by K.P. Nayar

Just when it appeared that India-Israel relations had hit a plateau, a trailblazing project is under way which has the potential to change the bilateral relationship from one that is still largely cloak-and-dagger and under-cover to one the two peoples can genuinely embrace.

When the documentary, Shalom Bollywood, by the Australian academic and filmmaker, Danny Ben-Moshe, is completed and released, hopefully later this year, it may well be possible to draw a parallel between the engagement of each other by New Delhi and Tel Aviv on the one hand and India’s legendary people-to-people relationship with the Soviet Union on the other.

Ben-Moshe’s talk at the embassy, headlined “The 100th anniversary of Indian cinema: the Jewish story” and supported by B’nai B’rith International, a 170 year-old Jewish advocacy organization...more.

by Ron Kampeas

In the battle to end the across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration, it's all hands on deck.

Increasingly for the Obama administration, which is deadlocked over the budget with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, that means reaching out to Jews.

Jewish groups favor continuing foreign assistance, and not just to Israel. B’nai B’rith International welcomed the $52 billion allocation, calling it “a serious effort to address America’s strategic interests abroad in an era of fiscal austerity.” ...more.

Jewish organizations are calling for Richard Falk of the United Nations to step down following comments he made in an online essay suggesting that U.S. and Israeli policies were responsible for the Boston Marathon explosions.

Falk, who serves as a special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), wrote in an article titled “A Commentary on the Marathon Murders” on the Foreign Policy Journal website that the Boston Marathon explosions were “retribution” for the actions of the U.S. military in the Middle East, which he considers part of the “the American global domination project.”

B’nai B’rith International also called for Falk to be removed from his UN position.

“We once again call for Falk’s removal from his position within the UNHRC. His latest string of inflammatory remarks—whether it be on the Internet or in one of his “reports” to the council—has no place in the United Nations and his continued presence at the UNHRC further undermines the credibility of the system,” B’nai B’rith International said in a statement...more.

by Lauren Izso

UN Human Rights Council’s Palestine monitor Richard Falk has drawn connections between the recent Boston Marathon bombing and US President Barack Obama’s compliance with the State of Israel.

In an article titled “A Commentary on the Marathon Murders” in the online Foreign Policy Journal, Falk, a self-proclaimed advocate of 9/11 conspiracy theories, implies the Boston attack was largely due to Obama’s recent trip to Israel.

“As long as Tel Aviv has the compliant ear of the American political establishment, those who wish for peace and justice in the world should not rest easy,” he writes.

B’nai B’rith International also called for Falk’s removal from the Human Rights Council, saying that his “latest string of inflammatory remarks – whether it be on the Internet or in one of his ‘reports’ to the council – has no place in the United Nations, and his continued presence at the UNHRC further undermines the credibility of the system.” ...more.

Richard Falk, an official for the U.N. Human Rights Council, in an online commentary blamed the Boston Marathon bombing on "Tel Aviv."

"(A)s long as Tel Aviv has the compliant ear of the American political establishment, those who wish for peace and justice in the world should not rest easy," Falk, the council's special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, wrote in an Op-Ed posted to the online Foreign Policy Journal on Tuesday.

Falk, who has said the George W. Bush administration was complicit in the 9/11 attacks, also called the Boston attack “retribution” for the actions of the U.S. military in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

In recent months, Falk published an anti-Semitic cartoon on his blog and called for a boycott of Israel.

B'nai B'rith International called for Falk's removal from the Human Rights Council, saying that his "latest string of inflammatory remarks -- whether it be on the Internet or in one of his 'reports' to the council -- has no place in the United Nations and his continued presence at the UNHRC further undermines the credibility of the system." ...more.

Some victims of the April 15th bomb bast at the Boston Marathan will benefit from B'nai B'rith's Disaster Relief Fund, the organization announced Thursday.
 
Close to 200 people were injured in the blast, which the White House has called a terrorist attack, and three people died.
 
“The images that came out of Boston this week were harrowing,"  B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs said in a statement. "It’s hard to watch the news following this tragedy and not want to reach out to those affected ... B’nai B’rith has helped disaster victims since 1865. Each disaster we help with has its own unique challenges. As always, we will carefully evaluate needs and provide assistance to address immediate needs and longer term efforts.” ...more.

by Emily Wax

Imagine that it’s the spring of 1913, in the dawn of Indian cinema — what we know today as that song-and-dance, escapist movie industry that is Bollywood.

Back then, it was considered unseemly for Hindu and Muslim actresses to appear on celluloid, so they hired burly men with trademark Indian mustaches to play women by dressing in bedazzled saris and bangles and prancing around. It all ends up looking a lot like a Monty Python skit.

Then, one day, a theater producer thought of a solution: Why not cast female Jewish Indian dancers as Hindu heroines, since their families allowed them to perform onstage? In a largely untold and nearly forgotten story, Indian Jewish actresses rose to become some of the most famous starlets during the golden age of Bollywood.

“Just when you thought you’ve heard it all,” chuckled Daniel Mariaschin, executive vice president of B’nai B’rith International, which, along with the Indian Embassy in Washington, sponsored a screening of clips from the forthcoming documentary “Shalom Bollywood: The Untold Story of Indian Cinema.” ...more.

A team of Israeli bio-fuel researchers are in the U.S. this week to engage in an extended dialogue with counterparts in the scientific community and government officials, according to a report from JTA, the global Jewish news service.

The 15 scientists who have made the trip were winners of the U.S.-Israel Bio-Energy Challenge, sponsored by two non-profit groups, the Israel Energy Partnership and the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Foundation.

“Israel is a global leader in cutting-edge R&D in this area, so we hope the dialogue they begin with American experts during their trip here will help both countries advance their common goal of independence from traditional fossil fuels,” said Allan Jacobs, international president of B’nai B’rith International...more.

Quoting B'nai B'rith International President Allan J. Jacobs and Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin: