Staying Real in Israel
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Most of Israeli society is thriving, and the movement is in all the right directions…

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Listen to how the divides and social riffs in Israel are narrowing, as Israeli society and the Israeli economy moves forward on all fronts…How the role of women and the ultra-Orthodox is evolving and advancing…contrary to the much reported problems in the religious vs. secular realm…

Also…As Israeli TV hit “Still Standing” is exported to the US and 30 other countries…A special look at Israeli TV…how it is growing and expanding

And…A riveting feature on Official Palestinian Authority-sponsored TV…From Sesame Street to the praising of murderous terrorists, to Israeli parliament members joining in the praise of terrorist-murderers of Israelis…

Plus…Turkish television breaks ground with their programming…From Holocaust documentaries to Israeli chefs…to Jewish singers representing Turkey to the international community on Eurovision…

All this and more on The Marty Roberts Show

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Archeologists just found an item actually used by the Jewish priests in the Temple Service in Jerusalem…

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Every thing you ever wanted or needed to know about the history of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel..

From the binding of Isaac by the Jewish patriarch, Abraham, Jacob’s Dream, the Tabernacle in the Wilderness…

King David, King Solomon, Daniel the Prophet, Ezra the Scribe…And, finally, liberation by Israeli paratroopers…

Two Jewish Temples…

A half-century of Jewish temple service on Mount Moriah…

Now we have the destruction of artifacts by the Muslim Wakf…No Jews are allowed to pray on the site of the Jewish Temple…and the government of Israel allows this…

We’re waiting to build the Third and final version any day now…

All this and more on The Marty Roberts Show

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We’re talking the likes of Hizbullah and Al-Quaeda here…Why isn’t anybody doing anything about this???

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Not Twitter, not the American State Department, not the U.S. Department of Justice…They seem to be more concerned with going after on-line poker sites and catching people downloading episodes of TV shows and computer games than international Jihad…

But leave it to the Israelis…Nitzana Darshan-Leitner and her Shurat Ha-Din Israel Law Center is going after Twitter BIG TIME!!!…Details of the battle on the show…

And let’s not forget Facebook…terrorist “Fan” pages and causing divorces…

Than there’s the case of Facebook threatening to sue Mark Zuckerberg…Thought he was the founder of Facebook?…not THIS one (AND he happens to be Israeli)…

Also…Israeli lawmakers are being offered their own training in use of social media (we can only hope, using it for good…)…not to mention social etiquette, like eating with utensils and keeping their mouths closed while chewing…no kidding…

Plus…Saudi hackers gain access to personal and financial information of thousands of Israelis and publish it all on the web…They call it their “gift to the world for the new year”…Listen to the show for more, and other Arab hacking of Israeli websites…for better AND for worse…

Also…The Tagli-Birthright trips to Israel launch the winter season with lots of surprises, plus record number of female Israeli Air Force pilots…

All this and more on The Marty Roberts Show

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Jewish life…Better in Israel?…

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As new immigrant “olim” to Israel continue to arrive, just in time for Hanukkah, questions arise about Jewish life in the diaspora, and especially America, where the second largest Jewish community resides.

The show explores the disturbing realities of American Jews and others living outside of Israel.

If you are Jewish and living in exile from Israel, will your children still be Jewish 20 years from now? Your grandchildren?

Also…Programs to urge Israeli Jews living abroad to come back home to Israel…some successful, others cancelled at the order of the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu…

And…U.S. President Obama addresses America’s Reform Jewish Movement…Does anybody really believe Obama’s fairy tales about his relationship with Israel?…Apparently, the American Reform Jews do…or, maybe they just don’t care all that much…

Plus…President Obama has the White House kitchen made kosher for Hanukkah…and…How is the first Afro-American U.S. President managing to alienate almost ALL of Africa?

All this and more on The Marty Roberts Show

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New heights of religion-mandated modesty, or just cultish craziness?…Depends upon which religion you ascribe to…

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With more and more women in Israel covering themselves from head to toe in black burkas, it would be a good time to look at what this phenomenon is all about. What are the roots of female dress in Islam historically? How is this affected by modern fundamentalist interpretation of the Koran and other Islamic writings? What are the implications for Muslim women?…

And what about the small cult of “Jewish Taliban” that seem to be imitating the ways of Islam? Any basis in Jewish law for such uber-modest dress in Jewish women, married and unmarried alike?

