Blair Optimistic about Israeli-Palestinian Peace

THE MEDIA LINE
Published Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Written by Matthew Kalman

BEIT JALLAH, WEST BANK - Tony Blair, the former British prime minister who is now a Middle East peace envoy, said during a visit to the West Bank on Tuesday that he remains optimistic about the prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians despite a freeze in peace talks and increasingly bitter divisions between warring Palestinian factions.

Blair, who in June 2007 was appointed special representative of the Quartet—the UN, EU, U.S. and Russia—said he was encouraged by the performance of Palestinian security forces who have helped calm crime and violence in the West Bank, and called on Israelis and Palestinians to work together to help develop the Palestinian economy.

He also denounced Israel’s 400-mile-long security barrier as “a symbol of division.”
“The world in which we are living today is a world that, in the end, works through barriers coming down, through people learning to live with each other, through people from different cultures and different faiths, different races actually mixing together and working together,” Blair told the launch reception of G.ho.st, a rare joint Israeli-Palestinian high-tech startup.

Blair hailed G.ho.st, which gives users a free way to access their desktop and files from any computer with an Internet connection, as “an immensely creative exercise” and a model of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation. The company’s CEO, Zvi Schreiber, is an Israeli who is unable to visit his main office, which is in Palestinian-controlled Ramallah. The mixed Israeli-Palestinian staff has been forced to hold their meetings at a dusty service station in the desert on the road to Jericho – one of the few places where both sides have full access and also feel safe.

“Creativity knows no race or color or boundary,” Blair said. “Palestinians and Israelis are both highly creative people. Given the chance, they will make something of their lives, make something of the opportunities that are given them. This is an immensely creative exercise and I hope a very successful one in business terms and in what the company can do for the future.”

“It’s very poignant and extraordinary that we’re here in front of the separation barrier,” said Blair, referring to the 30-foot-high gray concrete slabs cutting through the biblical landscape. “The fact that Israelis and Palestinians have come together in order to found this project, this company, and the fact that they are doing it in this way and the fact that we are here in front of this symbol of division, but in the creation of something unifying, is I think a wonderful and heroic thing to achieve.”

Turning to the wider issues of peacemaking and Palestinian development, Blair said he is confident that most people on both sides wanted to see the region prosper despite the political obstacles.
“We need a political solution, but we also know that it’s not just about politics - that it’s also about people’s lives and it’s about economic development and it’s about business, too,” he said.

“Sometimes it can be very difficult with all the challenges to get some hope, and I’m an optimistic person by nature – you’ve kind of got to be when you’re employed by the Quartet on this deal – it’s always somewhat of a challenge for your general innate optimism,” said Blair. “When you leave aside all the politics and all the business to do with the Quartet and all the high-level negotiation and you just talk to people, you realize one very simple human truth, which is, in the end humanity makes progress when it learns from each other and to live with each other – and that is usually, and most often, the hope of all human beings from whatever walk of life and wherever they come from.”

But not all Palestinians share Blair’s optimistic outlook. Many of them have criticized Blair’s two years as Quartet representative for producing very little in concrete terms. Early in his tenure, he announced a series of economic projects for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza but none of them have come to fruition.

Earlier on Tuesday, Blair visited Nablus, where EU and U.S.-trained Palestinian police and security services have been deployed in co-ordination with the Israeli army, who has removed more than 140 of their own security checkpoints to facilitate the movement of Palestinians around the West Bank.

"When the Palestinian people are given greater freedom, where there is security provided by the Palestinian people themselves, then the economy can grow and the people can get greater prosperity," Blair told reporters in Nablus, but officials involved in the security training told The Media Line that Blair was barely involved in the U.S. and EU training programs, which started before he arrived in the region.

The appointment in January of former Senator George Mitchell as U.S. President Barack Obama’s special Middle East envoy has created further confusion about Blair’s precise role. The hierarchy between Blair and Mitchell remains unclear.

Blair has concentrated his energies on trying to develop Palestinian governmental institutions and the economy, but for many his efforts have fallen short of expectations. In June 2008, Blair helped organize a Palestinian investment conference in Bethlehem that brought in more than 650 prospective investors from abroad and where several projects were announced.

Odeh Shehadeh, CEO of the Wassel logistics group in Ramallah that put the conference together, said all the projects announced in Bethlehem had actually been planned beforehand. He was dismissive about Blair’s contribution so far.

“What we’ve been seeing and hearing from the Quartet and Tony Blair is just talking, there is nothing materialized on the ground,” Shehadeh told The Media Line. “They just keep talking and they have never been able to facilitate or to solve any problem or to remove any restriction from the Israeli side, unfortunately. He’s just keeping doing workshops and meetings, submitting proposals, studies, projects, whatever and all of it just for nothing.”

“One of our Wassel Group companies, PalExpo, we were the event manager of that big conference. It was huge and big and great and the first of its type in Palestine, but for what? For bringing people together, not for making business or making investments. Because since that time, none of the projects that were announced or were decided at that time has materialized. In fact some of the projects that have materialized have been designed and planned and agreed upon even before that conference,” he said.

Brigham Young U. Marks More Than 2 Decades in Israel

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
July 13, 2009

INSPIRATION AND GEOPOLITICS
As Brigham Young University, the first American institution to build a campus in Jerusalem, marks more than two decades in Israel, it is about to be joined by two other American-run institutions in the city. Steven Williams and Kimberly Matheson (above) study at BYU's Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, which overlooks the Mount of Olives. (Photograph by David Blumenfeld)


By MATTHEW KALMAN

Jerusalem

Kimberly Matheson sits before an arched window that frames a breathtaking view of the Old City of Jerusalem. The sunlight reflects off the golden Dome of the Rock behind her and the sound of birdsong in the tiered gardens outside mingles with the muezzin's call to prayer from the minarets of the nearby mosques.

It seems redundant to ask the Near Eastern-studies major why she signed up for Brigham Young University's study-abroad program in Jerusalem. Until this year, its Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies was the only campus in the Holy Land run by an American university.

"You can read books as much you like, but man, until you have spent a week in Egypt and you are sick of sand and those flies are everywhere and you can't keep anything in your stomach and that heat — it's so much more real," says Ms. Matheson, one 240 Brigham Young students who have spent $10,000 each to enroll in the university's Jerusalem center.

"It's worth it," she adds. "Unequivocally, absolutely. Everyone says this will change your life. I did not anticipate the far-reaching effects of it."

Like many American universities, Brigham Young has been running a study-abroad program in Israel for decades. But it was the first university to build a campus here, in 1984, on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem.

Having a campus in Israel has changed both the intensity of the students' experience and the face of the city. It has also illustrated the difficulty of running a study-abroad program in a politically unstable country. Brigham Young shut down its Jerusalem center for six years following the outbreak of the 2000 Palestinian intifada, and it is now struggling to rebuild its enrollments. Such challenges are increasingly common as American universities expand their international offerings into new and less familiar regions of the world.

This fall Brigham Young will be joined in Jerusalem by two other American colleges. Bard College will inaugurate a program for its students in a dedicated facility on the campus of Al-Quds University on the outskirts of the city. And Southeastern University will open its new George Wood Jerusalem Studies Center downtown.

Overcoming Suspicions

To build its campus, Brigham Young, a Mormon institution, leased land on the Mount of Olives, which was captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestinians initially objected to the Israeli authorities' decision to lease occupied territory, and Israelis were suspicious of the Mormon practice of proselytizing.

But university officials say they won over the local community by employing a mix of Palestinians and Israelis on the staff, sending student volunteers into local social and medical programs, and making the campus accessible to residents, who attend regular concerts and other events here.

The campus, designed jointly by an Israeli and an American architect, cascades down the ancient mountainside on eight levels. The centerpiece is a stone, teak, and oak-trimmed auditorium with huge windows framing a view of the golden Dome of the Rock, the black-domed roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the white cupola of the newly reconstructed Hurva Synagogue — three important and symbolic institutions representing Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.

On Sundays, Jerusalemites are treated to free concerts in the auditorium featuring top local classical and jazz musicians and a 3,000-pipe Marcussen organ, considered the finest in the Middle East.

Students study the Bible, the ancient and modern Middle East, and either Hebrew or Arabic.

Unusually for Jerusalem, the faculty, administrative, security, and support staffs are integrated — American, Israeli, and Palestinian. The director is an Israeli; his assistant, Tawfic Alawi, is a Palestinian.

Mr. Alawi lives next to the center and started work there as a security guard 17 years ago. He is now assistant director.

