The Israel Situation » Internet

Iran: From Theocracy to Democracy

Paul — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:22:15 +0000

How Israel can help and will inevitably benefit from Iran’s gradual internal evolution from an extremist Islamic theocracy into a secular democracy.

History has many ironies, a good example of this is the relationship between the State of Israel and Iran, particularly given that this relationship began with the latter being among the first in recognizing the then new Jewish state upon its birth in 1948. These days the relationship between the two countries is very turbulent. Considering that the theocracy in power in Iran believes that the Jewish state will “vanish” and its support of terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, the two states are very close to a state of war.

Benjamin Netanyahu hit the proverbial nail on the head when asked in an interview about the Arab Spring. Mr. Netanyahu quickly responded stating that the current pro-democratic revolutions did not start in Tunisia, but started on the streets of Tehran a year and a half ago, and have since been violently subverted by the dictatorial theocratic regime there. This interview is well worth watching as Netanyahu makes the case that the Islamic world is catching up on the information age and collectively removing older forms of government and systems that are failing as they are no longer relevant.

The Arab Spring itself has been an interesting development to witness unfold; but not half as interesting as the struggle of the young Iranian people for democracy. After being brutally denied self governance by the authoritarian Islamic theocracy, a big question to be pondered is if Israel could and would play a positive role in helping the headstrong determined Iranian youth transform Iran from a dictatorship into a secular democracy.

Through what has become known as citizen journalism, the world saw the horrific events as they unfolded on the streets of Tehran as thousands of distressed Iranians were violently and savagely beaten by the government Basij and Revolutionary Guard thugs. The prime example of this brutal violence was the shooting of Neda Agha Soltan. Her tragic last moments were captured on video uploaded to the internet within minutes. Now, having been seen by millions, she has become a symbol of oppression to young Iranians.

They are fighting for change, and that change predominately revolves around a change of the regime in Tehran, which has threatened Israel and is directly arming and financing a proxy force in Lebanon. Hezbollah, of course, sparked the deadly Second Lebanon War in 2006. Iran’s only real ally in the region, the al Assad dictatorship in Syria, is now soaked in the blood of the Syrian people who are also demanding change. The two states are becoming victims of inner strife as people are seeing past the hate the regimes foment for Israel which they do to try to divert the people’s discontent away from them.

The world is becoming a smaller place as a result of modern communication technology. What does this have to do with Israel? The pioneers of instant messaging were two Israelis who, as one of my own Israeli friends informed me, lived just an hour walk away from her house. It is such modern information technology that is enabling the world to see past the self-proclaimed representatives of such regimes like that of Ahmadinejad and see the real plight of the people.

It is widely speculated that the Stuxnet virus was created by the Israelis with the intent of delaying Iran’s nuclear ambitions. This has a positive effect as it gives the Iranians risking their lives in a campaigning for change more preciously needed time. If Iran were to go to war, it may give the ruling regime a chance to purge large numbers of the young Iranian activists (who make up a substantial part of the young, maturing, and discontent generation of the country) under the fog of war. Clearly the current Israeli strategy is a good one, as it is buying the democratic movement time to gradually take centre stage in the gradual metamorphosis of Iran from a fascistic theocracy into a secular democracy.

For Israel, this means a best case scenario where the mullahs will fall from their positions of power. Once the regime goes (along with the al-Assad regime in Syria), Hezbollah will no longer have steady supplies of military hardware and may be substantially weakened. On the other hand, the worse case scenario. This tactic may delay Iran’s nuclear ambitions but see the regime successful in suppressing the underlying pro-democratic upheaval. Even if that is the case, it still further weakens the regime as it will have to divert more resources into combating internal threats.

Either way, Israel (possibly inadvertently) is playing a substantial role in helping pave the way for the inevitable downfall of the regime in Tehran, which is only maintaining its hold on power through brute violence and subversion.

Image by Beverly & Pack.

Iran: From Theocracy to Democracy is a post from: The Israel Situation

Groupon Buys Israel’s Grouper

Eric — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:58:15 +0000

US based social daily deal site Groupon has made its move into Israel. I had previously mentioned clone GroopBuy, which used the same business model. Today, Groupon announced the purchase of Grouper for a reported $8 million.

