IsraelBagel

Friday, January 11, 2008

Mr Bagel is Back

Yes its true, despite a spectacular absence of blogging for over two months, Mr Bagel has returned.
Mr Bagel has been 'moving' from a remote country location to a more civilised part of Australia.

Moving has required Mr Bagel to do five seperate trips of over 2,000kms each, despite selling what we thought was almost all of our worldly possesions, we still had to do five trips to move our 'personal belongings'. Which raises one very valid point, how personal can 5 trailers worth of belongings be? Do you think Mr Bagel might just be a horder? mmm?

Anyway after selling all our furniture we have been rushing around buying beds and fridges and lounges and just about everything else required to life a civilised life. Now that Mr Bagel has moved to civilisation he has decided to stop talking to the soccer ball with a wig. (Tom Hanks.)

We've only been in town a week but, living where there are shops, and services is such a refreshing break from living hours away from the most basic shopping. Its taking some adjustment, I generally spoke to about 3 peaople a month where I lived, now I see hundreds a day.

Mr Bagel: Thank you to all the well wishers and the emails I received

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Friday, October 26, 2007

Smells Fishy: Frozen Fish being tampered with

Amnon Levy's candid camera catches frozen fish importer 'fixing' sell-by dates

Amnon Levy's television program Screen Saver (Shomer Masach) claims that Haim Paskovich & Sons of Ashdod is importing frozen fish and replacing the sell-by dates with ones that are eight months to a year later.

The show was aired on Channel 10 television last night. Evidently Rafi Ginat's Kolbotek and cats in Tiv Taam's logistics center isn't the only consumer chronicle in town.

When Kolbotek attacked Tiv Taam for the second time in a year, the supermarket chain claimed that shots of cats eating meat meant for consumers were staged by disgruntled ex-workers. True or not, Screen Saver came across the fish case when two former Haim Paskovich workers leaked. The Screen Saver team planted a mole at the company.

On "Alon's" second day of work at Haim Paskovich, he documented on candid camera how workers at the plant would remove the sell-by labels from boxes of frozen fish that were near or past the deadline. The workers then affixed new labels to the boxes, extending the sell-by date by eight to 12 months.

Alon shot footage of the old labels being collected and bagged, presumably for destruction, and also filmed two veteran workers admitting that replacing labels was the norm at the company.

A week before the scheduled broadcast, the Screen Saver team notified Haim Paskovich, which denied the allegations, somewhat.

Through the offices of advocate Ilan Bombach, the Haim Paskovich corporation stated: "All the imported frozen fish arrive in chilled containers, at the temperature required by law. All the types of frozen fish undergo laboratory tests, as the Health Ministry requires, and are released for sale only after having passed the tests. All the products leaving the company's central warehouse in Ashdod are supervised and approved by a certified doctor who works according to Health Ministry directives, and are subject to the standards and requirements of the Health Ministry."

The company added that a corner of the warehouse is allocated for destroying bad products. "Sometimes, for technical reasons, the overseas supplier doesn't print all the information the Health Ministry requires on the products. The company is forced to update these details. This is done under the supervision of a doctor and in coordination with the authorities and the supplier. We regret that Screen Saver is clinging to facts that we cannot respond to properly and deny."

Mr Bagel: If the allegations are true then this has to be very disturbing. The tampering of use by dates on Frozen Products is not only unethical it essentially puts peoples lives at risk

References:
Haaretz.com: Amnon Levy's candid camera catches frozen fish importer 'fixing' sell-by dates

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Wednesday, October 17, 2007

A Population implosion?

Young Jewish people wave the Israeli flag in Jerusalem

Israel seeks to boost Jewish population
From AFP
ASHDOD, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert urged Jews worldwide to migrate on Tuesday as his government unveiled new incentives to woo back expats and reverse declining immigration.

"Come and join us here because it's the best place to live," Olmert told the opening of an immigration conference in the southern city of Ashdod.

Under a new campaign for 2008, the immigration and absorption ministry said it was looking to repatriate 15,000 Israelis living abroad and bring in 20,000 new Jewish immigrants next year.

More than half a million Israelis live abroad. The ministry said it would offer a series of cash incentives and tax breaks to encourage them back.

"These Israelis won't have the difficulties facing new immigrants in integrating. We should use economic arguments to encourage them to return," Immigrant Absorption Minister Yaacov Edri told AFP at the conference.

"We seem to be going in the right direction. I hope aliya (immigration) statistics will double in 2008," he said.

The rate of immigration is set to fall this year to the lowest level since 1988, with only 14,843 new immigrants since January 2007 compared to 19,624 in 2006, according to ministry statistics.

The ministry also advocates simplified conversion procedures. Half of the estimated 300,000 immigrants from the former Soviet Union are not considered Jewish in the eyes of the country's Orthodox Rabbinate.

