DAILY MAIL : 16 Jul 2008
By MATTHEW KALMAN in Jerusalem
TONY BLAIR scrapped a visit to the Gaza Strip at the last minute
yesterday after Israel claimed Palestinian groups were planning to
assassinate him.
Mr Blair, the envoy for the Middle East peace 'quartet' of the UN, EU,
U.S. and Russia, was in his official convoy speeding towards a
Gaza-Israel border crossing when he was phoned by Israeli defence
minister Ehud Barak.
Mr Barak told him the secret service had received an intelligence
warning of 'a very serious' threat to assassinate him.
Mr Blair's advance security detail had already passed through the Erez
checkpoint, but Mr Blair ordered the convoy to turn back to his office
in Jerusalem.
He said the threat had been 'specific' and 'credible', but that he had
postponed the visit rather than cancelled it.
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Thursday, 10 July 2008
My Story: The screen test
JERUSALEM POST : July 10, 2008
By MATTHEW KALMAN
They were turning people away at the door of the Lev Smadar cinema in Jerusalem's German Colony last Thursday night, and no one was more surprised than me.
By MATTHEW KALMAN
They were turning people away at the door of the Lev Smadar cinema in Jerusalem's German Colony last Thursday night, and no one was more surprised than me.
It was the charity premiere of my first movie, Circumcise Me, an hour-long documentary about stand-up comedian Yisrael Campbell and the story of his three (count 'em) conversions to Judaism after a Catholic childhood in Philadelphia.
It was my first premiere. As the lights went down, I was terrified.
The movie theater is a short walk from my home. I knew half the audience. They had paid good money for an evening's entertainment and if it were a flop, I would be bumping into disappointed punters every time I went out to the shops.
The film is less than an hour long, but it had taken three years to reach this point. The project began as a kind of therapy from the daily blood and hatred of the intifada.
I was a foreign news correspondent in Jerusalem for USA Today, Canada's Globe & Mail and other newspapers. My codirector, photographer David Blumenfeld, was snapping for Time, Newsweek and other major publications. We teamed up to report news stories for papers around the world. Then the intifada erupted and we found ourselves dashing from one heartbreaking story to the next. I started reporting for CTV television in Canada, and David learned video news reporting in California. Before long, we were helping to produce documentaries.
It was after one particularly grueling session with a teenage would-be suicide bomber in an Israeli jail that David suggested it was time for us to make our own film. "Let's choose something fun," he suggested. "We need a break from all this."
The following evening, I went to the opening of the Off the Wall Comedy Club at the Little House Hotel in Baka. The headline comedian looked like a resident of Mea She'arim who had wandered into the wrong part of town. His name was Yisrael Campbell.
"Is it hot in here," he asks at the start of his show, "or am I the only one dressed for Poland in the 17th century?" His story, captured in an hour-long show called "It's Not in Heaven," was one of the funniest I had ever heard. It was riveting, hilarious, moving and brilliantly told.
"I think I've found the subject of our film," I told David as soon as I got home.
He agreed. We invited Yisrael to coffee and he loved the idea. More important, we loved him. We were about to spend three years in each other's company, so we needed to get along. And he was trusting us with a project that could make or kill his career.
We decided to let Yisrael's story speak for itself. The show traces his evolution from a drug- and drink-soaked teenager growing up in a Catholic family in Philadelphia to his first encounter with Reform Judaism, his journey through Conservative Judaism to Orthodoxy, his decision to move to Israel and the impact of the intifada on his wedding in Jerusalem, followed by the deaths of two friends in the Hebrew University bomb attack in July 2002.
We filmed six different shows and then took Yisrael to various locations: his yeshiva in Gush Etzion, the Old City, downtown Jerusalem and the scene of the Hebrew University bombing.
None of us was getting paid, so we squeezed it all in between our day jobs. The filming took nearly a year, and the editing took another six months. By the autumn of 2006 we were ready to show our first cut to close friends under the title "It's Not in Heaven." Many of our friends queried the title, and urged us to cut down a long section in the middle. We listened and re-edited the film, trimming the sections that sagged and adding more jokes from Yisrael's show. We restored a hilarious sequence about the baby clothes designed for his new-born twins that was originally left out. ("A pocket? A zero-pound baby has neither arms nor legs, it doesn't need a pocket.")
We paid particular attention to those sections of Yisrael's story that we thought could not be understood by a non-Jewish audience. We assumed our potential audiences in Europe and North America would not know anything about Israel, Judaism or the Middle East conflict.
We gave the film some structure by introducing Woody Allen-style titles using T-shirts on sale on Rehov Ben-Yehuda. On the day we went to film, we noticed a talented street guitarist. It took him less than five minutes to learn a theme tune we had written, and he played variations on it as we filmed the T-shirt captions.
Still searching for a final title, we submitted the film to one of Israel's top distributors. They hated it.
"Our films are serious," they told us. "This one has too many jokes." We were convinced they were wrong, that Israel isn't just about war and suicide attacks. Even when they are happening, normal life goes on. There are even people laughing in the midst of all that mayhem and sadness. We wanted to create an antidote to the news story that we ourselves were reporting every day. We wanted to show life in Israel in all its complexity, not just the violence and the politics. And our test screenings showed that most people who saw it, loved it.
Nearly a year after that first screening, we signed with 7th Art Releasing in Los Angeles, a boutique distributor that specializes in Jewish, Israeli, human rights and gay films. Our search for a title ended when David came up with the brilliant suggestion of Circumcise Me and then created a title sequence to fit that had us all in stitches.
7th Art began to roll the film out to festivals all across North America, with screenings in California, Minneapolis, Toronto, Dallas, Alabama, Louisiana, Palm Beach and others yet to be confirmed. It sold the film to the Jewish Television cable channel in New York and is currently in talks with Israeli TV.
Three days before the screening at the Smadar last week, we had less than 50 bookings for a theater that held more than 250 people. We had agonized over the date, the only open slot at the cinema. After it was booked, we discovered it clashed with the US ambassador's Fourth of July party, the Hartman High School graduation, concerts by Blondie, the Stranglers and Neshama Carlebach, two local weddings, a bachelor party and a big bar mitzva.
We started to panic. We posted flyers on lampposts up and down Rehov Emek Refaim and were slapped with a NIS 2,400 fine for illegal bill-posting by the municipality. We put the show up on Facebook and 38 people said they would come; 58 said they might. All we could do was sit and wait.
The last-minute rush for tickets so overwhelmed the box office that we were 20 minutes late starting. As the packed cinema was plunged into darkness, a wave of nausea washed over me. The screen went black, and the first credit appeared: "A Baka Films production." The audience laughed. It wasn't meant as a joke, but I didn't care. They kept on laughing, right to the end.
www.yisraelcampbell.com
Thursday, 3 July 2008
Four dead in bulldozer rampage of terror
DAILY MAIL : July 3, 2008
By Matthew Kalman in Jerusalem
A PALESTINIAN who drove a bulldozer into traffic on one of Jerusalem's busiest streets was yesterday shot dead after killing three Israelis and wounding more than 40.
The attack – the first in Jewish West Jerusalem for nearly four months – caused havoc to the city centre, leaving a trail of mangled vehicles in its wake.
Witnesses say the driver used the 20-ton vehicle to ram repeatedly a bus packed with passengers before striking another and crushing several cars on Jaffa Street.
A police officer managed to shoot the man after a brief struggle.
Last night, police named the attacker as 30-year-old Hosam Dwayyat, a construction worker from Arab East Jerusalem. Israeli police chief Dudi Cohen said there had been no immediate claim of responsibility from militant groups and that Dwayyat appeared to have acted alone.
The Israeli government immediately denounced the attack as 'an act of senseless, murderous violence', while an aide to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas claimed it was an attempt to wreck peace negotiations.
However, both Hamas and Islamic Jihad called the attack a 'natural' response by Palestinians to Israeli aggression. Neither Islamist group claimed responsibility.
Police confirmed last night that two Israeli women and a man died in the attack.
There were also claims on Israeli TV that one unnamed woman had saved her baby daughter's life by throwing her out of a car window seconds before the bulldozer hit. The baby escaped unharmed although the mother was injured.
Another five-month-old girl was pulled alive from the wreckage of one of the buses after rescuers heard her cries. It later become clear her mother was one of the two women who died.
It is the first major attack on Jerusalem since March, when a 25year-old gunman killed eight students at a Jewish religious school distance from Jaffa Road.
Since then, fatal attacks on Israelis have become relatively rare, despite frequent rocket and mortar fire from Gaza. Israeli forces have killed more than 360 Palestinians this year, mostly in Gaza.
More than 100 of dead were civilians.
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
As truce barely holds, Israeli parents hope for return of kidnapped son
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
June 25th 2008
By Matthew Kalman
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
June 25th 2008
By Matthew Kalman
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
French president Nicolas Sarkozy met with Noam and Aviva Schalit, the parents of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, in Jerusalem on June 23.
