Livnat livid over Israeli Int'l Olympic Cmte member's conflict-of-interest squelching 40th anniversary Opening Ceremony memorial to Arab-slain, '72 Israeli Olympians

Documentary trailer from "One Day in September"

Israel's 2012 Olympic Delegation with Pres. Shimon Peres, center; Minister Limor Livnat, to his left

Israeli official: ‘honouring Munich victims is divisive’

by Marcus Dysch and Simon Griver, London Jewish Chronicle, June 7, 2012

Alex Gilady (courtesy Debbie Schlussel)

An Israeli Olympic official has caused outrage after he refused to support the call for a minute’s silence at the London Olympics in honour of the 11 Israelis murdered by Palestinian terrorists 40 years ago. 

Alex Gilady, an Israeli International Olympics Committee member, said a minute’s silence “may harm the unity of the Olympics” and “could cause some countries to boycott the Games”. Mr Gilady covered the 1972 Munich Games as a journalist for Israeli television, and returned to the country alongside the coffins of the dead athletes. 

He said: “Why now? There was a minute’s silence in Munich the day after the murder and it would have been appropriate to have had a minute’s silence in Montreal in 1976. I don’t know why that didn’t happen.

Livnat blasts Gilady over ‘Munich minute’ by Greer Fay Cashman in Jerusalem Post 7/10/2012
Israel’s only IOC member sides against silent commemoration for slain athletes.

Sport and Culture Minister Limor Livnat on Monday lashed out at Alex Gilady, the only Israeli who is a member of the International Olympic Committee, for siding with the IOC’s decision not to hold a minute’s silence to mark the 40th anniversary of the murder by Palestinian terrorists of eleven members of the Israel Olympic team at the 1972 Munich Olympics. 

Livnat said that in a private conversation Gilady had told her that the time is not yet opportune to call for a minute’s silence.

Sport & Culture Minister Limor Livnat

An angry Livnat said that forty years was more than enough time, and wondered aloud if the decision would have been different had the athletes not been Israelis, not been Jews.

Speaking at a reception hosted by President Shimon Peres at his official residence for Israel’s Olympic and Paralympic delegations, and attended by the families of the murdered athletes plus medalists from previous Olympics and British Ambassador Matthew Gould, Livnat noted that several countries have taken up Israel’s cause, but Gilady and the IOC refuse, she said.

Gilady’s excuse had been that he didn’t want to give Israel’s enemies any opportunity to boycott the Games.  Livnat did not buy this. “Alex Gilady, you still have a chance to right a wrong,” she declared.

Both Efraim Zinger, the Secretary General and Zvi Varshaviak, the Chairman of the Israel Olympic Committee, noted that this was a milestone year not only because it was the 40th anniversary of the Munich massacre, but also because it was the 60th anniversary of Israel’s initial participation in the Olympics and the 20th anniversary of Israel’s first Olympic medals.

Since Barcelona they emphasized as did Livnat, Israel has come home with at least one medal from all the Olympic Games.

Meet the Jewish Israeli IOC kapo behind the Olympic refusal to remember Slain Israeli Athletes.  Blogger Debbie Schlussel alleges that Alex Gilady's liberal ideology and business interests in sports and Olympics media are a glaring conflict of interest which "should have disqualified Gilady from ever being nominated by Israel to serve on the IOC."

Gilady was NBC’s liaison to the IOC and its Vice President of Global Operations. Gilady was instrumental in getting the network its exclusive long-term deal to broadcast the Olympics in the U.S. through 2008, which made him big bucks. And you don’t get those broadcast rights and the big bucks that come with them, by pushing the Olympics to recognize slain Israeli athletes. By the way, NBC’s approval was necessary for Gilady to own the Israeli television station while he remained on the network’s payroll. And that approval was easily granted because, hey, he’d never advocate for Israeli memorials at the Olympics and jeopardize NBC’s Olympic megabucks. Yes, this is clearly not a man who will ever represent Israeli interests on the IOC, but rather his own left-wing and bank account interests.

