Though it’s been called America’s longest war, that’s not exactly accurate. Actually, it’s the longest of its colonial wars. That’s different. The United States and some of its allies have been battling the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2001, following the al-Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington that September 11. It was intended to punish the […]
Much to the disappointment of the right-wing nationalist camp in Israel, U.S. President Donald Trump may yet turn out to be something a dud. Israeli right-wingers, buoyed by his staunchly pro-Israel statements and comments during the presidential campaign, expected him to grant Israel carte blanche in its dealings with the Palestinians, display a tolerant attitude […]
Diverging from his predecessor’s policy, U.S. President Donald Trump has adopted a tougher approach to Iran, a position that pleases major American allies in the Middle East. Israel and Sunni Arab states were upset by Barack Obama’s advocacy of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear agreement signed by the six major powers and […]
The Holocaust was not a single, monolithic event but rather a series of events that unfolded in different places at different times, a theme British scholar Tim Cole deftly pursues in Holocaust Landscapes, published by Bloomsbury. Cole, a social historian at Bristol University who’s written several books about the Holocaust, explores it from various vantage […]
I was a young man when the Six Day War broke out on June 5, 1967, a date stamped indelibly into my memory. In the life of a person, there are only a handful of select events that one never forgets, and the Six Day War is one of them. On that warm, sunny morning in […]
I could hardly believe my eyes. Tucked into a crevice deep in a craggy canyon in a desert adjacent to the Dead Sea was an incredible sight — a natural pool and a gushing waterfall. I came upon them on a hot day after a fairly strenuous hike in one of Israel’s most alluring nature […]
The rhetorical flourishes flew thick and fast during U.S. President Donald Trump’s 28-hour whirlwind visit to Israel. Describing his trip as “unforgettable,” Trump, in sonorous language, hit the right notes. He spoke of the profound attachment of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. He reaffirmed the United States’ close bond with Israel. He […]
I rarely agree with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose brand of right-wing politics and opportunistic regard for political self-preservation alienate me profoundly. But I found myself in agreement with him the other day when he lambasted a decision by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem not to play the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, at a […]
In the lead-up to the May 19 presidential election in Iran, most observers maintained that the electorate would be focused on one main issue. Did the lifting of economic sanctions on the part of the United States following the nuclear agreement signed by Tehran with the five members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, […]
Nearly eleven years after the eruption of the Second Lebanon War, tensions are rising yet again between two old bitter enemies, Israel and Hezbollah. In the past few months, as Israel has fortified its border with Lebanon in preparation for a possible fresh round of fighting and bombed weapons convoys destined for Hezbollah warehouses, both […]