Byliners

Paucity of information on Netanyahu-Clinton agreement fuels rumors, confusion

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM– That seven hour meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Secretary of State Clinton in Washington D.C. produced a lot of talk, but less by way of clear documents. There are questions about the promise of 20 advanced military planes, whether the Americans are clear about excluding Jerusalem from the 90-day settlement […]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

U.S. may provide planes, U.N. support to Israel in return for brief construction freeze

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Prime Minister Netanyahu has recommended that his government accept an American offer to provide advanced military planes worth $3billion　without payment, and to support Israel’s position in the United Nations, in exchange for a 90-day extension of the building freeze that will not apply to neighborhoods of Jerusalem. The deal is attractive not

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Miller’s ‘Crucible’ sterling at Moxie Theatre

By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO–Two heads, they say, are better than one. In the case of Moxie Theatre and Intrepid Shakespeare Company coming together to produce the luscious Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, it’s a streak of genius. With Moxie’s Jennifer Eve Thorn and Intrepid’s Christy Yael at the helm co directing, this is one hell

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Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

This Torah collection brings out the Smiles

Torah Tapestries: Words of Wisdom Woven from the Weekly Parashah, Bereishis by Shira Smiles, Feldheim Publishers, New York; ISBN 978-1-59826-641-2, ©2010, $19.99, 201 pages plus bibliography, index, and glossary (Also available as a Kindle eBook)  By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — In the Book of Deuteronomy (31:10-12), God commanded that every seventh year, at

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Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion

Only a bland statement emerges from 7-hour Netanyahu-Clinton meeting

By Ira Sharkansky Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–There was a seven-hour meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Secretary of State Clinton. It closed with mutual declarations of commitment to a peace process, fuzzy definitions of what was agreed, and no assignment of blame for the impasse to one side or another. The New York Times reported that

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Some companies truly know how to show appreciation to veterans

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –Veterans Day is about remembering the sacrifices of our soldiers in today’s wars and in wars past. There are military parades and somber reflections, speeches and flags. And for those who remember 11-11 as Armistice Day, there is an even more somber twinge as “the war to end all wars”

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Shoshana Bryen

U.S. fails Canada in that pro-Israel country’s Security Council bid

By Shoshana Bryen   WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sometimes, you just have to stand back and say, “Oh.”   Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, speaking at a conference of international parliamentarians and experts attending a conference on combating anti-Semitism, told the assembled that Canada refused to “pretend” to be an “honest broker” on Israel, even though

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Shoshana Bryen

Obama in Jakarta may have been laying groundwork to acknowledge Mideast peace process failure

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–What can we make of the following? Speaking in Indonesia, alongside the leader of that country, Barack Obama said that the planning of new housing in East Jerusalem was not helpful to the peace process. He went on to say that both sides must take the difficult decisions necessary to produce a

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Ira Sharkansky, Travel and Food

New York Times headline overplays Jerusalem construction story

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –Again Israel was front and center on the web site of the New York Times, along with a picture and a headline: “Israel Plans 1,000 Housing Units in East Jerusalem.”　 Read the article. The content is more modest by far than the headline or the prominent placement. It reports that the area

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Life on the boundary of a Jewish neighborhood and an Arab one

 By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Living alongside the Arab neighborhood of Issawiya has its moments. Items from the weekend’s news: Israelis accompanying an Australian tourist made a wrong turn into the neighborhood, and narrowly escaped a lynching. In another incident, neighborhood folks stoned an ambulance that entered the area to tend a resident who had been injured

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Hoffinger shines in ‘Anita Bryant Died For Your Sins at Diversionary

By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO- -It isn’t often that we get a chance to see a young, up and coming actor who is still in school and has time to perform, and perform well. How fortunate for us then that Dylan Hoffinger, a freshman at the School of Creative and Performing Arts (as a musical

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Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food

Israel may be in for a period of international calm

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — We have had worse days. The not so friendly United Nations published its Human Development Index, ranking  Israel number 15 among 169 countries. Norway is number 1 and the United States number 4. Israel scores higher than such decent places as Finland, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Austria, and the United

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Election will make little difference in world’s perceptions of the U.S.

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C — The day after sweeping electoral change, it is tempting to think the world is shifting on its axis.  American voters may have shifted the political axis – or righted it, depending – but it would be a mistake to think things beyond our border have changed. This is the

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Shoshana Bryen, USA