Middle East

Israel seeking to substitute personalities for foreign policy initiatives

By Rabbi Dow Marmur  JERUSALEM — Mimouna is a colorful tradition that North African Jews brought to Israel. It celebrates the end of the festival of Passover. Activities include much public jollification and eating of post-Pesach dishes made from recipes from the old country. It has also become an occasion for Israeli right-wing politicians (who […]

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Middle East

Obama facing diplomatic reverses all over the world

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The news was not good when Barack Obama opened his newspapers upon returning to work from his Easter holiday (assuming that the American president had a holiday, beyond a family photo-op at church). From Afghanistan: There are no good options on the horizon, many analysts say, for reining in Mr. Karzai or

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

Retired U.S. flag officers speak up for Israel

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–Editor’s Note:  When U.S.-Israel relations hit a rough patch, there are those who quickly blame Israel for America’s difficulties abroad. Israel has outrageously been blamed for endangering American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, and erroneously been blamed for preventing the formation of an Arab coalition to work with the US to contain

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Middle East, USA

Salam Fayyad: The moderate face of the Palestinian Authority

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister of the Palestine Authority, appears to be a decent and wise man. Along with Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Authority, Saeb Erekat, prominent negotiator, and Sari Nuseiba, one-time minister in the Palestine Authority and more often President of al-Quds University, they are Palestinians who assert national interests, but have

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Obama watchers compare him to each of the four sons at a seder

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM– According to Israeli media commenting on the by now annual PR gimmick called The White House Seder, President Obama suffers from multiple personality disorder. He has been cast in the role of each of the four sons of the Hagadah. He’s wise. By putting pressure on Israel he’s winning the hearts

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Middle East, USA

Something of a holiday lull descends over Israel

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–This is the season sacred to both Jews and Christians. Passover and Easter are arguably the formative events of both communities. To this skeptic, there is no chance that the Easter story of resurrection is historically accurate. There may have been some historical incidents behind the biblical story of the Exodus, but

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

U.S-Israel rift may cool over Passover holiday

JERUSALEM–It’s too early to panic, I hope. President Obama returned to his sweeping demand that Israel stop construction in post-1967 neighborhoods of Jerusalem, extend the construction freeze in settlements outside of Jerusalem beyond the ten months agreed, and take other steps to bring the Palestinians to negotiations. Comments at a high tone have come from

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

General Petraeus sets record straight on Israel

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C.–Sometimes it takes a while for a story to come full circle.  Last week, we reported  on a ForeignPolicy.com blog that said American military officers in CENTCOM blamed U.S. relations with Israel for American weakness in the region. The ForeignPolicy blog went viral on the web, attracting other “authoritative” statements blaming

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Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USA

Israeli victims of terror find support in San Diego

By Carine Chitayat and Iris Pearlman SAN DIEGO–The Adopt A Family Foundation (AAFF) is an organization which matches Israeli terror victim families with an American contact family. This program sets into motion an unprecedented partnership of Jewish souls.  This valuable contact enables the terror victim family to begin to rebuild their traumatized lives with added

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Middle East, USA