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Michelle Bachmann: 'Obama Administration is abetting Muslim Brotherhood against Israel & the West'

Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) alleges President Obama has been enabling Muslim Brotherhood/Marxist-ideologues to infiltrate US government staff and policy with an agenda to weaken US opposition to the Islamist quest to conquer Israel- and America. Keynote address delivered at Christians United for Israel Summit in Washington, DC, Tuesday, July 17, 2012.

Israel's 1st Nobel Prize winner, bio-chemist Dr. Avram Hershko, appears on behalf of Israel Cancer Research Fund

Israel's bio-med research community is a leading contender to develop cures and treatments for cancers. Israel's 1st, Nobel prize awardee, Dr. Avram Hershko (with his wife, Judy) relate their remarkable story to the Israel Cancer Research Fund "Laureate Circle."

Preceding an interview with the group, a biographical tape is shown, featuring the Nobel award ceremony and a brief life history of Dr. Hershko's ascension from WWII forced labor camps, to the heights of research at the Technion in Haifa, Israel.



Members of the Laureate Circle, Barry & Mirielle Wolfe, conduct this public discussion with Dr. and Mrs. Hershko, held during July's first week. Ron Plotkin moderated the evening, elegantly catered by Pat's, hosted by Edward and Elissa Czuker in Beverly Hills.

Dr. Avram Hershko, 74, winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was featured in this N.Y. Times interview conducted during his visit to the U.S. in June. The Body's Protein Cleaning Machine.

Remembering the victims of the first, Islamic terror attack in Los Angeles - Orange County Egyptian-immigrant nearly massacred EL AL Flight 106 ticket line on July 4th, 2002

"Los Angeles Airport -- top target of terror attacks, lax security, TSA agent arrested" Julia Davis wrote in Examiner.com Jan 22, 2010.

LAX should is no stranger to counter-terrorism. Three of the four planes involved in the jihadist attacks of September 11, 2001 were originally headed for Los Angeles. American Airlines Flight 11, and United Airlines Flight 175, were from Logan International Airport, in Boston, Massachusetts, and American Airlines Flight 77 was from Washington Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia.\ LAX has direct flights to North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East – more direct flights than any other airport in the world.

NY Senator Chuck Schumer said, "You don't have to be Albert Einstein to realize that flights that originate in foreign countries pose a greater danger. There's a perfect storm for airport security overseas. Lax security checks, complacent government officials, and terrorists who exploit them. During the Millenium holiday in 2000, Al-Qaeda attempted to bomb LAX, although the bomber, Ahmed Ressam, was apprehended in Port Angeles, Washington, with a cache of explosives in the trunk of his rented car. Ressam, also known as the Millenium Bomber, transported the explosives from Victoria, British Columbia, aboard the ferry "Coho".

Mr. Hadayat Belonged to Egyptian Jihad, al Qaeda’s Operational Arm

Hashem Mohamed Hadayat, 41, who gunned down Yakov Aminov, 46, and Vicky Hen, 25 – both from Los Angeles - on the 4th of July at the El Al terminal of Los Angeles, and wounded 7 others, was revealed by intelligence and counter-terror sources as a Muslim extremist. During his ten years in the United States, he was a secret operative of the Egyptian Jihad who maintained undercover links to the same Jihad cell in Brooklyn, New York, as the “blind sheikh” Abdul Rahim Rahman and Ramzi Yousef. Both are doing time for perpetrating the first attack on the New York World Trade Center in 1993.

This is the same cell that spawned El Sayyid Nosair, who assassinated the Judaic leader Rabbi Meir Kahane. Nosair's ties to the terror ring and it's goals might have been uncovered during the Kahane trial had the appropriate leads been followed. In the words of the Investigative Project's Steven Emerson, "Had there been a thorough analysis of the Nosair materials, and had there been more careful utilization of the Egyptian informant, the World Trade Center bombing could have been avoided."

Hadayat is also believed to have abetted a previous, contrived airline disaster: On October 31, 1999, an Egyptair Boeing 767 Flight 990, which also took off from Los Angeles Airport for Kennedy, New York. After Kennedy, the plane bound for Cairo plunged into the Atlantic off the Nantucket Island, Mass. coast, killing all 217 passengers and crew. In a special probe, the US National Transportation Safety Board found that the copilot Gameel el-Batouty was at the controls when the plane went into its dive. His voice was recorded shouting, “I put my faith in Allah!” (Source Terrorism 101 Debka LAX)

The victims of Hadayat's attack on El Al Flight 106 are commemorated each year at LAX on July 4th. In 2011, some of those who were there retold their experiences of that fateful, July 4, 2002 morning.



