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Israel Erased from Map by Biggest Children’s Book Publisher

Times of Israel

Times of Israel

Arab textbooks are not the only ones erasing Israel from their maps. Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher of children’s books, has also eliminated the Jewish state in a book.

“Thea Stilton and the Blue Scarab Hunt,” part of the popular Geronimo Stilton children’s series translated from Italian and published by Scholastic in 2012, tells the story of a group of investigative journalists involved in a treasure hunt in Egypt.

The story commences with a map of modern Egypt and its neighboring countries. While Sudan, Libya and Saudi Arabia appear clearly on the map, the territory of Israel is completely covered by Jordan, painted red. A line indicating the Israeli border with the Sinai Peninsula does appear in the book.

Adina Golombek, a Jerusalem resident who emigrated to Israel from Canada last year, said she was shocked to discover Israel’s absence while reading the book with her 7-year-old son.

Read more from this story HERE.

U of California Event: “Bringing Down Israel Will Benefit Everyone in the World”

Photo Credit: via Zombietime

Photo Credit: via Zombietime

Won’t someone please think of the murderous terrorists?

A November 12 panel discussion on the University of California’s flagship Berkeley campus was billed as an opportunity to learn about events 7,000 miles away in Israel – and about a Dec. 4 graduate student vote to join the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Instead, attendees were exhorted to bring down the Jewish State.

Hosted by UAW 2865, a union of over 13,000 student-workers across the University of California system, the union’s BDS Caucus brought in guest speakers to “discuss the role of organized labor in the Palestine solidarity movement.”

Panelist Lara Kiswani, executive director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), dominated the conversation.

“Bringing down Israel will really benefit everyone in the world and everyone in society, particularly workers,” she said later.

Read more from this story HERE.

Reports: Obama Mulling Sanctions on Israel

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The Obama administration is refusing to discuss reports that emerged early Thursday claiming that the White House is considering imposing sanctions on Israel for continuing construction on Jewish homes in Jerusalem.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf dodged several questions on Thursday when confronted with reports that the administration had held secret internal meetings to discuss taking action against Israel for its ongoing building in East Jerusalem.

The classified meetings were reportedly held several weeks ago and included officials from both the State Department and White House, according to the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, which first reported on the meetings.

The possibility of sanctioning Israel for its ongoing construction sends a signal that the Obama administration is willing to go further in its denunciations of Israel then any previous White House.

At the same time, the White House is vigorously pushing Congress against passing new sanctions on Iran.

Read more from this story HERE.

Palestinian Leader Says White House Insult of Netanyahu Reflects Obama's 'Sincere' Feelings

Photo Credit: WNDIn a radio interview set to air Sunday, a senior leader of Hamas asserts the anonymous White House officials referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “chickensh-t” reflect the Obama administration’s “sincere” feelings.

The interview with Salah Bardawil, senior Hamas leader and member of the Palestinian Parliament, airs Sunday night on “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio” on New York’s AM 970 The Answer.

A recording of the interview was obtained by WND.

Asked for his thoughts on the “chichensh*t” comments, the Hamas strongman told Klein, “It’s not a secret that Obama felt many times disappointed from Mr. Netanyahu. And it’s not a secret that Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy was not acceptable by the administration.”

Continued Bardawil: “The problem is that Obama, in spite of the fact that we feel that these feelings are sincere and true vis-à-vis Netanyahu, he ever translated these emotions against Netanyahu to actions on the ground in order to change the situation … which shows the decision making center is not exclusively in the hands of the president but in the hands of the whole American establishment that judges that Israel is in the strategic interests of the United States. This is why these declarations of the sources in the administration were not translated into changing the situation on the ground into pushing the situation forward but keeping the situation as it is.”

Read more from this story HERE.

5 Takeaways From Top Obama Official Calling Netanyahu ‘A Chickens**t’

Photo Credit: Daily CallerIt’s probably safe to say that U.S.-Israel relations aren’t exactly at a high point.

In an article published Tuesday at The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg, the Obama administration’s preferred conduit for all things Israel-related, an unnamed senior Obama administration official called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a chickensh*t.”

“The thing about Bibi is, he’s a chickensh*t,” the official told Goldberg.

“The good thing about Netanyahu is that he’s scared to launch wars,” he continued. ““The bad thing about him is that he won’t do anything to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians or with the Sunni Arab states. The only thing he’s interested in is protecting himself from political defeat. He’s not [Yitzhak] Rabin, he’s not [Ariel] Sharon, he’s certainly no [Menachem] Begin. He’s got no guts.”

Read more from this story HERE.

U.S. Pledges $212 Million in Gaza Aid

Photo Credit: AP / Adel HanaThe United States on Sunday promised $212 million in immediate aid to help rebuild Gaza Strip infrastructure devastated by recent fighting between Hamas and Israel.

The pledge came during an international conference in Cairo, where nations worldwide committed $5.4 billion for the Palestinian-controlled enclave that borders Egypt and Israel.

“The people of Gaza do need our help desperately — not tomorrow, not next week, but they need it now,” said Secretary of State John Kerry while attending the conference.

Much of the territory’s infrastructure, including at least 100,000 homes, were damaged during a 50-day conflict between Israel and Hamas. A ceasefire took hold in August.

Kerry said the money will help the Palestinian Authority meet its budgetary needs for “relief and reconstruction” efforts, including the immediate distribution of food and medicine, repairing the region’s water and sanitation system, and rebuilding homes before winter.

Read more from this story HERE.

Huckabee: It's an Urgent Time to Stand with Israel (+video)

Photo Credit: Gage SkidmoreOn Sunday, October 5, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee joins Concerned Women for America for a rally in support of Israel in Washington, D.C.

“I have been to Israel nearly 30 times over the past 41 years and have never seen the nation under such threat,” Huckabee said. “Israel is our closest ally and friend in the Middle East, and they are suffering due to the weak policies of the Obama administration.”

“God has protected this tiny but increasingly powerful nation, and it’s time for the United States to do the same,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

WATCH: Israel Shoots Down Syrian Jet Over Golan Heights

The timing of this incident is rather curious, to say the least. Israel announced today that a single Syrian Su-24 fighter jet crossed over into Israeli airspace over the contested Golan Heights, prompting the IDF to shoot it down with a Patriot battery. This apparently took place while the US and its Arab partners launched air strikes elsewhere in Syria:

The Israeli military shot down a Syrian fighter jet that infiltrated its airspace over the Golan Heights on Tuesday morning — the first such downing in decades, heightening tensions in the volatile plateau.

The military said a “Syrian aircraft infiltrated into Israeli air space” in the morning hours and that the military “intercepted the aircraft in mid-flight, using the Patriot air defense system.”

The military would not say what type of aircraft was downed and said the circumstances of the incident were “unclear.”

A defense official identified the downed aircraft as a Sukhoi Su-24 Russian fighter plane. Previously, it was reported to have been a MiG aircraft. He said the Syrian jet penetrated 2,600 feet into Israeli air space and tried to return to Syria after the Patriot missile was fired.

Read more from this story HERE.

Feds Find Anti-Israel and Pro-Palestine 9/11 Message to America on Border Fence

Photo Credit: BreitbartOn September 11, 2014, individuals or a group in Mexico hung a message to America over the U.S.-Mexico border wall condemning American support for Israel and declaring support for Palestine. U.S. federal agents discovered the banner draped over the primary border fence in Arizona’s Yuma Sector in a restricted area that could only have been reached from Mexico. The message also contained an image described by authorities as an anarchist symbol. The incident was kept secret from the American public by federal authorities. Breitbart Texas exclusively obtained the leaked incident report from federal agents on the condition their identities remain private.

The leaked incident report reveals that U.S. Border Patrol agents discovered the banner in the early hours of September 12, 2014, indicating that the banner had been draped over the border wall late in the night on September 11th.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ted Cruz: Hatred, Bigotry, Opposition to Israel Led to Me Leaving Event (+video)

Photo Credit: APReports surfaced Wednesday night that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was “booed off the stage” at an event hosted by a purportedly Christian organization.

Cruz, the keynote speaker at the new “In Defense Of Christians” organization’s dinner in Washington DC, had offered the crowd–a number of whom were Christians from the Middle East, including Palestinian Christians–public support for Israel. After doing so, some members of the crowd booed at Cruz, and they persisted until he left the stage, noting their hatred and saying he can’t stand with them if they don’t stand with Israel.

“Tonight, in Washington, should have been a night of unity as we came together for the inaugural event for a group that calls itself ‘In Defense of Christians.’ Instead, it unfortunately deteriorated into a shameful display of bigotry and hatred,” Cruz said in a statement provided to Breitbart News. “When I spoke in strong support of Israel and the Jewish people, who are being persecuted and murdered by the same vicious terrorists who are also slaughtering Christians, many Christians in the audience applauded. But, sadly, a vocal and angry minority of attendees at the conference tried to shout down my expression of solidarity with Israel.”

Read more from this story HERE.