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The statement on why Sabbath is more important drew a long round of applause from the audience and fellow competitors.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

An Israeli team of high school students dropped out of an international robotics competition Saturday due to their observance of the Sabbath, gaining the respect of the organizers, the audience and their fellow competitors.

The TRIGON #5990 team from the AMIT Boys Junior and Senior High School in Modiin was participating in the FIRST World Championships in Houston, Texas, and made it into the playoff round – which was held after the Sabbath already began.

FIRST, which is an acronym of For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an American NPO that encourages young people to be science and technology leaders by organizing mentor-based programs in robotics and other technologically-oriented areas.

One of the organizers read the team’s statement explaining the decision.

“We are a proudly dedicated group from Israel,” they said, who had worked “tirelessly” to succeed in the competition. Yet, they continued, “We are from a religiously Jewish background, and our faith is an integral part of who we are.

“Saturdays, Shabbat, hold a special significance in the Jewish faith. It is a time when we disconnect and focus on our spiritual wellbeing, our families, God, and our communities. Because of this, our team will not be present and competing during the remainder of the competition.”

The teens then invited everyone to come see their booth and wished everyone luck. After the crowd burst into a prolonged round of applause, the organizer thanked Trigon “for giving us a very important reminder of the importance of things outside of robotics.”

The Amit group was part of an “alliance” of three teams that used the robots they built to maneuver cubes and cones and drop them in lines of three in order to “charge up” a fictitious community. Part of the challenge included programming their machines to work autonomously for the first 15 seconds of the match. Since the Israeli students could not continue playing, another team was chosen in their stead.

Last year, Ha-Dream Team #3075 from Hod HaSharon was a member of the Winning Alliance of groups in the Einstein Finals Division, and team RoboActive #2096 from Dimona won the prestigious Engineering Inspiration Award.

Most of the Israeli teams made it to the playoffs in their divisions, ranking in the top tier over more than 70 teams from all over the world.

FIRST Israel was founded in 2004 in cooperation with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. More than 25,000 students country-wide participate in more than 2,000 teams from the Jewish, Muslim, Bedouin, Christian, Druze and Circassian communities.

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The year 2022 saw ever-increasing sanctions on Russia imposed by the US, EU, and their allies. The track record of Western sanctions shows that they are quick to be imposed, but very slow to be removed. Given the current international diplomatic situation, it is reasonable to assume that sanctions on Russia are going to remain in place for a very long time – India will need to plan accordingly

China is ready to show more of its films to Russian viewers, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said

Economist Nouriel Roubini, also known as “Dr. Doom,” predicts that the global reserve currency system will shift from unipolar to bipolar. He expects most countries that attempt to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar to propose the Chinese yuan as an alternative to the USD

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The post Epidemic of 15-19 Year Olds Dropping Dead in Schools and Dorms Across USA and Canada in April 2023 appeared first on Global Research.

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Diane Abbott apologized and retratcted her statement; some Jewish voices called for her reinstatement.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The Labour party suspended MP Diane Abbott Sunday following a letter published in that day’s Observer saying that Jews don’t suffer from racism.

“The Labour Party completely condemns these comments which are deeply offensive and wrong,” a spokesperson said, adding that the party’s chief whip had suspended her “pending an investigation.”

England’s first black legislator, whose constituency includes a large Orthodox Jewish population, had rejected an article’s claim that Jews, the Irish, and Travellers (akin to gypsies) experience racism in the UK. The article cited, among other proofs, a survey which found that 55% of Jews said they had experienced a racist assault.

“They undoubtedly experience prejudice. This is similar to racism, and the two words are often used as if they are interchangeable,” she wrote in response, adding that they are not the same.

“It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice,” she continued. “But they are not all their lives subject to racism.”

“In pre-civil rights America, Irish people, Jewish people and Travellers were not required to sit at the back of the bus,” she explained. “In apartheid South Africa, these groups were allowed to vote.”

After an uproar ensued, Abbott took to Twitter to “wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and dissassociate [sic.] myself from them.”

“Racism takes many forms, and it is completely undeniable that Jewish people have suffered its monstrous effects,” she acknowledged, “as have Irish people, Travellers and many others.”

She took responsibility for having sent “an initial draft” instead of the true version of her letter and apologized twice in the brief tweet for having caused distress, saying, “There is no excuse.”

Dave Rich, policy director of Community Security Trust, a British charity that provides safety, security, and advice to the Jews of the UK, “welcomed” Abbott’s about-face on “her appalling denial of the reality of anti-Jewish racism.” But, he added, “the harm caused by her views will be much more widespread,” the Labour Party was right to suspend her.

Jewish Voice for Labour, a pro-Palestinian group within the party that also aims “to strengthen the party in its opposition to all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism,” strongly supported the MP.

After calling the wording of Abbott’s letter “unfortunate” and applauding her apology, the group then backed its contents by saying, “Jewish people in this country of course face prejudice and racism, in particular the Haredim [ultra-Orthodox], who in their dress are highly visible, but it is not institutional, structural racism that fundamentally affects their prospects and outcomes.”

