August 2010

Commentary: Transnational loyalties have affected many religious groups

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The issue of Islam touches a problem with ancient lineage that appears in modern societies that pride themselves on diversity, and suffer from conflicts with people who are both outsiders and insiders. Josephus describes the civil war between Judeans who identified with the culture of the Romans, and those who rejected any

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Ira Sharkansky

Commentary: Efforts needed to rescue Arabs and Haredim from Israeli poverty

Part two of a series on poverty in Israel; to read part one, click here. Ephraim Guttman illustrates both the face of poverty in Israel and a solution. Dressed in the uniform of the ultra-Orthodox — the requisite black suit and white shirt, which makes no concession to the scorching summer heat — he does

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Middle East

ADL condemns attack on Muslim taxi driver in New York City as a 'brutal hate crime'

NEW YORK (Press Release) — The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) strongly condemned the stabbing of a New York City taxi driver in an apparent anti-Muslim hate crime, calling the attack especially disturbing amid the current atmosphere of elevated anti-Muslim sentiment surrounding the Ground Zero controversy. Michael Enright is accused of stabbing Ahmed H. Sharif after entering

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Travel and Food

Words of controversy: It's 'Ground Zero Mosque' to some, 'Cordoba House' to others

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM– The Ground Zero Mosque as its opponents call it, or Cordoba House according to its promoters, has become a mirror of  politics in the United States and elsewhere, and not always the best of those politics. Bottom feeders in New York see strong opposition as their best road to a nomination.

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Violence flares in Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (WJC)–Muslim protestors set ablaze half a dozen vehicles in the eastern part of Jerusalem on Thursday and threw stones and firebombs at Israeli police after Jewish settlers approached a mosque, local residents and police said. There were no reported injuries in the incident in the Silwan neighborhood, where tensions have flared between Palestinians and

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Middle East

Iran offers to sell Lebanon arms in wake of U.S. freeze

TEHERAN (WJC)–Iran has said it was prepared to sell weapons to the Lebanon should the government in Beirut seek help to equip its military. On Tuesday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah had proposed to the unity government of Prime Minister Hariri to formally seek military assistance from Tehran, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported. In Teheran,

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Middle East, USA

Missed a turn in the latest Kafka controversy? Here’s a primer

By Kathi Diamant SAN DIEGO — Franz Kafka has gotten quite a bit of play lately. His photo has accompanied headlines in any number of newspapers, magazines, and network news websites in the past couple of months, most of which include one or more of the following words: treasure, trial, nightmare, snarled, tangled, vaults, masterpieces,

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Middle East

There's a pro-Israel 'BIG RIG' coming down the highway of public opinion

By Roz Rothstein and Roberta Seid LOS ANGELES — Anti-Israel activists are now putting all their energy into their Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign (BDS). Their goal is to portray Israel and Israelis as pariahs that should be excluded from all international spheres—diplomatic, political, economic, social, and cultural.   Jews have been victims of such

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Middle East

Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, January 21, 1955, Part 4

Compiled by San Diego Jewish World staff In the Name of “Security” (Editorial) Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 7 The case of Wolf Ladejinsky has again brought into sharp focus the problems facing a people whose precious liberties are being threatened under the guise of “security.” Ladejinsky, a qualified agriculturist, was dismissed as

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Adventures in SD History, Middle East