Hasta La Gadget!

PARIS (AP) — French authorities are forbidding pro-Palestinian protests in some cities after violence marred a recent march against the violence in Gaza, as Jewish-Muslim tensions in France have reached their highest level in years.

Moderates on both sides called Wednesday for calm, and for a halt to fighting in the Mideast. France has Western Europe’s largest Muslim and Jewish populations, and Israeli-Palestinian unrest often translates into anger between the communities. After several thousand pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched peacefully Sunday through Paris, clashes broke out among small groups, including some who attacked synagogues, Jewish stores and neighborhoods.

Militants from the Jewish Defense League were also involved in violence against pro-Palestinian demonstrators, according to Roger Cukierman, head of France’s leading Jewish organization, CRIF.

Speaking Wednesday to the Associated Press, he denounced the league’s violent methods and lamented that its actions Sunday — including provoking pro-Palestinian protesters — could further inflame anger.

Several demonstrations have been held in recent days calling for an end to Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

A march was planned for Paris on Saturday. A police official said Wednesday said it would be banned because of “the serious risk of disruption of public order that such a protest could engender, in a context of heightened tension.” The official, who wasn’t authorized to be publicly named, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Authorities have also banned protests in Nice and Lille.

The French government is pushing for a cease-fire in Gaza and to calm tensions at home.

French authorities are struggling to stem the flow of young Muslim radicals, facing dim job prospects and discrimination in France, from heading to Syria to fight with extremists. Meanwhile French Jews are emigrating in record numbers for Israel.

“The Jewish population is worried because they are finding themselves cornered on the one hand by the right, the extreme right, which is gaining electoral support, and is still anti-Semitic in its ideology and in its ranks, and on the other hand, by pro-Palestinian forces, by the extreme left, by disaffected youth from suburban housing projects, and by the Muslim population in general,” renowned Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld said Wednesday at a memorial service in remembrance of Jews deported during World War II.

“History tells us that when there is an anti-Jewish movement we cannot control, the best thing to do is to move to another country,” he said.

Cukierman described the current tensions as the worst in decades.

During other intifadas in recent years, when anger mounted in France, he said, “We heard death to Israelis. Now we hear death to Jews.” He said anti-Arab discrimination in France feeds the anger.

He called for calm, and acknowledged that forbidding protests can be “delicate, because there is freedom of expression.”

Sofiane Benzaroual, a 22-year-old student protesting Wednesday in Paris against Israeli attacks in Gaza, said the violence against synagogues Sunday “tarnished the Palestinian flag, because the majority of Palestinians want peace, they don’t want violence.”

At the same protest stood Serge Grossvak, a member of the Parisian Jewish community. He carried a poster reading: “I am Jewish and I am here with my friends for peace.”

___

Louise Dewast and Milos Krivokapic in Paris contributed to this report.

This post was co-authored with Ron Gilran.

The saying “the third time’s the charm” has never been so popular among Israelis as the Jewish State fights its third major conflict with Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip in five years. With rockets targeting all of Israel’s major cities for the first time in history, everyone here seems to agree that it’s time for a paradigm shift — that the goals of this conflict should amount to more than just buying time with deterrence before a fourth round of even deadlier violence.

The Obama administration and other regional players have wrongfully suggested that the ceasefire understandings reached following the last round in 2012, known as Operation Pillar of Defense, should be restored to end the current conflict. For those seeking peace, such logic brings to mind Einstein’s infamous definition of insanity, with regard to repeatedly making the same mistake and expecting different results.

Though they are forbidden from voicing opposition to Hamas, most Gazans likely share Israeli sentiments that this round must be the last one. Hamas’s rockets now threaten 80 percent of Israel’s population, hitting the country’s economy hard at the height of the tourism season. Gaza is in its worst state since Hamas took power in 2007, and the Islamist group’s governing ability is crumbling at the hands of a joint Egyptian-Israeli blockade, unprecedented regional isolation, and the rising tide of al Qaeda inspired jihadists.

Having failed at slowing its political marginalization with the recent reconciliation agreement with its Fatah rivals, Hamas took an existential gamble by entering into a conflict with Israel. By drawing the spotlight on suffering in Gaza once again, Hamas aims to shame Egypt into opening the Rafah border crossing and coerce the Palestinian Authority into paying the salaries of over 42,000 increasingly angry government employees in Gaza whom Hamas has been unable to compensate for the past three months. Using its unprecedented rocket arsenal, attack tunnels, drones and commando raids, Hamas sought to salvage its image among the Palestinian populace ahead of general elections still slated to take place next winter.

But for the time being, the only result of Hamas’ gamble has been the destruction and death brought upon Gaza by invading ground troops and aircraft seeking to target tunnels and rocket launchers. Due to Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system, Hamas has been unable to inflict mass casualties with their rockets, while every threatened “surprise” cross border raid has been thwarted by the Israeli military.

Despite the IDF’s performance, there is a quiet consensus in Jerusalem that military solutions to bring long-term quiet are limited. The current ground incursion is likely to only accomplish what cannot be done from the air, and that is to destroy tunnels, curb Hamas rocket fire, and force the group into a ceasefire. Only a complete recapturing of the Gaza Strip could bring an end to the rocket fire, but would cost Israel crucial international legitimacy, treasure and politically-threatening troop casualties. Lastly, with Fatah unwilling and incapable of taking control of Gaza, dismantling Hamas would make it possible for even more dangerous jihadi groups to fill the void.