JERUSALEM - A five-day-old truce between Hamas militants in Gaza and the Jewish state was hanging by a thread Tuesday after terrorists lobbed three rockets into Israel.
"This is a blatant violation of the calm, and we will weigh options," an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said of the hit on Sderot, a frequent target where two were injured.
The parents of a kidnapped soldier held by terrorists for two years are hoping the cease-fire holds long enough that Israel can win back their son.
The attack on the border town of Sderot by Islamic Jihad came hours after Israeli troops killed two Palestinian militants in the West Bank city of Nablus.
"We cannot keep our hands tied when this is happening to our brothers in the West Bank," an Islamic Jihad spokesman said.
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri, while condemning Israel's West Bank raid, said his group "is keen to maintain the calm."
The first big test of the truce struck last Thursday comes as Israel works for the release of a 21-year-old soldier held by militants for two years.
Egypt, which brokered the cease-fire, is trying to win the freedom of Cpl. Gilad Schalit, kidnapped when he was 19 during a cross-border raid that in 2006.
His dad, Noam Schalit, has accused the Israeli government of "abandoning" his son by not including his release as part of the original cease-fire agreement.
"Until now, I have not spoken bluntly because I feared I might, heaven forbid, damage negotiations," a frustrated Schalit told the Daily News.
"We are trying to make sure there will be a link between this cease-fire and negotiations regarding the release of Gilad or (any prisoner swap)," Schalit said. "The agreement has disconnected between the two issues."
Schalit and his wife Aviva on Monday lost an appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court to tie any easing of the economic blockade of Gaza to the fate of their son.
Gilad's parents have received only three letters and a video message to prove that their son is still alive. The most recent was a hand-written letter delivered earlier this month by representatives of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
"I still think and dream of the day I am freed and see you again, and still I keep the hope that that day is near, but I know it is not in your hands or in mine," the soldier wrote.
Friday, 20 June 2008
Tentative peace in the Middle East brings doubts
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE : Friday, June 20, 2008
Nevertheless, political leaders on both sides expressed doubts that the other would keep their part of the bargain. Israeli army tanks continued to patrol the border fence and Palestinian fighters kept their weapons close at hand. But as evening fell, neither side had fired since the truce went into effect at 6 a.m. Thursday.
In Sderot, the Israeli town of 20,000 inhabitants near the Gaza border hit by more than 4,000 rockets since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip a year ago - including 20 on Wednesday alone - most residents greeted the truce with wary hope. "Calm for how long?" factory worker Meir Kroytoro told the New York Times.
In the Jabalya Palestinian refugee camp, scene of numerous Israeli invasions and rocket attacks, shoppers in an open-air market expressed the same sentiment.
But there was a rare agreement that the cease-fire has been a diplomatic success for Hamas and another political blow for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is mired in a corruption scandal that threatens to topple him from power.
Noam Schalit, father of the abducted Israeli soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit, delivered a withering criticism of the cease-fire, accusing Olmert of abandoning his son, who has been held for two years.
Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the weakness of the government for failing to include Schalit's release in the first stage of the deal. If the cease-fire holds, Israel will ease its blockade on Gaza before resuming negotiations on Schalit's plight.
On Tuesday, Olmert will try to restore his flagging popularity when he visits Egypt for talks with President Hosni Mubarak, which are expected to produce a deal in which Schalit is released in exchange for several hundred Palestinian prisoners.
"This is still very complicated and controversial. It might take some time, but the ball is in the Israeli court," Hamas policy adviser Ahmed Yousuf said. "There is a list of names, and actually there is a timetable for everything."
At his office at the Hamas Foreign Ministry building in Gaza City, Yousuf said the cease-fire is good for both sides.
"I think it's a win-win situation for both the Israelis and the Palestinians," he said. "I think this will lay the foundation for future steps for a real commitment from both sides that they will respect the other.
"The Palestinians are looking to stop all the Israeli aggression and incursions, and the Israelis also hope that the Palestinians will stop firing the rockets on them. I do believe that from our side we will keep our commitment. I hope the Israelis also will keep to the things they promised."
Even Izzedine Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas responsible for numerous attacks on Israel, issued a statement backing the cease-fire.
"We believe that calm is a need to ease the suffering of our people, to promote the option of resistance and the steadfastness," said a statement published on the group's Web site.
But in the dusty alleyways of Beit Hanoun, a favorite launching-pad for Palestinian rocket attacks across the border, and target of repeated Israeli military reprisals, a masked Izzedine Qassam Brigades commander brandished an M16 assault rifle, hand grenades and pistol.
"We're used to holding our weapons in the enemy's faces," said the militant, who identified himself as Abu Khaled and boasted of personally firing 30 rockets into Israel in the past year. "We were forced into this, but we hope that good comes out of it. We will always have our weapons with us, ready to fight the enemy. We will respond to any violation of the cease-fire agreement by the Israelis. We are still committed to the destruction of Israel."
Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said that if the cease-fire holds, the blockade on Gaza would be gradually lifted and supplies of cement, fuel and other goods restored to previous levels. About 80 percent of its 1.4 million residents depend on food aid, according to U.N. figures.
"Now we will be able to make sure that many of these raw materials will be allowed to cross to Gaza, and that means you give a chance to thousands of Palestinians to go back to their work," said Yousuf, the Hamas policy adviser.
But in Jabalya refugee camp, ordinary Gazans were skeptical.
"Even if the gates are open between us and the Israelis, this will not solve the economic situation here in Gaza because most people will not be able to cross into Israel to earn a living," said Hosein Wadi, a 50-year-old father of eight who used to work as a driver in Israel. "For 10 years, I have been sitting doing nothing. No one looks after the ordinary workers. We need money."
E-mail Matthew Kalman at foreign@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page A - 12 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Israel backs Palo Alto man's electric car plan
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE : Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Tel Aviv -- Shai Agassi, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, pledges that he can beat the spiraling cost of gasoline with the world's first mass-produced electric car.
In January, Israel's government endorsed the Palo Alto businessman's ambitious joint venture between his startup company - Project Better Place - and Renault-Nissan.
Agassi says he raised $200 million to get the $500 million dollar project, which will include a network of charging and battery-exchange stations by 2010, off the ground.
Project Better Place also has signed an agreement with Denmark to begin a similar operation by 2011. In Denmark, a pioneer in developing wind power, batteries are expected to be recharged using wind-powered turbines.
Agassi, a 39-year-old Israeli, co-founded Project Better Place after he quit his post in 2007 as president of the products and technology group for the German software giant SAP AG. Although some insiders say he left after losing out in a power struggle to become SAP's chief executive, Agassi says he left to focus on "issues that are important to me," including alternative energy and the future of Israel.
140 miles on a charge
Agassi is banking on his electric-powered sedan revolutionizing life on the roads, cleaning up the environment and reducing dependence on oil. The cars are expected to have a range of up to 140 miles per charge and a top speed of 68 mph - the speed limit in Israel.
Last month, he invited reporters to test-drive a prototype that looks a lot like the Renault Megane, a four-door sedan. The car is noticeably quiet and has no exhaust pipe, an electric socket in place of a gas cap and a dashboard gauge that measures the charge of the vehicle's 450-pound lithium-ion battery.
In the United States, Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle has said she is interested in her state becoming the first to embrace the electric-car network. Mayor Gavin Newsom also has reportedly expressed interest in making San Francisco the first U.S. metropolis to place electric cars on city roads.
Agassi said that because most rides are less than 100 miles, drivers can recharge batteries at home, at work or at thousands of charging points throughout Israel. On longer trips, they can exchange batteries in a five-minute operation at about 200 "swap stations."
"We have a second battery for every driver in the swap stations. It's waiting for you in case you need it. You don't need to carry it with you in the trunk," Agassi said.
Moreover, Nissan's global product planning chief, Tom Lane, has said his firm will soon announce a battery breakthrough, one that could increase driving range to around 200 miles per charge while recharging in as little as 20 minutes.
The cars are also expected to be more economical than a typical gas-driven sedan due in part to tax breaks from the Israeli and Danish governments. Agassi also says the development of the lithium-ion battery has significantly lowered the cost of electricity at a time when oil prices are soaring. Gas currently costs $10 a gallon in Israel and more than $8 a gallon in Denmark.
"Within a decade, the cost of energy for a single year of fuel supply for a combustion car should cost more than the cost of energy for an electric car's entire life, even when taking the cost of battery into consideration," Agassi said.
As with cellular phones, where the service providers install an infrastructure that allows users to make calls and send text, Project Better Place plans to charge $550 a month and provide 18,000 miles a year for the use of the batteries and charging and swap stations. The customer doesn't own the battery - the cars are designed to have easily removable battery packs that can be exchanged.
'Another nutty idea'
But not everyone is convinced that electric cars are the answer.
Jerry Flint, automotive analyst at Forbes magazine, wrote that the project looks like "another nutty idea. Electric cars have limited range and take a good while to recharge. I am still skeptical about how quickly manufacturers will solve the lithium-ion batteries' problems, such as overheating, and be able to put the batteries into mass production."
