Editor’s Note: Thích Quảng Đức was the Buddhist monk who set himself afire on June 11, 1963 at a Saigon intersection to draw the world’s attention to the abuses of South Vietnam’s President Ngô Đình Diệm. Self-immolations thereafter became a regular form of protest in South Vietnam. By Ira Sharkansksy JERUSALEM–We are seeing the reality […]
Is Moshe Silman the Thích Quảng Đức of Israel? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — In one of the lesser-reported stories from the Middle East, Palestinians are out in the streets ostensibly to protest the Palestinian Authority’s plan to meet with Israeli Minister Shaul Mofaz. However, Palestinian complaints are primarily focused on the PA’s increasingly authoritarian crackdown on internal Palestinian dissent, specifically on the internet and
Protests against Abbas regime mounting Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen
By Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO– It was reported in the international media that a huge, luxury Cineplex is being constructed in the suburban Israeli community of Kfar-Saba. I have some sensibilities regarding this matter. It’s not that I’m opposed to the admirable development that is a trademark of this miracle nation-state, its edgy high-tech
This is not my grandma’s Israel Read More »
Middle East
By Isaac Yetiv, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — It was revealed by whistleblowers that the Department of Justice had sold, or given, 2000 weapons to the Mexican drug cartels which ended up killing one American Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry, and hundreds of Mexicans. This ill-conceived, and apparently ill-executed, adventure involved spending taxpayer money –we
Why Congress holds Holder in contempt Read More »
USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –The “West Bank” is a tricky place legally, politically, and semantically. There is one semantic conception that it is everything on the west bank of the Jordan River, all the way to the Mediterranean. More limited and conventional is the notion that it is the area between the Jordan River and
Levy Report seeks to legalize ‘West Bank settlements’ Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — How many times have we heard it before? Haredi rabbis are going to great lengths to prove a point. They have no intention of giving up their Torah study to serve in the Israeli army. Tens of thousands of Israelis protested and demand that the
Should the Haredi serve in the military or stay in a yeshiva? Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle EastBy Gabriel Max Scheinmann WASHINGTON, D.C. — Israelis understandably feel imperiled by the misnamed “Arab Spring.” Their country’s three-decade peace treaty with Egypt is under assault, its strategic alliance with Turkey has dissolved, and its closest regional ally, Jordan, is withering from domestic protests. The breakdown in political authority has flooded Israel’s borders with
Israel grows stronger as neighbors unravel Read More »
Middle EastBy Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO — The new president of Egypt has himself acknowledged that the military tyranny is still in charge, even as the good people of Egypt swallow the bitter truth of their brief, vanishing dream. Libya teeters; the Palestinians still smolder with the Hamas-Fatah blood conflict; Syria kills its own children
Don’t confuse Civil Rights Movement with Arab uprising Read More »
Middle East
By Danny Bloom CHIAYI CITY, TAIWAN — Media mavens both East and West are locking horns in global discussions about the effects of Hollywood’s attempts to appeal to the ”Chollywood” market. Will China’s ”soft opening” (scare quotes mine) to the West create more opportunities for Hollywood studios to market their wares inside the communist behemoth,
Will Hollywood soft pedal messages to win China’s business? Read More »
InternationalBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Some years ago, my friend Malcolm Feeley published The Process is the Punishment. It deals with criminal charges against individuals at the lower end of America’s urban communities, widely viewed as guilty, but who manage to be judged not guilty or to have their cases thrown out of court. The
Olmert’s real punishment is the process Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Elan Ezrachi JERUSALEM — Cities most essentially belong to their residents. The residents shape the character of cities in which they dwell. The cities, in return, provide them shelter, employment, community and identity. Jerusalem defies this traditional model. While 800,000 individuals can be labeled “residents,” there are literally millions of additional far-flung stakeholders around
Yeru-Shalem Coalition seeks to harmonize Jerusalem and Diaspora Read More »
Middle East
By David Brin ENCINITAS, California– Nearly two thirds (65 percent) of Americans think that President Obama would be a better leader than Mitt Romney if an alien invasion were to happen. Hm, well, yes… and? So? A survey for National Geographic finds extraterrestrial visits not that crazy an idea to most Americans. Thirty-six percent of
Politics offer fertile grounds for science fiction Read More »
USABy Samara Greenberg WASHINGTON, D.C. — On June 20, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal were scheduled to meet in Cairo to choose cabinet members for the Palestinian interim government that would oversee elections. That meeting never came to fruition, however, and senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan later said that
Gaza watch: Palestinian reconciliation on hold Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansksy JERUSALEM– Israelis are fortunate to have a large and active diaspora of Jews. Israelis are also unfortunate in having a large and active diaspora of Jews. The benefits are well known: a bit of money to top off the much larger sums that we provide for ourselves, political support where
Diaspora Jews are a blessing and a curse for Israelis Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East