International

Trump’s deal endangers Israelis’ long-term security

By what logic then will the Palestinians accept such a deal that robs them of a more than 70-year-old dream to establish an independent state? Whether or not they missed several opportunities in the past to realize their dream, their initial rejection of Israel’s right to exist does not nullify their right to a state of their own that lives in peace with Israel. The Deal has only justified the claim of extremist Palestinian groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and countries like Iran and others, that Israel has had all along no intention of allowing the Palestinians to have an independent state, and that only continued violent resistance will force Israel’s hands. [Alon Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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Alon Ben-Meir, Middle East, USA

Israeli-Americans tussle over WZC slates

The United States will send 152 of the 500 delegates who will meet in Jerusalem at the World Zionist Congress, which allocates approximately $1 billion a year in funds for Zionist activities in Israel, the United States, and around the world.  Voting continues through March 11 via this website.
The leaders of Israel Shelanu on Tuesday, Feb. 4, put out a press release saying the Israel-American Council (IAC) betrayed Israeli-Americans when it decided to support the slate of Kol Israel rather than Israel Shelanu. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Israel should begin implementing Trump Plan

Yes, this new plan visualizes a future State of Palestine in the Jewish homeland. But it’s highly unlikely that the PLO would agree to such a weak “state,” thereby enabling Israel to enlarge its territory within the four-year time frame allotted to the Palestinian Authority. (Consequences from establishing an Arab state, or not, are beyond the scope of this article.) Like Ben-Gurion and his cohorts, Netanyahu and the interim government, or a newly-elected government following the Israeli March 2 election, should grab this opportunity and build on it despite its imperfections. [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

A piece plan, not a peace plan

Trump’s much heralded “deal of the century” is turning out to be a painful illustration of the futility of offering definite solutions to the Israeli-Palestine issue. Despite Prime Minister Netanyahu’s enthusiastic reception and the statements by members of President Trump’s entourage that this was the best deal Palestinians could expect, most reactions on all sides have been largely negative. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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Middle East, USA

Trump’s deal roils Israeli politics

The Deal of the Century.” It’s a mess. With some good features, as well as others. On the good side, it does away with the 1967 lines, outdated by more than 50 years of movement here and there, and kept alive only by Palestinian ideology, which competes with Palestinian ideas tying things to pre-1948. Except for that, the deal seems to present as many problems as opportunities.The Deal of the Century.” It’s a mess. With some good features, as well as others. On the good side, it does away with the 1967 lines, outdated by more than 50 years of movement here and there, and kept alive only by Palestinian ideology, which competes with Palestinian ideas tying things to pre-1948. Except for that, the deal seems to present as many problems as opportunities. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

Michael Anderson and the Armageddon Yacht

International collage artist Michael Anderson is presently enjoying a solo show, the first in four years, at Arts & Leisure gallery on New York City’s Upper East Side. Armageddon Yacht is an exhibition of sixteen recent works, all featuring Anderson’s unique and inimitable style. Whereas most collage artists make use of magazines, Michael uses exclusively street posters gathered from around the world, which allows for work on a much greater scale than is typically associated with collage. His pictures are at once unmistakable and visceral, sweeping, playful and ironic. [Sam Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir, USA

Nobody gets past the Schwartz!

Just as the Oscars have a category for “Best Supporting Actor,” I think the NFL might want to consider an award for Best Supporting Player.  In this game, to my mind, there was none better than offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz, who so far as I know was the only Jewish player in the contest. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

A new Holocaust memorial in Suriname

On the Northern Coast of South America, is a tiny third world country’s capital, Paramaribo, Suriname. It is 5,248 miles to Krakow, near Auschwitz. The tiny Jewish community of Suriname, alongside of their non-Jewish neighbors chose on Jan. 27 to remember the Holocaust. Unlike most commemorations that took place that day, the Suriname Jewish community dedicated a permanent interpretive historical marker telling the ill-informed and the future generations of the uninformed, what the Holocaust was. [Jerry Klinger]

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International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History

Planning for San Carlos neighborhood eruv

Young Israel of San Diego, located in a small shopping center at 7291 Navajo Road, is exploring the possibility of erecting an eruv, which under halacha, Jewish law, extends the area of people’s homes, enabling Shabbat-observant Jews to carry packages or push baby carriages with the eruv’s boundaries. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

The Four Chaplains: Immortal courage at sea

It was a day remembered for the enormous loss of life. It is also a day for remembering the story of four who could have saved their own lives, but chose instead to give their place in a lifeboat to four others. The four men who made that sacrifice were Army chaplains: a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi, and two Protestant ministers. Each man had volunteered for military service. George Fox, a Methodist minister, had been a combat soldier in World War I and still suffered from wounds he had received. Yet after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor he volunteered for active duty. Rabbi Alexander Goode and Dutch Reformed minister Clark Poling left behind wives and young children. John Washington, a Roman Catholic priest, had just left his widowed mother. [Michael Feldberg, Ph.D]

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International, Jewish History, USA

Congratulations Encinitas City Council, JFS & Leichtag Foundation

I think we all should congratulate Mayor Catherine Blakespear and three other members of the Encinitas City Council who voted their hearts, and not their fears, in the recent battle over providing safe overnight parking spaces to 25 homeless families who are forced to sleep in their cars. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA