Do You Remember the 4th of November? Now Ten Years

The long shadow of Rabin's legacy
By James Reynolds
BBC News, Jerusalem

Ten years ago the prime minister of Israel addressed a rally in Tel Aviv.

Yitzhak Rabin defended his central gamble - you have to talk to the Palestinians, you have to give up land for peace.

Many Israelis agreed with him, but others did not.

Some made threats, but they were outweighed by an old certainty: Jews do not attack Jews. You are safe among your own.

But that night, a handful of bullets changed Israel's certainties for good.

Yitzhak Rabin was shot and killed by a religious student, Yigal Amir. Amir wanted to destroy the peace process.

Blessed

So, a decade on, did he get his wish?

What he did right now, pulling out of Gaza, is in the same path of my father's concept
Dalia Rabin-Pelosoff
Up until a couple of years ago, in the midst of the second Intifada, the answer was probably yes.

But then things changed. Ariel Sharon announced that he was getting Israel out of Gaza for good.

Mr Sharon's withdrawal has been blessed by the guardians of the Rabin legacy.

"What he did right now, pulling out of Gaza, is in the same path of my father's concept," says Dalia Rabin-Pelosoff, the daughter of the late prime minister.

"So if you want to call him a successor you may call him a successor. But he came to the same conclusion - that to be a Jewish, democratic, independent state we have to separate."

Different approach

So, Yitzhak Rabin's central concept - giving up land to the Palestinians - has survived his assassination.

Indeed it has become a defining principle in mainstream Israeli politics. But there is a key difference between the Rabin way and the Sharon way.

Rabin gave up land by negotiating with the Palestinians. Sharon has done it by ignoring them.

"The difference between them is that Rabin wanted a peace partner and searched for one till he found one," says Mohammed Dajani, a Palestinian academic.

"Sharon has a peace partner yet he cannot see how to deal with this peace partner."

Yigal Amir's bullets have left another legacy. The assassin destroyed the certainty that, no matter what, the Jewish people stick together.

Protection

The memory of the fate of Rabin has hung over Ariel Sharon.

"As soon as Ariel Sharon tried to follow in Rabin's footsteps he received the same threats. And unlike Rabin, Sharon is being guarded, protected, surrounded by 200 bodyguards," says Danny Ben Simon from Israel's Haaretz newspaper.

As soon as Ariel Sharon tried to follow in Rabin's footsteps he received the same threats
Ben Simon
"But I must say, as to the threat, we have not changed. Jews, radical Jews are still after any Prime Minister who dares touch the Holy Land."

But unlike Rabin, Sharon has survived. And the assassin Yigal Amir is still in a prison cell.

He may watch with pleasure, though, as Israel continues to ignore the Palestinians and build settlements.

Amir will be delighted that he has destroyed trust between the two sides, and that there is - as yet - no Palestinian state.

But in one important way the assassin's bullets did not work.

That other soldier politician Ariel Sharon has taken on board part of Yitzhak Rabin's concept... and he has given up land.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/4405740.stm

Published: 2005/11/04 04:47:38 GMT

OSTG | Open Source Technology Group

OSTG | Open Source Technology Group

Turtles Can Fly. I saw the movie tonight.

Turtles Can Fly

Philip French
Sunday January 9, 2005
The Observer


Turtles Can Fly, the first film to be made in Iraq after the fall of Saddam, is written and directed by Iranian film-maker Bahman Ghobadi. It further explores the problems of tough children attempting to survive in an adult world that he dealt with in his masterly A Time for Drunken Horses.

The earlier film concerned Kurdish children engaged in the dangerous work of smuggling goods back and forth over the heavily mined Iran-Iraq border. Here, they're living in a wretched Kurdish refugee camp near the border between Iraq and Turkey on the eve of the American invasion of 2003, and the movie is ominously framed by the suicide of a female teenage orphan.

The children survive by collecting landmines and most of them are mutilated. Their leader, nicknamed Satellite for his ability to install dishes that enable the community to keep in touch with the news, is a go-getter who keeps the group together through a combination of kindness and brutal authority. He's looking forward to the arrival of the Americans and a new way of life. You don't need to have seen A Time for Drunken Horses to know that Satellite's hopes are going to be dashed - you just need to watch the news. This is a bold, impressive film that deserves a wider audience than it's likely to get.

Today on Si Himans Forum

תודה למיכל
היה 10 בערוץ 10
והרבה תודות לסי ממני ומכל אלו שנהנים בהופעות.
וסליחה....


הוספת תגובה בחלון נפרד


שם: samc

נושא: [סמיילים וסימנים לנושא]

תוכן: [סמיילים וסימנים לתוכן]








◄ מסר למחבר/ת ◄ שליחה באימייל ◄ הדפסה ◄ קישור להודעה ◄ עדכן אותי בSMS X




• תקציר הסיפור ב"סליחות"ו נועם רוזנברג ו 03:13 14/10


• נועם היקר לי מאוד מאודו ט י נ ה ו 15:10 15/10


• היה יפהו sara100 ו 09:30 14/10


• היי שרה ברוכה הבאה ותודה תודהו ט י נ ה ו 15:04 15/10


• שבוע טובו sara100 ו 19:37 15/10


• היה מרגש מאדו א מ א ש ל א ו ר ו 18:08 14/10


• תודה לך אמא של אור היקרה לי מכלו ט י נ ה ו 15:12 15/10


• טוב נו, אם את שרה שם..ו א מ א ש ל א ו ר ו 20:35 15/10


• היי שמואל יקר מה שלומך ?ו ט י נ ה < ההודעה הנוכחית ו 15:13 15/10


ואיך החיים ?< מקווה שעוברים עלייך ימים יפים
מתארת לי שניפגש ליד האנדרטה של רבין ב 04.11 בצהריים שם יהיה כל מחנה השלום. האמיתי .
אם אהיה שם אשיר לזכרו זה בטוח


הוספת תגובה בחלון נפרד


שם: samc

נושא: [סמיילים וסימנים לנושא]

תוכן: [סמיילים וסימנים לתוכן]








◄ מסר למחבר/ת ◄ שליחה באימייל ◄ הדפסה ◄ קישור להודעה ◄ עדכן אותי בSMS X




• תודה טינה האמת:ו samc ו 21:21 15/10


1) העצרת תהיה במוצ"ש 5 לנובמבר.
אני הייתי באנדרטה כאשר לאה רבין הייתה שם,
במשך 5 שנים!
הקבועים של ימי ששי די שנואים עלי (בהכללה כי יש לי גם חברים שם)
בגללם הפסדנו בבחירות ב1996 ובגללם הפכו את המקום
למועדון שירי א"י השלמה עם הגרסה הימנית של "יהיה טוב".
2) אני כותב מאמר על הקשר בין מלחמת יום כיפורים
לבין רצח רבין ז"ל. הקשר הוא המערכת הפוליטית הכושלת
תוצאה של שיטת הבחירות היחסיות.
3) יוסי ביילין בד"כ לא בא לאנדרטה.
לצערי התרבות הפוליטית הישראלית לא הפכה את הכיכר להייד פארק.
אין שם הדברות והקשבה אמיתית.
לactressסליחה אם היא חושבת שזה עוף OFF TOPIC אבל אני עונה
לשאלה. מקווה להגיע ל-שוהם ב20.
אגב מי זוכר את ערב השירים ל-רבין בקאמלוט...
אני זוכר שהיה יפה!

Major Theft At Dalton Winery, Rogov

Post Title: Major Theft At Dalton Winery
Posted by: Rogov at 02:48 October 9,2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During this weekend, thieves broke through the gates at the Dalton Winery in the Upper Galilee, disconnected the alarm system and then loaded 20,000 bottles of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from the 2002 and 2003 vintages onto trucks before making their way to wherever it is that such thieves make their way.
The damage to the winery is major. In addition to the winery's evaluation of the loss at 3 million shekels, this means that many of the 2003 wines, many of which during my barrel and advance tastings showed to be of excellent quality, will not be available for market. The 2003 wines were scheduled to be released in the next few months.

The winery is offering a NIS 25,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension of the thieves. Perhaps more important to members of our forum, the bottles are labeled and numbered so should anyone see the 2003 Cabernet or Merlot on the market (the Shiraz has already been released), it would be a good thing either to inform the winery or, if that is not convenient, to let me know, informing of precisely where the wines are being sold. As is obvious, the more details that can be supplied, the better.

I will be receiving copies of the labels either today or tomorrow and will post at least one of those here in order to help in identifying the bottles when they do show up.

Best,
Rogov

My Movies

http://imdb.com/user/ur0498043/comments

Saw the "Downfall" at cinematheque. German Nightmare.

German Nightmare, 9 October 2005

Author: Samuel Cohen from Israel
http://imdb.com/user/ur0498043/comments for my comments of Movies I saw


I had very mixed feelings before and when I saw this film about Hitler Berlin Germany and the end of World War 2. The Film is German Perfection that even Spielberg could not do. It is not enjoyable and I thought of walking out before the end of the movie. And for a correction, The Movie mentions that 50 Million died as a result of the war and 6 Million Jews. The truth is that 13 Million died that were not connected directly to the War Including the Six Million Jews, So Nazism was bad for everyone, not only Jews. For the Germans too. 35 Million Russians etc... Here we see Berlin Bombed and we are not shown how many other cities were destroyed. I suppose I had to see this movie.

הפסטיבל "7 מוזות ב-7 סוכות" יתקיים בשהם

הפסטיבל "7 מוזות ב-7 סוכות" יתקיים בשהם
מאת עירית רוזנבלום"חבק אותי עכשיו - האדמה רועדת" של ניר בן-גל וליאת דרור וקבוצת המחול "אדמה"; סוכת זמר ושלום של סי היימן ו"אחיות הנשמה"; ופרויקט צילום סוכות-מציל בעזה ובתל אביב של הצלם גיא רז - אלו כמה מהיצירות שיתארחו בפסטיבל הרב-תחומי לאמנויות, "7 מוזות ב-7 סוכות", שיתקיים בשהם ב-19-20 באוקטובר, זו השנה החמישית. במוקד הפסטיבל יוצבו שבע סוכות, וכל אחת מהן תהיה אתר להתרחשות לאמנותית הכוללת הופעות חיות והפעלות. הנושא המשותף לאירועים השנה הוא הארעיות, התזוזה, המעבר. לדברי המנהלת האמנותית של הפסטיבל, אפרת אייל, הסוכה המסורתית כסמל של "היהודי הנודד" שוב מחפשת גבולות חדשים. אמנים נוספים שיתארחו השנה הם וי-ג'יי אבירמוס, אמן מחשב המציג דימויים צבעוניים ומוסיקה אלקטרונית; הצייר דייוויד גוס במיצג "דיוטי פרי פלשתין-ישראל"; האמנית עינת לידר במיצב "סוכומאט"; ומפגש תיאטרון מאולתר, "ריאליטי בסוכה". בנוסף יהיו מופע מחול של להקת "שקטק" והופעה של להקת "גאיה" עם דין דין אביב. לצד סוכות האמנות יפעלו בפסטיבל סוכות קהילתיות בשיתוף אמנים תושבי שהם. לראשונה יהיה גם מתחם ילדים ובו פינות יצירה ומפגשי שעת סיפור. אירוע פתיחת הפסטיבל יתקיים ביום רביעי, 19 באוקטובר, בשעה 17:00 בבית מועצת שהם עם פתיחת תערוכתו של אברהם הסגל, "תמונות מספרות". הפסטיבל יתקיים בגן החבל בשעות 18:00-22:30. המופעים בשעה 21:00. המופעים ללא תשלום ומתאימים לכל המשפחה. פרטים בטל' 9723001-03, ובאתר www.shoham.muni.il.

