USA

Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump: Good for Israeli-Palestinian peace?

By Dov Waxman, Professor of Political Science, International Affairs and Israel Studies, Northeastern University. At their meeting at the White House today, U.S. President Donald Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “hold back on settlements for a little bit.” There are now more than 400,000 Israelis living in over 100 settlements located in […]

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Middle East, USA

Trump backs down on U.S. support for two-state solution for Israel and Palestinians

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin both declined to commit to the internationally accepted recipe of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a diplomatic shift for both governments that could signal a realignment of the traditional peace process. At a joint news conference Wednesday ahead of their first White House

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Middle East, USA

Some policy suggestions for President Trump

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. -The Trump White House continues to receive advice – solicited and unsolicited, in letters to the editor, op-eds, essays, and policy papers – as to what its foreign policy priorities should be.  It is tempting to presume that problems called “priorities” can be resolved with just a little more savvy

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International, Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USA

Ross offers primer on Israel and U.S. Presidents

Doomed to Succeed: The U. S. – Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama by Dennis Ross, Fareerar, Straus, and Giroux, New York, © 2015, ISBN 978-0-374-70948-8, p. 408 plus notes and index, $30.00 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D.  WINCHESTER, California –  Did Obama’s communication to America’s UN ambassador, directing her to abstain on a vote condemning Israel

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Middle East, USA

‘Saturday Night Live’ ratings soar thanks to Baldwin’s Trump and McCarthy’s Spicer

President Donald Trump is making “Saturday Night Live’s” ratings great again. NBC’s long-running late-night sketch comedy program is having its most-watched season in 22 years, thanks in large part to Alec Baldwin’s impersonation of the 45th president of the United States and, more recently, Melissa McCarthy’s devastating take on White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

San Diego City Council to fight Trump’s travel ban

By Ken Stone Times of San Diego SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council on Tuesday voted 8-1 to file a brief in support of the state of Washington in its lawsuit over President Donald Trump’s so-called “travel ban” executive order. Republican Councilman Scott Sherman cast the dissenting vote in closed session. Democratic Councilman

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International, Ken Stone, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

National security adviser Michael Flynn resigns over contact with Russia

WASHINGTON — Michael Flynn resigned late Monday as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, following mounting scrutiny over his conflicting accounts of contacts with a Russian diplomat and his admission that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about the matter. Flynn’s departure, which came after several days in which Trump conspicuously refused to publicly

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International, USA

Humoring the headlines: February 13, 2017

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−In a perfect world: Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer, and President Trump would be wired to a polygraph whenever they made public statements. * Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be immortal. * Israel wouldn’t legitimize many formerly illegal settlements the day after it disbands one. * Three Republican senators would have voted against

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

U.S. could suggest a price for moving its embassy

By Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK — Should President Trump fulfill his campaign promise to relocate the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, it would have major regional and international repercussions. The Trump administration is currently reevaluating the implications of such a move and no final decision has been made. Given the sensitivity and far-reaching

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Alon Ben-Meir, Middle East, USA

Court upholds airport’s punishment of Orthodox employee who observed Passover; appeal is expected

(c) Edwin Black WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit surprisingly rejected the appeal of Susan Abeles, a Washington D.C. Orthodox Jew, who was punished by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) because she took off work for the last two days of Passover 2013, as she

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Edwin Black, Jewish Religion, USA

In Israel, premature euphoria

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Israel’s right-wing politicians are euphoric. The prophet whom Bible scholars call the Second Isaiah proclaimed King Cyrus (6th century BCE) as the Messiah. I wouldn’t be surprised if some ideologue in Naftali Bennett’s Habayit Hayehudi party wouldn’t want to do the same to President Trump, even though at least

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Middle East, USA