A Retired Asst Professor of Pediatrics currently working in Canada.
Netanyahu’s decision to have Israel clash with Obama is not only a dead end, it could remove the only protective wall Israel has left and sacrifice the country’s future on the altar of hollow ideology and unbridled nationalism. Haaretz Editorial Lots of high-sounding words were uttered over the weekend. There was […]
Terrorism is attracting an increasing number of creative and intellectual university graduates who differ from its stereotypical adherents of Islamic boarding school (pesantren) students and preachers. For the last several years, college graduates from middle class families have played a prominent role in plotting terror attacks. The recent distribution of […]
The expected UN vote on a Palestinian state in September leaves me, in contradiction to the unofficial rules governing columnists, without a decisive opinion on the matter. On the one hand, despite the doomsday scenarios we’ve been hearing in recent weeks, I’m having trouble getting frightened by what we can […]
Israel remains in the 17th place among the world’s 59 leading economies in terms of competitiveness, according to the 2011 World Competitiveness Yearbook of the International Institute Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. The annual report ranks countries according to difference economic parameters and is based on data collected from different […]
Israel; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday Israel would object to any withdrawal to “indefensible” borders, adding he expected Washington to allow it to keep major settlement blocs in any peace deal. In a statement after President Barack Obama’s speech outlining Middle East strategy, Netanyahu said before heading to […]
A group of Indonesian climbers on Friday took in the view from the top of the world when they summited Mount Everest. The team of four — Broery Andrew Sihombing, Janathan Ginting, Xaferius Frans and Sofyan Arief Fesa — were accompanied by a Japanese guide and two Sherpas on their […]
With Fatah and Hamas joining hands in the occupied territories and Palestinians breaching the Syrian frontier, Israel may feel its situation is more precarious than ever. The latest window of opportunity for peace in the Middle East may be closing, and the popular choice is always to dig in. Yet […]
Magic Squares at the Textile Museum: God is also in the details. Initiation shirt from Burkina Faso, mid to late 20th century, a centrepiece of the exhibition “Magic Squares” at the Textiles Museum of Canada. The square is never square. Squares can even be hip. Squares embrace the greatest games. […]
We were stunned to read Jonathan Kay’s column describing Geert Wilders’ extreme polemics against Islam and Muslims (“Geert Wilders’ problem with Islam,” May 9). It contained unsupported hyperbole from the Dutch politician, such as “if you would strip the Koran of all the negative, hateful, anti-Semitic material, you would end […]
‘God wants him to be alive’: Family fights landmark battle over medical consent Sittng on a courtroom bench, son and daughter on either side, Parichehr Salasel listened to lawyers argue over who has the final say on her husband’s life – his doctors or his family. She and her family […]
Deputy Secretary Steinberg’s Visit to Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg visits Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank May 18-19, 2011. In Israel, Deputy Secretary Steinberg met with Israeli academic and student leaders. In the West Bank, he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud […]
New reforms include salary adjustment for ILA employees, ease registering, constructing on properties; 4% of ILA holdings privatized. The Israel Land Administration will officially become the Israel Land Authority, as part of extensive reforms announced by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. The passing of the authority to government control […]
The United Nations has written to the Indonesian government expressing “concern” about the increasing number of reports about violence committed against religious minorities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, says it is yet to receive a copy of the letter, dated April 26, 2011, from UN High Commissioner for Human […]
Buddhists across Indonesia observed Waisak on Tuesday with a message that religion can be a vehicle to enlighten people and the world. Followers in Magelang, Central Java, joined the solemn procession at the yard of the world heritage site — Borobudur Temple. Sitting cross-legged, some 10,000 worshippers associated in the […]
In his annual report, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss found many shortcomings in the supervision of works carried out by the Waqf Muslim religious trust at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, saying that as a result, important archaeological artifacts had been damaged. The majority of the State Comptrollers opinion is being […]
Overlapping ownerships of financial and non-finance companies portend danger that worsens as the large organizations get stronger, and the small and medium ones grow weaker. To whom are Israel’s pension managers loyal? Their bosses, who own multitude companies, or to us? What can be said is that the tycoons’ overlapping […]
Ahmad Masihuddin, Irwan and Bebi are the lucky ones. Ahmad recalls the moment when a man attempted to mutilate his genitals, while Irwan has developed an intense fear of water. Bebi cannot speak, due to a dislocated jaw, and must eat through a straw. Despite the fear of reprisals, two […]
A few days after U.S. Navy SEALs assassinated Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a Delta connection flight pulled away from the gate at Memphis International Airport in Tennessee. The Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) passenger jet, bound for Charlotte, North Carolina, never made it to the runway. While taxiing, the […]
Christopher Hitchens should have been a little more focused in “turning to the facts” to counter Noam Chomsky. Osama bin Laden declared war on the U.S. in 1996 because U.S. troops, at the invitation of the Saudi government, were stationed in Saudi Arabia after the First Gulf War. That is […]
For Israel, the risk that Syria President Bashar Assad would undermine calm of northern border less threatening than prospect of him toppled; Israel blames Assad and Iran for border infiltration on Nakba Day. The Arab revolution knocked on Israel’s door yesterday, in Nakba Day demonstrations carried out by Palestinians from […]