ברכת שנה טובה מיו"ר מפלגת מרצ-יחד, יוסי ביילין

29/09/2005 מאת: יוסי ביילין
ברכת שנה טובה מיו"ר מפלגת מרצ-יחד, יוסי ביילין

ערב ראש השנה, התשס"ו

חברות וחברים,

השנה שהיתה...
סוף סוף אפשר לומר ש"שנת ההינתקות" מאחורינו. סוף סוף – כי הסתיימה תקופה של 38 שנות התנחלות ברצועת עזה שעלתה לנו מחיר עצום, הן בדם והן בדמים; וסוף סוף - כי השתחררנו מצלה הכבד של תכנית הנסיגה החד צדדית שהוטל על סדר היום הציבורי. ניסינו להחזיר את הויכוח על חזרה לתהליך מדיני, על משא ומתן להסכם קבע ועל תיאום ההינתקות עם הפלסטינים, אך ב"שנת ההינתקות", היה זה קשה במיוחד. כל נושא נדחק לשוליים. מספר העניים בישראל שבר השנה את כל השיאים, גילויי השחיתות בשלטון הגיעו למימדים חסרי תקדים ובמערכת החינוך המשיכו הקיצוצים בשעות הלימוד. הגזענות והשנאה לערבים הגיעו למימדים מבהילים בשני מקרים של רצח בדם קר של ערבים בידי יהודי בשפרעם ובשילה. בתום "שנת ההינתקות", מוטלת עלינו החובה להשמיע קול רם וברור כנגד התופעות הללו, להוות אלטרנטיבה אמיתית ולהחזיר את הסיכוי והתקווה לעתיד.

השנה שתהיה...
שנת תשס"ו תהיה שנת בחירות. אסור לנו לתת לשנה נוספת לחלוף תחת הצל הכבד של הבחירות בלי שום התקדמות מדינית ובלי שינוי חברתי וכלכלי. המתיחות בעזה, המשך ירי הקסאמים על יישובי הנגב המערבי, ההתקפות הישראליות ברצועה והמשך הבנייה המאסיבית בהתנחלויות מהווים איום של ממש על עתיד התהליך המדיני והסיכוי להסכם. תשומת הלב הציבורית ממשיכה להיות מופנית לויכוח של אתמול, למאבקים בתוך הליכוד על מי תמך בהינתקות ומי התנגד לה. עלינו לפעול כבר היום להקדמת הבחירות, ולהביא לכך שהבחירות הבאות יהיו על הויכוח של מחר: האם פנינו למשא ומתן והסכם, או לצעדים חד צדדים וקיפאון מדיני; האם אנו חוזרים למדינת רווחה ולצמצום פערים, או ממשיכים במדיניות של קפיטליזם דורסני.

הויכוח הזה ייקבע לפי סדר היום הציבורי, ועלינו לעשות כל מאמץ להשפיע עליו כבר מעכשיו, בנוכחות ברחובות, בצמתים ובהפגנות. במוצאי שבת שעברה בהפגנה בירושלים וברמאללה, השמענו את אקורד הפתיחה ומחובתנו להמשיך בו ולהתגייס במלוא המרץ.

מרצ-יחד נמצאת בעיצומן של ההכנות לבחירות. במישור הארגוני אנחנו מכינים את התשתיות מול כל הסניפים ואנו זקוקים לעזרתכם להרחבת תאי הפעילות בכל הארץ.

אני מאמין ומקווה שביחד נצליח לממש את הברכה: "תחל שנה וברכותיה".

שנה טובה!
יוסי ביילין

Design of $100 Laptop for Kids Unveiled

Email this Story

Sep 28, 9:01 PM (ET)

By BRIAN BERGSTEIN

(AP) Nicholas Negroponte, leader of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, speaks during...
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - The $100 laptop computers that Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers want to get into the hands of the world's children would be durable, flexible and self-reliant.

The machines' AC adapter would double as a carrying strap, and a hand crank would power them when there's no electricity. They'd be foldable into more positions than traditional notebook PCs, and carried like slim lunchboxes.

For outdoor reading, their display would be able to shift from full color to glare-resistant black and white.

And surrounding it all, the laptops would have a rubber casing that closes tightly, because "they have to be absolutely indestructible," said Nicholas Negroponte, the MIT Media Lab leader who offered an update on the project Wednesday.
Negroponte hatched the $100 laptop idea after seeing children in a Cambodian village benefit from having notebook computers at school that they could also tote home to use on their own.

Those computers had been donated by a foundation run by Negroponte and his wife. He decided that for kids everywhere to benefit from the educational and communications powers of the Internet, someone would have to make laptops inexpensive enough for officials in developing countries to purchase en masse. At least that's Negroponte's plan.

Within a year, Negroponte expects his nonprofit One Laptop Per Child to get 5 million to 15 million of the machines in production, when children in Brazil, China, Egypt, Thailand, South Africa are due to begin getting them.

In the second year - when Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney hopes to start buying them for all 500,000 middle and high-school students in this state - Negroponte envisions 100 million to 150 million being made. (He boasts that these humble $100 notebooks would surpass the world's existing annual production of laptops, which is about 50 million.)

While a prototype isn't expected to be shown off until November, Negroponte unveiled blueprints at Technology Review magazine's Emerging Technologies conference at MIT.

Among the key specs: A 500-megahertz processor (that was fast in the 1990s but slow by today's standards) by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) and flash memory instead of a hard drive with moving parts. To save on software costs, the laptops would run the freely available Linux operating system instead of Windows.

The computers would be able to connect to Wi-Fi wireless networks and be part of "mesh" networks in which each laptop would relay data to and from other devices, reducing the need for expensive base stations. Plans call for the machines to have four USB ports for multimedia and data storage.

Perhaps the defining difference is the hand crank, though first-generation users would get no more than 10 minutes of juice from one minute of winding.

This certainly wouldn't be the first effort to bridge the world's so-called digital divide with inexpensive versions of fancy machinery. Other attempts have had a mixed record.

With those in mind, Negroponte says his team is addressing ways this project could be undermined.

For example, to keep the $100 laptops from being widely stolen or sold off in poor countries, he expects to make them so pervasive in schools and so distinctive in design that it would be "socially a stigma to be carrying one if you are not a student or a teacher." He compared it to filching a mail truck or taking something from a church: Everyone would know where it came from.

As a result, he expects to keep no more than 2 percent of the machines from falling into a murky "gray market."

And unlike the classic computing model in which successive generations of devices get more gadgetry at the same price, Negroponte said his group expects to do the reverse. With such tweaks as "electronic ink" displays that will require virtually no power, the MIT team expects to constantly lower the cost.

After all, in much of the world, Negroponte said, even $100 "is still too expensive."

Amos Oz , The devil's progress.

The devil's progress
Modern social science has banished concepts of good and evil. But, argues Amos Oz, literature, from Shakespeare and Goethe to Grass and Böll, gives us truer insights into human nature

Amos Oz
Saturday September 3, 2005

Guardian

When I was a child in Jerusalem, our teacher at a Jewish orthodox school taught us the book of Job. All Israeli children, to this day, study the book of Job. Our teacher told us how Satan travelled all the way from that book to the New Testament, and to Goethe's Faust, and to many other works of literature. And although each writer made something new of Satan, the devil, der Teufel, he was always the very same Satan: cool, amused, sarcastic and sceptical. A deconstructor of human faith, love and hope.
Job's Satan, like Faust's Satan, enters upon a wager. His big prize is neither a hidden treasure, nor the heart of a beautiful woman, and not even a promotion to a higher position in the heavenly hierarchy. No: Satan enters a gamble out of some kind of didactic urge. He wishes to make a point. To prove something, and to refute something else. With enormous argumentative zeal, the biblical Satan and the Aufklärung Satan try to show God and his angels that man, when given the choice, will always opt for evil. He will choose bad over good, willingly and consciously.

Shakespeare's Iago may well have been motivated by a very similar didactic zeal. Indeed, so it is with almost every thorough evildoer in world literature. Perhaps this is why Satan is often so charming. So beguiling. John Milton may have misunderstood the devil when he called him "the infernal serpent". Heinrich Heine knew better when he wrote:

I call'd the devil, and he came,
And with wonder his form did I closely scan;
He is not ugly, and is not lame,
But really a handsome and charming man.
A man in the prime of life is the devil,
Obliging, a man of the world, and civil;
A diplomatist too, well skill'd in debate,
He talks quite glibly of church and state.


Man and the devil understood each other so well, because they were, in some ways, so alike. In the book of Job, Satan, the perverse educator, intimately understood how human pain breeds evil: "Put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse thee to thy face". And Shakespeare's witches, in Macbeth, could sense the arrival of an evil man from afar: "I feel a pricking in my thumb; something wicked this way comes." Goethe, for his part, observed that the devil, like so many human beings, is simply a selfish charmer. "Der Teufel ist ein egotist." The devil is an egotist. He only helps others in order to serve his own ends. Not, as God and Kant would have it, for the sake of the good deed alone.

And this is why, ever since the book of Job, and until not so long ago, Satan, man and God lived in the same household. All three seemed to know the difference between good and evil. God, man and the devil knew that evil was evil and that good was good. God commanded one option. Satan seduced to try the other. God and Satan played on the same chessboard. Man was their game-piece. It was as simple as that.

Personally, I believe that every human being, in his or her heart of hearts, is capable of telling good from bad. Even when they pretend not to. We have all eaten from that tree of Eden whose full name is the tree of knowledge of good from evil.

The same distinction may apply to truth and lies: just as it is immensely difficult to define the truth, yet quite easy to smell a lie, it may sometimes be hard to define good; but evil has its unmistakable odour: every child knows what pain is. Therefore, each time we deliberately inflict pain on another, we know what we are doing. We are doing evil.

But the modern age has changed all that. It has blurred the clear distinction that humanity has made since its early childhood, since the Garden of Eden. Some time in the 19th century, not so long after Goethe died, a new thinking entered western culture that brushed evil aside, indeed denied its very existence. That intellectual innovation was called social science. For the new, self-confident, exquisitely rational, optimistic, thoroughly scientific practitioners of psychology, sociology, anthropology, and economics - evil was not an issue. Come to think of it, neither was good. To this very day, certain social scientists simply do not talk about good and evil. To them, all human motives and actions derive from circumstances, which are often beyond personal control. "Demons," said Freud, "do not exist any more than gods do, being only the products of the psychic activity of man." We are controlled by our social background. For about 100 years now, they have been telling us that we are motivated exclusively by economic self-interest, that we are mere products of our ethnic cultures, that we are no more than marionettes of our own subconscious.

In other words, the modern social sciences were the first major attempt to kick both good and evil off the human stage. For the first time in their long history, good and bad were both overruled by the idea that circumstances are always responsible for human decisions, human actions and especially human suffering. Society is to blame. Painful childhood is to blame. The political is to blame. Colonialism. Imperialism. Zionism. Globalisation. What not. So began the great world championship of victimhood.

For the first time since the book of Job, the devil found himself out of a job. He could no longer play his ancient game with human minds. Satan was dismissed. This was the modern age.

Well, the times may be changing again. Satan might have been sacked, but he did not remain unemployed. The 20th century was the worst arena of cold-blooded evil in human history. The social sciences failed to predict, encounter, or even grasp this modern, highly technologised evil. Very often, this 20th-century evil disguised itself as world reforming, as idealism, as re-educating the masses or "opening their eyes". Totalitarianism was presented as secular redemption for some, at the expense of millions of lives.

