And, unsurprisingly, they are not pleased. Even more unsuprisingly, it is not Al Qaeda in Iraq or Al Qaeda from a cave in Pakistan that responded but Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and for Islamic Maghreb we can read Former French Colonies, particularly Algeria, and the country of origin for a good number of […]
Israel mandates 3 years military service for males (and 2 years for women) from all its citizens starting at the age of 18. After fulfilling their duty, citizens must spend approximately 1 month a year serving int he IDF reserves. However, many Israelis avoid military service through a variety of ways, most prominently by claiming […]
The Israeli navy intercepted a ship carrying aid to the Gaza Strip today, as the activists aboard the Gaza-bound boat accused the IDF of threatening to fire upon them. The small ferry boat left Cyprus declaring that its docking port as Egypt’s Port Said. The Israeli government denied claims that it threatened the boat, however […]
Support for the militant terror group Hamas dropped nearly 10-percent from last year, according to a new study conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre. In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, approval of the group dropped from 27.7-percent to 18.8-percent. The organization explains the plummet in support for the group due to the […]
Professor of English David Bromwich contrasts the arguments in Leslie Gelb’s new book Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy with Obama’s speech at Cairo University in this week’s New York Review of Books. (One has to appreciate the unorthodoxy of this assembly: a doctor of literature reviews a speech and a […]
Even though U.S. policy unequivocally opposes all forms of settlement activity in the West Bank, Americans remain a staunch pillar of financial support for settlers, according to an op-ed in today’s Washington Post. The author cites multiple organizations in North America that function as non-profit organizations in support of settlements. Moreover, many Christian groups support […]
It has been nearly three weeks since the Lebanese parliamentary elections, and the current climate of cooperation and reconciliation is cause for optimism. The highly contentious June 7 elections pitted Amal and Hizballah, along with General Aoun’s Christian Free Patriotic Movement bloc against the Saad Hariri-led March 14 coalition composed of Sunni, Christian, and Druze […]
Put the kabobs, shishlik, shwarma, and gefilta fish down for at least one day a week. A new initiative is set to launch in Israel to encourage residents to dine vegetarian-freindly at least once a week. Because of the environmentally conscious attributes of vegetarianism, the new initiative urges restaurants to publish veggi-friendly specials on Mondays. Ilan Gur, […]
For three whole years, abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit remains in the hands of Hamas. Israelis have persistently protested outside the Prime Minister’s office to strive for Shalit’s release by exchanging hundreds of prisoners for the soldier. However, the government thus far has refused to release the prisoners, specifically those directly involved in terror attacks […]
by referring to burqa-wearing women as prisoners. Of course issues of dress in France, namely Muslim women’s dress, has layers and layers of nuance. (See, for one example, Joan Scott’s excellent book Politics of the Veil). But when I hear things like this, I can’t help but think that men should just learn to keep […]
Leslie Gelb, former President of the Council on Foreign Relations, former New York Times correspondent and generally very accomplished man, wrote a media analysis piece for Democracy recently evaluating the elite media’s (and by the press, he means the following five publications Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Wall Street […]
Breaking news: Beirut – Lebanon charged five people on Wednesday on charges of planning to murder Libya’s prime minister to avenge the 1978 disappearance of a Shi’ite spiritual leader, a judicial official said. The defendants, three Lebanese, one Libyan and a Palestinian, are accused of planning to send a booby-trapped package to Libyan Prime Minister […]
The mass rallies and protests held by Iranians this week greatly affects the rest of the Middle East, in particular Israel and the Palestinians as they potentially prepare to resume peace negotiations. On a broad spectrum, the Iranian protests could inspire mass demonstrations across the Arab world, in particular within the Palestinian territories. The original […]
Israeli Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz expects the Israeli economy to begin growing again by the end of 2010. He spoke following the signing of an agreement between the Finance Ministry, Treasury, and Histadrut. Notably, he said: “I cautiously estimate that we will reach an effective braking of the crisis toward the end of 2009, […]
An op-ed in today’s New York Times condemns Jewish settlements in the West Bank for comparing their existence to Kibbutzim, small socialist collectives in Israel founded to help settle the countryside. Many Kibbutzim obtained funding from the government and praise for helping to expand the Jewish presence in Israel, with an added emphasis on settling […]