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December 4, 2005
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 Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. Talks about Political Upheaval in Israel by Judith LathamIn the past few weeks, Israel has witnessed enormous political change and a realignment of its major political parties. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon left the conservative Likud Party to form Kadima, a new centrist party. And a Sephardic Jew from Morocco, Amir Peretz, defeated veteran politician Shimon Peres for the leadership of the center left Labor Party. He then pulled out of Israel's governing coalition, which prompted a call for early elections, now scheduled for March 28. And in recent days, Mr. Peres left the Labor Party to declare his support for Prime Minister Sharon's new centrist faction. Daniel Ayalon, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., called Mr. Sharon's decision to leave the party that he created almost 30 years ago "bold and courageous." Click to hear interview. (Voice of America News) Read More. | |||
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 Sharon: Israel to Keep Jordan Valley Under Any DealPrime Minister Sharon said on Thursday Israel intended to keep control of the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, signaling its insistence on retaining settlements there under any future peace deal. Sharon called the Jordan Valley part of the Jewish state's "security zone." Sharon has made clear following a Gaza withdrawal in September that Israel plans to keep large West Bank settlement blocs, but has said that some isolated enclaves would have to be removed under any future peace agreement. (Reuters/ABC News) Read More. | |||
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 Israel Complains about PA Violations of Gaza-Egypt Border Agreement: Hamas Military Wing Moves through Rafah from Arab StatesIsrael has complained to the U.S. that the PA is evading its obligations under the agreement that allowed the reopening last week of the Gaza-Egyptian border, Israel Radio reported on Friday. Palestinian security sources admitted that 10 to 15 high-ranking, wanted militants had returned to Gaza through the Rafah crossing in the seven days since the border was reopened and came under Palestinian control. (DPA/Khaleej Times) Read More. | |||
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 U.S. Jews Support Israel, Don't Speak Up by Nathan GuttmanU.S. Jews are strong supporters of Israel but usually tend to refrain from defending Israel publicly, according to a new poll that surveyed the views of American Jews. 82% said they support Israel, most of them characterizing themselves as strong supporters. When asked if they engage in conversation about Israel or defend Israel while talking to non-Jews, most of the participants replied negatively. Only 29% talk about Israel frequently, while 61% almost never do so. (Jerusalem Post) Read More. | |||
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 Ring a Bell for AIDS Awareness by David BrinnAn ambitious idea aimed at raising awareness about AIDS education that originated in Israel resonated around the world last week. Literally. On Thursday, December 1st - to mark World AIDS day - over a million people worldwide rung a bell for at least 60 seconds at 8:00 pm GMT. The grassroots campaign - called Bells 4 AIDS - is the brainchild of the Israeli aid group The Jerusalem AIDS Project. (Jerusalem Post) Read More. | |||
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 Progress in the Mideast: Peace Without Treaties by Charles KrauthammerThe more than four-year-long intifada, which left more than 1,000 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians dead, is over. And better than that, defeated. There's no great Palestinian constituency for starting another one. In Israel, tourism is back, the economy has recovered to pre-intifada levels, and the coffee shops and malls are full again. Without any fanfare whatsoever, the Palestinians' first-ever state has just been born. It's not that many Gazans would not like to continue the romance of revolutionary terrorism and jihad. But they no longer have the means. (Washington Post) Read More. | |||
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 How Israel Deals with Ethics of War by Gary RosenblattLt. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon (pictured), the former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, presented a lecture last week on "The Ethical Dilemmas of Warfare." He noted that every soldier faces moral dilemmas ranging between two very different biblical commandments: "Thou shalt not kill" and "Whoever comes to kill you, kill him first....The choices we make either preserve or erode our moral standards." He said the IDF responds to accusations, punishes those who have erred, and continues to revise and tighten its ethical codes, seeking respect from Israeli society and the international community. (New York Jewish Week) Read More. | |||