Today, having emerged from the evil of totalitarian rule, we have enormous respect for cultures. For diversities. For pluralism. I know some people are willing to kill anyone who is not a pluralist. Satan was hired for work once again by postmodernism; but this time his job is verging on kitsch: a small, secretive bunch of "shady forces" are always guilty of everything, from poverty and discrimination, war and global warming to September 11 and the tsunami. Ordinary people are always innocent. Minorities are never to blame. Victims are, by definition, morally pure. Did you notice that today, the devil never seems to invade any individual person? We have no Fausts any more. According to trendy discourse, evil is a conglomerate. Systems are evil. Governments are bad. Faceless institutions run the world for their own sinister gain. Satan is no longer in the details. Individual men and women cannot be "bad", in the ancient sense of the book of Job, or Macbeth, of Iago, of Faust. You and I are always very nice people. The devil is always the establishment. This is, in my view, ethical kitsch.

Let us consult our own most gifted adviser, der Geheimrat [councillor] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Let us look at his West-Eastern Divan, one of the earliest great tributes of western culture to its own curiosity and attraction to the east. Was Goethe a condescending "orientalist", as Edward Said might have him? Or was he a multiculturalist, in the fashion of today's guilt-ridden Europeans paying lip service to everything distant, to everything different, everything decisively non-European?

I think Goethe was neither an orientalist nor a multiculturalist. It was not the extreme and imagined exoticism of the east that tempted him, but the strong and fresh substance that eastern cultures, eastern poetry and art may give to universal human truths and feelings. The good, and indeed God, are universal:

God is of the east possess'd,
God is ruler of the west;
North and South alike, each land
Rests within His gentle hand.


Even more so, love is universal, whether it is for Gretchen or for Zuleika. So a German poet may well write a love poem for an imagined Persian woman. Or for a real Persian woman. And speak the truth. And yet more touchingly, pain is universal. As one of the finest poems in the West-Eastern Divan has it:

Let me Weep, hemmed-in by night,
In the boundless desert.
Camels are resting, likewise their drivers,
Calculating in silence the Armenian is awake;
But I, beside him, calculate the miles
That separate me from Zuleika, reiterate
The annoying bends that prolong journeys.
Let me weep. It is no shame.
Weeping men are good.
Didn't Achilles weep for his Briseis?
Xerxes wept for his unfallen army;
Over his self-murdered darling
Alexander wept.
Let me weep. Tears give life to dust.
Already it's greening.


Goethe does not recruit the east to prove anything. He takes humans, all humans, seriously. East or west, good men weep.

I would like to take a moment here to weep for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. I would like to weep for Weimar. Because Goethe's Weimar is gone for good. Even Thomas Mann's Weimar is gone and cannot return. Not that Weimar today is not a pretty, well renovated historical town. But Weimar today lies across the forest from Buchenwald.

We may lament the passing of memories, the fading of landscape, the growth and change of old towns. But this is not what we are lamenting in Goethe's Weimar. Not the teeth of time, but the extreme and total evil of man, have taken Goethe's Weimar away from us.

Mann, in his novel Lotte in Weimar, made Charlotte Kestner, who was once Lotte Buff, the real-life beloved of the young Werther, come to visit the old and famous Goethe in Weimar. Lotte in Weimar is an exquisite study in the slow fading of recollection: even when Goethe was still alive, the old Goethe-Zeit was slipping away, becoming the stuff of legend. That is normal; that is the way human life and memory, human homes and streets, flow and ebb as history moves on.

But Goethe and his old love Lotte could still walk together to the woodland outside the town of Weimar, and observe the blissful, tranquil scenery of the Thuringian countryside. And maybe they could walk up to the beautiful oak tree there, known for many years to come as Goethe's oak tree. And years went by, and generations died, but the oak tree was still standing. Until it was bombed by an allied aircraft toward the end of the second world war. And Weimar became the neighbouring town, the "market town", of death camp Buchenwald.

And so, the German Nazis killed not only their victims, but also the slow ageing innocence of Weimar and Goethe and Lotte. The subtitle of Lotte in Weimar is "The Beloved Returns". But the beloved can no longer return. Not for evermore.

Which brings me from Lotte Kestner-Buff to another Lotte, Lotte Wreschner, the mother of my son-in-law. She was born in Frankfurt am Main, 174 years after Goethe and not far from his house. Not for nothing did the name Lotte run in her family: she grew up in a home full of books, shelves upon shelves of German, Jewish and German-Jewish spiritual treasures. Schiller and the Talmud. Heine and Kant. Buber and Hölderlin. All were there. One uncle was a rabbi, the other a psychoanalyst. They all knew Goethe's poetry by heart. The Nazis imprisoned her, along with her mother and sister, and sent them to Ravensbrück, where the mother died of typhus and hard labour. She and her sister Margrit were transferred to Theresien-stadt. I wish I could tell you that they were liberated from Theresienstadt by peace demonstrators carrying placards saying "make love not war". But in fact they were set free not by pacifist idealists but by combat soldiers wearing helmets and carrying machine guns. We Israeli peace activists never forget this fact, even as we struggle against our country's attitude towards the Palestinians, even while we work for a livable, peaceful compromise between Israel and Palestine.

Lotte and Margrit Wreschner came home to find all the books waiting, but none of the family. Not a living soul. Margrit Wreschner can bear witness to what all survivors of that mass murder can tell. There are good people in the world. There are evil people in the world. Evil cannot always be repelled by incantations, by demonstrations, by social analysis or by psychoanalysis. Sometimes, in the last resort, it has to be confronted by force.

In my view, the ultimate evil in the world is not war itself, but aggression. Aggression is "the mother of all wars". And sometimes aggression has to be repelled by the force of arms before peace can prevail.

Lotte Wreschner settled in Jerusalem. Eventually she became a leader in the Israeli civil-rights movement, as well as a deputy mayor of Jerusalem under Teddy Kollek. Her son Eli and my daughter Fania are both civil rights and peace activists, as are my other children Galia and Daniel.

Let me turn back to Goethe, and back to my feelings about Germany. Goethe's Faust reminds us forever that the devil is personal, not impersonal. That the devil is putting every individual to the test, which every one of us can pass or fail. That evil is tempting and seducing. That aggression has a potential foothold inside every one of us.

Personal good and evil are not the assets of any religion. They are not necessarily religious terms. The choice whether to inflict pain or not to inflict it, to look it in the face or to turn a blind eye to it, to get personally involved in healing pain, like a devoted country doctor, or to make do with organising angry demonstrations and signing wholesale petitions - this spectrum of choice confronts each one of us several times a day.

Of course, we might occasionally take wrong turns. But even as we take a wrong turn, we still know what we are doing. We know the difference between good and evil, between inflicting pain and healing, between Goethe and Goebbels. Between Heine and Heydrich. Between Weimar and Buchenwald. Between individual responsibility and collective kitsch.

Let me conclude with one more personal recollection: as a very nationalistic, even chauvinistic, little boy in Jerusalem of the 1940s, I vowed never to set foot on German soil, never even to buy any German product. The only thing I could not boycott were German books. If you boycott the books, I told myself, you will become a little bit like "them". At first I limited myself to reading the pre-war German literature and the anti-Nazi writers. But later, in the 1960s, I began to read, in Hebrew translations, the works of the post-war generation of German writers and poets. In particular, the works of the Group 47 writers led by Hans Werner Richter. They made me imagine myself in their place. I'll put it more sharply: they seduced me to imagine myself in their stead, back in the dark years, and just before the dark years, and just after.

Reading these authors, and others, I could no longer go on simply hating everything German, past, present and future.

I believe that imagining the other is a powerful antidote to fanaticism and hatred. I believe that books that make us imagine the other, may turn us more immune to the ploys of the devil, including the inner devil, the Mephisto of the heart. Thus, Günter Grass and Heinrich Böll, Ingeborg Bachmann and Uwe Johnson, and in particular my beloved friend Siegfried Lenz, opened for me the door into Germany. They, along with a number of dear personal German friends, made me break my taboos and open my mind, and eventually my heart. They re-introduced me to the healing powers of literature.

Imagining the other is not only an aesthetic tool. It is, in my view, also a major moral imperative. And finally, imagining the other - if you promise not to quote this little professional secret - imagining the other is also a deep and very subtle human pleasure.

· Amos Oz's memoir A Tale of Love and Darkness is published in paperback by Vintage. To order a copy for £7.99 with free UK p&p call Guardian book service on 0870 836 0875. This article is adapted from a speech given by Amos Oz when he was awarded the Goethe prize in Frankfurt on August 28.

צייד הנאצים שמעון ויזנטל מת בגיל 96 Wiesenthal

Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal, 'conscience of the Holocaust' dies at 96
By Haaretz Service and AP

Simon Wiesenthal, the Holocaust survivor who helped track down numerous Nazi war criminals following World War II then spent the later decades of his life fighting anti-Semitism and prejudice against all people, died Tuesday. He was 96.

Wiesenthal died in his sleep at his home in Vienna, Austria, according to Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.

"I think he'll be remembered as the conscience of the Holocaust. In a way he became the permanent representative of the victims of the Holocaust, determined to bring the perpetrators of the greatest crime to justice," Hier said.
Wiesenthal, who had been an architect before World War II, changed his life's mission after surviving the Holocaust by becoming a voice for the 6 million Jews who died during the onslaught.

"When history looks back I want people to know the Nazis weren't able to kill millions of people and get away with it," he once said.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said Tuesday that Wiesenthal "brought justice to those who had escaped justice."

"He acted on behalf of 6 million people who could no longer defend themselves," Regev said. "The state of Israel, the Jewish people and all those who oppose racism recognized Simon Wiesenthal's unique contribution to making our planet a better place."

Calls of sympathy poured into Wiesenthal's office in Vienna, where one of his longtime assistants, Trudi Mergili, struggled to deal with her grief.

"It was expected," she said. "But it is still so hard."

Wiesenthal's quest began after the Americans liberated the Mauthausen death camp in Austria where Wiesenthal was a prisoner in May 1945. It was his fifth death camp among the dozen Nazi camps in which he was imprisoned, and he
weighed just 99 pounds (45 kilograms) when he was freed.

He said he quickly realized "there is no freedom without justice," and decided to dedicate "a few years" to seeking justice.

"It became decades," he added.

Even after reaching the age of 90, Wiesenthal continued to remind and to warn. While appalled at atrocities committed by Serbs against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in the 1990s, he said no one should confuse the tragedy there with the
Holocaust.

"We are living in a time of the trivialization of the word 'Holocaust,"' he said in an interview with The Associated Press in May 1999. "What happened to the Jews cannot be compared with all the other crimes. Every Jew had a death sentence without a date."

Early life and surviving the Holocaust
Wiesenthal's life spanned a violent century.

He was born on Dec. 31, 1908, to Jewish merchants at Buczacs, a small town near the present-day Ukrainian city of Lviv in what was then the Austro-Hungarian empire. He studied in Prague and Warsaw and in 1932 received a degree in civil engineering.

He apprenticed as a building engineer in Russia before returning to Lviv to open an architectural office. Then the Russians and the Germans occupied Lviv and the terror began.

Wiesenthal and his wife, Cyla, managed to escape immediate execution, but were caught and deported to the Janwska concentration camp just outside Lvov, where they were assigned to the forced labor camp serving the Ostbahn Works, the repair shop for Lvov's Eastern Railroad.

Because his wife's blonde hair gave her a chance of passing as an "Aryan," Wiesenthal made a deal with the Polish underground. In return for detailed charts of railroad junction points made by him for use by saboteurs, his wife was provided with false papers identifying her as a Pole , and spirited out of the camp in 1942.

Wiesenthal himself escaped the Ostbahn camp in October 1943, just before the Germans began liquidating all the inmates, but in June 1944, he was recaptured and sent back to Janswka.

In the fall of 1944, because of the Red Army's advance, all Janwska prisoners were forcibly marched by their Nazi captors westward through Plaszow, Gross-Rosen and Buchenwald. Few inmates survived the march that ended at Mauthausen in upper Austria.

Weighing less than 100 pounds and lying helplessly in a barracks, he was liberated by an American armored unit on May 5, 1945

Bringing Nazis to justice
After the war ended, Wiesenthal was reunited with his wife, Cyla, who had survived thanks to the papers given to her.

