Middle East

Proposal to grant vote to overseas Israelis stirs controversy

JERUSALEM (WJC)– The around half a million of Israeli citizens living overseas could soon get a vote in parliamentary elections. Under a bill presented by the Knesset members of  the Israel Beiteinu party, which is headed by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Israeli citizens eligible to vote and holding citizenship for at least 10 years, would

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Middle East

Ahmadinejad ratchets up nuclear tensions

TEHRAN (WJC)–President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has shocked the international community with his announcement that Iran would immediately start producing 20-percent-enriched uranium for use in its reactor in Tehran. Ahmadinejad only last week suggested that his regime might be willing to accept a proposal by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to enrich Iranian uranium abroad. “We

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Middle East

Commercial fishing off Israel coast jeopardizing dolphins

HAIFA (Press Release)–Extensive commercial fishing endangers dolphin populations in the Mediterranean. This has been shown in a new study carried out at the University of Haifa’s Department of Maritime Civilizations. “Unfortunately, we turn our backs to the sea and do not give much consideration to our marine neighbors,” states researcher Dr. Aviad Scheinin. The study,

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Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Global Jewish leadership conference set for Johannesburg

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Press Release)– A delegation of leaders from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the umbrella group for 52 national Jewish organizations, will pay its first official visit to South Africa beginning Monday, February 8th, announced Chairman Alan Solow and Executive Vice Chair Malcolm Hoenlein, who will lead the U.S. delegation.

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Middle East, USA

Berlusconi in Knesset speech empathizes with Shoah and war victims

JERUSALEM (WJC)–Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has expressed his empathy for Israel and the Palestinians during the final day of a three-day visit to Israel. “Today, the safeguarding of Israel’s safety and its right to exist as a Jewish state is an ethical choice and a moral obligation, against the possibility of the return of

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Middle East

U.S. more generous to Palestinians than to some Americans

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–In several of these columns I have described the United States as a laggard among wealthy democracies in its support of social services. Anti-tax individualism shows itself in one of the lowest indicators among this group of countries for government outlays as a percentage of national resources. President Obama’s disappointment in health reform

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

ZOA criticizes 54 members of Congress who signed letter on Gaza to Obama

NEW YORK (Press Release)–The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has criticized the 54 members of the U.S. Congress who signed a January 21 letter urging President Barack Obama to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The signatories urged an end to what they called a “blockade” of Gaza by Israel and Egypt and while noting

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Middle East, USA

James Caroll, former priest, weighs Zionism after the Holocaust Feb. 28

SAN DIEGO (Press Release)–The community is invited to join the Congregation Beth Am Holocaust Committee for an evening with James Carroll as he discusses; “Zionism after the Holocaust: A Christian Problem, A Christian Solution.” James Carroll, acclaimed author and former Catholic priest, is internationally known for his writing and his diligent efforts toward Jewish-Christian-Muslim reconciliation,

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Middle East

Who's winning the cyber war between Israel and the Palestinians?

CORONADO, California (Press Release)–The Agency for Jewish Education continues its Coronado lecture series this month with Professor Chanan Naveh, Sapir College & Hebrew University. Naveh’s lecture will take place in the Winn Room of the Coronado Library (640 Orange Avenue, Coronado) on Feb. 17 at 10:30 am. His lecture is titled, “The Palestinian-Israeli Web War.” Not

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Middle East

San Diego Jewish Film Festival preview: 'Zrubavel'

By Yvonne Greenberg LA JOLLA, California — The first film ever made by Ethiopian Israelis,  Zrubavel, a drama, provides great insight into their way of life, about which many Israelis have had  heretofore little interest in exploring.  Kudos to Shmuel  Beru, also an Ethiopian Israeli and its filmmaker, writer, and director, who at the age of eight courageously walked

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Middle East