Now Israelis are going to have their share of daily deal sites to choose from. It is good news for Israelis interested in entertainment and dining deals at a steep discount. Here in Denver, I have used Groupon to buy games of bowling, comedy club tickets, and a discounted Kiva loan.

Groupon recently completed a nearly $1 billion capital round, so there is no lack of cash to fund the new operation. Groupon also announced purchases in India and South Africa today.

Read more about the acquisition at TechCrunch.

Groupon Buys Israel’s Grouper is a post from: The Israel Situation

WikiLeaks Heaven For Israel

Anthony Reich — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:45:57 +0000

We have only seen the tip of the WikiLeaks iceberg so far. The direction of the floe seems clear and there are already more than one or two embarrassed faces around. We have discovered from a 2009 cable released on WikiLeaks, that Libyan president Colonel Gadafi cannot manage to be away from his Ukrainian nurse, Galyna, described as a “voluptuous blonde”. The US embassy staff in Tripoli speculated that she keeps him healthy in more than one way. We all know that diplomats like to gossip – is this not what they are paid to do? Perhaps some of us did not realise the extent to which they gossip, and what they are prepared to say in cables that were once assured of secrecy.

Having examined some of the recently released information from an Israeli perspective, I am fast coming to the conclusion that WikiLeaks is one of the best PR tools the Israeli government has accidentally come across. Almost all of the stories surrounding Israel, and particularly those connected to Iran, have served to substantially enhance Israel’s world standing. The documents show that many countries are saying in private the things that only Israel has been brave enough to stand up and say publicly. More than this, it seems as though many countries are relying on Israel to undertake actions that will help them, without giving any public backing to Israel for these.

I was sure that Israel could not be the only country that recognised the threat presented by the Iranian nuclear program. I was astonished that, until quite recently, the USA seemed to be ambivalent about it, even going as far as supporting the Iranian claims that the program was intended for civilian purposes only. Finally, the Americans had the good sense to recognise the real threat that this Iranian development presents, not only to Israel, but to the entire free world. Perhaps it was the Saudi Arabians who convinced the Americans of the threat when calling on them to “cut off the head of the snake”, as described in another WikiLeaks document. Not only has the USA finally recognised the threat publicly, Israel’s position is further vindicated by the release of the WikiLeaks documents where some of the back channel information has been made public. The attitude of the Saudis, however, seems to the same as other countries in the region. Everybody appears to be waiting for Israel to do the dirty work on behalf of the rest of the world. Why should others risk their citizens and their army if Israel will do the work? Not only this, it is quite conceivable that the Saudis would come out publicly criticising such an attack, while privately thanking their lucky stars that there is a country like Israel which is prepared to stand up for what it truly believes.

The Emir of Qatar is quoted in a further WikiLeaks document as telling US Senator John Kerry that he can’t blame Israel for mistrusting the Arabs. His sympathy for Israel is further supported by his privately-held (now publicly known) view that Israel has been under threat from the Arabs for so long, and this justifies Israel’s lack of trust in the Arabs. This statement was made not long after he broke off what little ties there were between Israel and Qatar. Although no diplomatic relations exist between the two countries, there was an Israeli commercial mission in Qatar which was sanctioned by the Emir. He decided, however, to expel the mission when the Gaza War broke out.

These are only a few of the numerous examples of duplicity being shown towards Israel and now exposed by WikiLeaks. In public, Israel is forced to endure a great deal of criticism and humiliation. In private, many of those criticising Israel support the actions that Israel is taking against some of the world’s bully-boys. The WikiLeaks revelations will go some way towards exposing these countries and their two-faced actions.

While the initial release of WikiLeaks documents seems to play into Israel’s hands, it will be interesting to plot where this leads the future of information secrecy in the world of international politics. I wonder whether WikiLeaks will have the same impact on the world of international diplomacy that the Internet had on general information availability. Before the Internet revolution and the advent of search engines like Google, information was usually obtained by going to libraries or paying professionals to provide it. Now, it takes a few seconds via an Internet search. Will the release of documents by WikiLeaks ensure that diplomatic secrecy will be impossible to safeguard in the future? Will countries like Israel also come under pressure to make available political secrets? Probably not, but it may cause the whole secret world of international politics to become more transparent in the future.

