Donald H. Harrison

Reasonable restrictions necessary on who can buy a gun

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California —  Over a year has passed since the terrible Arizona shooting, when a gunman opened fire, killing six people and wounding 13 others.  Gabrielle Giffords, a conservative Democrat representing Arizona’s Eighth District, was among those wounded. She remained in critical condition after she survived a single gunshot to […]

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Netanyahu’s continuation as Likud’s leader may lead to increasing isolation for Israel

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–In this week’s Likud party primaries Binyamin Netanyahu got some 75% of the votes cast by card-carrying members. The rest went to Moshe Feiglin, an extremist with considerable nuisance value but, mercifully, not much political clout. Even though more credible contenders and reputed critics within the party didn’t stand against him,

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Middle East

Are Egypt’s domestic problems so bad that war with Israel will be a welcome distraction?

By Evelyn Gordon  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last month, Victor Davis Hanson published a fascinating article on why Iran might nevertheless decide to start a war it can’t win. In it, he analyzed several cases in which countries did exactly that, including the Korean War in 1950, the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the 1982 Falklands War and

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Middle East

Is Israel giving up its right to be called democratic?

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — The usual complaints about the inadequacy of democratic governance are about the majority that disenfranchises a minority. InIsrael, it seems to be the other way around. Often it’s relatively small groups that hold the rest to ransom – democratically. Today’s examples: two minority groups, the settlers (probably around 5%

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Middle East

Misogyny may be found in doctrines of some Muslims, some Jews

  By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Kingston, Ontario was once a quiet peaceful community. That all changed when Mohammad Shafia, his wife, and son decided to murder the girls of their family. When he discovered his daughters sending pictures of themselves posing in bras and panties to their boyfriends, he said,

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

PM’s administrator accused of harrassing woman on staff

By Ira Sharkansky  JERUSALEM–The headlines are about a couple of issues roiling close to the Prime Minister. They do not concern the big stuff that will attract people around the world who look to Israel for the excitement of threat, promise, personal or collective salvation. Insofar as the Prime Minister is the Prime Minister, however,

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Book review: ‘Tough Questions Jews Ask’

Tough Questions Jews Ask: A Young Adult’s Guide to Building a Jewish Life, 2nd Edition by Rabbi Edward Feinstein, Jewish Lights Publishing, 2012, 140 pages, ISBN 978-1-58023-454-2-51599,  U.S. cover price: $15.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Some years ago I interviewed a spokesperson for the Home Instruction for the Parents of Pre-School Youngsters program (or

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Donald H. Harrison

Intern who saved Giffords’ life sought her out because she’s pro-Israel

By Gary Rotto SAN DIEGO — You know how we hear about social media surveys in Twitter or Facebook?  How the media measures “what’s trending now” about a person or a political event?  Well, Daniel Hernandez was “trending now” amongst my Facebook Friends immediately after the regional AIPAC Dinner in San Diego. The name probably

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San Diego County