This is a bit old, courtesy of Canada:

It’s a bit like a bad Troma joke but with better production.

Muffti hopes the clarification of details mentioned in the article clarifies the details. It wouldn’t be crazy to think, he guesses, that suspecting a freeze lots of construction started in anticipation. Think what you like of the freeze, but it’s not good to impose it and then ignore it. From Jpost

The number of housing starts in the settlements rose in the fourth quarter of 2009, precisely when the government-ordered freeze on such activity should have pushed the numbers down.

Work was begun on 593 Jewish West Bank homes from October through December, a 73.3-percent jump over the first three months of 2009, when ground was broken on 342 homes, according to numbers released this week by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The increase is even more dramatic – 84.7% – when the fourth quarter of last year is compared with the second, when work was commenced on 321 homes.

The tide, however, turned sharply in the third quarter, when work was started on 447 homes.

The numbers continued to rise in the fourth quarter, even though Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the cabinet imposed a 10-month moratorium on new settlement construction that took effect on November 29, which should have prevented any housing starts in December, and thus kept the fourth quarter tally down.

It was impossible from the CBS data to know how many new homes were begun in December. As of press time, the CBS had not responded to a Jerusalem Post query to clarify the matter.

These initial numbers represent the first official data on the impact of the freeze. It only covers one month of the freeze. The impact will be more apparent in May, when the CBS plans to release data on the first quarter of 2010.

Overall, according to CBS statistics, new settlement construction in the year 2009 fell within the overall pattern of past years.

The 1,703 housing starts in the settlements in 2009 marked a 19% drop from 2,107 in 2008. But that number was still higher than the 1,471 starts in 2007 and the 1,518 in 2006.

Out of the 1,703 housing starts last year, only 33.6%, 573, were public construction, and 1,130 were private. It was a drop from 2008, when 37.8% of the new construction was public.

Since the moratorium was put in place, inspectors from the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria have gone to all the settlements to monitor and ensure compliance. In some places they were initially met with stiff resistance by settlers who tried to block their entry by closing the community gates or by rallying in the middle of the road.

Last month, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna’i said 29 settlements were in violation of the freeze.

The civil administration and the IDF have handed demolition notices in cases of illegal construction and have threatened to demolish such work sites.

But to date, they have destroyed construction at only three sites where work was ongoing in violation of the freeze.

According to the terms of the moratorium, work was halted on all homes that lacked a foundation. But work was allowed to continue on 3,000 homes that did have foundations in place.

According to the CBS, the number of homes completed in the settlements also rose in 2009, to 2,077 homes, a 29.7% hike from the 1,601 West Bank Jewish homes that were finished in 2008. In 2007, 1,747 homes were finished and in 2006, 2,167 homes were completed.

A UC Davis student, living in a Jewish residence, was disturbed to find a swastika carved into her door. Muffti hopes they find the perp and treat it like a hate crime. Source the Sac Bee
Yesterday the LGBT centre was defaced as well (see: here. Muffti hates homophobes and anti-semites but he hates cowardly ones even more. He was happy to read that student response was swift and supportive.

Authorities are investigating vandalism at a University of California Davis dorm room occupied by a Jewish student.

The student this week found a two-inch swastika carved into her dorm room door. The freshman student, who asked not to be identified, told television station KXTV that she was scared and confused.

In letter sent Friday to students and faculty, UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi says the university will not ignore deliberate acts that demean and threaten others.

Campus authorities are searching for the vandal.

Muffti has been a way for a while, and he sees that the landscape has changed in his absence: writers are throwing around words like ‘reificatory’ akwardly and the Middle is back to posting (ugh) Idan Raichel videos. But anyhow, he saw this in the news and thought it worth posting. It’s long; but Muffti thought the most interesting quote was this:

Hamas cannot make peace with the Israelis…That is against what their God tells them. It is impossible to make peace with infidels, only a cease-fire, and no one knows that better than I.”

Mosab Hassan Yousef’s God these days is the Christian one, as he converted years back. The story is extremely interesting as Muffti is sure his book will be. Here’s the rest from the Times Online.

The son of one of Hamas’s founding members was a spy in the service of Israel for more than a decade, helping prevent dozens of Islamist suicide bombers from finding their targets, it emerged today.

Codenamed the Green Prince by Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, supplied key intelligence on an almost daily basis from 1996 onwards and tracked down suicide bombers and their handlers from his father’s organization, the daily Haaretz said.