Nevertheless, the project has won the endorsement of Israeli President Shimon Peres and Idan Ofer, chairman of Israel Corp., one of the nation's major industrial conglomerates, who has invested $130 million in the program.
"I consider this to be a revolutionary project, and I believe that most of the public will drive an electric car within a decade," Ofer said.
Meanwhile, Agassi said he will continue driving his customized electric Toyota RAV4 EV - one of only 1,000 - on Northern California roads.
"I wish I had a battery swap station where I can drive to. We don't, so I manage my energy," he said. "It's one of the most fun cars I've ever driven, because every time I go by a gas station, I feel like I cheated."
The man behind battery-swap plan
Shai Agassi, 39, is an Israeli software entrepreneur who founded TopTier Software in Israel in 1992. He later moved the company's headquarters to Northern California.
In 2007, he co-founded the startup Project Better Place after he quit his job as top executive at the German software giant SAP AG.
Project Better Place wants to produce electric cars as an alternative to current fossil fuel technology.
The automobile that could revolutionize Israel - Denmark could be next
For the most part, foreign automakers - including Nissan-Renault, BMW, Audi, Mitsubishi and Subaru - are developing electric cars to meet California's zero-emission vehicle mandate, which requires at least 7,500 electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on state roads by 2014.
In the United States, electric vehicles are not a large part of U.S. automakers' plans - for the time being. And mileage per charge is not high. But in Israel, the joint-venture Nissan-Renault/Project Better Place electric car is expected to have a range of 140 miles per charge. For longer drives, motorists will be able to replace the battery at about 200 swap stations to be built throughout Israel by 2010.
Project Better Place also has signed an agreement with Denmark to begin a similar operation by 2011. Both the Israeli and Danish governments have agreed to provide tax incentives to stimulate the program.
U.S. explorations into the electric car arena include:
Chevrolet Volt: The Volt's plug-in batteries will handle around 40 miles, enough for a daily commute; the car can switch to gas power for longer drives. The Volt, which is expected to be available by the end of 2010, is the centerpiece of General Motors' push to develop alternative-fuel vehicles.
Tesla Motors: The San Carlos company makes an electric sports car that can do 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds. The nearly $100,000 car can be plugged into a standard wall socket for six to seven hours. Or drivers can use a recharging station designed by Tesla installed in their garage.
E-mail Matthew Kalman at foreign@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Thursday, 12 June 2008
'Israel Lobby' Professors Get Hospitable Greeting in Israel
CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION : NEWS BLOG
June 12, 2008
Jerusalem — The first appearance in Israel by Stephen M. Walt and John J. Mearsheimer since the publication of their controversial book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, impressed a largely student audience at the Hebrew University, but left some faculty members wondering about their honesty.
A threatened boycott failed to have any effect, and the talk passed off with nothing more dramatic than some lively debate and repeated declarations from the pair that they are neither anti-Semitic nor Israel-haters.
Their presentation, "Is the 'Israel lobby' good for Israel?," attracted 200 people. Mr. Walt told The Chronicle that they were visiting Israel at the invitation of the veteran left-wing campaigner Uri Avnery and decided to add a university appearance to their schedule.
Mr. Walt is a professor of international relations at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Mr. Mearsheimer is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago.
Their work has been criticized as anti-Jewish and intellectually dishonest, charges that led some to call for the lecture to be canceled.
"Any discussion of the Israel lobby takes place in the shadow of centuries of anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories," said Mr. Walt. "John and I reject any one of those anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. The Israel lobby is a normal U.S. interest group. There's no conspiracy, no cabal, no secret plot here."
Robert Wistrich, a professor of modern European history and director of the university's Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism, said he was willing to assume that they are not anti-Semitic.
"I don't think that's the point, though," he said. "Those who object to their kind of discourse about the lobby are right to point out that in a very attenuated and benign form, with all the academic qualifications they make, it is uncomfortably reminiscent of very familiar arguments that clearly were anti-Semitic in the past. Some of it is disingenuous. It's a kind of cover." —Matthew Kalman
June 12, 2008
Jerusalem — The first appearance in Israel by Stephen M. Walt and John J. Mearsheimer since the publication of their controversial book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, impressed a largely student audience at the Hebrew University, but left some faculty members wondering about their honesty.
A threatened boycott failed to have any effect, and the talk passed off with nothing more dramatic than some lively debate and repeated declarations from the pair that they are neither anti-Semitic nor Israel-haters.
Their presentation, "Is the 'Israel lobby' good for Israel?," attracted 200 people. Mr. Walt told The Chronicle that they were visiting Israel at the invitation of the veteran left-wing campaigner Uri Avnery and decided to add a university appearance to their schedule.
Mr. Walt is a professor of international relations at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Mr. Mearsheimer is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago.
Their work has been criticized as anti-Jewish and intellectually dishonest, charges that led some to call for the lecture to be canceled.
"Any discussion of the Israel lobby takes place in the shadow of centuries of anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories," said Mr. Walt. "John and I reject any one of those anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. The Israel lobby is a normal U.S. interest group. There's no conspiracy, no cabal, no secret plot here."
Robert Wistrich, a professor of modern European history and director of the university's Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism, said he was willing to assume that they are not anti-Semitic.
"I don't think that's the point, though," he said. "Those who object to their kind of discourse about the lobby are right to point out that in a very attenuated and benign form, with all the academic qualifications they make, it is uncomfortably reminiscent of very familiar arguments that clearly were anti-Semitic in the past. Some of it is disingenuous. It's a kind of cover." —Matthew Kalman
Monday, 9 June 2008
American Professors Who Wrote 'The Israel Lobby' Face Cool Reception in Israel
CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION : Daily News Blog
Monday, June 9, 2008
Jerusalem — Some Israeli academics are not too happy that Stephen M.
Walt and John J. Mearsheimer, authors of The Israel Lobby and U.S.
Foreign Policy, are scheduled to speak on Thursday at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem. The title of their talk: "Is the 'Israel
lobby' good for Israel?"
Both men have also courted controversy in the United States with their
argument that Israel wields disproportionate influence on the United
States' foreign policy.
Mr. Walt is a professor of international relations at Harvard
University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Mr. Mearsheimer
is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago.
"Their decision to come here means they are looking for a good fight,"
said Akiva Eldar, a columnist for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, told
The Guardian, a British newspaper.
Gerald Steinberg, a professor of political science at Bar-Ilan
University, won support from some colleagues when he suggested in an
e-mail message that the American authors should address "an empty
room."
"Their articles and books are not academic," Mr Steinberg told The
Chronicle. "It's not research, it's a polemic. It doesn't belong in a
university."
But Menachem Klein, a colleague of Mr. Steinberg's at Bar-Ilan, said
it was inappropriate for Israelis to call for shunning visitors when
Israeli academics are themselves the targets of attempted boycotts by
British lecturers and others.
"I am against boycotting anyone," Mr. Klein said in an interview.
"Academia is about arguing, free debate, and free speech. If you have
good arguments, go there and debate." —Matthew Kalman
Monday, June 9, 2008
Jerusalem — Some Israeli academics are not too happy that Stephen M.
Walt and John J. Mearsheimer, authors of The Israel Lobby and U.S.
Foreign Policy, are scheduled to speak on Thursday at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem. The title of their talk: "Is the 'Israel
lobby' good for Israel?"
Both men have also courted controversy in the United States with their
argument that Israel wields disproportionate influence on the United
States' foreign policy.
Mr. Walt is a professor of international relations at Harvard
University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Mr. Mearsheimer
is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago.
"Their decision to come here means they are looking for a good fight,"
said Akiva Eldar, a columnist for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, told
The Guardian, a British newspaper.
Gerald Steinberg, a professor of political science at Bar-Ilan
University, won support from some colleagues when he suggested in an
e-mail message that the American authors should address "an empty
room."
"Their articles and books are not academic," Mr Steinberg told The
Chronicle. "It's not research, it's a polemic. It doesn't belong in a
university."
But Menachem Klein, a colleague of Mr. Steinberg's at Bar-Ilan, said
it was inappropriate for Israelis to call for shunning visitors when
Israeli academics are themselves the targets of attempted boycotts by
British lecturers and others.
"I am against boycotting anyone," Mr. Klein said in an interview.
"Academia is about arguing, free debate, and free speech. If you have
good arguments, go there and debate." —Matthew Kalman
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Israel's Supreme Court Chides Government for Ban on Study Abroad
CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
By MATTHEW KALMAN
Jerusalem
Israel's Supreme Court joined a chorus of dismay over an Israeli army
policy that bans Palestinian students from leaving Gaza to study
abroad and asked the government on Monday to "reconsider the policy."
Israel imposed the ban after the Islamist group Hamas took control of
the Gaza Strip in a violent uprising last year.
Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein told Israel's state attorney
at a hearing that the ban seems "no less harmful to the Israeli
interest because we have to live with the Palestinians in the future,
too." Mr. Rubinstein said that denying Palestinians access to
education "harms chances for some kind of coexistence."
Mr. Rubinstein demanded a response from the government lawyers within
two weeks and strongly hinted that he expected them to modify the ban.
Israel's Supreme Court has often taken a tough line on human-rights
abuses by Israel's security branches, pushing them to modify their
behavior and overruling them when they fail to act on their own
accord.
After the hearing, an Israeli government spokesman told The Chronicle
that the entire policy on student mobility was now under review.
Unable to Leave Gaza
The judge was considering a petition brought by Gisha, an Israeli
human-rights group that campaigns for academic freedom of movement, on
behalf of two Palestinian students from Gaza who have been prevented
from taking their places at colleges in Britain and Germany.
Coincidentally, the hearing was held the day after the Israeli
government apparently reversed an earlier decision not to allow seven
Fulbright scholars to leave Gaza. Israel's earlier stance had prompted
the U.S. State Department last week to suspend the scholarships (The
Chronicle, June 2).
After the intervention of senior State Department officials and a
public dressing-down by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli
authorities agreed to process the Fulbright scholars' applications,
the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem informed the students on
Sunday.
But, according to Gisha, several hundred more Palestinian students
have been refused permission to leave for foreign study under a
blanket ban imposed by Israel on any Palestinian's leaving the Gaza
Strip except for urgent humanitarian cases.
Monday's petition was filed on behalf of two of those students, Wissam
Abuajwa, 31, who has a full scholarship for a master's program in
environmental science at Nottingham University, in Britain, and Nibal
Nayef, 27, who has a full scholarship for a doctoral program in
computer engineering at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, in
Germany. Neither course of study is available in Gaza.
"Universities in Gaza don't have a track for environmental studies,
and my dream is to return from my studies abroad and to establish an
environmental-research and study institute here," Mr. Abuajwa said in
a written statement. "In Gaza there is an urgent need for
environmental experts, especially because of the recent deterioration
in the infrastructure and quality of life of the residents."
Ms. Nayef said that even if Israel allowed her to leave in two weeks'
time, she would arrive in Germany already behind in her studies.
"My classes have already begun while I'm still stuck here in Gaza,
unable to attend them. It's so important to me to reach my studies as
soon as possible," she said in a written statement.
Growing Criticism
Last Wednesday the Knesset Education Committee heard testimony from an
18-year-old Palestinian student who was banned from leaving Gaza to
study engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Rabbi Michael Melchior, chairperson of the legislative committee,
described the travel ban as "immoral and unwise."
The mounting criticism appears finally to be having some effect.
"Clearly it would be a problem if we only grant permission to the
Fulbright students," Peter Lerner, spokesman for the coordinator of
Israeli activities in the occupied territories, said on Monday. "A
review is currently under way regarding the entire issue at the
moment. We will be informing the court of any decision in two weeks,
as requested today."
Sari Bashi, director of Gisha, said she hoped the increasing pressure
on the Israeli authorities would finally move them to change their
policy.
"The ban on students leaving Gaza for study abroad is part of a policy
of closure and collective punishment that is trapping 1.5-million
civilians," she said. "I hope that the Defense Ministry will listen to
the reasoned voices of the U.S. secretary of state, the Knesset
Education Committee, and the Supreme Court—and allow Palestinians in
Gaza to exercise their right to freedom of movement and to access
education."
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
By MATTHEW KALMAN
Jerusalem
Israel's Supreme Court joined a chorus of dismay over an Israeli army
policy that bans Palestinian students from leaving Gaza to study
abroad and asked the government on Monday to "reconsider the policy."
Israel imposed the ban after the Islamist group Hamas took control of
the Gaza Strip in a violent uprising last year.
Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein told Israel's state attorney
at a hearing that the ban seems "no less harmful to the Israeli
interest because we have to live with the Palestinians in the future,
too." Mr. Rubinstein said that denying Palestinians access to
education "harms chances for some kind of coexistence."
Mr. Rubinstein demanded a response from the government lawyers within
two weeks and strongly hinted that he expected them to modify the ban.
Israel's Supreme Court has often taken a tough line on human-rights
abuses by Israel's security branches, pushing them to modify their
behavior and overruling them when they fail to act on their own
accord.
After the hearing, an Israeli government spokesman told The Chronicle
that the entire policy on student mobility was now under review.
Unable to Leave Gaza
The judge was considering a petition brought by Gisha, an Israeli
human-rights group that campaigns for academic freedom of movement, on
behalf of two Palestinian students from Gaza who have been prevented
from taking their places at colleges in Britain and Germany.
Coincidentally, the hearing was held the day after the Israeli
government apparently reversed an earlier decision not to allow seven
Fulbright scholars to leave Gaza. Israel's earlier stance had prompted
the U.S. State Department last week to suspend the scholarships (The
Chronicle, June 2).
After the intervention of senior State Department officials and a
public dressing-down by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli
authorities agreed to process the Fulbright scholars' applications,
the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem informed the students on
Sunday.
But, according to Gisha, several hundred more Palestinian students
have been refused permission to leave for foreign study under a
blanket ban imposed by Israel on any Palestinian's leaving the Gaza
Strip except for urgent humanitarian cases.
Monday's petition was filed on behalf of two of those students, Wissam
Abuajwa, 31, who has a full scholarship for a master's program in
environmental science at Nottingham University, in Britain, and Nibal
Nayef, 27, who has a full scholarship for a doctoral program in
computer engineering at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, in
Germany. Neither course of study is available in Gaza.
"Universities in Gaza don't have a track for environmental studies,
and my dream is to return from my studies abroad and to establish an
environmental-research and study institute here," Mr. Abuajwa said in
a written statement. "In Gaza there is an urgent need for
environmental experts, especially because of the recent deterioration
in the infrastructure and quality of life of the residents."
Ms. Nayef said that even if Israel allowed her to leave in two weeks'
time, she would arrive in Germany already behind in her studies.
"My classes have already begun while I'm still stuck here in Gaza,
unable to attend them. It's so important to me to reach my studies as
soon as possible," she said in a written statement.
Growing Criticism
Last Wednesday the Knesset Education Committee heard testimony from an
18-year-old Palestinian student who was banned from leaving Gaza to
study engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Rabbi Michael Melchior, chairperson of the legislative committee,
described the travel ban as "immoral and unwise."
The mounting criticism appears finally to be having some effect.
"Clearly it would be a problem if we only grant permission to the
Fulbright students," Peter Lerner, spokesman for the coordinator of
Israeli activities in the occupied territories, said on Monday. "A
review is currently under way regarding the entire issue at the
moment. We will be informing the court of any decision in two weeks,
as requested today."
Sari Bashi, director of Gisha, said she hoped the increasing pressure
on the Israeli authorities would finally move them to change their
policy.
"The ban on students leaving Gaza for study abroad is part of a policy
of closure and collective punishment that is trapping 1.5-million
civilians," she said. "I hope that the Defense Ministry will listen to
the reasoned voices of the U.S. secretary of state, the Knesset
Education Committee, and the Supreme Court—and allow Palestinians in
Gaza to exercise their right to freedom of movement and to access
education."
Sunday, 1 June 2008
A funny thing happened on the way to the Yeshiva
Teen comedian Alex Edelman just spent a year in Jerusalem and came away with more faith than ever in his stand-up abilities
While in Israel, Alex Edelman performed often at the Off the Wall Comedy Basement, Jerusalem's first comedy club. (Photos by amnon gutman/wpn for the boston globe)
JERUSALEM - The plaintive message from a fellow comedian on Alex Edelman's MySpace profile says it all: "Come back to America. Boston comedy needs you!"
The 19-year-old, yarmulke-sporting Edelman is already a stand-up veteran. He began performing in comedy clubs at age 15, coming home from Maimonides School in Brookline, telling his parents he was off to study at the library, and sneaking away to perform at Roggie's near Boston College.
"I felt like I had written something that I wanted to say in front of people," Edelman recalled after a recent show here in Israel, where he has spent a year immersed in yeshiva studies before majoring in English at NYU. "I don't even remember the jokes. People laughed politely. It was awful."
By last summer, he was performing a dozen times a week at Boston's Comedy Studio and other venues - but never on the Sabbath, which ruled out Friday nights and most of Saturday evening.
Edelman's parents - he's a cardiologist and Harvard professor, she's a real estate attorney - only found out last year, when one of his signature jokes was quoted in a newspaper story on open mike nights in Boston: "I go to a Jewish school where we do all the usual stuff - math, science, media control, world domination."
"My parents initially were not so thrilled about it," he admitted. "It was a drain on other things I could have been doing - like studying."
They were somewhat won over when they attended a show at which Edelman performed with local comedy mainstay Tony V., whom they had seen 20 years before.
"Tony V. came up to my parents after the show and said to them: 'If you want me to tell you that your son should drop doing comedy, then you're coming to the wrong guy. He has a talent for it. I think if Alex sticks with it, he'll be something good.'