Under Israel's "law of return," anyone who is Jewish or has a Jewish parent, grandparent or spouse, or is the spouse of someone with such a Jewish relative provided he did not voluntarily convert from Judaism, can settle in Israel.

Of the 7.1-million-strong population of Israel, 76 percent is Jewish and 20 percent Arab.

Mr Bagel: With the declining rate of immigration, surely the time has come for Olmert to explore the possible reasons for this decline?

One factor may be the political instability currently present in Israel, another might be that some legitimate seekers of Aliyah are not really being welcomed the way you would expect, especially from the US. The process is bound in red tape, there's little genuine support offered to prospective immigrants until actual arrival.

Should the Aliyah program be expanded and assistance provided to the Jewish Populations in other countries such as Australia and Argentina?

What are you thoughts as to why immigration is on the decline?

References:
AFP: Israel seeks to boost Jewish population

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Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Iranian born soccer player plays racist card

Iranian-born German refuses to play in Israel

Hertha Berlin’s striker Dejagah says his refusal to play for Germany against Israel has political reasons.

BERLIN - German under-21 international Ashkan Dejagah has said he will not play against Israel in Tel Aviv on October 12 for political reasons, Bild newspaper reported on Monday.

Dejagah was born in Tehran and he explained his Iranian roots meant he would not be able to play in Israel.

He said his refusal "had political reasons. Everyone knows I am an Iranian-born German," he said.

The president of the German football federation Theo Zwanziger however criticised Dejagah's stance. "If we start doing things for political reasons, it will be sport itself which loses," Zwanziger said.

The DFB did however agree that he would not play in the qualifying match for the 2009 under-21 European championships.

Mr Bagel: What an appalling gesture. In a sport known as the World's game this poor little man tries to make a statement displaying his ignorance and antisemiticism. The world needs to react to gestures such as this, which are simply unacceptable. Theres no room for racism in World Soccer, and trying to hide it under the guise of political protest isn't going to work.

If you would like to let Hertha Berlin know of your feelings for this players actions then click:

Hertha BSC Berlin
Public Relations

Magdalena Palewicz (Assistant Public Relations Officer)

email: Magdalena.Palewicz@herthabsc.de

Sample letter:

Dear Ms Palewicz,
As a fan of World soccer I must convey to you my disapproval of Hertha Berlin's striker Ashkan Dejagah actions in context to the upcoming game against Israel in the under 21 European championship.

Soccer is well known for being the world game, and as a representative of its game I find his actions deplorable.

The simple fact is this isn't about 'politics' its about pure racism.

Hertha Berlin's stance in this matter is bound to be under close scrutiny, surely the club is in a position to make a bold, and affirmative statement against racism.

I hope you will convey to management the damage this players stance is doing to your clubs image.

Kind regards

References:
Middle East online: Iranian-born German refuses to play in Israel

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Monday, October 8, 2007

Prominent Christian kidnapped and murdered in Gaza

Palestinian Christian activist stabbed to death in Gaza

A Palestinian Christian activist who had received repeated death threats was found stabbed to death in a street in Gaza City early Sunday.

Rami Khader Ayyad, 32, was director of the Teacher's Bookshop, Gaza's only Christian bookstore, which is run by the Bible Society of Gaza Baptist church.

Health Ministry officials confirmed his death.

Ayyad had been missing since Saturday evening. Over the years he had received repeated death threats from 'unidentified people' displeased with his missionary work.

The Interior Ministry run by Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers condemned the killing and said it launched an investigation.

"This grave crime will not pass without punishment," the ministry said in a statement.

About 3,200 Christians live in Gaza, most of them Greek Orthodox. Relations with Gaza's Muslims are generally good, and have not deteriorated since Hamas wrested control of the strip in mid-June.

But there have been occasional acts of violence, and in April, a bomb severely damaged the Palestinian Bible Society building in Gaza, which has been operating since 1999.

Mr Bagel: Selling books and being a Christian means you're an activist? It's a sad day when a Christian bookseller can be compared to an Islamic terrorists under the 'one size fits all' AP sanitized term 'Activist'.

If we look at a less appeasing article that appeared in the Christian based Adventist Press Service (APD) the language isn't so 'mellow'.

Christian Bookstore Manager in Gaza City kidnapped and murdered

The manager of the Gaza Strip's only all-Christian bookstore was found stabbed to death on Sunday (October 7) in what appears to have been an act of aggression. Rami Khader Ayyad, a prominent Gaza Christian, disappeared on Saturday (October 6), following months of death threats from local Muslims.

Ayyad ran the Teacher's Bookshop, which is a ministry of the Palestinian Bible Society (PBS) and the local Gaza Baptist Church. Ayyad was accused by area Muslims of spreading the Gospel. The 32-year-old Ayyad left two young children and a pregnant wife.

The body bore a visible gunshot wound to the head, and an official at Gaza's Shifa Hospital said he was also stabbed numerous times. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh condemned the killing and said the Islamist movement "would not allow anyone to sabotage" Muslim-Christian relations.

