Middle East

In Saudi Arabia, Jewish sites with ancient resonance beckon

Saudi Arabia is not high on the list of Jewish travel destinations. There has been no organized Jewish activity in the country for 70 years. Even though a Saudi delegation visited Israel last month, anyone with an Israeli passport is banned from entering the country, as the two countries don’t have diplomatic relations. As of […]

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Middle East, Travel and Food

Obama administration denies $400M cash payment to Iran was ransom for hostages

The Obama administration insisted Wednesday that its secret airlifted payment to Iran of $400 million in January wasn’t ransom to obtain the release of four jailed Americans, as more lawmakers in Congress expressed outrage over the deal. White House press secretary Josh Earnest denied repeatedly that the cash payment was ransom. “No, it was not.

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Middle East, USA

Israel’s right, left tussle over control of textbooks, media

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –Israel may be one of the noisiest of democracies. There’s a large variety of views expressed in families of many different origins, media providing different views of news and commentary in both traditional and Internet varieties, as well as politicians, Knesset Members, government personnel, and other activists who span a wide

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Middle East Roundup: August 4, 2016

Humanitarian aid official indicted for giving charity funds to Hamas (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A serious security affair was exposed on Thursday after the Israeli courts lifted a gag order: Mohammed Halabi, the head of the international aid organization World Vision, has been indicted on suspicion of transferring humanitarian funds to the terrorist organization Hamas.

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Middle East

Trump blasts ‘incompetent’ Obama following Iran ransom report

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted the Obama administration over a report in the Wall Street Journal which said it secretly funneled $400 million in cash to the Iranians in January, around the time four American prisoners were released from Tehran. Trump called the incident a “scandal”, and pointed out that negotiations opened

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International, Middle East, USA

The anti-Israel movement’s ‘anti-normalization’ campaign

The basis of any negotiated settlement is compromise. But what if one of the parties to the conflict simply refuses to talk? Some Palestinian factions and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement have engaged in what’s known as an “anti-normalization” campaign: they are demanding that all contact between Palestinians and Israelis be severed, lest

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Middle East

Recep Erdogan, Turkey president, accuses U.S., EU allies of taking sides of coup plotters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at the Obama administration and its European allies Tuesday, accusing the West of supporting terrorism and taking sides with coup plotters, and claiming that the attempted overthrow of his government by a portion of the military last month was scripted by foreign forces. At a moment when many

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Middle East, USA

‘I am repulsed by supporters of Israel, Zionism is naive dream’

Two prominent American Jewish historians sparked controversy this week with a scathing opinion piece in the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper attacking Zionism and Jewish support for the State of Israel. The article, published on the paper”s online edition on Monday, was co-authored by Hasia Diner, Director of New York University”s American Jewish history center, and Marjorie

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Middle East, USA

Did US Bribe Iran With $400M?

On January 16, when Iran released four U.S. citizens who had been arrested and imprisoned in the country, the administration of President Barack Obama agreed to release seven Iranians either jailed in the U.S. or facing charges. But according to a report Tuesday, there could be more to the seemingly simple prisoner swap deal than

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Middle East, USA

Black Lives Matter movement declares war on ‘Israeli Apartheid’

The radical “Black Lives Matter” movement released a formal platform on Monday, singling out Israel for what it calls the “genocide” against Palestinian Arabs and “Israeli Apartheid”. BLM, which emerged in the summer of 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman, a Hispanic man who shot and killed an African American teenager in self-defense, aims

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Middle East, USA

Lebanese Army Day ad shows photo of IDF soldier

An entertainment company in Lebanon accidentally featured a photo appearing to praise an Israeli soldier, as part of an advertisement campaign coinciding with Lebanese Army Day, and quickly apologized profusely. The Virgin Megastore’s Lebanese service Ticketing Box Office removed the ad, showing an IDF soldier looking into binoculars accompanied by the text “Keep your eyes

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Middle East