2012 marks the 10-year since the shooting. In addition to Yakov Aminov, 46, and Vicky Hen, 25 who were killed, at least 4 more were wounded: Haim Sapir, the El Al security guard whose bullets ultimately stopped the attacker; Sarah Philips, a then 61-year old traveler from Canada; Arie Golan, then 54, who suffered superficial stab wounds; and an anonymous El Al security guard. Worthy of distinction is Dr. David Parkus, a trauma surgeon from Beaumont, Texas, who jumped in to wrestle the shooter.

How many more innocent Jewish and Israeli people have to get injured or murdered before the authorities supposed to be protecting us begin to acknowledge the motivations and protect the targets of Islamist extremism? Aggression directed at Jews never ends at Jews. It didn't with Germany's National Socialist Party and it didn't with the Islamist-killers of Rabbi Meir Kahane who went on, unfettered, to bomb the World Trade Center in '93. 

Updated 2022: Jews are the most frequent target of anti-religious hate crimes. A Jewish person is approximately twice as likely to suffer a hate crime than a black person or a Muslim, 10 times more likely than an Asian or a Latino and 20 times more likely than a non-Hispanic white. The majority of antisemitic acts against Jews in Europe are committed not by the Christian Right, but by Muslim immigrants.

As Jonathan Tobin, managing editor of JNS.com, wrote in "Don't Blame the Surge of European AntiSemitism on the Populists," National Review (5/19):

... the recent wave of immigrants from Muslim and Arab countries has created a vast new constituency for Jew-hatred. There is a long tradition of contempt for Jews in Islamic culture that has only been exacerbated by their resentment over the creation of Israel. Muslim expressions of hatred for Israel and Jews are now indistinguishable from the anti-Semitic invective of many Europeans. This has created a bizarre alliance among Muslims, leftist academics, and other elites who aim to delegitimize Israel, Zionism, and Jews.

Joanna Markind wrote in "Who is Behind Anti-Semitic Attacks in the US," The Tower (April/May '17):

The problem of Arab/Muslim anti-Semitic violence is especially prominent in Europe. According to a 2015 review by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), “Statistics for France and Great Britain from the last decade show that antisemitic perpetrators have been disproportionately of Muslim origin.” Conservative estimates for Britain, where Muslims are roughly five percent of the population, indicate they commit 20-30 percent of anti-Semitic hate crimes. In France, where eight percent of the population is Muslim, at least 30 percent of anti-Semitic incidents are perpetrated by Muslims and/or Arabs, and “adding the number of non-identified perpetrators, the actual percentage can be estimated to be above 50 percent,” according to ISGAP. A 2015 British parliamentary report noted that a “high proportion of [anti-Semitic] cases involved someone from a Muslim background.”

Christian, Jewish leaders & communities, join to honor memory of Israel Christian Nexus founder, Israeli Gen. Shimon Erem

Gen. Shimon Erem attending StandWithUs Chanukah, 2011

Gen. Shimon Erem (z"l), who founded the Israel Christian Nexus, succumbed to cancer at the end of May at the age of 90.  His supporters and family gathered to hold In the Footsteps of Gen. Shimon Erem (1922-2012) a "Shloshim" (30-days) Memorial Event on Thursday, June 28th held at Cong. Beth Jacob in Beverly Hills.

Program: Gen. Shimon Erem's characteristics - and who addressed it:

A Soldier for Israel - Hon. David Siegel- Consul General for Israel to the Southwest US.

A Bridge Builder - Pastor Jim Tolle- Senior Pastor, La Iglesia en el Camino

Pastor Jim Tolle consoles widow, Danielle Erem

Founding Pastor of several hundred Spanish-language churches in North & South America; Board Member of Israel Christian Nexus.

