News from the Middle East

Lethal, own-goal War Journalism

The month of May 2021 taught us Israelis many unfortunate things—things we hoped were not true (and continue to hope are not true)—about the sad straights of Israeli democracy; the relentlessly authoritarian nature of Palestinian or, for that matter, Arab…

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Standing Up for Israel: An Epiphany in Stormy Kansas

Until that steamy day in June, with tornadoes threatening the frontier garrison built on a bluff above the Missouri River, Israel was an abstraction, more ancient kingdom than modern state in the mind of a 10-year-old Irish-Catholic Army brat. My…

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The statue of Justice Louis Brandeis, situated on the grounds of Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, can't take it anymore. Photo Credit: Brandeis.edu, with enhancement by Lori Lowenthal Marcus

It’s Official: Justice Brandeis Wants his Name Back

The statue of Justice Louis Brandeis, situated on the grounds of Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, can’t take it anymore.Photo Credit: Brandeis.edu, with enhancement by Lori Lowenthal Marcus Of all the absurd positions Brandeis University has taken over the years,…

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Israel must be permitted to crush Hamas

A Palestinian runs in an area damaged in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. (Hatem Moussa/AP) U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary of State John Kerry and the foreign ministers of Great Britain and France all are rushing to achieve a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Their…

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Jews and Palestinians: A little history remembered

The failure of American-mediated peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians and the likely creation of a Hamas-Fatah government in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip have cast deep shadows over the Middle East. Harry Truman once said…

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