Published by DPA Dozens of people have died as the violence between Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israel escalated to new levels on Thursday. According to an army spokesman, seven people have been killed by shelling in Israel so far. In Gaza, more than 100 people have died, according to the Health Ministry there. People
Mideast violence spirals as death toll passes 100 in Gaza Read More »
Middle East
Published by Reuters By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday advised that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks outdoors and can avoid wearing them indoors in most places, updated guidance the agency said will allow life to begin to return to normal. The
Fully vaccinated people can shed their masks in most places -U.S. CDC Read More »
USA
Published by The Philadelphia Inquirer PHILADELPHIA – I spent Monday between rage and a sense of loss. I watched the Israeli government and security forces make one decision after another to escalate an already bloody situation. My family’s WhatsApp text thread pinged again and again: – They are talking about red alert alarms and sirens
Published by Reuters By Steve Holland and Michelle Nichols WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – President Joe Biden said on Thursday he is pressing for a halt to violence between Israelis and Palestinians, but U.S. officials say they are resigned to the conflict continuing for some days to come. Since taking office in January, Biden’s foreign policy
Biden says effort to restore calm in Middle East is a ‘work in progress’ Read More »
USA
“Here we go again!” That was the heading of a post I wrote a few weeks ago about the general election, but heck, it works just as well for what I’m writing about today, the escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza.
The first time I realized that things were getting serious was when I was in my German lesson at the community centre near my house in Mevasseret Zion. “What’s that noise?” I asked the lady sitting next to me. “It’s the siren,” she said, whereupon we and the other participants (all elderly ladies like myself) got up and moved to the shelter, which happened also to house the toilets. We heard (and saw) fire trucks and ambulances racing past, and after hanging around for a while, we all packed up our things and went home to watch the news on TV. A rocket fired from Gaza had landed on a nearby hill, causing very little damage and no injuries, thank goodness. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Frightening sectarian violence within Israel Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East
If this book’s title, Out of the Many, One sounds familiar, it is the English translation of the Latin expression E pluribus unum, the unofficial motto of the United States, which can be found on the back of the $1 bill above the wings of the eagle. Former President George W. Bush decided to include 43 portraits within this book, a number that was not happenstance. He was the 43rd President of the United States. [Donald H. Harrison]
George W. Bush’s Warm Embrace for Immigrants to U.S. Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA
Published by DPA US President Joe Biden condemned the firing of rockets upon Israel from Palestinian militants during a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House has said. “[Biden] condemned the rocket attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups, including against Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,” a readout of the conversation said.
Biden condemns Hamas rockets in call with Netanyahu Read More »
USA
Published by DPA Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Wednesday that his country was ready to build close relations with its regional rival Saudi Arabia. Zarif was speaking after meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. The Syrian state news agency Sana quoted Zarif as saying that Iran had made contacts with Saudi
Iran’s foreign minister hopes for better ties with Saudi Arabia Read More »
Middle East
Published by DPA South Korea has signed a free trade agreement with Israel, which eliminates import tariffs for more than 95 per cent of goods in bilateral trade, South Korea’s Trade Ministry announced on Wednesday. The deal not only reduces tariffs and improves the business environment but also serves as a “solid platform” for economic
South Korea and Israel sign free trade agreement Read More »
International
Things tend to run together in the Middle East. Right now, Sheikh Jarrah, Palestinian elections, the Hamas-Fatah civil war, the Abraham Accords, U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Iran sanctions, Jerusalem Day, the Meron tragedy, Israel’s electoral issues and American money and diplomacy are all tangled. [Shoshana Bryen]
Miscalculations by Hamas, Fatah Lead to Their Disaster Read More »
Middle East, USA
Published by AFP Washington (AFP) – Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a US envoy would travel to the Middle East to seek to calm tensions as he implored Israel to avoid civilian deaths. Hady Amr, the deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of Israeli and Palestinian affairs, was leaving Wednesday and
Blinken sends envoy to Mideast, urges Israel to spare civilians Read More »
USA
Published by Reuters By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Domestic violent extremist groups, particularly white supremacists, pose a growing threat to the United States, Attorney General Merrick Garland told a Senate panel on Wednesday. “The threat of lethality is higher than it ever was … I have not seen a more dangerous threat to democracy
White supremacist groups pose rising U.S. threat, Garland says Read More »
USA
Published by Reuters MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that a meeting of four international mediators for resolving the intensifying Israeli-Palestinian conflict is urgently required. Israel said it killed 16 members of the Hamas armed wing in Gaza in a barrage on Wednesday. At least 56 people have been killed
Russia urges ‘quartet’ meet on Israeli-Palestinian conflict Read More »
International, Middle East
Whenever trouble erupted in Israel during the 1980s, “colleagues” in my newsroom in central Pennsylvania would gaze at me suspiciously. At a laundromat in the same small town, a Democratic city councilman complained about Israel’s oppression of the poor Palestinians and an Israeli gunboat raid on the Liberty, an American intelligence vessel discovered off the Egyptian coast during the 1967 war. [Bruce S. Ticker]
Israeli Right-Wingers Exacerbate Hostilities with Palestinians Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Middle East