Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak announcing his retirement from politics at a news conference at the Defesne Ministry office in Tel Aviv, Nov. 26, 2012. (Roni Schutzer/Flash90/JTA) TEL AVIV (JTA) — Is Ehud Barak a calculating political survivor or a military man who, in his own words, “never had any special desire” for political life? Will he be remembered as a warrior or as a seeker of peace? And what will he do next? Barak’s announcement… Read more »
BRUSSELS (JTA) — Within hours of Israel’s assassination of a top Hamas commander, the situation room sprang into action, anticipating retaliatory attacks and preparing instructions to keep civilians out of harm’s way. No, the room wasn’t deep in a bunker beneath Jerusalem, but thousands of miles away — and… Read more »
TEL AVIV (JTA) — When the first two sirens went off, Shoshana Leshaw ran from her second-floor bedroom down to the bomb shelter in the basement. By the time the third and fourth sirens wailed, she went no farther than the stairwell. “It’s almost like you’re sick of the… Read more »
With this Chanukah season calling for a Lincoln connection, why not light a Lincoln menorah? (Edmon J. Rodman) LOS ANGELES (JTA) — We need to celebrate a Lincoln Chanukah this year. It’s not because of the new Spielberg movie — that gives us something to do on Christmas Day — but because of the 150th anniversary of a little-known event in American history that threatened to expel… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — The recent conflict in Gaza and Israel casts a vivid spotlight on the need to strengthen relations between Jews and Muslims in countries around the world. It is crucial if we are to avoid importing the violence that has rocked the Holy Land to our… Read more »
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, sitting, with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announce a cease-fire with Hamas at a news conference in Jerusalem, Nov. 21, 2012. (Miriam Alster/Flash90/JTA) (JTA) – As Israel and Hamas mostly stilled their guns Wednesday night after reaching a cease-fire agreement, ending eight days of intense bombardment, both sides took home some new lessons about their foes. By firing longer-range rockets capable of reaching Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Hamas demonstrated for the first… Read more »
Moshe Bahta, director of the Ibim Absorption Center, briefing his staff, Nov. 18, 2012. (Adam Soclof) IBIM, Israel (JTA) – The explosion occurred close enough to Stesyahu Alema to shake his apartment, where he sat with his wife and two of his five children. But he didn’t flinch. None of them did. “There are a lot of people with me, so I don’t need to… Read more »
Israeli soldier praying next to a tank along the Israel-Gaza border, Nov. 18, 2012. (Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90/JTA) KFAR AZA, Israel (JTA) — In some ways, Israel’s latest confrontation with Hamas looks like past conflicts in the Gaza Strip. Operation Pillar of Defense has left some key Hamas leaders dead, depleted weapons supplies and hit more than 1,000 targets in Gaza. “We are exacting a heavy price… Read more »
Kiryat Malachi residents crying at the funeral of Itzik Amsalem on Nov. 16, 2012. Amsalem was killed in a missile attack the day before. (Ben Sales) KIRYAT MALACHI, Israel (JTA) — They pick through the tangled foliage, Orthodox men with long beards and black kipahs, wearing white gloves and bright yellow vests, searching for body parts. A few yards over and four stories up, construction workers drive drills into a bombed apartment building. They speak… Read more »
You know that feeling you get — that rush of breath-stopping adrenaline — when you watch a scary movie and you helplessly watch the main character walk across the screen straight into the death trap of pure evil? And her hand reaches for the door knob…and… BAM! Someone behind… Read more »
Memorial candles lit for Kiryat Malachi casualties in the apartment building where they were killed by a Gaza rocket. (Anav Silverman/Tazpit News Agency) It’s Thursday evening in Kiryat Malachi and the city of nearly 21,000 residents is strangely quiet. The usually busy city center is empty of people—most of the stores and restaurants have been shut down. There are no high school students loitering around, and no elderly folks smoking hooka or… Read more »
Lone soldier Stephen Segal (in purple beret) The firing of missiles from Gaza into Israel and Israel’s Nov. 14 killing of Ahmed Jabari, the chief of Hamas’ military wing, initiated the call-up of Israel Defense Forces’ reserves. The situation escalated over the following week, and since Nov. 21, a precarious cease-fire has taken hold. For members… Read more »
Speak up, the language of the Hebrew Man,” says a song by popular Israeli singer/songwriter Ehud Banai. Of course we all know what the language of the Hebrew man is — but do we really? Does Banai refer to the current, updated, slangy Israeli Hebrew? Or does he… Read more »
Mason Tvert was the face of a successful campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Colorado. Say what you will about Mason Tvert, the Jewish activist behind the marijuana legalization campaign that passed in Colorado, the man clearly has a sense of humor. Some years ago, in his efforts to persuade the public that marijuana is far less of a health menace than alcohol, Tvert… Read more »
Greece’s Golden Dawn party leader Nikolaos G. Michaloliakos speaks in a political commercial in April. (YouTube) For every Jew who lives in Greece, there are about 100 Greeks who voted for the country’s neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn, this past spring. The party now controls 18 seats in Greece’s 300-member parliament, and its popularity is rising rapidly: A poll taken in October showed that if elections… Read more »
Emily Peters Emily Peters, 13, an eighth grader at Emily Gray Junior High School, wants to help kids at her school – and beyond – eat healthier and be more active. Emily is the Arizona ambassador for Fuel Up to Play 60, a school based nutrition and physical activity program sponsored… Read more »
Children watch Rabbi Yehudah Ceitlin of Chabad of Tucson demonstrate an olive oil press at the 2011 Hanukkah Mall Madness. Shalom Tucson will hold its ninth annual Hanukkah Mall Madness event for children and parents on Sunday, Dec. 2, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Park Place Mall. Local synagogues and Jewish agencies will present activities and crafts, including dreidel games, holiday card-making, sand pictures, menorah placemats and face… Read more »
On America’s Election Day, Nov. 6, nearly 1 billion people around the world went hungry. By the end of December, nearly 11 million children in the developing world will have died this year from causes related to malnutrition. Hunger is the world’s number one health risk, killing more people… Read more »
The arguments for and against the latest Palestinian bid for statehood status at the United Nations come down to which is the faster path to irrelevancy. The Palestine Liberation Organization is seeking a diplomatic victory to preserve the legitimacy of its affiliated Palestinian Authority in the face of a… Read more »
The Arizona Jewish Post is changing its home delivery system to better serve our readers. Beginning with the Dec. 14, 2012 issue, the AJP will be carrier-delivered … Read more »