Wiesenthal began working first with the Americans and later from a cramped Vienna apartment packed floor to ceiling with documents, Wiesenthal tirelessly pursued fugitive Nazi war criminals.

He was perhaps best known for his role in tracking down Adolf Eichmann, the one-time SS leader who organized the extermination of the Jews. Eichmann was found in Argentina, abducted by Mossad agents in 1960, tried and hanged for crimes committed against the Jews.

Wiesenthal often was accused of exaggerating his role in Eichmann's capture. He did not claim sole responsibility, but said he knew by 1954 where Eichmann was.

Eichmann's capture "was a teamwork of many who did not know each other," Wiesenthal told The Associated Press in 1972. "I do not know if and to what extent reports I sent to Israel were used."

Among others Wiesenthal tracked down was Austrian policeman Karl Silberbauer, who he believed arrested the Dutch teenager Anne Frank and sent her to the
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where she died.

Wiesenthal decided to pursue Silberbauer in 1958 after a youth told him he did not believe in Frank's existence and murder, but would if Wiesenthal could find the man who arrested her. His five-year search resulted in Silberbauer's 1963 capture.

Wiesenthal did not bring to justice one prime target - Dr. Josef Mengele, the infamous "Angel of Death" of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Mengele died in South America after eluding capture for decades.

Wiesenthal's long quest for justice also stirred controversy.

Austrian Politics and later life
In Austria, which took decades to acknowledge its own role in Nazi crimes, Wiesenthal was ignored and often insulted before finally being honored for his work when he was in his 80s.

In 1975, then-Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, himself a Jew, suggested Wiesenthal was part of a "certain mafia" seeking to besmirch Austria. Kreisky even claimed Wiesenthal collaborated with Nazis to survive.

Ironically, it was the furor over Kurt Waldheim, who became president in 1986 despite lying about his past as an officer in Hitler's army, that gave Wiesenthal stature in Austria.

Wiesenthal's failure to condemn Waldheim as a war criminal drew international ire and conflict with American Jewish groups.

But it made Austrians realize that the Nazi hunter did not condemn everybody who took part in the Nazi war effort.

Wiesenthal did repeatedly demand Waldheim's resignation, seeing him as a symbol of those who suppressed Austria's role as part of Hitler's German war and death machine. But he turned up no proof of widespread allegations that
Waldheim was an accessory to war crimes.

He pursued his crusade of remembrance into old age with the vigor of youth, with patience and determination. But as he entered his 90s, he worried that
his mission would die with him.

"I think in a way the world owes him and his memory a tremendous amount of gratitude," Hier said.

Wiesenthal had more distinguished foreign awards than any other living Austrian citizen. In 1995, the city of Vienna made him an honorary citizen. He also wrote several books, including his memoirs, "The Murderers Among Us," in
1967, and worked regularly at the small downtown office of his Jewish Documentation Center even after turning 90.

"The most important thing I have done is to fight against forgetting and to keep remembrance alive," he said in the 1999 interview with The Associated Press. "It is very important to let people know that our enemies are not
forgotten."

Wiesenthal's beloved wife, Cyla, whom he married in 1936, died in November 2003.

That same year, Wiesenthal announced his retirement. "I have survived them all," Wiesenthal said. "If there were any left, they'd be too old and weak to stand trial today. My work is done."

יום שלישי, 20 בספטמבר 2005, 10:45 מאת: מערכת וואלה!
ויזנטל סייע להביא למשפט מעל 1,100 פעילים וקצינים נאצים. בין היתר סייע באיתורו של אייכמן ושל מפקד טרבלינקה וסוביבור

96 שמעון ויזנטל, צייד הנאצים המפורסם בעולם, נפטר הלילה בביתו בוינה, כשהוא בן ויזנטל, ניצול שואה בעצמו, עזר להביא למשפט מעל 1,100 פעילים וקצינים נאצים, בעזרת מרכז ויזנטל שהקים בלוס אנג'לס, ופעל להנצחת השואה והסברת צעדי ישראל בעולם.

שמעון ויזנטל נולד ב-31 בדצמבר 1908 באוקראינה. הוא למד הנדסת בניין וארכיטקטורה בטכניון של פראג, ונישא ב-1936. לאחר עליית הנאצים לשלטון בגרמניה, וחתימת ההסכם עם רוסיה אמו נשלחה למחנה השמדה, יחד עם רוב קרובי המשפחה האחרים שלו. אשתו חייתה במהלך המלחמה בזהות בדויה של פולניה, ואילו ויזנטל נכלא, עבר בין מחנות שונים, ושוחרר בתום המלחמה ב-5 במאי 1945.

מיד לאחר שחרורו החל ויזנטל לאסוף ראיות על קצינים ופעילים נאציים לבית הדין לפשעי מלחמה של צבא ארה"ב. מאוחר יותר הוא עבד עבור האמריקאים באיתור פושעים נאצים באוסטריה, אף סיפק את המידע שהביא ללכידתו של אדולף אייכמן בארגנטינה.

לאחר משפט אייכמן, פתח ויזנטל את המרכז היהודי למסמכים בווינה, בו התרכז בפושעי מלחמה. במהלך פעילותו סייע בלכידתו של קארל זילברבאואר, קצין הגסטפו שעצר את אנה פרנק. באוקטובר 66 מצא 16 קציני SS שהועמדו לדין בשטוטגארט. פרנץ סטנגל, מפקד מחנות ההשמדה טרבלינקה וסוביבור, נתפס גם הוא בעזרת ויזנטל בארגנטינה, ונשפט למאסר עולם. האחראית על השמדת כמה מאות של ילדים במיידאנק נעצרה בניו-יורק, לאחר מחקר ממושך של ויזנטל ואנשיו.

לפני שנתיים הודיע ויזנטל כי יסגור את התיקים שעליהם עבד בחצי השנה האחרונה לאיתור האחראים לשואה, מכיוון שעבודתו הושלמה. "מצאתי את רוצחי ההמונים אותם חיפשתי וחייתי אחרי מותם", אמר.

ויזנטל קיבל על פועלו תעודות הוקרה רבות, בין היתר אות הוקרה על "מפעל חיים למען האנושות". במקביל, נאלץ להתמודד עם מכתבי איום רבים שהגיעו אליו. ביוני 1982 חמק מניסיון חיסול, כשמטען חבלה התפוצץ ליד דלת ביתו.

כשנשאל ויזנטל על פועלו, ועל האובססיה שלו באיתור הפושעים הנאצים, אמר כי "אני מאמין בחיים אחרי המוות. כשאפגוש את מיליוני היהודים שנרצחו בעולם הבא, והם ישאלו אותי מה עשינו למטה לאחר השמדתם, אני רוצה להגיד להם 'לא שכחתי אתכם'".

ושיר חדש לרדיו בספטבמר

מזל טוב גם לכם חברים יקרים באמת שלי

מאת: ט י נ הו 10/06/05 | 08:27

אז ככה ... קודם כל תודה תודה על כל הברכות המקסימות והאיחולים גם במסרים אישיים במיילים ועוד ... שנית חשוב לי לעדכן שכל נושא הפינג פונג של תאריך החגיגה שלנו ביחד נובע מכך שהשנה חג שבועות יושב לנו על הראש .כלומר על טנא שעל הראש .. ולכן 12 לחודש איתן אהובי היקר אינו מתאים .. אבל אולי אצליח לשרבב לפני תורכיה ואילת את ה 14 או 15 בשעות אחהצ המוקדמות זה בבדיקה .
אם לא אז ידידי ... נחגוג לי כשאהיה בת 44 וחודש מה רע ?
אוהבת אתכם - מעודדת אתכם לכתוב עוד ועוד - רוצה להדגיש 3 תאריכי מופעים חשובים - קרית גת 07.07 מופע קיץ פתוח לכל מי שרק רוצה ובא לו
14 יולי ערד עם אושיק לוי מדהים וחובה לאוהבינו .. 15 יולי זאפא תל אביב אורחת של אריה מוסקונה ולהקתו . ועוד ועוד ... בכל מיקרה חשוב לי שתדעו שאני מאחלת לעצמי ולכם שלווה ואושר יציבות מבפנים ומחוץ ... ושיר חדש לרדיו בספטבמר . זהו לא רוצה יותר מזה . או כמו שמישהי פעםכתבה .. לא מבקשים הרבה אהבה עבודה וחדר קטן ...
יאללה בי

Sharon at UN. Historical Speach

Address by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the High Level Plenary Meeting of the 60th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
2005 UN World Summit

(Translated from Hebrew)

My friends and colleagues, heads and representatives of the UN member states,

I arrived here from Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish people for over 3,000 years and the undivided and eternal capital of the State of Israel.

At the outset, I would like to express the profound feelings of empathy of the people of Israel for the American nation, and our sincere condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. I wish to encourage my friend, President George Bush, and the American people, in their determined efforts to assist the victims of the hurricane and rebuild the ruins after the destruction. The State of Israel, which the United States stood beside at times of trial, is ready to extend any assistance at its disposal in this immense humanitarian mission.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I stand before you at the gate of nations as a Jew and as a citizen of the democratic, free, and sovereign State of Israel, a proud representative of an ancient people, whose numbers are few, but whose contribution to civilization and to the values of ethics, justice, and faith, surrounds the world and encompasses history. The Jewish people has a long memory, the memory which united the exiles of Israel for thousands of years: a memory which has its origin in God’s commandment to our forefather Abraham: “Go forth!” and continued with the receiving of the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai and the wanderings of the children of Israel in the desert, led by Moses on their journey to the promised land, the Land of Israel.

I was born in the Land of Israel, the son of pioneers - people who tilled the land and sought no fights - who did not come to Israel to dispossess its residents. If the circumstances had not demanded it, I would not have become a soldier, but rather a farmer and agriculturist. My first love was, and remains, manual labor; sowing and harvesting, the pastures, the flock and the cattle.

I, as someone whose path of life led him to be a fighter and commander in all Israel’s wars, reach out today to our Palestinian neighbors in a call for reconciliation and compromise to end the bloody conflict, and embark on the path which leads to peace and understanding between our peoples. I view this as my calling and my primary mission for the coming years.

The Land of Israel is precious to me, precious to us, the Jewish people, more than anything. Relinquishing any part of our forefathers’ legacy is heartbreaking, as difficult as the parting of the Red Sea. Every inch of land, every hill and valley, every stream and rock, is saturated with Jewish history, replete with memories. The continuity of Jewish presence in the Land of Israel never ceased. Even those of us who were exiled from our land, against their will, to the ends of the earth - their souls, for all generations, remained connected to their homeland, by thousands of hidden threads of yearning and love, expressed three times a day in prayer and songs of longing.

The Land of Israel is the open Bible, the written testimony, the identity and right of the Jewish people. Under its skies, the prophets of Israel expressed their claims for social justice, and their eternal vision for alliances between peoples, in a world which would know no more war. Its cities, villages, vistas, ridges, deserts, and plains preserve as loyal witnesses its ancient Hebrew names. Page after page, our unique land is unfurled, and at its heart is united Jerusalem, the city of the Temple upon Mount Moriah, the axis of the life of the Jewish people throughout all generations, and the seat of its yearnings and prayers for 3,000 years. The city to which we pledged an eternal vow of faithfulness, which forever beats in every Jewish heart: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its cunning!”

I say these things to you because they are the essence of my Jewish consciousness, and of my belief in the eternal and unimpeachable right of the people of Israel to the Land of Israel. However, I say this here also to emphasize the immensity of the pain I feel deep in my heart at the recognition that we have to make concessions for the sake of peace between us and our Palestinian neighbors.

The right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel does not mean disregarding the rights of others in the land. The Palestinians will always be our neighbors. We respect them, and have no aspirations to rule over them. They are also entitled to freedom and to a national, sovereign existence in a state of their own.

