Baird-Livni meeting in E. Jerusalem fuels Palestinian anger

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM —  Pretense seems to be an important factor in Israeli-Palestinian relations. It’s particularly acute in and around the issue of Jerusalem. Thus many Israeli politicians and their supporters never tire of speaking of the city as “Israel’s united and eternal capital” thereby implying that no peace deal will persuade Israelis to […]

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Middle East

Tisha b’Av, Yom Hashaoh, Yom HaZikaron

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — While Americans are working to understand the latest affront to their security, Israelis are passing through the annual cycle of three days marking the tragedies associated with the Holocaust and Israel’s security, and the nation’s successes since Independence. Claims of exploiting the Holocaust for political gain are prominent on the

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Ira Sharkansky, Jewish Religion

JNS news briefs: April 15, 2013

Balfour Declaration to visit Israel (JNS.org) The historic Balfour Declaration will, for the first time, leave Britain and be presented to the Israeli public, Israel Hayom reported. Lord Arthur James Balfour’s declaration, made in November 1917, was the Zionist movement’s watershed diplomatic achievement, marking the first time that the idea of the need for a national home

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International

In Israel, it’s us and them and them

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — A hundred meters from these fingers is a border between civilizations. To the east of that border is the “village,” “suburb,” or “neighborhood” of Isaweea. With more than 20,000 residents, the label “village” is misleading, but that’s the term many use. “Suburb” suggests something outside of Jerusalem, but it is

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

The Holocaust in terms a child can understand

Odette’s Secrets by Maryann Macdonald, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, (c) 2013, 978-1-5990-750-5; 225 pages,  $16.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Although classified as “fiction,” Odette’s Secrets cannot be so easily pigeonholed.  Author Maryann Macdonald found a copy of the real memoirs of the late Odette Meyers, who as a child in Nazi-occupied France had posed

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Donald H. Harrison

‘Oleanna,’ an allegory for self-conflicted Jews?

By Eva Trieger ENCINITAS, California — From the instant the dialogue began, I was riveted by the hallmark Mamet staccato, terse exchanges.  The principals in this case were a young college professor (Francis Gercke) attempting to understand a distraught, frustrated coed (Rachael Van Wormer).  The Intrepid Shakespeare Company, directed by Christy Yael and Sean Cox,

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Eva Trieger

A potpourri of Jewish poetry

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — The fifth season of “Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices” concluded  last month at the Astor Judaica Library in the Lawrence Family JCC. During its first five seasons, the series featured local poets and song writers expressing themselves not only in English, but also in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino, Russian, Spanish and

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Eileen Wingard

Video feeds from air & ground aid infantry

  BEER-SHEVA, Israel (Press Release)–Combining video feeds from unmanned ground and aerial vehicles in a single screen will aid soldiers with orientation and identification tasks, according to a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers funded by the United States Army. Dismounted operational tactics in urban areas are often aided by information

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Science, Medicine, & Education