Megillas Lester is a full length animated feature film depicting the fictional story of Doniel Lesterovitch ("Lester"); a boy whose imagination turns the Purim story upside down. Suddenly finding himself at the feast of King Achashverosh, Lester is ordered to summon queen Vashti to the party...and he inadvertently convinces her to go! With Vashti alive and well, Esther never needs to come to the palace - and that leaves nobody to save the Jews from evil Haman! Follow Lester's hilarious and thrilling adventure as he tries to set his version of the Purim story back on track...Here's the video trailer:
Friday, February 28, 2014
Video: Megillas Lester Official Trailer
Coming March 3 -- Megillas Lester:
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Why Are Only American Jews Required To Open Their Institutions To "Competing Narratives"?
The American Jewish Fairness Trap
Four recent incidents illustrate how American Jewish institutions are manipulated to subvert support for Israel. Call it the fairness trap.
- Vassar Hillel announced it would join its counterpart at Swarthmore and reject Hillel International's guidelines prohibiting anti-Israel speakers and activities. The "Open Hillel" movement represents these restrictions as unfair censorship.
- Ramaz High School in Manhattan, a Modern Orthodox flagship, rescinded an invitation from a student group to Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi, a passionate opponent of Israel. A petition then called for Khalidi to appear in the name of "academic equitability."
- The Museum of Jewish Heritage invited, disinvited and the reinvited John Judis to speak. Judis is the author of a shallow and tendentious new book on President Harry Truman and the origins of Israel. The museum director complained about the "ugly specter of succumbing to pressure and giving in to outside influence."
- Philosopher Judith Butler canceled her appearance at a Kafka-related event at the Jewish Museum following an outcry regarding her passionate anti-Zionism.
Video: William Jacobson Speaks on The Case for Israel and Academic Freedom
Law Professor William Jacobson of Legal Insurrection spoke on Tuesday at Ithaca College in opposition to the academic boycott of Israel.
He appeared in response to a talk by Ithaca College of Cornell Professor Eric Cheyfitz, who is a vocal supporter of the anti-Israel BDS movement and the American Studies Association academic boycott of Israel.
When Professor Jacobson requested that to be allowed to appear with him so students could hear both sides, he was offered a mere 5 minutes to rebut his arguments -- and was also denied the opportunity to build an event around his talk as they had done for Prof. Cheyfitz.
In the end, the Ithaca College Hillel agreed to sponsor his talk, which followed right after Cheyfitz’s talk, directly across the hall.
Apparently all that talk we hear about allowing anti-Israel voices to be heard is a strictly one-sided affair.
In his post, The Case for Israel and Academic Freedom, Professor Jacobson recommends listening to the question asked by a BDS supporter and his answer at the 54 minute mark.
Here is the video of Professor Jacobson's talk.
He appeared in response to a talk by Ithaca College of Cornell Professor Eric Cheyfitz, who is a vocal supporter of the anti-Israel BDS movement and the American Studies Association academic boycott of Israel.
When Professor Jacobson requested that to be allowed to appear with him so students could hear both sides, he was offered a mere 5 minutes to rebut his arguments -- and was also denied the opportunity to build an event around his talk as they had done for Prof. Cheyfitz.
In the end, the Ithaca College Hillel agreed to sponsor his talk, which followed right after Cheyfitz’s talk, directly across the hall.
Apparently all that talk we hear about allowing anti-Israel voices to be heard is a strictly one-sided affair.
In his post, The Case for Israel and Academic Freedom, Professor Jacobson recommends listening to the question asked by a BDS supporter and his answer at the 54 minute mark.
Here is the video of Professor Jacobson's talk.
Video: Ben Shapiro at UCLA: "BDS is Just Another Form of Anti-Semitism"
Speaking at a BDS hearing in UCLA, radio talk show host Ben Shapiro exposed BDS for what it is, after which he received thunderous applause.
Here is the video:
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Technorati Tag: Israel and BDS and Antisemitism and Ben Shapiro.
