helping the bds to see

Another Israeli product for the BDS supporters to add to their list of items to boycott!

Project Ray is an Israeli-developed smartphone that provides numerous applications for blind people that have not been available to them on a mobile phone.

hope for change

If you are anti-Israel, or you just do not like Israel – read this article!

Read the article no matter what you think about Israel.  This is a man with a plan, plain-talking and sensible.  He may be the solution to my difficulty in deciding how to vote in the January 2013 Knesset elections.

The Knesset needs many more people who think like Aatef Karinaoui, putting the good of the citizens and the whole country ahead of politicians self-interest.

This is what he says about current Arab MK’s:  “…All the bad things they say about Israel and its supposed ill-treatment of Arabs is a lie, a bald-faced lie,” he says intently, just moments after we’ve sat down. “Arab members of Knesset are setting a fire. They feed off of the politics of division and don’t represent the Arab public. The Arab Knesset members do nothing to educate them or advance their situation… But [at present] there is no alternative to the current leadership…”

This is what he says about living in Israel:  “…We want to prove that we are loyal and faithful citizens,” he says. “And we also need more attention and support from the state.… I’m a proud Arab and a proud Israeli too. I’m not Palestinian.… Look at Syria. Look at Egypt, look at Libya, look at Tunisia, and look at Bahrain: the problem is not Israel, it’s the Arabs…”

siri delivers

If you are in China and want to find some local brothels, just ask Apple’s Siri.  She has the answers.

mothers not loving their sons

Fatah in Lebanon are using Facebook to publicise Mothers who are sending their young sons out to be suicide ( homicide ) bombers.

It needs to be seen to be believed.  Children too young to understand are celebrating their own death by suicide.

celebrating diversity

as long as you are not Jewish.

Organisers of an event in Denmark to celebrate diversity asked the Jewish participants not to display the Israeli flag for security reasons.

obama is jewish

Usually it is the Jews who like to take credit for every celebrity or important person, claiming that they are Jewish.

In an Associated Press survey of 1,071 adult Americans, 18% believe that President Obama is Jewish.  Only 10% think he is Muslim.

electoral reform

The electoral system in Israel does not actually resemble a democratic process.  The will of the electorate is not borne out in electoral results.  There are too many small parties that wield too much power, creating an incentive for more MK’s to split and form their own party.

Despite promises of electoral reform from the leaders of the 4 largest parties after the last election, nothing has been done to bring about electoral reform.  No parliamentarian wants to vote himself out of a job.

With the system as it is today, MK’s are not answerable to the electorate, they are answerable to party organisers.  They need to make sure that they will be high on the list of their party primaries, to increase their chances of being elected.

With elections coming up in January 2013, here are some of my thoughts as to how the system can be improved to make it more democratic, and to give the electorate a true voice in the Knesset.

1  minimum threshold for any party to enter the Knesset of 5 seats.

2  a party must be in existence, including a legal constitution, for 2 years before an election.

3  a 2-year cooling off period for senior public servants to become MK’s ( including all branches of the army and police. )

4  a 2-year cooling off period for a retiring MK to join any public or private company, in any capacity, with which they had any dealings as an MK in the previous 5 years ( including as minister or committee member. )

5  compulsory voting – it is already a public holiday, so it will not be a burden for people to vote.

6  the country is divided into electoral divisions, the voters choose among the candidates who are
standing in their local division.

7  party funding will be fully transparent and strictly controlled.

8  Knesset seats belong to the party, not the MK.  If an MK chooses to leave for any reason, a by-election is held to replace them.

9  Ministers may only be appointed from amongst elected MK’s.

10  Cabinet will be a maximum of 15 Ministers, with 1 deputy Prime Minister, no deputy Ministers and no Ministers Without Portfolio or Minister with Special Responsibilities.

11  all MK’s must submit a report of all pecuniary interests held, or jointly held, by the MK, in the previous 2 years ( ownerships, directors, partners, shareholdings ) – public and private.  This report will include any special arrangements made to sign interests over to family members or business partners.  This report will be held jointly by the Speaker and an independently appointed retired Judge.

come and live in israel

The Arab Spring uprisings were supposed to deliver a better life for the women in those countries, these women interviewed express their concerns.

Come and live in Israel.

In Israel they can live freely, study, work, marry by choice.

In Israel, you can even drive and vote!

praying for destruction

In the midst of their Arab spring, an Egyptian Muslim cleric is praying for “…Oh Allah, absolve us of our sins, strengthen us, and grant us victory over the infidels. Oh Allah, destroy the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, disperse them, rend them asunder. Oh Allah, demonstrate Your might and greatness upon them. Show us Your omnipotence, oh Lord…”

President Morsi is in agreement, saying Amen.

Instead, why not pray for peace and stability inside Egypt, an end to the sectarian violence, and for prosperity for all Egyptians?

28,000 bodies to bury

It is no wonder that Bashar Assad is hanging on to power by his fingernails.

Before he leaves he needs to dispose of any evidence of the 28,000 Syrian citizens that have “disappeared” from the streets of his country.

This does not include the more than 14,000 Syrian citizens killed since the uprising began.

Despite this, still no international efforts to remove him and the UN has not had much to say about it.