International

US Jewish doctor tweets on treating Covid patient with Nazi tattoos

Los Angeles (AFP) – A Jewish doctor working with coronavirus patients in California shared his shock about the moment he saw neo-Nazi tattoos on the body of a severely ill man he was treating. As his team – which included a Black nurse and a respiratory specialist of Asian descent — prepared the man to

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Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Sometimes, we Jews can be oversensitive

Jews are now examining every Biden appointee with an eye towards rooting out anyone who is anti-Israel. The prickliest among us attack people if their views are simply different, as in those unhappy with the choice of Tony Blinken as Secretary of State because he supports a two-state solution (as does his boss), opposed sanctioning Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and spoke at the J Street conference. Of greater concern are appointees who appear genuinely anti-Israel. One who has already drawn attention is Reema Dodin, a Palestinian American appointed as Biden’s deputy director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. In 2002, she said that Palestinian “suicide bombers were the last resort of a desperate people” and was involved in protests calling on the California University system to divest from Israel. She also complained that Palestinians were portrayed as “villains in the media” when they were “suffering” and “oppressed.” [Mitchell Bard]

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Middle East, USA

Mimi’s Ark: Icelandic Horses in Encinitas

Did you know there are horses in San Diego County with roots that can be traced back directly back to the Vikings?  They are Icelandic horses and their ancestors were perfect for crossing the oceans on Viking boats as the horses were short–about 12-14 hands-, calm, and sure-footed.  Icelandic horses today are not very different from their predecessors and Iceland has been careful to keep it that way. [Mimi Pollack]

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International, Lifestyles, Mimi Pollack, San Diego County, The World We Share, USA

Why Joe Biden’s Middle East and Israel policy is not Obama’s

President Obama viewed Israel as a colonial force, an outsider, occupying Arab-Muslim lands. And that perspective colored his foreign policy.That is not President-elect Biden’s perspective. He is not going to rush off to Cairo and make a big-splash speech. Israel and the Middle East will not be a top priority for action by a Biden

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Middle East, USA

Lebanon’s president expresses hope for Israel border talks

Lebanon’s president said Wednesday he wants maritime border talks with Israel to succeed and that disagreements during the last round of negotiations can be resolved based on international law.President Michel Aoun spoke during a meeting with John Desrocher, the US mediator for the negotiations, who was in Beirut for discussions with Lebanese leaders.The fourth round

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Middle East

Biden Could End the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Recently I had an opportunity to brief a group of European diplomats and journalists on a variety of conflicts, with a focus on the Middle East. During the Q&A I was asked which of the region’s conflicts Biden should tackle first. Without much hesitation I said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not only because it is over seven decades old, but because it is an increasingly intractable, explosive, and destabilizing situation, which reverberates throughout the Mideast, and several regional powers are exploiting it to serve their own national interests, which sadly contributes to its endurance. [Alon Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USA

Editorial: Madam secretary: In praise of Biden’s choice of Janet Yellen

It makes headlines but is ultimately of no moment that Janet Yellen will, when confirmed, become the nation’s first female secretary of the treasury, just as she was the first female chair of the Federal Reserve. Women filling government’s top jobs is inching ever closer to becoming simply the norm.What matters about Yellen — born

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USA

US probes ‘bribery’ scheme to seek White House pardon

Washington (AFP) – The US Justice Department is investigating an alleged bribery scheme involving campaign donations to secure a presidential pardon, a court filing showed Tuesday.The document, which discusses the legality of searching communications and electronic devices of individuals, including attorneys, is highly redacted, with all identifying information blacked out.But it refers to a “secret

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USA

Dr. Scott Atlas, Controversial Trump COVID-19 Adviser, Resigns From White House Job

With Monday marking only 51-days until President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn into office, Dr. Scott Atlas, a controversial coronavirus task force member, announced his formal resignation as special adviser to the president.Atlas, a former Fox News contributor with no expertise in infectious disease, joined the Trump administration as a Special Government Employee (SGE) in

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USA

Iran releases Jewish prisoner imprisoned for visiting Israeli family

The Islamic Republic of Iran has freed imprisoned Iranian Jew Mashallah Pesar Kohan, who was detained in 2017 for visiting his family members in Israel.George Haroonian, a prominent Iranian Jewish American, announced Sunday on social media that “Mashallah Pesar Kohan, a Jewish citizen, was released from prison in greater Tehran.”Karmel Melamed, an Iranian-American journalist and

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Middle East

Lawyers give emotional plea for victim of German synagogue attack

Lawyers representing the parents of one of the two people gunned down by a right-wing extremist in the German city of Halle last year made emotional pleas in court on Tuesday, as the trial enters its final stretch.”You robbed a mother of her child in the most disgusting and perverse way,” one attorney, representing the

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International

Israel’s Gantz says will back bill to dissolve parliament

Israel’s Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz said on Tuesday his party will vote for an opposition bill to dissolve parliament, a move that could force a fourth election in under two years.Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party is currently the key partner in a precarious coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud.That coalition,

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Middle East