World

The Philistines, of course, were a seafaring people of the Aegean islands. They were one of the rivals for regional dominance competing with the ancient Israelites along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea over one thousand years before Jesus of Nazareth walked the land. They were, needless to say, …

In the Times of Israel we read: Earlier this month, anonymous American officials personally involved in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks – special envoy Martin Indyk presumed to have been among them – provided a harsh assessment to a respected Israeli journalist of why negotiations failed, highlighting Israel’s continued settlement construction as …

  Op-ed by Ben-Dror Yemini Political correctness is preventing enlightened people like John Kerry from seeing the real cause of radicalization in the Muslim world. In light of the turmoil of the public debate over “who is to blame” for the failed negotiations with the Palestinians, we should pay attention …

Joel Gehrke of the Washington Examiner writes the following: When congressional leaders asked the State Department to tailor American assistance to Nigeria in a way that would protect Christians from religious persecution at the hands of Boko Haram, an extremist group that kidnapped hundreds of Christian girls last month, then-Secretary …

Feminism is dead and multiculturalism killed it. Almost a month ago Islamists broke into a Nigerian secondary school and kidnapped hundreds of young girls which, initially, they were planning to sell into slavery but, according to Reuters, they are now willing to trade for their comrades in Nigerian prisons. {By …

I voted for John Kerry for president of the United States in 2004. Of course, I also voted for Mondale, Dukakis, Clinton, Gore, and the current resident of Pennsylvania Avenue. In the past Kerry has suggested that unless Israel does what he wants – which apparently is to stop the building …

The Elder was kind enough to publish my latest Sunday column entitled, simply, Betrayal. Here is a snippet: The progressive-left, and the grassroots / netroots of the Democratic Party, has betrayed its Jewish constituency through its acceptance of anti-Semitic anti-Zionism, and the BDS movement, as part of its larger coalition. This …

The Prime Minister of Israel. The Cabinet unanimously decided today that Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas, a terrorist organization that calls for Israel’s destruction. In addition, Israel will respond to unilateral Palestinian action with a series of measures. “Instead of choosing peace, Abu Mazen …

How a German company quietly saved their Jewish employees.   The Leica is the pioneer 35mm camera. It is a German product — precise, minimalist, and utterly efficient. Behind its worldwide acceptance as a creative tool was a family-owned, socially oriented firm that during the Nazi era acted with uncommon …

  If the 2014 Conference can spur public brisk discussion on how to remedy the some of the policy deficiencies it exposed it will have made an enormous contribution to the long-term strategic well-being of the nation. Dear Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and the entire Netanyahu government, I asked you, …

  In Donetsk, Ukraine, masked men reportedly handed out a letter requiring Jews to register with the government and report all their property or they would lose their citizenship and be deported. Thankfully, by all accounts, the letter is a fake. The letter was stamped and signed by Denis Pushilin, who …

The news, on this first day of Passover within the American Jewish community, is of the shooting-up of a number of Jewish facilities near Kansas City, Kansas. CBS News reports: OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — An elderly man opened fire Sunday at two Jewish facilities in suburban Kansas City, killing a …

The Elder and I, happily enough, have agreed to an arrangement wherein I will write a regular and exclusive Sunday column for the popular and influential Elder of Ziyon blog and he certainly has my thanks.   I will also, you can be sure, promote JDU.  Shirlee has created something pretty …

An Israeli hacker team published on Tuesday images and personal details of members of the Anonymous hacker collective who participated in the OpIsrael attack against Israeli sites earlier this week, Israel’s Channel 2 reported. Israeli Elite Force gained access to the computers of 16 Anonymous members and was able to capture screenshots and photos of …

Kerry’s announcement of Israeli-Jewish blame for Arab intransigence in the so-called “peace process” is right on schedule.  Months ago I made the following predictions and hard-posted them on the upper-right side of Israel Thrives under the name Non-Peace Process: 1) The US and the EU demand negotiations between Israel and …

With apologies to Nick Cohen, that’s a fantastic title and a book I still need to find and read ASAP.  This post is inspired by my own run-ins with alleged ‘liberal’ online antisemites.   I am a liberal.  I am a Democrat.  I am a Teamster.  I come from a …

We are told that the Bedouins live in a mere 45 historical villages and are forced to build illegally because their communities are not recognized by the state. One could argue that if the conflict with the Palestinians was miraculously solved, the next conflict simmering under the surface would be …

The racist harassment of Jewish college students in western universities is a scandal. At the University of Michigan, anti-Israel / anti-Jewish student politicos placed fake eviction orders on the dorm room doors of Jewish and pro-Israel students.  As Jonathan Tobin writes in Commentary: The movement to boycott Israel cloaks itself …

Written and submitted by Arlene Kushner.   Today, as I write, is Tannit Ester (the Fast of Esther), which precedes Purim.  In the Megillat Esther – the story of Purim – Esther fasts before taking action to save her people from annihilation. This Shabbat is Shabbat Zahor, when the weekly …

Here’s another post from my blog’s archives which may interest readers.  It first appeared on my blog under the title “Snatched Memories: A Daughter of Zion on Yiddishkayt in the old East End”. Beth-Zion Abrahams (1902-1990), who grew up in a big East European immigrant family in London’s East End, …