A look at the history and current status of the cult of Jewish “Veiled Women”…

Happy Hannukah

Plus…Some special Happy Hannukah thoughts…

All this and more on The Marty Roberts Show

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Guess that’s life in Southern Israel these days…

So me and the wife are settling in the other night for our evening ritual of TV series and snacks. I’m setting things up and Ellen is downstairs getting into her ‘jammies and sweats.
She calls me, but, me being a new member of the 60+ generation and a bit hard of hearing even before qualifying for membership in the AARP, I don’t answer, so she tries a bit louder.

“MARTY!!!”

“WHAT?”, my witty reply.

“It’s a siren”, she says, a bit louder this time. “You better get on down here”.

“Oh, crap”, says me, “We’re going to miss the beginning of Boardwalk Empire!…”Okay, okay, I’m coming…and I’ll bring the dogs.”

I realize that we better get in the “safe room”/bomb shelter that every home in Israel is required by building code to have. It’s rare that Hamas hits anything with their primitive missiles, but every now and then there’s a wrecked house, and there’s even been a few dead people.

So we gather downstairs, in the basement, under a doorjamb, far from any glass windows, but NOT QUITE in the bomb shelter itself. It’s kind of too cluttered with old cribs, books, dental molds and bird food for a full size human to fit in, let alone a couple and three dogs. Besides, the missiles don’t usually hit anything, right? But that siren is still wailing and it’s kind of a scary sound, even after the tenth time hearing it and running (slowly) to the shelter. Better safe than sorry.

So after a couple of minutes the siren stops. Ellen says, “Let’s go upstairs and watch TV”.

“But the orders say we wait in the shelter for10 minutes to be sure nothing explodes”.

“But we’re not REALLY even in the shelter.”

“Alright, alright”

After about 90 seconds, we get tired of standing there like fools, so we head up and hit the popcorn (now a bit burned), sunflower seeds. Boardwalk Empire, House and Dexter are waiting.

I turn to Ellen about an hour later and say, “You know, I was just thinking. How weird is it? There are people that are actually shooting rockets and missiles at our house. For real. They want to blow up our house and kill you, me, the dogs and the children. FOR REAL!!! Could you imagine that if we were still living in America?”

“Shhhhh…”House” is starting.

I guess you get used to anything after a while.

Life in Southern Israel…

On yesterday’s radio show,
(Click HERE to view the articles and listen to the show) I highlighted U.S. Secretary of State Clinton’s remarks in a recent speech. She expressed serious concerns over a small group of religiously observant Israeli Army soldiers unwillingness to listen to a group of female singers performing at an official army ceremony. Hillary is very concerned over the obvious degeneration of democracy and women’s rights in Israel highlighted by this event.

Tsk, tsk.

I guess training American Marines how to urinate, fart and defecate in a way that does not “offend” the religion of Islam is a sterling example of tolerance and democracy in action…

By the way, did you know that the meaning of the work “Islam” is submission???

US Marines ordered never to spit or urinate toward Mecca, the direction Muslims in Afghanistan face when they pray

US Marines: No Spitting Toward Mecca

Reprinted from Diana West

Gen. David Petraeus, Col. David Furness, and Shafiq Mubarak. Mubarak served as Furness’s “right hand” during a recent deployment. “I can’t do anything without him,” Furness said.

And who is Shafiq Mubarak? All I can find out is that he is a Pro Sol contractor (?) hired by the Marine Corps Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning to help implement “the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, the winning of hearts and minds.” At least that’s how Col. Furness puts it. According to the North County Times, Mubarak didn’t come to the US until 2008 — from where the story doesn’t say — but has been working with US troops in A-stan “for much of the past decade.”

How is that? Why is that? Dunno. What the story does report is that Mubarak teaches the do’s and don’t's of sharia — kind of, Islam for Leathernecks.

Mubarak teaches US Marines:

Don’t spit toward Mecca.

Don’t urinate toward Mecaa.

Don’t sleep with your boots toward Mecca.

In other words, Mubarak teaches US Marines to become intensely sensitized to the whereabouts of Mecca, and to be guided by that magnetic North for Muslims as a matter of the most personal habits and hygiene — in accordance with sharia (Islamic law). This goes well, of course, with ISAF’s guidance to all troops to revere the Koran and its teachings.

What next, prayer rugs?

Mubarak told the North County Times:

“We can’t win just by fighting,” said Mubarak, who came to the U.S. less than three years ago after working with American forces in Afghanistan for much of the past decade. “Sitting with tribal elders, learning their problems and helping them is crucial.”

Crucial to what? Solving the problems of one set of tribal elders. Such problems, of course, are likely to differ from those of the next set of tribal elders, particularly when there is a blood feud, a la al-Hatfields and al-McCoys. Talk about tar babies. To coin a phrase: You Don’t Win Hearts and Minds by Losing Your Own.

Meanwhile:

Mubarak and Tremore spent hours walking troops through the nuances of meetings, or “shuras” with key local leaders. Both stressed the importance of those meetings. …

Mubarak taught the troops the proper way to sit during a shura. He told them they should plan on at least 30 minutes for an initial meeting, and that they should always finish their tea and eat any food presented.

And that includes all the intestinal parasites.

“If you don’t, that means to them that you don’t trust them, or think what they are giving you is poison or is unclean,” he said.

Mubarak also said the Marines should never spit or urinate to the west, the direction of Mecca that Muslims in Afghanistan face when they pray.

In addition, when sharing a base with Afghan army troops, Marines shouldn’t sleep with their feet pointed west, because that also is considered offensive, he said.

Afghan compounds of tribal elders are always neutral ground, Mubarak said. There is no need to wear protective vests, because the custom is that any person inside the compound will have the full protection of the Afghans who live there.

Mubarek said that when Marine Col. David Furness led Camp Pendleton’s Regimental Combat Team 1 during a recent deployment, Furness was able to win over 200 tribal families through shuras. What began as a violent deployment ended with little shooting, Mubarak said.

At what cost? That is, in exchange for what baksheesh, what edge over the next tribe, what amounts of money or local public works projects? We don’t know. How permanent this little piece of shura-peace is, we don’t know, either. But it all impressed Col. Furness, who gave a service award to Mubarak in June 2011 on behalf of the Regimental Combat Team – 1st Marines (RCT-1) CULAD. In the presence of Gen. Petraeus, Col. Furness said:

“General, this is my cultural advisor, Mr. Shafiq Mubarak. Mr. Shafiq is my right hand and I can’t do anything without him. Mr. Shafiq directly assists in direct engagements with Afghan leaders and political decision makers. He has been instrumental in the pursuit of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, the winning of hearts and minds.

Or, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

What do all three of these “statesmen” have in common? (other than having been appointed to jobs for which they are incompetent to perform by an incompetent president)

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They have all made headline-grabbing statements about Israel in public forums in the past week…All of which were mis-informed, ignorant, wrong and harmful to the Jewish State…

Find out what they said and why they should have kept their mouths shut…

Also…Honor killings in England…Driving women in Saudi Arabia…

Plus…Barbara Streisand to sing to Israeli soldiers…

All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…

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You might miss out on the world’s first vaccine and cure for cancer!!!

Breast cancer cells

If you want to boycott Israel, do so at your own risk…the risk of being left behind, swept back to the dark ages…stripped of most of the benefits of modern science, technology and medical research…much of which comes out of the tiny little country called ISRAEL…

Boycott Israel…No, I don’t think so…not if you have even half a brain…

Eureka: World’s First Vaccine and Cure For Cancer Developed by Israeli Medicine Company

The BIG NEWS of a Cancer Curing Drug is coming in from Israel.

Reprinted from techie-buzz.com

An Israeli company has come up with a vaccine against cancer that is both safe in terms of no side-effects and can be administered as a drug. Vaxil BioTherapeutics has developed a vaccine that is now undergoing clinical trials and not yet available in the market. It is being tested at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem and the trials could take as long as six years to conclude.

A vaccine that is also a drug

The vaccine also acts like a drug, i.e. it can be administered to a sick person as a cure. The vaccine is being tested against a form of blood cancer called multiple myeloma and it is generating enough success. Vaxil says that it could be used against other types of cancer as well, including the common prostrate and breast cancer. The primary immune technology, called VaxHit, can then be developed for other forms of cancer.

How the drug works

The problem with cancer is that the immune system of the body doesn’t know what exactly it should do. The Vaxil product, called ImMucin, “trains” the immune system to act in a specific way. Cancer cells have a marker called MUC1 that is unique to cancer cells only. ImMucin trains “T-cells” of our immune system to attack only those cells that are marked by the MUC1 marker. The success rate of the vaccine has not been revealed, but it is supposedly phenomenal. The diversification of the vaccine stems from the fact that MUC1 marks more than 90% of the different cancer cells. Furthermore, since only those cells marked with MUC1 are targeted, the drug has no side-effects and is completely safe to use.

