The Vicious Babushka

Putin Suggests Compromise With Chabad

Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar and President Putin

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin is suggesting that a vast collection of Jewish books and documents that is the focus of a dispute between Moscow and Washington be given a permanent home in the Russian capital’s new Jewish Museum.

A U.S. judge in January ordered that Russia be fined $50,000 a day until it turns over the so-called Schneerson Collection to Chabad Lubavitch, a Hasidic movement within Orthodox Judaism headquartered in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Russia claims the collection is state property. Putin on Tuesday criticized the ruling, saying “discussion of this problem has taken on elements of confrontation,” Russian news agencies reported. The collection is now held at the state library and military archives.

Putin said he would consider ordering the collection be placed at the Jewish museum, which opened last year.

Read more at Washington Post.

If Putin has offered a compromise I think they should take it. 

Complete History of the USSR, Sung to the Tune of "Tetris"

 

This song is catchy and addictive! Just like game of falling blocks!

1900's

To Moscow I came seeking fortune
But they’re making me work til I’m dead
The bourgeoisie have it so easy
The Tsar’s putting gold on his bread
The people of Moscow are hungry
But think what a feast there could be
If we could create a socialist state
That cared for the people like me:

1910's

I am the man who arranges the blocks
That descend upon me from up above.
They come down and I spin them around
Til they fit in the ground like hand in glove.
Sometimes it seems that to move blocks is fine
And the lines will be formed as they fall -
Then I see that I have misjudged it!
I should not have nudged it after all.
Can I have a long one please?
Why must these infernal blocks tease?

1918: GLORIOUS REVOLUTION!

I am the man who arranges the blocks
That continue to fall from up above.
Come Muscovite! Let the workers unite!
A collective regime of peace and love.
I work so hard in arranging the blocks
But the landlord and taxman bleed me dry
But the workers will rise! We will not compromise
For we know that the old regime must die.
Long live Lenin, kill the tsar!
We salute the sickle and star!

1920's

I am the man who arranges the blocks
That continue to fall from up above.
The food on your plate now belongs to the state
A collective regime of peace and love.
I have no choice in arranging the blocks
Under Bolshevik rule, what they say goes.
The rule of the game is we all are the same
And my blocks must create unbroken rows.

1930's

Long live Stalin! He loves you!
Sing these words, or you know what he’ll do…

I am the man who arranges the blocks
That are made by the men in Kazakhstan.
They come two weeks late and they don’t tessellate
But we’re working to Stalin’s five year plan.

1940's

I am the man who arranges the tanks
That will make all the Nazis keep away
The Fuhrer is dead, and Europe is Red!

1950's

Let us point all our guns at the USA.
We shall live forever more!
We can start a nuclear war!

1960's

I am the man who arranges the blocks
That are building a highly secret base.
Hip hip hurrah for the USSR!
We are sending our men to outer space.

1970's

I work so hard in arranging the blocks
But each night I go home to my wife in tears -
What’s the point of it all, when you’re building a wall
And in front of your eyes it disappears?
Pointless work for pointless pay
This is one game I shall not play.

1980's

I am the man who arranges the blocks!
But tomorrow I think I’ll stay in bed.
The winter is cold, I’ve got plenty of gold
And I’m standing in line for a loaf of bread
Maybe we’d be better off
If we brought down Gorbachev

1990's

I am the man who arranges the blocks
That continue to fall from up above.
The markets are free! So much money for me!
Tell me, why should I care for peace and love?
The markets are free! So much money for me!
Tell me, why should I care for peace and love?
Peace and love, peace and love!

2000's

And now the wall is down, the Marxists frown
There’s foreign shops all over town
When in Red Square, well don’t despair
There’s Levi’s and McDonald’s there
The US gave us crystal meth
And Yeltsin drank himself to death
But now that Putin’s put the boot in,
Who’ll get in our way?

