By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — The government of Israel traded 1,700 Palestinian terrorists for Sgt. Gilad Shalit, an IDF soldier kidnapped and held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Israelis have been known to trade live terrorists for the bodies of its soldiers held by its enemies. That’s what it means to have your soldiers’ collective back. And […]
Americans in Benghazi abandoned by their country Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen
By Alina Dain Sharon/JNS.org Members of the Russian Pussy Riot punk band were recently convicted for “hooliganism” after performing a song protesting against the Russian Orthodox Church and the government of President Vladimir Putin. The subsequent trial was widely seen in the West as a violation of human rights and free speech. Two of the
Soviet aliyah pioneer reflects on Russia Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Paul Foer and Chananette Pascal Cohen/JNS.org Sonya Loya’s path of rediscovery aligns with the journey potentially millions of other “Crypto-Jews” take back to their Jewish roots. Her story, and the stories of others with similar backgrounds, is also still unfolding—with legal action against the Catholic Church as the possible next chapter. Loya—a Hispanic-American woman
B’nei Anousim consider Spanish Inquisition lawsuits Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle EastIran says it has ‘far more advanced’ technology than recent Hezbollah drone (JNS.org) Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the Hezbollah drone recently shot down in Israeli airspace “was not Iran’s latest technology,” according to Iran’s Mehr news agency. The Islamic Republic “currently possesses unmanned aircraft with technology that is far more advanced than the
JNS news briefs: October 29, 2012 Read More »
InternationalBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The time is ripe for speculation. It is always time to speculate about political this or that, but now it is especially ripe, in both of my countries. Moreover, events we can speculate about in one give us additional reason to speculate about the other. Most pressing as stimuli is the super
Will Hurricane Sandy hurt Obama’s election chances? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, USA
The Surgeon’s Wife by William H. Coles, AuthorHouse, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4567-6255-1, 201 pages, cover price not listed. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — There are a handful of Jewish characters in this novel about two surgeons who struggle over the love of a woman and the ethics of offering surgeries to help obese people
Jewish characters in doctors’ novel are peripheral Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
Editor’s Note: The following column is in rebuttal to SDJW’s “reluctant endorsement” of Mitt Romney By Norman Greene SAN DIEGO — In the half century that I have been voting, I have always concentrated on the candidate, rather than the party. I have tried to discern his intellect, his passion, his commitment to issues and
Israel has done well with Obama as U.S. president Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, USAPress Notes Southwestern Jewish Press, March 8, 1957, Page 7 (guest column by Irving Mortin) Who reads the Southwestern Jewish Press? I didn’t know until my guest column appeared. not only were there two postcards, one letter and several phone calls but you should have seen the characters that spoke to me for the first
Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, March 8, 1957, Part 4 Read More »
Adventures in SD History, Jewish History
SAN DIEGO — Two young Israelis are serving as shlichim (“ambassadors”) at UCSD and SDSU with Hillel of San Diego. Niran Avni and Hen Caspi are part of a national cadre of nearly 60 Jewish Agency Israel Fellows. The program, which is a collaboration of Hillel and the Jewish Agency for Israel, places outstanding young
Israeli shlichim serve UCSD and SDSU Read More »
San Diego County
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California —There is hardly a day that passes when I don’t marvel at the power of individuals to move mountains and change history. Abraham believed he could change and transform the world. It is all the more remarkable, when we consider Abraham’s age. The Torah tells us that
Grihalva Seeks School Board Seat Southwestern Jewish Press, March 8, 1957, Page 5 In speaking before various groups and organizations, Richard A. “Dick” Grihalva, incumbent, San Diego Board of Education member who is seeking election for the four-year term, has stressed the importance of maintaining a comprehensive and strong adult educational program and claims the
Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, March 8, 1957, Part 3 Read More »
Adventures in SD History
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Bobby Greene doesn’t like to take credit. She typically defers to her husband Norman Greene, who is the current president of the Louis Rose Society for the Preservation of Jewish History. Sometimes, she even tries to say my biography of Louis Rose was responsible . But we
The lady deserves the credit Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Richard Falk is again in the headlines. The professor emeritus of political science, after a long career at Princeton, now the Special Rapporteur to the UN Human Rights Council on Occupied Palestinian Territories, has called for a boycott of companies that do business with Israeli settlements in the West Bank
Falk’s approach to Israel-Palestine utterly one-sided Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –How we got onto the topic of education about the Holocaust I don’t quite know, but in a recent conversation with some friends I happened to say that I didn’t think it appropriate or beneficial for Israeli high-school students to go on school trips to Poland to visit concentration
Should Israeli kids skip concentration camp visits? Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East