The Nation’s Largest JEWISH CLASSIFIEDS (PAGE 45)
the
ewish Voice J Deuteronomy 32:1
M AY T H E E A RT H H E A R T H E WO R D S O F M Y M O U TH
June, 4 2010 | 22 Sivan 5770
New and Improved Luna Park Opens at Coney Island
Vol. 6, Iss. 23
www.JewishVoiceNY.com
ISRAEL STORMS GAZA ‘AID’ BOAT
Tensions Build At Meeting On Ground Zero Mosque A June 6th rally opposing the construction is planned
BY, FERN SIDMAN
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other Luna Park dignitaries going for a ride on the new Electra Spin attraction in Coney Island. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Central Amusement International celebrated the opening of Luna Park at Coney Island – a new 3.1 acre amusement park featuring 19 traditional and cuttingedge state-of-the-art rides from Zamperla S.P.A, the renowned Italian designer and manufacturer of amusement attractions.
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he first rides at Luna Park which opened last weekend, with the remaining rides to open in the coming days. It will remain open throughout Labor Day, and on weekends through Columbus Day, for its inaugural season. It is the first new amusement park to open in Coney Island in nearly 50 years and will more than double Coney Island’s total amusement area. Luna Park already employs more than 200 people, half of whom live in the Coney Island area. The Mayor was joined at Luna Park for the announcement by Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert C. Lieber, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Council Member Domenic M. Recchia, Jr., New York City Economic
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Israeli soldier with a paintball gun on Mavi Marmara (capture from a video) Israeli Naval Commandos rappelled onto a Turkish flotilla sailing to thwart an Israeli blockade of the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip, on Monday and were attacked by Palestinian supporters.
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ome of the troops were forced to dive into the sea to save themselves during several hours of hand-to-hand fighting that injured dozens of activists and seven soldiers. In the ensuing fire fight 9 rioters were killed and others were wounded as the Israelis defended themselves. All the wounded were taken for treatment to Israeli hospitals. Several hundred activists on the six boats were towed to The Israeli port city of Ashdod. The flotilla was an open act of defiance of Israeli sovereignty as Israel has imposed a legal blockade on the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip in coordination with Egypt. According to international maritime law Merchant vessels flying the flag of neutral states may not be attacked unless they are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refused to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture. Even though Israel was legally allowed to board the vessels under international law,
international condemnation was swift and harsh as Israel scrambled to explain how what was meant to be a simple takeover of a civilian vessel went awry saying that the action would have been peaceful if they had not been met with violence. Organizers of the flotilla said in advance that they intended to break the blockade and force would be needed to stop them. Even with this declaration, knowing that Israel might not back down from their threat to stop them they took along young children to act as human shields (none of the children on the boats were harmed). Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly canceled a planned meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington to rush home to deal with the situation from Canada. Most of the information about what happened on the single ship where violence broke out came from Israel, which cut off all communication to and from the activists and provided testimony and video evidence that its soldiers came under attack by activists armed with metal rods, knives, slingshots and two pistols snatched from the troops. Reports from an al-Jazeera reporter on the lead vessel, showed the beginnings of the
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A palpable tension filled the air on Greenwich Street in lower Manhattan on May 25th, as an emotionally charged meeting was held by Manhattan's Community Board 1 over the proposed construction of a 13-story mosque and cultural center just blocks away from Ground Zero, the site of the 9/11 Twin Towers terror attacks.
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fter four hours of rancorous public debate, hostilities reached a zenith when members of the board voted 29-1 with 10 abstentions in support of the plan. Several board members proposed a postponement of the vote until the next meeting in order to obtain more detailed information about funding of the project and the organizations sponsoring it, but the motion failed. The Cordoba Initiative, headed by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, is the chief sponsor of the project that is to be called The Cordoba House, a name that refers to the city in Spain which, in the Middle Ages, was a center of Islamic culture and learning. Cordoba was also the seat of an Islamic caliphate in which Jews and Christians suffered under secondclass dhimmi status. It was the site of a large-scale pogrom, perpetrated by Muslims, in the year 1011. The mosque to be built at 45 Park Place, is the site of a four story edif ice built in 1857 and was a Burlington Coat retail store until 9/11, when part of the plane's landing
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