2010's

So we reject free enterprise
And once again the left will rise.
Prepare the flags to be unfurled
For we’re seceding from the world:
We shall regain the Georgian soil
We shall obtain the Arctic oil
We shall arrange the blocks and toil
Forever and a day.

Game over.

The neo-klezmer band Pig With The Face Of A Boy.

EPIC FAIL: A Group of Ukrainians Plan to Protest Uman's Biggest Tourism Cash Cow

 "Are you going to the march?" Sign features "Alien" with kippah and payess.

 
"Uman without Hasidim"

Tens of thousands of Israelis who are planning to depart in the coming days to visit the burial site of Rav Nachman of Breslov may not get a warm welcome this year. A group of local residents in the Ukraine city of Uman, where the rabbi's tomb is located, have called on residents to come out to a major protest against their Israeli visitors, demanding that the city ban them.

As many as 50,000 Israelis could visit the site over the next two weeks – culminating in Rosh Hashanah services at the site. According to his students, Rav Nachman announced to his followers that he would provide a special blessing to them if they made the effort to pray near his tomb on the Jewish New Year, and for hundreds of years, except for during World War II – with limited groups permitted to visit during periods when Ukraine was under Communist control -  Breslov Chassidim have streamed to the site, with the excursion gaining popularity in recent years among Jews from the Breslov and other Chassidic groups. This year is expected to be the best ever for “Uman tourism,” as a new agreement allows Israelis to enter Ukraine without arranging a visa in advance.

But apparently some Uman residents have decided they would rather keep out the large Jewish groups who take up residence in their town  this time of year. In recent days, large posters depict an “alien-like” Jewish figure behind the universal “unwanted” symbol, with the poster's headline proclaiming “Uman With Chassidim.”

The poster invites the public to a series of protests demanding that the government refuse entry to the Chassidic groups. The first protest took place several weeks ago, attracting several hundred people, sources in Uman said. Marches have been held in previous years, with residents complaining that they feel “like under occupation” when the Jewish visitors are in town. The marches have generally been identified with Ukranian nationalists, who have been associated with European neo-Nazi groups.

Officials of the World Breslov Center, which organizes and coordinates the visits, have asked the Uman municipality to ensure the safety of visitors. Last year, a 19 year old Israeli visiting the site was murdered by a group of local residents, who smashed the window of a car owned by a Jewish visitor. Shmuel Tubul, who had recently gotten engaged, along with his younger brother, rushed outside to see what had happened, and were set upon by the Ukranian gang, one of whom stabbed Tubul in the chest.

Read more at Israel National News.

Uman makes more money in one week from this tourism event than they make during the entire rest of the year. Only the most hardened, and stupid, Jew-haters would want to ban it.

Russia Withholds Loans of Artwork Over Dispute of Jewish Books Stolen by Soviets

 This exhibit will not include artifacts looted by Russia from Muslims, because the Russians don't want to return books looted from Jews.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is caught in the middle of a legal and diplomatic dispute that has prompted Russian authorities to ban art loans to U.S. museums because of an American court decision in favor of the Jewish religious group Chabad.

The Russian cultural ban already has aborted one U.S. museum exhibition, forced the indefinite postponement of another, and could prevent LACMA from showing 38 artworks in a major exhibition on Islamic art set to open June 5.

Russia's actions are the result of a ruling in a U.S. District Court last summer that Russia must restore a trove of religious books and manuscripts to Chabad, a prominent international ministry based in New York City. Despite a U.S. law and diplomatic assurances to the contrary, Russian officials have said they fear art shipped to American museums could be seized as collateral.

LACMA spokeswoman Barbara Pflaumer said Tuesday that she could not comment on LACMA's efforts to assuage the Russians in hopes of securing the artworks; the situation "is incredibly fragile and we are doing our very best not to make waves," she said, adding that "Gifts of the Sultan: The Arts of Giving at the Islamic Courts" will take place with or without the pieces from Russia.