"My parents were really supportive after that," Edelman added. "But there was a bit of a sense when they sent me here to Jerusalem that maybe I'd really connect to my Judaism and become more religious."
But with the same natural comic timing that informs Edelman's stand-up routine, no sooner had he landed than the Holy City opened its first comedy club. He quickly became a headliner at the Off the Wall Comedy Basement in downtown Jerusalem, which is run by David Kilimnick, an American campus rabbi turned stand-up comic and comedy entrepreneur.
"He's a great comedian and a smart young man," said Kilimnick. "He has a future in this. He started when he was young but he has not let comedy control his life."
"In Boston, I'm just another comedian; there are a ton of very good ones," admitted Edelman, who has been learning Hebrew but performs only in English. "[In Jerusalem] it was nice to kind of be a bigshot for a few months, to be a headliner and do 45 minutes and see if I'm ready to do that in the United States."
For an Orthodox Jew from a Hebrew day school who has just spent a year in Jerusalem and returned last month, Edelman uses very little Jewish material, though his choice of subjects is heavily influenced by his age. Topics include teenage work experience, candy bars, underage drinking, and being stopped at the Canadian border with his mother in the car and asked if he had any drugs: "Dude, not in front of my Mum."The 19-year-old, yarmulke-sporting Edelman is already a stand-up veteran. He began performing in comedy clubs at age 15, coming home from Maimonides School in Brookline, telling his parents he was off to study at the library, and sneaking away to perform at Roggie's near Boston College.
"I felt like I had written something that I wanted to say in front of people," Edelman recalled after a recent show here in Israel, where he has spent a year immersed in yeshiva studies before majoring in English at NYU. "I don't even remember the jokes. People laughed politely. It was awful."
By last summer, he was performing a dozen times a week at Boston's Comedy Studio and other venues - but never on the Sabbath, which ruled out Friday nights and most of Saturday evening.
Edelman's parents - he's a cardiologist and Harvard professor, she's a real estate attorney - only found out last year, when one of his signature jokes was quoted in a newspaper story on open mike nights in Boston: "I go to a Jewish school where we do all the usual stuff - math, science, media control, world domination."
"My parents initially were not so thrilled about it," he admitted. "It was a drain on other things I could have been doing - like studying."
They were somewhat won over when they attended a show at which Edelman performed with local comedy mainstay Tony V., whom they had seen 20 years before.
"Tony V. came up to my parents after the show and said to them: 'If you want me to tell you that your son should drop doing comedy, then you're coming to the wrong guy. He has a talent for it. I think if Alex sticks with it, he'll be something good.'
"My parents were really supportive after that," Edelman added. "But there was a bit of a sense when they sent me here to Jerusalem that maybe I'd really connect to my Judaism and become more religious."
But with the same natural comic timing that informs Edelman's stand-up routine, no sooner had he landed than the Holy City opened its first comedy club. He quickly became a headliner at the Off the Wall Comedy Basement in downtown Jerusalem, which is run by David Kilimnick, an American campus rabbi turned stand-up comic and comedy entrepreneur.
"He's a great comedian and a smart young man," said Kilimnick. "He has a future in this. He started when he was young but he has not let comedy control his life."
"In Boston, I'm just another comedian; there are a ton of very good ones," admitted Edelman, who has been learning Hebrew but performs only in English. "[In Jerusalem] it was nice to kind of be a bigshot for a few months, to be a headliner and do 45 minutes and see if I'm ready to do that in the United States."
"During my set last week I saw him sitting on a bar stool studying me and absorbing," said Charley Warady, a veteran club headliner from Chicago who moved to Israel a decade ago and is now part of the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour. "That's a wonderful thing to see in a young comedian. It's what I did when I started out. He takes all that in and makes it his own."
Since he was 15, Edelman has been writing jokes almost every day. He now has 18 notebooks full of ideas which have been drafted and re-drafted until they were just right. "I always carry a notebook with me, always," he said. "When I was younger I was obsessive about them. I log the process of every joke."
On one page, there is a quip about whether the Jews built the pyramids. ("Clearly not, because there's no rental space.") Edelman used it for a TV audition. Marginal annotations show it was first written in book 3, revised in book 6, and re-revised in book 14.
Some pages have been torn away. "I have a philosophical problem with doing a joke that any other comedian has done," Edelman said. "That's why these books are filled with rip-outs. These are all jokes that I feel are too much like somebody else's."
Edelman says he feels fortunate to have served his comedy apprenticeship in Boston. "I've seen a lot of jealousy in other places, but in Boston everyone's happy for the other people when they do well," he explained.
It was Gary Gulman, another hometown comedian, who persuaded Edelman to accept his parents' recommendation to spend the year in Jerusalem. "He knew I didn't want to go to Israel but he said I should," Edelman said. "He said comedy grows out of life experience, and that's why it's impossible to become a good comedian when you're young because you don't have that life experience yet."
Apart from his regular performances at the Comedy Basement, Edelman spent his year in Jerusalem studying Talmud and other ancient Jewish texts, traveling the country, and attending Shimon Peres's conference to mark Israel's 60th anniversary. He also visited the Nazi death camps in Poland.
With its audiences from dozens of countries and religious sensibilities that made sex jokes largely taboo, Jerusalem has extended his range, Edelman said.
If anything, a year meant to turn his head away from joke-telling hasn't done the trick.
"I've grown addicted to comedy," Edelman said. "The chances are I won't be the next Jerry Seinfeld or Steve Martin, but I can try."
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Buddies also ask Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to quit
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, May 29th 2008
BY MATTHEW KALMAN in Jerusalem and BILL HUTCHINSON in New York
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced mounting pressure Wednesday
to resign as friends and foes said the growing bribery scandal has
gnawed at his ability to lead.
A day after a Long Island businessman charged Olmert was a
high-styling, bribe-taking scoundrel, the embattled politician
rejected calls to quit.
Political observers fear Olmert's downfall could doom peace talks with
the Palestinians that President Bush has championed and fuel the
reemergence of opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu's hawkish Likud
Party.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak led calls for Olmert to "disconnect
himself from the day-to-day running of the government."
"Olmert cannot deal with the challenges Israel faces, like Hamas,
Hezbollah, Syria, Iran and the kidnapped soldiers, and run his
personal affairs at the same time," said Barak, leader of the Labor
Party and a chief partner of Olmert's coalition government.
He offered Olmert the choice of "suspension, vacation, resignation or
leave of absence."
Barak, the country's former prime minister, threatened to force a
special election unless Olmert quit or his Kadima Party replaced him.
"If Kadima doesn't act and this parliament doesn't see another
government that is to our liking, we will act to set an agreed-upon
date for early elections," Barak said.
Recent polls indicate Likud would romp to power in a snap election.
Olmert's political adviser Tal Silberstein said, "The prime minister
was not considering taking a vacation or suspending himself before
Barak spoke and does not intend to do so after Barak's announcement."
Barak's ultimatum was delivered a day after shocking court testimony
from Morris Talansky, a 75-year-old Long Island businessman who said
he gave Olmert up to $150,000 in cash-stuffed envelopes. Prosecutors
have not yet decided whether to press corruption charges against
Olmert.
A haggard Talansky arrived at JFK Airport last night flanked by his
lawyer Neil Sher and an entourage of seven.
He repeatedly refused to comment on his testimony.
Thursday, May 29th 2008
BY MATTHEW KALMAN in Jerusalem and BILL HUTCHINSON in New York
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced mounting pressure Wednesday
to resign as friends and foes said the growing bribery scandal has
gnawed at his ability to lead.
A day after a Long Island businessman charged Olmert was a
high-styling, bribe-taking scoundrel, the embattled politician
rejected calls to quit.
Political observers fear Olmert's downfall could doom peace talks with
the Palestinians that President Bush has championed and fuel the
reemergence of opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu's hawkish Likud
Party.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak led calls for Olmert to "disconnect
himself from the day-to-day running of the government."
"Olmert cannot deal with the challenges Israel faces, like Hamas,
Hezbollah, Syria, Iran and the kidnapped soldiers, and run his
personal affairs at the same time," said Barak, leader of the Labor
Party and a chief partner of Olmert's coalition government.
He offered Olmert the choice of "suspension, vacation, resignation or
leave of absence."
Barak, the country's former prime minister, threatened to force a
special election unless Olmert quit or his Kadima Party replaced him.
"If Kadima doesn't act and this parliament doesn't see another
government that is to our liking, we will act to set an agreed-upon
date for early elections," Barak said.
Recent polls indicate Likud would romp to power in a snap election.
Olmert's political adviser Tal Silberstein said, "The prime minister
was not considering taking a vacation or suspending himself before
Barak spoke and does not intend to do so after Barak's announcement."
Barak's ultimatum was delivered a day after shocking court testimony
from Morris Talansky, a 75-year-old Long Island businessman who said
he gave Olmert up to $150,000 in cash-stuffed envelopes. Prosecutors
have not yet decided whether to press corruption charges against
Olmert.
A haggard Talansky arrived at JFK Airport last night flanked by his
lawyer Neil Sher and an entourage of seven.
He repeatedly refused to comment on his testimony.
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Inquiry hears how Israeli premier had 'envelopes of cash' which he spent on hotels, flights and luxury goods
DAILY MAIL ONLINE : 28th May 2008 
By Matthew Kalman
A businessman has told a corruption inquiry how he handed cash-stuffed envelopes to Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert.Morris Talansky, a Jewish-American, said he suspected some of the money was spent on fine hotels, first-class flights and luxury goods for the politician.
The revelations are likely to further hurt Mr Olmert, whose affairs have been investigated four times by police since he took office in 2006.
Ehud Olmert (left) has had his affairs investigated four time by police while Morris Talansky (right) has said he handed him 'envelopes of cash'
Mr Talansky, 75, described handing over £75,000 at meetings in New York and Jerusalem over a 15-year period.
He said there was no record of how the money was spent.
'I only know that he loved expensive cigars. I know he loved pens, watches. I found t strange,' he said.
In at least one case, Mr Talansky said he used his personal credit card to pay a £2,500 hotel bill for Mr Olmert's three-day stay at the Ritz Carlton in Washington in 2004.
The politician called him to say his own credit card was 'maxed out', he said.
Police believe Mr Olmert took up to £250,000 from Mr Talansky in illegal campaign contributions or bribes before becoming premier.
Jewish-American businessman Morris Talansky, second right, arrives at the court in Jerusalem
Mr Olmert's lawyer Eli Zohar labelled the testimony 'twisted' and said the truth would be revealed in his crossexamination set for July 17.
The prime minister, 62, has not been indicted for corruption but has promised to step down if he is.
His downfall would dash U.S-backed efforts by Israel and the Palestinians to work out a peace agreement by the end of the year.
L.I. man tells how Israel's Ehud Olmert borrowed cash - and never returned it
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, May 28th 2008
By MATTHEW KALMAN in Jerusalem
and CORKY SIEMASZKO in New York
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Breaking down in tears, a Long Island businessman described Tuesday
how he gave the future Israeli prime minister envelopes stuff with
cash - and never got a nickel back.
"I figured we don't need notes from him," Morris Talansky, 75, said.
"His word was gold. He was a friend, a very close friend."
Talansky, who testified before a panel of judges and a prosecutor who
is weighing possible corruption charges against Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert, said giving him $150,000 in cash "disturbed" him but
insisted the money was a "loan."
Olmert's promises to pay them back turned out to be "famous last
words," Talansky said.
"I asked him why I couldn't write a check and he said it's because of
the way the money is channelled," he said.
So while Olmert waited in his Manhattan hotel room, "I went to a bank
near the hotel and made a withdrawal," Talansky said. "I gave him the
money in an envelope because it was a sizeable amount."
Sometimes, said Talansky, he passed money to Olmert via his private
secretary, Shula Zaken.
Talansky said he loaned Olmert $25,000 to finance a family vacation in
Italy in 2004. He said he suspected his Israeli friend was using his
money to live large.
"He loved expensive cigars," he said. "I know he loved pens, watches.
I found it strange."
Talansky insisted he "never had any personal benefits from this
relationship whatsoever." But he conceded that Olmert offered to help
him with his mini-bar business.
"It never even occurred to me that I would have any personal stake,"
he said. "I truly loved him."
When the money trail from Talansky was exposed this month, Olmert
insisted he wasn't a crook and said the money was used to finance
successful 1993 and 1998 campaigns to be elected Jerusalem mayor and
his failed 2003 run to lead the Likud Party.
Olmert, who has been in office for two years, said he would step down
if he is indicted.
President Bush has called him an "honest man."
Wednesday, May 28th 2008
By MATTHEW KALMAN in Jerusalem
and CORKY SIEMASZKO in New York
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Breaking down in tears, a Long Island businessman described Tuesday
how he gave the future Israeli prime minister envelopes stuff with
cash - and never got a nickel back.
"I figured we don't need notes from him," Morris Talansky, 75, said.
"His word was gold. He was a friend, a very close friend."
Talansky, who testified before a panel of judges and a prosecutor who
is weighing possible corruption charges against Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert, said giving him $150,000 in cash "disturbed" him but
insisted the money was a "loan."
Olmert's promises to pay them back turned out to be "famous last
words," Talansky said.
"I asked him why I couldn't write a check and he said it's because of
the way the money is channelled," he said.
So while Olmert waited in his Manhattan hotel room, "I went to a bank
near the hotel and made a withdrawal," Talansky said. "I gave him the
money in an envelope because it was a sizeable amount."
Sometimes, said Talansky, he passed money to Olmert via his private
secretary, Shula Zaken.
Talansky said he loaned Olmert $25,000 to finance a family vacation in
Italy in 2004. He said he suspected his Israeli friend was using his
money to live large.
"He loved expensive cigars," he said. "I know he loved pens, watches.
I found it strange."
Talansky insisted he "never had any personal benefits from this
relationship whatsoever." But he conceded that Olmert offered to help
him with his mini-bar business.
"It never even occurred to me that I would have any personal stake,"
he said. "I truly loved him."
When the money trail from Talansky was exposed this month, Olmert
insisted he wasn't a crook and said the money was used to finance
successful 1993 and 1998 campaigns to be elected Jerusalem mayor and
his failed 2003 run to lead the Likud Party.
Olmert, who has been in office for two years, said he would step down
if he is indicted.
President Bush has called him an "honest man."
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Israeli Universities Settle Strike by Junior Lecturers
CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
NEWS BLOG - May 27, 2008
Jerusalem — Junior lecturers in Israel called off a series of work stoppages today after they reached agreement on salaries and working conditions with university heads.
NEWS BLOG - May 27, 2008
Jerusalem — Junior lecturers in Israel called off a series of work stoppages today after they reached agreement on salaries and working conditions with university heads.
The breakthrough removed the threat of another crippling strike at Israeli colleges, where studies have been disrupted twice in the past year because of labor actions by students and by senior professors.
According to the new agreement, nontenured lecturers and teaching assistants, who are mostly drawn from the ranks of master’s and doctoral students, will enjoy a 17.5-percent pay rise, contracts extended beyond their current eight-month duration, and, for the first time, a package of social benefits that includes pension rights.
The deal was reached after the personal intervention of Israel’s education minister, Yuli Tamir.
Menachem Magidor, president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and newly appointed head of the Committee of University Presidents, said he was satisfied with the outcome. “I am pleased that the principles of the agreement have been agreed so that studies can continue as normal,” he said. “We have reached a good arrangement which provides a framework for the employment of the junior lecturers.” —Matthew Kalman
Posted on Tuesday May 27, 2008Monday, 26 May 2008
Recipient of Israeli Math Award Gives Prize Money to Palestinian Academic Interests
CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
NEWS BLOG - May 26, 2008
Jerusalem — An American professor who received a prestigious Israeli mathematics prize on Sunday has donated the $100,000 in prize money to a Palestinian university and a group that works for freedom of movement for Palestinian students.
NEWS BLOG - May 26, 2008
Jerusalem — An American professor who received a prestigious Israeli mathematics prize on Sunday has donated the $100,000 in prize money to a Palestinian university and a group that works for freedom of movement for Palestinian students.
David Mumford, a mathematics professor at Brown University, was awarded the Wolf Prize by President Shimon Peres in a ceremony at Israel’s Knesset parliament for his groundbreaking theoretical work in algebraic geometry. In his acceptance speech, Mr. Mumford announced that he was donating half the prize to Birzeit University, in the West Bank, and half to Gisha, an Israeli human-rights group that campaigns on behalf of Palestinian students.
Mr. Mumford said that mathematics had been able to flourish around the world because of the frequent interchange between scholars in different countries, and that international exchanges with other scholars had been important in his own career.
“Mathematics in Israel flourishes today on this high international plane. Its lifeblood is the free exchange of ideas with scholars visiting, teaching, learning from each other, traveling everywhere in the world. But this is not so in occupied Palestine, where education struggles to continue and travel is greatly limited,” he said. “Therefore I have decided to donate my part of the Wolf Prize in Mathematics to the cause of helping the university community in occupied Palestine survive and flourish.” —Matthew Kalman
Posted on Monday May 26, 2008 | Permalink |Israeli Universities Again Face Disruption as Junior Professors Begin Strike
CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
NEWS BLOG - May 26, 2008
Jerusalem — Israeli universities are being hit by their third strike in a year today as junior, nontenured lecturers begin a labor action to protest their working conditions.
Last year students staged a five-week strike to protest planned cuts in government support for education and increases in tuition. Last fall tenured professors stopped work for 90 days to protest budget cuts and erosion of their salaries. That work action caused the fall semester to start three months late and affected the summer semester.
Besides a pay increase, the junior lecturers are demanding that they be granted benefits. The instructors now are fired every eight months to prevent them from attaining employee rights under Israeli law. Talks with university heads are continuing as a rolling series of “warning strikes” begins.
Today the lecturers stopped work at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa, and a different university will be the target each day. Strike leaders said there would be an all-out stoppage if the dispute was not settled by week’s end. —Matthew Kalman
Posted on Monday May 26, 2008 | Permalink |
NEWS BLOG - May 26, 2008
Jerusalem — Israeli universities are being hit by their third strike in a year today as junior, nontenured lecturers begin a labor action to protest their working conditions.
Last year students staged a five-week strike to protest planned cuts in government support for education and increases in tuition. Last fall tenured professors stopped work for 90 days to protest budget cuts and erosion of their salaries. That work action caused the fall semester to start three months late and affected the summer semester.
Besides a pay increase, the junior lecturers are demanding that they be granted benefits. The instructors now are fired every eight months to prevent them from attaining employee rights under Israeli law. Talks with university heads are continuing as a rolling series of “warning strikes” begins.
Today the lecturers stopped work at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa, and a different university will be the target each day. Strike leaders said there would be an all-out stoppage if the dispute was not settled by week’s end. —Matthew Kalman
Posted on Monday May 26, 2008 | Permalink |
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
No 'Sex' in Israel! Towns ban raunchy title
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, May 21st 2008
BY MATTHEW KALMAN
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
JERUSALEM - There'll be no sex in two Israeli cities - at least not on the billboards.
Ad execs in Jerusalem and Petach Tikvah, near Tel Aviv, have censored their billboard campaigns for the "Sex and the City" movie, telling the film's distributor to remove the word "sex" from the ads for fear of offending religious Jews.
Maximedia, the Israeli billboard company handling the "Sex and the City" campaign, ordered Forum Film distribution to remove the offending word and replace it with three dots.
Instead of "Sex and the City," it will simply be "... and the City."
"This is simply ridiculous. The word 'sex' is part of the movie's title," complained Arye Barak of Forum Films. "The news was a great shock. We have not asked to advertise nudity."
"This is the name of the movie," he said. "We feel that it is ridiculous to prohibit us from advertising the brand without naming it."
Meir Shamir, assistant director of sales and marketing at Maximedia, said the company has long had an understanding with local authorities who "have requested not to put up the word 'sex' because it bothers them."
"If we don't leave out the word [sex], it's probable that the past will repeat itself and our signs will be mutilated. It certainly bothers a certain population," Shamir said.
Provocative campaigns for fashion, movies and lingerie have in the past triggered outraged responses from the ultra-orthodox, who dress modestly.
Sometimes the protests have turned violent, with billboards and other property being damaged or burned down.
A "Spider-Man" movie poster was redesigned for Jerusalem when advertising executives decided that Tobey Maguire was too close to Kirsten Dunst.
Wednesday, May 21st 2008
BY MATTHEW KALMAN
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
JERUSALEM - There'll be no sex in two Israeli cities - at least not on the billboards.
Ad execs in Jerusalem and Petach Tikvah, near Tel Aviv, have censored their billboard campaigns for the "Sex and the City" movie, telling the film's distributor to remove the word "sex" from the ads for fear of offending religious Jews.
Maximedia, the Israeli billboard company handling the "Sex and the City" campaign, ordered Forum Film distribution to remove the offending word and replace it with three dots.
Instead of "Sex and the City," it will simply be "... and the City."
"This is simply ridiculous. The word 'sex' is part of the movie's title," complained Arye Barak of Forum Films. "The news was a great shock. We have not asked to advertise nudity."
"This is the name of the movie," he said. "We feel that it is ridiculous to prohibit us from advertising the brand without naming it."
Meir Shamir, assistant director of sales and marketing at Maximedia, said the company has long had an understanding with local authorities who "have requested not to put up the word 'sex' because it bothers them."
"If we don't leave out the word [sex], it's probable that the past will repeat itself and our signs will be mutilated. It certainly bothers a certain population," Shamir said.
Provocative campaigns for fashion, movies and lingerie have in the past triggered outraged responses from the ultra-orthodox, who dress modestly.
Sometimes the protests have turned violent, with billboards and other property being damaged or burned down.
A "Spider-Man" movie poster was redesigned for Jerusalem when advertising executives decided that Tobey Maguire was too close to Kirsten Dunst.
Monday, 19 May 2008
British Faculty Union Calls for Preconditions on Working With Israeli Academics
CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
19 May 2008
By MATTHEW KALMAN
Britain's largest faculty union was described as "racist" and
"McCarthyite" on Wednesday after its annual congress approved a
resolution asking members to question Israeli academics on their
political views before working with them.
The new policy for the 120,000-member University and College Union was
adopted by a show of hands of the 300 delegates in attendance after an
hourlong debate in Manchester, England. The question of how to carry
out the policy was referred to the organization's leadership.
The debate was the third to address the issue in recent years. In 2005
one of the unions that merged to create the UCU the following year
adopted a widely criticized policy calling for an academic boycott of
Israeli universities. Last year a UCU debate on the issue plunged the
newborn union back into controversy.
Wednesday's motion, titled "Palestine and the Occupation," stopped
short of calling for an immediate boycott. It noted "the humanitarian
catastrophe imposed on Gaza" by Israel and the European Union and the
"apparent complicity of most of the Israeli academy."
The motion then proposed that "colleagues be asked to consider the
moral and political implications of educational links with Israeli
institutions and to discuss the occupation with individuals and
institutions concerned, including Israeli colleagues with whom they
are collaborating." The motion also called for "a wide discussion by
colleagues of the appropriateness of continued educational links with
Israeli academic institutions."
'Serial Humiliation'
Delegates rejected amendments, proposed by members from University
College London, that aimed to make the motion more "fair and
balanced."
"At the moment, the motion can be read as rather one-sided, and the
assumption about complicity, apparent or otherwise, would appear to be
unhelpful," said Dave Guppy of University College.
Tom Hickey of the national executive committee and Brighton
University, which proposed the motion, told delegates: "Being a
student or teacher in Palestine is not easy. ... We are talking about
not just impediment but serial humiliation, and that's the order of
the day in Palestine."
Representatives of the union's national executive committee, who were
cosponsors of the resolution, attempted to deflect criticism in a
statement issued immediately after the vote.
"We have passed a motion to provide solidarity with the Palestinians,
not to boycott Israel or any other country's academic institutions,"
said Sally Hunt, general secretary of the UCU. "I made clear to
delegates that the union will defend their right to debate this and
other issues. Implementation of the motion will now fall to the
national executive committee."
Racist and Discriminatory
But a group representing the mainstream of Jewish opinion in Britain
slammed the new policy as racist and discriminatory. It pointed out
that none of the other international policy resolutions adopted by the
union on Wednesday called on members to engage in similar discussions
with academic colleagues in any other country, no matter how serious
the human-rights violations there.
"The resolution demands of its members, including Jewish and Israeli
academics, that they explain their politics as a precondition to
normal academic contact," said Ronnie Fraser, director of the Academic
Friends of Israel.
He described this "blatant McCarthyite demand" as "discriminatory,
anti-Semitic, and, we believe, in clear violation of the UK Race
Relations Act."
"It beggars belief," he said.
"By passing the motion," Mr. Fraser continued, "the UCU has become
institutionally racist by creating a discriminatory atmosphere on
campus towards Jewish academics, many of whom are members of the UCU.
Are the UCU intending to make it a condition of membership that all
academics conform to this policy? If not, how do they intend to
implement this resolution?"
Dan Ashley, a UCU spokesman, refused to answer when asked to explain
why the national executive committee had proposed a policy that
singled out Israeli academics for different treatment than the
scholars of any other country. At the same session, the congress
adopted resolutions expressing support for academics and noting
human-rights abuses in Cuba, Darfur, Egypt, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe. No
one suggested that the potential academic collaborators in those
countries be subjected to the same preconditions as Israeli academics.
British university heads also expressed their displeasure at the
union's insistence on continuing to discuss the possibility of
boycotting Israeli academics.
"We believe a boycott of this kind, advocating the severing of
academic links with a particular nationality or country, is at odds
with the fundamental principle of academic freedom," said a statement
issued by Universities UK, which represents vice chancellors of
British universities. "Speculation about a potential boycott serves no
useful purpose and damages the international reputation of UK higher
education."
19 May 2008
By MATTHEW KALMAN
Britain's largest faculty union was described as "racist" and
"McCarthyite" on Wednesday after its annual congress approved a
resolution asking members to question Israeli academics on their
political views before working with them.
The new policy for the 120,000-member University and College Union was
adopted by a show of hands of the 300 delegates in attendance after an
hourlong debate in Manchester, England. The question of how to carry
out the policy was referred to the organization's leadership.
The debate was the third to address the issue in recent years. In 2005
one of the unions that merged to create the UCU the following year
adopted a widely criticized policy calling for an academic boycott of
Israeli universities. Last year a UCU debate on the issue plunged the
newborn union back into controversy.
