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Friday November 30, 2007

Shorts: Mideast

Gaza power to be cut soon

Israel plans to reduce electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip beginning Sunday, Dec. 2, according to a document submitted to the Israeli Supreme Court.

Several weeks ago, Israel began cutting back on fuel supplies, but planned electricity reductions were delayed by an order from Israel’s attorney general, who expressed concerns about humanitarian harm. — ap

Giant flag breaks record

The record for the world’s largest flag now belongs to an Israeli banner produced by a Filipino evangelical Christian.

The huge blue and white flag — unfurled Nov. 25 beneath Masada — measured 2,165 feet long and 330 feet wide and weighed 5.7 tons.

Filipino entrepreneur Grace Galindez-Gupana said she decided two years ago to produce a giant Israeli flag as a testament to her love for Israel and the Jewish people. — ap

Peres gets strip show

Antinuclear activists stripped to their underclothes at a conference on nuclear arms last week as Israeli President Shimon Peres entered to deliver a speech.

Greenpeace members who were sitting in the audience at Tel Aviv University suddenly pulled off their shirts and pants to stand in bras and underwear when Peres walked into the lecture hall. They had radiation symbols painted on their stomachs and held banners that read, “Strip the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction.”

“We need to strip the Middle East of wars, not weapons,” the 84-year-old Nobel Peace prize winner added. “Besides that, they should be demonstrating in Tehran, not Tel Aviv.” — ap

Israeli Chabad leaders arrested

Israeli police recently arrested the leader of the Young Chabad movement. Yosef Aharonov and three others are accused of embezzlement, tax evasion and money laundering.

The arrests follow an eight-month investigation by the Israel Tax Authority and the Central District Fraud Squad.

Young Chabad, also known as Lubavitch Youth, is a nonprofit organization and one of the more prominent Chabad institutions in Israel. It has a budget of about $7.7 million a year, including allocations from the Israeli government. — jta

Study: Secular sector shrinking

A new study conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute shows that 20 percent of Jewish Israeli citizens define themselves as secular — the lowest number in 34 years.

According to the data, the traditional sector has maintained its dominancy over the last three decades and currently accounts for 47 percent of the population. The ultra-Orthodox and religious sectors make up another 33 percent. — ynetnews.com

Knesset members discover Facebook

The Facebook fad has hit the Knesset: Two parliamentarians opened accounts on the popular social networking site.

Yoel Hasson, who established an account two weeks ago, already has 40 friends on Facebook. The Kadima member said that some of the users were skeptical about his true identity, asking whether he was really an MK. — ynetnews.com

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