CAIRO (AFP) – Palestinian factions signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo on Tuesday to end the divide between the West Bank and Gaza and hold elections in a year in an agreement Israel called a blow to peace. Representatives of 13 factions, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fateh Party and […]
No-one yet knows what the course and the outcome of the processes of change in the Arab world will be. That being said, it is becoming clear whose star is rising and whose is not. Above all, it seems likely that Turkey’s political influence is set to increase. Volker Perthes […]
A mere day after US President Barack Obama announced that al-Qaeda leader and arch-terrorist Osama bin Laden has been killed by US Special Forces in Pakistan, and the World Wide Web is gushing with conspiracy theories, fed mostly by the White House statement that he was swiftly buried at sea, […]
An annual report by Tel Aviv University says the number of anti-Semitic incidents worldwide declined in 2010 but remains high overall. Researchers at the university say 2010 saw a 46 percent drop in the number of violent incidents targeting Jews relative to 2009 – from 1,129 to 614. But the […]
Holocaust Remembrance Day was honored Monday morning with a siren marking a moment of silence throughout Israel at 10 am. As on every year, flower wreaths were laid at Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. The Knesset held its annual ceremony of the reading out of victims’ names. President Shimon Peres and […]
Archaeological activity in Jerusalem has been sucked into a whirlwind of conflicting political agendas, and the site commonly referred to as “the City of David” is in the eye of the storm. At issue is a place of seminal importance for the Jewish people and indeed for anyone who cherishes […]
Tal Aviv – PNN – In a first response to the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation deal in Cairo today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority must decide whether it wants peace or reconciliation with Hamas. “The Palestinian Authority must choose either peace with Israel or peace with […]
Watching “The Arab Spring” unfold has been a remarkable and awe-inspiring experience. Something that was once impossible to imagine suddenly became inevitable as Tunisia sparked a revolutionary fire that spread to Egypt, eventually inspiring the entire Middle East to rise up in varying degrees of revolt against even the most […]
The myth that Judaism, Israel, and Zionism are one and the same needs to be completely debunked. Judaism is and always has been respected as one of the major religions throughout the world. Israel could be, but is not, currently, a respected member of the world community. Ask anyone outside […]
Telecom company offers haredi clients kosher cellular phone with Hasidic folk music ringtones, menu in traditional German-derived language An Israeli telecom company is offering ultra-Orthodox Jewish clients a kosher smartphone with Hasidic folk music ringtones and a menu in Yiddish, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday. While other firms have tapped into […]
Arab world upheaval may soon determine whether Islam is a religion like all other creeds, or will continue to regard the rest of the world as inferior. One of the questions looming in the wake of the current upheavals in the Arab world is the status and role of the […]
Beitar chairman Itzik Kornfein is making progress in his battle to eradicate racism in soccer. Beitar Jerusalem earned the reputation of being Israel’s most racist club long ago. Anybody who attended a Beitar match over recent decades could not have helped but hear the bigoted chants, which for some reason […]
The Palestinian village Silwan in East Jerusalem is situated about a hundred metres from the Temple Mount/Haram el Sharif. It is home to 40,000 Palestinians and almost 400 Jewish settlers. The village also hosts a large archaeological site called the “City of David”. The past few months have seen an […]
Israeli and Palestinian Olympic officials reaffirmed their desire to build stronger ties Wednesday, but came away without any tangible breakthroughs during a “Sports for Peace” meeting in Italy. The meeting was arranged by International Olympic Committee Vice President Mario Pescante as a follow-up to initial talks led by IOC President […]
As Christians worldwide prepare to celebrate Easter on Sunday, they will follow a familiar chronology: Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and rose from the dead on “the third day,” in the words of the ancient Nicene Creed. But if Jesus died at 3 p.m. Friday and vacated h is […]
The small doorway to the traditional site of Jesus’ tomb cracked open to reveal a bright flame and tens of thousands of worshipers cheered ecstatically, marking the pinnacle of Easter Week’s holy fire ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The annual ritual has been practiced for at least […]
In the period leading up to Israel’s 2009 parliamentary election, several polls I conducted among the Jewish population turned up a consistent finding: The youngest respondents (18-35 ) disproportionately described themselves as right wing. They also supported Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party slightly more than others. Then weeks before the election, […]
Are the Arabs in Israel an enemy from within? In 1999, when Professor Dan Schueftan’s book “Disengagement: Israel and the Palestinian Entity” was published, his proposals appeared extreme; almost imaginary even. As there was no chance for securing an agreement with the Palestinians, Schueftan asserted at the time, Israel must […]
Former White House press corps member pulls out of Washington conference due to opposition from many participants. Helen Thomas, who caused controversy when she called on Jews in Israel to “go back to Europe” last year, reportedly declined to take part in the Move Over AIPAC when it became clear […]
JERUSALEM — Dozens of Israel’s most honored intellectuals and artists have signed a declaration endorsing a Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 lines and asserting that an end to Israel’s occupation “will liberate the two peoples and open the way to a lasting peace.” The signatories plan to […]