International

Hamas hands over border crossings to Palestinian Authority

Hamas handed over control of the Gaza Strip’s borders with Egypt and Israel to the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday in the first key test of a landmark Palestinian reconciliation accord agreed last month. Nazmi Muhanna, the Palestinian Authority’s top official for border crossings, formally received control of the Rafah crossing with Egypt from his Hamas […]

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Middle East

Breaking silence, Israel calls for ‘peaceful’ resolution to Catalonia crisis

By TOI staff Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday called for the ongoing crisis in Spain to be resolved “quickly and peacefully,” in the first comments from Jerusalem on Catalonia’s bid for independence. The Foreign Ministry appeared to side with Spain, saying in a statement the two countries “share longstanding, strong and friendly relations, rooted in

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International, Middle East

Decrying Balfour centenary, Abbas warns of one-state solution

By Raphael Ahren With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed to London to celebrate the centenary of the Balfour Declaration, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas lamented the document, accusing it of setting in motion a process that led to a century of Palestinian suffering, and urging the British government to take steps to remedy it. In

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International, Middle East

Dual exhibitions lift veil on Nazi-era art hoard

Portions of the spectacular art collection hoarded by the son of a Nazi-era dealer will be shown for the first time since World War II in parallel exhibitions in Switzerland and Germany starting Thursday. “Gurlitt: Status Report”, which displays around 450 works by masters including Monet, Cezanne, Renoir and Picasso, aims to shed a light

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International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Leading Arab Israeli researcher of the Holocaust says it’s ‘in my DNA’

By Dov Lieber It took Asfahan Bahloul, a leading Arab Israeli researcher of the Holocaust, quite some time to formulate how she feels when she sees Israeli jets soaring over Auschwitz. She had to think about it for weeks. And then a few more days. She finally sent her answer by email, to which this

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International, Jewish History, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Ahead of Balfour 100, UK enshrines Churchill’s headstrong case for Israel

By Robert Philpot LONDON — Deep beneath the main London road of Whitehall lie the cabinet war rooms. From this bunker, surrounded by a military and civilian staff who rarely saw daylight for the five years of World War II, Winston Churchill commanded Britain’s war effort. Now a museum to the country’s wartime savior, this

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International, Jewish History, Middle East

MKs, Diaspora leaders quarrel in Knesset meeting on Western Wall deal

By TOI staff Tempers flared at a Wednesday meeting of the Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, with lawmakers and American Jewish leaders exchanging heated snipes over the government’s decision to freeze a plan for a permanent pluralistic prayer pavilion at the Western Wall. “When we go to various different places abroad, we automatically

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International, Middle East, USA

Students demand ouster of prof for ‘vile’ anti-Semitism

Rutgers condemns hate, launches inquiry of two faculty members An anti-Semitic cartoon taken from the Facebook page of Prof. Michael Chikindas. Image courtesy JTA Scarlet Knights for Israel president Miriam Waghalter said it was urgent for Rutgers to suspend Chikindas. Rutgers Prof. Michael Chikindas is under fire after anti-Semitic posts made on Facebook went viral.

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Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Jews Are Bigger Issue To US Than Russia, Farage Says

Trump ally and Brexit leader Nigel Farage says there’s something Americans should worry about more than Russian meddling: Jews. Farage in a Monday interview singled out the so-called “Jewish lobby” as an overwhelming power in America during a discussion about Russia’s interference in U.S. politics. “There are other very powerful lobbies in the United States

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International, USA

Comparing U.S., Israel economic indicators and leaders

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Judging a country is not easy or free of controversy. Political perspective and the norms of the person doing the judgment are likely to be involved. However, their influence can be limited by the range and nature of criteria employed, and especially by the breadth of comparison. There can be no

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA