By Steve Kramer ALPHE MENASHE, Israel — We hear a lot about “disproportionate force” these days, aimed chiefly at Israel’s incursion into Gaza as part of its Operation Protective Edge. Various world luminaries have explained how Israel is running roughshod over the “poor Palestinians”: “U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon leveled his strongest criticism yet of Israel’s […]
Civilian casualties? Blame Hamas Read More »
Middle East, Steve KramerBy Anav Silverman JERUSALEM (TNA)– Two U.S. political candidates arrived in Israel this past week to show support for IDF troops and Israeli civilians in the south living under Gaza rocket fire. California’s Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, Ron Nehring, and Delaware’s Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, Kevin Wade, tweeted about their visits, as
Nehring, Wade, tour Israel, support IDF Read More »
Middle EastHumanitarian cease-fire derailed by rocket fire on Israel (JNS.org) Sirens sounded in southern Israel on Friday morning, August 1, just two hours after the 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire agreed to by Israel and Hamas went into effect. After the cease-fire collapsed and reports emerged that an Israeli soldier may have been kidnapped, heavy barrages of rockets
JNS news briefs: August 1, 2014 Read More »
International, Middle East
-Fourteenth in a series- By Donald H. Harrison GREAT FALLS, Montana – There are numerous eye-catching exhibits at the Lewis & Clark National Historic Interpretive Center here, including a life-size display showing how the early 19th century American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark had to drag their boats around the five cascades of Great
In the footsteps of Lewis and Clark Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Political analysis is best with moderation. Objectivity is not in the cards, insofar as information is partial and bound to be partisan. It helps to recognize differences in perspective. Extreme partisanship might win applause in some circles, but invites ridicule in others. Also important is to recognize sources of power,
Naivete causes strains in U.S. – Israel relations Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Michael Sonduck SAN DIEGO — War is awful. It is terrifying. Innocent people are killed. The trauma inflicted on the soldiers, civilians, and children is worse than tragic, worse than deplorable. The ongoing violence in Gaza is no different; but this conflict brings an unprecedented real-time visual to the violence. Every minute of every
Media helps Hamas win the P-R war Read More »
Middle EastBy Isaac Yetiv, PhD LA JOLLA, California–Samuel Huntington correctly defined the bloody conflicts of our time as a “clash of civilizations.” But all “clashes” are not equal: there are the intra-Arab and intra-Muslim clashes and there are clashes where one side is a Western Democracy. What distinguishes between them is that the former’s actions and exactions, however cruel
West abdicates to terror in M.E. conflict Read More »
International, Middle East, USAWASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and United States Secretary of State John Kerry announce that the United Nations Representative in Jerusalem, Special Coordinator Robert Serry, has received assurances that all parties have agreed to an unconditional humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. This humanitarian cease-fire will commence at 8 am local time on Friday, August 1,
U.S., U.N. announce 72- hour M.E. ceasefire Read More »
Middle EastSAN DIEGO (Press Release)–Rabbi Michael Berk, who was traveling in Israel with an AIPAC delegation at the time of the Gaza War outbreak, will discuss his observations and experiences during a dinner meeting of Congregation Beth Israel’s Men’s Club, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Wedneday, Aug. 20, at the congregation’s campus at 9001 Towne
Rabbi Berk to detail recent Israel trip Read More »
Middle East, San Diego Calendar
TEL AVIV (Press Release)—During the winter of 1944, the Nazis blocked food supplies to the western Netherlands, creating a period of widespread famine and devastation. The impact of starvation on expectant mothers produced one of the first known epigenetic “experiments” — changes resulting from external rather than genetic influences — which suggested that the body’s
Anti- starvation strategies may be carried in our DNA Read More »
Middle East, Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Aryeh Savir JERUSALEM (TNA) — The IDF is continued on Thursday, July 31, to dismantle the terror tunnels in Gaza, while deepening its hold on the Gaza Strip. For the first time in the operation the IDF entered the Jabaliya refugee camp. Israel has reportedly stepped up its military strikes on Hamas targets as
Gaza War: July 30-31, 2014 Read More »
Middle EastPM: Israel will destroy Hamas terror tunnels ‘with or without’ cease-fire (JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces is determined to destroy Hamas’s network of terror tunnels in Gaza “with or without a cease-fire,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday at an emergency cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv. “Using their tunnel capability, Hamas could have kidnapped and
JNS news briefs: July 31, 2014 Read More »
Middle EastBy David Amos SAN DIEGO — What could be a greater pleasure than another visit to a favorite destination? It is to be there with someone who is there for the first time. This was the joyous occasion when we visited New York City together with our recently Bar-Mitzvah’d grandson, Zander. This gave us the
A music lover’s tour through NYC Read More »
USANature’s God, The Heretical Origins of the American Republic by Matthew Stewart, Norton & Co., New York; ISBN 978-0-393-06454-4 ©2014, $28.95, p. 435, plus Notes and Index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — When I first read the title of Matthew Stewart’s newest book, Nature’s God, The Heretical Origins of the American Republic, I
The non- religious origins of U.S. democracy Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, USA