Israelis shocked by ultra-Orthodox children dressed as Nazi Holocaust victims

*Israeli children dressed as Nazi Holocaust victims (AP)*

Tensions between ultra-Orthodox and less observant Jews in Israel continue to heat up. Gender-segregated bus lines and signs urging women to avoid places where men congregate or walk have been around for several years in the ultra-Orthodox area of Beit Shemesh in Israel. But the issue has been gaining widespread attention since an incident last month when zealots seeking gender separation spat at a schoolgirl they accused of dressing immodestly. Israelis were particularly outraged by weekend pictures of children of ultra-Orthodox Jews dressing up as Nazi concentration camp inmates. One child mimicked an iconic photo of a terrified Jewish boy in the Warsaw Ghetto. Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered Saturday night in Jerusalem to protest what they say is a nationwide campaign directed against their lifestyle. The protesters called Israeli policemen Nazis, wore yellow Star of David patches with the word “Jude” — German for Jew — dressed their children in striped black-and-white uniforms associated with Nazi concentration camps and transported them in the back of a truck. AP and Reuters and Haaretz

Syria’s opposition accuse government of deceiving Arab League monitors

Opposition activists in Syria have accused the regime of Bashar al-Assad of deceiving Arab League monitors. According to the accusations, the regime is hiding tanks and weapons and snipers temporarily when monitor visits are scheduled and is hiding hundreds of detainees in military installations, which the monitors are not permitted to visit. BBC

China’s aggressive military buildup forces U.S. change of strategy

*China’s DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile*

Formerly, Taiwan was the main point of potential military conflict between China and the U.S. But now, China’s claims to vast regions in the South China Sea and East China Sea are seen as more likely to cause military conflict, as neighbors protest China’s claims. China has built dozens of submarines armed with antiship cruise missiles to prevent U.S. aircraft carriers from operating in the disputed waters. Furthermore, the new DF-21D was built to strike a moving ship up to about 1,700 miles away. U.S. defense analysts say the missile is designed to come in at an angle too high for U.S. defenses against sea-skimming cruise missiles and too low for defenses against other ballistic missiles. China’s new weapons will prevent U.S. aircraft carriers from fulfilling its defense obligations to Japan and the Philippines. The U.S. is countering by developing pilotless, long-range drone aircraft that can take off from aircraft carriers and combat China’s ships without endangering American pilots. Wall Street Journal (Access)

China plans military base in Northern Pakistan

A secret report by India’s intelligence service has confirmed India’s worst fears–that China is planning a military base in Pakistan, in the tribal areas of the North. In addition, China wants to counterbalance Indian naval forces by having a naval base in Gwadar. “China’s deepening strategic penetration of Pakistan and joint plans to set up oil pipelines/rail/roads and naval and military bases are a matter of concern,” the report says. One of China’s concerns is countering Uighur Islamist militants operating from such areas for terrorist activities in Xinjiang. India Today

Britain and US to scale down military capability due to debt crisis

In the first meeting of Philip Hammond and Leon Panetta, the defense secretaries of the U.K. and the U.S., respectively, the two are expected to announce that they will scale down their military capabilities. According to Hammond:

Without strong economies and stable public finances it is impossible to build and sustain, in the long-term, the military capability required to project power and maintain defense. That is why today the debt crisis should be considered the greatest strategic threat to the future security of our nations. The fact is, in this era of austerity … not even the United States can afford the astronomical resource commitment required to deal with every threat from every source.

On Thursday, Panetta is expected to announce the results of a Pentagon strategic review, recommending that the US abandon its traditional goal of being able to fight, and win, two wars at the same time. The Pentagon has been asked for cuts of $400 billion. Guardian

National Security Council denies that Obama has been to Mars

Tommy Vietor, the spokesman for the National Security Council, has officially denied, on behalf of the administration, that President Obama has been to Mars. “Only if you count watching Marvin the Martian,” he said. He was responding to claims by two former Dept. of Defense researchers that Obama was part of a secret 1980s CIA project to explore Mars. Wired