The ban has affected other prestigious art institutions. Four paintings that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York had expected for a recent Cezanne exhibition and a current one on 19th century art were withheld by Russia, spokesman Harold Holzer said Wednesday. The museum has warned Russian museums that it won't send costumes for a planned touring exhibition on French fashion designer Paul Poiret unless the ban is lifted.

The J. Paul Getty Museum lost four Russian loans last fall, spokesman Ron Hartwig said, but was able to substitute pieces from its own collection for its "Imagining the Past in France, 1250-1500" exhibition.

In March, Russian authorities insisted that the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Mass., pack up its "Treasures From Moscow" show, which had been on display since October, and send the works home four months before the exhibition's scheduled closing.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science had planned to open "Treasures From the Hermitage: Russia's Crown Jewels" last Friday; instead, it has been postponed indefinitely.

Attempts Wednesday to reach a Russian Embassy spokesperson were unsuccessful.

However, a U.S. State Department official said Wednesday that in "very high level" diplomatic discussions in Washington and Moscow over the last few months, "we have offered every reassurance we can … that works of art are safe" under a 1960s federal law that prohibits legal claims on artworks loaned to nonprofit cultural institutions in the United States. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivities involved, said the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Menil Collection in Houston also have been affected. The official said the State Department continues to seek the Russia's compliance with the ruling in the Chabad case.

The suit originated in Los Angeles in 2004, where Chabad, a branch of the ultra-Orthodox Hasidic movement that began in Russia during the 1700s, has an office. Last July, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ended the nearly-six-year court proceeding by ordering Russia to return 12,000 books and manuscripts and 25,000 pages of rabbinic writings that are known as the Schneerson Collection. The sacred texts had been seized during the Russian Revolution and World War II.

Read more at LA Times.

Ice Hockey Fans Have a Place in Israel

Toronto it's not, but Metulla's Canada Centre provides a cool venue for immigrant and native Israelis thirsting for fast-paced fun on the ice.

A mere kilometer from the Lebanese border, Israel's only permanent regulation-size ice rink draws hockey players of all ages from throughout the country. It's not a sport normally associated with the Middle East, but for Israel's many Russian and Canadian immigrants, ice hockey is part of their culture. And they're willing to drive for hours to maintain it.

Since its start in 1989, the federation has started drawing native Israelis as well, and competing in an international division. Kids come for two-day mini-camps on the ice, and senior leagues - with players from 16 to 60 -- meet weekly. When they're not at the Metulla rink, most players must practice on rollerblades for lack of an appropriate venue.

Plans are afoot to build a second Olympic-size rink in central Israel. For now, however, the diehards are happy to trek up north to the Canada Centre for a bracing breath of cold air and an action-packed, competitive workout.

Read more at Israel21c.com.

Russian TV Explains the Health Benefits of Bris Milah (Circumcision)

 

h/t Sergey Romanov

Chabad at Moscow Airport: "It was a Horrifying Scene"

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries who responded to the bombing at Moscow's busiest airport described a "horrifying scene."

In an e-mail to JTA, Rabbi Sheah Deitsch, one of a group of Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries who are first responders on behalf of the Moscow Chief Rabbinate, said that "families were screaming and wailing."

"They asked to speak to the Jewish rabbis, and we tried to uplift their spirits and told them that we were there for them for whatever they needed," he wrote.

Monday's bombing at the the Domodedovo Airport killed at least 35 and injured 130. 

"From the preliminary information we have, it was a terror attack," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a televised briefing, adding that those responsible would be "tracked down and punished."

Moscow transportation services went on high alert following the attack. Israel canceled all flights to Moscow.

Deitsch said his group reviewed a list of the names of the dead and determined that it contained no Jews. The Chabad rabbis remained at the airport to comfort the families of the dead. They also arranged kosher food for passengers on an El Al flight bound for Tel Aviv that was not able to take off due to the attack.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said it was not sure whether any of the victims were Israeli.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his condolences to the Russian people and the families of those killed in the terror attack.

"Terror is international, and so the response to it must be international," he said. "If we unite we will suppress the terrorists and thwart their plans."