For Israel, such a future is not very attractive. Particularly in its formative years, Israel was fortunate to be able to achieve a great deal using back channels. These dealings were only made possible by the secrecy with which such interactions were shrouded. Some of these back channels are still in operation today and will probably remain relevant as long as Israel continues to be in a situation where certain countries seek her destruction. This fact, along with the constant situation of war along her borders, necessitates secret dealings not visible to the general public in order to survive.

In the short-term, WikiLeaks has proved to be a gift from heaven for Israel. This benefit will be greatest if the established rules of international diplomacy do not change substantially in the future. If the world expects international politics to be played out more in the public eye in the future, the short-term gain for Israel may be translated into longer-term pain.

WikiLeaks Heaven For Israel is a post from: The Israel Situation

Israel Around the Web

Eric — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:30:37 +0000

I have read a bunch in interesting stuff around the web lately, and I wanted to share a few top items with you here.

Prager Video

A video has been making its way around explaining the Middle East situation in layman’s terms. The video comes from US radio host Dennis Prager (I have met him before). While I don’t love all of his politics, the video is worth watching (H/T Anthony Reich, my cousin in Tel Aviv, and about a dozen of my Facebook friends).

The IFL – Israel Football League

Israelis who are ex-pats from the United States have a reason to celebrate. The Israel Football League is open for business with eight teams from around Israel. The league is apparently four years old, but I never heard of it before today. If you are not a fan of soccer and you miss the NFL, check out:

Israel Football League

Zionist Video Contest

If you want some inspiration, check ou the winners of the FreeMiddleEast pro-Israel movie contest. (H/T Elder of Ziyon). All videos are fairly short and are free on YouTube or by visiting FreeMiddleEast.

Israel Around the Web is a post from: The Israel Situation

Social Media and Israel

Eric — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:08:57 +0000

Last night, I taught a class on Israel and the internet. We discussed Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Delicious, and the world of blogs. I realized how little some people know about the reach of social media, and it is worth a few minutes to discuss it here.

Facebook

When I joined Facebook, it was only available to about 30 universities. I joined at a point when roughly 500,000 college students with a .edu e-mail address were on the site. There are three more zeros on that number today. Facebook has 500 million users. Of those 500 million, about 250 million log in every day.

That is a huge number, and the Facebook platform can now be used to reach many of those 500 million users. The average person on Facebook has 130 friends (I have 689 as of today, and I personally know every single one of them.) If you see something about Israel on the web that you want your friends to know about, you can easily share it.

I learned the power of Facebook for Israel during the events following the Flotilla. A friend started a Facebook page in support of Israel’s right to defend itself that quickly attracted over 50,000 supporters. He posted one of my articles on the page and we had thousands of new visitors right away.

Even bigger than the 50,000 supporters of that group, though, are all of you. Many people visit this site regularly. If each of you posts an important article to your profile, you can collectively reach many thousands of potential supporters who you already have a relationship with.

Twitter

Twitter has made a massive impact on the way information travels on the web. I learned that Michael Jackson had died from Twitter. I watched election results and Olympic commentary on Twitter. Many people learn about breaking news from the site.

I share blogs posts and interesting pages from around the web on Twitter as @israelsituation. I was mentioned in a list of the most influential Jewish Twitter users in the world, but I only reach 500 Tweeters when I post something. Like with Facebook, the power comes from each of you.

As of April, Twitter had over 105 million registered users. If something positive about Israel goes into the “Trending Topics” section, it would be seen by millions.

Wikipedia

When you search for anything online, the Wikipedia page on that topic is almost always in the top ten results. According to Alexa, Wikipedia is the seventh busiest site on the entire internet. It is important that pages about Israel are fair; however, many are not. Read Wikibias to find many Israel related problems on Wikipedia.

