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Kosher illegal for Passover. Montreal police confiscated some 8,000 bottles of kosher wine after discovering that two men were selling and importing the alcohol without a proper permit. The wine is believed to have been smuggled in from Israel by ship. The men may face charges, but will most likely have to pay a fine.
Israel and Hamas form a truce. Following “sophisticated” attacks by ISIS’ affiliate in Egypt, Israel, Hamas and Egypt have (reluctantly) formed an odd alliance to keep ISIS terrorists out of the country, which shares a border with Israel. While Israel and Egypt have suspected Hamas of aiding ISIS, Hamas insists the two have no ties to each other.
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Labouring anti-Semites can’t catch a break. U.K.’s Labour Party continues to make headlines due its members’ apparent fondness for anti-Semitic and anti-Israel rhetoric. This week, the party suspended two more members over anti-Semitism (councillors Ilyas Aziz and Salim Mulla) amid a scandal involving former London mayor Ken Livingstone following comments that Hitler was a supporter of Zionism. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn suspended Livingstone due to “grave concerns” about the language he used, but not before refusing to denounce terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
Interestingly, Labour’s candidate for the next mayor of London (elections take place Thursday) is the Muslim son of a Pakistani bus driver Sadiq Khan, who recently spoke of his ‘embarrassment’ regarding his party’s anti-Semitism problem. Khan’s major contender in the race is Jewish candidate Zac Goldsmith, a Conservative.
Jordanian soccer fans lose to Palestinians, cheer for Israel. After a team affiliated with the Palestinian population of Jordan beat a team affiliated with Jordan’s East Bank, the latter made chants supporting Israel, changing the slogan, “With soul and blood we will redeem you, Al-Aqsa” (referring to an Islamic holy place of worship in Jerusalem) to “With soul and blood we will redeem you, Israel.” And all it took was a single soccer game.
Old photos, big money. A collection of pictures of Jerusalem and other Israeli cities from the 19th century have been sold to a collector for some $1.4 million (US). The set includes some 1,000 images, some of which date back to 1840. Check them out here, via SWNS.com.
Holy tightrope. An American slackliner walked across a narrow wire between two ancient towers in Jerusalem’s Old City Monday, holding her arms up for balance. “Learning about these places growing up and being able to come and visit, and then actually being able to perform my craft right here, is a very incredible experience,” Heather Larsen said.
Too hot for Israeli TV. A new commercial starring Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli has been deemed inappropriate for prime time television, with a broadcasting authority ordering that it be censored. Watch the sultry video, which already has over 150,000 hits on YouTube, below. Needless to say (but I’ll say it anyway), it’s semi-NSFW, and primarily focuses on Refaeli’s derriere.
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