This may be the ultimate magic bullet that scientists have been working towards for a long time. However, there are still a few clinical tests to go.
Vaxil’s Homepage: http://www.vaxilbio.com/

In some tests, like war, for instance, you only get one chance to do or die, but, given a second chance, it pays to learn from your mistakes…

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And that is exactly what Israel has done in dealing with repeated attempts to illegally break the Naval blockade set up to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza, flotilla or airlift…

Israels successful thwarting of “Summer Flotilla II” and the attempted “Human Airlift” of protestors to Ben Gurion Airport…

As Borat would put it, “Great Success!!”…

Also…I-Pod apps…The good, the bad and the discontinued, including some hot Israeli ideas and some not-so-hot palestinian ones…

And…Paul Simon, The Yardbirds and Ziggy Marley…in Israel soon…

Plus…Israel’s first Air Force pilot wearing a long skirt…Religiously observant AND female!…

All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…

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If they were REALLY concerned only about getting needed supplies to Gaza, and not just with stirring up conflict with the Israeli authorities and hatred towards the Israeli Jews, why would the “humanitarian activists” refuse the offer of the Greek government to ship all of the so-much-needed supplies to Gaza?

The leopard has so clearly revealed it’s stripes…Why does the world not see this?
At least the Greek and Turkish governments seems to have come to their senses with their respective legal actions succeeding in stopping the the sailing of this abomination…at least for now…
Kol Ha Kavod (congratulations, and thank you), Greece and Turkey!…

Flotilla activists reject Greek offer to ship aid to Gaza

Harbor-bound pro-Palestinian activists say Athens’ offer to deliver aid to Strip a scheme concocted in cahoots with Israel

Reprinted from ynetnews.com

Participants of the Gaza-bound flotilla claimed Sunday that Greece’s offer to ferry their humanitarian aid cargo to the Strip through the Ashdod or El Arish ports, in coordination with the United Nations, was a fraud.

The activists rejected the offer, calling it “a fraud that aims to preserve Israel’s blockade on Gaza.”

Earlier Sunday, Athens – whose authorities have so far prevented any vessel associated with the flotilla from leaving its ports to Gaza – stated that “Greece reiterates its willingness and proposes to undertake the task of transporting the humanitarian aid, with Greek vessels or other appropriate means, through the existing channels…

“To this avail, Greece will come into immediate and direct contact with the UN and all the concerned parties, in order to render the mission feasible on behalf of our country.”

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has reportedly called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the latest developments in the Palestinian arena and the efforts to restart the peace talks with Israel, as well as convey Athens’ offer.

Members of the “flotilla coalition” said the offer was the result of the two’s conversation, and slammed Abbas for “stabbing us in the back.”

The activists further quoted a 2008 statement by the Palestinian president suggesting that any attempt to breach the blockade was “a foolish game.” They claimed that Abbas said at the time that since all vessels entering Gaza undergo security checks, they can hardly be seen as “breaching the siege.”

Meanwhile, the American passengers of the “Audacity of Hope,” which was prevented from sailing to the Gaza Strip on Saturday, have declared a hunger strike and staged a protest outside the US Embassy in Athens.

Some activists also marched on the Israeli Embassy in the Greek capital and together with local pro-Palestinian Greek activists staged a protest rally.

Protesters were reportedly shouting “Free Palestine,” “Stop the occupation,” and “Lift the Gaza siege.” One of the American protesters described the atmosphere as “very supportive.”

Members of the various organizations taking part in the flotilla said that would try to set sail again on Monday.

Former Israeli Dror Feiller, who is among the flotilla’s organizers, said that “there are still surprises to come. We intend to set sail soon. If the Greek want to stop us – let them stop up. We won’t stop trying.”

Smart Jews plus Divine Providence…a potent combination…

Morgan Stanley raises Israel growth forecast

The US investment bank sees 4.8% growth in both 2011 and 2012

Reprinted from globes.co.il

US investment bank Morgan Stanley today raised its growth forecast for Israel. A report by analyst Tevfik Aksoy entitled “Israel: Macro Smile – Say Cheese” began “Without doubt the Israeli economy remains one of the robust and well managed among both the developed and the emerging market economies.”