You Can Make A Difference

Share important topics and truths. Last week, the media published a very misleading photo of a Palestinian in Silwan being hit by a car. Contrary to what the photo would lead you to believe, the driver of the car was running for his life. You can see a video of the actual event here.

If this video, the truth, is shared on Facebook, trends on Twitter, and is accurately represented on Wikipedia, we have made a difference. After all, isn’t that why you are reading this? Go forth and share.

(You can click on the social media buttons at the bottom of the post to share it quickly and easily on most social websites)

Social Media and Israel is a post from: The Israel Situation

The Warfare of the Future

Anthony Reich — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 21:20:08 +0000

Reports have surfaced in the international media over the past week regarding a computer virus that has infiltrated computers at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant. It has been claimed that the deadly Stuxnet virus has infected computers at the plant, which has damaged some of the reactors and delayed the program of loading enriched nuclear fuel into the reactor.

Almost simultaneous to these reports, were the claims that the Israeli secret service was involved in creating the virus and infecting the Iranian computers. The claims allege that the virus was actually intended for the Natanz plant, which is considered to have a higher risk of producing nuclear bombs. In addition, there have been assertions that the Israelis have infiltrated the supply chain for the Iranian nuclear program, and have succeeded in supplying faulty hardware for the centrifuges. The result of this is that up to 3,000 centrifuges at Bushehr have been damaged. All of this has not sufficiently affected the nuclear plant to prevent the continued enrichment of uranium, but it has certainly caused a setback to Iran’s nuclear plans.

The reports suggest that this is a new development in the conflict between Israel and those Arab and Muslim countries seeking her destruction. While the world has focused on possible military options available to Israel to destroy the Iranian nuclear threat, it would seem as if the Israelis have been seeking out different solutions in an attempt to catch the Iranians off-guard. But how new is the idea of cyber or electronic warfare? Is it really a new development, or is this something that has been around for a while?

According to the New York Times, the unit in the Israel Defence Force (IDF) which is responsible for the creation of the Stuxnet virus is the 8200 unit (known in Hebrew as “shmone matayim” or eight two hundred). This is the Central Intelligence Gathering Unit of the Intelligence Corps, and is responsible for collection of signal intelligence and code decryption. This unit has been around for many years – since before the Six Day War – even though the intelligence-gathering was probably less sophisticated or hi-tech in the earlier years. This unit now oversees a dedicated unit which engages in defensive and offensive digital warfare. This is only one small part of a central pillar in IDF strategy to vigorously pursue all aspects of cyber and electronic warfare. The pursuit of options for sabotaging the core computers of foes like Iran, along with mechanisms to protect its own sensitive systems, were unveiled last year by the military intelligence chief, Major-General Amos Yadlin. Even though these public statements are new and recent, the work being done by units dedicated to digital warfare is certainly not.

A recent article in the Jerusalem Post presented details of a unit in the Israeli Air Force (IAF), the Sky Crows Squadron. This is the cyber warfare unit of the IAF that uses intelligence for two main purposes. The first is to block enemy communications and the second is to disrupt enemy radar systems. Probably the most well-known of the Crows’ successes was the 2007 attack on the nascent Syrian nuclear reactor along the Euphrates River. The IAF F-15I aircraft probably could not have entered Syrian airspace and successfully dropped their payloads on Syrian radar installations and on the nuclear reactor itself, were it not for the fact that the Crows had succeeded in deactivating all Syrian air defence systems. All of this was achieved without sustaining as much as a scratch on an IAF aeroplane. During the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead, the unit was again activated but this time mostly to break into Palestinian and Lebanese TV and radio channels to push anti-Hamas and anti-Hezbollah propaganda.

During 2010, the Sky Crows Squadron will be celebrating its 40th anniversary. The IAF has been engaging in electronic warfare for quite some time already. This is one of the ways that the IDF feels that it will be able to maintain its military advantage in the Middle East, and around the world. This is particularly true during an era of an unprecedented military build-up in the region. This is best epitomised by the recent $60bn arms deal to Saudi Arabia, and the construction of the Iranian nuclear reactors. Israel is often unable to spend the same sums of money spent by her adversaries, and the qualitative military edge is what allows Israel to create its ultimate advantage.