Information he supplied led to the arrests of some of the most wanted men by Israeli forces, including Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah leader often tipped as a potential president who was convicted of masterminding terrorist attacks, and one of Hamas’ top bomb-makers Abdullah Barghouti, who is no relation of the jailed Fatah chief.

Mr Yousef, a 32-year-old convert to Christianity who now lives in California, has revealed the intrigues of his years as a spy in a new book called Son of Hamas, much to the concern of Shin Bet, whose operations will be revealed in detail. While the revelations may give a boost to Israel’s intelligence service, whose external counterpart Mossad is still grappling with the diplomatic fall-out of last month’s Hamas assassination in Dubai, there will be concern that the account may give too many insights into the murky world of espionage.

However, Mr Yousef’s work will be far more damaging to Hamas, whose brutality he denounced. Dubai police have suggested that Mahmoud al-Mabhuh, the top Hamas militant found dead in a hotel room in the emirate on January 20, may have been betrayed by an insider from the Islamist movement itself.

And Mr Yousef had harsh words for the movement that his father helped form, and which now rules the Gaza Strip after a bloody takeover in summer 2007. “Hamas cannot make peace with the Israelis,” he told the daily. “That is against what their God tells them. It is impossible to make peace with infidels, only a cease-fire, and no one knows that better than I. The Hamas leadership is responsible for the killing of Palestinians, not Israelis.”

Mr Yousef’s former Israeli handler, identified only as Captain Loai, praised the resolve of his agent, whose codename derived from the colour of Islam – and Hamas’ – banner and from his exalted position within an organization that regularly kills those suspected of collaborating with the Jewish state.

“So many people owe him their life and don’t even know it,” he said. “The amazing thing is that none of his actions were done for money. He did things he believed in. He wanted to save lives. His grasp of intelligence matters was just as good as ours — the ideas, the insights. One insight of his was worth 1,000 hours of thought by top experts.”

Mr Yousef, whose father is still in an Israeli jail cell, from where he was elected as an MP in 2006, went as far as tracking down would-be kamikazes himself in the streets of the West bank during the Second Intifada which erupted a decade ago and left thousands of Palestinians and Israelis dead. On one occasion he followed a bomber from Manara Square in the centre of Ramallah, just north of Jerusalem.

“We didn’t know his name or what he looked like — only that he was in his 20s and would be wearing a red shirt,” said the former handler. “We sent the Green Prince to the square and with his acute sense, he located the target within minutes. He saw who picked him up, followed the car and made it possible for us to arrest the suicide bomber and the man who was supposed to give him the belt. So another attack was thwarted, though no one knows about it. No one opens Champagne bottles or bursts into song and dance. This was an almost daily thing for the Prince. He displayed courage, had sharp antennae and an ability to cope with danger.”

Mr Yousef, who converted from Islam to Christianity a decade ago – in itself, a dangerous act – was arrested by the Israelis in 1996 and within a year had been recruited by Shin Bet, then released to begin working as an informant.

Speaking by telephone from California, Mr Yousef told Haaretz he worried that the Israeli Government might release some of the prisoners he helped put behind bars in exchange for Gilad Schalit, a young Israeli soldier abducted by Hamas from the Gaza border more than three years ago.

“I wish I were in Gaza now,” he said. “I would put on an army uniform and join Israel’s special forces in order to liberate Gilad Schalit. If I were there, I could help. We wasted so many years with investigations and arrests to capture the very terrorists that they now want to release in return for Schalit. That must not be done.”

It’s a steep number but would it ever be great to get him back, after three years. From Cnn.

Israel could release 980 Palestinian prisoners in a possible deal to win the freedom of an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas for three years, prosecutors disclosed Sunday.
The number from Israel’s State Prosecutor’s Office is the first official estimate of how many Palestinians could be freed in exchange for Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was captured in a 2006 Hamas raid near the Israel-Gaza border.
Prosecutors disclosed the number in response to demands, made by the families of Israelis killed by Palestinians, that the government disclose the terms of a potential deal with Hamas.
In papers filed with Israel’s high court, the prosecutor’s office said the government is considering an initial release of 450 prisoners in the first phase of a deal, with another 530 prisoners slated to be freed in a second phase. No prisoner names were released with the numbers.
Relatives of Israelis slain by Palestinians have petitioned the court to force the government to release more information about the details of a possible exchange. Many of them have been vocal opponents of plans to release prisoners they believe may commit acts of violence again.
Israel and Hamas have been negotiating Shalit’s release through third-party mediators from Egypt and Germany, but talks have started and stalled numerous times. Shalit’s freedom has become a condition for the Israelis to consider ending a blockade that has economically wounded the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Speculation about a possible deal emerged last week after Israeli President Shimon Peres met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Egypt, and hinted that the talks could be at a critical juncture. But Israel’s government is obligated to publicly announce the list of any prisoners to be released and allow 48 hours for objections before a deal can take place.
Shalit was 19 when he was captured on June 25, 2006, by Palestinian militants from Gaza, including those from Hamas, the Palestinian faction that controls the territory. Israel immediately launched a military incursion into Gaza to rescue Shalit, but failed.
In October, Hamas gave Israel a minute-long “proof of life” tape of the captured soldier in return for the release of 20 female prisoners. The video showed Shalit sitting in a chair, reading a newspaper dated September 14, 2009, and saying he was in good health.