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 A Call for Left-Wing Responsibility by David FormanSome speakers on the Left express critical views on Israel, particularly in its dealings with Palestinians. It is difficult to discern whose side some of these people are ultimately on. In their public proclamations they portray the occupier as the exclusive villain and the occupied as the sole victim. But we Jews have also been victimized. Empathy for Palestinian pain cannot outweigh identification with Jewish suffering. One must acknowledge a Jewish narrative, not just a Palestinian one. The writer is founding chair of Rabbis for Human Rights. (Jerusalem Post) Read More. | |||
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Amherst: Woman Recounts Life as Arab in Israel by Mark DonaldsonSalma Abdallah, an Arab Muslim who grew up in the Israeli city of Haifa, spoke about the multicultural environment in Israel last week. Invited by Hillel and co-sponsored by the Foreign Policy Forum, her speech on life in Israel gave a different perspective on a frequently discussed topic while emphasizing the peaceful coexistence of Arabs and Jews in Israel. Abdallah's childhood in Haifa defied many preconceptions about interactions between Jews and Arabs in Israel. Click to hear interview with Ms. Abdallah. (Amherst Student) Read More. | |||
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 Harvard: Dershowitz and Chomsky Battle It Out by Matt RandTwo noted academics offered vastly different views on the history and path forward in the Arab-Israeli conflict recently as Alan Dershowitz and Noam Chomsky debated each other at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Dershowitz called on academics to stop demonizing Israel. "At the moment, I am sad to report that many academics around the world are contributing to an atmosphere that makes peace more difficult to achieve," Dershowitz said. "Thank God Israel has to make peace with the Palestinians, and not with the professors!" (Jerusalem Post) Read More. See also "McCarthyism" Chills Pro-Israel Campus Voices: Dershowitz by Janice Arnold An orchestrated "literary McCarthyism" on North American university campuses is silencing supporters of Israel - even those with moderate, conciliatory views, says Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz. Academics are refraining from identifying in any way with Israel, he says, out of fear of having their integrity and credibility brought into question by their colleagues and being criticized or worse on the Internet. (Canadian Jewish News) | |||
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 UNC: Student Has Eyes on Middle East Conflict Resolution by Lauren BerryJud Campbell said he hopes to employ the resources of international law and social justice to study the current struggle between Israel and Palestine. Trouble in the Middle East, he said, has the greatest likelihood of escalating to a global level. "The way we act in the Middle East has a really strong impact on the way in which the U.S. is viewed internationally," Campbell said. (Daily Tar Heel) Read More. | |||
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 Oregon: Hillel Hosts Lecture on Israel's Need for Peace by Nicholas WilburThe Israelis sacrificed their homes [in Gaza and northern Samaria] as their part of the peace process and now the ball is in the Palestinian Authority's court to do its part, San Francisco's deputy consul general to Israel told an Oregon Hillel audience last week. Omer Caspi said the greatest threat to peace is terrorism, which has claimed more than a thousand Israeli lives since Sept. 2000, 70 percent of whom were civilian. He laid out what he called good, bad and ugly scenarios for the future. The good: Palestinian authorities rule. The bad: Anarchy by the terrorists, and the ugly: Hamas rules. (Daily Emerald) Read More. | |||
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Penn: Bringing Children Together in Israel by Taimar KhanImages of Israelis being killed in suicide bombings and rock-throwing Palestinian children being shot have led many to believe that there is no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, there may be hope for the Middle East because of people like Penn alumnus Simon Lichman, who gave a lecture entitled "Arab and Jewish encounters: Using Folklore for Co-existence in Classrooms and Communities" last week. Lichman is the director of the Center for Creativity in Education and Cultural Heritage in Jerusalem. "Our aim is to bring the Arab and Jewish school communities together to give participants a window in to each other's lives," he explained. (Daily Pennsylvanian) Read More. | |||
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 Princeton: Mideast Diplomat Accepts New Post by Matt DavisDaniel C. Kurtzer, former American ambassador to Israel and Egypt, will be the first holder of the S. Daniel Abraham Chair in Middle East policy studies, the Wilson School announced last week. "He has extraordinary contacts and experience throughout the Middle East and has been at the heart of efforts trying to bring peace to Israel and to create a viable Palestinian state," Dean of the Wilson School, Anne-Marie Slaughter said. (Princetonian) Read More. | |||
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 Washington-Seattle: Cultural Display Sparks Controversy by Andrew SengulA multimedia display of Palestinian cultural information has drawn the attention - and occasional derision - of UW students. Members of the Arab Student Organization created the Palestinian display, composed of two portable bulletin boards with eight panels. The display's most controversial element is a map of "The Arab World." Although many Middle Eastern and North African countries are depicted, Israel is not; the space within its borders is simply marked "Palestine." Robyn London, president of Huskies for Israel, called the display "propaganda" and said she feels it will impede dialogue on Israeli/Palestinian affairs. (The Daily) Read More. | |||