Dr. Jack Hayford- Chancellor, The King's University, Los Angeles, Immediate Past President, Int'l Church of the Foursquare Gospel, Founding co-Chairman, Israel Christian Nexus

Tributes from around the world
Messages from Israel - read by Ari Bussel, ICN founding Board Member
Letters from Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon and previous Israeli Consul General Jacob Dayan.
Messages from Congress - read by Larry Greenfield, Israel Christian Nexus founding Board Member.

Click to advance through video segments (button to the right of Play)

Dina Leeds - Israel Christian Nexus Vice President
Naomi Urman - longtime family friend
Miri Shepher - Israeli Leadership Council Executive Board member
Danielle Erem - Shimon's wife and beloved partner

Memorial Prayer - Rabbi Kalman Topp of Cong. Beth Jacob of Beverly Hills

Event organized by Patricia Johnson, Acting Director, Israel Christian Nexus.

Israeli General Shimon Erem, discussed the importance of guaranteeing Jewish safety- inside and outside of Israel.  He tells of accompanying David ben Gurion to Holocaust concentration camps- which experiences shaped ben Gurion's Zionist defense (and retaliation / deterrence) policies. Gen. Erem delivered this talk at LimmudLA in 2010.



Gen. Erem shares David ben-Gurion's principles of fighting for Jewish survival including activating the Jewish community outside of Palestine and forming alliances with non-Jews interested in protecting Jewish rule in the free, restored Israel. After seeing these camps, David Ben-Gurion established a policy to deter anti-Semitic violence- through Israel's own forces and through establishing global alliances with committed Jews and Christians in the diaspora.

May Gen. Shimon Erem's memory be for a blessing.

Judaism on the western (and Middle-Eastern) frontiers - The Frisco Kid

The movie, The Frisco Kid, (1979) which stars Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford (son of a Jewish mother), offers a glimpse into Jewish survival on the frontiers of America, Israel, and Judea/Samaria. Concatonated version in under 9 minutes: In a television interview, Inside the Actors Studio, shown in August 2000, when asked about what influence his Irish Catholic and Russian Jewish ancestry may have had on his life as a person and as an artist, Ford humorously stated "As a man I've always felt Irish, as an actor I've always felt Jewish."

Excerpted scene: Gene Wilder's rabbi character is put on the stake and challenged - what you do to save a Torah?

Rabbis appeal higher, as Peres confers "friend-to-Israel" credence to Obama, without clemency for Jonathan Pollard

Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement recipient, Rabbi Chaim Druckman, sounds call for greater civilian pressure on Obama to grant clemency for over-sentenced, ailing American-Jewish prisoner, Jonathan Pollard.  

By Fern Sidman

On Monday evening June 4th, over 500 people gathered for an inspiring evening of "prayer and chizuk" at the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates as their collective voices were lifted to G-d for the redemption of Jonathan Jay Pollard; the US Navy intelligence analyst who has been imprisoned for 27 years on charges stemming from the passage of classified information to Israel. 

Sponsored by Young Israel of Jamaica Estates members Jacques Rothschild and Dr. Joseph Frager, the evening served as precursor for the upcoming presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Israeli President Shimon Peres by President Barack Obama. The publicity flyer for the event stated, "Let us seize the moment to join in prayer to beseech the Almighty to strengthen the hands of President Peres in pursuing justice for Jonathan Pollard."

 

Video clips of Rabbi Chaim Druckman, Rabbi Pesach Lerner, and Ms. Fern Sidman
(To advance through the sequential videos, click "Advance" to the right of the lower-left Play button)

Mr. Rothschild told the gathering that, "Mr. Peres had asked President Obama for the commutation of Pollard's sentence but has received no answer." Providing the audience with a backdrop on the Pollard case, Mr. Rothschild said, "The information given to the Israeli government by Jonathan Pollard was part of an intelligence sharing agreement and would have been presented to the Israelis in any case." Accusing the Israeli government of "shafting" Jonathan Pollard, Mr. Rothschild said, "The government of Israel worked in conjunction with the American government against its own agent."  He added that, "The US forced Pollard into a plea agreement and then reneged."

