German Minister Annette Schavan Quits Over Plagiarism
BBC: German Education Minister Annette Schavan has resigned after a university stripped her of her doctorate for plagiarism.

Duesseldorf's Heinrich Heine University voted last Tuesday to remove her doctorate following a review.

Ms Schavan, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, insisted she would still fight the university's ruling. » | Saturday,, February 09, 2013

DIE WELT: Bildungsministerin Annette Schavan tritt zurück: Die in der Plagiatsaffäre unter Druck geratene Bundesbildungsministerin Annette Schavan stellt ihr Amt zur Verfügung. Sie verkündete ihre Entscheidung gemeinsam mit Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel. » | AFP/ks | Samstag, 09. Februar 2013

German Education Minister Stripped of Doctorate

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Germany's education minister has been stripped of her doctorate after a committee of academics concluded that she plagiarised substantial parts of her 1980 thesis, which dealt with the formation of conscience.

Annette Schavan, 57, is the second minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet to lose a doctorate after being accused of plagiarism. Former defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg resigned from his post in 2011 after it emerged he copied large parts of his doctoral thesis.

Ms Schavan, who denied the allegations, plans to appeal the decision by Duesseldorf's Heinrich Heine University, German news agency DPA reported.

The head of the academic committee that voted 12 to two, with one abstention, to remove Schavan's doctorate said the decision followed a thorough review of her thesis. The plagiarism allegations were first raised last year by an anonymous blogger. » | Wednesday, February 06, 2013

DIE WELT: "Die Entscheidung der Uni werde ich nicht akzeptieren": In Südafrika hat Annette Schavan erstmals öffentlich auf den Entzug ihres Doktortitels reagiert. Die Bildungsministerin kündigt eine juristische Auseinandersetzung mit der Uni Düsseldorf an. » | pu/fas | Mittwoch, 06. Februar 2013

We Won't Turn into Iran
YNET NEWS: Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar vows to protect freedom in wake of gay center attack

Until this murder case isn’t [sic] solved and the killer’s identity is discovered, we’ll continue to ask: What prompts a human being to massacre teenagers, children really? What was the motive for this demonic act?

At the site of the attack in the heart of Tel Aviv, a two-minute walk from my house, I mostly saw consternation and shock in the eyes of the crowd and passersby. Eyes were teary and hearts cried. As a Tel Avivian, and as a person who had only experienced magical moments on Nachmani Street, where the crime took place, I felt a sour sense of shame rising within me.

What’s happening to Israeli society that leads us from one horrific display to another? What can prompt a person to indiscriminately kill boys and girls who arrived at a site meant to grant them support and security?

We need to be cautious before police conclude the investigation. However, one way or another, waiting for the case to be solved cannot be a pretext for evading a moral obligation. For Israeli society, this is an opportunity to clearly and unequivocally define its commitment to freedom and tolerance. For public officials and leaders, this is the time to pledge that we will protect Israel’s character and future as a free society. Because wherever a person is attacked or humiliated because of his lifestyle, choices, tendencies, or indecision, it is not only the freedom and dignity of that person that are being undermined. >>> Gideon Sa’ar* | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

*Gideon Sa’ar is Israel’s education minister

YNET NEWS – OPINION: End the Silence

The whole of Israeli society must speak up in wake of gay center massacre

“If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.” That was the political legacy of Harvey Milk, the first politician to come out of the closet in the United States and a member of the San Francisco city council; the movie about his life, which ended in murder as he predicted, was one of the most important films in recent times.

If the murder of the two young people at the gay center was indeed motivated by their sexual orientation, this is the gravest hate crime ever carried out in Israel based on this motive. Yet we must keep in mind that this was not the first case. In the 2005 Jerusalem Pride Parade, Yishai Shlisel stabbed three participants. The latest incident ended on a graver note. >>> Eyal Gross* | Monday, August 03, 2009

*Prof. Eyal Gross, a law lecturer at Tel Aviv University, formerly served as a volunteer legal advisor for the LGBT Association in Israel