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 Wayne State: Israel's General Consul Talks About Changes in Middle East by Nancy JaberBarukh Binah, Israel's general consul for the Midwest, visited Wayne State University last week. Binah explained that Israel can be generous, but not with its security and definitely not when it comes to the issue of terrorism. The only misgivings that Binah sees for Israel in the upcoming Palestinian elections are the potential threat of Hamas in power. Binah said Israel does not have to accept Hamas because they are not someone they can have a dialogue with. (South End News) Read More. | |||
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 Illinois: Hidden Anti-Semitism by Elie DvorinDespite the Israeli pullout from Gaza, the opening of the Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt and the creation of a more centrist political party by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the anti-Israel rhetoric has not subsided at all. On the contrary, it seems to have heated up - and college campuses are no exception. The critics in academia have put forth a subtle form of criticism. The majority of their attacks, cloaked in a veil of informative political discourse, have crossed from the realm of legitimate criticism to anti-Semitism. This column also appeared in the Bowling Green News and the Florida Alligator (Daily Illini) Read More. | |||
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 San Diego State: False Beliefs Can Be Dangerous by Ari WhittenIslamic leaders and media are systematically indoctrinating their people to believe all the ills of the Muslim world are the fault of someone else. When such audacious statements and beliefs are brought to the attention of those in the West, the tendency is to brush them aside as ridiculous but ultimately harmless. This is a dangerous fallacy. History has shown time and again that such beliefs are not harmless. (Daily Aztec) Read More. | |||
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 York: Debating Israel by Keren KatzI would like to express my confusion over the debate of whether Israel has a right to exist. As a York University student and a Canadian citizen, I am unsure when it became acceptable to question a nation's right to self-determination. Even more so, when did it become okay to deny that right? I am proud to belong to a country and a campus community that strongly supports Haitian, Sudanese, Tibetan, Palestinian and any other nation's right to live in a free and sovereign country of their own. As a Jew and an Israeli, it is unclear to me why Jews and Israelis are denied this basic right. (Excalibur) Read More. | |||
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 The Pro-Israel Campus by Mitchell G. BardIf an article appears in the newspaper with the words "Israel" and "campus" in the title you can typically expect to read some horror story about the hostile climate Jewish students face at college. You probably haven't seen too many of these articles this year because pro-Israel students have not only taken back the campus, they have begun to turn its resources to Israel's advantage. (Israel Insider) Read More. | |||
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 Will Congressional Bill's Language Gut Campus Review Procedures? by Ron KampeasThe effort by some Jewish groups to establish a government-review procedure for claims of anti-Israel bias at universities scored a victory in the U.S. Senate, but at the expense of a mechanism some advocates say is crucial to addressing campus anti-Semitism. The Senate passed legislation that would require the Department of Education to consult with an array of U.S. security and diplomatic agencies before renewing grants to institutes of higher learning. The Senate language omitted another monitoring mechanism included in a separate House bill that would have set up an advisory board. (JTA/Jewish Exponent) Read More. | |||
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 Hatred Brews Against Jews at Colleges - An Interview with Dr. Gary A. Tobin by Ivy SellersAnti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments have become prevalent in much of American higher education, according to Dr. Gary A. Tobin, president of the Institute for Jewish and Community Research. Tobin authored a book out this month titled, The UnCivil University: Politics and Propaganda in American Education, with the help of Aryeh K. Weinberg and Jenna Ferer, which details the increasing hatred brewing on campuses across the U.S. (Human Events) Read More. | |||
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 Israeli 'Bachelor' Chooses Canadian Student by Jenny HazanTorontonian Miriam Anbar, 21, came to Israel as an exchange student from York University to continue her studies in political science at Tel Aviv University. Little did she know that by the end of second semester, she would become Israel's hottest reality TV star. Anbar was Ari Goldman's final choice on the recently concluded "Bachelor" equivalent in Israel, Mikol Habanot B'olam (Of All the Girls in the World). (Canadian Jewish News) Read More. | |||