Here is the video:
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Wednesday, February 26, 2014
NGO Monitor: Amnesty International Report Reflects Lack of Expertise and Methodology
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Dawn Perlmutter on Jihadist Gang Graffiti Coming To Western Cities
The following by Dawn Perlmutter is reposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum:
Young Islamists and their sympathizers are tagging, stenciling, painting, vandalizing and using every genre of graffiti to spread the global jihadist message. Similar to other gangs they are using spray paint to mark their territory, demonstrate their allegiance, advertise their gang's status and power, memorialize fallen fellow gang members, praise violence and threaten their enemies. Jihadist graffiti functions as communication and recruitment and is popping up in cities around the world including: Toronto, London, Dublin, Derry, Glasgow, Augsburg, Munich, Moscow, Toulouse, Frejus, Helsinki, Rome, Crete, Jerusalem, Beirut, Salt lake City, New York City, Washington, D.C. Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Oakland and many others. Islamist graffiti is a popular artistic form of rebellion that portrays the global jihad movement as hip and cool. It appeals to young people who do not consider graffiti vandalism but view it as artistic expression and an agency for popular resistance and change. Spray painting Islamist slogans and jihadist phrases goes beyond graffiti as protest art. Islamist graffiti is a symbolic warfare tactic, a successful stealth information strategy camouflaged as street art.
Jihadist Gang Graffiti
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| Dawn Perlmutter |
Arlene Kushner on Palestinian Water Shortage Myth
From Arlene Kushner:
February 25, 2014
February 25, 2014
Facing Challenges Strong
There is no end to the challenges we are facing here, but I believe I am seeing greater resilience on the part of Israelis – in both official and unofficial positions - with regard to dealing with them. Let this be a trend that continues and grows.
Occurrences described below touch upon significant issues; my goal is not just to report, but to provide some clarity.
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Monday, February 24, 2014
Ever Notice Palestinian Negotiation Is Based on Victory -- Not Compromise?
The following by by Alexander Joffe and Asaf Romirowsky is reposted here with permission:
The Politics of the Palestinian Right of Return
US-backed negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are entering a critical period. With reports suggesting Israeli acceptance of the 1967 lines and land swaps, what about Palestinian concessions? Two issues are paramount: the 'right of return' and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently stated, "Let me put it simply: the right of return is a personal decision. What does this mean? That neither the PA, nor the state, nor the PLO, nor Abu-Mazen [Abbas], nor any Palestinian or Arab leader has the right to deprive someone from his right to return."
Daniel Pipes on Why Now Is Not The Time To Have Jonathan Pollard Pardoned
The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted with permission:
Pollard Pardon? Not Now
Jonathan Pollard's life sentence for the crimes he committed nearly 30 years ago is, without a doubt, both a travesty of justice and completely disproportionate.
Indeed, I offered Pollard advice and help when he called me from prison in the mid-1990s. For example, I published an original document about his trial in 1997 and evinced new information about him from Caspar Weinberger in a 1999 interview. I have maintained a weblog entry exposing the rank hypocrisy of U.S. leaders who come down so hard on Pollard even as American intelligence services spy no less, and probably much more, on Israel.
I mention these bona fides because I do not want Barack Obama to pardon Pollard.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Raymond Ibrahim: Kidnapped Nuns No Longer Bear the Cross
The following by Raymond Ibrahim is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:
Kidnapped Nuns No Longer Bear the Cross
by Raymond Ibrahim
World Magazine
February 18, 2014
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| Raymond Ibrahim |
They respond that they are being treated fine, that they very much look forward to being returned to their convent, that they heartily thank the world for its concern, and that they continually pray that God grant peace to all nations.
Their words say one thing, their expressions and demeanor another. Put differently, as female captives of Islamic jihadis, what else could they say but what they were told to say? Even if one of them dared to say the "wrong thing," it naturally would have been edited out. Who knows how many takes it took to get the video—which includes a bizarre clip of the nuns having a snowball fight with their abductors—just right?
 Several of the kidnapped Syrian nuns. (Image source: YouTube video by kidnappers) |
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Jonathan Spyer: Do 'Syria,' 'Iraq' and 'Lebanon' Still Exist?
The following by Jonathan Spyer is reposted here with permission:
For almost a century, the Middle East has been defined by the nation-states that emerged following the Allied victory in World War I and the end of the colonial era. Since then, strategic analyses of the region have concentrated on the relations between these states, and diplomatic efforts have generally attempted to maintain their stability and the integrity of their borders. As a result, the current map of the Middle East has remained largely unchanged over more than nine decades.
Do 'Syria,' 'Iraq' and 'Lebanon' Still Exist?
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| Jonathan Spyer |
But this is no longer the case. The old maps no longer reflect the reality on the ground, and the region is now defined not by rivalry between nation-states, but by sectarian divisions that are spilling across the old borders and rendering them irrelevant. Today, there is a single sectarian war underway across the Middle East, one that threatens to engulf the entire region.
NGO Monitor Highlights EU Funding of Anti-Peace Activity in EU Parliament
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Monday, February 17, 2014
Mark Durie: Islam's Second Crisis: The Troubles to Come
The following by Mark Durie is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:
In What Went Wrong, Bernard Lewis charted the decline of Islam in the modern era and the resulting theological crisis for the Muslim world.
Islam's Second Crisis: The Troubles to Come
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| Mark Durie |
Now Islam is going through a second crisis, caused by the repeated failures of revivalist responses to the first crisis. This second crisis, combined with the cumulative effect of the first crisis, which remains unresolved, will lead to a long drawn-out period of political and social instability for Muslim societies.
The first millennium of Islam was a period of expansion through conquest. However for five centuries from around 1500, Western powers were pushing back Islamic rule. There were numerous landmarks of the ascendancy of the West (which includes Russia), such as:
Arlene Kushner on the Never-ending Farce of Obama's Policy in Syria
From Arlene Kushner:
February 16, 2014
February 16, 2014
Dealing with Farce
Sometimes, my friends, I take a look at one or another political/diplomatic situation, and I think, “This is just sooo outrageous. So counter-intuitive in terms of how things ‘should’ be. How do I deal with it?” Actually, on occasion it occurs to me that if a satirical film were made incorporating some of the events we are witnessing, critics would pan it as too far-fetched. Such is the world about which I try, however humbly, to provide some perspective.
Today I want to begin with the horrors to our north in Syria, where, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights [an anti-Assad group], the death toll from the civil war has now exceeded 140,000, including more than 7,500 children and over 5,000 women.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Daniel Pipes on The Rushdie Fatwa 25 Years Later
The Rushdie Fatwa 25 Years Later
Twenty-five years ago today, Ayatollah Khomeini brought his edict down on Salman Rushdie. Iran's revolutionary leader objected to the author's magical-realist novel The Satanic Verses because of its insults to the Muslim prophet Muhammad and responded by calling for the execution of Rushdie and "all those involved in the publication who were aware of its contents."
Salman Rushdie in 1989.
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David P. Goldman on Israel's Religious Jewish Majority
The following by David P. Goldman is resposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum:
I should like to advance a conjecture which I lack the qualifications to adequately develop: The global Left, and the Israeli Left most of all, perceives that the clock is running out, and has worked itself up into a froth of hysteria against Israel. The world of John Lennon's "Imagine," where there are no countries and no religions, is about to dissipate like last night's marijuana fumes. The demographic time bomb that worries the Left is not the relative increase of Arab vs. Jewish populations between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, speciously cited by John Kerry and a host of other errant utopians: it is the growth of the Jewish population itself, and Israel's transformation into the world's most religious country.
Israel at a Point of No Return - In the Right Direction
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| David P. Goldman |
Israel now has a religious majority, as Times of Israel blogger Yoseif Bloch observes:
"According to our Central Bureau of Statistics, 43% of Israeli Jews are secular, 9% are haredi, and the remaining 48% are somewhere between masorti (traditional) and dati (religious): 23% the former, 10% the latter, and 15% smack in the middle. These five groups do not parallel the five groups identified by Pew, e.g. Orthodox is a denomination, while dati is a declaration."
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
The Media and the West Ignore Palestinian Human Rights Violations
Khaled Abu Toameh notes how Palestinian Authority Human Rights Violations Ignored by Media, West:
A report issued by the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) this week criticized the Palestinian Authority [PA] and Hamas for assaults on human rights and freedoms in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The report, which has been ignored by mainstream media and human rights organizations in the West, reveals that 10 Palestinians died in January 2014 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a result of anarchy, lawlessness and misuse of weapons.