The technological changes in our world have created an ideal operating environment that play to Israel’s strengths. Communications and computer networking have become the core of our work and social worlds, and also form the backbone of military attack and defence systems. Israel is the country which was first to create a firewall to protect computer networks. Having access to brains that can protect networks from all manner of attack also means having the ability to create attacks that can overcome these protections. This technological capability is being nurtured and developed in the next generation of IDF soldiers, starting from a very young age. Israeli schools run a wide number of programs to develop computer and technology skills in children to ensure that the IDF has a wide choice of top-notch resources to call upon for its needs in the foreseeable future.

The Iranians have meanwhile predictably announced that a computer virus was not to blame for the delays at its reactors. No nation would wish to admit to having its secret installations infiltrated in such a blatant way. In an attempt to avoid further embarrassment, an announcement was issued that arrests have been made of people who are suspected to have been involved. Israel seems well positioned to take advantage of the change in the nature of military conflict. Military strength was once measured in terms of numbers of aircraft, soldiers, tanks and missiles. Military attacks were once in the form of bombs launched and weapons fired. Although this has not completely gone away, it is clear that the rules of the game are changing.

If Iran is continuously scanning its airspace in the belief that clear skies mean the nuclear reactors are safe, it seems as if it may be looking in the wrong place for the source of the real danger. Electronic warfare is set to become the military playground of the future.

The Warfare of the Future is a post from: The Israel Situation

Kehila Carnival #1: The First One Ever Edition

Eric — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:18:15 +0000

I am proud to present you the first ever Kehila carnival. The Kehila, for those of you who don’t know, is a community of Israel and Jewish bloggers that have joined together to help each other build and promote our blogs. We hope to reach new readers and make a difference for our communities, both offline and online, through our support and interactions. If you want to be the fifteenth member of this wonderful group, check out the home of Kehila.

Izgad, the next host of the Kehila carnival, recently wrote a series of posts discussing the social implications of Asperger’s.

Liberty’s Spirit shared a video of Caroline Glick discussing the Iranian nuclear threat.

Bat Aliyah had an adventure shopping in Ramat Levi. She mentioned one of the things I love most about Israel, and impromptu Minyan on the way into the grocery store.

In the Pink shares how sometimes everyone wants to help in the kitchen, but often no one wants to help at all.

My buddy Yaakov at Esser Agaroth gives us ten more ways you know that you are Israeli. Some of these are pretty funny.

Rutimizrachi found a place where everybody knows your name. (I just sang the Cheer’s theme song out loud when I read that title.)

The Minnesota Mamaleh, who as it turns out knows one of my old college friends, is trying to slow down.

Ima 2 Seven found that repenting during the month of Elul is hard.

I just saw that Hasbara with Attitude sells t-shirts. They make normal IDF t-shirts look pretty lame.

Baila wrote about some of the hardest parts of making alyiah.

Lady Light thinks religious tolerance is good, but stupidity is not.

Susan at To Kiss a Mezuzah found that getting the photographer to leave a sanctuary during Shabbat davening was much more difficult than it should have been.

And last, but certainly not least, I wrote an awesome post (read it to verify if it is, in fact, awesome) about the Iranian nuclear program. Did you know that Russia is sending uranium over starting this month?

That does it for this week’s Kehila carnival. Do you want to be in our next carnival, which takes place in two weeks? I bet you do. It is free and easy to be a part of it, but you don’t fill out a form at Blog Carnival. Head over to the Kehila home page and sign up. It is that easy. You also get to chat online with all of these great writers, so what are you waiting for!?!?!

Kehila Carnival #1: The First One Ever Edition is a post from: The Israel Situation

Bloggers Defend Israel on Wikipedia

Eric — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 03:26:32 +0000

A new blog has appeared called Wikibias. The new site is written by two bloggers who appear to be, like me, fed up with anti-Semitism on Wikipedia. They wrote a recent post about becoming an effective Wikipedia editor. One tip from the article is:

*While you are making a lot of effective edits, the anti-Israel gangs may take it to the next level. They may begin posting messages on your talk page falsely accusing you of being combative, of slander, of being a banned user who has returned under a new name, of bringing unreliable sources, of starting edit wars, or other violations of Wikipedia rules.