"At first, people wondered what this big building was. We did not know who these Mormons were. They turned out to be good neighbors and good friends to the local community," Mr. Alawi says. "They employ local people and bring business to the neighborhood. Now it is part of our society. When the center reopened two and half years ago it was seen as a sign of better times after some difficult years."

An Immersion Experience

S. Kent Brown, associate director of the center and a retired professor of ancient scripture, says students gain an enormous amount by spending an entire semester in Israel.

"The payoff comes in on-site experience," he says. "We conduct a series of field trips that run in tandem with classroom instruction, so that when we're talking about the era of Moses and Joshua, we take students to Jericho. When we're talking about the era of the monarchy, we visit the places that were inhabited alternately by Israelites and Philistines. It's pretty heady stuff to read the story of David and Goliath and then step into the spring bed in the Valley of Elah and pick up a stone."

But the university doesn't shy away from current events. Speakers at the center's weekly forum for students on current affairs have included the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, the former Palestinian cabinet ministers Yasser Abed Rabbo and Hanan Ashrawi, and other senior officials from both sides of the conflict.

Students are encouraged to explore the city and participate in a range of humanitarian and cultural activities, from helping out at orphanages or a nearby maternity hospital to Sunday-morning bell ringing at the YMCA.

Andrew Skinner, a former dean of religious education at the Provo campus, who is on his fourth tour in Jerusalem, says the effect carries across the curriculum.

"It's pedagogically different," says Mr. Skinner. "Is there a difference between reading about an experiment and performing one — or actually living in the laboratory observing the experiment for oneself? This is one of the greatest human laboratories you can possibly find, so how can you not be pedagogically, fundamentally changed by the experience?"

Instability and Safety

But the intensity of Jerusalem also has its downside. The university closed the center in November 2000 after the Palestinian intifada erupted that September. Brigham Young had intended to open the center again in 2006, but then the war in Lebanon postponed the reopening until January 2007.

Now students are issued local cellphones for security updates, and the center's Web site carries breaking news on security alerts in the country. If trouble breaks out in the city, the center sends text messages to the students to tell them to stay away from certain areas and return to the campus.

The campus itself is protected by its own mixed Israeli-Palestinian security detail, and it has never been a target of violence. (Other American colleges with programs in Israel rely on their host universities for security.)

Students say they understand the security concerns.

"We're required to go out in groups," says Steven Williams, a 22-year-old second-year music major from Colorado.

The center appears to have been successful in deterring would-be attackers by consciously building ties with the local community. University staff members are acutely aware that the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the next building along the ridge, was the target of a Hamas bomber who killed nine staff members and students there in July 2002.

"Both communities know we hire people from both sides. In a way that's as good a security blanket as anything else," says Mr. Brown. "Our security staff is very dedicated, and they guard the campus 24 hours a day — but it's soft security. Nobody carries a weapon. It's only on rare occasions that parents have expressed concern when a child has wanted to come. We have simply said they should look at our record."

Even though the violence never entered the campus, it took a toll. Before the intifada, there were 170 students in each session. Now there are only 80. The university is hoping the numbers will return to their previous level.

But the security concerns that closed the center for six years have been replaced by economic ones.

"We want to increase the number of students to the previous level, but the question is how soon we can do it," says Mr. Brown. "If somehow the economy were to become a little bit cheerier, then the numbers of applicants would likely rise."

Playing for Peace: Palestinian and Israeli Teenagers Groove

Written by Matthew Kalman

THE MEDIA LINE
Published Sunday, July 12, 2009

An unusual scene in Tel Aviv: Palestinian and Israeli teenagers – Christians, Muslims and Jews – have just spent two weeks together recording a music track, writing their own lyric and producing a video clip to upload to YouTube.

The 19 youngsters, aged from 14 to 17, gathered at the headquarters of Windows for Peace, a veteran people-to-people organization that tries to bridge the gaps between Israeli and Palestinian youth through workshops, a regular magazine in Hebrew and Arabic, and other joint activities.

The song – “A Step for Peace” - and the accompanying video filmed on the streets and beachfront of Tel Aviv, is a strong expression of the futility of war and their hopes for peace, with a piercingly direct lyric laced over a rap groove.

“We must understand war is not the way, hatred will go away. We want peace, we need peace, oh yeah,” they sing. “We can make the future bright. We should all have equal rights. No racism, no discrimination - together we can change the situation.”

The project is the brainchild of Rob Cowan, founder of the Point Blank music production and DJ college in London, who says music is a powerful way to bring young people together.

“I believe in the power of music as a tool for social regeneration. I believe that the arts can have a place and that we’re just doing our small bit. This is something that we want to do. Hopefully, it’s a step in the right direction,” Cowan told The Media Line.

Natalie Baddour, a 15-year-old schoolgirl from Bethlehem, said she savoured the opportunity to spend time with her Israeli counterparts in Tel Aviv because it would usually be impossible for a Palestinian to enter Israel.

“I hope it will at least influence a couple of people to get them to know what we go through and how we deal with the situation here in Palestine and in Israel and how the two countries communicate and how they live together,” said Natalie, who was spending her third summer at a Windows workshop.

“We all have such different points of view and we come from such different backgrounds so it’s hard to get to one certain point where we all can agree instead of disagreeing and having all these issues, but we’ve worked together for the past three years so we kind of got used to the fact that we may not always agree on anything,” she said.

Natalie said the participants kept in touch through texting and Facebook and had become good friends. Even though it was her first experience writing music, she felt the group had something to say and she was proud of what they had produced.

“I’m really attached to it because it expresses a lot of what we feel and what we go through and also the message of this particular song and the lyrics are very important to us – for both parties, Israelis, Palestinians and of course the Arab Israelis as well. We communicate with the lyrics of the song,” she said.

“The main point is that we want peace and we want to live together peacefully,” she added.

Her friend Tamara Abu Hemameh, another 15-year-old from Bethlehem, said participating in Windows made a huge impact on her attitudes towards Israelis.

“Actually, it changed my life because before I went to Windows I was thinking that Israeli people are really bad and they think of us bad and they don’t like us so when I met the group it was a shock for me,” she said. “Now I really changed all my thoughts about the Israeli people and I’m really happy about it.”

“We just tell everybody in Bethlehem that we are in Windows and it’s really cool and we’re meeting the Israeli people and they’re really good,” she added. “I’m really proud of myself, proud of the group, everyone, really. It’s good.”

Rob Cowan, who has years of experience using music to reach disaffected young people in London, said the Israeli and Palestinian teenagers were an inspiration.

“They’re incredible. They’re fantastic young people. They’ve really been engaged,” he said. “I think they see this as an opportunity for them to communicate with each other, to discuss their thoughts, but also as an opportunity to work on something and learn some skills. The idea is after we leave they’re going to have the skills to carry on doing this kind of work in the future without us necessarily being here the whole time.”

During the two weeks the group spent working on the project, they lived, ate and shared every moment of their lives together.

The instructor was Pakistan-born Mohammed Nazam, a tutor at Point Blank and founder of Baraka, a multi-faith band from London, who said he was “touched and honoured” to be working with the youths.

"It's important that during challenging times like these the people and organisations who are working for peace step up a gear and show the world that there are ways of increasing understanding and crossing religious, national and cultural divides. The work that Windows for Peace are doing with Israelis and Palestinians is incredibly important. I absolutely believe that no matter what, hatred and war are truly not viable options," Nazam said.

A new Zionist revolution?

The Media Line, July 7, 2009

Hip-Hop, Palestinian Style

The Media Line
June 17, 2009

Analysis: Obama is Satisfied but Now Netanyahu has to Sell It at Home

Written by Matthew Kalman
The Media Line,
Monday, June 15, 2009

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s grudging acceptance in his landmark speech on Sunday that a “demilitarized Palestinian state” could be created through peace talks with Israel has bought him some time with U.S. President Barack Obama, but it left Palestinians unmoved and may have started the countdown to the end of his unwieldy government coalition.

Netanyahu knows that his last government was brought down not by the Palestinians but by the Israeli right. He himself encouraged the right-wing revolt against former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that triggered a split in the ruling Likud Party and founded Kadima in 2005.

Netanyahu is forced to manage a complex balancing act between the conflicting pressures of the Obama administration, the Palestinians and his own coalition. There is little doubt that Sunday’s speech was directed more towards Washington than to Netanyahu’s own voters. It was delivered at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv, rather than from the podium of the Knesset in Jerusalem. Consistent with the tradition of Israeli communications disasters, the official English translation of the Hebrew text was not made available by Netanyahu’s office until three hours after the speech was delivered, but according to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, Netanyahu phoned the White House on Sunday afternoon and gave the highlights of the speech to Vice President Joe Biden.

