Arab and Israeli students holding hands at the Max Rayne Hand in Hand School for Bilingual Education in Jerusalem. (Kobi Gideon/Flash90/JTA) JERUSALEM (JTA) — The two seventh-grade girls walk together down the hall, their heads touching as they talk excitedly. Dana’s dark auburn hair is pulled back in a ponytail. Waard’s head is covered by a hijab, the traditional Arab headscarf, held with a fashionable pin. Dana is Jewish and… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — The teacher stands in front of the sparse classroom, its walls bare and paint peeling. “This school looks like a prison,” one of my fellow travelers whispers. Many of the children are huddled in coats; schools in this neighborhood do not have heat, and the… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Every Friday night, Scott and Theresa Johnson host Jewish Shabbat dinners for lone Israeli soldiers. The meal begins after sundown, preceded by the Kiddush blessing over the wine and singing of “Shalom Aleichem,” the traditional Hebrew song greeting the Sabbath. There’s one catch, however, made evident… Read more »
Fans of Beitar Jerusalem FC celebrate a win in the State Cup in Ramat Gan Stadium on May 13, 2008. (Kobi Gideon/FLASH90/JTA) JERUSALEM (JTA) — Sports fans aren’t the only people lately paying attention to Israeli soccer. A string of ugly incidents has caused Israelis to focus on the problems of violence and racism within the sport. In mid-March, thousands of Hapoel Tel Aviv fans rioted on the field after their… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — She’s young, smart and aims to help treat life-threatening diseases. Naama Geva-Zatorsky, 34, is among a growing group of Israeli women scientists who are gaining recognition for their contributions to scientific research. The Weizmann Institute biologist was in Paris last month to accept the International UNESCO… Read more »
For many years, Moti Amir tried to block out any memory of the horrors that she witnessed on the night of the 2002 Seder terrorist attack in this seaside city. But on the 10th anniversary of what is considered the deadliest terror attack of the second intifada, Amir remembers… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Tzipi Livni’s resounding fall in the leadership vote for Kadima, Israel’s largest political party, was as dramatic as her rise to political power. Ahead of last week’s vote, most polls were predicting that Livni would defeat Shaul Mofaz, a former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff.… Read more »
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Capitalism in pursuit of social justice. The notion is becoming more common in Israel as a new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators in the fields of high-tech, industry and real estate is delving into philanthropy. “The culture of venture capital and the startup nation also… Read more »
Israel’s Iron Dome defense system near the Israeli town of Ashdod intercepted a volley of rockets fired by terrorist groups from the Gaza Strip area, March 11. (Flash90/JTA) If Israel has its way, this is how future conflicts with Gaza-based terrorists will unfold: Israeli aircraft launch surgical strikes on rocket launchers; terrorist leaders are assassinated as necessary; Israeli civilians along the southern frontier are protected by advanced technology that shoots enemy rockets out of the sky; and… Read more »
Mourners surround the bodies of the victims of Monday's shooting at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, during their joint funeral service in Jerusalem, March 21, 2012. (Uri Lenz/Flash 90/JTA) PARIS (JTA) — When Arie Bensemhoun, a Jewish community leader in Toulouse, woke up Tuesday morning, he thought for a moment that the horrific shooting of three children and a rabbi at a local Jewish school might have been just a bad dream. “Then the reality hit and I… Read more »
Peter Beinart, shown in a February 2009 address to the Center for American Progress, stirred controversy this week with his call for a boycott of goods made in Israeli settlements. (Center for American Progress via Creative Commons) WASHINGTON (JTA) — Should Jews shun other Jews? And should they shun Jews who call on Jews to shun other Jews? Peter Beinart’s call in Monday’s New York Times for a boycott of goods manufactured in West Bank settlements reignited a debate not just about what works and doesn’t… Read more »
BEERSHEVA, Israel (j weekly) — A bus carrying eight American journalists drove smack dab into the throes of rocket attacks from Gaza. And it wasn’t because of a wrong turn. The journalists, including this reporter, agreed to go willingly. The group was on a science- and agriculture-focused media tour… Read more »
Geneva – Dr. Raz Somech is one of the main figures in the deeply moving documentary “Precious Life,” which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2011 and serves as a powerful image of hope in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2008, a four month-old baby from Gaza, Mohammed Abu… Read more »
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is waiting and watching when it comes to Iran — although for how long, no one knows. Analysts and Jewish organizational officials who speak with Israeli and U.S. government say Netanyahu came away from his meeting last week with President Obama… Read more »
A volley of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip was intercepted by the Iron Dome system near the Israeli town of Ashdod area on Sunday morning March 11, 2012. (Flash90/JTA) JERUSALEM (JTA) – As southern Israel was barraged by rockets for a fourth straight day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was hitting back “strongly and decisively,” and its Iron Dome anti-missile defense system was intercepting many of the rockets coming from the Gaza Strip. “The IDF is continuing… Read more »
New Jersey native hopes to sled for Israel at Olympics (Ken Childs) Meet Bradley Chalupski, Israel’s best hope for a medal on the bobsled track at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in 2014. Chalupski is an unlikely Israeli athlete. For one thing, he competes in skeleton, a sport that’s virtually unknown in Israel — not to mention the rest of… Read more »
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama meet in the White House Oval Office to talk about Iran and other issues, March 5, 2012. (Ron Kampeas) President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree, at least in principle: Keep the talk on what to do about Iran behind closed doors. But once they’re behind those doors, they can’t agree — and they can’t seem to resist bringing their disagreements into the open. Within hours… Read more »
Elaina Espinosa (center) hikes in the Judean desert with her host, Inbal Fortus (left), and Inbal’s younger sister, Noga, in November 2011. A tree was planted in Israel recently to honor Elaina Espinosa’s great-grandmother. Espinosa isn’t Jewish — neither was her great-grandmother — but she is one of six Tucson high school students who went to Israel in November as youth ambassadors for the Tucson chapter of the America-Israel Friendship… Read more »
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama meet in the White House Oval Office to talk about Iran and other issues, March 5, 2012. (Ron Kampeas) WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may not have bridged their differences on how to deal with Iran, but each managed to give the other a measure of reassurance. In his speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Obama held his ground, declining… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — It ordered the West Bank security fence rerouted because it cut through private Palestinian property. It overturned state-backed discrimination against Arab Israelis on issues of land distribution and ruled against the Israel Defense Forces’ use of military methods deemed to cause “disproportionate” harm to Palestinian civilians.… Read more »
