Jewish terror draws Netanyahu’s focus homeward
WASHINGTON — Ahead of what may be the toughest diplomatic battle of his career, a final bid to kill the Iran nuclear deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suddenly found himself facing down a terrorist threat – apparently from Jews.
The flow of Iran messaging from the Prime Minister’s Office was interrupted Friday by Netanyahu’s fierce condemnation of a pre-dawn arson attack in the West Bank village of Duma, near Nablus, which killed an 18-month-old boy, Ali Saad Dawabsha.
A brief Canadian respite for injured Israeli soldiers
When I met Reuven Magen last month at a Niagara winery, he was sipping ice wine, joking with his pals and admiring the view of the Escarpment. In his baggy shorts and loose tank top, he looked like a West Coast surfer dude, which makes sense, since he spent his early years living in San Diego, Calif., before he and his family moved to the West Bank settlement of Elkana.
After the Iran deal, a call for action
The nuclear deal with Iran is a stunning diplomatic failure.
Iran and the three weeks
Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Iran nuclear deal was signed when it was. We find ourselves, after all, in the midst of a three-week period during which a host of calamitous events have befallen the Jewish People over the course of its history. The destruction of both Temples, the smashing of the original Sinai tablets by Moses, the final expulsion of Jews from Spain, the outbreak of World War I, the bombing of the Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires – all occurred in the 21 days bookended by the 17th of Tammuz and the Ninth of Av.
Moral excellence at risk today
I have yet to decide for myself what’s more upsetting – the Canadian Senate or FIFA, the international soccer federation. I expect little from a corrupt group of soccer executives, and very few revelations of their immoral, illegal and disdainful behaviour can surprise or shock me. What should sadden us is that no one has cared for such a long time. Billions of people eagerly await the World Cup and care little about the behind the scenes goings-on.
Sacrificing truth on the shores of Gaza
Seldom has language been more wilfully and deceitfully manipulated than by political activists who hold in high moral regard and even defend governments or individuals who promote the genocide of the Jewish people of Israel.
Seldom has language been so utterly offensive to facts or to history than by those same political activists.
The proponents of BDS – the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel – are the most persistent and the loudest example of such activists. Alas, there are many others.
Inter-ethnic encounters bring hope for peace
When focusing on Israeli-Palestinian relations, as I do for a living, it’s nice to have a good news story to relay. On June 22, the annual Victor J. Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East (run by the New-York based Institute of International Education) was awarded to Yehuda Stolov and Salah Aladdin, two leaders of the Interfaith Encounter Association (IEA). To many outsiders, inter-ethnic encounter experiences seem a no-brainer when it comes to grassroots, peace building efforts.
Queen’s Park nixes Al-Quds rally on legislature grounds
TORONTO — In 2013, at the annual Al-Quds Day rally in Toronto, Elias Hazineh, a former head of Palestine House, stood in the city park behind the Ontario legislature and threatened Israelis with death if they did not leave Jerusalem and Palestine.
Last year, Syed Mohammad Zaki Baqri, from the Council for Islamic Guidance, called “Yehudi, [Jews]” Israelis and Zionism “inhuman” while pro-Palestinian activist Eva Bartlett said Sderot residents were “sadistic and criminal Zionists.”
French plan won’t lead to peace
Late last month, news reports mounted about France’s efforts to introduce a resolution to the UN Security Council setting an 18-month deadline on Israeli-Palestinian talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state.
Under U.S. urging, France is reportedly prepared to wait until the P5+1 Iranian nuclear talks, scheduled to conclude by June 30, play themselves out. France has warned that the nuclear talks may exceed that deadline, but the speculation is that the French, along with New Zealand, will move ahead with their draft resolution this summer.
Perhaps 2017 will be an auspicious year
In 2017, we’ll observe two important milestones: the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration – the constitutive document in which the British foreign secretary informed Lord Rothschild that “His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish People” – and 50 years since Israel liberated/occupied Judea and Samaria/the West Bank in 1967’s Six Day War.
