Israel-Morocco Ties May Lure Moroccan Diaspora Home

Morocco’s relationship with Israel can be a gateway for Moroccan-Jewish people – along with other members of Morocco’s diaspora – to return to the land of their origins and join this national effort to restore long-held sacred locations that epitomize the country’s embracing of its intercultural self. Collaborations are crucial to sharing knowledge lest it be ever forgotten, to inspiring the world, and to making the lives and livelihoods of the Moroccan people better today. [Yossef Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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International, Middle East, Yossef Ben-Meir

Top WH coronavirus official Deborah Birx retiring soon

Washington (AFP) – Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, has said she plans to retire after helping the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden with its transition. The 64-year-old physician and global health expert, who has faced frequent criticism in her current role, suggested that recent media coverage had unfairly dragged her

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USA

Labor Party head resigns as Israel lurches to new elections

The head of Israel’sLabor Party said Wednesday he will not seek re-election as leader of the former ruling party as the country enters its fourth election campaign in two years. The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, dissolved at midnight after the government failed to pass a national budget for 2020 amid bitter coalition disputes between its two

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Middle East

Morocco signs ‘normalisation’ agreement with Israel in ceremony attended by king

Morocco formally signed a normalisation agreement with Israel during a visit to the presidential palace by an Israeli delegation on Tuesday. Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani signed the declaration in the presence of King Mohammed VI, who announced the resumption of ties with the occupying state. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior White

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Middle East, USA

Trump questions loyalty of Pence as GOP hardliners push to overturn election results

President Donald Trump is reportedly questioning the loyalty of Vice President Mike Pence as the commander-in-chief pushes ever more extreme measures to overturn his election loss. After another round of White House scheming with right-wing allies, Trump is focused on the vice president’s largely ceremonial role of presiding over a Jan. 6 session of Congress

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USA

Israel parliament dissolves, sparking fourth election in two years

Israel’s parliament dissolved on Wednesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fractured ruling coalition failed to pass a budget, triggering a fourth election in two years and renewing an unprecedented political crisis. The coalition led by Netanyahu and his former election rival, Defence Minister Benny Gantz, had been inching towards collapse for weeks, undermined by mutual

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Middle East

Trump rejects Covid relief bill, calling it ‘a disgrace’

Washington (AFP) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday rejected a $900 billion bipartisan Covid stimulus package, calling it “a disgrace” and demanding that lawmakers more than triple relief payments to Americans. While he did not explicitly say he would not sign the bill, which passed overwhelmingly Monday in both houses of Congress, Trump made clear

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USA

San Diegan wins posthumous plaudits for his rendition of a Chinese musical

Romance of the Western Chamber is a 2 1/2- hour musical based on a play that first appeared in China as Xi Xiang Ji in the 13th century. It is a lovely love story of a poor 23-year-old man and rich 19-year-old woman who fell in love at first sight. The original play ran for about 20 hours. It was the most famous love story in Chinese literature and was made into a movie and several Beijing operas. It was adapted and turned into a musical by the late Dr. Howard Rubenstein, a San Diego physician and playwright who wrote ten very interesting plays. Rubenstein revised the play into modern English, reduced its time, and had Max Lee write music for it.

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International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Radical Housewives: NYC Jewish Women’s Activism

The Real Housewives franchise may celebrate affluent women in various regions throughout the United States, but it’s fair bet none of them ever led a fight for fair working conditions on the Lower East Side, including protesting soaring prices of food or unfair rents. For that, it took Jewish women, most of them housewives and mothers, who organized themselves into a fighting force that today would be almost unimaginable. Their story was told recently by Jennifer Young, a historian, writer, and former Director of Education at the YIVO Institute, who was asked by the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy to speak on “Radical Housewives: Jewish Women’s Activism on the Lower East Side and Beyond.”

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Jewish History, USA

Biden says huge cyberattack cannot go unanswered

Wilmington (United States) (AFP) – President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday that the perpetrators of a massive cyberattack on the US government, unofficially blamed on Russia, must face consequences, and assailed President Donald Trump over his response to the threat. “We can’t let this go unanswered,” Biden said in pre-holiday remarks to the American people.  “That

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International, USA

Fauci hails ‘veil of protection’ from COVID-19 as he gets vaccinated on live TV

Dr. Anthony Fauci eagerly rolled up his sleeve Tuesday — and promised protection is on the way for everyone. The nation’s top infectious disease doctor hailed a coming “veil of protection” for the nation against the pandemic as he became the latest top official to be vaccinated against COVID-19. “As a symbol to the rest

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USA

Movie review: ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ doesn’t have the same impact as its predecessor (how could it?), but sincerity, spectacle remain superpowers

Filmmaker Patty Jenkins had a profound cinematic experience as a young girl watching Richard Donner’s “Superman,” which inspired in her a kind of wonder and hope that she wanted to share with others through the magic of the movies. That sense of hope is a keystone of her work in “Wonder Woman” and its sequel,

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Harris campaigns for Democrats in Georgia ahead of Jan. 5 runoffs

COLUMBUS, Ga. — Vice President-elect Kamala Harris joined a parade of high-profile politicians rallying Georgia voters with a visit Monday urging Democrats to vote before the Christmas holiday for U.S. Senate Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. In her first visit to Georgia since Democrats flipped the state in November, Harris challenged voters to

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USA