Sunday, August 9, 2009

3rd group of Ethiopians request aliyah


YNET

While the story of the Falash Mura is known to most Israelis, the public is generally unaware of the difficulties another Ethiopian community that claims to have Jewish ancestry – the Tigray, is facing in immigrating to Israel

The Ethiopian community in Israel has recently launched a campaign to bring to Israel some 2,000 Tigray who have relatives in Israel.

The main difference between the Falash Mura and the Tigray lies in their geographical origin. The Falash Mura are Jews who converted to Christianity in the mid 19th century as a result of social and economic pressure. Most of them live in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. The Tigray live in northern Ethiopia in a region that borders Eritrea and Sudan, and their Jewish roots are unclear. [...]

Friday, August 7, 2009

Web attack against Twitter - aimed at one blogger


BBC

A "massively co-ordinated" attack on websites including Google, Facebook and Twitter was directed at one individual, it has been confirmed.

Facebook told BBC News that the strike was aimed at a pro-Georgian blogger known as Cyxymu.

The attack caused a blackout of Twitter for around two hours, while Facebook said its service had been "degraded".

Google said it had defended its sites and was now working with the other companies to investigate the attack.

"[The] attack appears to be directed at an individual who has a presence on a number of sites, rather than the sites themselves," a Facebook spokesman told BBC News.

"Specifically, the person is an activist blogger and a botnet was directed to request his pages at such a rate that it impacted service for other users."

Botnets are networks of computers under the control of hackers.

The machines were used to mount a so-called denial-of-service (DOS) attack on Thursday. [...]

Settlers sue State over Hebron evacuation


Haaretz

Hebron's Jewish settlement filed a lawsuit against the State of Israel on Friday over damages caused during the evacuation of disputed structures in the city's wholesale market.

In the suit, the settlers rely on a 2006 agreement reached with the IDF regional command, stating that Jewish residents of the disputed structures would vacate them, while leaving any stationary property.

That agreement was subsequently annulled, leading to the 2007 evacuation, in which police removed doorposts and knocked down plaster walls in order to prevent the settlers from returning to the structures. [...]The suit came as the most recent episode in a series of attempts to reclaim the structures, which were built on Jewish-owned land that was inhabited by Jews until 1929, when Arabs massacred many members of the local community and the survivors fled. [...]

Gay supporters attacked for putting posters up in Mea Shearim


JPost

A group of youngsters putting up posters in Jerusalem condemning the deadly shooting spree in a Tel Aviv gay community center last week was attacked overnight Thursday by haredim in Mea She'arim. After a short chase down the alleyways of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood, the group and an Army Radio reporter who was with them managed to get away.

The head of the group that was putting up posters all around the capital said they had aimed to raise awareness for the attack in every section of Israeli society.

"The moment it comes to murder, this ceases to be just a haredi society, but part of an entire society that needs to understand that lines have been crossed," he told Army Radio. "Murder is something that needs to be shouted about." [...]

Secular vs. Religious Israel - documentary

Be aware that there are a few non tzinius pictures



Obama's healthcare critiqued

Muslims protest soccer club song


Arutz Sheva

Muslims are on the rampage against an old German soccer club song that includes the lyrics, "Mohammed was a prophet who knew nothing of football." The German soccer club 'Schalke 04' responded that Mohammed lived long before soccer was invented and that it sees no problem with the song.

The "White and Blue, How I Love You" song was written in 1924 and has been the official hymn of the club for decades, but the rising Muslim population in Europe has made it a more powerful force against anything that they consider offensive. They have staged dozens of protests, sometimes violent, concerning alleged offenses to the religion. Several people were killed two years ago in riots over a cartoon that depicted Mohammed with a bomb in his turban. [...]