Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

Dorothea Shefer-Vanson is a freelance journalist based in Mevasseret Zion, Israel.

Her published works, available on Amazon, include:

Dream for Israel is Turning into a Nightmare

I looked forward to living a life of freedom and interest in a country I could call my own, and where I would no longer be part of a minority. I moved to Israel, which I perceived as a country where my life would be free of the constraints of having to conform to a set of values which I did not share. And where the sun shone most of the time. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Jewish History, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

A Tour of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation

The Center is situated overlooking the beach at the point where Jaffa joins Tel-Aviv and where young Shimon Persky (later Peres) disembarked from the ship bringing him from Belorussia to Mandatory Palestine in 1934. After studying agriculture at the Ben Shemen school and helping to found Kibbutz Ma’alot in the Jordan valley, Peres was selected by Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, to acquire arms for the nascent State of Israel. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Technology, Travel and Food

Ukrainian, Israeli, and British Leaders’ Different Approaches to Donald Trump

Events seem to be happening at an ever-increasing pace, both in Israel and in the wider world. This may have something to do with the current occupant of the White House, who appears to have set himself the task of stirring up worldwide anxiety and mayhem, probably in order to gain greater control of everything and everyone. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Israel, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

The Media and Gaza

The phrase used by the announcer to describe the event was that the three victims “died in captivity.” Yes, those were her exact words! Not ‘murdered’ but ‘died.’ Those words were obviously a feeble attempt to be ‘politically correct,’ and not to point a finger of blame at Hamas. How pathetic can you get? [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Israel, News Media, Obituaries & memorials, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Mann O Mann, Could Thomas Write on Biblical Subjects!

Thomas Mann … set himself the monumental task of tackling the stories of the ancestors of the Jewish people and setting them in their wider context, thereby resurrecting them in a way that draws on archeology, history, geography, comparative religions, philosophy, and psychology to portray the events described in a skeletal manner in the Bible. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Trump’s Gaza Plan Leaves the World Aghast and Confused

One thing is clear about U.S. President Trump’s plan for Gaza: the whole world, except for Israel’s government and the U.S. administration, is united in rejecting the idea. Most vociferous in opposing it are the Arab countries, especially those two (Egypt and Jordan) slated to accept the Gazans who agree to leave that benighted piece of real estate. So much for Arab solidarity. Not to mention human compassion in the rest of the world. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Hostage Release Greeted in Israel with Intense Emotions

The return of our hostages from the abyss of their captivity in Gaza to the exhilarating reunion with their families enabled most Israelis, as well as Jews and supporters everywhere, to share in their happiness. We sat shedding tears of joy as we watched the events on our television screens. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Israelis’ Emotions Ran High as First 3 Hostages Returned to Their Families

The return of the first three hostages after more than a year in captivity in Gaza was a rare moment of unity in Israel. Like most other people in the country, I was glued to the television screen on the afternoon set for their return and was not sure what I would be witnessing. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

A Dispute Between an Israeli Writer and a British Journal

Yes, there is a war going on, and every day we swallow the bitter pill of news about another soldier who has fallen in battle and watch on the nightly TV news the heart-wrenching funerals and eulogies for these brave young men. But normal life does go on. The sun shines and people go about their daily business. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Israel, Lifestyles, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Israel Museum Exhibits Art of Joseph Hirsch, a Cousin

The exhibition displays about 25 of Hirsch’s works in pen and wash (he worked using only shades of grey) presenting his unique and insightful way of seeing the world, whether depicting sitting or reclining models, still lifes or fantastical creatures and images. It is difficult to categorize his work, which seems to lie on the cusp between surrealism and German expressionism. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

European Family’s Lives Tracked Through Several Countries and Holocaust

Particularly telling is the account of the way the German occupiers gradually close in on the Jewish population, depriving them of their rights and property and eventually deporting them in [ cattle trains to concentration camps in the east, with the cooperation of the French authorities. All those events are described in harrowing detail. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Holocaust, International, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Fast-Moving Events in Israel and the Middle East Make Heads Spin

Our minds and hearts are still reeling from the events of the last year, starting with the vile attack on kibbutzim and towns in the south by Hamas, the subsequent war in Gaza, political division in Israel and the current trial for corruption of Prime Minister Netanyahu, when we find our northern neighbor and enemy, Syria, in turmoil as a result of the rebel groups’ overthrow of Assad’s murderous regime. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Lifestyles, Middle East, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors