Sorrow and Hope

Life in Israel

Rogue Iran

Over the past few months, Iranian provocation in the Middle East topped headlines worldwide. Tensions have been high since the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord a year ago—and then instituted harsher sanctions in a bid to force Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions and toe the line. As the economic vice grip tightened,

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Young Immigrants from Enemy States Begin their Schooling in Israel

Wednesday, 4 September, 2019 | More than 2,000 children and teens from 37 countries who made aliyah (immigration to Israel) this summer with assistance from the Jewish Agency for Israel entered the Israeli school system for the first time on September 1, at the start of the new academic year. Among them are 31 Jewish

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Anti-Semitism: The Chilling New Normal

Historian Paul Johnson has said, “What strikes the historian surveying anti-Semitism worldwide over more than two millennia is its fundamental irrationality. It seems to make no sense, any more than malaria or meningitis make sense.” It goes by many names: bigotry, discrimination, prejudice, intolerance. Most often, it falls in that broad category of “racism,” which

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Unlivable: Israel’s Efforts to Prevent a Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza

In August 2012 the United Nations (UN) published a report painting a picture of the dismal future awaiting the people of Gaza. Come 2020, the document said, the coastal enclave would be unlivable. In the seven years since the UN tabled its report, the situation deteriorated almost beyond predictions. Some 2.1 million people live in

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A Singular Solution: A One-state Approach to the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict

The two-state solution sounds final—the long-sought answer to the Middle East’s most intractable riddle. But what if it’s not the only “solution” to the problem? What if it’s not even a plausible one? What alternative can there be to the “solution”? There is another possibility, hovering as both a promise and a threat: the one-state

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Life on the Frontlines: Coping under Fire

The siren sounds. You have 15 seconds to reach the bomb shelter. How fast can you run? One, two, three…Were you eating dinner with your family? Driving home from work? In the shower? Perhaps you were asleep? Four, five, six…Run! Run to the nearest bomb shelter. Do you know where it is? Of course you

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Breaking the Barrier: How Israel and Hamas Communicate

“Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims.” So reads Article 28 of the charter of Hamas, the terror organization in political and military control of the Gaza Strip. The charter also reads, “Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as

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V is for Victory?

August 27, 2014 was a day of great celebration in the Gaza Strip. The day before, a cease-fire agreement signaled the end of seven weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas, and the terror group ruling the coastal enclave had planned a rally to celebrate the war’s outcome. Throngs of jubilant Gazans—decked out in the

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The Lost Sheep of Israel Make Aliyah

Along a rocky path in the heart of the Judean Hills, a shepherdess named Jenna leads a small sheep harnessed with a pink bridle. The sheep’s wool is speckled with splotches of black on white and its head is crowned with four horns. The shepherdess calls this little ewe Golda Meir, after Israel’s first female

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Shanah Tovah, Israel!

As Jewish people around the world celebrate the festival of Rosh HaShanah (Jewish New Year), the streets of Israel resound with joyous shouts of “Shanah tovah u’metuka (have a happy and sweet new year),” with family, friends and perfect strangers wishing one another a sweet and prosperous new year. Sunset on Sunday, September 29, ushers

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