Iran poised to receive S-300 missile system, aircraft from Russia (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Iran was expected to receive its first S-300 air defense system from Russia on Thursday, Russian media reported Wednesday. This will be the first the major weapons deal to be implemented in the wake of last summer’s nuclear deal between Iran […]
Middle East Roundup: February 18, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Steve Kramer ALFE MENASHE, Israel — The plateau called the Golan Heights is Israel’s northern most region, bordering Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Its area, 440 square miles, is slightly smaller than New York City. The West insists the Israeli-controlled part of the Golan Heights is “occupied territory” which must be returned to Syria. This
Whither the Golan Heights? Read More »
Middle East, Steve KramerU.K. and Paris step up fight against BDS (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The United Kingdom plans to step up its fight against the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, British Cabinet Office Minister Matthew Hancock said Tuesday during a visit to Israel. The British government is currently pursuing a new bill that would
Middle East Roundup: February 17, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Israel’s Declaration of Independence proclaimed: “the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz Israel . . . will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on
Case- study problems of being a Jewish democracy Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Lisa Herndon NEW YORK — At 102, J. Zel Lurie “39 is likely the Columbia Journalism School”s longest-working journalist. Lurie, who lives in Delray Beach, Florida, suffers from macular degeneration and can no longer read, but it has never occurred to him to end a writing career that started decades ago. Only now, he
Retire at 102? Not a chance! Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, USABy Kenneth Bandler NEW YORK — The American Jewish Committee (AJC) applauds the Council of Paris for adopting two resolutions on Tuesday, Feb. 16, opposing the BDS (boycott, sanctions and divestment) movement that has been targeting Israel. The council is the governing body for the French capital. The Paris Council action firmly opposes “all attempts
Paris action against BDS praised by AJC Read More »
International, Middle East, USALebanese paper claims Hezbollah found missing IDF soldier’s items (JNS.org) The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar has reported that the former Defense and Operations Chief of Hezbollah Imad Mughniyeh, whose 2008 assassination has been attributed to Israel, led a unit that found the parachute and uniform of Ron Arad, the Israeli Air-Force navigator who disappeared after being imprisoned
Middle East Roundup: February 16, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — On February 15, 2016 history was made in Israel that many of us would rather not have witnessed: Israel’s eighth prime minister has begun his 19-month prison sentence for corruption and related charges. Despite his many other achievements, Ehud Olmert will probably be remembered not for the good he
Olmert in prison proves no one above Israeli law Read More »
Middle EastBy Richard L. Cravatts, PhD BOSTON, Massachusetts –Jews have been accused of harming and murdering non-Jews since the twelfth century in England, when Jewish convert to Catholicism, Theobald of Cambridge, mendaciously announced that European Jews ritually slaughtered Christian children each year and drank their blood during Passover season. That medieval blood libel, largely abandoned in
Rutgers Prof. revives blood libel against Israel Read More »
Middle East, Richard L. Cravatts, Science, Medicine, & EducationLA JOLLA, California — San Diego Jewish Film Festival audiences were bestowed a gift of immeasurable delights as Flory’s Flame was shown on On Friday, February 12, in the JCC’s Garfield Auditorium. Before the airing of the hour-long documentary, we were treated to five live heart-rending pieces sung by Elizabeth Schwartz, accompanied by guitarist and professor, Fred Benedetti.
‘Flory’s Flame’: Jewish history through Ladino music Read More »
Eva Trieger, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Two IDF reservists, touring Southern California as guests of the pro-Israel advocacy group StandWithUS, described to several audiences the precautions the Israeli military takes to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza and other areas of combat operations. At the same time, Edan and Gilad (their last names withheld by
Two IDF reservists tell of morality in combat Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, USAIsrael maintains ‘discreet’ ties with many Arab states, Netanyahu says (JNS.org) Major Arab countries “are changing their view of Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a visiting Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations leadership delegation in Jerusalem on Sunday. “They don’t see Israel anymore as their enemy, but they see Israel as their
Middle East Roundup: February 15, 2016 Read More »
International, Middle EastPoland to outlaw phrase ‘Polish death camps’ WARSAW (WJC) — Poland is planning to adopt a law to punish people who use the phrase “Polish death camps” in relation to Nazi concentration camps in German-occupied Poland during World War II. Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro declared on a radio channel that his bill would “meet the expectations of Poles, who
Never Again: Holocaust News for February 15, 2016 Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryBy Joe Spier CALGARY, Alberta, Canada — In the period following the 1967 Six-Day War, many Russian Jews applied to leave the Soviet Union. While some were allowed to leave, many were denied permission. The reason given for rejection was that at some point in their lives, these people might have been given access
Ida Nudel: Portrait of a Soviet Refusenik Read More »
International, Middle East