I‘ll say it straight 0ut: I dread autumn. Not because it’s the worst season, but because it’s a harbinger of winter, which in these remorseful parts tend to be cold, dreary and far too long, unless you’re a skier, a skater or, let’s face it, a masochist. Autumn, however, has one redeeming feature that compensates […]
A visitor to India, population 1.1 billion, is immediately struck by its overflowing jumble of humanity. After a few days in its congested and polluted cities, you long for the solitude of its open, sparsely-populated spaces. There are a number of options to consider. You can raft down the rapids of the Ganges River. You […]
Thirteen years after 15 Arab terrorists linked to Al Qaeda attacked the United States, Canada is facing the wrath of Islamic radicalism. In the past few days, two Canadian soldiers — Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Corporal Nathan Cirillo — have been murdered by Canadian acolytes of Islamic State, the jihadist organization that has conquered […]
Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), the legendary Hollywood movie director, is the subject of a retrospective being presented by the Toronto International Film Festival starting this month. Stanley Kubrick: A Cinematic Odyssey will run from Oct. 31 to Jan. 25 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox (350 King Street West). It includes such classics as A Clockwork Orange, Dr. […]
On a sunny autumn day in the Negev desert 20 years ago this month, Israel signed a peace treaty with Jordan. Coming 15 years after Israel’s peace treaty with Egypt, the first of its kind in the Middle East, it was seen as step forward in Israel’s quest for recognition and acceptance in the Arab […]
Israel has mounted a campaign to squelch a diplomatic drive by major European countries to recognize a future Palestinian state. By doing so, Israel is fighting a losing battle, and is on the wrong side of history. In recent weeks, the new Swedish prime minister, Stefan Lofven, has expressed support for Palestinian statehood, which is […]
John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, has been harshly and unfairly criticized by two right-wing Israeli cabinet ministers for having stated an obvious and compelling truth. Their tendentious comments reflect badly on their understanding of fundamental realities in the Middle East. Speaking at the State Department the other day, Kerry called for a […]
The Middle East is invariably in flux, changing before our eyes. The following books may clarify issues, deepen understanding or simply outrage some readers. In Shifting Sands: The United States in the Middle East (Columbia University Press), Joel Migdal, a professor of international studies at the University of Washington, argues that Washington’s policy in this […]
Ebola, that terrible disease ravaging western Africa and threatening the United States, inspires dread, but it’s nothing compared to the natural disaster looming large in Zac Hilditch’s science fiction thriller, These Final Hours, which opens in Canada on Oct. 17. Set in the suburbs of Perth, Australia, as a cataclysmic force devours cities and continents in […]
Jean-Pierre Filiu, a professor of Middle East Studies at Sciences Po in Paris, is absolutely right. “The word ‘Gaza,”‘ he writes in Gaza: A History (Oxford University Press), “arouses passions and emotions whenever it is uttered.” Last July and August, when Israel and Hamas clashed in a 50-day war, their third in six years, Gaza […]