By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Who can we trust in the complexities of political issues? Politicians? Commentators? None of the above? For those Americans and Israelis reading this column, the examples of Donald Trump and Benyamin Netanyahu may be setting new standards at the bottom of whatever can be called trust. Trump claimed to have reached […]
Leaders over simplify issues; others ignore them Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA
Police, Emergency Medical Services, practice in Tiberius responding to a terror attack Special Weapons and Training (SWAT) teams of the national and local police, augmented by United Hatzalah, Ambulance Merizan and other first responders, conducted a drill in Tiberius (Tevaria) last week in which they practiced responding to a terrorist attack on the city’s IDF
Editor’s E-Mail Box: July 29, 2018 (3 items) Read More »
International, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
By Yoni Peres TIRANA, Albania — Albania is a small country with a population of about three million people, 70 percent Muslim. It is situated on the Adriatic coast, neighboring Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia and Greece. For 500 years it was under the Ottoman regime. Following the Balkan war of 1914, it became independent. During World
Albania dedicates a monument to Shimon Peres Read More »
International, Middle East, Yoni Peres
By Toby Klein Greenwald KFAR HAMACCABIAH, Israel — There is something humble and attractive about a foundation not naming itself after its founders, or main donors, but giving itself a Hebrew name that means “Gift of God.” I spent a glorious, mind-expanding day recently at the annual Matanel Israeli retreat in Kfar Hamaccabiah, where their
Matanel – Gift of God — helps struggling Israelis Read More »
Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, Toby Klein Greenwald, Travel and FoodBy Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK — Last week, the Israeli Knesset passed a new basic law which in the main enshrines “Israel [as] the historical homeland of the Jewish people in which the State of Israel was established… The right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people…
OpEd: Israel’s nation state law alienates world Jewry Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USA
Editor’s Note: This is the 21st in a series of stories researched during Don and Nancy Harrison’s 50th Wedding Anniversary cruise from Sydney, Australia, to San Diego. Previous installments of the series, which runs every Thursday, may be found by tapping the number of the installment: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8, 9, 10, 11, 12,13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19,
Movies at sea enhance the cruise Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and FoodBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — There’s more than a million Russian-speaking Israelis, taking account of those born here minus those who have left for what seemed greener pastures. And certainly when taking account of those who came before the collapse of the Soviet Union. It’s a misnomer to call them Russians. Russian speakers is the
Russian Jews, American Jews in Israel Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA
Lawfare Project moves against Holocaust denial posts on Facebook The Lawfare Project filed takedown notices this week against Facebook posts denying the Holocaust and containing anti-Semitic material, successfully leading to several posts being removed or blocked by Facebook in a number of countries. The Lawfare Project’s action followed controversial comments last week by Facebook’s CEO,
Editor’s E-Mail Box: July 25, 2018 (6 items) Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, USASee the video Gal Lusky, an Israeli humanitarian worker who helps provide aid to Syrian refugees, has spent the better part of four years going undercover to give medical supplies and food to families across the border. Only recently did she reveal to the Syrians whose lives she has saved that she is an Israeli,
Israeli woman tells of saving Syrian lives Read More »
Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education
AIPAC rallies citizen support for U.S.-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018 On July 10, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in support of the United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018 (S. 2497). This legislation is expected to come to the Senate floor for a vote as soon as Wednesday, July 25. This
Editor’s E-Mail Box: July 24, 2018 (6 items) Read More »
International, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USABy Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Protests are erupting in Israel and throughout the Jewish world as a result of the detention of a Conservative rabbi in Haifa by Israeli police, in response to a rabbinical court order. The Haifa Rabbinic Court charged the rabbi with “marrying those who are not eligible to be
Jewish trivia quiz: Marriage in Israel Read More »
Jewish Religion, Mark D. Zimmerman, Middle East, Trivia, Humor & SatireSIMI VALLEY, California (Press Release) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed Iranian leadership for stealing from that nation’s people, trampling on their rights, and exporting similar abuses around the globe. The Secretary spoke Sunday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, then dialogued with former California governor Pete Wilson. The State Department provided this
Pompeo slams Iranian kleptocracy Read More »
Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — I am a political scientist biased in favor of politics. I see it as the essence of civilization. One of the hallmarks is the line attributed to Winston Churchill, that jaw jaw is better than war war. Verbal dispute is better than violence. And a corollary is that dispute followed
Politicians may bluster, but bureaucrats decide Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USAWASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) — The U.S. State Department issued the following statement on Sunday: “The United States welcomes the safe evacuation of more than 400 members of the Syrian Civil Defense, otherwise known as the White Helmets, and their families from southwest Syria. We are glad that these brave volunteers, who have saved thousands
Israel, Jordan team to save ‘White Helmet’ refugees Read More »
International, Middle East, USA