In a voice reverberating with anger and indignation, Rabbi Chaim Druckman, the recent recipient of the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement, queried, "Did Jonathan Pollard kill someone? Why 27 years in prison? Did anyone else get this kind of punishment?" He called upon the entire Jewish nation to pray for Pollard's release from prison and called for a massive demonstration on Pollard's behalf in Washington, DC prior to the presidential election in November. Admonishing the US government for "cruelty" in allowing Pollard to languish in prison for such a protracted amount of time, Rabbi Druckman said, Now, it is impossible to remain quiet. Doesn't the president of the United States have a heart? Are they trying to kill Pollard?"

Leading the congregation in prayer and the recitation of Tehillim were the mellifluous voices of Cantor Netanel Hershtik and the Hampton Synagogue choir which was conducted by Itzchak Haimov. In unison, and in one clear voice that pierced the Heavens, the attendees called on "Avinu SheBaShamayim" (our Father in Heaven) for mercy and compassion, and beseeched the Almighty for the swift redemption of Yonatan Ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard).

Having visited Jonathan Pollard over 20 times in the last years, Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel said that his last visit only several weeks ago with Jonathan Pollard was the most difficult. "When you speak with Jonathan you can tell how he is within the first minute or two of the conversation", he said. Referencing Mr. Pollard's rapidly deteriorating state of health, Rabbi Lerner ruefully observed, "He is now quite sick and his illness is getting to him."

Nonetheless, Rabbi Lerner described a man who is a great source of "chizuk" (strength). "Jonathan is Shmira Shabbos and Shmiras Kashrus and beyond that he's a genuine ma'amin (a true believer in G-d).

Offering an poignant illustration of Mr. Pollard's indefatigable faith and trust in the One Above, Rabbi Lerner told of Jonathan being prescribed a certain medication for a kidney ailment. Others visiting Jonathan at the time remarked to him that in order for that particular medication to be effecitve it had to be taken with an excessively large amount of water. Rabbi Lerner said that Jonathan's response to this was, "I am so very happy that I have to drink all that water, just so I can have the chance to  make a brocha to G-d."  

Rabbi Lerner also noted the fact that many prominent US government officials who had previously favored the sentence handed down to Pollard had now reversed their positions and are publicly calling for clemency to be granted him. Speaking of former CIA director R. James Woolsey, Rabbi Lerner said, "he is now behind Pollard." In January of 2011, Mr. Woolsey went on record stating that Pollard should have been released from prison five years ago.


It was also noted throughout the course of the evening that Harvard law professor, Alan Dershowitz called Pollard's sentence a "travesty of justice" and that during his tenure, former President Bill Clinton had wanted to commute Pollard's sentence but was dissuaded from doing so by certain Jewish senators who wrote to him and campaigned against Pollard's release.

In a private interview following at the evening's conclusion, Mr. Rothschild assigned the blame for Pollard's life sentence squarely on the shoulders of former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. "It was he who threw Pollard under the bus." Adding that he was gravely disappointment in the Israeli government, Mr. Rothschild said that he had invited Ido Aharoni, the Israeli Consul General in New York to speak at the evening's event but was told that he could not make it. 

"It is clear to me that no Israeli officials endorsed this event because they don't want to make waves with the US administration. They don't want to upset the apple cart right before Peres is to be presented with the Medal of Freedom award. Israeli participation in such an event could embarass Washington and that's the last thing they want to do," said audience member Hannah Milstein of Forest Hills, New York.

Americans parade pride in Jewish Israel's sovereignty & contributions to the world

The largest yearly gathering of support for Israel in the world, the annual Celebrate Israel Parade was held in NYC on June 3rd, 2012. 35,000 marchers entertained tens of thousands of spectators with 29 floats with musical performers, 18 marching bands.

 

(Step through JooTube's playlist of 100> clips using the "advance" button to the right of the "play" button).

This year’s parade includes lively floats, some of the NY/NJ/Connecticut region’s best marching bands, top area musicians, and a number of other exciting additions suitable for all ages, including groups of stilt walkers, dancing rollerbladers, and juggling clowns. Musical acts featured at the parade include Grammy-nominated electronic band J. Viewz, Middle Eastern folk group SoulFarm, reggae-influenced Moshe Hecht Band and Jewish rockers Blue Fringe.