There is, however, a rare opportunity for a regional arrangement which could ultimately bring an end to the cycle of violence in Gaza. As part of any ceasefire, the international community should demand that Hamas dismantle its rockets and those of other fringe groups in exchange for a lifting of the blockade by Israel and Egypt. Israeli government officials are increasingly citing the Syrian example of a successful case where a credible threat of military force succeeded in extracting destabilizing weapons from the region, in a sign that Jerusalem may be warming up to such an agreement.

Critics in Israel and abroad are likely to cite the failure of attempts to disarm Hezbollah as part of UN resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Lebanon War. This time, however, is different. Unlike Hezbollah, Hamas no longer has an open border with which to smuggle advanced weapons and other materials. Though Hamas is becoming increasingly adept at manufacturing its own rockets, it knows that such weapons cannot fill the stomachs of Palestinian children, or put their parents back to work. Hamas is almost entirely dependent on a lifting of the blockade to maintain its seat of power in Gaza, and should be presented with the choice of either abandoning its program or undergoing a complete collapse.

Hamas’s rejection of Egypt’s latest ceasefire offer on earlier this week proves that the group does not feel sufficiently threatened to make the concessions that would allow for a lifting of the Gaza blockade. Unified international pressure, including from Hamas’s last remaining backers Qatar and Turkey, is needed alongside assurances that its political stature in the Palestinian arena will be preserved. A UN-mandated multinational force assembled by moderate regional governments should be deployed to oversee the disarmament. If Hamas’s rule collapses, this force would be able to facilitate the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.

For those seeking stability in the eastern Mediterranean, time is running out to mobilize this daring yet doable solution. Israel will continue to intensify its military operations in Gaza until the rockets stop or international pressure swells as a result of civilian casualties, forcing its hand and allowing Hamas to escape without demands to disarm. In a true testament to its character, Hamas is hoping for the latter scenario — anything to preserve its rockets for the next round of destabilizing violence.

Multi-million dollar apartments are a dime a dozen these days on the New York City real estate scene. But one covered in taxidermy? Well, that’s another thing. And if you happen to be in the market for one, you’re in luck.

Apartment 3J at the Beresford apartment complex, one of the most prestigious prewar cooperatives in New York City, is for sale and it’s covered in stuffed and mounted animal heads.

According to The New York Times, the apartment owner, Gregory Speck, once aspired to be a zoologist. Just take one look at his two-bedroom two-bath co-op and Speck’s passion is clear. But it all depends which photo you’re looking at.

Since the taxidermy is a negotiable part of the $3,395,000 sale, listing agent Halstead Properties have presented prospective buyers with two sets of photos: One that shows the apartment as-is and another, which has most of the taxidermy edited out.

Which version would you choose?

A New York resident died Thursday after police officers put the man, who was asthmatic, in a chokehold before apparently slamming his head on the ground.

The New York Daily News obtained exclusive video of the incident, which shows Eric Garner, 43, begging officers to let him breathe as he lies on the ground helpless.

Now, his family is demanding accountability from the NYPD.

Police said Garner, who was a married father of six children, died of a heart attack during the arrest, according to The Associated Press. The NYPD said Garner had been seen selling untaxed cigarettes, and that he had been arrested before for the same offense.

In the video, Garner denied the allegations and asked a plainclothes officer why he was stopped.

“Every time you see me you want to mess with me,” Garner told cops in the video. “I’m tired of it. It stops today!”

When Garner refused to put his hands behind his back, and asked one officer not to touch him, two others moved in to make the arrest.

Video shows at least one officer putting Garner in a chokehold and slamming him on the ground.

Garner can be heard screaming “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe!” before going quiet.

Multiple witnesses to the death expressed anger at the NYPD.

“They jumped him and they were choking him. He was foaming at the mouth,” 22-year-old Ramsey Orta, who took the video, told The Daily News. “And that’s it, he was done. The cops were saying, ‘No, he’s OK, he’s OK.’ He wasn’t OK.”

Another witness said Garner was “absolutely not selling cigarettes,” Staten Island Live reported.

Those who knew Garner described him as a “gentle giant” and “a big teddy bear,” according to the publication. His family members, including his wife Esaw Garner, said her husband suffered from chronic asthma.

Police told The AP that an investigation into his death is ongoing. The NYPD said Garner “took a fighting stance” and “absolutely resisted arrest.”

At a memorial for Garner Thursday night, family members, friends and supporters asked for justice.

“Is this cop still going to be on the force?” one woman asked SI Live. “Is this cop still going to be able to do this to somebody else?”

Community residents are attempting to organize a march on Friday.

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Most people do crossword puzzles over a cup of coffee. But with the Crossword Puzzle mug, you’ll be able to do yours on the mug itself. As the name implies, it’s a mug with a blank crossword grid printed on it.

The coolest part? You can write on it and jot down solutions to actual puzzles. A puzzle is provided on the mug’s box to get you started. When you’re done with that, don’t fret because you can check the Crossword Mug website every month for a new puzzle. Just be sure to write on it with the included pencil, and don’t use ink.

It’s like the mug that keeps on giving – and the fact that it can hold your daily cup of Joe or your preferred beverage (if you’re not into coffee) makes it even more awesome.

The Crossword Mug is available from Amazon for $12.95(USD).

[via Holy Cool]