Our Changing Globe » Israel

Which Country Has The Highest Venture Capital Investment?

Michael Redbourn — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:21:40 +0000

… timeless problem of obtaining the financing necessary to get their product or service off the ground and out the door, a challenge made all the more tricky given the dearth of venture capital funds floating around the country.

Critical Components for Receiving Venture Capital | eVirtual Sales …

virtualblackswanmarketing.mobi2/6/12

Sometimes nothing is more powerful as opposed to passion along with vision of your entrepreneur. Nevertheless sometimes interest and vision are just inadequate. It helps to understand the criteria in which venture capital companies use to make a decision which firms to fund. A number of venture capital firms and corporate and business investors possess very thin criteria-specific technologies in specific procedures in specific areas of the country. Other individuals …

Israel attracts more venture capital investment per person ($170) than any other in the world, including the U.S. !

From the Internet to alternative energy and communications technology, Israel innovates at a pace that few places other than Silicon Valley can come close to rivaling.

Why is that? And How Can That Be?

Because Israel is a nation where thousands of start-ups are encouraged and nurtured, and there’s great ingenuity too.

Huge Investment Is A Problem Though

Israel can fairly easily attract a small seed investment in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, but getting a $2 million investment to turn a start-up into a mature corporation is much more difficult.

And that’s why in spite of its technical genius, Israel still hasn’t yet created a tech giant on the scale of Intel or Google.

Not yet a tech giant, but check out the things that Israel has already contributed to the world’s technology.

The Acquisition Of Israeli Start-Ups

While there are exceptions, most Israeli start-ups end up getting acquired during their growth stages rather than sticking it out to achieve IPOs (International Public Offerings).

And part of the problem is that with so many start-ups, the country’s small population talent pool is stretched thin, which is a problem the U.S. is starting to have too.

Sell Early

So it makes sense for Israeli entrepreneurs to sell early and become employees of bigger American firms that set up shop in their own country which only has seven million inhabitants.

Right now Intel employs 7,500 people in Israel and Apple is reportedly opening up a new research center too.

Joint US-Israel Missile Drill Will Be The Biggest Ever

Michael Redbourn — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:27:08 +0000

Largest Ever, Upcoming U.S.-Israel Joint Drill Sending Message to …

www.theblaze.com1/8/12

Arrow 3 Defense Missile Launch Test (Photo credit: Israeli Defense Ministry via Israel Hayom). A planned American-Israeli missile defense exercise is receiving special attention on the heels of a 10-day Iranian naval exercise …

Israel and US to hold joint missile drill | Aerospace & Defence News

aerospace.firetrench.com1/9/12

Israel and the United States are to hold a joint missile defence exercise, the Israeli military said late on Thursday. ASDNews … Last week it test-fired three missiles during war games east of the strait at the entrance to the Gulf. …

An upcoming American-Israeli missile defense exercise is receiving special media attention because it comes on the heels of a ten-day Iranian naval exercise, plus Iranian threats of closing the Strait of Hormuz.

Israeli Defense Forces played down the timing of the announcement, calling such periodic exercises “routine:”

“These exercises, which are part of a long-standing strategic partnership, are planned in advance and part of a routine training cycle designed to improve the interoperability of our defense systems. Like other bi-lateral exercises, Austere Challenge 12 represents another milestone in the strategic relationship between the US and Israel, as well as a step forward in promoting regional stability".

“The exercise scenario involves notional, simulated events as well as some field training, and is not in response to any real-world event".

“The exercise has been planned for at least two years and therefore has no relevance to any world events".

The AP quoted a senior military official who said on condition of anonymity:

"Thousands of American and Israeli soldiers from different units will take part, and the drill will test multiple Israeli and U.S. air defense systems against incoming missiles and rockets".

In a speech last month, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta previewed the exercise, citing it as an example of what he called,

"The administration’s unprecedented levels of defense cooperation with Israel to back up our unshakable commitment to Israel’s security".

And on Sunday’s Face the Nation, Panetta stated two red lines for the U.S.:

"Our red line to Iran is do not develop a nuclear weapon. That’s a red line for us. I think they need to know that, that if they take that step, that they’re going to get stopped. We made very clear that the United States will not tolerate the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz. That’s another red line for us and that we will respond to them.".

And Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey on the same show said he believes,

" Iran has the capability, for a period of time to block the Strait of Hormuz, but we would take action and reopen the Straits".

Efraim Inbar, who is director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University, says that even if it’s not intended as a response to Iranian moves:

“Any military exercise has political implications. The military organ is always connected to political even if that’s not the intention on the part of the Americans or Israelis. It’s a clear political signal to the bad guys. After we saw the military exercise by the Iranians last week, everybody with political sensitivity tends to believe this is a counter-flexing of muscle".

Inbar also addressed expressions of isolationism in the U.S., something which has been gaining more media attention due to the presidential campaign of GOP candidate Ron Paul:

“This type of exercise expresses the importance of Israel to the U.S. particularly when the U.S. is seen as being weak in the region. It is leaving Iraq, it is on its way out of Afghanistan. Israel is probably the only place a U.S. military airplane will eventually be able to land in the Middle East".

“U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation is beneficial to both sides. The U.S. is a super power and we are a small state but in our area contrary to what isolationists say in the U.S., we all still need allies, or what used to be called ‘calling stations’. Israeli ports are open to the U.S. In fact, the only port where the U.S. can probably bring ships safely in the Eastern Mediterranean is to Israel. Looking at the other countries: Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, the Mediterranean is becoming an Islamist lake".

And an Israeli Air Force officer emphasized that not only Israel gains from the relationship:

“The Americans are eager to conduct this exercise, we are their laboratory in the field of missile defense. A laboratory because Israel has extensive firsthand experience of absorbing incoming rockets and missiles from Hamas and Hezbollah and regularly activates its Iron Dome system to combat the threat".

The Telegraph reported from London that the UK will deploy its largest warship, the HMS Daring, to the Persian Gulf to,

“send a significant message to the Iranians”.

The UK destroyer is due to arrive in late January.

And Oil Supplies?

Western powers have agreed a contingency plan to tap a record volume from emergency stockpiles which could replace nearly all the Gulf oil that would be lost if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz.

Should Israel Accept Or Refuse Christian Aid?

Michael Redbourn — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:09:06 +0000

Counterpoint: Christian Zionists Are a Threat | JewishPress

www.jewishpress.com12/27/11

It is both naïve and misleading to deny the serious costs involved in Israel's unregulated relationship with impassioned evangelical Christians. … David Ha'ivri's appearance two weeks ago with Tommy Waller on the missionary God's Learning Channel (GLC) TV network, which strives to “help you see Yeshua (Jesus) in the Torah”, pushed the envelope into forbidden territory. Mr. Ha'ivri is a committed Jew and Zionist who works tirelessly for his land and people. …

MidEastTruth :: View topic – UK Churches are Anti-Israel

mideasttruth.com11/24/11

A survey of several major churches in the UK reveals that Christian Aid, an aid organization of the World Council of Churches (WCC) that propagates far-left anti-Israel views and supports groups that promote the boycott, …

Should Israel Accept Or Refuse Christian Aid?

This is a very serious and complicated dilemma because:

Devout Protestants were advocating the restoration of a Jewish State with Jerusalem as its capital long before Theodor Herzl.

And Anglicans of the 19th Century played a central role in the process that led to the State of Israel’s establishment.

So How Should Israel Respond To Christian Support?

The question about pro-Israel Christian activism cyclically surfaces in Israel and in the US public debate.

And right now the focus is on;

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney because:

His Mormon Church is charged with baptizing dead Jews, a rite that has been a Mormon practice for more than a century.

And the latest Simon Wiesenthal Center’s top 10 anti-Semitic slurs list features two Christian priests from Syria and the US.

How Do Different Christian Groups View Israel?

The Negative Ones

The United Church of Christ attended by US President Obama which is prominently anti-Israel.

The Vatican, which recently embraced a new aggressiveness towards Israel.

The Pro-Israel Ones

The US Evangelicals, which are the most pro-Israel, and some independent Protestant groups, like the Christians for Israel.

How Much Money Do Evangelicals And Others Donate To Israel?

In the last decade, US Christians donated tens and most likely hundreds of millions of dollars for school equipment, playgrounds, medical supplies and bulletproof buses to protect the Jews in Judea and Samaria, while other groups, such as Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, raised money to protect Sderot’s residents from Hamas’ rockets.

So What’s The Problem With Evangelical Support?

Anti-Defamation League Director Abraham Foxman, is openly contemptuous of Evangelical support, stating that it’s members are motivated by the doctrine that sees Israel as having a special role in the final earthly battle in the "End of Days" during which most Jews are wiped out and the rest embrace Jesus.