Muffti is glad they got him. What a strange story. The man was granted the right to carry a handgun despite suspicion of murder. He confessed to murders in 2000 but the shin-bet claimed it wasn’t him that did the shooting. He managed to smuggle in a hand gun by plane.

Muffti believed in the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, but dude did claim in court that ‘it was my pleasure and honor to serve God…I have no regrets’. Here is the story from Jpost.

The state on Thursday filed a 25-page indictment against US-born, alleged Jewish terrorist Ya’acov Teitel, which included two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of attempted murder and involved 14 separate incidents between 1997 and 2008.

The indictment was filed and will be heard in Jerusalem District Court.

Teitel’s lawyer, Adi Keidar, told the court he needed one month to study the evidence before his client would be ready to answer the charges.

The state’s representative, Saguy Ophir, told the court the indictment was based on Teitel’s confession and on forensic evidence based on a DNA sample that was found at the scene of one of the crimes.

As he walked into the courtroom, Teitel more or less confessed that he was guilty of the acts for which he was charged.

“It was my pleasure and honor to serve my God,” he declared. “God is proud of what I have done. I have no regrets.”

The indictment goes into great detail as to how Teitel smuggled a handgun into Israel during a visit he made in 1997, when he decided to avenge terrorist attacks against Israelis. He took apart the gun and hid the metal pieces in a video player that he carried on board the plane, while sticking the plastic parts in his pocket.

His first alleged killing took place on June 8, 1997. He obtained bullets for the gun by signing up for a target shooting exercise, renting a gun and purchasing 200 bullets of the same caliber that his own gun used, according to the indictment. He put 15 of the bullets aside. He then rented a car and parked it near the Holyland Hotel in Jerusalem. Teitel returned downtown by bus and headed towards east Jerusalem where he hailed an Arab taxicab. During the 15-minute ride to the Holyland Hotel, Teitel talked to the driver, Samir Balbisi, to make sure he was Arab. When they reached the hotel, Teitel kept talking until he saw that Balbisi was looking straight ahead. He took the gun out of his briefcase and fired one shot to the back of Balbisi’s head, all according to the indictment.

The second incident occurred on August 3, 1997, after Teitel had worked as a shepherd for a family in Sussiya in the South Hebron Hills.

According to the indictment, Teitel noticed that many Palestinians walked along the roads in the area and decided to kill one of them. He rented a car, loaded his pistol and drove towards Sussiya. At 6:30 p.m., he spotted Issa Massaf walking alone. On the pretext of asking him directions, Teitel got Massaf to approach the car and shot him in the chest, again all according to the indictment.

Other incidents for which Teitel was charged include:

• Attempted murder: On March 1, 2003, Teitel allegedly booby-trapped a flashlight with explosives and left it at the entrance to the courtyard of a Palestinian house. It was set to go off as soon as anyone turned the light on.

• Attempted murder: At around the same time, Teitel purportedly poured anti-freeze into bottles of juice and left them at a Palestinian village near the Eli settlement.

• Attempted murder: On March 20, 2008, Teitel allegedly left a booby-trapped Purim gift at the home of the leader of the messianic Christian community in Ariel, David Ortiz. His son Ami opened the wrapping and the bomb exploded, severely wounding him. He suffered burns, broken ribs, and shrapnel wounds throughout his body, including his eyes. Ami Ortiz spent several months in hospital and is still undergoing treatment.

One of the best-known of the alleged assaults by Teitel involved former Hebrew University professor and Israel Prize winner Ze’ev Sternhell. Teitel purportedly planted a bomb outside Sternhell’s home in Jerusalem and prepared it to go off when anyone opened the front door. Sternhell opened the door, the bomb exploded and he suffered shrapnel wounds to his thighs.

