Middle East

Convert’s nightmarish three-year quest for citizenship continues

An Orthodox convert with a criminal past in Baltimore’s drug gangs who turned his life around, married in Israel, and applied for citizenship under the Law of Return two and a half years ago, continues to face a nightmarish bureaucratic struggle in his effort to settle in the Jewish state.Despite being a committed member of […]

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Middle East, USA

Good News from Israel (Dec. 6, 2020)

In the 6th Dec 20 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
Israel’s top hospitals all use Israeli AI technology to analyze CT-scans.
Israelis are helping Honduras hurricane victims and Italian coronavirus patients.
New Israeli vegan milk is regular milk without the cows.
A satellite build by students from Israel’s newest university is now in orbit.
Citizens of Arab states will soon be drinking Israeli-produced water from the air.
Israelis won international gold medals in gymnastics, windsurfing and taekwondo.
Hundreds of new Ethiopian citizens have arrived in Israel.
Two 100-year-old Israelis prove that age is not a barrier in the Jewish State
[Michael Ordman]

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

Anti-Netanyahu protester, Facebook Israel CEO’s father hit by car, dies

The father of Facebook Israel’s CEO and an active protester against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was killed after being struck by a car Saturday during an anti-Netanyahu protest at the entrance of Savyon, Israeli media reported.The 82-year-old Dror Sofer, who is the father of Facebook Israel CEO Adi Sofer Thani, was taken to Sheba Medical

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Middle East

SPME Opposes Hiring of Valentina Azarova at University of Toronto

Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), representing over 50,000 academics worldwide, is deeply concerned about the hiring process and potential hire of Dr. Valentina Azarova to lead the Faculty of Law’s International Human Rights Program (IHRP). We believe there is ample evidence that should question her ability to lead the IHRP. [SPME Press Release0

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International, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Jen Campbell wins a short-term rental victory

Ahead of the December 10th meeting that will determine whether San Diego City Councilmember Jennifer Campbell or Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe will become the next City Council President, Campbell scored a victory at the City Planning Commission, winning unanimous approval for her compromise plan to cut by 50 percent the number of short-term rental units in the city and to charge a license fee for those that remain. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Biden says Trump policies allowed Iran to increase nuclear material

US President-elect Joe Biden slammed Donald Trump’s Iran strategy and reiterated his intention to prevent the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons in a new televised interview. “The bottom line is that we can’t allow Iran to get nuclear weapons,” Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “He has pulled out to get something tougher, and what

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Middle East, USA

Authors Tell Stories of 15 Israelis’ Resilience

In “Isresilience,” we meet 15 Israelis who overcame difficult challenges in their lives and went on to praiseworthy accomplishments.  The sketches are of Israeli sabras and olim, men and women, young and old.  Through the entire narrative, authors Dickson, who is executive director of StandWithUs in Israel, and Baum, a PhD known for her studies of resilience, examine how these Israelis were able to overcome the obstacles that life put in their way.   They suggest that there are three important ingredients to resilience: empathy, flexibility, and meaning making, which might be better understood as a sense of purpose. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Middle East

Jewish Democrats welcome Meeks’ appt. as chair of Foreign Affairs Cmte.

WASHINGTON – Jewish Democrats congratulated Gregory Meeks of New York on Thursday after being elected as the next chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Meeks will replace Eliot Engel, a staunch supporter of Israel, who lost his primary reelection bid and will not serve in the next Congress.“I congratulate my dear friend Greg Meeks

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Middle East, USA

Bahrain to allow occupied West Bank goods to be labeled as ‘Made in Israel’

Goods coming to Bahrain from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights will be labeled as “Made in Israel”, the country’s Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed bin Rashid Al-Zayani said on Thursday. “Without going into details and border lines, Israeli products or services… will be treated like Israeli,” Al-Zayani said according

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Middle East

316 Ethiopian Jews Arrive in Israel to Official Welcome

Three hundred sixteen olim (immigrants) arrived in Israel Thursday morning from Ethiopia, with another 100 landing tomorrow, as part one of “Operation Zur Israel.” The operation follows the Government of Israel’s decision in October of this year to approve the Aliyah (immigration) of 2,000 members of the Ethiopian community, many of whom have been waiting for decades to move to Israel and reunite with their families. Minister of Aliyah and Integration Pnina Tamano-Shata and Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel Isaac Herzog, along with the Ministry of Interior, are overseeing the operation. [Jewish Agency for Israel]

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International, Middle East