Middle East

Sceptical president invites Netanyahu to form next Israeli government

By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) -A sceptical president invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to form a new government, after another inconclusive election deepened political stalemate in Israel. The country’s longest-serving leader, in power without interruption since 2009, now faces the tough challenge of enlisting enough allies for a governing coalition. Under law, Netanyahu […]

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Middle East

Taking a pen as her sword and challenging the patriarchy: Nawal El Saadawi’s phenomenal legacy

In her 89 years, Dr Nawal El Saadawi was relentless in her fight against the persecution of women. She passed away on March 21, but her legacy as an advocate and writer lives on. Her multifaceted approach to feminism, pulling from her experience as a writer, physician and psychiatrist ensured her advocacy reverberated transnationally, overwhelming

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Middle East

The Sage Hillel Guides Our Choice of Stories

With antisemitism on the rise, it is tempting to stay laser focused on stories that impact our community, but we must resist the temptation.  Those who complain how few people helped Jews during the Holocaust (although the Righteous Among the Nations surely did), need to follow the same moral high road that we wish others would have followed during our time of peril.  [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, USA

Vaccine Denial, Medical Apartheid Are Blood Libels

An egregious lie has been making the rounds lately. It is a timeworn smear against the Jewish people in a modern guise. The ancient blood libel—“Jews are poisoners,” stoked antisemitic violence through the ages, from the Black Death to tainted wells, has reappeared. This time, it is the claim that Israel is denying COVID-19 vaccinations to its non-Jewish citizens and to the residents of the not-yet-sovereign Palestinian Authority. This lie is the same as all the predecessor lies. [Edwin Black]

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Edwin Black, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Good News from Israel (March 30, 2021)

In the March 30, 2021 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
–Israelis were able to celebrate Passover again with their families and friends.
–On World Water Day a JNF video shows desert city Beersheva is now a water city.
–Three Israeli nanosatellites have been launched into a synchronized orbit.
–Israel is developing the world’s smartest microprocessors.
–Two more Israeli companies have become worth more than $1 billion.
–Israel’s Linoy Ashram won two world medals in rhythmic gymnastics.
–Israel broke two matzah world records without breaking a single matzah. [Michael Ordman]

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Business & Finance, International, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food

Israeli Election Analysis at the Seder Table

Those firmly supporting Benjamin Netanyhu are Likud, SHAS, United Torah Judaism, and Religious Zionists, for a total of 52 Seats Those clearly in the anti-Bibi list are Lapid, Blue White, Israel Beiteinu, Labor, New Hope, Joint Arab List, and Meretz, for a total of 57 Seats Between them are Yamina and the Separate Arab List, so far undecided, with 11 Seats [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]

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Ira Sharkansky, Jewish Religion, Middle East

Book Review: ‘The Taming of the Jew’

Tuvia Tenenbom is an expat Israeli who has lived in Germany and elsewhere for many decades, working as a journalist and author. Holding many academic degrees, Tenenbom is also a playwright, essayist, and the founding artistic director of the Jewish Theater of New York. Tenenbom has a very idiosyncratic style. His sardonic personality goes well with his cherubic appearance, and the reader is soon caught up in Tenenbom’s droll reporting of mundane encounters with people all around the world. His latest book, The Taming of the Jew, features people from Ireland and Britain. The thing is, most of those interviewed either know almost nothing about what they are saying, or are consciously spreading vicious, false narratives [Steve Kramer]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Middle East, Steve Kramer

Yawn! Israel’s Election Produces More of the Same

It’s déjà vu all over again. Groundhog Day. More of same. Another general election in Israel. The fourth in the space of two years. And again the result does not give a decisive majority to any combination of the 38 parties vying for our votes. Israel’s society is fragmented into countless interest groups, with parties representing segments of the population, ideas and occasionally even ideologies that seek to predominate in this small country. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East