By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — When I used to think that baseball was important, I knew that you couldn’t tell the players without a scorecard. There isn’t a scorecard for Syria. There are experts who can say who are the key players, and what drives them. What they cannot tell us is what will emerge
Hard to tell ‘who’s on first’ in Syria Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Jewish law states explicitly and, as far as I know, other legal systems are of the same opinion that if someone is about to kill you, you’re entitled to kill the would-be assailant. That’s, of course, why many of the terrorists who’ve attacked Israelis in recent months have been
Are Israeli soldiers too quick on the trigger? Read More »
Middle East
By Sarah Katularu SAN DIEGO — Like most college freshmen, I spent my weekends going to themed parties and sleeping in all day. But as the year progressed and my friends were finding their callings on campus, I was still stuck trying to figure out who I was and where I belonged. Then one day,
U.S. – Israeli students find program ‘of our own’ Read More »
Middle East, San Diego County, USADead Sea Scrolls to be digitized in new German-funded Israeli project (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli scientists and scholars are set to embark on a new collaborative research partnership to create a dynamic virtual work environment for the study of one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century–the Dead Sea Scrolls. The conservation
Middle East Roundup: February 24, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBank of Israel keeps interest rate at 0.1% (JNS.org) Israel’s benchmark interest rate for March will be left unchanged at 0.1 percent, the Bank of Israel announced Monday. Bank of Israel Governor Karnit Flug said the Israeli central bank’s quantitative easing and low interest rate will continue for “an extended period.” The bank explained that
Middle East Roundup: February 23, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The stabbing intifada began in September, some 32 Israelis have been killed, along with perhaps 150 Palestinians or Israeli Arabs who attacked, with about a third of the attackers young teenagers or pre-teens. What has not happened is any escalation to planned, large scale incidents of terror of the kind that
Abbas can’t control stabbing intifada Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — The shelling of Syrian soldiers by the Turkish military is one more step back into Great Power politics — historic Turkish-Russian enmity played out over Kurds and Syrians. The U.S. appears to believe 21st century wars cannot be won by military force and that battling parties can be induced to set aside
U.S. cedes the lead to Russia in Syrian Civil War Read More »
International, Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USAIsrael intercepts Gaza-bound drone shipment disguised as toys (JNS.org) A shipment of drones disguised as toys that was bound for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip was recently intercepted by Israeli security personnel at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the Israeli Defense Ministry announced Sunday. The drones were discovered during a search of a truck carrying
Middle East Roundup: February 22, 2016 Read More »
Middle East
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – In the matter of replacing the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, we have been witnessing a tactic perhaps best described as Republican senators putting fingers in their ears and saying to President Obama “we know we won’t like what you are going to tell us, so
Politicians who put their fingers in their ears Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — A few days ago the IDF Commander in chief told a group of high school students that he didn’t like a soldier emptying his magazine against a 13 year old girl with a pair of scissors.” The storm was quick in coming. Rightists, accused him of disarming Israel’s capacity to
Arabs’ hatred not largest cause of deaths in Israel Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Let’s imagine that you grew up in a liberal, self-identifying Jewish family. You’re pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-immigration, pro-diversity, and pro-Israel. On the first four counts, it would seem, you are closely aligned with Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. But on the fifth count, Israel, you find
Election 2016: What’s a Jew to do? Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, USABy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — You can have a flock of sheep and a herd of cows, a covey of witches and a murmuration of starlings, so why not a transport of translators? This is one of the thoughts that occurred to me in the course of the recent annual Conference organized by the
Public speaking translates into misery Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History, Middle East150 Israeli companies to be featured in Barcelona telecom expo (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Some 150 Israeli companies will be featured in the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week, one of the world’s top telecommunications exhibitions. The Israeli companies make up the conference’s fourth-largest delegation, after the U.S., the U.K., and France. Scheduled
Middle East Roundup: February 19, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Hassan Nasrallah’s latest tirade is his threat to send missiles against an ammonia plant in Haifa. He calls it his nuclear weapon, that would produce 800,000 casualties.. This in a context of Hezbollah deeply involved in Syria, and losing thousands of its fighters. Nasrallah himself is in Iran for treatment
Threats from Lebanon and Rutgers Read More »
Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA