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Sunday, April 17, 2005

More good news for Jews. Previous good news entry here. Previous Antisemitism Watch entry here.

Solomonia posts emails from people who attended a talk by veteran Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi, at Yale. The good news is that Ashrawi is getting so mellow in her old age that some more militant Palestinian supporters walked out in mid-speech. Read the whole thing - for those of us who remember Ashrawi steamrollering over every opposing debater for years on countless news programs, it is quite delicious.

He also reports that the American branch of the YWCA rejects a statement by one of its senior officials comparing Jews to Nazis. (Wanna bet the official is a Presbyterian?)

I have a large JPEG of the famous mosaic floor of the Byzantine-era Shalom al Yisrael synagogue in Jericho, which I used as a computer background picture for years. Like the Temple Mount, this ancient religious and historical heritage site has been repeatedly vandalized by Palestinians, and Jewish access has been intermittent, although it was supposed to be guaranteed under the Oslo Accords. Last week a group of Jews under IDF guard visited the site and davened there, finding the mosaic floor and the Torah scroll in relatively good condition.
. . . the IDF sees importance in restoring the status quo regarding Jewish rights to holy sites in Jericho, as mandated under the Oslo Accords.

According to [nearby resident Gershon] Goldshlik, the army says it intends to organize weekly prayers at the synagogue. There does not seem to be PA opposition to such an arrangement at this point. "The Arab mayor of Jericho was on hand during Tuesday’s visit and did not seem to have a problem with Jewish prayer at the site," Goldshlik said, but added, “I suspect they are interested in ensuring that the opening of the site goes smoothly so that the Jericho casino can be opened to Israelis as well."
Ah, a casino! If doing business always trumped political fervor, the world would be at peace. (And I bet it says that in the Talmud somewhere.)

And a leading Israeli rabbi has ruled that that Viagra is kosher for Passover, reversing a previous ban. There's a different gelatin coating for the pills available now.

4 Comments:

At 10:16 AM, alcibiades said...

OTOH, this situation in Britain remains depressing.

 
At 9:41 AM, Otter said...

You probably knew this already, but to clarify -- the Jericho casino goes back to the Oslo days, and used to be the most prominent example of warming relations between Israelis (who flocked there) and Palestinians.

 
At 5:58 PM, M. Simon said...

Rumor has it that pot works better than viagra.

Any ruling from the rabbis on that one?

 
At 11:34 PM, alcibiades said...

I imagine the pot is fine on Pesach, unless you store it in the same container you once stored your flour.

 

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