This week, the last Israeli soldier left the Gaza Strip, and military law there was ended. The State of Israel proved that it is ready to make painful concessions in order to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians. The decision to disengage was very difficult for me, and involves a heavy personal price. However, it is the absolute recognition that it is the right path for the future of Israel that guided me. Israeli society is undergoing a difficult crisis as a result of the Disengagement, and now needs to heal the rifts.

Now it is the Palestinians’ turn to prove their desire for peace. The end of Israeli control over and responsibility for the Gaza Strip allows the Palestinians, if they so wish, to develop their economy and build a peace-seeking society, which is developed, free, law-abiding, and transparent, and which adheres to democratic principles. The most important test the Palestinian leadership will face is in fulfilling their commitment to put an end to terrorism and its infrastructures, eliminate the anarchic regime of armed gangs, and cease the incitement and indoctrination of hatred towards Israel and the Jews.

Until they do so - Israel will know how to defend itself from the horrors of terrorism. This is why we built the security fence, and we will continue to build it until it is completed, as would any other country defending its citizens. The security fence prevents terrorists and murderers from arriving in city centers on a daily basis and targeting citizens on their way to work, children on their way to school, and families sitting together in restaurants. This fence is vitally indispensable. This fence saves lives!

The successful implementation of the Disengagement Plan opens up a window of opportunity for advancing toward peace, in accordance with the sequence of the Roadmap. The State of Israel is committed to the Roadmap and to the implementation of the Sharm e-Sheikh understandings. And I hope that it will be possible, through them, to renew the political process.

I am among those who believe that it is possible to reach a fair compromise and coexistence in good neighborly relations between Jews and Arabs. However, I must emphasize one fact: There will be no compromise on the right of the State of Israel to exist as a Jewish state, with defensible borders, in full security and without threats and terrorism.

I call on the Palestinian leadership to show determination and leadership, and to eliminate terrorism, violence, and the culture of hatred from our relations. I am certain that it is in our power to present our peoples with a new and promising horizon, a horizon of hope.

Distinguished representatives,

As I mentioned, the Jewish people has a long memory. We remember events that took place thousands of years ago, and certainly remember events that took place in this hall during the last 60 years. The Jewish people remembers the dramatic vote in the UN General Assembly on November 29, 1947, when representatives of the nations recognized our right to national revival in our historic homeland. However, we also remember dozens of harsh and unjust decisions made by the United Nations over the years. And we know that, even today, there are those who sit here as representatives of a country whose leadership calls to wipe Israel off the face of the earth - and no one speaks out.

The attempts of that country to arm itself with nuclear weapons must disturb the sleep of anyone who desires peace and stability in the Middle East and the entire world. The combination of murky fundamentalism and support of terrorist organizations creates a serious threat that every member nation in the UN must stand against.

I hope that the comprehensive reforms which the United Nations is undergoing in its 60th anniversary year will include a fundamental change and improvement in the approach of the United Nations, its organizations and institutions, toward the State of Israel.

My fellow colleagues and representatives,

Peace is a supreme value in the Jewish legacy, and is the desired goal of our policy. After the long journey of wanderings and the hardships of the Jewish people; after the Holocaust which obliterated one third of our people; after the long and arduous struggle for revival; after more than 57 consecutive years of war and terrorism which did not stop the development of the State of Israel; after all this - our heart’s desire was and remains to achieve peace with our neighbors. Our desire for peace is strong enough to ensure that we will achieve it, only if our neighbors are genuine partners in this longed-for goal. If we succeed in working together, we can transform our plot of land, which is dear to both peoples, from a land of contention to a land of peace – for our children and grandchildren.

In a few days' time on the Hebrew calendar, the New Year will begin, the 5,766th year since the Creation. According to Jewish belief, the fates of people and nations are determined at the New Year by the Creator - to be spared or to be doomed. May the Holy One, blessed be He, determine that this year, our fate and the fate of our neighbors is peace, mutual respect, and good neighborly relations.

From this distinguished podium, on behalf of the people of Israel, I wish all the people of the world a good New Year.

Son of social activist Vicki Knafo kills himself in prison

Tragedy!! Son of social activist Vicki Knafo kills himself in prison.
Last update - 10:31 16/09/2005
Son of social activist Vicki Knafo kills himself in prison
By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent

Natanel Pinian, son of social activist Vicki Knafo, committed suicide early Friday morning in his Dimona prison cell in the Negev.

Pinian, 24, was arrested Wednesday by Dimona police in Mitzpe Ramon after violating his house arrest. He had been placed under house arrest after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend.

At about 3 A.M. Friday morning, an officer noticed Pinian hanging by a sheet tied to the cell rafters. An ambulance was called to the scene but rescue workers failed to resuscitate him.

Pinian has spent long periods of time in jail because of prior drug and theft offenses.

His mother is known for leading a 2003 struggle of single mothers against budget cuts, which turned her into a major symbol of social struggle in Israel. She has spoken in interviews in the past about her trouble in dealing with her son.

10th September 2001?

What Happened? I got Tachlemi Begadol, signed by Si Himan!!
The Next day...
A year earlier she Married Roy Schohat!
Today:
Met Anat and Oren in Tel-Aviv outside Bet Haknesset,
Spoke to Yuav Mualem looking after Ido.
Caught Giora Sorkin on Phone.
Mazal Tov!!!

Elections in Egypt

For years people have not been actively involved in politics, many claim it is because they have lost confidence in the process. Well it's not going to clean itself up by itself


Ghada Shahbandar
ShayfeenCom

Dalia Rabikovitz Died

What "Tina" Wrote (Si Himan)--- מרוב אהבה


קודם כל זהו יום עצוב נורא .את דליה כל מי שאהב ליווה תמיד בחצי פעימת לב של " רק שלא תגיע הידיעה הנוראית שהיא הלכה לעולמה " כאילו חיינו ביידעה שתמיד קשה לה -שכל דבר שהיה לה עלה לה בבריאות ובמאמץ .
אכן הזמנתי את דליה למרכז עינב וגם לתיאטרון תמונע ואפילו לגבעתיים לאחרונה והיא תמיד ענתה שהיא לא חשה בטוב .
אני קטונתי לחלוטין מלקחת כל קרדיט או משהו אישי - לא נפגשתי אישית אפילו פעם אחת לצערי עם דליה אבל ... ויש אבל גדול ... שוחחנו בשנים האחרונות כמה פעמים טלפונית .. העברתי לדליה כמובן את הדיסק כשיצא ושוחחנו ארוכות . היא אמרה משהו מקסים - אמרה לי שאני מצליחה לתרגם את רגשותיה דרך הקול שלי - ויתרה מכך אמרה ששיר כמו " מרוב אהבה " כל כך חשוב שלא יקלקלו - ואכן לא קילקלו.יהי זכרה ברוך ומי יתן וכמו אותן ילדות בצפורנים שחורות מעמל .. אותן ילדות ששוברות צלחות מרוב אהבה מרוב אהבה ... נזכה לשמוע יותר זמרים שרים את שיריה המון אהבה ותפילה שעכשיו יותר טוב לה .איפה שלא תהיה נשמתה אני מאחלת לה מנוחה . כי כאן בעולמנו האכזר לא היתה לה. ואפילו אני שידועה באופטימיות ונתינה אינסופית לא הצלחתי להעלות חיוך על שפתיה ... אולי בעצם כן ואני לא יודעת

Cox-2 drugs are down. But they may not be out.

August 20, 2005
Battered but Unbowed: Can Painkillers Recover?
By STEPHANIE SAUL
Cox-2 drugs are down. But they may not be out.

By deciding yesterday that the Merck drug Vioxx contributed to the death of a Texas man, a jury dealt another punch to the battered class of arthritis painkillers known as cox-2's. Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market last fall over safety concerns, and Pfizer did the same thing a few months later with one of its cox-2 drugs, Bextra.

So why are some companies, including Merck and Pfizer, still betting on a big cox-2 comeback?

For one thing some analysts have said that sales of Celebrex, another drug by Pfizer that is the only cox-2 remaining on the United States market, are already rebounding after a big slump last winter. Celebrex sales, they say, could reach as high as $2 billion this year, a decline of 39 percent from last year. The rebound comes despite warnings that Celebrex - like Vioxx and Bextra - can cause cardiovascular problems in some patients. Merck has another cox-2 drug, Arcoxia, that is already approved in 54 other countries and generated worldwide sales of $100 million in the first half of this year.

Meantime, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and even Merck are investing millions in clinical research to prove the safety of new cox-2's, which must clear newly raised hurdles to gain Food and Drug Administration approval, with submission of data to the F.D.A. still several years away.

For all the clouds that hang over the class, cox-2's are still valued by some physicians as a type of anti-inflammatory drug designed to be safer on the stomach than some more conventional painkillers, like aspirin. The drugs reduce the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding by selectively inhibiting a specific enzyme, cyclooxygenase-2.

"There's still quite a lot of potential with these drugs," said Gustav Ando, an analyst for the business research firm Global Insight, in Waltham, Mass. "It's just that the name has been tarnished and they need to rebrand the therapeutic area."

Mr. Ando said that the companies with cox-2's in development would be closely watching yesterday's jury verdict and its aftermath to gauge the potential risks of being associated with the class. But for many, the potential rewards may lure them forward.

Many analysts and doctors predict that the dearth of effective painkillers and the growing ranks of baby boomers suffering from aching joints will drive growth in the market.

The worldwide market for cox-2's surpassed $7 billion in 2004, and had been projected to reach $9 billion by 2010, before the Vioxx and Bextra withdrawals sent the market tumbling. Mr. Ando predicts it will take the industry several years to define the drugs' cardiovascular risks and benefits clearly and to sort through a potential regulatory thicket before the market begins to rebound.

Dr. Stanley Cohen, a rheumatologist in Dallas, said that the withdrawal of Vioxx last September as well as Bextra in April had been devastating to some of his patients, even though he has tried to substitute with other drugs.

"We've all been trying to come up with our own type of game plan until there's better evidence-based medicine to guide us," said Dr. Cohen, who has tried Mobic (a drug marketed jointly by Boehringer Ingelheim and Abbott Laboratories), analgesics and older anti-inflammatories combined with Tylenol on his patients. But not all users of those drugs find relief.

Data compiled by Verispan, a company that tracks pharmaceutical prescribing, shows that a variety of generic anti-inflammatories and Mobic have been the big beneficiaries of the cox-2 controversy. Prescriptions of Mobic, which is similar in some ways to the cox-2's, went from 277,569 in August 2004, before Vioxx's withdrawal, to 698,145 this June.

"I had a number of patients who only responded to Bextra or only responded to Vioxx," Dr. Cohen said. "We had a terrible time giving them comfort when those drugs were removed from the market."

It is just those types of patients, suffering with pain, that Glaxo's senior vice president for neuroscience medicines, Dr. Daniel J. Burch, cited when discussing his company's as yet unnamed cox-2 drug, known currently as 406381.

"There's really not much out there to treat patients who have chronic pain," Dr. Burch said. "The media has really scared a lot of people. A lot of people are not taking pain medications because they're worried about the cardiovascular risk."

Glaxo, which is making a gigantic investment in drug 406381, announced in May that it would go forward with Phase 3 clinical studies - the last phase of patient trials before submitting a drug for F.D.A. approval. Dr. Burch said the test would probably involve more than 20,000 patients. The company is currently in talks with the F.D.A. to design the trial.

The cost of such large trials is high, often exceeding several thousand dollars a patient. But in studying the cox-2's, the sample size is extremely important. Because only 1 percent or 2 percent of patients might be susceptible to cardiovascular risks, smaller samples may not adequately reveal any risks.

"Really what we're talking about in our Phase 3 program is demonstrating a compelling benefit that this drug will have," Dr. Burch said. "We're going to measure the risk unlike anyone has ever done before."