If you are wondering how you can support Israel in your pajamas at home, take a look at Wikiproject Israel and be sure to check into Wikibias for articles needing attention.

Bloggers Defend Israel on Wikipedia is a post from: The Israel Situation

Haveil Havalim #278 – The Kehila Edition

Eric — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 07:00:18 +0000

First, for the newbies at Havaeil Havalim, welcome to my fourth Haveil Havalim (though we have hosted five times here at IsraelSituation.com). Here is what you are about to get yourself into:

Founded by Soccer Dad, Haveil Havalim is a carnival of Jewish blogs — a weekly collection of Jewish & Israeli blog highlights, tidbits and points of interest collected from blogs all around the world. It’s hosted by different bloggers each week and coordinated by Jack. The term ‘Haveil Havalim,’ which means “Vanity of Vanities,” is from Qoheleth, (Ecclesiastes) which was written by King Solomon. King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and later on got all bogged down in materialism and other ‘excesses’ and realized that it was nothing but ‘hevel,’ or in English, ‘vanity.’

I just returned from my fifth wonderful trip to Israel, and I had many amazing experiences that have led to renewed inspiration for maintaining this blog. But, in addition to spreading the truth about Israel, something else has kept the site alive when I have had doubts about the time commitment and impact of the site: community.

While many of them are silent, I am always inspired by every single comment I receive, good or bad, because it means someone is reading. I am inspired by each one of you, who increased my hit counter by one. I am inspired by other bloggers, from the prolific Elder of Ziyon to the friendly Esser Agaroth. From the long time bloggers like Israel Matsav and Daled Amos to the community leaders like Soccer Dad.

As some of you know, I also have a personal finance blog, Narrow Bridge, where I have also found a community. One finance blogger, known as the Financial Samurai, was inspired by that community to build it one step further. He created the Yakezie Challenge, which has grown to a group of nearly 100 bloggers selflessly promoting each other. I thought that if the money crowd can do it, the Jewish/Israel crowd certainly can as well.

That is why I am founding the Kehila. Kehila is Hebrew for community. The idea is simple and the commitment is minimal. The idea is that we each agree to help each other out and promote each other’s blogs. I am the first to admit that I only link to other blogs when I find something useful or I take the extra step to host Haveil Havalim, but there is no reason I can’t do a more regular link roundup. There is no reason I can’t just give other blogs a “shout out” from time to time. I am always entertained by Benji at What War Zone and always love the personal stories of Treppenwitz and support Israel after calls by my friend Dan Illouz. When I see something good, I commit that I will start to share on my site.

If you want to join, it is easy. First, go to the new Kehila page and leave a comment saying that you are in. That will announce to the world that you have joined. Second, go to the Google Group to sign up for the forum. Finally, add the Kehila badge to your sidebar so visitors can see that you are a member and find out what it is all about. Last, but not least, write a short post telling your readers that you are now part of the Kehila, the Jewish/Israel blogger community on the net. That’s it. It is free and easy.

If you have other questions, send me a note or post a comment on the Kehila page. Since I have taken far more liberties that the typical HH host, I will just jump straight into this week’s posts!

Israel

Batya at Shiloh Musings discusses why Turkey might not care about being friends with Israel in Israel, Going Cold Turkey.

Religion and State in Israel gives us a July 26th roundup and July 26th roundup part 2.

Lady Light believes that all 18 year old youth, including Haredi, should serve in the Israeli military.

Harry at Israelity talks about the new Israel Museum. He also gives us a lasting impression at Einot Tzukim.

Yisrael Medad writes about the dirt, excuse me, holy soil, on the Temple Mount.

Benji wonders why Israeli drivers are so bad in a post at What War Zone?

Yaakov Ben-Yehuda found that the Red Cross has been harboring Hamas fugitives and gives us his ten cents on the matter in a post at Esser Agaroth.

Judaism

Izgad presents Ungodly Words: Toward a Political Philosophy of Heresy (Part II) – Is Uncle Moishy Kefira? posted at Izgad.

