Sorrow and Hope

Dispatch from Jerusalem

Anti-Semitic Parties on the Rise in Europe

Anti-Israel march in LondonJacqueline Abromeit/shutterstock.com The rise of far-right politics in Europe reached new heights in the April 7th elections in Hungary when “Jobbik,” the self-professed “radical right-wing” political party which has often been accused of blatant anti-Semitism, won 20.54% of votes, making it the third largest party in the country and the single largest

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Inside Iran Arms Ship: 40 Missiles, 400,000 Bullets

GranDuc/shutterstock.com The Iranian arms ship that was captured by the Israel Navy in March was unloaded in Eilat, and revealed 40 M-302 long-range missiles, as well as 181 22-millimeter mortar shells and 400,000 7.62 bullets. The ship was brought to Israeli territory after [the] elite Navy unit Sheyetet raided it some 1,500 kilometers [932 mi]

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Moldova—Russia’s Next Step?

Could Trans-Dniester follow in the footsteps of Crimea?www.wikipedia.org/Serhio Recently the world watched as Crimea broke away from the Ukraine and was formally annexed to Russia. Nations gave lip service to the defense of Ukraine’s sovereignty over the territory but when it came down to it, Russian actions trumped Western rhetoric. Was this a unique case

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Palestinians Sign Contract for Israeli Gas

Palestine Power Generating Company has become the first company to sign a contract with the Leviathan Gas Field. The agreement will supply the Palestinian energy company with [US] $1.2 billion worth of natural gas in order to generate electricity from a power station that it will establish next to Jenin. The gas reservoir west of

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Winter Warmth for Syrian Refugees

Syrian boy and his grandmother in a refugee camp When thousands of Syrian refugees receive cartons packed with warm blankets, clothes and sleeping bags, they might well be surprised to learn that the winter gear was collected by dozens of Israeli students and IDF [Israel Defense Forces] employees at an army base in northern Israel.

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Israeli Hospital Saves Syrian Lives

For the past three years, death has become a way of life for Syrian civilians, who are caught in the throes of a brutal civil war. Last year, the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] set up a field hospital to treat wounded Syrian civilians near the northern border. Regardless of the tense relations between Israel and

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Notable Quotes, April 2014

Peace Talks Root Cause of the Conflict  “We are trying to make peace with those Palestinians who at least have not engaged in terror and we say to them: If you want to achieve a real peace, then that peace has to be based on a real reconciliation with the Jewish State of Israel. I

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Surprisingly Delicious Matzah

Passover, also called Pesach or the Feast of Unleavened Bread, begins on the 14th of Nisan which usually falls in the month of April. It is a unique and special privilege to experience any of the biblical feasts in Jerusalem. For the uninitiated, let me tell you this feast has a direct effect on the

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Anti-Semitism Sweeps the Globe

www.wikipedia.org/ Amakuha When the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia adopted a comprehensive working definition of anti-Semitism in 2005, it was a great encouragement to the Jewish people worldwide. The statement listed “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” and “drawing comparisons between Israel and Nazis” as examples

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Compassion in No Man’s Land

The French Hospital of St. Louis on Paratroopers Road marks the former cease-fire line along No Man’s Land.Photo by Andrew Pilcher Jerusalem’s Paratroopers Road is one of the busiest streets in the city. As the demarcation between the Municipality of Jerusalem and the Old City Walls, it is the line where east (Jerusalem) meets west

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