In March 2010, two female Chechen suicide bombers blew themselves up in the metro system, killing 40. In 2004, two suicide bombers boarded separate planes at the same airport and blew themselves up in midair, killing all 90 people aboard the two flights.

Read more at JTA.org.

New Kosher Beer for Moscow

The largest department of any Russian supermarket. Really.

Moscow Brewing Company Moskovskaya Pivovarennaya Kompaniya, a manufacturer of alcoholic beverages, has been certified kosher by Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar. FJC.ru

The Moscow Brewing Company Moskovskaya Pivovarennaya Kompaniya, a manufacturer of alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, has been certified kosher by Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar.

At the request of the company's management, experts from the Kashrut Department of the Chief Rabbinate of Russia studied the production technology and ingredients used in the brewery’s kvass and beer.

In September 2008, the Moscow Brewing Company entered the Russian beverages market with goods of its own production. The Company owns the most modern brewery in Russia, located in the suburban town of Mytishchi.

The high degree of automation of production processes, quality control at all stages of production, world-class laboratory facilities and highly qualified specialists enable the company to produce world-class products.

The following products from this brewery have been recognized as kosher: Moskvas classic, Mospivo classic, Mospivo matured, Zhigulevskoye, Zhiguli Barnoe, Chervena Selka, Brzheznyak Light, Brzheznyak Dark, Mospivo Wheat, Mospivkom, and Coors Light [wait, isn't that imported from Colorado?--VB].

Read more at COLLive.com

Israeli Neo-Nazi Arrested After Extradition from Kyrgyzstan

These guys are not juveniles, so why are their faces blacked out?

Dmitri Bogotich was arrested upon landing in Israel for heading a gang of neo-Nazis who engaged in hate crimes against homeless, foreign workers, and religious people.

Dmitri Bogotich, the man described as "Israel's first neo-Nazi soldier", landed in Israel on Monday and was immediately arrested, after being extradited from Kyrgyzstan.

Bogotich was arrested on suspicion of heading a gang of neo-Nazis – Patrol 36 - who engaged in hate crimes against the homeless, foreign workers, and religious people in Petah Tikvah. He escaped to Russia immediately following his first investigation in the case in 2007, before the harshest attacks were even discovered.

Bogotich will be taken straight for police questioning from Ben Gurion International Airport.

Eight members of the gang were arrested in 2007; Bogotich, who is suspected of being the gang leader, was the only one who disappeared. By day he served in the Israel Defense Forces as a guard, and by night, according to the indictment, he would lynch people based on their ethnicity.

The gang would go out a little after midnight and find a victim to abuse. Drunk with power and alcohol, they would kick, punch and break things - documenting everything on cell-phone cameras. They selected their victims on the basis of neo-Nazi propaganda: dark-skinned people, foreign workers, drug addicts, homosexuals and anyone else who was in their way.

On July 18, 2007, police investigators went to the apartment he shared with his mother in Tel Aviv and brought him in for questioning. By the next day, he had already fled the country.

Read more at Haaretz.

Why did they have to extradite this putz? Let him stay in Kyrgyzstan.

Happy Hanukkah Around the World

 The National Hanukkah Menorah is lit by Rabbi Levi Shemtov (L), Rabbi Abraham Shemtov (R) and White House Director of Office of Management and Budget Jack Lew during a ceremony to mark the first night of Hanakkah in Washington December 1, 2010.
Reuters Pictures.

 
U.S. Ambassador to Germany Philip Murphy addresses the audience next to a Menorah in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, December 1, 2010, during a ceremony marking the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah. Reuters Pictures.

 
Leader of the Jewish Chabad Lubavicsi community, rabbi Baruch Oberlander (R) and Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi (L) light a candle of a giant Menorah, a nine-branched candelabrum, on the first day of the Jewish festival of lights, Hanukkah, at Nyugati square in Budapest on December 1, 2010. Getty Images. 
NAHAL OZ, ISRAEL - DECEMBER 01: In this handout photo provided by the Israeli Ministry of Defence, Israel's Ministry of Defence Minister, Ehud Barak (R) lights candles with Israeli soldiers to celebrate the Jewish Holiday of Hanukkah at a military base on December 01, 2010 near Nahal Oz, Israel. Getty Images.

 
The first candle of a five metres 'Menorah', a nine-branched candelabrum, is lit during the first day of the Jewish holiday, Hanukkah, in Bratislava on December 1, 2010.
Getty Images.

 
Jewish men dance to celebrate Hanukkah at Manezhnaya square in central Moscow December 1, 2010. The Hanukkah holiday, or the Festival of Lights, is one of the most important Jewish holidays [Actually it is a minor non-biblical holiday-VB] and is celebrated by Jews worldwide. Reuters Pictures.

 
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, top right, looks on as Rabbi Chaim Prus, center left hand only, director of Chabad House of Greater Boston, lights the center light on a 20-foot-high Hanukkah Menorah on the Boston Common, near the Statehouse, in Boston, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010. AP Photo.

We will be displaying more photos of candle lighting throughout the holiday.

Hanukkah Sameakh!

Oliver Stone: "I've Walked in Hitler's Shoes and in Stalin's Shoes"

American director's upcoming Showtime documentary promises to put mass-murderers 'in context'. According to Stone, 'Stalin, Hitler, Mao and McCarthy have been vilified pretty thoroughly by history'

American director Oliver Stone's upcoming Showtime documentary miniseries "Secret History of America" promises to put mass-murderers such as Stalin and Hitler "in context."

"Stalin, Hitler, Mao, (US Senator Joseph) McCarthy - these people have been vilified pretty thoroughly by history," Stone told reporters at the Television Critics Association's semi-annual press tour in Pasadena.

"Stalin has a complete other story," Stone said. "Not to paint him as a hero, but to tell a more factual representation. He fought the German war machine more than any single person. We can't judge people as only 'bad' or 'good.'

"Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history and it's been used cheaply. He's the product of a series of actions. It's cause and effect ... People in America don't know the connection between World War I and World War II ...

"I've been able to walk in Stalin's shoes and Hitler's shoes to understand their point of view. We're going to educate our minds and liberalize them and broaden them. We want to move beyond opinions ... Go into the funding of the Nazi party. How many American corporations were involved, from GM through IBM. Hitler is just a man who could have easily been assassinated."

The controversial director's 10-part documentary series for Showtime promises to focus on events that "at the time went under-reported, but crucially shaped America's unique and complex history of the last 60 years." An airdate has not yet been set.

Read more at YNet.

This is the guy who portrayed President Bush as a war criminal who deserved to be assassinated.
 

Introducing "Kabbalah" Vodka, "With Christian Infants"

A short time ago the company “EZ Protocols” announced a start-up of vodka brand that is called “Kabbalah vodka – with Christian infants” – the newest quality benchmark on the super premium segment of the Russian market. The vodka is expected to have a distinguished wheat flavor. Special water, enriched in silver, gold and platinum ions along with neat and stylish design will bring anyone back to the best traditions of a ritual table. As a present, every bottle has a unique handmade infant inside, which is made of fortified glass.

English Russia

IDF Marching Band to Perform in Red Square

If all goes off without a hitch, it will be one of the IDF's most meticulously planned and executed large-scale missions beyond Israel's borders, ever. If performed well, it will receive thunderous applause; but failure could ignite a diplomatic scandal with a resurgent superpower.

It involves flying 45 specialist IDF soldiers thousands of kilometers away from Israel's borders, together with their unique equipment and sensitive instruments, where they will face-off against not one, but dozens of similar elite units in a mission spanning an entire week.

For the first time in its existence, the IDF marching band is to parade in Moscow's Red Square on Saturday night in front of tens of thousands of people as part of the Russian capital's annual Moscow Day celebration.