It needs to be said however that most Evangelical leaders reject this theology, and a good many Evangelicals have curtailed their missionary activities among Israeli Jews, and the vast majority simply wants to bless Israel because that is what they believe they are called upon to do.

* The origins of Christian support can be traced back to the Gutenberg press (1456), which popularized ideas of "The Promised Land” and "The Chosen People".

Which Christians Are Most Dangerous To Israel?

The hostility toward Israel is actively encouraged by liberal Christians, such as the World Council of Churches and the Vatican, and they pose a much greater near-term threat to Jews than anything the evangelicals might believe or espouse.

Just last week, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales offered the Palestinians a powerful tool of propaganda.

"The comparison with Jesus’ passion!"

Archbishop Vincent Nichols said during his Christmas Mass sermon at Westminster Cathedral.

"We are to be freshly attentive to the needs of those who, like Jesus himself, are displaced and in discomfort, a shadow falls particularly heavily on the town of Bethlehem tonight".

What Should Israel’s Leaders Do?

Many Jews believe that Israel’s leaders need to counter the "Judeo-Christian” blend, which theologically fuses Jews and Christians together without protecting the Jewish faith and maintaining Israel as an independent single-faith Jewish community.

But the Bible teaches quite clearly that,

"If there is the "gentile” who is jealous and aggressive (Amalek), there is also a "Righteous gentile” who is admiring and willing to help (Jethro.)

Santorum Reveals Weakness In US Students Gay Logic

Michael Redbourn — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:24:45 +0000

Santorum Instructs Students On Same-Sex Marriage and Health …

jonathanturley.org1/5/12

When a student asked Santorum asked about health care, the student cited a 2009 Harvard study and noted that he did not “think God appreciates the fact that we have 50 to 100000 uninsured Americans dying due to a lack of healthcare every year.” He should know better to cite an academic study to Santorum …. Many have simply packed up and left the state (which helps keep the unemployment rate statewide low). Those who stay in rural Iowa are often the elderly …

American Power: Santorum Sharpens Aim at Romney

americanpowerblog.blogspot.com1/6/12

"A lot of blue collar workers have been left behind in America," Mr. Santorum said Thursday in Manchester. Later, at a campaign event in Tilton, he said his family and his friends' families had worked in factories. To a man who …

What disturbs me most about this video is that the students from New England College are unable to follow the simple logic behind Santorum’s questions.

Santorum knows that his anti-g**-marriage stance will cost him votes, but he was at least patient and trying to make our next generation think a little.

But sadly, they were unable to.

Why Is That Important?

Because if our students aren’t either encouraged, or convinced to give up on their simplistic thinking, then America will soon lag behind a great many countries.

Consider perhaps the attitude that most US students have toward Israel.

They believe that Israel is the villain and that Palestinian land has been appropriated when in fact a Palestinian people never existed

People were displaced, both Jews and Arabs, but Israel absorbed the displaced Jews whereas Arab countries never absorbed displaced Arabs.

Both displaced peoples were around the same size; about a million people.

Why do they have that attitude?

Because they were seduced by simplistic propaganda when they could have checked out the facts easily and quickly, but they didn’t and don’t.

Why?

Because their professors are rabid left-wingers, and the students are lazy and want to be spoon-fed!

Every year, campus hate groups such as the Muslim Students Association and Students for Justice in Palestine join a festival of lies called the “Israel Apartheid Week” whose theme is that Israel is an apartheid state, in spite of the fact that Israel has Arab members of the Knesset; that Arab Israelis can and do vote without any restrictions; that Arabs use the same toilets, buses and restaurants etc. as Jewish Israelis.

Happily, and alternative is now being presented and it’s an honest one and not simply a propaganda one.

Please check out: The Wall Of Lies

What are Stuxnet and Duqu?

Michael Redbourn — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:50:35 +0000

Stuxnet may have up to 4 malware siblings made on the same …

venturebeat.com12/29/11

Stuxnet has been called the most sophisticated computer worm ever created. We know there are siblings to the malware which took down Iran's nuclear centrifuges, but now Kaspersky labs is saying there may be up to four …

'Stuxnet weapon has at least 4 cousins' «

warsclerotic.wordpress.com12/29/11

Stuxnet has already been linked to another virus, the Duqu data-stealing trojan, but Kaspersky's research suggests that the cyber weapons program that targeted Iran may be far more sophisticated than previously known. …

According to new research by the Russian computer security firm Kaspersky Lab, the Stuxnet virus that damaged Iran’s nuclear program last year is likely one of at least five cyber weapons developed on a single platform.

