During the waning hours of 2015, the Israeli government made one of its most important decisions of the year, belatedly approving an ambitious development plan to close the lamentable and inexcusable economic gap between Jews and Arabs in Israel. It was long overdue, to say the least. If fully implemented, the five-year plan will upgrade the […]
I did not learn about the July 10, 1941 pogrom in the small town of Jedwabne, in northeast Poland, until I read Jan Tomasz Gross’ explosive and path-breaking book, Neighbors, which was published in the spring of 2000. The Polish American historian’s work, based on a variety of sources, caused an uproar because it went against […]
On my last visit to Egypt, in 1999, I spent several days in one of my favorite places, the Sinai Peninsula, a 61,000 square kilometer desert of spectacular Red Sea coast lines, undulating sand dunes, shady oases and craggy mountains. I was truly in my element as I explored this pristine region, which on a […]
Michael Kirk’s Frontline documentary on the dysfunctional relationship between U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu at War, will be aired by the PBS network on January 5 at 9 p.m. (check local listings). It’s a timely, hard-hitting and important film about two leaders whose personal philosophies and world views diverge […]
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon has disclosed that Israel’s security services have adopted stringent measures to ensure that a despicable incident like last summer’s firebombing of a Palestinian family’s home in the West Bank village of Duma will never happen again. “We have taken draconian steps to prevent another terror attack,” he said on December 26 […]
Is war-torn Syria finally on the cusp of peace? That’s the burning question following the unanimous passage of a United Nations Security Council resolution supporting a political solution of the nearly five-year-old civil war in Syria, which has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 civilians and soldiers. The resolution, adopted by a 15-0 margin […]
It’s the end of another year and the dawn before a new one. You’re off from work and you’ve got some spare time on your hands. What better way to relax than to immerse yourself in some books. Here are a few newly-published books you may enjoy over the holiday season. On my first trip […]
When I received a copy of Mark Celinscak’s book, Distance from the Belsen Heap: Allied Forces and the Liberation of a Nazi Concentration Camp (University of Toronto Press), I was eager to read it. My parents, you see, are Holocaust survivors who were transported to Bergen-Belsen in the waning months of World War II and […]
I knew I was flying south, toward blissfully warm weather, when I looked out of the airplane window and saw cotton-candy cloud formations, the kind you see in Canada during the summer months. My wife and I were heading to Varadero, Cuba, having booked a one-week all-inclusive package at the Melia Marina Hotel. The fluffy […]
Herod the Great, the Jewish ruler of Roman-occupied Judea for 32 years, is considered the greatest builder in Jewish history. He expanded the Second Temple, built the Temple Mount and the walls surrounding it and constructed the fortresses of Masada and Herodium. Marvels of engineering, these structures were among the most magnificent of their time. […]