Shoshana Bryen is senior director of the Jewish Policy Center in Washington D.C.
Her books, available on Amazon, include:
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — On June 30, the Embassy of Israel announced: “With great sadness we must announce the bodies of Eyal, Gilad and Naftali have been found near Hebron. Our thoughts are with their families.” Their tragic end wasn’t inevitable, but almost so. Hamas kidnapped three Israeli teenagers returning from school to […]
Kidnap lesson: Terrorists must never control territory Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –The rapid (although not unpredicted) entry of radical Sunni jihadists into Mosul, Tikrit and other largely Sunni areas of Iraq, and their movement toward Baghdad, has prompted cries from left, right and center about the failure of U.S. policies in the region. And failure it is, although not of the
Evaluating U.S. interests in Middle East Read More »
International, Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sometimes it is braggadocio. Sometimes it is the last rhetorical shot before making a political change previously thought impossible. But sometimes, just sometimes, it is truth as the teller sees it. Hamas released a video for Israel’s 66th anniversary, entitled “No Hope,” (a play on Israel’s national anthem, Hatikva,
Hamas threats against Israel should be taken seriously Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. -For Palestinians, suffering — and sympathy for suffering — is a zero-sum game. Sympathy used up on the Holocaust means less for Palestinians in the territories. Even among Palestinian groups, while thousands suffer and die in Syria — most heinously starved in the Yarmouk refugee camp — Israelis joined relief
Israel’s enemies deny, lie about, or exploit the Shoah Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s an old song, and they haven’t even gotten to the chorus. Hamas and Fatah have not “reconciled.” They appear to have come close to agreeing that they will hold talks to create a “unity government.” After the government is created, there will be talks about elections, and only
Hamas- Fatah agreement still many steps from unity Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — It is tempting to simply list all the ways the Obama administration — particularly Secretaries Kerry and Hagel — has been wrong on foreign and defense policy. After all, Russia/Ukraine, Syria, Iran, China, and Israel/Palestinians are nothing to sneeze at. But finding a common thread among the mistakes might
Hubris is reason for U.S. foreign policy failures Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –Check your newspaper, Twitter feed, or CNN. You will find the Malaysian airplane, Ukraine, the mudslide in Washington State, and in Washington, D.C. the terrible story of a missing 8-year-old girl. There is the occasional story about the Syrian civil war, the Central African Republic, or the declining U.S.
Both sides in Mideast talks upset with Kerry Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — It sounds like something you don’t want to know too much about. When you type an address into your computer’s browser, you go to that address. How your computer knows where to find the Google image of kittens and puppies isn’t your problem, is it? Well, it might be.
Internet censorship by foreign countries coming? Read More »
International, Shoshana Bryen, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Israelis in the southern part of the country have taken to shelters and safe rooms under a barrage of more than 60 (and counting) rockets from the Gaza Strip, and as the Israeli General Staff considers a response, it is worth a look at the just-released EU Heads
EU’s report on Gaza gets a few things right Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –In response to mounting unhappiness in the West with Russia’s acquisition of Crimea and plans to split Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has struck again. The Russian Defense Ministry released a statement over the weekend saying, “The unfounded threats… are seen by us as an unfriendly gesture,” raising the possibility of “new
Time for U.S. to deploy E. Europe missile defenses Read More »
International, Shoshana Bryen, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Early Wednesday, March 5, the IDF intercepted a shipment of Syrian-made M-302 rockets with a range of up to 200 kilometers (125 miles). The missiles, which apparently went through Iraqi airspace to Iran and then by ship to the Red Sea, were likely headed to Sudan. From there, they
Iran again proves Israel’s need for missile defense Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –President Obama has long made clear his distaste for fighting wars — his or anyone else’s. He has followed through on his belief in diplomacy not necessarily moored to military power, and on his priority issues within the military related to social and group identity issues. Now in his sixth
U.S. gets no respect in world affairs Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — If you are surprised by this week’s announcement of major manpower cuts to the U.S. Army, you haven’t been paying attention. For a long time. There are two components to understanding America’s defense spending choices — the political and the budgetary; they are not the same. The Administration has
Proposed defense cuts based on false assumptions Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — It has been said that Jordan is the only Arab country in which Palestinians have “full citizenship.” That is less than a complete truth. As Secretary of State John Kerry pursues his plan for a “two state solution,” the insecurity of Palestinian legal status in Jordan is emerging. Israel’s
Why Jordanians want IDF at their boundary Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen