Middle East

RJC denounces congressman's comments calling for Berlin-style airlift to Gaza

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 17, 2010) — The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), Wednesday called on President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to repudiate remarks by Rep. Brian Baird (Democrat, Washington) calling for U.S. intervention to break the Israeli “blockade” of Gaza. We find Rep. Baird’s comment disturbing and troubling on many levels. According to

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Middle East, USA

Ceremonies mark beginning of construction of Sha'ar Hanegev's protected school

  SIGNERS–Clockwise, they are Barbara Sherman, Steve Morris, Alon Schuster and Aharale Rothstein {Ulla Hadar photo} By Ulla Hadar SHA’AR HANEGEV, Israel — With tractors due to roll onto the property the next day to begin construction of the Sha’ar Hanegev Educational Village, representatives of the municipality, school administration and the United Jewish Federation of

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Middle East, San Diego Calendar

Orthodox in Israel struggle with allegations of sexual abuse by Rabbi Elon

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–An Orthodox rabbi appeared on a prime time television news program to explain his rationale as one of numerous rabbis who signed a statement reiterating that sexual relations between men was a violation of the Torah, but indicating that homosexuals should be welcome in the community of believers. They should be allowed

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Full-length documentary needs to be encyclopedic in length to cover Greenspun’s span

 QUESTION PERIOD—Brian Greenspun and Scott Goldstein listen to a question posed by an audience member at San Diego Jewish Film Festival Tuesday, Feb. 16, at Lawrence Family JCC in La Jolla, California _________________________________________________ By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Where I Stand: The Hank Greenspun Story introduced to attendees of the San Diego Jewish

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, USA

U.S. Admiral Mullen praises Israel's humanitarian efforts in Haiti

TEL AVIV (WJC)–Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and as such the highest military official in the United States, met in Tel Aviv with members of the IDF’s humanitarian delegation to Haiti. He told the Israeli soldiers: “The important work you did with your delegation will not be forgotten, not by

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Middle East, USA

SPME protests expulsion of Ariel University Center from Spanish solar competition

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Press Release)–Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) has issued a statement signed by 9 Nobel Laureates and 3,100 faculty members from 33 countries condemning the expulsion of Ariel University Center from the 2010 Solar Decathlon in Spain and requesting reinstatement. Many of the academics who signed this statement, including scholars from

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Middle East

Democracies in U.S., Israel tend to pull politicians to the center

By Rabbi Dow Marmur  JERUSALEM –We may be forgiven if we decide that it almost doesn’t matter which political party is in power because the policies of them all end up being uncannily similar. Thus the softly-softly approach of President Obama that characterized his first year in office is becoming almost as tough as that

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Middle East, USA

Checks and balances–American and Israeli styles

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The Marker, the economic supplement of Ha’aretz, celebrated the first year of the Netanyahu government with a front page story comparing the prime minister’s promises and accomplishments. The headline deals with the most recent great idea, to extend rail and improved road networks to the far corners of this small

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

Targeted killings as instruments of Israeli and U.S. policy

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Israel radio announced that The Times of London was accusing Israel of “waging covert war across the Middle East.” The worry was that this would be the start of another campaign to condemn and delegitimize Israel, recruit support for boycotts of its exports and its academics, and arrange arrest warrants for officials

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

Reportage on Israel's Ethiopian, Russian immigrants focused on their differences from Israeli norms

HAIFA (Press Release)–Exposure of the cultural aspects of Ethiopian Jewish immigration to Israel in the Israeli media has focused on immigrants’ cultural ignorance and ‘astonishment’ at their proving basic technological skills. This has been shown in a new study carried out at the University of Haifa. Immigrants from the former U.S.S.R., on the other hand, were

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Middle East