Posted on: April 3rd, 2012

Paul Donnachie, 19, a student who racially abused a Jewish student at St Andrews University in Scotland and was sentenced to 150 hours of community service and ordered to pay £300 compensation, is appealing his conviction of defiling an Israeli flag in a racially aggravated manner. Donnachie was convicted of racially aggravated breach of the […]

Posted on: April 3rd, 2012

The Flea Theater will present a reading of “The Vandal” by Hamish Linklate (best known as Matthew in the CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine) on April 3 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, with Golden Globe winners Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman and Outer Critics Circle nominee Noah Robbins. “The Vandal” is […]

Posted on: April 2nd, 2012

Gov. Christie, who is visiting with his family and a delegation of leaders from the business and religious sectors, told the Prime Minister that “this is my first visit abroad as Governor and there was never any question of where we would come first, so I’m glad we did.”

Posted on: April 2nd, 2012

UPDATE: Hebron house resident to Jewish Press: "Baruch Hashem, we will live in this house for a long time to come." Eviction order states that the families must evacuate the premises by 3:00 PM on Tuesday, on the grounds that their presence disrupts public order.

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Posted on: April 2nd, 2012

In Woody Allen's 1973 comic Sci Fi masterpiece "Sleeper," an underground band in the far future is trying to revive Allen's memory by acting out scenes from his childhood in Jewish Brooklyn. One of the men, in the roll of Allen's father, urges him, "Stop whining and eat your shiksa…" That was the feeling that overcame me when I read the article in Monday's Daily Mail of New Baltimore, NY, under the headline "Church brings Jewish traditions to life."

Posted on: April 2nd, 2012

Did you ever get the urge to go beyond just flaming someone who got on your case on Facebook, or elsewhere on the Internet for that matter, and wished you had a police force all your own you could use to put that person in his or her place? If you happen to be Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, you can do that!

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Posted on: April 2nd, 2012

Remember the adage about how fences make for good neighbors? It turns out they work quite well for bad neighbors, too. Sunday night, IDF soldiers operating along the security fence in the central Gaza Strip identified a suspicious figure digging in the ground, suggesting he was attempting to plant an explosive device. The soldiers tried to distance him by firing at him, confirming a hit.

Posted on: April 2nd, 2012

It's not as if no one in the West has been warning about it; and it's not as if Egyptians, exposing themselves to violence while demonstrating gallantly in a relentless effort to topple a corrupt, repressive regime, weren't aware of the possibility of it; nevertheless, the prospect of an imminent takeover—albeit using democratic means—by the radical Muslims is terrifying.

Posted on: April 1st, 2012

Barbara Cadranel, a renowned harpsichordist who delights audiences around the world with her unique interpretation of Baroque as well as contemporary music, says she's feeling "violated." The attorney for her Condo Association says his client permits residents to display religious objects on the outside of their doors, but not on "the frame around the door." One neighbor suggested the mezuzah could be a fire hazard…

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Posted on: April 1st, 2012

The website e-week reports that BlackBerry Canadian Maker Research in Motion (RIM) just told its shareholders at their fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call March 29 that BlackBerry smartphone sales fell by 21 percent between its third and fourth quarters. During the same period, revenue fell 19 percent. But don’t mention any of this to the Egyptians, […]

Posted on: April 1st, 2012

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says Iran and the group of five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany have agreed to meet in Istanbul on April 13 for the latest round of nuclear talks. Secretary Clinton made the announcement at a news conference Saturday following a security conference in Riyadh, […]

Posted on: April 1st, 2012

The drill, called "Noble Dina", will continue through April 5, and will also include the U.S. Sixth Fleet. It is aimed at simulating submarine combat, airborne dogfights, as well as coordinating the defense of offshore natural gas platforms.

Posted on: April 1st, 2012

A new feature-length documentary starring one of Harvard University’s all-time most popular professors reveals the secret components of Israel’s success as an international leader in innovation and humanitarianism.

Posted on: March 31st, 2012

Proving that public officials must read their own stories before sending them out, we found an item on the Palestinian news agency Ma’an’s website Saturday that began: “Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and north Africa called Friday for Israel to stop using excessive force against demonstrators.” The item continued (2nd paragraph): “Ann […]

Posted on: March 31st, 2012

Board-certified Miami plastic surgeon and Nose Job Specialist Michael Salzhauer surprised me. He forced me—an instinctive objector to vain mutilation for the sake of some notion of exterior beauty—to reconsider my views on this issue. And he's not cynical, that was another huge surprise. I walked away convinced he means every word he says.

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Posted on: March 30th, 2012

At the Kalandia checkpoint, where Palestinian youths have been taunting Israeli security forces all day, activity fizzled down after TV cameras had left. Jordan mass sit-in remained 6 miles from the border. Lebanon's army restrained Iranian and Palestinian busloads of demonstrators. In this region things can change rapidly, but we're off to the mikvah, to prepare for Shabbat. Here's hoping for a peaceful evening.

Posted on: March 30th, 2012

Israeli Deputy Ambassador to the US Baruch Bina addressed thousands of J Street supporters last week, and his appearance had been hailed as a thawing of official Israeli approach to the pro-Palestinian organization. They were in for a big surprise. How big a surprise? The Baruch Bina speech has been removed from J Street's official history. It never happened. But we have it…

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Posted on: March 30th, 2012

It's important to separate the failure of elite French police units to apprehend murderer Muhammad Merah a week ago, from our estimate of the ability of French security forces to monitor radical Islamists within their borders. It turns out that France, which has been hit by terrorist attacks since the Algerian war of the 1950s, could teach the US a thing or two about controlling Arab terrorism.

Posted on: March 30th, 2012

The Naharnet website reports that some 4,000 Lebanese, Palestinian and “foreign” demonstrators (i.e. Iranians) are expected to march to the Beaufort Castle in Nabatiyeh on Friday morning, marking Land Day. The Lebanese army and security forces have taken strong measures to prevent uncontrolled escalation of the protest. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon is […]

Posted on: March 30th, 2012

The Palestinian news agency Ma’an is quoting a Hamas spokesman who said Thursday the electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip is at least partly a result of Egypt’s refusal to deal directly with the government in Gaza. Ahmad Abu al-Amarin told Ma’an the government has been attempting to buy Egyptian fuel through official channels, but […]