Wednesday's motion, titled "Palestine and the Occupation," stopped
short of calling for an immediate boycott. It noted "the humanitarian
catastrophe imposed on Gaza" by Israel and the European Union and the
"apparent complicity of most of the Israeli academy."
The motion then proposed that "colleagues be asked to consider the
moral and political implications of educational links with Israeli
institutions and to discuss the occupation with individuals and
institutions concerned, including Israeli colleagues with whom they
are collaborating." The motion also called for "a wide discussion by
colleagues of the appropriateness of continued educational links with
Israeli academic institutions."
'Serial Humiliation'
Delegates rejected amendments, proposed by members from University
College London, that aimed to make the motion more "fair and
balanced."
"At the moment, the motion can be read as rather one-sided, and the
assumption about complicity, apparent or otherwise, would appear to be
unhelpful," said Dave Guppy of University College.
Tom Hickey of the national executive committee and Brighton
University, which proposed the motion, told delegates: "Being a
student or teacher in Palestine is not easy. ... We are talking about
not just impediment but serial humiliation, and that's the order of
the day in Palestine."
Representatives of the union's national executive committee, who were
cosponsors of the resolution, attempted to deflect criticism in a
statement issued immediately after the vote.
"We have passed a motion to provide solidarity with the Palestinians,
not to boycott Israel or any other country's academic institutions,"
said Sally Hunt, general secretary of the UCU. "I made clear to
delegates that the union will defend their right to debate this and
other issues. Implementation of the motion will now fall to the
national executive committee."
Racist and Discriminatory
But a group representing the mainstream of Jewish opinion in Britain
slammed the new policy as racist and discriminatory. It pointed out
that none of the other international policy resolutions adopted by the
union on Wednesday called on members to engage in similar discussions
with academic colleagues in any other country, no matter how serious
the human-rights violations there.
"The resolution demands of its members, including Jewish and Israeli
academics, that they explain their politics as a precondition to
normal academic contact," said Ronnie Fraser, director of the Academic
Friends of Israel.
He described this "blatant McCarthyite demand" as "discriminatory,
anti-Semitic, and, we believe, in clear violation of the UK Race
Relations Act."
"It beggars belief," he said.
"By passing the motion," Mr. Fraser continued, "the UCU has become
institutionally racist by creating a discriminatory atmosphere on
campus towards Jewish academics, many of whom are members of the UCU.
Are the UCU intending to make it a condition of membership that all
academics conform to this policy? If not, how do they intend to
implement this resolution?"
Dan Ashley, a UCU spokesman, refused to answer when asked to explain
why the national executive committee had proposed a policy that
singled out Israeli academics for different treatment than the
scholars of any other country. At the same session, the congress
adopted resolutions expressing support for academics and noting
human-rights abuses in Cuba, Darfur, Egypt, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe. No
one suggested that the potential academic collaborators in those
countries be subjected to the same preconditions as Israeli academics.
British university heads also expressed their displeasure at the
union's insistence on continuing to discuss the possibility of
boycotting Israeli academics.
"We believe a boycott of this kind, advocating the severing of
academic links with a particular nationality or country, is at odds
with the fundamental principle of academic freedom," said a statement
issued by Universities UK, which represents vice chancellors of
British universities. "Speculation about a potential boycott serves no
useful purpose and damages the international reputation of UK higher
education."
Monday, 12 May 2008
Plug-and-go electric car generates buzz
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Monday, May 12th 2008
BY Matthew Kalman
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
Monday, May 12th 2008
BY Matthew Kalman
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
Silverman/Getty
Renault electric car can run 125 miles before needing a recharge. It will debut in Israel in 2010. Israeli motorists got a sneak preview of a world without gasoline Sunday when an entrepreneur showed off test models of a new electric car.
Whiz kid Shai Agassi predicted that the new vehicle - with just a plug where the gas tank should be - would take the tiny nation by storm when it hits the market in 2010 or so.
"It's one of the most fun cars I've ever driven in my life," Agassi said of his own plug-and-go car.
"Every time I go by a gas station," he added, " I feel like I cheated."
The new car, produced by Renault, is powered by a 125-pound battery and can run for about 125 miles before recharging.
That's okay for pint-sized Israel, which is just 260 miles long. Agassi's company plans to install a network of charging stations nationwide and swap dud batteries for fresh ones.
Tax breaks could mean the cars will cost less than a regular gas-gulping vehicle. And drivers will take pleasure in knowing they are helping to rid the world of pollution and dependence on oil.
In fact, most of the extra electricity to power the cars in Israel could come from solar panels in the Negev Desert.
For long drives, motorists will be able to replace the battery at about 150 swap stations expected to be built around the country.
The battery swap is expected to take the same amount of time as filling a tank of gas.
For shorter journeys, drivers will be able to recharge the batteries at home or at the office.
Drivers will pay a monthly subscription for the batteries, with different plans like those of cell phone users.
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Israel might surrender Golan Heights, says Syria
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, April 24th 2008
BY MATTHEW KALMAN
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
JERUSALEM - Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has told Syria he is willing to return the Golan Heights to the terror-tied state in exchange for peace, Syrian and Turkish officials said Wednesday.
Olmert's office did not deny the report - infuriating Israeli hard-liners and members of his own centrist Kadima Party.
Israel first occupied the strategic plateau, towering above the Sea of Galilee, in 1967 and annexed it in 1981, settling some 5,000 Israelis there. Syria has always demanded its complete return.
The reports may have some truth: On Monday, former President Jimmy Carter said Syria and Israel had resolved "85%" of their differences over the disputed border and described Syrian President Bashar Assad's "eagerness" for peace.
The Syrian daily newspaper Al-Watan reported that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan phoned Assad to tell him of Olmert's readiness to "to withdraw completely from the occupied Syrian Golan in return for peace."
Assad told a meeting of his ruling Baath Party that "friendly parties were making efforts to organize contacts between Syria and Israel."
Olmert's spokesmen refused to comment on the Al-Watan report, saying only that "Assad is familiar with Israel's position regarding peace talks and vice versa."
Angry members of Olmert's Kadima Party vowed to force any decision on withdrawal to a national referendum.
"Evacuating the Golan Heights will pump Hezbollah forces into the region, who will make the lives of the residents of the north miserable," said David Tal, chairman of the Knesset House Committee.
Yuval Steinitz, a foreign affairs expert in the opposition Likud Party, said: "Without the Golan, Israel will be faced with great difficulties in defending itself and keeping the Sea of Galilee and water resources. I haven't the slightest doubt that the people of Israel adhere to the Golan much more than they do to Olmert."
Polls show Olmert trailing badly to Likud and its leader, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Yossi Beilin, a leading left-wing legislator, encouraged Olmert to talk to Syria.
"Peace with Syria is a key part of regional peace and will lead to the implementation of the Arab peace initiative and to a dramatic change in Syria's relationship with the extreme elements in the region," Beilin said.
Thursday, April 24th 2008
BY MATTHEW KALMAN
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
JERUSALEM - Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has told Syria he is willing to return the Golan Heights to the terror-tied state in exchange for peace, Syrian and Turkish officials said Wednesday.
Olmert's office did not deny the report - infuriating Israeli hard-liners and members of his own centrist Kadima Party.
Israel first occupied the strategic plateau, towering above the Sea of Galilee, in 1967 and annexed it in 1981, settling some 5,000 Israelis there. Syria has always demanded its complete return.
The reports may have some truth: On Monday, former President Jimmy Carter said Syria and Israel had resolved "85%" of their differences over the disputed border and described Syrian President Bashar Assad's "eagerness" for peace.
The Syrian daily newspaper Al-Watan reported that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan phoned Assad to tell him of Olmert's readiness to "to withdraw completely from the occupied Syrian Golan in return for peace."
Assad told a meeting of his ruling Baath Party that "friendly parties were making efforts to organize contacts between Syria and Israel."
Olmert's spokesmen refused to comment on the Al-Watan report, saying only that "Assad is familiar with Israel's position regarding peace talks and vice versa."
Angry members of Olmert's Kadima Party vowed to force any decision on withdrawal to a national referendum.
"Evacuating the Golan Heights will pump Hezbollah forces into the region, who will make the lives of the residents of the north miserable," said David Tal, chairman of the Knesset House Committee.
Yuval Steinitz, a foreign affairs expert in the opposition Likud Party, said: "Without the Golan, Israel will be faced with great difficulties in defending itself and keeping the Sea of Galilee and water resources. I haven't the slightest doubt that the people of Israel adhere to the Golan much more than they do to Olmert."
Polls show Olmert trailing badly to Likud and its leader, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Yossi Beilin, a leading left-wing legislator, encouraged Olmert to talk to Syria.
"Peace with Syria is a key part of regional peace and will lead to the implementation of the Arab peace initiative and to a dramatic change in Syria's relationship with the extreme elements in the region," Beilin said.
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