By Loren Kantor STUDIO CITY, California — In Jewish Mystical Teaching, the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet are the energetic building blocks of creation. Like the periodic table of elements, God formed all things in the universe through combinations of Hebrew letters (just as atoms of oxygen and hydrogen combine to form a molecule […]
Notes from the Woodcutter: The Aleph Read More »
Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
Story and photo by Judy Lash Balint NITSAN, Israel — There’s the Zionist dream and then there’s the Zionist reality. There are those who dream about living in Israel but can’t quite make it for compelling personal reasons, or who just missed the boat when they had the chance. Others, like Moshe and
Through it all, they’ve been together Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It isn’t pretty. Israel did what it could to keep the photographers away. It doesn’t play well against the history of Jews having to move from place to place, and encountering borders closed against them. Jewish officials have problems with their own population, ambivalent about providing refuge and the prospect
African migrants in Sinai stir emotional debate Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ari Briggs In the middle of the Arab uprising of 1936, the Jewish settlement of Kfar Hittim in the Galilee was established, on 2,000 dunams (200 hectares) of land which the Jewish National Fund had purchased in 1905. David Ben-Gurion, who was then the head of the Jewish Yishuv, gave his tacit approval,
Bedouins with help of NGOs grab land in Negev Read More »
Middle East
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –“I don’t want to be complicit if they (Israelis) choose to do it (attack Iran’s nuclear program),” said Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey. News flash, General Dempsey: You are complicit in the way that counts; you are trapped: the Iranian leadership does not care what we say — or what
Dempsey is ‘complicit’ in downgrading U.S.-Israel relations Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Evelyn Gordon WASHINGTON, D.C. — When Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was first elected, Israel worried that he might seek to revise the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement. After all, senior members of his Muslim Brotherhood party had threatened repeatedly to “review” it during the parliamentary and the presidential campaigns. Yet this idea always had a serious
Morsi changing the status quo with Sinai remilitarization Read More »
Middle East
By James Colbert WASHINGTON, D.C. — With his most recent comments in London last week, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, put a greater distance between the United States and Israel over a potential attack against Iran. “I don’t want to be complicit if they [Israel] choose to do it,”
U.S. blinks in nuclear confrontation with Iran Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — My most recent column, asking if Israel and the United States are friends, brought forth some of the nasty stuff that is known to exist, but is disturbing when it comes to light. Among the comments sent to the Jerusalem Post blog section “WE ARE NOT FRIENDS. Get it through
Column triggers anti-Semitic vitriol Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org The evacuation of all 50 Jewish families in Israel’s Migron outpost was completed on Sunday evening without major incident. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the successful and peaceful evacuation—but vowed that his government would continue to strengthen Jewish communities in the West Bank. Speaking at an event to celebrate
Migron evacuation: A look back and a look ahead Read More »
Middle EastIn an exclusive interview with JNS.org, former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Stuart Eizenstat, who had senior positions for the Carter and Clinton administrations, shares his views on the future of U.S.-Israel relationship within the context of the Asia-Pacific region’s increasing influence. By Ronen Shnidman/JNS.org Much ink has been spilled over the past 12
Eizenstat: Israel must build relations with BRIC countries Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — How bad are the relations between Israel and the United States? It’s a question in our headlines, reflecting the latest blips in the ongoing disagreement between the Obama and Netanyahu administrations about the need to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Things have not been all that good between Israel and Barack
U.S. and Israel play chess with Iran strategy the prize Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The Haifa court’s decision about Rachel Corrie, and the California court decision on Apple vs Samsung provoke me to think again about my former homeland. The Corrie decision received considerable attention in American media, at least for a day or two. Numerous Americans echoed the Corrie family litany of injustice, official cover-up,
Israeli judges and American juries Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — How much recent events have eroded U.S. security interests in Egypt depends on how deeply rooted those interests were in the first place. Although the Mubarak government did some things we wanted it to do, it did other things that were anathema. Mubarak, with U.S. complicity and Israeli acquiescence,
Egypt pursuing non-aligned course Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — David Ben Gurion once said, “We will know we have become a normal country when Jewish thieves and Jewish prostitutes conduct their business in Hebrew.” A more up to date indicator of Israel’s normality, taken from recent news, is young Jews terrorizing Arabs. Are these occasions for “oy gevalt,” or simply
Hate crimes sad proof Israel a ‘normal’ country Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East