Rabbi Oliver talks about Sensitizing Ourselves to Hashem at a Chassidishe Farbrengen. (What a cool name for a blog!)

Mordechai Torczyner presents Involuntary Homosexuality and Free Will posted at The Rebbetzin’s Husband.

Yechezkel presents Gay…Gezunteheit?? posted at Achas L’Maala V’Sheva L’Matta, describing his post as a Chareidi perspective on the newly released Statement of Principles on the Place of Jews with a Homosexual Orientation in Our Community.

Joshua Waxman discusses the parsha at the parshablog. He also talks about the Haftorah.

Chayeei Sarah gives us part three in a series, which discusses JAPs and Educational Gaps.

Tu B’Av

Ki Yachol Nuchal gives a truly wonderful story on Erev Tu B’av about travel, connections, visiting new places, trying new things, and the great results that may take years to understand.

David Levy at Jewish Boston found Y-Love’s latest song, just in time for Tu B’Av.

Lady Light gives a modern look at Tu B’Av.

Miriyummy talks about happy days during Tu B’Av.

Living Life

A Mother in Israel continues her series about dating and marriage with Diabetes, Genetics, and Shidduchim.

Illana-Davita posts an interview about an interesting subject, Michael, who grew up non-religious and went through a few changes, and aliyah.

Mrs. S at Our Shiputzim gives us another game of NAME-THAT-COUNTRY! (I imagined that going to the tune of Wheel-of-Fortune in my head)

Batya writes about Losing Direction during a trip to the United States.

Hadassah Sabo Milner presents Relationships posted at In the Pink.

Susan discusses conversations she doesn’t remember in You Don’t Need Postage for That at To Kiss a Mezuzah.

Isramom talks about her Summertime vacation.

Yisrael Medad talks about feminism in his post So, NOW, We’re Misinformed.

Snoopy the Goon asks Paul the Octopus, of World Cup fame, about Mahmoud the Mad (aka Mahmoud Ahmadinejad).

Minnesota Mamaleh gives words, and great pictures, about cooking with kids in her post at TC Jewfolk. (I am partial to TC Jewfolk, as I was born in Minneapolis)

That does it for this round of Haveil Havalim. Please take a look at the new Kehila group and join if you are a Jewish or Israel blogger. Next week, HH will be hosted by Ima on the Bima. You can submit articles at Blog Carnival. I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition. See you next time!

Haveil Havalim #278 – The Kehila Edition is a post from: The Israel Situation

New Articles Worth Reading

Eric — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:38:51 +0000

I would love to write more about each of these stories, but I am preparing for a trip to my favorite little country in the Middle East. (hint: not Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, anywhere in Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Yemen, or Qatar. I came up with that list off the top of my head)

If you have ever tried to write for Israel on Wikipedia, you have probably experienced the frustration I have from anti-Semites battling to against anything Jewish. If you have, or have not, had the experience, I encourage you to get involved and keep Wikipedia, one of the most linked to sites on the Internet, free from anti-Israel and anti-Jewish lies. Either way, take the time to read this well written article by Karin McQuillan on Front Page Mag. The article, called Wikipedia’s Jewish Problem, has a pretty self descriptive title. Make sure to read to the end to understand what is really happening out there.

If you are Reform or Conservative, you might be very interested in reading about Israel’s plans for treatment of olim (new immigrants). Today, anyone with a Jewish mother or anyone who has gone through any Jewish conversion is eligible to move to Israel and become a citizen. A Knesset committee is looking at giving control of this immigration policy to the Chief Rabbinate, which would no longer recognize Reform or Conservative conversions for immigration purposes. I would love to read your thoughts on this in the comments. Thanks to Joel for bringing this article to my attention.

My friend Dan wrote a lengthy, well reasoned, intelligent post about pressure on the government to free Gilad Shalit. Dan argues that pressuring the government is just giving Hamas more leverage to demand more terrorists in exchange for Shalit if the deal ever comes to fruition. He suggests that you camp out on the Gaza border to bring attention to Hamas rather than on Benjamin Netanyahu’s door step.

New Articles Worth Reading is a post from: The Israel Situation