Teitel also allegedly targeted homosexuals and the police, who, in his opinion, deserved it for protecting the gay community during their parades in Jerusalem.

The use and abuse of the swastika for political purposes is no new thing: the left used it to characterize Bush, the right has used it at tea parties to characterize Obama (or at least his proposed policies). Comparisons to Hitler? The left did it, the right did it and probably once in a while the centre got caught up with an unfortunate analogy or two.

But, The clear abuse of photos of dead bodies from Dachau? Ugh. .

And one more offensive poster to boot:

Muffti really doesn’t know why people on the left or the right tolerate this kind of thing at rallies when it aids to their delegitimization – it’s awfully easy to ignore thousands of peoples’ legitimate concerns when you see an anti-semitic sign or someone comparing the attempt to cover more americans with concentration camp murder.

Fail.

Yet more evidence that CNN is rather behind the curve…when you basically open up with a paragraph like this, one has to wonder if you are a real news organization or, more like, um, Jewlicious. Let’s see what light investigative reporting has shed:

A blogger writes about how one of Judaism’s holiest days ended, for her, in a strip club, while elsewhere a guy strolls into a tattoo parlor requesting a Star of David. Two women exchange wedding vows in a Jewish ceremony, and hipsters toss back bottles of HE’BREW, The Chosen Beer. A full-time software developer prepares to lead a group in Jewish prayer, as a PhD candidate in Jewish thought pens a letter criticizing Israel’s policies.

I’m shocked and amazed. If you want to find out about a magazine called ‘Heeb‘ that sometimes puts provocative pictures and messages on their cover, go check out CNN on New Jews.

And here Muffti is giving it the attention it doesn’t deserve. But he really likes the line about the ‘moral obligations of a celebrity’. Does anyone of our readers know which passage of the talmud concerns those? From CNN.

Jon Gosselin’s actions haven’t been too kosher lately.
But now, given relationship dramas and bad press, the father in “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ is looking to a higher authority.
In a statement released to CNN, Gosselin said he is receiving “regular study sessions and counseling” with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, well known as a spiritual adviser to Michael Jackson.

Boteach, the author of the book “The Michael Jackson Tapes” and host of TLC’s “Shalom in the Home” series, has linked up with the beleaguered “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ for an upcoming seminar titled “Fame: Blessing or Curse?” to be held at a synagogue in New York City.
Gosselin said in his statement that he is “troubled to learn that the media has accepted as true the scurrilous rumor that I would appear in a reality television program with Nadya Suleman” and goes on to say that such reports are “utterly false.”

“I do however accept that some of my previous actions have in some way lent credence to such outrageous stories,” Gosselin said. “I am well aware that my behavior over the past few months has not always reflected my personal and religious values. I further accept that I have allowed myself to become somewhat severed from my own moral anchor and be carried away by the challenges of fame.”

For that reason, the father of possibly the most famous set of twins and sextuplets said he has sought the spiritual guidance of Boteach, who is himself no stranger to the camera.

Boteach bills himself as “one of the world’s leading relationship experts and spiritual authorities.”

According to his author bio in “The Michael Jackson Tapes,” Newsweek referred to him as “the most famous rabbi in America.” Among his achievements: a National Fatherhood Award.

Gosselin could certainly use the help.

Since his high profile breakup with his wife in August, the reality star has been slammed for reports of his involvement with other women and extravagant spending sprees.

Earlier this month TLC announced he would be cut from the show and that plans were under way for a “Kate Plus 8″ series. That show was put on hold after Jon refused to allow his children to be filmed. The network has since filed suit against him for breach of contract.
He and his estranged wife also headed to court after she accused him of looting their joint account of more than $200,000. A Pennsylvania judged ordered him to return $180,000.

Most recently, Gosselin’s girlfriend, Hailey Glassman, accused him of being “emotionally abusive” and throwing “mantrums” because of his frustrations.

Gosselin said in the statement that he regrets having “betrayed the moral principles that have always guided me” and said he is committed to making things right with Kate and his children.

He turned to Boteach, he said, because the rabbi has counseled others in similar circumstances. Gosselin said Boteach has made clear to him the “moral obligations inherent in celebrity.”

“It is my sincere desire to use the fame I have so unexpectedly acquired to highlight mature, responsible behavior as well as the joys of fatherhood and family,” he said. “I ask the public to please understand the challenges I face in living under constant public scrutiny, even as I am aware that I have at times courted that scrutiny.”

OK, well, he re-affirmed the myth that Jews are money grubbing thieves who would rip-off even their own people and institutions. But, he did apparently party like it was 1999. A lot. His office was described recently as the ‘north pole’ on account of cocaine use in a recent lawsuit. When he realized the end was nigh, he bought cars and bling like a gangsta. From CNN:

NEW YORK (CNN) — A new lawsuit alleges that convicted swindler Bernie Madoff financed a cocaine-fueled work environment and a “culture of sexual deviance,” and he diverted money to his London, England, office when he believed federal authorities were closing in at home.

A new lawsuit alleges Bernie Madoff financed a sex-and-drugs workplace with investors’ money.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in New York’s State Supreme Court, was brought on behalf of former investors and seeks unspecified punitive damages and compensation.

Beyond that, it offers a look at what the plaintiffs’ attorneys say was once Madoff’s multimillion-dollar empire and what is now his world in a federal prison in North Carolina.

Among the allegations in the 264-page lawsuit are that during the mid-1970s, Madoff began sending employees to buy drugs for company use.

The complaint alleges that some employees and investors were aware of the drug purchases, and that BMIS [Bernard Madoff Investment Services] was known by insiders as the “North Pole” in reference to the excessive amount of cocaine use in the work place.

Attorneys Joseph Cochett and Nancy Fineman filed the complaint based on an investigation, including a four-hour interview with Madoff in prison in July, that they conducted for former investors. They also allege that major financial institutions, including KPMG, the Bank of New York and JP Morgan Chase, were aware that Madoff was transferring stolen funds to his London office for personal purchases.

According to the complaint, Madoff transferred funds to London to buy extravagant personal items.

“In 2006 Madoff thought the end was near because the [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission] investigated. He realized he had to change things up so his focus shifted to London,” Fineman said. “We know that KPMG were the auditors for the London branch and that money was used to buy yachts and Bentleys, they are supposed to look at related-party transactions. KPMG should have noticed these as a red flag.”

Officials of KPMG and the Bank of New York did not immediately respond to calls from CNN Wednesday evening for comment on the lawsuit.

JP Morgan Chase spokesman Tom Kelly said, “We do not comment on pending litigation.”

The alleged illicit behavior outlined in the complaint did not stop at drug use and extravagant spending. Company parties consisted of topless entertainers, and some employees had affairs in places such as Madoff’s own office, the lawsuit says.

Madoff was fond of escorts and masseuses, and used money stolen from investors to pay them, according to the complaint.

Madoff was convicted of operating a Ponzi scheme and defrauding thousands of investors. He pleaded guilty in March to 11 counts, including fraud, money laundering and perjury, and was sentenced to 150 years in prison. Prosecutors have said it was the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single person, totaling billions in losses to investors.

Before Madoff, 71, was transferred to Federal Butner Correctional Complex outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, he lived a life of luxury. The lawsuit states that he had multimillion dollar residences in Manhattan, Montauk on New York’s Long Island; Palm Beach, Florida; and Cap d’Antibe, France.

The complaint includes details of Madoff’s drastically different life now in prison. He lives in a cell where he sleeps on the bottom bunk while up top sleeps his 21-year-old cellmate, who is serving time for drug crimes, according to the lawsuit. Madoff’s recreational activities consist of walking around the prison track at night, and eating pizza cooked by a convicted child molester, the lawsuit says.

Madoff now spends his time with infamous inmates, the lawsuit says, including Carmine Persico, a former organized-crime former boss, and Jonathan Pollard, a convicted spy for Israel. Many of his fellow inmates are in prison for drug and sex crimes, according to the lawsuit.

Going after large financial institutions that allegedly allowed Madoff’s scheme to flourish is the goal of Fineman and her associates.

“Our goal of meeting with Madoff during the investigation is to get as much money back from responsible parties and that’s why lawsuits are filed and why lawyers do what they do,” Fineman said. “Even now, 10 months later, the pain in the victims’ voices is still evident. I still hear it when I talk to people who were being defrauded for so long.”

According to the complaint, Fineman and Cochett are seeking punitive and compensatory damages for their clients with “an amount to be determined at trial, including interest thereon.”

Fineman said that during the prison interview with Madoff, “He said he was apologetic, but he didn’t seem apologetic.”

“I forgot I was in prison, he was talking to us as if we were in a restaurant — he has quite an ego, you could see why people would be drawn to him,” Fineman said.

“He told us things that were self-serving to him,” she said. “But he told me he knew he would die in prison.