Glaxo was late to the cox-2 party. But Mr. Ando said that could work to the company's advantage. "It's the only drug that's completely disassociated from the crisis," he said. "All the other drugs had brand names given to them."

Glaxo also says its drug is different from other cox-2's because it works on the central nervous system in addition to peripheral nerves. But even if all goes well with the drug, it will very likely be three years before patients can use 406381.

A drug that could potentially be closer to market in this country is Arcoxia from Merck. It is already the largest-selling painkiller in Brazil, where Mr. Ando said it was benefiting from the withdrawal of Vioxx and Bextra. Merck initially submitted Arcoxia for F.D.A. approval in 2001 and received a letter last year indicating that it could eventually be approved, with further data, the company said.

The company now has under way a 23,000-person clinical trial, called Medal, to test Arcoxia's cardiovascular safety compared with diclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory that is one of the world's largest-selling painkillers, sold under a variety of generic and brand names. The results of Medal, which will be available soon, are being combined with data from two other trials to get a sample size of more than 30,000 patients, according to Tracy Ogden, a Merck spokeswoman.

"Of course, having Medal under way and continuing shows our commitment in exploring this product," Ms. Ogden said.

Still, an investment report in May by Friedman Billings Ramsey said Arcoxia's future was unclear. The report noted that members of an F.D.A. panel were unenthusiastic in February about the design of the Medal trial and it also compared Arcoxia's safety profile with that of Vioxx.

Novartis, meanwhile, is pushing ahead with its cox-2 drug, Prexige, already approved in 22 countries and on the market in Brazil. The company submitted it for F.D.A. approval in November 2002, but the agency said the next year that it could not approve the drug because the company had submitted inadequate data. Novartis is continuing clinical studies and hopes to resubmit data to the F.D.A in 2007, with plans to request approval for patients with serious gastrointestinal problems.

"Novartis believes that for the right patient, Prexige might prove the pain relief needed," the company said in a statement yesterday.

Dr. Garret A. FitzGerald of the University of Pennsylvania, who first noticed problems with the cox-2's in 1998, said the new scrutiny the drugs are receiving could provide an opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry to develop an individualized approach to managing drug risks. Such an approach would involve identifying and locating the genetic biomarkers that make some people susceptible to cardiovascular risks from cox-2's and, also, the markers that make some people's pain respond to the drugs.

"It's a small risk," Dr. FitzGerald said. "How do we detect that small number of people who are getting into trouble so we can stop the drug?"

Polls and Lies!

The Israeli Politicians follow the Polls!
instead of Ideology and Policy!!
Netanyahu this week resigned because he says he is against the Pullback
But if he really wanted to stop the Pullback he could have resigned Months
Ago!! But the Polls favour Netanyahu in the Likud,
Also if Sharon Peres and Tommy Lapid create a New Party, They should win according
to the Poll's!!
I say it is time to Change the System of Elections to The Knesset,
Like Ben Gurion wanted too.

סקרים ושקרים

כתבתי על הציונות החדשה שלי! או שלנו.
נראה עכשיו שבמקום ציונות יש
סקרים ושקרים!
הפוליטיקאים מקבלים החלטות גורליות לפי הסקר!!!
אורי דן אמר לפני כמה שבועות שאחרי ההינתקות תבוא
ההינתקות הפוליטית-לקח מהבחירה הישירה
ושיטת הפתק הכפול שכשלה

Discovered Ynet in English Bibi Less Budget

Discovered Ynet in English Bibi Less Budget

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3124841,00.html
A Bibi-less Budget vote

So long and thanks for all the cash; the Israeli government convenes to discuss and later vote on state funding plan Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had worked for months to compile; Cabinet also approved appointment of Ehud Olmert to replace Netanyahu, who quit on Sunday in protest of planned Gaza pullout
By Diana Bahur-Nir



The seat of former Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained empty as the cabinet met to discuss and later vote on the 2006 state budget he had compiled.



Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told said the budget "must be approved by the end of the day", as the ministers met to discuss amendments he had made a day after Netanyahu quit the government in protest of Israel’s planned pullout from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank next week.


Netanyahu had proposed budget cuts of a total NIS 3.6 billion in several ministries.


A day after his resignation, Sharon amended the budget to increase funding for the Defense Ministry, demanding a cut of NIS 650 million instead of the NIS 1.5 billion that Netanyahu had proposed.



More funds were needed for the defense budget in wake of an increased Iranian nuclear threat, sources in the prime minister’s office said.



Army Chief Lt.-General Dan Halutz said the cuts would allow security forces to survive by the end of 2005 only, adding that "we are planning wide-range organizational changes in the army, whose benefits we will not be able to witness within a month, but after a longer term."



Netanyahu slammed the increase in the defense budget, saying it would "bring to cuts in the budget for those who need such funds. The decision is wrong."

Olmert approved for finance minister


The cabinet also approved the appointment of his replacement, Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.


“This may not be the budget I compiled, but it’s important to show stability and approve the framework of the budget that has existed until today.”


“The government’s stance, where the deficit goal stands at three percent and spending grows by only one percent, has been commended greatly and should continue in order to pass on a message of stability and continuity. If we don’t, we will cause irreversible damage,” he said.



Education Minister Limor Livnat and Health Minister Danny Naveh threatened to vote against the budget due to proposed cuts in her ministry’s budget.



Both joined Netanyahu and two other ministers in voting against the first stage of Israel’s evacuation of Gaza settlements on Sunday and have voiced opposition to the plan in the media.



- Shani Mizrahi contributed to this report

Wisconsin Blah Blah!

התוכנית, אשר אומצה מארה"ב, תפעל לצמצום התלות של משקי הבית בגמלאות קיום, ולהשבת מקבליהן לעולם התעסוקה * בלב התוכנית עומדת התפיסה כי עבודה היא זכות
01/08/2005 15:05 | ענבל אביב


תוכנית ויסקונסין הקרוייה בעברית - מהל"ב (מהבטחת הכנסה לתעסוקה בטוחה) יוצאת לדרך (ב', 1.8.05). ממלא-מקום ראש הממשלה ושר התמ"ת אהוד אולמרט, ושר האוצר בנימין נתניהו, יחד עם מנכ"לי המשרדים ומינהלת מהל"ב, קיימו הבוקר תדרוך עיתונאים המפרט את עיקרי התוכנית.

מהיום פתוחים מרכזי התעסוקה הראשונים והחלו להגיע אליהם מקבלי הבטחת הכנסה. בשלב הראשון - לתקופת ניסוי של שנתיים - נפתחו ארבעה מרכזים: בירושלים, נצרת-נצרת עילית, חדרה ואשקלון-שדרות.

ממשרד האוצר נמסר, כי תוכנית מהל"ב הינה תוכנית המכוונת לקדם השתלבות מקבלי גמלאות הבטחת הכנסה בעבודה. התוכנית תיפעל לצימצום התלות של משקי הבית בגמלאות קיום, ולהשבת מקבליהן לעולם התעסוקה.

בלב התוכנית עומדת התפיסה כי עבודה היא זכות, כל אדם יכול וצריך לעבוד בראש ובראשונה למען עצמו.

האזורים, בהם יוקמו מרכזי התעסוקה הראשונים נבחרו בהמלצת צוות מקצועי ממשרד האוצר. בארבעה אזורים אלה מרוכזים כ-14,000 משקי בית, המתקיימים מהבטחת הכנסה והמחויבים להתייצב בלשכות התעסוקה. כל מרכז יפעל כ-Center One Stop Job ויספק במרוכז את מכלול השירותים הנדרשים לחסרי התעסוקה לשם השבתם למעגל העבודה.

במסגרת התוכנית ייעשה מאמץ מרוכז לשלב את מקבלי הגמלאות בעבודה המאפשרת להם למצות את פוטנציאל ההשתכרות שלהם, תוך ליווי, סיוע, הכוונה והדרכה. המרכז יספק קשת של שירותים משלימים ובהם: מעקב אחר תעסוקה, השגחה על ילדים, הסעות, ייעוץ פסיכולוגי, תעסוקתי ורפואי, שירותי קהילה ושירותים פיננסיים. ארבעת המרכזים יפעלו בפיקוח מינהלת מטעם משרד התמ"ת.

Bad News , What is Worse?

1) Gunmen of the Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades of Fatah killed Dov, 58, and Rachel Kol, 53, while they were driving on a road that links the Kissufim crossing to the settlement bloc in the southern Gaza Strip.
Dov Kol, 58, and Rachel Kol, 53, were returning to their Jerusalem home after visiting Rachel's sister in the Gush Katif settlement of Ganei Tal when terrorists opened fire on their vehicles on the Kissufim Route, the main access road to Gush Katif.
S.C.: Dov was well known as belonging to the Peace Camp but his wife insisted on going for the last time to Gush Katif.

2) A couple in their fifties committed suicide in Petach Tiqva as they were
in Debt. This does not get big headlines!
טרגדיה אירעה שלשום בפתח תקוה: בעל ואשה, תושבי העיר, שמו ביום שישי בצהריים קץ לחייהם ביריות ביער נחשונים, הסמוך לעיר. השניים, הרצל ורבקהסלומון, בשנות ה-50 לחייהם, הסתגרו בתוך מכונית "איסוזו" והתאבדו בגלל קשיים כלכליים. האקדח נמצא בידיו של הבעל, הרצל, שישב במושב הנהג ולצדו נמצאה אשתו רבקה. שניהם נמצאו ללא רוח חיים, כשסימני הירי בראשיהם.
זאת, לאחר שבחיפושים שנעשו במכונית אחר מסמכים שילמדו על זהותם של שני בני הזוג, נמצא מכתב שבו הסבירו השניים כי בחרו לשים קץ לחייהם בשל חובות כספיים כבדים שאליהם נקלעו. מכרים של בני הזוג סיפרו בסוף השבוע כי השניים ניהלו עסק למכירת חומרי בניין.

Sharm al-Sheikh

World leaders and other international figures have condemned the killing of dozens of people in bomb attacks at the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh.

US WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT

The United States stands firmly with the people of Egypt at this time of national mourning.

The United States stands ready to assist the government of Egypt in helping the victims and bringing the perpetrators of these acts to justice. Standing together with the rest of the civilized world, we will win the conflict against this global scourge.


US SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE

I condemn the horrific terrorist bombings in Sharm al-Sheikh. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and innocent victims from many nations who suffered in this senseless attack.

At this difficult time of testing, the United States stands with our friend and ally Egypt. Together we will confront and defeat this scourge that knows no boundary and respects no creed.


UK FOREIGN SECRETARY JACK STRAW

Almost certainly, they (the bombers) are evil people who will claim, wrongly, to have done this in the name of Islam...

It's another terrible terrorist atrocity... It shows that the fight against this terrorism is international.

I've spoken this morning to my colleague the Egyptian foreign minister to assure him of our full support and our full solidarity with the Egyptian people and the Egyptian government. Their fight is ours, our fight is theirs.


IRAQI GOVERNMENT STATEMENT

"We wish the Egyptian armed forces success in fighting the cancer of terrorism, which threatens the peace of the entire world, and the mistaken ideas which lie behind it.

All governments and responsible people in the world should condemn terrorism and stand together to fight it.


RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN

In carrying out one serious crime after another - in Russia, Britain, Egypt and other countries - international terrorism is attempting to compel the civilised world to live in an environment of universal fear and violence. Cohesion and unity of action to repel this barbaric threat can be the only response to these challenges to mankind.

I am certain that the best qualities of the Egyptian people - courage, firmness of spirit and resilience - will come to the fore at this difficult moment. Please convey my profound sympathy and words of support to the families and friends of the dead and wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured.


SPOKESMAN FOR FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC

[President Chirac] vigorously condemns these attacks and reaffirms France's absolute determination to fight this scourge of terrorism which nothing could justify.