Costin Raiu, who is Kaspersky’s director of global research & analysis said,

"The platform is comprised of a group of compatible software modules designed to fit together, each with different functions".

"It’s like a Lego set. You can assemble the components into anything: a robot or a house or a tank".

"When a machine becomes infected with Duqu or Stuxnet, the programs search for two unique registry keys on the PC linked to Duqu and Stuxnet, that are then used to load the main piece of malware onto the computer".

"The viruses have not yet been seen in the wild and it’s unclear whether they, like Stuxnet, have been built to cause failures at nuclear plants, or engineered for another purpose".

Kaspersky believes that Tilded traces back to at least 2007 because specific code installed by Duqu was compiled from a device running a Windows operating system on Aug. 31, 2007.

* Right now the words, "malware", "malicious", and "infected" are being used when describing the Stuxnet family but other words may be needed if the programmers’ intent is to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons – My opinion.

The Search For Missing Family Members

Security experts detected the malicious software by ‘keys’ in Stuxnet itself which suggest that it is looking for other family members to communicate with.

Duqu, which is a trojan horse program related to Stuxnet was detected in industrial systems earlier this year searches for Stuxnet and other Duqu machines that contain other members of the family.

Duqu is a scout program that is designed to steal information which can later be used in cyber attacks on industrial control systems, most likely producing a crippling cyber attack.

And what’s really amazing is that both Stuxnet and Duqu appear to be searching for three other relatives that have not been found yet.

Who’s Designed The Software?

Right now, experts believe that either the US or Israeli programmers did, and are doing the work, and some believe that the countries are working together.

Related info can be found at:

How Safe Are US Military Computer Systems?

Iran Confirms Stuxnet Caused Damage To Nuclear Sites!

What Would Trigger A US Strike On Iran’s Nuclear Facilities?

Michael Redbourn — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:54:43 +0000

AMERICA'S DRIVE FOR MIDDLE EAST … – The Race for Iran

www.raceforiran.com12/28/11

We largely agree with his more specific criticisms of Kroenig's article, although we take issue with his drive-by assertion that some of the Iranians who would be victims of a U.S. attack on their country “despise the clerical …

Preparing to Attack Iran with Nuclear Weapons: “No Option can be …

centurean2.wordpress.com12/28/11

Preparing to Attack Iran with Nuclear Weapons: “No Option can be taken off the Table.” by Michel Chossudovsky. Global Research, December 26, 2011. “When a US sponsored nuclear war becomes an “instrument of peace”, …

Seems like Obama understands that Panetta is an anti-Semite!

According to a just released report, the "Israelis went ballistic", after US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said earlier this month that,

"An attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities could consume the Middle East in a confrontation and a conflict that we would regret".

Israeli Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren lodged a formal diplomatic protest, which prompted the White House to reassure Jerusalem that the administration had its own "red lines" that would trigger a strike on Iran and that there would be no need for Israel to operate unilaterally.

And a short time later Panetta told CBS’s ’60 Minutes’ that,

"Should Iran proceed with developing a nuclear weapon then we will take whatever steps necessary to stop it".

Will Israel Attack First?

Three senior US military officials have confirmed that analysts in the Pentagon were trying to predict which developments in Iran could lead to a preemptive Israeli strike on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.

The report said that despite repeated requests going back to 2009, Netanyahu’s government has not agreed to ask the US for permission or give significant advanced warning of any pending strike.

What Are The Red Lines?

Matthew Kroenig, who served as special adviser on Iran to the Office of the Secretary of Defense between July 2010 and July 2011, offered some of the possible, "red lines" for a military strike on Iran.

"If Iran expels international nuclear weapons inspectors, begins enriching its stockpiles of uranium to weapons-grade levels of 90%, or installs advanced centrifuges at its main uranium-enrichment facility in Qom".

Kroenig also mentioned that the Islamic Republic announced in 2009 that it was set to construct ten new uranium enrichment sites.

"I doubt they are building 10 new sites, but I would be surprised if Iran was not racing to build some secret enrichment facilities".

"Progress on new facilities would be a major factor in our assessment of Iran’s nuclear program and shape all aspects of our policy towards this including the decision to use force".

And in a recent Foreign Affairs article he argued that the US should strike Iran’s facilities!