The Jewish Community Relations Council permitted marching by leftist, New Israel Fund- affiliated groups (who some consider anti-Israel) who pressure Israel (and West Bank Jews) through lobbying Washington and promoting boycotts, divestment, and sanctions of Israeli and West Bank Jewish products- to remove Jews from Judea to cede territory to a state of Palestine.

Among the paraders who spoke with JooTube are members of Jewish War Veterans, American Veterans of Israel (Machal), employees of the State of Israel led by Israeli Parliamentarian Silvan Shalom, El Al Airlines crew and staff (who sing and dance freilachs) led by Danny Saadon, and Robert Stearns' Christian Zionist group, Eagles Wings.

Author Peter Beinart of J-Street, gives his perspective from marching in the parade, while Shmuel Sackett of the Israeli Leadership (Manhigut Yehudit) Party gives an opposing perspective. Helen Freedman of Americans for a Safe Israel argued against the groups as detrimental to Jewish Israel's interests. Ms. Freedman, along with Rabbi David Algaze, were among the NY'ers who addressed a United Jerusalem Concert and Rally in Central Park which followed the Parade.

The parade is the marquee event of the JCRC-NY’s Celebrate Israel Project – an initiative largely sponsored by UJA-Federation of New York, Jewish Communal Fund, Israel Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Consulate General of Israel in New York – that celebrates the positive impact the Jewish and democratic state of Israel has on the lives of people around the world. “We are delighted to be involved in the annual Celebrate Israel Parade,” Israel’s Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein said. “More than just a parade, this day is a celebration of the special relationship between Israel and America that is rooted in common values and goals. Like America, Israel is a strong, vibrant democracy, a symbol of freedom, tolerance and understanding. My ministry strives to strengthen our relationship with Jewish communities in the United States, and events like these are critical to both nations.”

 “It’s a joy to see throngs of supporters of Israel from across the metropolitan area and beyond come together to celebrate at the annual parade,” JCRC-NY Executive Vice President and CEO Michael Miller said. “We who stand with Israel are strengthened by the sight of hundreds of thousands of people lining Fifth Avenue as schools, community groups, marching bands and floats decked in blue and white go by. Year after year, the parade never ceases to be a thrilling experience, bringing the unflagging spirit of Israel to the streets of New York. I feel privileged to be a part of the festivities.”

For the second year in a row, the parade was televised live by WWOR-TV My9. Anchoring the My9 broadcast was Fox 5 and My9 anchor Harry Martin and Israeli TV presenter Becky Griffin.

Thousands descend on Fifth Avenue for Celebrate Israel Parade

Thousands descend on Fifth Avenue for Celebrate Israel Parade http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/live-thousands-descend-on-new-york-to-mark-annual-israel-day-parade-1.434126 Subscribe to JooTube to receive original video from the Parade and Concert Rally this week! You might be in it! Here is WWOR-TV's version meanwhile: http://salutetoisrael.com/brdcst.html

The Israel Conference in L.A. assembles high-tech ventures and investment capital

The Israel Conference™ May 31 & June 1, 2012 ~ Los Angeles, CA The Israel Conference™ is a fast-paced business conference showcasing the vitality and growth of Israel-facing business through a variety of panels on hot industry topics and trends with world-class speakers and high-quality networking. The Israel Conference™ brings together leading innovators and investors High Tech / Entertainment Media / Advertising / Mobile / Content / Gaming / e-Commerce / Energy / Clean Tech / Security / Medical Tech / Consumer Products that are coming out of Israel that are market-making and in demand. Check out their program and register.

Sharona Justman

Yossi Vardi

Co-Chairs Yossi Vardi, chairman of International Technologies and Sharona Justman, principal in Step Strategy Advisors, assemble top executives interested in investing in Israel-related businesses.

Watch an excerpt from our coverage of the venture pitching in front of a critical, evaluation panel and the full audience.

Organizer, Sharona Justman, endorses the quality of the sponsor hotel, the Luxe Sunset Hotel, and the services of its proprietor, Mr. Efrem Harkham.

Video of annual, Israel Day Concert (with a Message) in Central Park. Music, spirituality, and Zionist politics on proud, public display

The 19th Annual Israel Day Concert in Central Park is expected to draw 20,000 people this year.

