Donald H. Harrison

Paying Tribute to the ‘Ghost Army’ of World War II

The Ghost Army implemented 20 deception campaigns with inflatable tanks, sound trucks and fake radio transmissions.  From deceiving the Germans into thinking the initial D-Day assault would come at Pas-de-Calais, to where the Allies would cross the Rhine.  It is estimated the Ghost Army saved between ten and twenty thousand allied lives. [ Bert Edelstein, Ph.D]

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International, Travel and Food, USA

Israeli Election Primer: The Players, the Stakes, the Issues

An ideologically diverse coalition of parties led by the centrist Prime Minister Yair Lapid opposes Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc. Lapid cobbled together this “change coalition” after the last election in March 2021. It incorporated all of the left and center parties, multiple right-wing parties, and, for the first time in Israeli history, an Arab party. These parties had only one goal in common: end Netanyahu’s 12 years in power. [Nikolai Schweber]

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Israel, Jewish History

Why San Diego International Airport Changed Name from Lindbergh Field

Written for high school students, this biography of Charles Lindbergh underscores the wisdom of the decision in 2003 to change the name of Lindbergh Field to San Diego International Airport. Lindbergh used his deserved fame as the first pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic to spread race hatred against many of the peoples who live, like San Diegans, around the Pacific Rim. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Chanukah, Chocolate, and the Boston Tea Party

Rabbi Prinz has utilized some of that knowledge in a collaboration with co-author Tami Lehman-Wilzig in a fictional story for 5-to-8-year-old children that conflates the introduction of hot chocolate to colonial America with the boycott of British tea that saw its most dramatic moments on December 16, 1773, when approximately 50 tax protesters dressed as indigenous Americans dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Book for Young Readers Teaches Positive Outlooks

This PJ Library selection to be read with 6-year-old children and up models a positive outlook on life, even when confronted with change.  Estrella visits her aunt (tia) Fortuna at the little house (casita) on the beach where she has lived ever since she left Cuba as a refugee.  But now, the casita is to be torn down to make way for a luxury hotel. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Story Book Interprets the Jonah Tale for Children

In Stein’s version of the story, illustrated by Sabina Hahn, Jonah is a teacher, whose class of elementary school students meets under a tree.  He told the children stories, brought them snacks of figs and raisins, and gently reproved naughty behavior.  He was such a good teacher that God decided he would be ideal for teaching the people of Nineveh {Mosul, in modern-day Iraq) that they must change their evil ways. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion

Anti-Israel Advocacy Becomes Issue in La Mesa City Council Race

A political action group calling itself San Diegans Against Hate has come out in opposition to La Mesa City Council candidate Mejgan Afshan, describing her anti-Israel positions as antisemitic.  Afshan, daughter of Afghan refugees, was invited via her campaign website to respond on Wednesday, Oct. 19, by San Diego Jewish World, but had not done so by late afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 20. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Israel, San Diego County, USA

Campus Antisemites Seek to Purge Zionism, Jewish Identity

The implementation of what amounts to a litmus test of ideological allegiance—only targeted at Jews who support Israel—is grotesque but part of a decades-old campaign to malign Israel and transform it into a pariah state, while excluding its supporters from progressive groups because Israel, it is falsely alleged, is an apartheid, racist regime of white supremacy that continues to oppress innocent brown Arabs who were the actual indigenous residents of the land now called Israel.  [Richard L. Cravatts, Ph.D]

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California, Israel, Richard L. Cravatts, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Jewish Poets/ Jewish Voices’ New Season Begins Oct. 25

The opening Jewish Poets–Jewish Voices program of the 2022-23 season will feature three local poets who immigrated to San Diego from other countries. The Tuesday, October 25, 7:00 p.m. gathering will take place in person in the Astor Judaica Library and feature Ukrainian native Jane Muschenetz, Uzbekistan-born Nathan Grinshpun,  and Tel Avivian, Omer Zalmanowitz. [Eileen Wingard]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, International, San Diego County, USA