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 Top Bands on Way to IsraelDepeche Mode, Eminem, and maybe even British superband Pink Floyd headline an all-star lineup of bands headed for Israel in 2006-07, according to a report on Israel's Channel 2 television. Meanwhile, contacts with the Rolling Stones have also been initiated with the purpose of bringing them for a concert in Israel. (Ynet News) Read More. | |||
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 Academy Award May Be in the Making for Offspring of Tel Aviv-Los Angeles Partnership ProjectThe Jewish Agency Partnership 2000 may be going to the Academy Awards. Through the Tel Aviv-Los Angeles Partnership's flagship Master Class, Israeli filmmaker Dani Menkin's internationally acclaimed documentary film, "39 Pounds of Love," was selected as a semi-finalist for the Academy's Best Documentary category. The film presents is the story of Ami Ankilewitz, an American-born Israeli who is considered one of the world's greatest medical miracles. (Jewish Agency for Israel) Read More. | |||
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 Intel to Build Second Plant in Israel by Steve WeizmanChip maker Intel Corp. said last week it would build a $3.5 billion plant in southern Israel alongside an existing one. The new factory will produce microprocessors and is expected to be operational in the second half of 2008. Intel set up its first development center outside the United States in the northern Israeli city of Haifa in 1974. It also has manufacturing, research and sales facilities in Jerusalem, and in central and northern Israel, employing a total of 5,400 people at six locations. Israel's high-tech industry accounts for roughly half of the nation's exports and is considered a world leader in areas like communications, computer security and chip technology. (AP) Read More. | |||
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 John Hopkins: Alphabet on Stone Holds Clues to 10th-Century BCEA few weeks ago Kyle McCarter found himself in Jerusalem staring at the apparently blank surface of a 40-pound chunk of limestone and wondering if he had just made a hurried mid-semester trip to Israel for nothing. "I couldn't see a thing," said McCarter, Professor of Near Eastern Studies. "The light was completely wrong." But when the light was right - raked sideways across the faintly scratched lines on the face of the rock - the stone gave up its ancient secret: a complete abecedary (the letters of the alphabet) written 3,000 years ago by a scribe living in a town that was probably a strategic western outpost of the newly formed kingdom of Judah. (Gazette) Read More. | |||
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 Ben-Gurion: Making the Desert Bloom With Biotechnology by Dina KraftOhad Medalia is one of a crop of top young Israeli scientists being recruited after their studies and postings abroad to return to Israel for cutting-edge research at the newly established National Institute of Biotechnology in the Negev associated with Ben-Gurion University in Beersheva. Life-science research accounts for about 35 percent of civilian research in Israel, and there are perhaps 500 Israeli companies in the field, with roughly half founded in the past five years. (JTA/Jewish Exponent) Read More. | |||
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 Everyone's a Winner in Barcelona 'Peace Match' by Allon SinaiA joint Israeli-Palestinian team lost 2-1 to Spanish giants FC Barcelona in the 'Match for Peace' at the Nou Camp Stadium last week. But having raised money for Israeli and Palestinian children and sent a message of peace to a worldwide audience, everyone was a winner. (Jerusalem Post) Read More. | |||
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 Indian-Origin Miss Israel to Participate in Intern ProgramAn Israeli beauty queen of Indian origin, who is to represent her country at the Miss Europe contest, will join a group of eight youngsters to participate in the internship program for Indian diaspora youth. Rinat Dokerker, the second runner up at the Miss Israel beauty contest this year, said participation would enable her to "connect" to her roots. "As I go to represent Israel at the Miss Europe contest," she said, "I won't just be representing this country but also the vast Indian community [in Israel]." Some 70,000 Jews of Indian origin live in Israel. (Manorama-India) Read More. | |||
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 Rhode Island: Photograph Exhibition Portrays Middle Eastern Environments by Laurel LedermanThe Fine Arts Center at the University of Rhode Island is holding a gallery for the landscape photographs of Alan Metnick. Metnick's "TRAVELS in Israel and Turkey, 1976-1995" concentrates on the contrasts of the natural and built environment in the landscapes of Israel and Turkey. Nearly 40 photographs spanning 20 years are being shown in the Corridor Gallery. The gallery will be open until Dec. 18. (The Good Five Cent Cigar) Read More. | |||
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 What is the Significance of Ariel Sharon's Formation of the Kadima Party? | |||
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