Middle East

4 SDJA students bring home water reclamation prize from Israel

SAN DIEGO (Press Release)– After winning the national Gildor Family Projects and Inventions Competition in New York last June, San Diego Jewish Academy (SDJA) students Ari Colton, Matan Kaminski, Noah Sutton-Smolin and Jake Posnock traveled to Israel to represent the United States at the international competition. After nearly seven months of work developing an innovative […]

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Middle East, USA

Rothman lauds funding for U.S.-Israel anti-missile programs

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–U.S. Representative Steve Rothman (D-NJ), a member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, released the following statement: On July 27, 2010, the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a strong message – to our allies and enemies alike – by appropriating more funds than ever before toward joint

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Middle East, USA

Commentary: As peace talks loom, Arab rejectionists fire their missiles

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–It is not easy to make peace in this region.  Currently those who aspire to a breakthrough depend on Mahmoud Abbas and Benyamin Netanyahu. Neither of them inspires a great deal of confidence, given their histories. Moreover, both are politicians, dependent on pressures and constraints from local and wider constituencies. As we

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Kassam missiles destroy three rooms of hydrotherapy center in Sha'ar Hanegev

By Alon Schuster Mayor, Sha’ar Hanegev SHA’AR HANEGEV, Israel — A rocket exploded Saturday night, July 31, on the roof of our Hydro Therapy Center. The center is situated in the educational campus, where the schools and Sapir Collage are located. Fortunately, children with special needs were not in the facilitiy that they use to train their

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Middle East

A short history of anti-Semitism and its modern equivalent

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Anti-Semitism is ancient, although the term itself appears only from the 19th century onward. By the latter part of the 20th century, Arabs were ridiculing the charge that they were anti-Semites, on the grounds that they are Semites. Tendentious claims aside, no less a reference than the Oxford English Dictionary defines anti-Semitism

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

Completion of Torah Scroll in Old City prompts celebration

  By Judy Lash Balint   JERUSALEM–The Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem’s Old City celebrated the completion of a new Torah scroll Wednesday night, July 28, in a lively celebration of Jews from around the world. A scribe dips his quill pen into special ink and puts the finishing touches to a new Torah scroll before

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Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

France upgrades relations with Palestinian Authority

PARIS (WJC)–France and the Palestinian Authority are formally upgrading their diplomatic relations. Until now, the Palestinians have been represented by a ‘delegation’ in France headed by a ‘general delegate’. In future, the General Delegation of Palestine in Paris will be called the Palestinian Mission to France and be led by an ambassador-head of mission, French

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Middle East

Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, October 29, 1954, Part 2

Compiled by San Diego Jewish World staff     Brandeis Women To Meet For Dessert Nov. 1 Southwestern Jewish Press, October 29, 1954, Page 4 The first semi-annual Membership Meeting of the San Diego Chapter of the National Women’s Committee of Brandeis University will be held Monday, November 1, at the home of Mrs. William

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Adventures in SD History, Middle East

Kirk wants U.S. to deny gasoline deliveries to Iran

NORTHBROOK, Illinois (Press Release) – Congressman and Illinois Senate candidate Mark Kirk on Wednesday, July 28, launched a national online petition drive urging the President to seal off gasoline deliveries to Iran by enforcing a recently enacted Iran sanctions bill. “A nuclear-armed Iran would destabilize the Middle East, weaken America’s national security and pose an existential danger to

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Middle East, USA

Arab protests over Israeli author forces cancellation of writers' conference

MARSEILLE, France (WJC)–A writers’ conference at a public university in southern France was canceled after some Arab participants refused to attend because of the presence of Israeli author Esther Orner. The meeting at the Université de Provence Aix/Marseille was intended to feature Mediterranean authors. “The story beneath all this – and it’s an enigma – is

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Middle East

Netanyahu, Lieberman jockey as direct talks with Palestinians loom

JERUSALEM (WJC)–Israel has no plans to extend the ten-month building freeze in Israeli settlements in the West Bank after September, the country’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday. He rejected any link between the moratorium and the start of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Lieberman told a joint news conference with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel

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Middle East

Commentary: Mamas, keep your daughters off the barricades

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–One of the consequences of Israel’s demonization is the incidence of young people who participate in demonstrations against one or another of what they perceive as the abominations created by the oppressor of Palestine. Revolution and justice are powerful attractions, but they do not always appear together. Justice is elusive, and likely to be

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East