Israel’s important but mercurial relationship with Turkey has entered a promising era after years of mutual acrimony, yet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a harsh critic of Israeli policy toward the Palestinians and a supporter of Hamas, continues to criticize Israel, sometimes quite stridently. Israel and Turkey — the only Muslim member of the NATO […]
In a jab at Israel, and in an ignorant and insulting assault on the historical record, Ecuador’s ambassador to the United Nations, Horacio Sevilla Borja, recently equated Zionism with Nazism. He dredged up this shameful analogy in a speech at the General Assembly to mark International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. “We repudiate […]
As he ends his tenure as U.S secretary of state, John Kerry has fired parting shots at Israel. At a forum in Washington, D.C. on December 4, he made two important points that Israel’s short-sighted leadership would be well advised to heed. He reiterated Washington’s long-held view that Jewish settlements in the West Bank are […]
A just foreign policy in the Middle East must recognize the necessity of a two-state solution, says internationally renowned human rights lawyer Irwin Cotler. Cotler, the former Canadian minister of justice and attorney general, endorsed this concept on November 29 at Holy Blossom Temple at the annual general meeting of JSpace Canada, a progressive Jewish organization. […]
The wildfires that have ravaged Israel of late have consumed approximately 13,000 hectares of forest and brush, an area far larger than the island of Manhattan. This is a catastrophic event from an ecological point of view because Israel is not a country rich in forests, like Canada or the United States. Forests in Middle Eastern […]
Shortly before Ban Ki-moon stepped down as secretary-general of the United Nations recently, he received a remarkably blunt and bitter letter from the UN ambassadors of eleven Arab countries. The envoys — representing the predominantly Sunni Muslim nations of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Yemen, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates […]
By a margin of 58-50, the Knesset on November 16 took the first step to retroactively legalize Jewish settlements and outposts in the West Bank built on privately owned Palestinian lands. The proposed legislation, known as the Regulation Bill, is the brainchild of Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leaders of the […]
The draft resolution adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on October 14 is so ahistorical and unjust that its director-general, Irina Bokova, was compelled to disavow it. By a 24-6 margin, with 26 abstentions, the UN agency passed a motion that essentially tries to sever the historical link between Judaism […]
Since the collapse of the short-lived ceasefire in Syria two weeks ago, Syria and its ally, Russia, have been mercilessly and indiscriminately pounding the besieged eastern sector of Aleppo, the last major Syrian city still under the partial control of anti-government rebels. The defenceless 275,000 civilians living there have been subjected to constant aerial attacks, with […]
Israel’s web of settlements in the West Bank, a barrier blocking a much-needed two-state solution, are causing problems for Israel yet again in the international community. Earlier this month, the United States — Israel’s chief ally and benefactor — and the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators condemned the Israeli settlement project. Israel has been […]