Byliners

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–I’ve been urging Kaddish for the idea of the Palestinian state ever since the sound of exploding buses replaced  enthusiasm for the Oslo Accords. That puts me against many people who consider themselves right thinking, and perhaps a large majority of those who are leaders of their countries. On the other hand, […]

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — ‘Anybody but Obama’ is a tempting, but risky thought as one approaches a decision about voting. My Israeli and American heads contribute to this column as some call for the upcoming U.S. Midterm elections to be a referendum on Barack Obama. At this point, some of my American friends will

By Ira Sharkansky Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Now that the Chilean miners are above ground, Israel’s media and those elsewhere will turn to other items. The drama recalls Josef Stalin’s line that one death is a tragedy, while a million are a statistic. It also makes me think about The Ballad of Ira Hays, one of my

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The issue of Israel as a Jewish state is currently at the top of the blah blah agenda, with two issues adding to the noise and creating some confusion. One is the proposal that passed the government (but is some distance from becoming law) requiring new non-Jewish citizens to swear allegiance to

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — While American politics are currently being roiled by Tea Parties, and their capacity to capture Republican Party nominations by individuals who had admitted to an affinity with witchcraft and liked to dress in the uniform of the most reprehensible unit of the Nazi army, Israeli politics are currently being roiled