The report continued, “Having shown an excellent track record in weathering the most recent crisis via timely monetary and fiscal policy responses, the country earned well deserved respect and confidence among global investors.”

After visiting Israel and meeting with Bank of Israel and other economic officials, Morgan Stanley said it had come back with positive impressions and is raising its growth forecast to 4.8% for both 2011 and 2012 from its previous growth forecast of 4.3%.

On the downside Morgan Stanley noted that house prices remain a concern due to supply-side constraints, and also warned against possible repercussions from the Palestinian plan to seek UN recognition for its independence in September.

More evidence of the importance of the Jewish State to the world, not just to the Jews…

The Israeli economy continues to be strong, offsetting the economic collapse taking place in the rest of the world.

Israel ranked 14th in global innovation

Jewish state gains nine spots over last year’s position in GII, which recognizes key role of innovation as driver of economic growth and prosperity

Reprinted from ynetnews.com

The results for the fourth edition of The Global Innovation Index (GII) 2011 have just been published and Israel is ranked number 14, a significant improvement over its number 23 position last year.

The GII recognizes the key role of innovation as a driver of economic growth and prosperity.

Launched in 2007 by INSEAD eLab, the GII has become an important tool in benchmarking continued progress in countries. The GII provides advanced metrics and approaches to better capture the richness of innovation in society and go beyond traditional measurers.

With a population of 7.3 million, Israel is ranked number 96 in global population.

The top three ranked countries in the Index are Switzerland, Sweden and Singapore. The United States is ranked seventh with Canada below them at eight.

The only other Middle Eastern country in the top 30 is Qatar at 26.

Never have to buy gas again…Ever!!!…

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The story of Shai Agassi and his revolutionary “Better Place” start-up…How it happened, how the system works, why it’s better than hybrids…
The first step towards eliminating the world’s need for arab oil?…

Better Place Founder Shai Agassi

Also…The Dutch parliament takes the first step towards banning kosher meat in The Netherlands…What does this mean to the Jews?…Is there possibly a higher message being sent here?…

Ban Shakira Facebook Page

Plus…Shakira…Banned in Egypt?…Why?…Because she visited Israel!…Welcome to the new Spring-time arab democracy in Egypt…

All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…

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From the Israeli scientist that brought you crossword puzzles for the blind…bigger and better things for the visually challenged…

Israeli scientists develop ‘virtual cane’

Hebrew University unveils innovation which could significantly improve orientation, mobility of sight-impaired people

Reprinted from ynetnews.com

Yissum Research Development Company Ltd, the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem presented a major new innovation – a virtual cane that will significantly improve the orientation and mobility of sight-impaired people.

The new device can assist blind people in estimating the distance and height of various obstacles. The invention was patented by Yissum, which is now seeking strategic partners for further development.

Dr. Amir Amedi from the Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC) and at Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his team recently developed the device to help in spatial navigation for the blind.

Unlike a white stick that can give the blind input from only a meter away, the device can function at a much shorter distance and up to some 10 meters in all directions. Dr. Amedi said the device can also distinguish between smiling and sad faces and can be used for research on how the brain flexibly changes upon receiving input and on brain reorganization in the blind.

Amedi added that the blind user functions like a dolphin or bat, with sonar-type signals reacting to surroundings.

The invention, which was unveiled at the Presidential Conference last week, functions as a virtual flashlight and can replace or augment the classic white cane. The virtual cane emits a focused beam towards surrounding objects, and transmits the information to the user via a gentle vibration, similar to a cell phone vibration.

A Yissum press release noted that the cane incorporates several sensors that estimate the distance between the user and the object it is pointed at. This allows the blind person to assess the height and distance of various objects, reconstruct an accurate image of the surroundings and navigate safely.

The virtual cane is extremely small, easy to carry, accurate, can function for up to 12 hours and is easy to charge. Using the device is highly intuitive and can be learnt within a few minutes.

Yaacov Michlin, CEO of Yissum said, “Dr. Amedi’s promising invention can endow visually impaired people with the freedom to freely navigate in their surroundings without unintentionally bumping into or touching other people and thus has the potential to significantly enhance their quality of life.”

Yissum is a Research Development Company of the Hebrew University and was founded in 1964 to protect and commercialize the Hebrew University’s intellectual property.