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Middle East

The Lion’s Den Challenges Israel’s Occupation Of West Bank

Israeli commandos and Shin Bet agents scored a tactical victory on October 25 when they killed Wadee al-Houh, the 31-year-old leader of the Lion’s Den, and four of his followers in a clash in the West Bank town of Nablus. Formed only a few months ago, the Lion’s Den sprang into prominence by attacking Israeli army […]

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Middle East

Deep-Seated Grievances Spark Protests In Iran

A little more than two weeks after Iran was convulsed by a new round of nation-wide protests which have yet to subside, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, finally broke his silence. Condemning the “rioting” as “abnormal” and “unnatural,” he accused the United States and Israel of instigating the protests, which entered their 40th day […]

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Film

Budapest Noir

A locomotive belching white smoke pulls into a train station in Budapest carrying the decorated coffin of Gyula Gombos, the prime minister of Hungary from 1932 until his death four years later. An honor guard and a solemn crowd greet the train. So begins Eva Gardos’ Budapest Noir, a moody, fast-moving Hungarian-language film with English subtitles […]

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Commentary

An Inexplicable And Inexcusable Failure

Melissa Lantsman, the first Jewish female Conservative Party member of Canada’s parliament, was right on the ball when she recently criticized the federal government for its inexplicable and inexcusable failure to quickly annul the contract of an anti-racism trainer who promoted antisemitic hatred. Lantsman, who represents the heavily Jewish Thornhill constituency in greater Toronto, was […]

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Commentary

Kanye West Has Run Amok

Adidas, the sportswear manufacturer of brand-name shoes, clothes and accessories, plans to release a selection of new products inspired by the American rapper/record producer Kanye West, otherwise known as Ye. The roll out of the “Yeezy” line is reportedly scheduled to take place around the fourth anniversary of the most serious antisemitic incident in U.S. […]

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Film

Time Of Favor

Israel is plagued by the curse of extremist Orthodox rabbis who reject the authority of the government and egg on their malleable followers to disobey the law and take matters into their own hands. This disturbing phenomenon is mostly associated with far right-wing Israeli settlers in the West Bank who fervently support Israel’s occupation and […]

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Middle East

Maritime Border Pact A “Game Changer,” Says Lebanese Negotiator

Amos Hochstein, the U.S. mediator who brokered last week’s landmark maritime boundary agreement between Israel and Lebanon, claims that both sides attained “95 percent to 98 percent” of their respective objectives. Lebanon’s chief negotiator, Elias Bou Saab, the deputy Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, hailed it as “a historic event” and a “game changer” for […]

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Middle East

Israel Should Consider Selling Air Defence System To Ukraine

In a bold tweet that probably unsettled the Israeli government, Israel’s minister of Diaspora affairs, Nachman Shai, has come out in favor of sending Israeli military assistance to Ukraine, which has been embroiled in a gruelling war with Russia since its unjustified invasion last February. “There is no longer any doubt where Israel should stand […]

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Books

Canada In The Middle East

Historically, the Middle East has not been a priority for Canadian foreign and defence policy, yet this turbulent region still matters to Canada. Although Canada, as compared to the United States, plays a relatively minor role there, Canada has been affected by events in the Mideast, from Israel’s struggle with the Palestinians to the West’s […]

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Books

The Hollywood Blacklist Ruined Careers

Seventy five years ago this month, amid the burgeoning Cold War pitting Western capitalist democracies against the communist Soviet Union and its allies, the Hollywood blacklist emerged, upending and ruining the careers of scores of movie directors, producers, actors and screenwriters, many of whom were Jewish. As Larry Ceplair writes in The Hollywood Motion Picture […]