Daniel Pipes on Why At Home and Abroad the US is Seen in Decline under Obama
The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:
Obama's Hollow Promises Abroad
As U.S. credibility and stature diminish in world affairs, the American president and his secretaries of state and defense engage in eloquent denial. Unfortunately for them, realities trump words, even persuasive ones.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, "where the water-cooler chatter was about America's waning influence in the Middle East," John Kerry proclaimed himself "perplexed by claims... that somehow America is disengaging from the world." Nothing could be further from the truth, he asserted: "We are entering an era of American diplomatic engagement that is as broad and as deep as any at any time in our history." Likewise, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has called for "a renewed and enhanced era of partnership with our friends and allies."
In this spirit, Obama has made multiple promises to reassure allies.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Why Do Christian Minorities Trust Ruthless Assad Over John Kerry?
The following by Raymond Ibrahim is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:
After my recent articles documenting how the U.S. is the chief facilitator of Christian persecution in the Muslim world, I received an email from John Eibner, CEO of Christian Solidarity International, in which he made the following observation:
The Simple Wisdom of Arab Dictators
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| Raymond Ibrahim |
The sad fact is that the ruthless Assad dictatorship has a better record than the United States or its Sunni allies of protecting religious minorities in the Middle East. What Syrian Christian, Alawite or Druze in their right mind would trade the Assad's time-tested protection for the smooth words of a John Kerry, especially when they can see Sunni supremacist Saudis, Qataris, Turks and a motley array of jihadis over their shoulder?
A sad fact indeed.
Efraim Inbar on Israel and The BDS Mirage
The following by Efraim Inbar is reposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum:
US Secretary of State John Kerry is warning that Israel faces economic embargoes if a US-drafted framework agreement with the Palestinians fails to go forward. While the merits of the current American diplomatic initiative are debatable, Kerry's warnings clearly have a deleterious effect: they feed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign being waged by Israel's enemies, and create the false impression that this campaign is a significant threat to Israel.
The Boycott Mirage
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| Efraim Inbar |
The BDS effort has thus far had little success. For the moment and for the near future, it constitutes a bearable nuisance for Israel, not more.
Thursday, February 06, 2014
Arlene Kushner on John Kerry's 3 Ring Circus Peace Talks
From Arlene Kushner:
February 4, 2014
February 4, 2014
More Dangerous Nonsense
Before I get to the nonsense, which increases daily, I note with sadness the untimely passing yesterday of commentator, writer, and author Barry Rubin, who served as director of GLORIA (Global Research in International Affairs). He succumbed after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 64. Enormously astute in his analysis, he will be sorely missed. As the JPost described him: “one of the most important, indefatigable, and prolific commentators on Middle East politics, international affairs and world history.”
May his family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
Credit: pjmedia
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Then I ask, please, that if you have not yet visited the Levy Report/Legal Grounds Facebook page, you do so, and “like” the page.
As well, please ask others to do the same; post the URL on your Facebook and website pages. Thank you. In the face of the awfulness of the current situation, our work becomes ever more important.
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There is so much to write about, but I will begin with the dangerous nonsense with regard to “peace negotiations” and the US guidelines that are supposed to be released soon. I am sooo tired of the rumors, the charges, and the countercharges. So much that is ridiculous is being said. It is ludicrous that Kerry says he expects to forge a “peace agreement” within this environment.
Are Obama's Muslim Brotherhood Buddies Allied With Al Qaeda?
The following by Raymond Ibrahim is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:
As former Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi's trials continue, it's enlightening to consider what is likely to be one of the centerpieces of the trial: longstanding accusations that Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party worked with foreign terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda, against the national security of Egypt.
Exposed: The Muslim Brotherhood/Al-Qaeda Connection
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| Raymond Ibrahim |
Based on these accusations of high treason, Morsi and others could face the death penalty.