The band, led and conducted by Lt.-Col. Michael Ya'aran will perform "Fiddler on the Roof," "Shir Hamachar," the IDF anthem "Tomorrow" by Naomi Shemer, and "Hava Nagila." It will march in the shape of a menora, and form the word "shalom."

Moscow is over 800 years old, and every September 5 the municipality and the Kremlin organize a massive bash to celebrate the city's power and prestige. Red Square is the traditional parade grounds of the Russian armed forces, having hosting the Red Army victory parade in June of 1945. In May 2008 Russia held its annual Victory Day parade marking the defeat of Nazi Germany.

This Saturday, the IDF band will join the military orchestras of France, England, India, Scotland, Italy and Kazakhstan, as well as 15 military bands from Russia's most elite army units, which each have their own marching bands.

Read more at Jerusalem Post.

Eeville Zionist Conspiracy of the Day: Israel Hijacked Russian Ship

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel intercepted a Russian-manned cargo ship allegedly carrying secret weapons that had disappeared, a European Union official said.

Adm. Tarmo Kouts, the European Union's rapporteur on piracy and a former commander of the Estonian armed forces, told Time in an article posted Monday on the magazine's Web site that although Russia claimed the ship was carrying lumber, only a shipment of missiles could explain its actions since the alleged hijacking on July 24.

"There is the idea that there were missiles aboard, and one can't explain this situation in any other way," Kouts told Time. "As a sailor with years of experience, I can tell you that the official versions are not realistic."

Russia said the ship, the Arctic Sea, was destined for Algeria with less than $2 million of timber, was hijacked and its tracking device disabled in late July. In mid-August the Russian government sent out a search party, which recovered the ship and its crew without firing a shot, according to Time.

Russia denied the ship was running weapons to the Middle East.

According to Time, Israeli President Shimon Peres met with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, the day after the ship was recovered and the leaders discussed "the sale of Russian weapons and military hardware to countries hostile to Israel," though the Arctic Sea was not specifically mentioned.

In addition, Time wrote, Russia sent a disproportionate force that included destroyers and submarines to look for the ship, and returned the small crew and alleged pirates back in two enormous military cargo planes.

Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitri Rogozin, said Kouts should stop "running his mouth," Time reported. 

JTA.org

Chief Rabbi Honors Rescuer at Yad Vashem (and another appearance by Scary Jew Shadow)

 

The Russian gentile who saved former chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau during the Holocaust was posthumously honored at Yad Vashem with the prestigious Righteous Among the Nations award on Tuesday.

As a young adult, Feodor Mikhailichenko risked his life to feed, clothe and protect the young Lolek Lau, who was 10 years his junior, in the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. Last year, Lau, chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, finally succeeded in identifying Mikhailichenko after decades of searching.

The deceased Mikhailichenko's two daughters accepted the award, which honors non-Jews who helped Jews during the Holocaust, on their father's behalf.

More than 22,700 gentiles have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. Mikhailichenko is the 164th Russian gentile to receive this honor.

About 200 people, including Lau's family and Israeli and Russian officials, gathered at the Jerusalem museum's Hall of Remembrance, synagogue and Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations for a memorial service and ceremony and to view Mikhailichenko's name on the wall listing the honored gentiles.

"I don't know if you can understand the feeling of a child all alone, and here is a man who owes him nothing," Lau told those at the ceremony about Mikhailichenko's heroic deeds.

Read more at Jerusalem Post.

And look who crashed the party! The same Scary Jew Shadow that sneaked up on the Pope.

Russia, France, Sweden and Germany all Demand Israel Stop Building in its own Capital

 
Getty Images obligatory propaganda photo

Moscow says plans to build 20 apartments in Sheikh Jarrah should be 'stopped immediately' in line with Roadmap peace plan, while France summons Israeli ambassador to demand halt to 'settlement construction' in eastern part of capital; Deputy FM Ayalon in response: Our right to develop Jerusalem irrefutable

Russia, France and the European Union on Tuesday called on Israel  halt all construction in east Jerusalem, saying it obstructed the Mideast peace process.

