukrainian olim do not receive any funds. This includes a large number of men who took part in the cleanup of the Chernobyl nuclear plant after the reactor accident in 1996 and suffer from ill health as a result.

  • Ancient shuls are exposed

    September 18, 2009
    Archaeologists have uncovered two of the world’s oldest synagogues. In Israel, a synagogue from the Second Temple period was discovered at a site slated for the construction of a hotel on the shore of the Kinneret. It is only the seventh synagogue in the world that is known to date back that far. The main hall of synagogue is around 120 sq m in area and its stone benches, which served as seats for the worshippers, were built up against the walls of the hall.

  • Human Rights Watch man suspended for Nazi collection

    September 18, 2009
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    Human Rights Watch has suspended its senior military analyst after it was revealed that he is a collector of Nazi memorabilia. The group initially stood by Mark Garlasco, saying he “has never held or expressed Nazi or antisemitic views”. His work, according to Carroll Bogert, the New York-based organisation’s associate director, had been “extensively reviewed, lawyered, scrutinised, pulverised by our programme and legal staff, and we have not in six years ever had cause to question his professional judgment”.

  • In New York, rabbis take on bohemians in a bicycle war

    September 10, 2009
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    On one side of Broadway — a main street in the New York suburb of Williamsburg — bohemian 20-somethings in sunglasses and shorts work on laptops at an outdoor café. Across the street, Satmar Chasidim in black hats stroll outside the office of Der Yid, the Satmar Yiddish language weekly. Tensions between the two communities, living cheek by jowl but rarely interacting, have recently risen to boiling point over an unlikely issue — bike lanes on avenues that run through both their sides of the neighbourhood.

  • Netanyahu: Ahmadinejad is a 'disgrace'

    September 24, 2009
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    Binyamin Netanyahu has launched a savage attack on Iran’s president, including holding up Nazi Holocaust plans to counteract Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust denial. The emotional speech by Mr Netanyahu at the UN included condemnation of those countries who had stayed in the chamber for the duration of Mr Ahmadinejad’s speech.

  • Ukrainian pilgrims riot on Rosh Hashanah

    September 24, 2009
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    As 25,000 Bratslav Chassidim descended on the Ukrainian town of Uman last week to celebrate Rosh Hashanah at the grave of their rebbe, Rav Nachman, an unprecedented row broke out over the authorities’ demands for money. The Rebbe Nachman Foundation complained to Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko that the Chassidim are being required to pay some $22,000 to the Uman water company to supply and purify water, $1,700 to sanitation inspectors, $3,200 for gas and $8,300 for rubbish collection services.

  • Mass walkout during Ahmadinejad UN speech

    September 24, 2009
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    British, American and French diplomats led a walkout at the United Nations general assembly during a virulently anti-Jewish and anti-Israel speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mr Ahmadinejad infuriated many delegates with claims of a 'Jewish conspiracy'. He said: "It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks."

  • Obama meets Netanyahu and Abbas

    September 23, 2009
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    President Barack Obama has told Israeli and Palestinian leaders that they must show the will to “break the deadlock that has trapped generations”. Mr Obama met Israeli Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas separately in New York, before chairing a trilateral meeting. The meeting was denounced by many politicians and commentators as nothing more than a photo opportunity, given that talks between US Special Envoy George Mitchell with Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas last week in Jerusalem and Ramallah failed to bring agreement.

  • Leonard Cohen 'will still play Tel Aviv' after collapse

    September 21, 2009
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    Leonard Cohen, who collapsed from suspected food poisoning, has left hospital to continue his tour in Spain. The singer, 75, collapsed during a rendition of Bird on the Wire at a concert in Valencia and was rushed to hospital by ambulance. He spent the night at the Hospital 9 de October but left hospital to continue his tour to Barcelona. Mr Cohen is scheduled play a concert in Tel Aviv later this week, and his Israeli promoter has confirmed the show will go ahead.

  • Ahmadinejad: 'Iran's duty to confront Israel'

    September 18, 2009
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    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has told Iranians that the Holocaust is a "lie", and that confronting Israel was an Iranian's "national and religious duty". Speaking at the anti-Israel Quds Day rally at Tehran University, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "The Holocaust is a pretext for the creation of the Zionist regime and is false. It is a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim. “ In the speech, broadcast on Iranian radio, the President went on to say: "Israel will not last long. Do not tie your fate to it. This regime has no future. Its life has come to an end."

  • Jews lobby for Iran sanctions

    September 18, 2009
    American Jewish organisations are intensifying their calls for the US Congress to enact strict sanctions on Iran, as Tehran continues to make progress on its nuclear programme. Their activism comes amidst signs that the US might be getting more serious about sanctions. But they might find that the hardest opposition comes from Europeans, whose companies will be hurt by the measures. Congress proposed sanctions legislation in the spring but did not attempt to enact it in order to give the new US administration time to see if diplomacy could work.

  • Neo-Nazi attack on Budapest shul

    September 18, 2009
    Europe’s largest shul was attacked last week by an antisemitic crowd venting their frustration that police had stopped them disrupting a Gay Pride Parade taking place nearby. The Great Dohany Street Synagogue in Budapest celebrated its 150th anniversary the next day. During the ceremony, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnaj expressed regret that the building still needs permanent police protection from neo-Nazi thugs.

  • Israeli film wins top prize at Venice

    September 14, 2009
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    An Israeli film, set inside a tank during the 1982 Lebanon war, has won the top honour at the Venice film festival. The Golden Lion for best film went to Lebanon, directed by Samuel Moaz, which is based on the director’s own traumatic experiences in the army when he was a gunner. It is the highest honour an Israeli film has ever received. It took Mr Moaz more than 25 years to commit his traumatic experiences to writing, because he was physically sick every time he remembered his war years.

  • Fears over UN Gaza report

    September 10, 2009
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    A United Nations investigation into the Gaza conflict will be used as a political weapon to undermine Israel and could lead to an upsurge of international antisemitism, the head of a Geneva NGO has warned. Hillel Neuer, director of the highly respected UN Watch, has said the group is preparing to challenge the report, which is due to be formally presented to the UN Human Rights Commission at the end of the month. It is widely believed that the report will result in calls for Israel to be prosecuted for alleged war crimes.
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Posted by Britannia Radio at 14:52