Muhammad Morsi and Ayman Zawahiri. Image source: European Union (Morsi) and al-Qaeda video screenshot (Zawahiri)
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Concerning some of the more severe allegations, one of Egypt's most widely distributed and read newspapers, Al Watan, recently published what it said were recorded conversations between Morsi and Muhammad Zawahiri, al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri's brother.
In these reports, Watan repeatedly asserts that Egyptian security and intelligence agencies confirmed (or perhaps leaked out) the recordings.
Much of the substance of the alleged conversations is further corroborated by events that occurred during Morsi's one-year-rule, most of which were reported by a variety of Arabic media outlets, though not by Western media.
In what follows, I relay, summarize, and translate some of the more significant portions of the Watan reports (verbatim statements are in quotation marks). In between, I comment on various anecdotes and events—many of which were first broken on my website—that now, in light of these phone conversations, make perfect sense and independently help confirm the authenticity of the recordings.
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Tuesday, February 04, 2014
Barry Rubin – May his Memory be a Blessing
by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection
Barry Rubin – May his Memory be a Blessing
What Barry Rubin meant to pro-Israel bloggers.
Barry Rubin – May his Memory be a Blessing
What Barry Rubin meant to pro-Israel bloggers.
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| Barry Rubin. Credit: Legal Insurrection Photo: idcgloriacenter / YouTube |
Last January 28, on his 63rd birthday, Barry Rubin posted on Facebook:
Now a year and a week later, that hopefulness seems like a cruel tease. Barry’s victory over cancer was a temporary one.
As an additional birthday present–though it is not yet official–the notation on my latest test says that I’m making continued progress with the therapy clearing the disease out of my lungs. And one of the best birthday presents of all is your support. Thanks.At the time it sounded so good. It sounded like our prayers had been answered with a resounding “yes.” Barry would continue to improve and was well enough to travel to the United States for several weeks in the summer. Just a few months earlier Barry had doubted that he’d ever visit the States again.
Now a year and a week later, that hopefulness seems like a cruel tease. Barry’s victory over cancer was a temporary one.
Daniel Pipes on Media Trend To Pretend Tel Aviv Is the Capital of Israel
The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:
Pretending Tel Aviv Is the Capital of Israel
Some, especially in the mainstream media, pretend that not Jerusalem but Tel Aviv serves as the capital of Israel. (Tel Aviv hosts the Ministry of Defense but not much else of the central government.) This parallels a tendency lately to pretend there's a country called Palestine. The weblog entry documents some of those delusions, which are appearing more often, in reverse chronological order:
Monday, February 03, 2014
Will Kerry's Plan Create A Demographic Time Bomb That Will Threaten Israel?
The following by Steven J. Rosen is reposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum:
One of the key arguments of Israel's "peace camp" is that, without a two-state solution, the state faces a "demographic time-bomb." The contention is that perpetuating Israeli control over the growing Arab population of the West Bank will dilute Israel's Jewish majority, until it is a de facto bi-national state. Therefore, proponents of this line of thinking argue, Secretary of State John Kerry's push for a two-state solution is imperative if Israel hopes to remain both Jewish and democratic.
Palestine's Peace Bomb
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| Steven J. Rosen |
Some Israeli policymakers have bought into the threat of a ticking demographic time bomb. In 2007, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned the Knesset of "a demographic battle" if a Palestinian state is not created. Similarly, the current government's chief peace negotiator, Tzipi Livni, argued that "time works to our disadvantage" because of "demographic numbers...[and] a higher Palestinian birth rate that could mean the end of a Jewish majority."
But Israelis on the right see a different demographic time bomb -- one that Kerry's plan will produce, rather than prevent. By opening the West Bank to a flood of refugees from the neighboring Arab countries, Kerry's plan could throw the Palestinian territories into chaos and sow the seeds for the rise of further extremism and terrorism on Israel's borders.
Amateur Hour: Kerry Claims No West Bank Palestinians Murdered Israelis in 2013
This is not the first time that the Obama Administration has demonstrated its ignorance of Jews and Israel.
At least twice during his first term, Obama publicly stated that the Jewish bond with Israel dates only to the Holocaust.
At least twice during his first term, Obama publicly stated that the Jewish bond with Israel dates only to the Holocaust.