International

Israeli officers cancel London trip for fear of Palestinian motivated arrest warrants

LONDON (WJC)–Israeli officers invited to come to London by the British Army were unable to depart last week after UK authorities could not guarantee that they would not be arrested, according to Israeli newspaper ‘Yediot Aharonot’. The paper reports that the Israeli Foreign Ministry approached the British government in order to ensure that the officers […]

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Middle East

New blood libel? Italians say Israeli bombs contaminate Gaza

ROME (WJC)–Italian researchers have accused Israel of contaminating land in the Gaza Strip through bombing. The New Weapons Committee, an Italian group of researchers, said it had studied Israel’s use of ammunition and concluded that the population of the Gaza Strip was “in danger.” The group of scientists based the claim on soil analysis of

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Middle East

Iran reports arrest of foreigners in connection with demonstrations

TEHRAN (WJC)–Iranian authorities have arrested several foreign nationals during the anti-government protests last week in which at least eight people were killed, Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said in Tehran on Monday. “Some of the detainees are foreign nationals pursuing propaganda and psychological warfare,” he claimed on state television, without specifying their nationalities. Iranian police are

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Middle East, USA

ACLU opposes profiling and full-body scanning of airline passengers

NEW YORK (Press Release) – The Obama administration announced Sunday it will subject the citizens of 14 nations who are flying to the United States to intensified screening at airports, including being subjected to full-body pat downs or body scanners. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the government should adhere to longstanding standards of individualized

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USA

Schumer, McMahon want U.S. to reimburse NYC for security costs of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed trial

NEW YORK (Press Release) – Rep. Michael E. McMahon joined Senator Charles E. Schumer on Monday  in calling on the Obama Administration to reimburse the City of New York for all security costs for the upcoming trial of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.  These costs have been estimated at upwards of $75 million, which would place

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USA

Leahy schedules Jan. 20 hearing on Christmas Day bombing plot

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (Democrat, Vermont) has scheduled a hearing for January 20 to examine the effectiveness of anti-terrorism tools and inter-agency communication in the wake of the thwarted Christmas Day airline attack.  Leahy first announced his intention to schedule the hearing in Vermont on Friday.  The Judiciary Committee

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USA

A concise and relevant Holocaust compendium for classrooms

Why Should I Care? Lessons from the Holocaust by Jeanette Friedman and David Gold; The Wordsmithy, LLC 2009; 263 pages By Marcia Tatz Wollner SAN DIEGO (Press Release)–Why Should I Care? Lessons from the Holocaust is an easy to read and engaging text to add to one’s personal library and definitely a recommendation for a

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Marcia Tatz Wollner, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

New U.S.-sponsored U.N. sanctions on Iran would focus on Revolutionary Guard, newspaper reports

NEW YORK (Press Release)–The Obama administration now believes that Iran is secretly running a nuclear weapons program, according to a ‘New York Times’ report, and Washington wants to press the UN Security Council to impose new sanctions on Tehran. The White House wants to focus the new sanctions on the Revolutionary Guard, which is believed

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Middle East, USA

Iranian soccer official forced to resign for sending New Year's greeting to Israeli counterpart

TEHRAN (WJC)–The head of Iran’s soccer federation was forced to issue a public apology and a member of his staff resigned after the federation mistakenly sent a New Year’s greeting to its counterpart in Israel. “It was a big mistake sending an e-mail to Israel’s football federation,” Ali Kaffashian, president of the Iran Football Federation,

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Middle East

Israeli children launch balloons with peace messages for children of Gaza

SDEROT, Israel (WJC)–Residents of southern Israel and the town of Sderot have held a March of Freedom to mark the first anniversary of Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. Organizers of the rally expressed hope that the new decade would be one of “hope, security and peace”. Students attending the annual congress of the

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Middle East

If left-wing Israelis should answer to a higher law, how about right-wing rabbis?

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–Professor David Shulman of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, commenting on the by now almost notorious Goldstone report – and sort-of agreeing with much of it – writes nostalgically in the December 17 issue of The New York Review of Books:             I remember a time when charges of war crimes

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Middle East

Elena Bonner tells Norwegians about their double standard

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson  MEVASSERET ZION, Israel–“You must read this,” a friend said, thrusting some typed pages into my hand. They contained the text of a speech given by Elena Bonner, the Jewish widow of former Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, at the Freedom Forum held in Oslo, Norway, in May 2009. I read the typescript with

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, USA