SAN DIEGO (Press Release)– Larry Wilske, California Congressional candidate and retired Command Master Chief of SEAL Team Seven, issued a statement on Friday, August 8, calling for solidarity in support of Israel. Wilske is a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Navy SEAL Teams. He served with distinction on SEAL Teams SDV-1, Three and Seven and oversaw […]
Wilske calls for strong U.S. support for Israel Read More »
Middle East, USA
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — This week we have a have guest columnist, my daughter, Margalit Rosenthal. Margalit wrote an excellent column about her recent experience staffing Birthright in Israel during Israel’s war with Hamas. It is reprinted below with her permission. {Margalit Rosenthal works for The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles,
Birthright trip leader tells of wartime travel Read More »
Middle EastBy Jeremy Ben-Ami WASHINGTON, D.C. — For 72 hours, the guns, rockets and bombs fell silent, and the people of Gaza and southern Israel finally had a brief respite from the horrific violence of the past month. With the resumption of rocket fire from Gaza at the very moment the cease-fire expired Friday morning, August
Let’s not manage conflict, let’s resolve it Read More »
Middle EastATHENS (WJC) – The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, KIS, condemned the bristling anti-Semitism that has washed into the Greek press since the beginning of Israel’s operation “Protective Edge” in Gaza. “We are deeply concerned about the unexpected outburst of historical-like articles, inspired by the age-old traditional racist propaganda, that are purely
Greek Jews condemn anti- Semitism in media Read More »
International, Middle EastBy Aryeh Savir JERUSALEM (TNA) – The 72 hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is scheduled to end Friday morning at 8 a.m., and Hamas is threatening to renew its rocket fire on Israeli civilian targets at its conclusion. Hamas spokesman Moussa Abu Marzouk stated that “there is no agreement on the extension of the
Will Gaza ceasefire hold? Read More »
Middle EastIDF chief vows ‘stability here for many years to come’ (JNS.org) “Indeed, the summer here is hot. Autumn will follow and the fields will turn green. … There will be stability here for many years to come,” Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said Wednesday, referring to the return to normalcy
JNS news briefs: August 7, 2014 Read More »
Middle East
-Seventeenth in a Series– By Donald H. Harrison MOIESE, Montana — In 1908, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, a formidable conservationist, laid aside the National Bison Range to help bring the American bison (often mislabeled as a ‘buffalo’) back from the precipice of extinction. Today, to paraphrase the lyrics of “Home on the Range,” the bison
Heroes for animals: Moses, Theodore Roosevelt Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Travel and Food, USAWASHINGTON, DC (Press Release)– With official representatives of Israel and Hamas indirectly negotiating a ceasefire agreement in Cairo on Wednesday, August 6,, Americans for Peace Now (APN) is strongly urging the government of Israel, the Obama administration, and all stakeholders in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts to bring the PLO and the Palestinian Authority – the
APN: Let Abbas truly negotiate for Palestinians Read More »
Middle EastBy Daniel Sokatch JERUSALEM — I am so grateful for the news that a ceasefire is currently in place — that the fighting appears to be over. I know you join me in the prayer that it continues to hold and that diplomatic efforts will stop fighting from breaking out once again. As the situation
Rebuilding Jewish- Arab trust post Gaza War Read More »
Middle EastBy Steve Kramer ALFE MENASHE, Israel — Now that Operation Protective Edge appears to be winding down, Secretary of State Kerry again feels the need to reach a “bigger, broader approach to a two-state solution.” One would think that the United States, Israel’s closest ally and the supposed leading Western power, would have learned
‘Two-state’ solution less likely after Gaza War Read More »
Middle East, Steve KramerBy Stephen Bryen and Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Der Spiegel, the German newsmagazine, reported that Israel spied on Secretary of State John Kerry’s phone calls while Kerry was in Paris with representatives of Qatar and Turkey, trying to arrange a ceasefire for Gaza. It appears straightforward. Kerry, says Der Spiegel, was using “open,” non-encrypted
Who intercepted Kerry’s phone calls? Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, Stephen D. Bryen, USABy Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — Unconditionally, and in the name of my Jewish faith: I pray that the Gaza ceasefire endures because I am deeply uncomfortable and aggrieved with the civilian carnage that has accumulated in the region. The first thing we all need to bring to the table before the children of
Mourning casualties, yet needing to fight Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Jews have been coping with uncertainty at least since those conversations between Moses and the Almighty concerning what should be done about getting the people out of Egypt. (See Exodus 3 ff) While the story of the Exodus may be mythic, there is no doubt about the ancient lineage of
Gaza talks will produce little new Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
NEW YORK (WJC) – A performance of The Good and the True, a play based on the life of two Czech Holocaust survivors, brought tears to the eyes of Petr Papousek, the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic and a World Jewish Congress Vice-President. The play, whose New York opening
Off- Broadway play recalls Czech Jews in Shoah Read More »
International, Jewish History