S. Sudan Delegate At Durban 3 Denys Claim That Zionism Is Racism

Michael Redbourn — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 13:10:33 +0000

Simon Deng, Former Sudanese Slave says “Calling Israel a racist …

www.standwithus.com11/1/11

Simon Deng, a former South Sudanese slave in Islamist Northern Sudan, gave the following speech at Durban Watch Conference in New York on Sept. 22nd.

Simon Deng advocates for Israel! He's so cool! | What am I thinking?

munterberg.blogspot.com11/17/11

"Simon Deng, the South Sudanese delegate at the recent Durban III conference on racism (in New York), shattered the hypocrisy of the anti-Israeli front one normally witnesses at such meetings. Mr. Deng pointed out that …

Simon Deng, a former South Sudanese slave in Islamist Northern Sudan, gave the following speech at the Durban Watch Conference in New York on Sept. 22nd.

He passionately refuted the malicious ‘Zionism is Racism’ fabrication and pointed out that it is the Arab Islamists who have engaged in the ethnic cleansing of millions of Sudanese, both Muslim and Christian.

He further noted that Israel is the ultimate destination of Sudanese refugees, not Egypt, who has attacked and oppressed them.

I want to thank the organizers of this conference, The Perils of Global Intolerance.

It is a great honor for me and it is a privilege really to be among today’s distinguished speakers.

I came here as a friend of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. I came to protest this Durban conference which is based on a set of lies. It is organized by nations who are themselves are guilty of the worst kinds of oppression.

It will not help the victims of racism. It will only isolate and target the Jewish state. It is a tool of the enemies of Israel. The UN has itself become a tool against Israel. For over 50 years, 82% of the UN General Assembly emergency meetings have been about condemning one state, Israel and Hitler couldn’t have been made happier.

The Durban Conference is an outrage. All decent people will know that.

But friends, I come here today with a radical idea. I come to tell you that there are peoples who suffer from the UN’s anti-Israelism even more than the Israelis. I belong to one of those people.

Please hear me out.

By exaggerating Palestinian suffering, and by blaming the Jews for it, the UN has muffled the cries of those who suffer on a far larger scale.

For over fifty years the indigenous black population of Sudan, Christians and Muslims alike, has been the victim of the brutal, racist Arab Muslim regimes in Khartoum.

In South Sudan, my homeland, about 4 million innocent men, women and children were slaughtered from 1955 to 2005. Seven million were ethnically cleansed and they became the largest refugee group since World War II.

The UN is concerned about the so-called Palestinian refugees. They dedicated a separate agency for them. and they are treated with a special privilege.

Meanwhile, my people, ethnically cleansed, murdered and enslaved, are relatively ignored. The UN refuses to tell the world the truth about the real causes of Sudan’s conflicts.

Who knows really what is happening in Darfur?

It is not a "tribal conflict".

It is a conflict rooted in Arab colonialism well-known in north Africa.

In Darfur, a region in the Western Sudan, everybody is Muslim. Everybody is Muslim because the Arabs invaded the North of Africa and converted the indigenous people to Islam.

In the eyes of the Islamists in Khartoum, the Darfuris are not Muslim enough. And the Darfuris do not want to be Arabized. They love their own African languages and dress and customs.

The Arab response is genocide!

But nobody at the UN tells the truth about Darfur.

In the Nuba Mountains, another region of Sudan, genocide is taking place as I speak.

The Islamist regime in Khartoum is targeting the black Africans, Muslims and Christians.

Nobody at the UN has told the truth about the Nuba Mountains.

Do you hear the UN condemn Arab racism against blacks?

What you find on the pages of the New York Times, or in the record of the UN condemnations is "Israeli crimes" and "Palestinian suffering".

My people have been driven off the front pages because of the exaggerations about Palestinian suffering.

What Israel does is portrayed as a Western sin.

But the truth is that the real sin happens when the West abandons us: the victims of Arab/Islamic apartheid.

Chattel slavery was practiced for centuries in Sudan. It was revived as a tool of war in the early 90s.

Khartoum declared jihad against my people and this legitimized taking slaves as war booty.

Arab militias were sent to destroy Southern villages and were encouraged to take African women and children as slaves.

We believe that up to 200,000 were kidnapped, brought to the North and sold into slavery.

I am a living proof of this crime against humanity.

I don’t like talking about my experience as a slave, but I do it because it is important for the world to know that slavery exists even today.

I was only nine years old when an Arab neighbor named Abdullahi tricked me into following him to a boat.

The boat wound up in Northern Sudan where he gave me as a gift to his family.

