Comments (0)Israeli is King of Chess World Cup
December 17, 2009Jerusalem
JTA Wire Service
Israel’s top-ranked player won the 2009 Chess World Cup.
Boris Gelfand, a grand master from Rishon LeZion, defeated former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine in a playoff Monday in the Russian town of Khanty-Mansiysk to take the $120,000 top prize. Gelfand, 41, was the No. 1 seed among 128 players in the event, which had a prize pool of $1.6 million.
Ranked sixth in the world, Gelfand is now eligible to compete in the 2010 World Championships as one of the eight best players in the world.
He immigrated to Israel from Belarus in 1998.
Israeli Police Blow Up American Student’s Laptop
Israeli border police questioned an American student and blew up her laptop computer when she entered the country through Egypt.
Lily Sussman, 21, was questioned Nov. 30 for two to three hours and had all of her possessions thoroughly searched. She recorded the incident in detail on her blog.
“They had pressed every sock and scarf with a security device, ripped open soap and had me strip extra layers,” wrote Sussman, a Northeastern University student. “They asked me tons of questions—where are you going? Who do you know? Do you have a boyfriend? Is he Arab, Egyptian, Palestinian? Why do you live in Egypt? Why not Israel? What do you know about the ‘conflict’ here? What do you think? They quizzed me on Judaism, which I know nothing about.”
Sussman wrote that she heard on the loudspeaker system that Israel security was going to blow up a suspicious piece of luggage.
“I went inside to check on my bag. I had left it unattended, where they instructed. It was still there so I went back outside,” she wrote. “Moments later a man came outside and introduced himself as the manager on duty. And then, ‘I’m sorry but we had to blow up your laptop.’ “
Sussman reported that she was able to salvage her hard drive and thus several years’ worth of work. She said the security officials gave her an address where she could have her laptop replaced for free.
Responding to the story, the Israel Airports Authority said that “A check that the lady’s luggage underwent raised an indication that required security figures to act according to procedures. A police officer, who carried out the stated operation, was called to the scene.”
The authority said the Israel Police should be approached for additional information.
Fashion Chain’s Christmas Trees Unfashionable in Israel
A Spanish fashion chain has removed many of the Christmas trees in its Israeli store windows after customer complaints.
The Zara chain added Chanukah candles to its displays this week in recognition of the Jewish holiday being celebrated, Ynet reported Tuesday.
The stores had Christmas trees in four of its main stores across the country and no Chanukah symbols, the news site reported.
A ZARA customer service representative told Ynet that franchisers are obligated to act in accordance with global ZARA rules.
“We have Christian, Jewish and Muslim customers, and we are a melting pot for all clients,” the representative said. “Therefore, the Israeli branches don’t deviate from the international concept and don’t look any different from the branches in Spain.”
This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.