Israel is one of the most advanced countries in the Middle East, its high-tech economy a model of brain power, innovation and efficiency. Out with the old, in with the new. For a country with precious few natural resources, Israel has fared reasonably well thanks to its can-do, entrepreneurial spirit. If you take a walk in […]
A remote village, near Turkey’s Black Sea coast, is the venue of a Turkish coming-of-age movie about adolescence, sexuality, tradition, repression and the longing for freedom. These interlocking themes are woven into the fabric of Deniz Gamze Erguven’s skillfully crafted debut feature film, Mustang, which opens in Toronto on January 15. Five playful, close-knit sisters, ranging in […]
The American Jewish-style delicatessen is struggling for survival. In his elegiac book, Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli (New York University Press), Ted Merwin delves into its rise and falling importance and does so with commendable ease and thoroughness. As a seasoned aficionado of Jewish culinary traditions, Merwin — a professor […]
Israel and Turkey, two of the most important powers in the Middle East, appear to be moving closer to a rapprochement that could end five years of mutual recrimination, bitterness and estrangement. But is it another false start? Nearly two years ago, after Israeli negotiator David Meidan appeared to have reached a breakthough reconciliation agreement […]
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 […]