For three and a half years I was their slave going through something that no child should ever go through: brutal beatings and humiliations; working around the clock; sleeping on the ground with animals; eating the family’s left-overs.

During those three years I was unable to say the word "no". All I could say was "yes", "yes", "yes".

The United Nations knew about the enslavement of South Sudanese by the Arabs.

Their own staff reported it.

It took UNICEF, under pressure from the Jewish led American Anti-Slavery Group sixteen years to acknowledge what was happening.

I want to publicly thank my friend Dr. Charles Jacobs for leading the anti-slavery fight.

But the Sudanese government and the Arab League pressured UNICEF, and UNICEF backtracked, and started to criticize those who worked to liberate Sudanese slaves.

In 1998, Dr. Gaspar Biro, the courageous UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Sudan who reported on slavery, resigned in protest of the UN’s actions.

My friends, today, tens of thousands of black South Sudanese still serve their masters in the North and the UN is silent about that.

It would offend the OIC and the Arab League.

As a former slave and a victim of the worst sort of racism, allow me to explain why I think calling Israel a racist state is absolutely absurd and immoral.

I have been to Israel five times visiting the Sudanese refugees.

Let me tell you how they ended up there.

These are Sudanese who fled Arab racism, hoping to find shelter in Egypt.

They were wrong.

When Egyptian security forces slaughtered twenty-six black refugees in Cairo who were protesting Egyptian racism, the Sudanese realized that the Arab racism is the same in Khartoum or Cairo.

They needed shelter and they found it in Israel.

Dodging the bullets of the Egyptian border patrols and walking for very long distances, the refugees’ only hope was to reach Israel’s side of the fence, where they knew they would be safe.

Black Muslims from Darfur chose Israel above all the other Arab-Muslim states of the area.

Do you know what this means!!!??

And the Arabs say Israel is racist!!!?

In Israel, black Sudanese, Christian and Muslim were welcomed and treated like human beings.

Just go and ask them, like I have done.

They told me that compared to the situation in Egypt, Israel is "heaven".

Is Israel a racist state?

To my people, the people who know racism, the answer is absolutely not.

Israel is a state of people who are the colors of the rainbow.

Jews themselves come in all colors, even black.

I met with Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Beautiful black Jews.

So, yes, I came here today to tell you that the people who suffer most from the UN anti-Israel policy are not the Israelis but all those people who the UN ignores in order to tell its big lie against Israel: we, the victims of Arab/Muslim abuse: women, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, homosexuals, in the Arab/Muslim world. These are the biggest victims of UN Israel hatred.

Look at the situation of the Copts in Egypt, the Christians in Iraq, and Nigeria, and Iran, the Hindus and Bahais who suffer from Islamic oppression. The Sikhs.

We, a rainbow coalition of victims and targets of Jihadis, all suffer.

We are ignored, we are abandoned.

So that the big lie against the Jews can go forward.

In 2005, I visited one of the refugee camps in South Sudan. I met a twelve-year-old girl who told me about her dream. In a dream she wanted to go to school to become a doctor. And then, she wanted to visit Israel.

I was shocked.

How could this refugee girl who spent most of her life in the North know about Israel?

When I asked why she wanted to visit Israel, she said: "This is our people". I was never able to find an answer to my question.

On January 9 of 2011 South Sudan became an independent state.

For South Sudanese, that means continuation of oppression, brutalization, demonization, Islamization, Arabization and enslavement.

In a similar manner, the Arabs continue denying Jews their right for sovereignty in their homeland and the Durban III conference continues denying Israel’s legitimacy.

As a friend of Israel, I bring you the news that my President, the President of the Republic of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, publicly stated that the South Sudan embassy in Israel will be built, not in Tel Aviv, but in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people.

I also want to assure you that my own new nation, and all of its peoples, will oppose racist forums like the Durban III.

We will oppose it by simply telling the truth. Our truth.

My Jewish friends taught me something I now want to say with you.

AM Y’ISRAEL CHAI!

The people of Israel lives!

Thank you!

And he received a standing ovation!

A video of the speech is availabe at PJTV.

