Israel Newsbriefs from JNS.org

Palestinian supporters accuse Brad Pitt’s latest apocalyptic movie “World War Z” of pro-Israel bias by depicting Israel as one of the few countries in the world not immediately destroyed by zombies.

The viewers point to one scene showing a horde of zombies slowed by an enormous wall built around Israel, which they say resembles the security fence separating Israel from the West Bank. “In ‘World War Z’, Israel’s apartheid wall apparently helps keep out a massive horde of zombies … not cool,” one Twitter user posted, according to Israel National News.

Other viewers pointed out that Israel’s real security fence is intended to prevent Palestinian terrorists from entering Israel.

Depending on one’s interpretation of “World War Z,” the wall in the movie may actually function as a unifying force rather than a source of division. In the movie, both Jews and Muslims try to escape the zombies behind the wall.

“In the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a wall is a heavily fraught symbol. But here it turns into an instrument of... peace?” arts and entertainment writer Steven Zeitchik wrote on “World War Z” for the Los Angeles Times.

Jewish-American slain at Egyptian demonstration

Andrew Driscoll Pochter, a Jewish student at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, was fatally stabbed June 28 in Alexandria during clashes between government supporters and protesters trying to oust Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who was reportedly deposed by the Egyptian military on Wednesday.

Pochter, 21, from Chevy Chase, Md., was observing the Egyptian demonstrations, according to the U.S. State Department.

He had a special talent for making others feel welcome — especially when inviting them into the Hillel House on the campus of Kenyon, a private liberal arts college two hours south of Cleveland.

A religious studies major, Pochter spent the last academic year as co-manager of the Hillel House at Kenyon. He became a resident of the house and was responsible for all Jewish life programming that took place on campus. He was often the first person students came in contact with upon entering the Hillel House.

“He really made Hillel House an all-inclusive place that people felt comfortable entering no matter their background,” said Marc Bragin, Kenyon’s Hillel director and Jewish chaplain.

Pochter traveled to Egypt at the end of the academic year as an intern for AMIDEAST, an American nonprofit organization engaged in international education, training and development activities in the Middle East and North Africa. He taught English to Egyptian children and lived in an Egyptian home. He planned to return to Kenyon in the fall to begin his junior year and wanted to spend next spring’s semester in Amman, Jordan, to attain fluency in Arabic.

“Andrew’s voice and spirit will be missed on campus,” Bragin said. “When one shining light gets extinguished it’s up to us to continue his vision of peace, inclusiveness and fairness for everybody.”

Skeptical on Kerry

A large percentage of Israelis and Palestinians view peace efforts by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry with skepticism, says a new poll conducted by Harry S. Truman Institute at Hebrew University and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.

The poll also revealed that while 57 percent of the Israeli respondents supported mutual recognition of Israeli and Palestinian national identity in a final status agreement and 37 percent opposed that step, only 42 percent of Palestinians supported mutual recognition and 56 percent were against it.

According to the poll, only 27 percent of Palestinians and 10 percent of the Israelis think the two sides “will return to negotiations and violence will stop,” while 34 percent of Israelis and 31 percent of Palestinians “believe that negotiations will resume but some armed attacks will continue as well.”

Forty-four percent of Israelis and 15 percent of Palestinians think that the two sides will not return to negotiations and that “armed attacks will not stop.” A strong majority of both Israelis (68 percent) and Palestinians (69 percent) do not think there will be a Palestinian state within five years.

Since taking office in February, Kerry has made five visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories in a bid to restart peace talks. After concluding his most recent trip on Sunday, Kerry expressed disappointment in the conduct of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

PM on Herzl

On the day U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was set to arrive in Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu said peace “is founded on security, not goodwill.”

“Without security we will not be able to defend ourselves, and any peace we have will unravel,” Netanyahu said Thursday at a ceremony in Jerusalem commemorating the 109th anniversary of the death of the father of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, Israel Hayom reported.

“We remain faithful to Herzl’s vision: to establish here an exemplary state, a modern state, a state that is rooted in our land, the Land of Israel, but also a state that above all is able to give the Jews what was lost to them in their years of exile—the ability to defend themselves, by themselves, against any threat,” Netanyahu added.

McDonald’s boycots Ariel

McDonald’s Israel has said it will not open a branch in the city of Ariel, citing its location beyond the Green Line as the reason, Calcalist reported.

According to Tzahi Nahmias, owner of the Mega Or construction firm, which is marketing space in the Ariel mall that offered to host McDonald’s, other chains have also expressed concern over opening branches in Ariel because of its location, but refrained from naming them because they have yet to finalize their decisions.

“The mediators told us that branches operating abroad and other companies holding rights in Israel for international brand names are worried about the potential negative response toward their businesses [by consumers] abroad if they open shop in the mall,” Nahmias told Calcalist.

Rami Levy, owner of the Rami Levy supermarket chain, which operates beyond the Green Line, told Calcalist that Arabs would be among those hurt by the apparent boycott of the area.

“I don’t agree with bringing politics into business,” Levy said.

Flames lick Nasrallah

In Lebanon, the “flames have begun to lick [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah’s robe,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said Thursday at the Israel Air Force 166th cadets’ graduation ceremony, according to Israel Hayom.

Gantz’s somewhat unusual, direct statement on Nasrallah was made following Israeli defense establishment assessments that strategically, Hezbollah is currently experiencing one of its lowest points in years, as the Shiite terror group is engaged on three fronts: against Israel, inside Syria and within the internal Lebanese arena.

Archbishop backs Israel’s right to exist in security

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, affirmed Israel’s “right to exist in security and peace,” during his visit to the Jewish state on Thursday.

Welby, on a five-day tour of Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian areas, met with members of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, and prayed at the Western Wall.

“The clear policy of the Church of England, [and] my own very clear and very fluent feeling, is that the State of Israel is a legitimate state like every other state in the world and has a right to exist in security and peace within internationally agreed boundaries,” he told a press conference at the Israeli Chief Rabbinate.

Soon after becoming archbishop in November 2012, Welby discovered that his father was Jewish. He also recently learned that he had lost relatives in the Holocaust.

In light of his family’s history, he called his visit to Yad Vashem “an extraordinarily personal and emotional moment.”

‘Christian Birthright’

A group of 17 Christian college students recently traveled to Israel to take part in a three-week program to bolster their skills as pro-Israel advocates.

Described as “Christian Birthright,” a reference to the popular 10-day Taglit-Birthright program for young Jewish adults, the Israel Experience College Scholarship Program, which is in its 10th year, offers a wide range of students a free trip to Israel to expand the knowledge and skills that will enable them to be stronger advocates for Israel in college and in life.

According to the program’s website, the students learn about the Jewish roots of their faith, a history of Christian anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, modern Zionism, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.