"The settlement should be stopped immediately in line with the Roadmap," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Tuesday, referring to an international peace plan endorsed by the Israelis and Palestinians in 2003.

The project to build 20 apartments is on a site in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, which formerly housed the Shepherd Hotel, and in 1985 was bought by American millionaire Irving Moskowitz. It received a building permit from city hall three months ago.

The plan has also been criticized by the US, and Israel's ambassador in Washington, Michael Oren, was summoned to the State Department earlier this month when he was told the project should be halted.

France also summoned the Israeli ambassador in Paris to demand a halt to the Jewish "settlement building" in east Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday.

Sweden, the current holder of the European Union's rotating presidency, urged Israel "to refrain from provocative actions in east Jerusalem, including home demolitions and evictions, as stated also by the Quartet 26 June 2009.

"Such actions are illegal under international law," it added.

Read more at YNet.

Chabad Smuggles Matzah into Iran

Three months in prison is what one can get in Iran if he imports a 'Made in Israel' product. But leave it to Chabad to organize a ton of Matzos for Pesach for Teheran's Jews.

A ton of Kosher for Pesach Matzos were smuggled into the Islamic Republic of Iran this past week by Chabad activists.

Israeli daily Yedioth Aharonot reported that the local Jewish community does not have the resources to bake Matzah for the 20,000 Jews in the country.

The Jewish community in Iran enjoys freedom of religion, but is forbidden to import any products made in the State of Israel.

Such an action could result in three months prison or deprivation of their passport for five years.

The Matzos that Chabad sent were baked in the Chabad-owned bakery in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. 

Read more at COLlive.com

Moscow Circus stages Jewish wedding with monkeys

MOSCOW (JTA) – It's a most unusual “wedding.”

A man dressed in Chasidic regalia speeds in a go-cart around Moscow’s one-ring Circus Nikulina. Aziz Askaryan then dismounts and leads two gangly orangutans -- one in a suit and kipah, the other in a full bridal gown -- on a lurching matrimonial march toward a hastily constructed chupah in front of a guffawing audience.

The mock Jewish wedding between two orangutans has been the closing number for weeks in Act I of the famed Moscow circus, whose theme is “Empire: A Magical Show with Bright National Flavor.”

It has stirred some conversation among Jewish leaders here. But most say that the act, which might raise eyebrows in the West, is met in Moscow with giggles or yawns.

“I think it's maybe in bad taste, but you must know that Russia is different than Western nations in its humor,” Baruch Gorin, a spokesman for the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, told JTA.

Russians see the act through the prism of a longtime love of the circus with a pinch of Russian humor that often makes light of minorities, including off-color jokes about “Yids,” among others. 

More at JTA.org

Anti-Semitism alive and well in Ukraine

 

What a surprise. Not.

European rabbis urge Ukraine to prosecute local politician

Ukraine's Jewish residents have lately been the target of a wild anti-Semitic campaign launched by Sergey Kirichenko, member of the Kherson City Council and a former parliament member.

Former MP Sergey Kirichenko launches wild anti-Semitic campaign as part of bid to replace Kherson's Jewish mayor. 'Jews stole all our wealth and are destroying Slavic nation from within,' he says in interview. Rabbinical Centre of Europe urges Ukrainian authorities to take immediate action

Kirichenko has accused Jews of taking over the country and striving to wipe out the Slavic race. "The Jews are occupiers, they have occupied us, they stole all our wealth and control us… they create terms that will enable genocide of the Slavic people," Kirichenko claimed in a recent interview.

He further said that, "Like in Gaza, where they kill women and children, they are destroying the Slavic people from within."

On other occasions, Kirichenko proclaimed that "the Jews are the only one getting rich while everybody else is suffering… this is the reason why we live so poorly in Kherson, why we are being ripped off every day,wy we have no peace… the Jews think that the Ukrainians are an inferior race that is meant to serve them, which is why they perpetrate crimes no other nation would dare to do."

The politician has also defined "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" "historical documents."

Read more at YNet