Why Israel and Morocco Made Public Their Friendship

Morocco and Israel have had cooperative relations for years. Israelis of Moroccan descent have traveled back to see where their families lived, and the small Jewish communities of Rabat and Casablanca were generally respected and left alone. There was trade in the amount of $37 million in 2017, and it is growing. Before the pandemic, nearly 50,000 Israelis visited Morocco annually and more than 2,000 Moroccans visited Israel in 2019. Things were going nicely, albeit quietly—so why make it public now? [Shoshana Bryen]

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Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USA

Israeli Frustration Abounds Amid Coronavirus Missteps

As Israel rolls inexorably towards its third lockdown (or whatever you want to call it), one cannot help feeling more than slightly peeved (British euphemism for bloody angry) as to how and why we have got to this point.

I personally have rarely left my house for the past nine months, and if I do I always wear a mask over my mouth and nose while trying to stay as far away as possible from other people. My hands are sore from constant washing. It’s true that various relatives have occasionally entered the house, but in most cases we have managed to keep our distance from one another, and we never hug and kiss one another. I fear that I have become an anti-social monster, and may never be able to engage in natural social interaction again. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East

Kansas Republican icon Bob Dole: ‘The election is over and Biden will be president’

WASHINGTON — Former Republican presidential nominee and Kansas political icon Bob Dole said Thursday the election has been decided, whether President Donald Trump accepts the outcome or not. “The election is over and (Joe) Biden will be president on January 20. I know the president has not conceded and he may never concede, but he

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USA

Ivanka Trump Shares Rare Family Photo Celebrating Chanukah With Kids Arabella, Joseph & Theodore Kushner

Earlier this week, Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner posed with their three children, Arabella, Joseph and Theodore to celebrate Chanukah. “Happy Chanukah from our family to yours! #HappyChanukah,” wrote the first daughter in an Instagram post. Trump is serving looks in a power business suit while Kushner is in a black sweater. The kids appear to be wearing pajamas

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Jewish Religion, USA

FDA panel gives thumbs up to Moderna’s COVID vaccine, paving way for final approval

An influential government panel of scientists unanimously endorsed Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine candidate for emergency use on Thursday, paving the way for final approval from U.S. regulators as early as this week. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which advises the Food and Drug Administration on drug and inoculation approvals, voted 20-0 that the

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USA

Several EU leaders self-isolate as Macron tests positive for Covid-19

After he had met an array of high-ranking French and international politicians in recent days, President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for Covid-19, the presidential palace said on Thursday. Macron was tested after symptoms first appeared. He would go into isolation for seven days at the presidential residence La Lanterne in Versailles, the Elysee Palace said.

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International

Biden’s new ad: ‘I need Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff’ in the Senate

ATLANTA — President-elect Joe Biden cut an ad for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock that ties the twin runoff races for control of the U.S. Senate directly to the fate of his plan to contain the coronavirus pandemic and juice the economy. The minute-long ad released Thursday outlines Biden’s plan to boost the public

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USA

Biden taps Haaland as first Native American to run Interior: US media

Washington (AFP) – US President-elect Joe Biden has chosen congresswoman Deb Haaland to serve as the first Native American interior secretary, US media reported Thursday, in a move that could recast the department’s often troubled ties with indigenous tribes. Haaland is a first-term Democrat from New Mexico in the US Congress and a member of

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Travel and Food

Editor’s surgery postponed; SDJW will continue publication

As previously reported, I had been scheduled for brain surgery on Dec. 18, but on the recommendation of an anesthesiologist at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in San Diego, the surgery will be delayed for four to six weeks.  The anesthesiologist was troubled by an X-Ray showing a spot on my lower lung that suggested the possibility of pneumonia. My neurosurgeon informed me today any problem in the lungs can cause serious difficulties during an estimated six-hour surgery in which it’s necessary to insert a  breathing tube will be inserted. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Campus radicals equate Zionism with white supremacy

Nazifying ideological opponents is a tactic that campus anti-Israel groups and individuals have long used as part of the ongoing cognitive war against Israel, in which Zionism is racism, Israelis are the new Nazis, Gaza is equivalent to the Warsaw Ghetto, Israel is committing genocide against the guiltless Palestinians (a “Holocaust in the Holy Land,” as one student event called it), and the Star of David of the Israeli flag is regularly manipulated to incorporate a swastika. [Richard L. Cravatts, Ph.D]

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Richard L. Cravatts

Talmi, Oslo Philharmonic Perform Bruckner to Perfection

The Israeli conductor and composer, Yoav Talmi, recently had one of his greatest recording successes, Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9, with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, made available on YouTube, per above. This recording, on the Chandos label,  won the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque in 1987. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts