Middle East

Gains against Antisemitism at UCSD, Tufts

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — Hillel student leader Bianca Kermani succeeded in campaigning to achieve a UC San Diego resolution that condemns antisemitism and adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. Both UC San Diego’s Associated Students and Graduate Students Association unanimously passed the resolutions this week. Kermani started the campaign

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Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Editor’s Surgery to Force SDJW’s Temporary Shutdown Jan. 15

As I am scheduled to have brain surgery tomorrow morning (Friday, Jan. 15), this publication will go on temporary hiatus until such time as I am recovered sufficiently to resume my duties as editor and co-publisher of San Diego Jewish World.  Those of you who have indicated your interest in monitoring my condition may check my Facebook page, which my daughter Sandi Masori plans to update as news becomes available. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Sports & Competitions, USA

Syrian businessmen linked to purchase of devastating Beirut explosives

The purchase of the ammonium nitrate that fuelled a deadly explosion at Beirut’s port in August last year has been linked to three Syrian businessmen with alleged ties to Bashar Al-Assad’s regime. Media reports and UK government filings connected Syrian-Russian dual nationals George Haswani and brothers Imad and Mudalal Khuri with the 2013 purchase of

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Middle East

Book Review: ‘Inflitration’ by Joshua Kenaz

The death a few months ago of Israeli author, Joshua Kenaz, led to renewed interest in his work, and impelled me to read this book (published by Am Oved in 1986). For me, reading a novel in Hebrew involves embarking on an enterprise that I know in advance will tax my patience and ability to persevere, especially as in this case the book comprises some six hundred pages of closely-printed Hebrew text. However, I decided to stick the course and acquaint myself with the writing of someone who is considered to be a bulwark of contemporary Israeli literature. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East

Streaming Jewish Programs (January 17-23, 2021) 

SAN DIEGO – Following are Jewish-interest programs intended for academic and lay audiences that may be accessed via the Internet All times are Pacific Standard Time. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

U.S. Defenses Against Chinese Cyber Offenses

This has been a (literally) breathtakingly awful year in so many ways that most people are thrilled to see it gone. But do not write off 2020 entirely. With the United States in the lead, much of the world is organizing to roadblock China’s march to dominance in 5G telecommunications. That is, to get China’s spying out of our system – although we are far from done, there is a lot of 2020 to build on in 2021. [Shoshana Bryen, Gatestone Institute via San Diego Jewish World]

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International, Middle East, USA

Billionaire Republican donor Sheldon Adelson dies at 87

Washington (AFP) – Billionaire casino magnate and donor to Republican causes Sheldon Adelson has died of cancer, his company said on Tuesday, days before Donald Trump, the US president he supported, hands power to Democratic successor Joe Biden. A supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jewish causes worldwide, Adelson’s death was confirmed on

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International, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, USA

Israel steps up attacks on Iranian targets in Syria, as Tehran awaits Biden administration

Israel appears to be stepping up attacks on Iranian targets in Syria as President Donald Trump sees out his final days in office, with the latest rounds of strikes hitting suspected Hezbollah targets and Syria’s military complex. Israel has carried out at least three strikes in Syria over the past ten days, hitting southern Syria,

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Middle East

Egypt, Jordan, Germany, France push for resuming Mideast peace talks

Egypt, Jordan, Germany and France on Monday asserted their commitment to supporting all efforts aimed at resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as their foreign ministers met in Cairo in an attempt to revive the Middle East peace process. The meeting comes as two Gulf Arab countries – the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – as well

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International, Middle East

US lawmakers urge quick reversal on ‘terrorist’ branding of Yemen Houthis

Washington (AFP) – Key US lawmakers on Monday urged a quick reversal of outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s branding of Yemen’s Huthis as a terrorist group, saying he had worsened a humanitarian crisis. “The designation of the Huthis as a terrorist organization is a death sentence for thousands of Yemenis”, said Senator Chris Murphy,

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Middle East, USA

Kissinger: Biden Should Build on Arab World’s Warming Relations with Israel

JERUSALEM (Press Release) — According to former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, “The new normalization agreements between Israel and the Arab states have opened a window of opportunity for a new Middle East. Arab countries understood that they could not survive in constant tension with parts of the West and with Israel, so they

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Middle East, USA

Iran ex-president’s daughter blames Tehran for deaths of 500,000 Syrians

The daughter of a former Iranian president has spoken out against her country’s policies in Syria, saying that by assisting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Iran had participated in the killing of more than 500,000 people. Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, whose father Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was president of Iran from 1989 to 1997, gave an interview

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Middle East

Good News from Israel (January 10, 2021)

NETANYA, Israel — In the January 10, 2021 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:

Groundbreaking Israeli hi-tech innovations for brain, lung and knee surgery.
Israeli air purifiers protect UK bus passengers from the coronavirus.
An Israeli company recycles disposable personal protection equipment.
Israeli companies are helping reduce pollution and car accidents in Japan.
Beer making has returned to the Golan Heights after a 6,000-year absence.
Some remarkable coincidences helped an Israeli paramedic save a man’s life. [Michael Ordman, San Diego Jewish World]

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International, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

Jewish members of Congress divided on Trump

Jewish elected officials, reflecting partisan divisions in the country, are split over the validity of Joe Biden’s election as President, whether Donald Trump is culpable for the mob that attacked and ransacked the Capitol building resulting in five deaths, and what, if anything, should be done about Trump in the days remaining before his term ends, and Biden’s begins, on Wednesday, January 20th. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, USA