The letter “was not antisemitic, and the way some critics have rounded on her as if it were is cynical and unhelpful,” the group insisted, while praising Abbott for “always” having fought against “all forms” of racism.

They criticized the party move, writing, “Yes, Diane’s letter should have been drafted with more care – but this is no ground for suspension from the Labour Party.”

The post British Labour Party suspends MP who said Jews don’t suffer from racism appeared first on World Israel News.

“You can’t be working on women’s rights in Afghanistan while lobbying for recognition of the same group who have banned women and girls from education, work and social gatherings,” an Afghan national said.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior United Nations official was slammed for a feminist tweet just days after she expressed support for formal recognition of the Taliban terror group, which is currently governing Afghanistan.

Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, took to Twitter to express concern for women who are unable to publicly celebrate the Islamic Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan.

“My heart is with all women and girls who are not able [to] practice their faith with their communities during Eid and every day,” Mohammed wrote.

“Our solidarity is unwavering, as we work together to ensure women and girls’ rights in Afghanistan.”

My heart is with all women and girls who are not able practice their faith with their communities during Eid and every day.

Our solidarity is unwavering, as we work together to ensure women and girls’ rights in Afghanistan

— Amina J Mohammed (@AminaJMohammed) April 22, 2023

Absent from Mohammed’s tweet was any mention of the reality that the Taliban has increasingly cracked down on the presence of women in public spaces, which is likely the reason why females are unable to practice their faith in the country.

Because Mohammed’s ostensibly pro-women comments came less than a week after she called for the UN and international community to offer official recognition to the Taliban, including maintaining diplomatic relations, she was immediately called out for hypocrisy.

“You just called for official recognition of the Taliban, at Princeton University only five days ago, so isn’t it a bit rich for you to be speaking out now for Afghan women’s rights?” replied Hillel Neuer, human rights attorney and CEO of the NGO UN Watch.

Neuer wasn’t the only prominent figure to take umbrage with Mohammed’s remarks.

“Oh come on, Afghanistan women don’t want your empathy, they just want you to not whitewash terrorists and stop lobbying for them,” wrote Natiq Malikzada,a journalist and Afghan national.

Wazhma Sayel, an academic from Afghanistan now living in Nigeria, asked if Mohammed’s “heart also goes out to the religious minorities in Afghanistan.”

Sayel noted that Afghan Sikhs, Shia, Hindus, and Christians have “no room in the book of the Taliban” and can no longer “celebrate rituals” and holidays “as they used to” before the Taliban takeover.

“You are two-faced,” responded Adam Khan, an Afghan national who appears to still be living in the country. “You can’t be working on women’s rights in Afghanistan while lobbying for recognition of the same group who have banned women and girls from education, work and social gatherings.”

The post ‘Two-faced’: UN official calls for recognition of Taliban, tweets post defending women’s rights appeared first on World Israel News.

OPINION Invaded by Russia in 2014, much of Donbas is now devastated and uninhabitable. Could this have been prevented?

Anti-government political posters were hung on the door to a pediatric intensive care unit, which made right-wing parents “fear for the safety of their hospitalized children,” the doctors noted.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Hundreds of Israeli doctors signed a letter slamming the Israeli Medical Association – the umbrella union responsible for medical professionals in the country – for an unprecedented strike called in March, which saw hospitals and medical clinics reduce their operations or shuttered entirely in opposition to judicial reform.

“We demand an immediate cessation of all political discourse,” the doctors wrote, in a letter addressed to Zion Hagai, the Chairman of the Israeli Medical Association.

“Every person has a right, and even a duty, to express his position regarding the issues on the agenda. But this cannot be done within the framework of the health system,” read the letter, which was obtained by Channel 12 News.

The doctors called into question the union’s assertion that “90 percent” of Israeli physicians are opposed to judicial reform. They added that even if that figure was true, that still does not indicate that the majority of doctors were in favor of a strike which saw patients denied critical medical care.

By participating in the “illegal, political” strike, the Israeli Medical Association had “damaged relationships” and trust between doctors and patients, they wrote, as well as “endangered” people in dire need of medical treatment.

The strike has alienated patients with right-wing perspectives, who are now afraid that they will be treated differently by doctors if they express their political views.

Doctors increasingly wearing T-shirts or displaying posters that emphasize their opposition to the current government is also problematic, the concerned physicians wrote.

“Patients with a religious appearance fear that they will not receive optimal care from doctors who proudly wear political symbols on their clothes and hang posters of a distinctly political nature on the doors of the wards,” they explained.

Anti-government political posters were hung on the door to a pediatric intensive care unit, which made right-wing parents “fear for the safety of their hospitalized children,” the doctors noted.

Numerous Israeli politicians, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman, have noted that the strike was likely illegal and that they are working on pursuing consequences for the Histadrut, the 900,000 member-strong labor union that organized the strike.

According to Israeli law, a labor strike must be declared at least 14 days before the cessation of work so that negotiations can take place. Additionally, strikes must be declared against a specific employer or institution, and holding a massive strike due to displeasure over the actions of the elected government does not fall under the guidelines of a legitimate target for a strike.

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