Although Netanyahu had hoped that President Obama would watch it live, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the president was out playing golf when Netanyahu took the stage. But Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs lost little time in expressing the White House’s satisfaction. "The President welcomes the important step forward in Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech. The President is committed to two states—a Jewish state of Israel and an independent Palestine—in the historic homeland of both peoples," Gibbs told reporters.

"The President will continue working with all parties—Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Arab states, and our Quartet partners—to see that they fulfill their obligations and responsibilities necessary to achieve a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a comprehensive regional peace," said Gibbs.

Palestinian leaders were not so enthusiastic.

"He spoke about a Palestinian state, (but) after he removed from it the issue of Jerusalem, placed the issue of refugees outside negotiations, placed security outside negotiations when he spoke about a demilitarized Palestinian state,” negotiator Saeb Erekat told Al-Jazeera. "Netanyahu tonight unilaterally ended the negotiations and there is no need for these negotiations anymore," he added.
"He will have to wait 1,000 years before he finds one Palestinian who will go along with him with this feeble state," he said.

Netanyahu’s Labor coalition partners welcomed the speech, as did the Kadima opposition, but there were howls of protest from the right, including from within Netanyahu’s own Likud Party. It evoked the days when Netanyahu himself was encouraging right-wing protests against Ariel Sharon’s decision to withdraw from Gaza in 2005.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu has caved in to American pressure that influenced him to declare a Palestinian state at Bar-Ilan,” said Danny Danon, a Likud lawmaker. “The Likud movement and the present coalition will not allow him to go forward with a Palestinian state. If the prime minister tries to advance the idea of a Palestinian state in practice, he will encounter opposition, not just from members of Likud, but from all the members of the coalition.”

Zevulun Orlev, a leader of the Jewish Home Party, said Netanyahu’s “declaration of a demilitarized Palestinian state” was “a severe disappointment and contradicts both his principles and our principles and is a repudiation of all the promises and obligations towards the voter. This statement requires a very serious discussion within the coalition regarding its future and cohesiveness.”

Outside parliament, the Jewish Front and Land of Israel HQ – the grassroots movement behind the expansion of illegal outposts in the West Bank – said they would pour their energies into bringing down the government and setting up more outposts. Benny Katzover, head of the Jewish communities in Samaria, accused Netanyahu of reverting to his former career as a commercial salesman. “The worst things we had feared were said and how,” said Katzover. “I very much regret that a prime minister talking about the heart of the Jewish homeland has become a salesman for that same homeland. No country in the world would trade in the territory of its own homeland. Nominating Judea and Samaria as the site of a Palestinian state is a very serious thing which I think Jewish history will neither forget nor forgive of Benjamin Netanyahu.”

Carter Bombshell: 'West Bank Settlements Will Stay'

Written by Matthew Kalman
The Media Line: Sunday, June 14, 2009

Jimmy Carter has surprised Israelis and shocked Palestinians by declaring that one of the largest blocs of Israeli West Bank settlements should remain under Israeli control.

Carter, who is on a week-long visit to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, made the comments during a visit to the settlement of Neve Daniel near Bethlehem. The settlement is part of the Etzion Bloc, one of the largest Israeli enclaves on road between Bethlehem and Hebron and home to more than 15,000 Israelis.

The enclave was under Jewish control prior to the founding of Israel in 1948 and was lost to Arab control during fierce fighting in Israel’s war of independence. It was resettled after Israel regained control of the area in the 1967 war and is one of several areas that most Israelis would like to become absorbed into their country in any peace deal with the Palestinians.

“This particular settlement area is not one that I envision ever being abandoned or changed over into Palestinian territory,” said Carter as he emerged from a meeting with Shaul Goldstein, head of the Etzion Bloc Regional Council.

“This is part of the Gush settlement to the 1967 line that I think will be here for ever,” Carter told reporters in the garden of Goldstein’s home in the tiny hilltop settlement of Neve Daniel.

“I have been very fortunate this afternoon in learning a perspective that I didn’t have,” said Carter.

The former president caused uproar among Israel’s supporters when he titled his last book “Israel: Peace or Apartheid.” On Saturday he was honored by Palestinian leaders in Ramallah who applauded his longstanding commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

‘Saib ‘Ariqat, the Palestinian chief negotiator, said Carter’s comments were unacceptable.

“I cannot accept anyone prejudging and preempting the issues that are reserved for permanent status negotiations,” ‘Ariqat told The Media Line.

“The negotiations are between Palestinians and Israelis and it’s not for anyone to decide. Our position is that all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal,” he said.

“In accordance with international law settlements are illegal and they are obstructing peace,” he added.

The Obama Administration has demanded a complete freeze in settlement construction by Israel on the West Bank, but Israel says it needs to expand its communities there in line with their “natural growth.”

“I hope that in the future we’ll see accommodation between Israel and the United States and between Israel and the people of Palestine in signing peace with a mutual respect for one another and mutual security on both sides,” Carter said.

“The most important element in my life in the last 30 years has been to bring peace to the people of Israel – and security. With that obviously will have to come peace and security for Israel’s neighbors. That’s the purpose of my even coming here,” he said.

As US president in 1978, Carter helped seal the Camp David peace accords that brought about the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. That treaty ended decades of wars between the two countries and has remained intact despite regional tensions and mutual differences over policy towards the Palestinians.

Carter also met with bereaved Israelis who had lost family members in terrorist attacks in the area.

“I came to learn,” the former president said. “I’ve done more listening than I have talking this afternoon. The listening has been very valuable to me.”

Shaul Goldstein described the meeting with Carter as “very important.”

“He came here and saw things he never knew of before. He said that he wants to see more world leaders visit the settlements and hear what settlers have to say to truly understand what is going on here,” said Goldstein.

Exclusive: “I never faked any antiquity”

Written by Matthew Kalman
The Media Line, Thursday, June 11, 2009

An Israeli antiquities collector accused of faking the burial box of Jesus’ brother and other priceless historical items says he is confident that new scientific evidence will prove that he is innocent.

Oded Golan, 58, has been on trial at the District Court in Jerusalem for the past four years, charged with forging an inscription on a Roman-era burial box or ossuary that says it contained the bones of “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.”

The discovery caused a sensation when it was first announced in 2002 and displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum. But on its return to Israel, the ossuary was seized by Israeli police and Golan was arrested.

He was accused of faking the ossuary and other items in order to trap gullible collectors. In December 2004, he was indicted with four other defendants and accused of being at the center of an international antiquities forgery ring.

“They took original antiquities and added inscriptions and decorations, which turned the artifact into something valuable – and some of the antiquities we’re talking about are worth millions of dollars. One example is the ossuary of Jesus’ brother,” said Commander Shaul Naim of the Jerusalem police.

“We have the basis to believe that there are many more fake artifacts circulating, both in private collections and museums in Israel and abroad that we haven’t found yet,” Naim said.

“We know there are antiquity forgeries – it’s not a new thing. But the extent and the drama in attempting to fake history didn’t allow us as a government body not to become involved,” said Shuka Dorfman, head of the Israeli Antiquities Authority.

“I believe we have revealed only the tip of the iceberg. This industry encircles the world, involves millions of dollars,” said Dorfman.

Golan and his co-defendants went on trial in the summer of 2005, but after more than 70 prosecution witnesses and 8,000 pages of testimony, Judge Aharon Farkash warned the prosecution that he was not convinced they had proved their case and advised them to consider halting the trial.

"After all the evidence we have heard, including the testimony of the prime defendant, is the picture still the same as the one you had when he was charged?" Judge Farkash pointedly asked the prosecution in October 2008. "Not every case ends in the way you think it will when it starts. Maybe we can save ourselves the rest."

"Have you really proved beyond a reasonable doubt that these artifacts are fakes as charged in the indictment?” Judge Farkash said. “The experts disagreed among themselves. Where is the definitive proof needed to show that the accused faked the ossuary? You need to ask yourselves those questions very seriously.”

In an exclusive interview with The Media Line at his Tel Aviv home, Golan said he was confident that new scientific research undertaken by defense experts would finally exonerate him. Prosecution scientists had accused Golan of faking patina – a thin layer of biological material covering ancient items – in order to make the inscriptions on the artifacts seem old.

“No, I never faked any antiquity,” Golan told The Media Line. “During the last several years there were several tests and examinations of those items by prominent experts from different countries in different laboratories and I think we succeeded to prove that these inscriptions could not have been inscribed in the last century. There is a thin layer of patina – it’s a thin layer of crust made actually by a micro-organism that was developed inside the grooves of the inscription and this product made by the micro-organism could not have been developed in less than a hundred years.”

“It’s impossible to generate artificial patina, which takes a long, long time to be developed. It normally takes a hundred years in nature to be developed. Technology has not developed yet any technology to make it in a short time in a way that you will not be able to recognize it. You may do something similar, but this is not a forgery. This is like reconstruction of a building with similar materials,” said Golan.

“I am sure that most of the people who originally claimed that it’s a forgery recognized later on – just look at the articles and the researches that were done later on – that it should be ancient. I cannot guarantee that it belonged to the brother of Jesus Christ but it’s definitely ancient. I have no doubt about it,” he said.

The Israel Antiquities Authority and Justice Ministry refused to comment.

Radio interview for The Media Line

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Palestinian Students Who Are Barred From Entering Israel Can Appeal, Israeli Court Says

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Daily News Blog, May 25, 2009

Jerusalem — In a hearing here today on military restrictions on Palestinian students who wish to study at Israeli universities, Israel’s Supreme Court invited students who are denied entry permits to appeal to the Israeli courts.

The hearing was held on a petition related to a case that was brought in 2006 by a Palestinian, Sawsan Salameh, and backed by the human-rights group Gisha. Ms. Salameh had been accepted as a doctoral student in chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in January 2006 but had been unable to attend until late that year for lack of military permission to enter Israel.

In an earlier ruling in the case, the court had asked the state to replace the sweeping restrictions then in place with more specific criteria for allowing students to enter Israel. Instead of easing the restrictions, however, the state made them even harsher, Gisha contends. Among other conditions, the new restrictions introduced an arbitrary quota on the number of Palestinian students who could enter each year, Sari Bashi, director of Gisha, told The Chronicle.

Today’s hearing was held at Gisha’s request. While the court declined to take a stand on the restrictions themselves, it did emphasize that students who were denied entry had a right to appeal. The ruling also dismissed Ms. Salameh’s petition, since she has been allowed to continue her studies at the Hebrew University.

Alon Harel, a professor at the Hebrew University who asked to join the petition along with four other professors, said in a statement on Gisha’s Web site that Israeli universities “are being forcibly prevented from accepting students who can make a decidedly valuable contribution to higher education in Israel. I call upon the court and the defense establishment to respect academic freedom. The decision whether or not to accept a student needs to be the exclusive decision of the university, while the military should be limited to performing a security check.” —Matthew Kalman

Israel Detains 2 From Bethlehem U. Who Sought to Attend Meeting With Pope

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Daily News Blog, May 13, 2009

Jerusalem — Two Bethlehem University faculty members were detained for questioning on Monday while on their way to participate in an interfaith conference here with Pope Benedict XVI, university officials told the Ma’an News Agency.

According to the officials, the two men were held after being denied entry to Jerusalem by Israeli authorities. Delegates to the conference included faculty members from the university, university alumni, and natives of the Bethlehem area of the West Bank.

Israeli authorities did not explain why the men had been barred, and the university said their experience was typical for its students and faculty and staff members, “many of whom navigate a maze of checkpoints, soldiers, and other structures of military occupation simply to be present on campus.”

Despite its diminished delegation at the conference, Bethlehem University received a special mention by the pope, who is visiting the Middle East. Praising local efforts at interfaith dialogue, Benedict noted the university’s “outstanding achievements” as examples of the “belief that our duty before God is expressed not only in our worship but also in our love and concern for society .. and for all who live in this land.” —Matthew Kalman

http://matthewkalman.blogspot.com/

POPE'S 'COMPLEX' MISSION

Visit: Pope Benedict is going to Israel

SUNDAY EXPRESS, May 10, 2009

By Matthew Kalman

POPE Benedict arrives in Israel tomorrow on a visit intended to mend fences with both Muslims and Jews amid efforts to reverse the plummeting numbers of Christians in the Holy Land.

Vatican spokesman Rev Frederico Lombardi described the Pope’s “very important and very complex” pilgrimage this week as “an act of hope and faith toward peace and reconciliation”.

Muslims have still not forgiven Pope Benedict for a speech he gave at Regensburg in 2006 in which he quoted a medieval pope who appeared to describe Islam as violent and irrational.

In Jordan, where he arrived on Friday, the Pope faced a chorus of disapproval from Islamic leaders, undermining the hopes of King Abdullah II that his visit would help rekindle Jordan’s tourism industry.

“The present Vatican Pope is the one who issued severe insults to Islam and did not offer any apology to the Muslims,” said Zaki Bani Rusheid, head of the Jordanian Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“What is needed from the Pope is to have the courage to apologize,” Bani Rusheid said.

The Pope has expressed regret for misunderstandings over Regensburg but not for the speech itself.

Jordanian Islamists also condemned a planned visit to Yad Vashem, the Jerusalem memorial to Holocaust victims, even though Pope Benedict will also visit a refugee camp in Bethlehem.

Palestinian Christians, who feel caught between Jews and Muslims struggling for control of the Holy Land, have expressed delight that the Pope is coming.

But a study published this week shows the number of Christians in Jerusalem has fallen from 30,000 in 1946 to just 14,000.

Slumdog Stars Confirmed as a Couple

By Simon Perry and Matthew Kalman

People.com, Monday April 27, 2009

After much speculation about the nature of the relationship involving Slumdog Millionaire stars Dev Patel and Freida Pinto, Patel's mother Anita has confirmed to a British newspaper that the pair are very much a couple.

"First it was the film and now everything else seems to have slotted into place," Mrs. Patel is quoted as saying in Monday's Daily Mirror.

"Life can't get any better for him. Freida is really beautiful, and I am really happy for them."

Her comments come just days after Patel, 19, jetted to Israel to spend a whirlwind date with the Mumbai beauty, 24. "Yes, we knew he was flying to Israel to see her," said Patel's mother.

The pair rendezvoused in Tel Aviv as Pinto took time off from filming her latest movie in Jerusalem. The couple spent a few hours together in a hotel before emerging for a stroll around the harbor and an early champagne dinner at a seaside restaurant.

Onlookers said Pinto couldn't keep her hands off Patel. The couple spent their time at the table smooching and holding hands to the delight of a group of Japanese tourists who happened to pass by.

Shortly afterwards, Patel hopped a taxi to the airport to fly back to London, while Pinto returned to her base at the American Colony Hotel in East Jerusalem.

Israeli Graduates of U.S. Business Schools Are Stuck With Loan Debts and No Jobs

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Daily News Blog, April 21, 2009

Jerusalem — Hundreds of Israeli business-school graduates are stuck in the United States with no jobs but huge student loans to repay, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported today.

According to participants at a gathering of 100 Israeli M.B.A. students and alumni in New York on Sunday, the prospects of getting a job in the dismal economic climate are slim. Meir Stein, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, said many American finance and technology companies, particularly those receiving government money from the economic-stimulus package, will not hire foreigners.

Such support can be contingent on providing local jobs, and handling immigration issues can be a huge hassle for the employer, Haaretz said.

According to today’s Wall Street Journal, many American M.B.A. graduates who had planned to start a new career are being forced to return to their old jobs in order to find work.

The New York Times reported last week that this year’s Wharton graduates were changing direction abruptly as job offers from traditional companies dried up.

The global economic crisis has spared no one, including the Israeli M.B.A.’s, said Aharon Shenrech, who so far has no job and faces debts of $100,000 from his Wharton M.B.A. “I estimate that roughly 60 percent of my acquaintances who finished their M.B.A. studies are getting job offers, but the rest aren’t,” he said.

About 100 Israelis are accepted by M.B.A. programs at American universities each year, but their success depends on finding a good job afterward, even if the student ultimately plans to return to Israel. The whole concept of studying in the United States on a student loan is based on getting a good job, said Haaretz. And today, even if a job can be found, it may not pay well. —Matthew Kalman

Peres warns of a ‘strike’ against Iran

Daily Mail
14 Apr 2009

ISRAELI president Shimon Peres warned last night that military action against Iran would still be needed if Barack Obama’s new diplomatic initiative fails to stop its nuclear programme.

He said he hoped Mr Obama’s call for dialogue with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be heeded. But he warned that if talks do not soften Mr Ahmadinejad’s approach, ‘we’ll strike him’.

The Obama administration announced last week that it would take part in talks between a group of countries and Iran over its nuclear programme.

It was a significant shift from President Bush’s policy toward a nation he labelled part of an ‘axis of evil’.

Iran insists the programme is a civilian one, but many countries fear it wants to produce weapons.

An aide to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that ‘ Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons could quite possibly be the single most serious issue that faces the international community’.

Mr Peres admitted, however, that Israel could not take action without U.S. support, adding: ‘We definitely can’t go against the U.S.’

SHAKY START FOR NETANYAHU

SUNDAY EXPRESS
Sunday April 5,2009

By Matthew Kalman

ISRAELI premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government got off to a bad start last week.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has returned to power, 10 years after he was ousted, with a 30-member cabinet so big that carpenters had to construct a new table for it in the Knesset.

But critics say his broad coalition, which includes members of the centre-left Labour party, the religious United Torah Judaism and Shas, and the secularist Israel Is Our Home, cannot last. The new government’s peace policies are opaque and its economic policies are likely to be a fudged compromise between Netanyahu’s free-market That­cherism and the socialist paternalism of Labour.

Outside Israel, Netanyahu was denounced as a warmonger for failing to include a clear commitment to a two-state solution with the Palestinians in his government policy guidelines. But he was overshadowed by his Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Israel Is Our Home Party.

Lieberman, who grabbed attention by declaring that Israel was no longer bound by the Annapolis peace process, is under investigation on a string of corruption allegations and spent his first full day as foreign minister being questioned under caution by fraud police. If charged, he will have to resign.

American Universities Plan Their Own Study-Abroad Programs in Israel

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Daily News Blog, April 3, 2009

Jerusalem — For decades, hundreds of American students have spent their junior year abroad at special programs on Israeli university campuses, but in a new trend, American universities are opening their own study-abroad programs in Israel, staffed by their own faculty members.

About 500 students from American universities are now enrolled in study-abroad programs in Israel lasting one semester or longer. That number is expected to double over the next year, said Ayelet Margolin, an official at MASA Israel Journey, an organization that helps coordinate the programs on behalf of the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Among the American institutions with such programs in Israel are Boston University, Columbia University, the University of Miami, and the University of Pennsylvania. Other universities that have already announced plans to open such programs include Harvard University, New York University, the University of Illinois, the University of Maryland, and Washington University in St. Louis.

“One reason Israel is so attractive is that there is such a broad range of choice,” said Ms. Margolin.

Some programs that were halted over security concerns after the outbreak of the Palestinian intifada uprising, in 2000, have now resumed. One of them is the University of California system’s partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “It is in the best interest of our students to once again provide educational opportunities in Israel,” Michael Cowan, acting director of the education-abroad program at the University of California, said in a written statement. —Matthew Kalman

'Jesus ossuary trial' stalled after more than three years

THE JERUSALEM POST

Mar. 31, 2009

MATTHEW KALMAN

One of Israel's best-known antiquities dealers said this week he was the innocent victim of a "witch-hunt" initiated by the Antiquities Authority aimed at destroying his career and reputation.

Robert Deutsch, 58, has been on trial at the Jerusalem District Court since September 2005 on six charges of faking and selling priceless antiquities. He is the owner of the Archeological Center, with shops in Tel Aviv and Jaffa, and runs twice-yearly antiquities auctions that attract the world's top collectors of ancient Judaica.

Deutsch's co-defendant, leading antiquities collector Oded Golan, is charged with faking the burial box of Jesus's brother and an inscribed stone attributed to King Jehoash that once adorned the First Temple, plus dozens of smaller items.

As Deutsch took the stand this week for the first time after more than three years in court, 120 witnesses and 8,000 pages of testimony, he said the charges against him were "lies and hallucinations."

Golan, Deutsch and three others were indicted in December 2004 on a total of 18 counts of forgery and fraud. The indictments were announced amid great fanfare, with the police and Antiquities Authority officials claiming they had uncovered a grand conspiracy on an international scale in which fake items had been unwittingly bought by museums around the world. They said the five accused were just the beginning.

Shuka Dorfman, director of the Antiquities Authority, described the charges against Golan as "the tip of the iceberg."

"These forgeries have worldwide repercussions," Dorfman said when the indictments were filed. "They were an attempt to change the history of the Jewish and Christian people."

"This was fraud of a sophistication and expertise which was previously unknown," said the Israel Police's Cmdr. Shaul Naim, who headed a two-year investigation. "They took authentic items and added inscriptions to make them worth millions."

But more than four years later, no one else has been charged and no one has been prosecuted over a single fake item from any museum. Charges against two of the five original defendants were dropped, and one man was found guilty on a minor charge.

"They fabricated this entire indictment, the whole thing, from A to Z," said Deutsch, who tried to dismiss his lawyer earlier this year because of spiralling trial costs.

Deutsch is one of the world's leading experts on deciphering ancient Hebrew and other semitic inscriptions. Of the 1,000 known seal impressions from ancient Israel, he has published about half.

According to the Antiquities Authority, Deutsch and Golan conspired to forge an ancient decanter, several inscribed pieces of pottery and dozens of seal impressions - known as bulae - some bearing the names of Israelite kings mentioned in the Bible. They are accused of publishing scholarly papers on the items to enhance their value, and then selling them for thousands of dollars to unsuspecting collectors.

After Deutsch was indicted, he was fired from a teaching post at the University of Haifa and dismissed as a supervisor at the Megiddo excavations.

"I have never faked anything in my life," said Deutsch. "I'm the first person to call something a fake, because it pollutes the profession that I have made my expertise."

On the witness stand, Deutsch said he knew Golan, his alleged co-conspirator, only through business. He said the Antiquities Authority and police had failed to find a single e-mail between the two men, or any evidence linking him to forgery despite repeated raids on his home and shops.

Deutsch said the trial was an attempt to shut down the licensed trade in antiquities in Israel, even though it is legal and he has held a license from the authority for the past 30 years.

"The Antiquities Authority thinks we are no better than antiquities thieves," he said. "They believe that our legal trade is worse than theft because we are encouraging the robbers."

"They went to the Knesset and tried to pass legislation banning trade in antiquities and they failed. Now they are using this trial to destroy our business," he said.

"I don't know how much lower they can get, the people who cooked up this trial," he said. "They misled the prosecution, they misled the press and they came up with all sorts of stories with no basis in reality."

One charge against Deutsch and Golan is that in 1995 they conspired to inscribe an ancient decanter with a text linking it to the Temple service and sell it to billionaire collector Shlomo Moussaieff.

"To increase the significance of the decanter and enhance its price," the indictment charges, "Defendant No. 2 published the decanter in a volume of archeology which he authored on the subject of Hebraic inscriptions from the First Temple period."

But Deutsch produced the book in court - exhibit No. 4 - and showed that it was already at the printer in 1994, by which time the decanter was already in the Moussaieff collection. The book cannot have been used to enhance the sale price.

In addition, Deutsch and Golan have both produced compelling evidence to show that the decanter, like the rest of the items, is authentic.

The prosecution, which took nearly three years to present its case, has had difficulty proving the alleged conspiracy. When Oded Golan took the stand last year, he produced plausible explanations for the all the apparent evidence of forgery found in repeated raids on his home, business premises and storage facilities.

Expectations that the prosecution would produce an Egyptian craftsman it alleges actually faked most of the items were dashed when he refused to come to Israel to give evidence.

The star prosecution witness, Tel Aviv University's Prof. Yuval Goren, was forced to recant some of his testimony based on scientific tests that showed the patina - the encrustation that adheres to ancient objects - to be a modern concoction. Further scientific evidence based on isotopic analysis of the patina looked increasingly unconvincing after other scientists tested the same items and came to the opposite conclusion.

Last October, the trial appeared close to collapse after Judge Aharon Farkash advised the prosecution to consider dropping the proceedings.

"After all the evidence we have heard, including the testimony of the prime defendant, is the picture still the same as the one you had when he was charged?" the judge pointedly asked the prosecutor. "Maybe we can save ourselves the rest."

"Have you really proved beyond a reasonable doubt that these artifacts are fakes as charged in the indictment? The experts disagreed among themselves" Farkash said.

The trial continues.

Matthew Kalman is the Jerusalem correspondent of the San Francisco Chronicle. His stories on the forgery trial can be found at jamesossuarytrial.blogspot.com.

Secular mayor brings business sense to Jerusalem

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Sunday, March 29, 2009

Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service

Jerusalem -- Nir Barkat, Jerusalem's newly elected mayor, is on a mission: to drag this ancient city into the 21st century.

Behind the iconic image of the Old City dominated by the Western Wall of Herod's Temple and the shimmering golden Dome of the Rock, is a near-bankrupt modern metropolis that is slipping deeper into poverty.

Since local taxes are low in contrast to other Israeli metropolitan areas, city services are limited and 56 percent of children and 33 percent of families live in poverty, according to the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies.

Barkat, 49, is a former paratrooper turned high-tech millionaire whose BRM Technologies is a pioneer in anti-virus software. A secular Jew born and raised in a city where 40 percent of its 750,000 inhabitants are ultra-Orthodox, his electoral victory in November reversed a rising religious hold on power.

"He was boosted by internal divisions inside the ultra-Orthodox camp," said David Horovitz, editor in chief of the Jerusalem Post.

In S.F. today

Barkat, who refuses to take a salary, will visit San Francisco today to promote investment and tourism. Assisting that effort is Isaac Applbaum, a founding general partner of Opus Capital in Menlo Park, who has reportedly invested millions in Israeli high-tech startups.

"I'm trying to put into practice the mayor's vision to ... rebuild Jerusalem from one of the poorest cities in Israel to one of the greatest," said Applbaum.

As mayor, Barkat has promised to preserve the fragile religious "status quo" whereby shopping malls and buses do not operate on the Sabbath, but movie theaters and non-kosher restaurants are allowed to remain open in secular neighborhoods.

He has also vowed to bring business sense to a city riven by political and religious factions. Mapam, a left-wing Israeli minority party, represents the interests of Palestinian residents who regularly boycott municipal elections. Secular Jews are irate over ultra-Orthodox residents, many of whom are on welfare or receive student stipends and are not obligated to pay taxes.

Problems, not politics

As a businessman and right-leaning independent who only entered politics five years ago, Barkat says he will focus more on solving problems than winning political debates.

"I've brought something that's called 'no surprises' to the way I manage Jerusalem," Barkat told The Chronicle in a recent interview. "When there are problems, let's put them on the table and solve them together. That gains a lot of trust rather than arm-wrestling to see who wins every round."

Years of underinvestment and poor planning have resulted in severe problems in transportation, education and housing, economists say. The city's annual budget of $800 million is less than Tel Aviv's, even though Jerusalem has twice the population. Barkat says only 45 percent of residents over 15 are employed, or 1 taxpayer for every 3 residents, in contrast to Tel Aviv, where 64 percent over 15 are employed and where there are 3 workers for every 3 residents.

One of Barkat's first acts has been to reassess a light-rail project that has snarled city traffic for five years, soared over budget and is three years behind schedule. He has proposed canceling future lines and replacing them with a flexible Bus Rapid Transport system.

More importantly, the new mayor is fixed firmly on creating jobs, building more housing and improving city services. Last year, 17,000 youths left the city to look for work elsewhere, according to city records.

In the absence of tax revenue, Barkat hopes to attract foreign investment in outsourcing of office services such as call centers and health-life sciences centered around the city's renowned Hadassah Hospital and Teva Pharmaceuticals, the latter a world leader in generic drugs.

"As mayor, I intend to focus on those areas where Jerusalem has competitive advantages and build them into business clusters," he said.

Barkat also plans to increase the number of tourists from 2 million to 10 million within a decade in order to create 150,000 new jobs with more tourist events and biblical theme parks.

Christians, Muslims, Jews

"No other city in the world can provide an opportunity to see Christians, Muslims and Jews at their best, with all their differences, and leverage their differences," Barkat said.

Perhaps his toughest challenge will be defusing simmering tension between Israeli and Palestinian residents, the latter who consider themselves living under occupation and comprise one-third of the city's population. Barkat says he can advance relations by improving city services to East Jerusalem, where most Palestinians live. The area was annexed from Jordan after the 1967 Six-Day War.

According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, 160,000 Palestinians have no running water; East Jerusalem lacks 40 miles of sewage lines, and the government has built more than 50,000 housing units on expropriated Arab lands and none for Palestinians.

"Definitely there are gaps," Barkat conceded. "My goal is to improve the quality of life of the people, of the residents of East Jerusalem. We will do that. It's my duty."

At the same time, he dismissed criticism leveled this month by visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of plans to demolish 88 Palestinian houses illegally constructed in East Jerusalem. He called her comments "unhelpful" to the peace process.

But Fakhri Abu Diyab, whose house in the Silwan neighborhood has been targeted for demolition, said he had no choice but to build without city permits.

"The municipality refused to let me build on a piece of land that I received from my father and my grandfather," Diyab said. "I was forced to build without a permit. ... What they want is to evict us."

Meanwhile, some analysts say Barkat must soon show results to win over skeptics who regard him as an ingenue rich-kid dabbling in politics.

"He will have to prove himself in office if he is to achieve the second and third terms he has already announced he will seek," said the Jerusalem Post's Horovitz.

E-mail Matthew Kalman at foreign@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page A - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Matthew Kalman had fun making Brit movie — and hopes he can cut it in Britain

From The Jewish Chronicle
Candice Krieger
March 26, 2009

‘Circumcise Me’. That’s the name of the debut movie by Jerusalem-based news reporter and film director Matthew Kalman.

Mr Kalman, 48, teamed up with photographer David Blumenfeld to co-direct the hit comedy. Circumcise Me: The Comedy of Yisrael Campbell traces the life of Catholic boy-turned-Jewish comedian Yisrael Campbell, whose story turns out to be one of wild self-discovery.

Mr Campbell — formerly known as Chris Campbell — undergoes three conversions: from Catholicism to Reform Judaism, to Conservative Judaism and then to Orthodox Judaism.

The film, which has been generating a lot of interest at film festivals across Canada and the US, has now arrived in the UK.

Mr Kalman, who made aliyah ten years ago, tells People: “During the intifada, I spent a lot of time reporting on and filming people getting blown up. People were generally interested in blood and guts and it was all very depressing. David and I decided we wanted to do something more fun. I went to see Yisrael perform and knew we had our subject.”

They started working on the film in 2005. It took three years to complete. “It was a really long process,” says Mr Kalman, who reports for Channel 4 in the UK, among other media. “I am a news reporter but have always been interested in comedy. I thought making a film would be easy. I was wrong.”

Nonetheless, Mr Kalman is pleased with the outcome. “There is a Life of Brian-type feel to the film,” he says. “It is a really funny, feelgood creation. It’s about the intifada but it’s also about how life is lived in Israel. As journalists here, we often have to cover deaths — but we wanted to capture that absurdist humour.”

Blistering Audit Blames Israeli Universities for Hiding Multibillion-Dollar Deficits

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Daily News Blog: March 23, 2009

Jerusalem — Israel’s universities have been accused of hiding huge budget deficits and of fiscal mismanagement in a scathing report by the country’s state comptroller, who oversees public institutions.

The official, Micha Lindenstrauss, said the country’s publicly financed universities ran up a deficit of 17.9 billion shekels (nearly $4.5-billion) last year but reported a deficit of only 1.59 billion shekels (about $400-million).

“These institutions go to great lengths in order to intercept any attempts made by the supervisor to enforce efficient supervision,” Mr. Lindenstrauss said in a report issued last week. “Academic freedom does not justify a lack of fiscal restraint or gross deficits.”

He said the major causes of the deficits were generous employment terms and pension plans for senior academic staff members.

After the universities paid their employees the unauthorized additional salary benefits, they were left with less money for their primary purpose, academic instruction and research, he noted. “You cannot cite academic freedom broadly to justify improper management when it has nothing to do with academic issues,” Mr. Lindenstrauss was reported as saying in Haaretz, a daily newspaper.

Mr. Lindenstrauss also said that funds earmarked for building international scientific relations, money that is supposed to be for research, were instead used for other purposes, including to pay retired academics, the families of deceased professors, and senior administrators, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Israeli universities have demanded and been granted hundreds of millions of dollars in extra funds to make up for budget cuts carried out under the previous government.

The comptroller also accused the bodies entrusted with overseeing higher education — the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council of Higher Education and the Finance Ministry — of not doing enough to supervise state-backed educational institutions.

The Council of Higher Education acknowledged the importance of the comptroller’s report and said in a statement that its findings would lead to change in work arrangements and increased efficiency in higher education.

Mr. Lindenstrauss also said the Committee of University Presidents bore specific responsibility for the problems outlined in his report. He said the committee had refused to allow his researchers access to its budgets and had yielded requested information only after being warned that continued foot-dragging would be considered as an attempt to thwart the investigation. He said the size of the deficit was known to the committee for years, but it neglected its responsibility to report the situation to the public.

