Middle East

Israeli settlers disrupt EU visit to sensitive East Jerusalem area

Israeli settlers disrupted a visit on Monday by a European Union (EU) delegation to a neighbourhood in East Jerusalem where Israel plans to build more than 1,200 housing units.A video published in Israeli media shows activists shouting “anti-Semites go home,” “anti-Semites go back to Europe” as EU representatives attempted to speak.Two Jerusalem city council members

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International, Middle East

Israel demands CNN anchor apologise after comparing Trump years to Kristallnacht

Israel has demanded that a CNN anchor apologises for comparing US President Donald Trump’s actions to the Nazi pogrom against Germany’s Jews in 1938, also known as the Kristallnacht.”This week 82 years ago, Kristallnacht happened,” Christiane Amanpour said in a live broadcast on CNN on Thursday. “It was the Nazis’ warning shot across the bow

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International, Jewish History, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

‘We are all Jews here’

Sgt. Edmonds ordered all 1275 men to assemble for the Nazi roll call. Siegmann ordered Edmonds to single out the Jews. He refused. Siegmann put a pistol to Edmonds’ head and threatened to kill him if he did not comply to separate out the Jews. Edmonds, with cold, pure courage, told the American educated Commandant, “We are all Jews here.” He told him the war would be over soon. If he killed him, Siegmann would be tried as a War Criminal. [Jerry Klinger]

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International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Middle East, USA

Can Pompeo replace annexation with a glass of Psagot wine?

Could US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo already be stumping for votes for his own presidential run in 2024 by weighing a visit to the West Bank Psagot Winery?PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi certainly seemed to make that assumption, when she attacked him for contemplating such a trip during his visit here later this

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Middle East, Travel and Food, USA

Good News from Israel (November 15, 2020)

In the 15th Nov 20 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include: • A new Israeli endoscopy device takes better biopsies for diagnosing cancer. • Saudi Arabia diverted an Israeli plane to fly near Mecca, to avoid a storm. • An Israeli’s learning difficulties led him to develop an educational app. • Israelis helped build Apple’s new microprocessor.
• Latest figures show Israel is the highest spender on R&D as a proportion of GDP. • Israeli hi-tech is the subject of the new TrueFuture TV series. • An on-line Israeli course on Islam has hundreds of students across the Muslim world. [lMichael Ordman]

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Michael Ordman, Middle East

Obama calls Netanyahu ‘smart, canny, tough’ in new tell-all book

Former US President Barack Obama described his often complicated and constantly scrutinized relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Promised Land, the first of two books Obama is writing about his time in office, which will be released on Tuesday, according to Jewish Insider.Despite reports of constant fights, name-calling, leaks, and an altogether dysfunctional relationship,

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Middle East, USA

Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s ex-envoy who helped broker UAE-Israel deal, celebrates daughter’s engagement in Dubai

The former White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt celebrated his daughter’s engagement in Dubai just weeks after the normalisation of relations between Israel and the UAE.Greenblatt’s daughter, Anna Greenblatt, said yes to a surprise proposal from her boyfriend in Dubai where she was travelling with her father.Greenblatt, who played a key role in drafting

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Middle East, Travel and Food, USA

Sinai helicopter crash kills 7, including 5 Americans

A helicopter crash in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula involving a multi-national observer force killed seven people on Thursday — five Americans, a French national and a Czech citizen, the force said.”We are deeply saddened by the loss on November 12, 2020, of seven of our uniformed military colleagues from three countries who died in a helicopter crash during a routine mission. This included one Czech, one French, and five US MFO members,” the peacekeeping force said late Thursday. [Agence France Presse]

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Middle East, USA

Former mayoral candidate subject of dispute in race for City Council President

San Diego City Councilwoman Dr. Jen Campbell has taken exception to testimony by former mayoral candidate Tasha Williamson during a portion of the City Council meeting on Tuesday, Nov 10, when members of the public were invited to comment. Campbell said that Williamson interjected into her testimony on another matter the issue of the race for the presidency of the next City Council in which Campbell and Councilwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe are competitors. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

How SJP orchestrates Jew-Hatred

SJP [Students for Justice for Palestine] has a long history since its founding in 1993 of bringing vitriolic anti-Israel speakers to their respective campuses (now numbering over 200 with chapters), and for sponsoring the pernicious annual Israeli Apartheid Weeks, building mock “apartheid walls,” extolling terrorism and the psychopaths who commit it, inviting outrageously biased and Jew-hating guest speakers, disrupting and shutting down pro-Israel events, sending fake eviction notices to Jewish students in their dorms, and jamming resolutions through student government to promote the toxic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign— all these tactics having as their core purpose the demonization of Israel, Zionism, Jewish self-determination, and Jews who support Israel.  [Richard L. Cravatts, Ph.D]

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Middle East, Richard L. Cravatts, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Conundrum

Israel is described as a racist country by its detractors. A sizable sector of Israel’s population currently lives in small, crowded apartments in poor, segregated, urban neighborhoods, where their extended families, synagogues, and institutions are located. They constitute about 12% of Israel’s population and most are counted below the poverty line. About half of the men are unemployed. Most of the families are dependent on government aid to supplement their meager incomes. They are prone to riot when they feel threatened by laws promulgated to the general population, often causing police intervention. They are the ultra-Orthodox, known here as the Haredim. Mainstream media coverage of this sector generally depicts them in negative terms. [Steve Kramer]

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Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, Steve Kramer

Streaming Jewish Programs (Nov. 15- 20)

Following are academic and popular programs of specific Jewish interest that may be accessed via the Internet. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

A Visit to the Hula Lake Area

The second Coronavirus lockdown has just ended, and the third one can already be seen in the offing. So anyone with a yen for a change of atmosphere and landscape had better utilize the opportunity to take to the open road, and get out of the house. So hubby and I decided to make for the north of Israel, to the Hula wetlands or lake area, since at this time of the year it serves as a stop-over and resting place for many migratory birds making their way from Europe to Africa for the winter. Israel’s location, between the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the arid Arabian desert to the east, has made it the preferred flight path for millions of birds migrating from their summer sojourn in Europe to Africa’s warm winter. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, The World We Share, Travel and Food