Middle East

Arabs, Orthodox Jews and secular Jews often vie in Jerusalem

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –This city’s population is 764,000. Groups with high political salience are 269,000 Arabs (35 percent), and an estimated 155,000 ultra-Orthodox. The Arabs have great prominence among overseas watchers of Jerusalem, but opt out of local politics by boycotting municipal elections. Almost none of them accepted Israeli citizenship when it was offered […]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

StandWithUs praises UCI decision to suspend Muslim Student Union

LOS ANGELES (Press Release)—StandWithUs, the international Israel education organization, welcomes UC Irvine’s (UCI) decision to take disciplinary action against Irvine’s Muslim Student Union (MSU), an organization that repeatedly crossed red lines to foment hostility against Israel and intimidate its supporters on campus. The MSU had claimed that its right to free speech included the right

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Middle East

Israeli violinist and pianist to perform together June 17 in Carlsbad

By Eileen Wingard    CARLSBAD, California–Israel has supplied the world with an abundance of musical talent. In addition to many fine orchestras, topped by the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, it has been the birthplace or the nurturing ground for violinists Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zuckerman, Shlomo Mintz; pianinsts Yefim Bronfman, Daniel Barenboim and others. The

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Eileen Wingard, Middle East, USA

ADL congratulates U.S. on censure of Syrian U.N. diplomat

NEW YORK (Press Release)–The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Monday expressed appreciation to the United States Mission in Geneva for its condemnation of a Syrian diplomat’s statement alluding to the ancient blood libel against Jews. The League voiced outrage, however, that the president of the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) has yet to denounce the hateful

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Middle East, USA

Is New York Times reporter a propagandist for Turkey?

By Bruce Kesler ENCINITAS, California-The New York Times’ headline could have been “Turkey’s Islamist Government Is Just Doing the U.S. A Favor, Wink, Wink” instead of “For Turkey, an Embrace of Iran Is a Matter of Building Bridges,” by Sabrina Tavernise. With the imprimatur “News Analysis”, the NYTs bureau chief in Istanbul, Sabrina Tavernise, with

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Middle East, USA

Imagine what hypocrites would do without Israel to condemn

By Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO–Sometimes one wonders what the media, the pundits, the leftists, the Presbyterians, and most of Europe would all do if they did have not the Jews to examine and excoriate.  Certainly it’s a collective straight line away from their own inexhaustible layers of racial hypocrisies, inquisitions, crusades, slave-trading, and discarding-all-principles-for-oil

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Middle East, USA

Peace activists or accomplices?

By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — Is it just me, or did you also wonder how these “peace activists” found the free time to join the mission defying Israel’s blockade? Did you also wonder how they could afford to travel the world for this purpose? Here’s the critical question: How could educated, compassionate people fail to

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Middle East

Sha'ar Hanegev social workers win national award for excellence

By Ulla Hadar TEL AVIV -On the 8th of June during the nationwide conference of social workers from all over Israel, the national organization conferred the “Henrietta Szold 2010 Award of Excellence” on the Sha’ar Hanegev municipality social service workers, headed by Marva Meizeles. The committee’s citation said  “This team has in the last years

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Middle East

Poll shows Israelis support Gaza blockade

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Of Israel’s major newspapers, Ha’aretz is the least friendly to the present government. It is also the most likely to criticize the lack of empathy for Palestinian interests that it finds among officials and the population.  The journalist who wrote a long article in the weekend edition could have been referring to colleagues when

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

At 75 years young, Jewish Federation tacks onto new course

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—The umbrella agency of San Diego’s Jewish community celebrated its 75th anniversary with a new name, new logo, new board chairperson and a newly-defined six-part mission. All this became clear Thursday evening, June 10, when the agency formerly known as the United Jewish Federation announced its board had changed its

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East

Can there be a fair Gaza Flotilla inquiry?

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The current mantra is, “Israel cannot investigate itself.” That is, an Israeli investigation will not satisfy those who sign on to one or another of what antagonists call the “Flotilla fiasco,” “State terror,” “Attack on a Turkish ship in international waters,” or “Israeli murder.” The contrary mantra is, “The international community cannot

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Middle East, USA