By Bruce Kesler ENCINITAS, California — University of California President Mark Yudof on Sunday issued a press release that “ I am appalled by images of University of California students being doused with pepper spray and jabbed with police batons on our campuses.” President Yudof went on: “I intend to convene all 10 […]
U.C. President Yudof not so vigilant when violence is against pro-Israel Jews Read More »
USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — There is good news and other news on the issue of peace and harmony between Jews and Arabs within Israel. Note “within Israel.” This is not primarily about the Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but of simple decency and accommodation between Jews and Arabs on the streets, in neighborhoods,
On inter-ethnic relations within Israel Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Dr. Ehud Eilam WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Sinai Peninsula has been the main battlefield in most of the wars between Egypt and Israel. The latter seized a small part of Sinai during the 1948-1949 war, and then most of it in the 1956 war. All of Sinai was soon after returned to Egypt without
Protecting Sinai from terrorists could lead to its remilitarization Read More »
Middle EastWASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–While the Obama administration has pursued Middle East policies that could be characterized as being sometimes indifferent to Israel’s precarious security situation, relations between our Department of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces are as good today, if not better, than they have ever been. Both countries reap the benefits that flow
Payoffs for U.S. from Israeli alliance Read More »
Middle EastBy Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO –Sometime in the blistering heat of 1965, while Martin Luther King, Jr. and his allies were marching for the nation’s first inclusive voting rights bill, a wiry, feisty, articulate Baptist minister stood up to the condescending white sheriff of Dallas County—which encompasses Selma, Ala. Rev. Cordy Tindell Vivian, better
C.T. Vivian is a very human civil rights icon Read More »
USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Politics has been the curse of this corner in the Middle East. Proclamations and grand intentions coming from those claiming to be leaders of Palestine, Israel, the United States and other great powers who say they are pursuing peace are actually paving the road to nowhere. Neither Palestinian nor Israeli
More so than politicians, technocrats get things done in Middle East Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By J. Zel Lurie DELRAY BEACH, Florida — Dennis Ross, who brought the Israelis and Palestinians together for the first time at Madrid twenty years ago, has resigned as the senior adviser to President Obama on the Middle East and Iran. “The peace process is what he cares most about,” commented Aaron David Miller.
Peace process is ‘Closed for the Season’ Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Two proposals endorsed by a Knesset committee would be a reason for side-splitting laughter, if their authors were not speaking so proudly of their accomplishments. One proposal, authored by one of the lesser lights in the Likud delegation, would ban foreign governments or international organizations, such as the UN, from donating
Knesset backbenchers seek to limit foreign contributions to NGOs Read More »
Middle EastWASHINGTON, D.C. (JINSA) — Happy Veterans Day 2011 to all the men and women who serve and have served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America. Today, Nov. 11, Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki made a plea for jobs in the pages of the Wall Street Journal. Hardly
Time for employers to step up for the veterans Read More »
USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Once again the story of Moshe Katsav has taken a large share of Israeli media. Thursday, Nov. 10, was the occasion for the Supreme Court to reject his appeals against a verdict of guilty for two instances of rape and several counts of sexual harassment, and to affirm the lower court’s sentence
Court confirms guilt of Israel’s ex-president Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Daniel Halper WASHINGTON, D.C. — Where is Jerusalem located? What seems like a simple matter of geography is actually a thorny diplomatic issue, one the U.S. State Department has aggressively avoided answering on official U.S. forms since the early 1990s. On passports and birth certificates, Americans born in Jerusalem are prohibited from adding “Israel”
U.S. declines to identify Jerusalem as part of Israel–not even on passports Read More »
Middle East
By Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO — This weekend, while most Americans are continuing to shake their heads over the terminally drooping economy, the decidedly uninspiring race for the Republican presidential nomination, and the hard-to-discern frenzy about the Eurozone, something is happening in Memphis, Tennessee, that is worthy of our attention. The National Civil Rights
Civil Rights Museum in Memphis celebrates its 20th anniversary Read More »
USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Widely reported was this conversation at the G-20 summit in Cannes, not meant to be heard but for a slip-up of the great men close to an open microphone. Nicolas Sarkozy, “I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar.” Barack Obama, “You may be sick of him, but me, I have
If no one believes Netanyahu’s credibility, who’ll heed his advice on Iran threat? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Bruce Kesler ENCINITAS, California — I recently had lunch and a stroll along the ocean with a new friend, Jonathan Spyer. We struck it off immediately when he said the only organization he ever joined which he promised to obey was the Israel Defense Force. This mirrored my experience in joining the US Marine
Middle East analyst predicts a crumbling Iran Read More »
International