Mideast proximity peace talks to start up again

  By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Here we go again. Maybe. The stage is set for the beginning of indirect talks between Israel and the abbreviated Palestine National Authority (West Bank without Gaza). The Arab League has provided its endorsement. Palestinian leaders carried that decision on the basis of “assurances” received from the Americans. They are warning […]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

Jewish overreactions to accidental or intended slurs detract from more important issues

By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA–New York City lost a talented, generous citizen when Ronan Tynan moved to Boston where he can patronize their businesses and pay their taxes instead. Adding the ultimate insult to injury, the Irish tenor donned a Red Sox jersey when he sang at a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast in his new

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Middle East

Another paradigm for historians: Jewish life on the West Coast

By Joellyn Zollman Jews of the Pacific Coast: Reinventing Community on America’s Edge. Ellen Eisenberg, Ava F. Kahn, and William Toll. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009, 309pp. SAN DIEGO–The New York Jewish experience has long served as the template for understanding American Jewish history. In Jews of the Pacific Coast, historians Ellen Eisenberg, Ava

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Jewish History

Two Wrongs make a right smart play

By Cynthia Citron HOLLYWOOD, California — If comedy consists of hilarious dialogue delivered with earnest sincerity and exquisite timing, then Scott Caan’s new play Two Wrongs is the pluperfect example of the genre.  A beautiful blonde nut job and a darkly handsome neurotic “meet cute” in the waiting room of their psychotherapist’s office.  With their therapist’s “inappropriate and unethical” complicity, they get together, explore their

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Travel and Food

From the mountain to the valley: 200 km of heart-pumping effort

  By Ulla Hadar TIMRAT, Israel–Several weeks ago I attended a lecture performed by a man that had gone through several difficulties in his life but nevertheless had decided to participate in an Ironman competition, which involves a 180 kilometer bike ride, 42 kilometer run and 3.8 kilometer swim. He was sharing his experiences with

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Middle East

San Diego’s Historic Places: Veterans Memorial Museum hosts exhibit on Japanese-American members of the Armed Forces

  By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Probably no event has seared into the consciousness of the Japanese-American community more painfully than their forced relocation from their homes on the West Coast of the United States to internment camps in the interior of the country during World War II.   This is the central portion of

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, USA

Illegal immigration is a global problem

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–You want to look at a conundrum? (a problem without a solution) Immigration reform is a good example. A NYT article describes efforts at producing some kind of amnesty along with “tougher enforcement.” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/us/politics/01immig.html?hp Can any country control its borders, and also preserve its morality? Tougher enforcement will mean random deportations while

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Middle East, USA

Obama proclaims May 2010 as Jewish-American Heritage Month

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)– President Barack Obama on Friday declared May 2010 as Jewish American History Month. His proclamation read: “In 1883, the Jewish American poet Emma Lazarus composed a sonnet, entitled ‘The New Colossus,’ to help raise funds for erecting the Statue of Liberty. Twenty years later, a plaque was affixed to the completed

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USA

Jewish organizations call for walkout on Ahmadinejad's U.N. nuclear speech

NEW YORK (Press Release) — World Jewish Congress on Friday called for the United Nations delegates to demonstrate their outrage against the presence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at next week’s UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, and urged its member communities to communicate this to their governments. More than ironic, the participation of the Iranian dictator who

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Middle East, USA

Judaism’s chain of tradition impacts on a daily basis

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO–Terms such as the “chain of Jewish tradition” and “Jewish continuity” have been so overused that they are in danger of becoming trite. However, once in a while something happens that makes me pause and reflect on how our tradition is truly ancient and unbroken. One such moment occurred for

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Jewish History, San Diego County

Clinton tells AJC that Arab nations must contribute more to peace process

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–Following are remarks of Secretary of State Hillary Clilnton to the American Jewish Committee in Washington D.C. on Thursday, April 29: SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you all. Well, it is wonderful to be back here at the American Jewish Committee and I thank David for that introduction. What he was really trying to

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Middle East, USA