Tag Archives: Mahmoud Abbas

These are vastly unsettled times, presenting huge challenges. What makes matters more difficult is a shifting of dynamics, both domestically and internationally.  There is not a whole lot that is stable. Bottom line: We must rely upon ourselves.  That has always been the case, but right now is a time …

I struggle to understand the phenomenon.  But even should the Almighty bless me with 120 years, I do not believe I would get it.  That’s because I’m looking for rational answers, and there aren’t any. What I am referring to is the embrace of the “two-state solution,” which is once …

First thing to note – Covid is everywhere in Israel, but nobody seems to care. Masks are dirt cheap in Machane Yehuda, yet no one can sell any. Social distancing is not just a foreign concept but seems to be anti-Israeli – what, you don’t want to share? By the …

Last Friday night, Jews across the world were participating in the Pesach Seder. And so I begin by extending wishes for a Pesach Kasher v’Sameach to all who are observing. Every year I share a link to a video of Vehi shamda, which is found in the Haggadah: That which …

If you believe this, then you might also believe the message from “armed factions in Gaza” that the two rockets launched at Israel about 7 AM on Saturday morning were “caused by weather conditions.” https://www.timesofisrael.com/explosions-off-central-israel-coast-idf-probing-if-rockets-fired-from-gaza/ There were no sirens because the rockets, aimed towards Tel Aviv, landed in the sea …

As we close out 2021 there are two key areas that continue to be at the centre of Israel’s diplomatic and internal political challenges, as well as a third emerging issue of quite a different colour. 1 – Iran There is no doubt that the vast majority of security and …

Before I turn to the national tragedy that will be a major focus of this posting, I want to call the attention of my readers to a terror attack that took place on Sunday evening: A drive-by shooting at the bus stop at Tapuach Junction, a major crossroad in the …

This past Shabbat – the Shabbat before Purim – was Shabbat Zahor, during which we read from a Torah portion (for maftir) that commands the Children of Israel to remember what Amalek did: “how he confronted you along the way, and smote the hindmost among you, all that were enfeebled, …

It is almost upon us now: Joe Biden’s inauguration day. Whatever the grief, the incredible frustration, the conviction that this should not be happening, as far as I can tell, it will be happening. Which means the beginning of the “reset.” There is a great deal that terrifies. Biden will …

Not long after Donald Trump assumed the presidency of the United States, he made overtures to the Palestinians in the hopes of brokering a peace deal. He invited the acting-President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to the White House on May 3, 2017. They discussed tackling terrorism and building …

Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, the largest party of the Palestine Liberation Organization, marked the anniversary of the Munich Massacre on Sunday by lauding the terrorists who participated in the attack that murdered 11 Israelis during the 1972 Munich Olympics. In a Facebook post uploaded by the official page of Fatah’s …

Obama tried to punish Israel and encourage Iran, leaving America’s Sunni allies with only Israel to turn to. In one of the great recent examples of the Law of Unintended Consequences, substantial credit must be given to Barack Obama for helping to set the stage for the recent announcement of …

The other day, the question was put to me that if the Palestinian “right of return” was taken out of the current Palestinian – Israeli conflict, could one list other major obstacles to a peaceful solution to the conflict In writing the article below, I relied on the intellectual property …

  I do not doubt that many of you are wondering about the title of this posting, which may seem more than a bit enigmatic. Uti possidetis juris is a term that refers to a doctrine in customary international law.  And in a moment my reference to it will become …

It is such an enormously tangled time. I want to begin by sharing something that is a source of enormous pride.  It bolsters us as we face that tangled state of affairs. Last week I wrote about a terror attack – the car ramming of IDF recruits not yet sworn …

Please, be sure to read this to the end. I turn first today to President Trump’s State of the Union address, delivered on Tuesday night. I found it to be brilliantly executed. But what resonated most strongly for me were the values he espoused. I have been mourning big-time for …

On Friday, the US House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution supporting the “two state solution.” https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/US-House-approves-resolution-supporting-two-state-solution-610125 This caused considerable consternation among supporters of Israel. But, in fact, it is not terribly surprising: The House is controlled by the Democrats. And they are responding to the very appropriate and long-overdue …

Causing quite a stir last weekend, Linda Sarsour tweeted that “Jesus was Palestinian of Nazareth and is described in the Quran as being brown copper skinned with woolly hair.” Really? The Quran was written some 600 years after the death of Jesus.  Are we expected to believe that fact, if …

We have been hearing for a while from the Trump camp about the ‘Deal of the Century’. Last week Sunday afternoon the White House announced the first part of its Middle East peace proposal, what officials are calling an economic “workshop” to encourage investing capital in the West Bank, Gaza, …

People have accused U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) of getting her facts wrong about her version of history as it related to the Holocaust, in stating that ‘Palestinian’ Arabs helped European Jewry when they did the exact opposite.  Her defenders explained that her words were misconstrued and taken out of …