SPOKESMAN FOR UN SECRTARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN

The Secretary General has reacted with sorrow and anger to the news of the multiple car bombs in the Sinai peninsula, which have cruelly struck the brave Egyptian nation on its National Day.

Once again, in this tragic month, he condemns the use of terror and indiscriminate violence against civilians, which no cause or belief can possibly justify. He sends his condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims, and to the people and government of Egypt, as well as all other countries whose citizens have been killed or injured.


IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN HAMID REZA ASEFI

The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the bombings in Sharm al-Sheikh. We extend our sympathy to the families of the victims and the countries which have suffered including Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Netherlands, Britain and others.

We strongly condemn such actions - using terrorism to achieve one's goals.


AFGHAN PRESIDENT HAMID KARZAI

Terrorism is the enemy of Islam, as much as the enemy of any other faith. It is the enemy of humanity. I call once again on all nations to come together and decisively fight this menace to its roots.

The people of Afghanistan extend their deepest sympathies to the victims of this attack, and to the Government and people of the brotherly nation of Egypt.

This incident reminds us that terrorism continues to pose threat to the peace and prosperity of all nations in the world. It is imperative on the international community, to step up the struggle against this menace until it is decisively defeated from the face of the earth. Afghanistan stands in firm solidarity with those countries that are affected by and are fighting terrorism. We will play our full part in this fight.


SPOKESMAN FOR JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTRY

Terrorism cannot be justified for any reason, and the government of Japan firmly condemns atrocious terrorism that victimises many innocent people.

56 Today

56 Today

Second cat had immature babies.
Rashumon Hava Hasinit
Nadi!?

Tsunami Envoy Clinton Warns Toughest Time Still Ahead

Tsunami Envoy Clinton Warns Toughest Time Still Ahead

NEW YORK, New York, July 14, 2005 (ENS) - The most difficult phase of recovery from last December's Indian Ocean tsunami lies ahead, former U.S. President Bill Clinton told the United Nations today at its headquarters in New York. The UN special envoy for tsunami recovery, Clinton has just returned from a trip to the Indian Ocean countries where he said many people are still living in tents, despite the resources that exist to create satisfactory, semi-permanent shelters.

Clinton told the UN Economic and Social Council meeting today on lessons learned from tsunami disaster that his experiences over the past five months as special envoy reconfirmed his belief in the intrinsic value of the United Nations, both as the deliverer of vital services in the aftermath of a crisis and "as the glue that holds international cooperation together."

"History tells us that this phase is in many ways the most difficult," Clinton said during a panel discussion on the disaster. "I am warning people that we may have more bad days than good this year. It will be a complex and frustrating time. Recovery in each country will need a customized response and will move at different speeds."

15th July 2004 Last year Bad Day!!

This time last Year we were told that we will have to leave where we lived in Tel-Aviv the Next morning. I still do not know where a large part of my belongings were taken!

Slick by my Home

עדכון אחרון - 23:29 11/07/05




סליק מתקופת המנדט התגלה בכרם התימנים בת"א

מאת רוני זינגר

יותר מ-100 ק"ג טי-אן-טי ועשרות רימונים, נפצים וכדורי רובה פונו מבית משפחת חג'בי לפיצוץ מבוקר




חבלן מוציא חומרי נפץ מהבית. מתחת לרעפים

תצלום: מוטי קמחי


יותר מ-100 ק"ג חומר נפץ מסוג טי-אן-טי ועשרות רימונים, נפצים וכדורי רובה פונו אתמול (שני) בידי חבלני משטרת מחוז תל אביב מבית ברחוב הלל הזקן בשכונת כרם התימנים בעיר, שבה התגלה סליק גדול מתקופת המנדט הבריטי.

בעלי הבית, האחים לבית משפחת חג'בי, מכרו אותו באחרונה לבעלים חדשים, והגיעו בסוף השבוע האחרון כדי לפנות מהבית את חפציהם. אז נזכר אחד האחים, משה חג'בי, כי לפני שנים רבות אמר לו אביו, מאיר חג'בי, כי אם ייקלע אי פעם לצרה, עליו לשבור את הקיר שמעל לדלת הכניסה. שם, אמר האב, ימצא פריטים שיסייעו לו.

ואולם, סיפרו האחים, הם לא ייחסו לכך כל חשיבות, ומעולם לא בדקו מה מסתתר בתוך הקירות. בשבת נזכר הבן בדברי אביו, והחליט לשבור בכל זאת את הקיר כדי לבדוק במה מדובר. להפתעתו, גילה תיבה ובה מטבעות זהב רבים וכן רימונים ונפצים. כששמע על כך האח השני, עמי חג'בי, הגיע למקום ועלה לעליית הגג, שם חשד שאביו החביא דברים נוספים. כשהרימו האחים את הרעפים, התגלה חומר הנפץ.

האחים הזמינו הבוקר את המשטרה למקום. לחבלנים סיפרו כי בתקופת המנדט, טרם הקמת המדינה, היה אביהם מוכר כמעין "קצין חבלה" וספק נשק שסייע לשלוש המחתרות - ההגנה, האצ"ל והלח"י - ללא תמורה כספית.

ערכם של המטבעות נבדק והתברר כי אינו רב - כ-4,000 שקל. אשר לחומר הנפץ, הוא נלקח לפיצוץ מבוקר בחוף פלמחים.

הממונה על ההגבלים העסקיים צפוי להכריז בקרוב על מיקרוסופט כמונופול בישראל

הממונה על ההגבלים העסקיים צפוי להכריז בקרוב על מיקרוסופט כמונופול בישראל

20:47 | 12.7.2005 גלית ימיני


אחרי בדיקה של למעלה משנה, דחה הממונה על ההגבלים העסקיים - דרור שטרום, את טענתה של מיקרוסופט ישראל כי לממונה אין סמכות בינלאומית להכריז על החברה כמונופול בישראל, והודיע לה במכתב בימים האחרונים כי יש בסמכותו להכריז על החברה כמונופול.

מדובר בנקודת מפנה ביחסים בין מיקרוסופט לממונה על ההגבלים העסקיים, המתכתבים כבר שנתיים בשאלה אם מיקרוסופט היא מונופול בישראל בתחום מערכת ההפעלה - חלונות, ובתחום חבילות התוכנה המשרדיות - אופיס.

מיקרוסופט טענה לאורך השנים כי לממונה אין סמכות בינלאומית להכריז על מיקרוסופט כמונופול מאחר שמדובר בחברה בינלאומית שאינה פועלת ישירות בשוק הישראלי, אלא פועלת באמצעות מפיצים המוכרים כאן את מוצריה, ובכלל - המוצרים שלה, גם בשפה העברית, מיוצרים באירלנד ולא בישראל.

אולם בבדיקה משפטית שערך הממונה התברר שהעובדה שמיקרוסופט דורשת ממשתמשי התוכנה שלה להירשם ולחתום בזמן שהם מתקינים את התוכנה על המחשב, ולאשר את זהותם כמשתמשים, יוצרת קשר ישיר בין משתמש הקצה הישראלי לבין החברה הבינלאומית. הממונה טוען שמאחר שנכרת חוזה ישיר בין משתמש הקצה לבין החברה, מתבטלת טענת מיקרוסופט שאי אפשר להכריז עליה כמונופול בישראל.

יש לציין, כי ברקע לדברים עומד גם הסכם ישן בין מיקרוסופט לממונה, שבו הודיעה מיקרוסופט לשטרום כי כל הגבלה שתוטל עליה בעולם, תחול עליה גם בפעילותה בשוק הישראלי. בינתיים, באירופה הוטלה על החברה חובה להפיץ "גרסה רזה" של חלונות ללא תוכנת נגן המדיה, אך מיקרוסופט ישראל הודיעה לשטרום כי היא תקבל על עצמה את ההגבלות שהוטלו על החברה בארה"ב, ולא את אלה שהוטלו באירופה. זאת למרות שמיקרוסופט ישראל כפופה למטה מיקרוסופט אירופה.

ההחלטה הזו התפרשה, כנראה, כניסיון של מיקרוסופט להתחמק מהפצת "גרסה רזה" של חלונות בישראל, והשפיעה אף היא על שליחת המכתב של שטרום. יש לציין, שהממונה לא הכריז עדיין על החברה כמונופול, אולם כעת בעקבות הבדיקה נסללה הדרך לעשות כך, וההכרזה צפויה בתקופה הקרובה.

הממונה על ההגבלים מוסר בתגובה: "אנחנו הודענו במכתב את עמדתנו בעניין הסמכות הבינלאומית של הממונה הישראלי אל מול חברת מיקרוסופט. אין בדעתי כרגע להיכנס לפרטים המשפטיים בעמדתנו זו". ממיקרוסופט ישראל נמסר בתגובה: "מיקרוסופט נמצאת בקשר עם הממונה, ותפעל בהתאם להנחיות שייקבעו".

Olympics 2012?

July 4th Naama is 31, July 22nd I will be 56.
Will I be at Olympics 2012 in London?? sam

15:45 | 26/06/05


יחד - בעיית הזהות של המותג בשוק הפוליטי הישראלי


יאיר אברהם 23/06/2005


"שוק פוליטי" ?? קראתי את המאמר ולמרות הניסוח היפה והמדויק הוא שגוי
ולא מחדש הרבה.
הרבה חברים במקום לשנות את המציאות מתאימים את עצמם למציאות.
זה לא נכון לאמר שה-ליכוד הצלחה גדולה וגם מפלגת העבודה..
ולהציע להצטרף לעדר!
אני מציע לקרוא את הביוגרפיות של גד יעקובי
שם הוא מתאר איך התקבל חוק הבחירה הישירה כאשר הוא התכוון שיהיה
בחירות אזוריות למחצית חברי הכנסת!
לכן הבעיה איננה האם אנחנו נקראים "יחד" או "מרצ"
אלה מציעים פתרונות אמיתיים למערכת הפוליטית הישראלית הגוססת.

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Global is good

"The Thatcherite experiment" I read today in Mazowers book about the Failure of Thatcherism. and found this on the Net from LSE.
Britain and Atlantic Liberalism

Certainly, the UK has a system which seems radically different from those found elsewhere on the Continent. Even before the Thatcherite 1980s, British companies followed strategies which were clearly more internationalist and American-oriented than those of their continental brethren. What they added during the 1980s was the ability to tap some of the financial-engineering schemes dreamed up by the City of London. So, while the Japanese attracted most of the publicity (and host ility) for investing in the US during the 1980s, British companies were on balance even more active.

On top of this relative internationalism, the British system has been kept relatively competitive and focussed on the short-term. Its dependence on equity financing is in marked contrast to the picture in much of the rest of Europe. In addition, the openness of British financial markets has meant that Britain has particularly receptive to mergers and acquisitions, and has long been used to dealing with hostile or contested takeover bids. Over the years, then, the British system has evolved to lay down guidelines for matters such as the protection of minority shareholders in bid situations. The nationality of bidders is of decreasing relevance.

What the Thatcherite revolution did to an already relatively open system was to provide a further pro-competitive kick start. Some of the Thatcher government's measures, such as radically reducing the power of the trade union movement, removed some of the countervailing forces to the corporate sector. Others, including the City of London's Big Bang of 1986, increased the chances of hostile takeover bids by creating financial institutions that stood to gain from managing and advising on such activities. The partial deregulation of telecommunications and airlines were, again, also part of liberalising the economic process. Similarly, the massive privatization programme which Mrs Thatcher pioneered was also designed with this in mind.

Arkady Duchin Did It!

Last night I went to Zappa Club and it cost 100 Shekel to hear Arkady Duchin and Zehava Ben.

After Ten fifteen they announced that Zehava is sick and will not be there, I came for Zehava!

