January 2011

J Street protests Israel Knesset’s commission of inquiry

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) — J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami released the following statement, criticizing the Knesset’s recent approval of a commission of inquiry into Israeli non-governmental organizations focused on issues of human rights and civil society: “J Street strongly objects to the Knesset’s approval of a commission of inquiry into Israeli human rights and […]

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Middle East

University of Haifa to award 44 scholarships in names of Carmel fire victims

HAIFA (Press Release)–The University of Haifa will be awarding 44 scholarships in a unique and moving project to commemorate of each of the 44 men and women who tragically died in the Carmel fire. The scholarships are the generous gift of  Leon H. Charney, Chairman of the University of Haifa Board of Governors, and will

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Amazing stories of Jonas Feurzeig’s abilities recounted at his funeral

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – As speakers at his funeral told stories on Wednesday, Jan. 5,  of Jonas Feurzeig’s seemingly magical abilities,  more than a few attendees looked at his simple pine casket waiting to be lowered into a grave in the King David section of Greenwood Cemetery.  It would have been shocking,

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego Calendar, San Diego County

Lieberman’s investigation of NGO funding sources smacks of McCarthyism

 By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–The West is tilting to the political right. The US Congress, the governing coalition in the UK, the domination of the Conservative prime minister in Canada as well as the political constellations in many European countries all point in the same direction. Israel is no exception. Even the centrist Kadima party

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Middle East

A bissel this, a bissel that—Jewish news and chatter in San Diego

(January 5, 2011, Column 3)   By Donald H. Harrison   San Diego and Israel   Invitations are going out on Facebook from Tibi Zohar and other active members of the Jewish community to the Balboa Park demonstration planned by Israel advocates to counter another one planned by Palestinians and leftists in behalf of the

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Donald H. Harrison, Eileen Wingard, Lawrence Baron, San Diego County

Ultra-Orthodox a bloc? Not so far as Ashkenazis and Sephardim are concerned

  By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–This morning I walked to the nearby shopping center of Ramat Eshkol. That is one of the neighborhoods created soon after 1967. It is technically over the “Green Line” marking the armistice of 1948, but no one in their right mind would consider handing it over to the Palestinians. Originally its

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Ira Sharkansky

Syria’s Asad a far better political chess player than Obama

By Matthew RJ BrodskyWASHINGTON, D.C. — With the Palestinian-Israeli peace process returning to a deep freeze, the Obama administration is eyeing an opportunity to make headway with Syria. The theory is nothing new: If the regime in Damascus can make peace with Israel, end its sponsorship of terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, distance

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Travel and Food

Western media fail to verify atrocity stories from the Palestinians

(Editor’s Note: San Diego Jewish World columnist Ira Sharkansky also has written a column refuting the Palestinian-spawned atrocity story mentioned below) By Barry Rubin   HERZLIYA, Israel — What happens when the New York Times publishes, with no investigation, an atrocity story about Israel that is not only false but ridiculously so, based on the most obvious

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Barry Shaw, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Lautman: Education gap more worrysome for Israel than Iran threat

HAIFA, Israel (Press Release)–An impressive crowd of leading Israeli business executives attended the University of Haifa’s Business Leaders Forum annual gala event on Tuesday, Jan. 4, at which Israeli businessman and industrialist Dov Lautman, founder of Delta Galil Industries, received the University of Haifa’s Business Leaders Forum award. The award was given in recognition of

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Middle East

Reform rabbis call for new rules for filibusters in U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON, D.C., (Press Release) — Rabbi Steven Fox, Chief Executive of the Central Conference of American Rabbis; Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus, President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis; and Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism on Tuesday released a letter urging Senator Harry Reid and Senator Mitch McConnell

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USA

Oriental hornet, like a plant, can convert sunlight into energy

TEL AVIV (Press Release) ― As every middle-school child knows, in the process of photosynthesis, plants take the sun’s energy and convert it to electrical energy. Now a Tel Aviv University team has demonstrated how a member of the animal kingdom, the Oriental hornet, takes the sun’s energy and converts it into electric power ― in

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Mount Soledad cross ruled unconstitutional by 9th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Mount Soledad Cross in La Jolla is unconstitutional because its location on public land sends the message of the government favoring one religion over others.   The opinion sends back to the District Court the question of how to remedy this constitutional

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USA

Another Israeli Air Force cadet class graduates from Ben-Gurion University

BEER-SHEVA, Israel (Press Release)– The 161st Flight School graduation ceremony took place last week in which the new Israeli Air Force pilots earned their ‘wings’ and a bachelor’s degree from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). The IAF Flight School is widely considered to be the most prestigious and challenging path in the Israel Defense

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Middle East