The Committee of University Presidents denied any wrongdoing but said it was closely examining the report. “We shall act promptly and determinedly to make corrections,” the committee said in a statement. “The universities’ presidents cooperated with the comptroller and gave him all the information to carry out the audit, which is why [the presidents] were so surprised by his comments and rejects his claim that there was a lack of cooperation.” —Matthew Kalman

Israeli troops 'admit they killed innocent civilians in Gaza war'

DAILY MAIL 20th March 2009

By Matthew Kalman

Israeli army chiefs began a criminal investigation last night into claims that soldiers killed innocent Palestinian civilians during the recent war in Gaza.

The troops are said to have believed they would not be held to account under relaxed rules of engagement.

The claims were reported in newspapers yesterday, based on a transcript of a discussion at a recruits’ training course.
Gaza attack

Damage: Israeli army chiefs are investigating claims troops killed innocent people

Soldiers who fought in the war, which lasted from December to January, allegedly said: ‘Israeli forces killed civilians under permissive rules of engagement and intentionally destroyed their property.’

In one incident, a Palestinian family whose house had been commandeered, were told they could leave.

As they did, they were killed by a sniper in a ‘breakdown in communication’.

A soldier told students: ‘The commander let the family go and told them to go right. The mother and her two children didn’t understand and went to the left, but they (the soldiers) forgot to tell the sharpshooter on the roof that it was okay and he should hold his fire.

‘And he did what he was supposed to, following his orders.’

Another added: ‘The sharpshooter saw a woman and children approaching, closer than the lines he was told no one should pass. He shot them straight away. He killed them.
Gaza attack

‘We fired a lot of rounds and killed a lot of people in order not to be injured or shot at.’

A third soldier said: ‘When we entered a house, we were supposed to bust down the door and start shooting inside and just go up storey by storey – I call that murder. If we identify a person, we shoot them. How is this reasonable?’

He also told of an old woman who was crossing a road when she was shot by soldiers.

‘I don’t know whether she was suspicious or not. I do know that my officer sent people to the roof to take her out. It was cold-blooded murder.’

The level of civilian casualties during the three-week operation caused an international outcry against Israel.

Palestinians say more than half of the more than 1,300 Gazans who were killed were civilians, a figure disputed by Israel.

The soldiers also told of large-scale destruction of Palestinian property. One said: ‘We would throw everything of the windows - refrigerators, furniture. The order was to throw all the contents out.’

Yaakov Amidror, former chief of Israel’s military academies, said: ‘If you see a woman and two children in the crosshairs, it’s pretty clear, there is almost no case in the world that would justify pulling the trigger.’

Israeli officers said they had encountered countless Palestinian suicide bombers who tried to approach the troops and then blow themselves up. They said they had to put the lives of their own soldiers first.

But Danny Mazir, head of the Rabin Academy where the training course was held, said: ‘We expected to hold a discussion about the war. We did not expect the testimonies we heard. We were in total shock.’

Army chief advocate general Brigadier-General Avichai Mandelblit said the accounts ‘paint a picture of unacceptable behaviour, if true’.

Israel's Interdisciplinary Center Draws Praise for Its International Outlook

The private college attracts donors and scholars from around the world
CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
From the issue dated March 20, 2009
By MATTHEW KALMAN

Herzliya

Tal Ben-Shahar was once a successful psychology professor at Harvard University. His classes on positive psychology attracted audiences of more than 850 students, making it the most popular course on the campus. But the best-selling author of Heaven Can Wait and Happier left America in 2006 to return to his native Israel and teach at a little-known institution of higher education called the Interdisciplinary Center at Herzliya, here in this seaside resort.

Mr. Ben-Shahar was drawn to the university, he says, because its founders believe it "can make a difference in society, in schools, in politics, in the daily lives of people in Israel and around the world, which I think is the right spirit of academia."

Established in 1994, the center began life as Israel's first private college. Today it offers serious competition to the country's seven publicly financed major universities, attracting faculty members from some of the world's top universities.

In a short time, the Interdisciplinary Center has grown to more than 5,000 students and developed a burgeoning reputation among students and scholars for its commitment to interdisciplinary work and community involvement.

Two years after arriving, the happiness professor is more than happy with his decision to leave the Ivy League behind.

"This place really is about bridging the ivory tower and main street," Mr. Ben-Shahar says.

"There's a real sense of combining between deep reflection and meaningful action."

The center's founder and president is Uriel Reichman, former dean of law at Tel Aviv University. One of his main aims in creating the college, he says, was to attract many of the brilliant Israeli college graduates who had gone abroad, partly to escape the limited academic career prospects in Israel.

With a student body about one-fifth the size of some of the larger Israeli universities, the Interdisciplinary Center offers undergraduate degrees in law, business, government, psychology, communications, and computer science. It offers master's degrees in law, computer science, business, and government.

And as Israel's seven state-funded universities head into another year of conflict over government budget cuts and faculty pay, the center's independence from public financing has given its students and faculty a rare sense of security — and challenge.

"As a private, not-for-profit institution, we have the ability to say to someone, 'Come here and be the champion of something,'" says Jonathan Davis, the center's vice president for external relations.

The center charges $9,000 annually for tuition, compared with $2,000 at most public universities, although it offers scholarships to needy students.

"If our courses are not creative, why should a student come and spend three times the tuition of a subsidized university?" asks Mr. Davis.

Bernard Fisher, a first-year undergraduate business student from Rio de Janeiro, transferred here after a frustrating year at Bar-Ilan University, near Tel Aviv. A months-long faculty strike wreaked havoc on his schedule, he says.

"Then there was talk of another strike this year. I just didn't have the patience," he says, adding that the quality of teaching at the center is also much better.

"Here, the teachers know you. At Bar-Ilan they had no idea if you even came to class," he says. "The teachers at IDC are very good, and the people here are much more flexible. And you feel they are willing to help so much more. Even though it's the most expensive school in the country, I feel it's worth the money."

Looking Outward

Both professors and students are encouraged to do community service and to work across disciplines.

Mr. Ben-Shahar is developing a course on positive psychology, which looks at traits that enable people and communities to succeed, in cooperation with 160 Israeli high schools. He is developing workshops for teachers, counselors, and students.

Next door to Mr. Ben-Shahar is Yair Amichai-Hamburger, an Oxford-educated Internet researcher and director of the Research Center for Internet Psychology, which studies the effects of the Internet on human relations. He said that colleagues at his previous university laughed when he suggested the establishment of such a center 10 years ago.

"They asked me: 'What does psychology have to do with the Internet?' They didn't realize that the Internet is not just about technology but about the interaction between millions of people," he recalls.

The Interdisciplinary Center's interest in his ideas are what drew him in, he says, and he began working there in 2006.

Today, Mr. Amichai-Hamburger's book, The Social Net: Understanding Human Behavior in Cyberspace, one of the first to focus on the impact of the Internet on social behavior, is a basic textbook for courses in the emerging field of cyberpsychology. His introductory course is compulsory for communications and psychology students at the Interdisciplinary Center and is gradually being duplicated at other Israeli universities.

Across campus, Israel's former ambassador to the European Union, Avi Primor, is developing another first for an Israeli college: a European-studies master's degree, in English, taught jointly by Jordanian, Palestinian, and German professors to students from those regions, and from Israel. It is being offered jointly with the University of Düsseldorf and Al-Quds University, a Palestinian college in the West Bank.

Mr. Primor said he originally approached Tel Aviv University with the idea, but officials weren't interested. In addition, he says, "If this center was at Tel Aviv, I can just imagine the administrative and political complications I would have in order to bring about the trilateral cooperation."

"IDC is flexible, it's open to new ideas, to innovations, and to international cooperation. It's much easier. I'm not sure I would have done it at all somewhere else," he says.

Students say they appreciate the faculty's interdisciplinary approach.

"The professors have a lot of really interesting real-world experience and are teaching in a field they are involved in professionally, where they can bring in their own experience," says Ronit Ledani, who grew up in Boston and is studying government. She transferred after two years at Bar-Ilan University. "I also find the students at IDC are much more motivated. They are really there to learn. They are much more driven."

Ms. Ledani will soon begin working with the children of Sudanese refugees as part of the center's community-outreach program. Students who do community service receive tuition reductions in return.

Global Ambitions

Faculty members at other Israeli colleges say they are impressed with the quality of the Interdisciplinary Center's academic programs but note that it is tailored to a narrow audience, both because of its limited offerings and its high price tag.

"It's good for limited, pinpoint types of activities," says Gerald Steinberg, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University. "It's an alternative and competition — exactly what the Israeli higher-education system needs. The system generally is inflexible. It hasn't adjusted to the times. Universities in Israel are extremely bureaucratic, and you have to go through multiple layers of committees, so it's difficult to change things. IDC has a reputation for being able to do things quickly, maybe because it's so small."

Foreign students have also flocked to the institution. Twenty percent of the student body is international, and 25 percent of the incoming class will study in English. The Interdisciplinary Center is the only university in Israel, in fact, to offer degrees entirely in English. Unlike other public universities here, it has no Hebrew-language requirement and does not require applicants to take the Israeli psychometric exam, which is similar to the SAT. "Part of our mission is to fight Israeli bureaucracy," says Mr. Davis. "They have lost thousands of kids who would otherwise have come here."

The center, whose operating budget is supported by tuition revenue, has also been successful in raising money from Israeli philanthropists. Donors have financed the building of the campus as well as the infrastructure. Seventy percent of its annual $12-million development budget, which pays for buildings and facilities, comes from Israelis. The center also has Israel's only alumni fund-raising campaign, says Mr. Davis.

Among the donors to the institution are Ronald S. Lauder, an American businessman and philanthropist; Shari Arison, Israeli's wealthiest citizen; and the Asper family, owners of CanWest Global Communications Corporation.

Mr. Reichman said future plans include a new school of economics, a scientific research institute dedicated to issues of sustainability, alternative energy, water scarcity, and climate change, and a special program for Israeli high-school principals designed to help improve the country's declining high-school system.

And, he says, the center will expand its student-exchange programs. Current partners include the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Syracuse University.

Mr. Reichman notes that the center draws students from 60 countries. He hopes that eventually 35 percent of the student body, or more, will be drawn from abroad. "We have to continue to emphasize the global aspect of our education because the future of Israel lies in our ability to operate and make the foreign markets our own, and to prepare a new generation of leaders who will do business globally while living in Israel."

http://chronicle.com
Section: International
Volume 55, Issue 28, Page A27

Clinton Announces Million-Dollar Scholarship Program for Palestinian Students

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
NEWS BLOG: March 9, 2009

Ramallah, West Bank — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has announced a new million-dollar scholarship program to help Palestinian students enroll at Palestinian and American universities.

Mrs. Clinton announced the Middle East Partnership Initiative during a visit to this Palestinian town last week. The four-year program will support about 10 scholarships each year for disadvantaged students to attend four-year courses at Palestinian universities. The program will also offer 25 “opportunity grants” to enable promising but disadvantaged young Palestinians to apply to American-accredited institutions in the United States or the Middle East, a State Department official told The Chronicle.

Once funds are approved by Congress, Mrs. Clinton hopes to begin the program in the 2010-11 academic year. The money is in addition to $900-million in aid to the Palestinian Authority announced by the secretary last week at the donors’ conference, in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

During her visit to an American-sponsored English-language teaching program in Ramallah, Mrs. Clinton said the opportunity grants would create “a larger pool of capable young men and women from places like the West Bank and Gaza” who can “compete along with students in other countries for the opportunity to further their academic training in America.” The secretary spoke on a youth program aired by Palestinian Authority TV.

Last year several Palestinian students from Gaza who were awarded Fulbright scholarships ran into difficulty entering Israel to complete the application process, and two of them were subsequently denied entry visas to the United States on security grounds.

Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, said efforts were being made to enable Gazans to participate in American-sponsored projects despite the security challenges.

“We’ve had several dozen Gazans participate in our programs over the last few months, both educational and professional,” said Ms. Schweitzer-Bluhm.

“It is difficult,” she said. “It’s a challenge to bring Gazans to participate in these programs, but we go through great lengths to try and facilitate their participation, and we have advance coordination with the Israelis to get them the necessary permits.” —Matthew Kalman

Hillary Clinton and Mahmoud Abbas both tell Iran: Butt out!

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, March 4th 2009

By Matthew Kalman
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK - Hillary Clinton teamed up with embattled West Bank Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday in telling Iran to butt out of the region.

In wrapping up her first Mideast trip as secretary of state, Clinton joined with the Palestinian Authority president in denouncing the call of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for all Muslims to join the "resistance" to Israel."We are sending a message to the Iranians and others: Stop interfering in our affairs," said Abbas, who is locked in a power struggle in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

On a brief stop in Ramallah, Clinton charged that the Iranians "are interfering only to deepen the rift between Palestinians." The Iranians were seeking to "intimidate as far as they think their voice can reach," Clinton said.

In Tehran, Khamenei said in a statement that "support and help to Palestinians is a mandatory duty of all Muslims. I now tell all Muslim brothers and sisters to join forces and break the immunity of the Zionist criminals."

The hugs and kisses that marked Clinton's earlier visit to Jerusalem were markedly absent from her more formal meetings with Abbas and his prime minister, Salam Fayyad.In response to a reporter's question, Clinton voiced her only negative note about Israeli policy, branding a decision to evict 1,400 Palestinians in East Jerusalem and destroy 88 homes there as "unhelpful."

Clinton also visited a U.S.-supported school providing English-language instruction for high school students and announced a series of scholarships and exchange programs to bring more Palestinians to U.S. universities.

Abbas' presidency, which officially expired in January, is to be shored up by $600 million in U.S. aid and training for his security forces, whose main objective has been to prevent his regime from being overthrown by Hamas.

In Gaza, Hamas officials dismissed Clinton's repeated declarations of support for Israel as "a slap in the face of those who were expecting changes in America foreign policy."

With Richard Sisk in Washington

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wooing Syria to nix Iran nukes

Kahana/Getty Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Israeli President Shimon Peres, who presented her with a bouquet.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, March 4th 2009

BY Matthew Kalman In Jerusalem and David Saltonstall In New York
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Hillary Clinton made her Jerusalem debut as secretary of state Tuesday - and immediately signaled a new diplomatic push to reopen relations with Syria.

Clinton said two American envoys would soon hit the road to Damascus, marking the first direct, high-level talks between the U.S. and Syria since 2005, when relations broke down over Syria's support of terrorist groups.

"We have no way to predict what the future of our relations with Syria might be," Clinton said. "I think it is a worthwhile effort to go and begin these preliminary conversations."

Officials later said that National Security Council official Dan Shapiro and Acting Assistant Secretary of State Jeff Feltman would head to Syria to get the diplomatic ball rolling.

Syria has long harbored Palestinian terror groups, including Hamas, which Clinton sharply criticized for endangering the lives of innocent Israelis and Palestinians and undermining the well-being of the people of Gaza.

But Syria is also viewed as a potential ally against Iran's nuclear ambitions - a top diplomatic priority for the Obama administration.

"Iran's pursuit of the nuclear weapon is deeply troubling to not only the U.S. but many people throughout the world," Clinton later told ABC News.

Throughout her day, Clinton unequivocally expressed the administration's plans to pursue peace in the Middle East - a peace, she suggested, that hinged on the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

"The inevitability of working towards a two-state solution seems inescapable," Clinton told reporters in Jerusalem.

That could put the White House at odds with incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposed the creation of a Palestinian state in his recent election campaign.

But Netanyahu said after an hour-long sitdown with Clinton that the two had found "common ground" and pledged continued cooperation.

The former First Lady later visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, where she laid a wreath in the memorial hall honoring the memory of the six million Jews killed by the Nazis.

"My visit," Clinton said, "was a powerful reminder of why we are working so hard to advance the security of the State of Israel."

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Without peace, Gaza aid is useless, admits Blair

DAILY MAIL
March 2, 2009

TONY Blair yesterday made his first visit to the Gaza Strip since he was appointed an international envoy to the Middle East.

The former Prime Minister warned that aid to the devastated Palestinian territory would be pointless without a renewed drive for peace.

Mr Blair did not meet officials from Hamas, the region’s ruling party, during his lightning stopover, but the visit was coordinated with Hamas security, his aides said.

He toured the Israeli town of Sderot, the target of more than 5,000 Hamas rocket attacks in recent years.

Mr Blair said: ‘ I wanted to come to hear for myself firsthand from people in Gaza, whose lives have been so badly impacted by the recent conflict.

‘ These are the people who need to be the focus of all our efforts for peace and progress from now on.’

Mr Blair is today heading for a conference in Egypt, where it is expected that international donors will pledge millions of pounds to rebuild Gaza.

His trip came only hours before Hillary Clinton arrived in the region for her first visit as U. S. Secretary of State. International Development Minister Douglas Alexander is also currently in Gaza City, where he pledged £ 30million in UK aid.

In Jerusalem, outgoing Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert threatened Hamas with a ‘ painful, sharp, strong and uncompromising response’ after 11 rockets were fired across the border.

One scored a direct hit on an empty school.