Pro Israel? Anti-Israel? Please watch this video

Michael Redbourn — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:54:52 +0000

Israel – Light onto Nations: Growing forests in the desert

israel-lightontonations.blogspot.com11/30/11

Once the trees are mature, it's possible that they could become a renewable source of biofuel to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. This is another area of great interest to Israel and just about every other country on the planet …

Technion LIVE: Cornell – Technion – Together in Vision

www.technioniit.com12/3/11

During his visit, he planted a now-famous first palm tree that still stands in front of the old Technion building in Hadar. … Its graduates helped to build the county's infrastructure and started the high-tech industries that today make Israel a modern country with the greatest concentration of high-tech startup companies anywhere outside of Silicon Valley. More than 70 percent …. Israel's 10th Nobel laureate on his way to Stockho. … Technion Nanocrystals for Solar Power …

I recently received a link to the following video and thought it well worth posting.

Please note that it was made 6 years ago.

Israel is certainly no angel, and both its politicians and its army make their fair share of mistakes.

But regardless of whether you’re pro or anti Israel, you’ve surely got to admire its upside and wish that other countries could or would achieve the same positive results.

Please post your comments, and if they don’t flame or use abusive and/or hateful language, then they’ll be approved.

Israel India Ties Are Stronger After Mumbai

Michael Redbourn — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 12:09:49 +0000

Mumbai: Political tug-of-war over 26/11 martyr – Politics – Politics …

ibnlive.in.com11/26/11

India, saluting its real heroes. Teary-eyed relatives of the men who died in the line of duty were joined by ordinary Mumbaikars as the city remembered those killed in the 26/11 terror strikes.

Zionist ups the ante on Pak to punish perpetrators of 26/11 attacks …

onionlive.com11/26/11

Pakistan should bring 26/11 perpetrators to speedy justice: S.M. Krishna · 'Kolaveri' crosses 4 mn mark, Big B hooked on … New Delhi: The gruesome incident of 26/11 Mumbai attacks happened three years back, however, the scars still remain. Now, Israel too has upped the ante on Pakistan … Rabbi and his wife, of Brooklyn origin, got killed when the terrorists entered the Chabad Lubavitch Centre on November 26, 2008. Tags: 26/11 attack, demand, Israel, mumbai, …

Terror In Mumbai – November 26, 2008

The 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai left more than 170 dead amongst whom were 28 foreign nationals from ten countries.

The bodies of many of the dead showed signs of torture and/or disfigurement and Indians were so traumatized by the events that they now refer to the attacks as 26/11 meaning that it was their equivalent of America’s 9/11.

The Targets

The targets were for the most part symbolic and included a commuter rail station, an upscale coffee shop and two luxury hotels, all of which represented the democratic, market-oriented, global values that have been embraced by India over the past 20 years.

"Symbolic" meaning that they were unacceptable to the sick extremists who carried out the atrocities.

And The Jewish Community Center?

The Chabad House, which is a global symbol of Jewish outreach and hospitality, was deliberately and brutally assaulted, and six Jews were killed.

India is a country that doesn’t, and has never suffered from the scourge of anti-Semitism; so what did the terrorists hope to accomplish by attacking a Jewish Community Center?

It would seem that by choosing such a small and somewhat insignificant target, the assailants were not merely expressing their hatred of all things Jewish, but were also sending an overt message to the Indian government and its citizens that they should distance themselves from a fast growing relationship with the state and the people of Israel.

And in this regard, the terrorists utterly and completely failed.

Why Are Ties Between Israel And India Getting Stronger?

A mutual concern about the rise of global terrorism and the need to protect citizens served as the original impetus for significantly strengthening and broadening the areas of mutual cooperation.

And a mutual drive for technological excellence has led to bilateral trade that now surpasses $5 billion annually.

A free trade agreement is expected to be signed in 2012, a year which will mark the 20th anniversary of the formal launch of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and it will likely mean a doubling of the volume of goods and services flowing between the two countries.

The Best Of Both Worlds

Israeli and Indian researchers and entrepreneurs are presently collaborating on a wide range of life improving technologies such as water management, agricultural production, alternative energy sources, biotechnology and medicine, space, nano-technology and homeland security.

And on a more pragmatic level however, the partnership brings together the best of both worlds, because it marries Israel’s penchant for developing and commercializing new technologies with India’s vast reservoir of experienced, global managers and educated human resources.

Perhaps most importantly though, the blossoming Indo-Israel partnership is anchored by a mutual love and respect for the principles of democracy, and a passion for realizing a better future for their peoples.

The Extremists Failed

The people that planned and executed the 26/11 attacks apparently wanted to drive a wedge between the Indian and Israeli peoples, but the opposite has occurred.

The chaos and sadness of those 60 hours of siege served only to amplify and reinforce the mutual concerns that both countries have, and their growing closeness serves as a resounding rejection of the destructive ideology that still seeks to undermine them.