We feel Rami was killed for his Christian faith," said Simon Azazian, a spokesman at the Bible Society's head office in Jerusalem

Gaza's 2,500 Christians, who live among 1.5 million Muslims, have increasingly become a target of aggression since Hamas wrested control of Gaza last June.

The Palestinian Bible Society (PBS) headquarters in East Jerusalem and her bookstore in Gaza City were the targets of frequent attacks, including a bombing earlier this year that severely damaged the Bible Society. The Palestinian Bible Society is a member of the United Bible Societies/USB), the worldwide roof organisation of 140 national Bible Societies.

_____________

Why does a small Christian News agency have exclusive information that there was ' a visible gunshot wound to the head' yet the AP sourced Haaretz report is headlined "Palestinian Christian activist stabbed to death in Gaza"

Seems it is unlikely you've been ' stabbed to death' when theres a visible gunshot wound to your head.

As for the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh condemning the killing, the world waits to see Hamas reveal the perpetrator of this horrendous crime.

References:
Haaretz: Palestinian Christian activist stabbed to death in Gaza
APD: Christian Bookstore Manager in Gaza City kidnapped and murdered

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Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Yom Kippur driver suspected of murder

The Northern District Attorney's Office instructed police on Sunday to investigate Assad Shibli, the man who ran over nine-year-old Tal Zino on Yom Kippur, on suspicion of murder.

Tal Zino was killed while riding her bicycle on Yom Kippur in the northern community of Kfar Tavor, where she was hit by an fast moving all-terrain vehicle and sustained critical injuries. She was rushed to Ha'Emek Hospital in Afula, but doctors were unable to save her life.

Police arrested Assad Shibli, 20, who was driving the vehicle and was lightly injured after the vehicle rolled after the collision.

Shilbli was driving the ATV despite recently losing his license over a traffic violation.

Assad Shibli, from the nearby village Shibli, maintained that he had entered Kfar Tavor to withdraw money from an ATM and had then been frightened off by local residents. He said he had hurried away from the scene and lost control of the vehicle.

Investigators were hesitant to accept his account, since the ATM was at the entrance of Kfar Tavor, while the scene of the accident was in the center of the community where the synagogue is located.

Another Shibli resident involved in the crash turned himself in on Friday after police searched for him for nearly a week.

Residents of Kfar Tavor have accused the young Arab driver of killing the girl on purpose. The collison occured near the local synagogue after Assad Shibli had ignored numerous requests to leave the area.

Eyewitnesses stated that Shibli had been driving at approximately 120kph down a street full of children. Many asked why Shibli and his friend had entered the Jewish town where all the shops and businesses were closed for the holiday if not to harass Jewish worshipers.

Accusations were leveled at the police for refusing to define the incident as a terrorist attack, saying if a Jewish driver had done what Shibli did in an Arab village, he would have be charged with racially based murder.

Composed from various news sources
References:
JPost: Yom Kippur driver suspected of murder
Haaretz: Yom Kippur road crash that killed girl to be probed as a murder
Arutz Sheva: Kfar Tavor Residents Accuse Driver of Murder

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Bar Refaeli attacks Israeli Press
and confirms she draft dodged

Model Criticizes Paparazzi in Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) — After Leonardo DiCaprio's visit earlier this year resulted in a scuffle with journalists, Bar Refaeli says she will no longer bring her famous friends to Israel.

The Israeli media have closely followed the 22-year-old supermodel and DiCaprio with a hint of pride that a local girl snagged an A-list Hollywood beau.

When Refaeli brought DiCaprio to Israel in March, the couple created a paparazzi storm. After eluding journalists for days, they were met by a group of waiting photographers in Jerusalem. Their bodyguards scuffled with photographers, punching some and damaging equipment.

"I won't bring anyone famous to Israel because there is a chutzpah here that you won't see anywhere else," Refaeli said in comments published Tuesday in the Yediot Ahronot daily.

Refaeli also said she has no regrets about dodging mandatory military service and announced that she's moving to Los Angeles.

"I don't regret not having been drafted into the army, because I made out big," Refaeli said.

The newspaper said the full interview would be published Wednesday.

While military service has historically been a rite of passage in Israel, a growing number of youths, including several prominent celebrities, have figured out ways to avoid it.

DiCaprio, 32, has received Oscar nominations for his roles in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," "The Aviator" and "Blood Diamond."

He and Refaeli have been romantically linked for about 18 months, and Israeli newspapers regularly run updates on their relationship.

Mr Bagel: Sorry this might ruffle a few feathers, but when it comes to the draft, it's not right that celebrities and children of the rich and powerful are able to avoid it. Bar Refaeli should be ashamed of her actions. Thats my two cents.

I've never thought much of supermodels, its not like they contribute anything of great worth to society, in fact most of the time they espouse the very shallow values of vanity and self indulgence. Moving to L.A? bye..