But at the end Arkady was excellant, also in Hard Times, Zmanim Kashim!

יש בי אהבה
ביצוע: ארקדי דוכיןמילים ולחן: ארקדי דוכין
בין האפל לנסתרבעולמנו המראומרים שיש עוד תקווהקוראים לזה אהבהומחכים לבואהבין האתמול לעתידבין האוצר לתחתיתאומרים שיש עוד תקווהקוראים לזה אהבהומחכים לבואהבין הבלבול לאסוןתדעו שיש פתרוןקוראים לזה אהבהבין הזיוף לאמתבין כל מה שחי למתישנה אהבהיש בי אהבהוהיא תתעורר ותיגעיש בי אהבהוהיא תנצחבין השפיות לשינהבין הילדות לזקנהאומרים שיש עוד תקווהקוראים לזה אהבהומחכים לבואהבין האתמול לעתיד...

BIGLALECH
BECAUSE OF YOU

Kmo kosem sholef shafan Kmo meltzar she'orech shulchan Ohev otach Kemitabed shekofetz mimigdal Kmo astranaut avud bachalal Ohev otach
Chorus:Biglalech layla lo layla Ech biglalech ani lemata lema'ala Ech biglalech klum lo holech
Kmo kosem sholef shafan Kmo meltzar she'orech shulchan Ohev otach Me'abed et shinuy hamishkal Me'abed et atzmi uvichlal Ohev otach
Biglalech....
Like a magician that takes rabbit out of a hat Like a waiter that sets the table I love you Like some one that jumps off the tower Like an astonaut lost in space I love you
Chorus:Because of you night is not night How because of you I am up and down How because of you nothing works
Like a magician that takes rabbit out of a hat Like a waiter that sets the table I love you Losing my balance Losing myself I love you
Because of you..............

שר האוצר בנימין נתניהו בכינוס של לשכת הליכוד: כל עבודה מכבדת את בעליה. כשאני הייתי סטודנט אני רחצתי משרדים, אני ניקיתי חדרי מדרגות. אני ניקיתי * אני רוצה להחזיר את ז'בוטינסקי למרכז 02/06/2005 23:06 עומר כרמון
שר האוצר, בנימין נתניהו, הודיע הערב (ה', 2.6.05) בכינוס של לשכת הליכוד בתל-אביב כי כשתובא תוכנית ההינתקות להצבעה נוספת בממשלה הוא יצביע נגדה. "אני רוצה להחזיר את ז'בוטינסקי למרכז", אמר. "אני אמרתי שהמהלך החד-צדדי הוא מהלך ללא תמורה. אם אתה נותן אתה צריך גם לקחת. הפלשתינים רוצים לגרש אותנו, הם רואים בנו צלבנים חדשים. כמו שהם דחקו את הצלבנים החוצה ממבצר למבצר, כך הם רוצים לדחוק אותנו ממבצר למבצר עד החוף"."הם הניסו אותנו מלבנון, מניסים אותנו מעזה ויניסו אותנו מיהודה ושומרון ובסוף מפלשתין כולה כי זה מה שהם רוצים וזאת מטרתם הסופית". "אני מצדיע לרמטכ"ל היוצא, רב אלוף משה יעלון, שאומר את הדברים האמיתיים ואמר מה צפוי לנו לאחר הנסיגה", אמר שר האוצר.נתניהו הקדיש את מרבית נאומו למצב הכלכלי: "פגשתי אב שטען באוזני שבנו מהנדס היי-טק מובטל. אמרתי לו שהמדיניות הכלכלית תביא לכך שתהיה צמיחה. הדבר הראשון שיצמח יהיה ההיי-טק, אחר כך יבואו דברים אחרים והבן שלך ימצא עבודה. זה בדיוק מה שקרה בפועל". "הוא אמר עזוב זה סיסמאות. מה אתה יכול להגיד לבן שלי עכשיו? אמרתי לו, אתה רוצה שאני אגיד מה אני יכול להגיד לבן שלך עכשיו, אני אגיד לך מה. לך לעבוד. לך לעבוד. אתה בחור צעיר". "לך תשטוף רצפות, לך תנקה חדרי מדרגות, לך תנקה משרדים. לך לעבוד בכל דבר, לך לעבוד. לך לעבוד. באו הנה פיזיקאים גרעיניים מברית המועצות, באו הנה עולים חדשים מתמטיקאים, באו הנה אנשים עם השכלה. הם למדו וכשהם באו בשנות ה-90', הפרופסורים האלה ניקו. היום הם כבר התמסדו. כל עבודה מכבדת את בעליה. כשאני הייתי סטודנט אני רחצתי משרדים, אני ניקיתי חדרי מדרגות. אני ניקיתי". "צריך לשלב לב עם שכל. המפתח הוא לעשות אבחנה בין אלו שיכולים לעבוד לבין אלו שאינם יכולים. אנחנו עירבבנו את שתי האוכלוסיות האלה ויצרנו טרגדיה".

United Press International: Chase Bank offers no-swipe credit cards: "Chase Bank offers no-swipe credit cards
Published 5/31/2005 10:21 PM

NEW YORK, May 31 (UPI) -- Chase Bank said Tuesday it will offer a credit card that does not to be swiped.
Known as blink cards, the latest cards only need to be held near a sales terminal instead of being swiped or handed to a store employee, just as similar smart cards are used to track subway fares and highway tolls.
Chase, a division of New York investment banking giant JP Morgan Chase, said in a news release that about 1 million blink cards will be made available initially in the Atlanta area alone.
The bank also said blink cards would be time savers, and in tests have worked most efficiently in drive-thru stores, 'where transaction time was reduced by as much as 20 seconds as compared to cash.'
Copyright � 2001-2005 United Press International
"

Linux, outside the (x86) box

FBI Aims to Launch New Computer System by 2006

Back Pain Center

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0253333873/ref=dp_nav_0/002-3608402-5329651?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155&s=books&v=glance
The Making of Israeli Militarism
by Uri Ben-Eliezer "The origins of Israeli militarism lie in methods and practices which developed in the military realm during the decade leading up to independence in 1948..." (more)
SIPs: cultural militarism, new military way, kibbutz training groups, ghetto destroyers, militaristic politics (more)

Viewpoint: The State of Laptop Linux - 2005
— Last year I made some waves here at LinuxWorld.com when I published an article recounting my efforts to find a Linux distribution that would work 'out-of-the-box' with my Toshiba laptop. To say that I was profoundly disappointed doesn't begin to describe how I felt when a vocal minority of readers basically accused me of treason. 'How dare I hold Linux to the same standards as Windows! Windows comes installed; Microsoft has it easier! Etc. Etc.'

JSR 168, WSRP, Portlets & Enterprise Portal: Portal Popularity Ranking - February 2005

http://www.uta.edu/huma/illuminations/kell13.htm Marcuse ODM

http://home.cwru.edu/~ngb2/Authors/Marcuse.html
How Difficult it is in industrialised Societies to find People who are Not One Dimensional!
Herbert Marcuse
One-Dimensional Man
One-Dimensional Man was written in 1964 and can be seen as an analysis of highly developed societies. In it, Marcuse criticizes both communist and capitalist countries for their lack of true democratic processes. Neither type of society creates equal circumstances for its citizens. Marcuse discusses the factors which inhibit criticism and analysis of society. He draws on Marx primarily because his analysis focuses on how the economy limits potential of people.
Marcuse believes that people are not free because they function within systems such as the economy. If people were really free, they would be free from these systems. For example, people would only have to work as little as possible to provide for their needs, not an established amount of time. He states that only when people are free from these systems can they determine what they really need or want. Because we are not yet free, we have "false needs". These needs are exemplified by the range of choices which we are offered in our economy. However, each of these choices reinforces the social norms that now exists. Because each choice has the same result (reinforcement of social norms), there is no real choice. Marcuse says highly advanced societies are welfare/warfare states. Welfare states restrict freedom because they limit free time, access to necessary goods and services, and citizen's ability to realize true self-determination. The warfare state hinders a true analysis of society because it keeps people focused on fighting the "enemy" instead of focused on internal social problems.
Marcuse's analysis of highly advanced societies is accurate and useful. However, he does not provide realistic solutions to the problems he raises. His point seems to be that if societies can learn to use technologies in ways that benefit citizens, instead of restricting them, then the problems of humans will be solved.

Guardian Unlimited Special reports Sharon and Abbas meet

I am Happy Today!!! This is the Report from the Guardian.
Silliest thing I heard on the Radio was that also the Hamas "Changed their Diskette".
Sharon and Abbas meet
AgenciesTuesday February 8, 2005
The Israeli and Palestinian leaders met today at a Middle East summit ahead of an expected joint announcement of a deal aimed at ending more than four years of bloody intifada.
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met briefly this morning about two hours after the start of the summit hosted by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort.
Mr Sharon and Mr Abbas smiled broadly as they leaned across a long white table to shake hands as they met for the first time since Mr Abbas succeeded Yasser Arafat after his death in November.
Today was the first high-level direct negotiations between the two sides for more than four years. An invitation last night for both sides to meet separately with the US president, George Bush, at the White House this spring added extra momentum.
Mr Abbas was expected to declare an end to violence against Israelis, while Mr Sharon was expected to declare an end to Israeli military operations, contingent on a halt of Palestinian violence.
Ahead of the announcement, some details of the deal emerged from officials on both sides. Gideon Meir, a senior official in the Israeli foreign ministry revealed that the agreement, due to be announced later today, would be a verbal pledge to stop the violence - which has claimed more than 4,500 lives in the last four years - rather than a written document.
Mr Meir also revealed that Israel will accept that in the short term the Palestinian Authority will not actively crack down on militant groups, which Mr Abbas has persuaded to agree to a ceasfire for the last fortnight. However, in the long term, Mr Meir said a crackdown was needed because otherwise "the Palestinian terrorist organisations will have the ability to derail the peace process".
Speaking in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Zahar, a spokesman for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, struck a cautionary note, saying the group, which has been responsible for hundreds of attacks against Israelis over the past four years, would evaluate the summit before committing itself to halting its campaign of violence. He said: "We agreed before with Mahmoud Abbas that if he succeeds to achieve our national goals, he should come back to the Palestinian factions to discuss the issue, and after that we will decide our stand."
Speaking today, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said possible prisoner releases were also on the summit agenda, but any negotiations toward a final peace deal must wait until later. Mr Erekat said the agreement included the establishment of joint committees: one to determine criteria for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, and the other to oversee the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian cities on the West Bank.
Mr Meir said that after Mr Sharon's declaration of an end to military operations, the two sides would go back to operating as they did before the 2000 outbreak of fighting: In Palestinian-controlled areas, including most of Gaza and eventually most West Bank towns, the Israelis would co-ordinate with Palestinian security forces if they wanted to arrest someone.
Ranaan Gissin, one of Mr Sharon's senior advisers said: "Israel is willing to go very far and we're going to introduce today a package of confidence-building measures, incentives, to the Palestinians so that they could start this long journey on the road to peace."
The adviser added that "there's one thing that must be made very clear ... there will be no flexibility whatsoever, no compromise whatsoever on fighting terrorism".
Speaking in Rome, the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, today reiterated her optimism about the summit and said that there "seems to be a will in the Middle East because people want to live in a different kind of Middle East".
However despite the hopes surrounding the summit, in the hours before it began there was tension in southern Gaza. The Israeli military said Palestinians opened fire on an Israeli military vehicle moving along the security fence surrounding the Gush Katif bloc of Jewish settlements. No injuries or damage were reported.
Israeli troops also arrested two Hamas members near the West Bank town of Jenin, the army said, adding that this arrest, like others in the past 10 days, was carried out with the specific approval of the army chief, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon. Israelis also briefly sealed off the West Bank town of Nablus, preventing Palestinians from leaving.

I now have g-mail thanks to Russian Programmer in Holland