The event, which will be held at Central Park's Summer Stage on Sunday, June 3rd , takes place straight after the Salute to Israel Parade, and is dedicated in honor of the 45th anniversary of the Six-Day War and the re-unification of Jerusalem.

Dr. Joseph Frager and Dr. Paul and Drora Brody, organizers and chairpersons for the past 7 years, have announced the concert's themes:

1. Jerusalem united forever-- never to be divided again;
2. No further concessions of any part of the Land of Israel; and
3. Stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons NOW, before it is too late.

The concert, thought to be the largest Zionist rally in North America, perhaps the world, is sponsored by the Israel Concert-In-The-Park Committee, associated with Young Israel Chovevei Zion and the National Council of Young Israel.  It pays special tribute again this year to the late Carl Freyer, who together with his wife Sylvia, founded the annual event in response to a call by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Chief Rabbi of Efrat, to mount some form of protest to the disastrous 1993 Oslo accords.




Click through JooTube's 29 video clips from the 2011 Israel Concert in the Park ("Next" button to the right of "Play")


MK Danny Danon, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset and Chairman of World Likud will return as keynote speaker. Among the many other inspiring speakers will be Rabbi David Algaze, President of the World Committee for the Land of Israel; Israel Prize winner and head of the Hesder yeshivas, former MK Rabbi Chaim Druckman; Soviet refusenik and "Prisoner of Zion" Yosef Mendelevitch; Mark Langfan, creator of strategic maps of Yehuda and Shomron; and Scott Feltman, Executive Vice President of the One Israel Fund.

A  burst of musical and singing talent will entertain the crowd: Yehuda Green, protege of Reb Shlomo Carlebach; Sephardic stalwarts Avi Peretz and the Ouri Bitan Band, and Avner Levy; Tal Vaknin and Shlomi Aharoni, directly from Israel, both alumni of the Rabbinical IDF Orchestra & Choir;  Chaim Kiss; Izzy Kieffer, also an alumnus of the Rabbinical IDF Orchestra  & Choir, with Heshy R.; and Yitzy Bald's dazzling New York Boys Choir. Mendel Piekarski and Shlomo Skolnick, "Jewish Star" Junior Finalists, will make their debut on the SummerStage. Musical accompaniment will be provided by the Shloime Dachs Orchestra & Singers.

"The Yankles" introduces orthodox Judaism to the nations - entertainingly

Wearing calf-high white socks for centuries off the field, a team of yeshiva bochurs try their skill on the diamond- that is, not gemology, but the baseball diamond. The Yankles is a movie about an Orthodox Jewish baseball team with a very unorthodox coach. Sibling filmmakers David R. Brooks and Zev Brooks co-wrote the script. Zev served as Producer, David helmed the direction of the film.

Baseball player, Don Most w/ frum son

The Yankles comedy is about a hapless Orthodox Yeshiva baseball team that earns a ticket to compete in the college world series. The team hires Charlie Jones, played by Brian Wimmer (Footloose, Flipper) to coach. Charlie is a washed-up, ex-major league center fielder on parole for multiple DUI convictions and desperate to fulfill his community service. While The Yankles strive for success on the field, Charlie works to rebuild his reputation and relationships. Don Most of "Happy Days" plays a former baseball champ at odds with his rabbinical student son (Michael Buster).


The film, which has garnered numerous awards at domestic and international film festivals, is a hilarious and touching story about redemption. The Yankles runs in theaters for a week from, Friday, May 18th- Thurs May 24th in LA.  (Adapted from interview article by Dana Gardner in I Am Rogue).

Zev Brooks (r) and David Brooks (l)

The Yankles' co-writers David and Zev Brooks describe The Yankels phenomenon from their booth at the Celebrate Israel Festival in Los Angeles for Israel Independence Day.

"The Yankles." MPAA rating: PG-13 for language. Running time: 1 hour, 56 minutes. At Laemmle's Music Hall 3, Beverly Hills;  Laemmle's Town Center 5, Encino through May 24th. It then moves to NYC at the Manhattan JCC on Tuesday May 29 from 7:30- 9:30.