Is Israel A Significant Asset To US National Interests?

Michael Redbourn — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:27:57 +0000

Israpundit » Blog Archive » Feith: “Israel Should Be a U.S. …

www.israpundit.com11/2/11

Pro-Israel organizations have long been active in American politics, promoting friendly relations between the U.S. and Israel. Jewish groups, in particular, have helped ensure that candidates' attitudes toward Israel would be …

America: Strengthened by Its Support of Israel

www.raptureforums.com11/1/11

America: Strengthened by Its Support of Israel By David Meir-Levi In the first in the series of articles analyzing US foreign aid to Israel, the present writer posed five questions: 1.) Why is there an Israel-USA "special relationship," an alliance …

New Report: Israel Adds Strong Strategic Contribution to US

Robert D. Blackwill and Walter B. Slocombe, who both served under Democratic and Republican administrations recently presented the Washington Institute for Near East Policy with a thesis asserting that:

"Israel and the United States enjoy a special alliance which has a strong strategic contribution to US security".

"The United States has taken advantage of access to unique Israeli capabilities in key ‘niche’ areas of military technology. Israeli technology promotes American interests. Increasingly, US homeland security and military agencies are turning to Israeli technology to solve some of their most vexing technical problems.

"Through joint training and exercises as well as exchanges on military doctrine, the United States has benefited in the areas of counter terrorism cooperation, tactical intelligence, and experience in urban warfare".

"Counter terrorism and intelligence cooperation is deep and extensive, with the United States and Israel working to advance their common interest in defeating the terrorism of Hamas, Hezbollah and al-Qaeda; sharing information, supporting preventive actions, deterring challenges, and coordinating overall strategy".

"In the vital realm of missile defense cooperation, the United States has a broad and multifaceted relationship with Israel, which is its most sophisticated and experienced partner in this field".

"Israel’s national missile defenses will be an integral part of a larger missile defense architecture spanning Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Persian Gulf that will help protect US forces and allies throughout this vast area".

Walter B. Slocombe

Born September 23 1941, Slocombe is a lawyer and career federal official.

He joined the staff of the National Security Council in 1969 and prior to that he worked as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas.

He was Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the Clinton administration (1994–2001) and was the Senior Advisor for Security and Defence to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad (2003).

He is a four-time recipient of an award for Distinguished Public Service and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and currently practices law with the Washington firm of Caplin & Drysdale.

Robert D. Blackwill

Born August 8 1939, Robert Dean Blackwill is an American lobbyist and retired diplomat.

He was the United States Ambassador to India (2001–2003), and United States National Security Council Deputy for Iraq (2003–2004), where he was a liaison between Paul Bremer and Condoleezza Rice.

More From The Report

"Israel’s integrated, multi-layered command-and-control network contributes to the US military’s ability to defend against the Iranian missile threat".

"Israel and the US enjoy broad intelligence cooperation, and this intimate relationship reinforces overall US intelligence efforts by providing Washington with access to Israel’s unique set of capabilities for collection and assessments on key countries and issues in the region, since Israel is able to focus resources and attention on certain targets of central importance to the United States.

"As Israel’s strategic intelligence collection capabilities mature, this cooperation and exchange of intelligence information will increasingly serve US national interests".

The Pros Easily Outweigh The Cons

"We do not deny that there are costs to the United States, in the Arab world and elsewhere, for its support of Israel. We are, however, convinced that in a net assessment those real costs are markedly outweighed by the many ways in which Israel bolsters US national interests and the benefits that Israel provides to those interests".

"In particular, we believe that the United States can have strong and productive relations with Arab and other Muslim nations while sustaining its intimate collaboration with Israel, and that US support for Israel is not the primary, and probably not even a dominant reason Islamist terrorists target the United States".

"The long-standing US commitment to Israel has not prevented development of close ties with Arab nations and nor has it made the Arab oil-exporting states any less conscious of their own economic and strategic interest in a reasonably stable flow of oil to world markets, or their eagerness to buy first-class military equipment from the United States".

The Bottom Line

Blackwill and Slocombe wrote that the:

"The conclusion of our analysis is that the US-Israel relationship is a significant asset to US national interests and the potential for even greater US benefits from deeper cooperation is substantial".

An article entitled Does Israel Depend On American Aid? was written back in 2009, but it provides in depth info about the cost of US aid to Israel and the findings might surprise you.