By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — “On one side, you have the universalists, armed with their globalism, liberalism, and concerns for human rights. On the other, you have the nationalists, wielding their exceptionalism, isolationism, and often conservative religious values.” The above is taken from an article by Hanna Kozlowska that appeared on the Quartz website.
Bibi courts right-wing friends Read More »
International, Middle EastRabbi Yitzhak Ginsburgh, the leader of the Derech Chaim organization that placed a golden statue of Supreme Court President Miriam Naor last week in front of the Supreme Court building, sent a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu in light of the prime minister”s response to the placing of the statue. Last week, Derech Chaim had
Rabbi Ginsburgh responds to PM Netanyahu Read More »
Middle EastAn American student and three other people linked to the U.S. – either citizens or permanent residents – have lost appeals against 10-year prison sentences they are serving for alleged espionage, Iranian authorities said Sunday. Princeton student Xiyue Wang was imprisoned last summer while conducting dissertation research in Iran. He was subsequently convicted of “collaborating
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Middle East, USAPoland’s rightwing premier said Sunday that her country would not be “blackmailed” by its “largest” EU partners into accepting thousands of asylum seekers under a quota system for spreading them throughout the bloc. “We cannot be blackmailed by the threat that part of our EU funds will be cut off as punishment, because we don’t
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International, Middle EastThe Palestinian Authority appoiiinted governor of the Hevron District, Kamal Hamid, disapproves of the Israeli government’s decision to grant the Hevron Jewish community authority to administer their own municipal affairs. Last Thursday, Central Command Chief Roni Numa signed an order regulating the municipal status of the Hevron Jewish community, the main result of which grants
PA assails recognition of Jewish Hevron Read More »
Middle EastFizzing with boyish exuberance, Saudi programmer Zainalabdin Tawfiq could be mistaken for a college freshman, but the popularity of his “honesty” app has shone a spotlight on the conservative kingdom’s nascent tech scene. Tawfiq catapulted to fame when he took time out of his day job as a business analyst last year to develop an
Saudi Arabian ‘honesty’ app takes internet by storm Read More »
Middle EastFacing a rising threat of terrorist attacks sponsored by Islamic State, Iran’s government is trying to improve relations with the country’s ethnic and religious minorities that have become a target for recruiting by the militant group. Those populations, concentrated in far-flung provinces, have long been alienated politically and economically from the rest of the country.
Iran cracks down on Islamic State suspects as the extremist group intensifies threats Read More »
Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson DOMEYROT, France –Although we’re coming to the end of our vacation in France we have not been cut off from happenings in the rest of the world, specifically Israel and England. Summer in Israel is always hot and this year it seems to have been hotter than usual, at least according to
Thoughts of two homelands while on vacation Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Middle EastIsrael on Friday welcomed the renewal of the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in neighbouring Lebanon amid US pressure for the blue berets to take action against Hezbollah militants. The text of the UN resolution on renewing for a year the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) had been the subject
Israel welcomes renewal of UN force in Lebanon Read More »
International, Middle EastChristian Kern, Austria”s Social Democrat Chancellor, employed an Israeli campaign strategist who in the past worked for the Jewish Home and crafted right-wing ad campaigns targeting left-wing groups, German media outlets revealed recently. Moshe Klughaft, 37, served a number of Israeli clients in the past, including model-turned-MK Pnina Rosenblum (Likud), a group of reservist soldiers
Austrian chancellor’s secret Israeli adviser revealed Read More »
International, Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — One of Iran’s leaders recently predicted that Israel will cease to exist in the next 25 years. He may have had in mind that his country coming ominously close to Israel’s northern border: It’s in Syria as Islamic State is being defeated and Assad’s grip on the country is tightening.
Bibi’s foreign successes strengthen his hold on power Read More »
International, Middle EastIt was the end of Ramadan, a few days before Eid al-Fitr, a time of feasts and family. But the housewives shopping in a Gaza City market were buying just a few handfuls of vegetables and small pieces of meat. “Nobody can use their refrigerators,” one vendor explains; the power is out for much of
The Permanent Occupation? Read More »
Middle East, USAIsrael’s Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman denounced unauthorised Jewish outposts in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, a day after the prime minister vowed not to uproot settlements in the territory. International law sees all Israel’s West Bank settlements as illegal, but Israel distinguishes between those it sanctions and those it does not. Such outposts “have
Israel’s Lieberman slams wildcat West Bank settlements Read More »
International, Middle EastLebanon has called for a UN peacekeeping force’s mandate to be renewed without changes after Washington accused its commander of being “blind” to the flow of weapons to Iran-backed Hezbollah. The peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL, which patrols Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, is up for renewal when its mandate expires on August 31. Israel
UN Security Council spars over Lebanese peacekeeping mission Read More »
International, Middle East, USA