It’s a new era, but China’s balancing act will fail in the Middle East
November 3rd, 20180 Although ties between Washington and Tel Aviv are stronger than ever, Israeli leaders are aware of a vastly changing political landscape. The U.S.' own political turmoil and the global power realignment — which is on full display in the Middle East — indicate that a new era is, indeed, in the making. Unsurprisingly, this new era...
Tree of Life synagogue: Resisting the temptation to close the tent
November 2nd, 20180 Saturday was to be a day of celebration at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill Neighborhood. According to the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, a baby boy was to be welcomed into the covenant of Abraham. Tradition holds that the night before a baby boy’s ritual circumcision, members of the community study and...
The U.N. ‘sheriff’: Nikki Haley elevated Israel, damaged U.S. standing
October 22nd, 20180 The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, has made her post a “more glamorous” position than her predecessors — as President Trump described Haley’s 2-year term at the U.N., following her resignation announcement. We may never know the nature of Haley’s purported “glamour” at the U.N., but we certainly know that,...
It’s National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
October 19th, 20180 October is spooky enough with its ghouls and goblins. National Cybersecurity Awareness Month is here to remind us how to stay safe and secure from real (and maybe even scarier) threats — malware and scammers. Help us celebrate by joining a Twitter chat we’ll be participating in on October 18 at 3 p.m. EST. In this chat, you’ll...
Will Khashoggi disappearance bring down Saudi’s crown prince?
October 19th, 20180 Saudi Arabia and especially its young crown prince – who has been variously portrayed as naïve, venal and blood-thirsty – appear to have vastly misjudged the reaction to the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist who opposed the new heir’s unchecked efforts to reshape the kingdom and the entire Middle East region with...
How Khashoggi’s disappearance could affect Middle East politics
October 16th, 20180 The disappearance and possible murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has cast a long shadow over Saudi Arabia’s global image. If the Saudi government did in fact kill or kidnap him, the crime would have significant implications for Middle East politics. Turkish authorities believe he has been killed and his body, possibly...
That single line of blood: Nassir al-Mosabeh and Mohammed al-Durrah
October 16th, 20180 As the frail body of 12-year-old Nassir Al-Mosabeh fell to the ground on Friday, September 28, history was repeating itself in a most tragic way. Little Nassir was not just another number, a “martyr” to be exalted by equally poor refugees in Gaza, or vilified by Israel and its tireless hasbara machine. He was much more than...
What does it mean to be an American?
October 16th, 20180 What does it actually mean to be an American? Tell me. In the press of day-to-day events and amid the ongoing tumult of politics, we don’t think about this much. Yet it’s a crucial question, one that each generation in this country is called upon to answer for itself. Despite our differences, there are some traits that I think we...
End of hegemony: U.N. must reflect changing world order
October 7th, 20180 There is a rational explanation of why India and Brazil, two countries with vast populations and large and growing economies, are not permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC). The Council — made up of five permanent and 10 rotating members — was designed to reflect a world order that was birthed from the horrific...
Sleep research shows how homework is harmful for students
October 7th, 20180 "More than 70 percent of high school students average less than eight hours of sleep," according to an October 1 research letter in JAMA Pediatrics ("Dose-Dependent Associations Between Sleep Duration and Unsafe Behaviors Among U.S. High School Students."), “falling short of the 8 to 10 hours that adolescents need for optimal health....
Manufacturing Day offers pathway to the future for Wayne County youth
October 5th, 20180 One of the most important things we as adults can do for our youth is to provide them the opportunity to do at least as well as we have done, and preferably better. Every parent wants that for their child. It’s the promise we all wish we could make. The opportunity to obtain meaningful and productive employment is central to that...
Why Americans give $4 billion of their money each year to prosperous Israel?
October 5th, 20181 From presidents Truman to Trump, U.S. administrations have never actually been an “honest broker” of peace between Palestinians and Israelis, regardless of all the rhetoric and official positions. On the contrary, the U.S. has provided tremendous diplomatic, economic and military support to Israel ever since its creation in...
Preventing Palestine: A must read history of failed peace-making
October 1st, 20180 Seth Anziska’s Preventing Palestine: A Political History From Camp David to Oslo is a deeply insightful and profoundly disturbing book that traces the tortuous path of Middle East peace-making during the past four decades. It was quite painful to read. Having been a close observer and sometimes participant in many of the...
What it means to live in polarized times, divided country
September 29th, 20180 We live in a divided country. And I don’t just mean politically. Our economy is creating winners and losers, with no clear way up the ladder for millions of Americans. The last few decades have produced great inequality of wealth and with it, unequal access to the levers of power. We’re split along regional lines. We’re divided...
YallaPunk: A response to racism
September 24th, 20180 By Marrim Akashi PHILADELPHIA — Rana Fayez’s inaugural YallaPunk festival hit Philadelphia this past month and it has been revolutionary, to say the least. Self-described as “A direct response to negative depictions of populations of Middle Eastern and North African descent in mainstream media”, this is not another effort......
Why Israel demolishes: Khan Al-Ahmar as representation of greater genocide
September 24th, 20180 Like vultures, Israeli soldiers descended on Khan Al-Ahmar, on Sept. 14, recreating a menacing scene with which the residents of this small Palestinian village, located East of Jerusalem, are all-too familiar. The strategic location of Khan Al-Ahmar makes the story behind the imminent Israeli demolition of the peaceful village unique...
Stop abusing government power to quash Palestinian activism on campus
September 22nd, 20180 The re-opening of a seven-year-old Department of Education (DOE) complaint against Rutgers University, alleging anti-Semitism, perpetuates a false stereotype that Israel represents all Jews in America. The 2011 event hosted by Palestinian rights groups, which include Jewish students, featured speeches by Nakba and Holocaust......
The veiled danger of the ‘dead’ Oslo Accords
September 17th, 20180 Yossi Beilin is back. This unrepentant Israeli “peacemaker” is like the mythical phoenix, constantly resurrecting from its own ashes. In a recent article in Al-Monitor, Beilin wrote in support of the idea of a confederation between Israel and Palestine. A confederation "could prevent the need to evacuate settlers and allow those...
Here’s why I believe in America
September 16th, 20180 It’s so easy these days to despair about the future of our country. It feels like half the people I run into just want to pull the covers over their heads and ignore the news. There’s dysfunction at the highest levels of government. Recent reports — the new book by Bob Woodward and a New York Times op-ed — reveal that top...
What lies beneath: The U.S.-Israeli plot to ‘save’ Gaza
September 10th, 20180 The Israeli government wants to change the rules of the game entirely. With unconditional support from the Trump administration, Tel Aviv sees a golden opportunity to redefine what has, for decades, constituted the legal and political foundation for the so-called "Palestinian-Israeli conflict." While President Trump’s foreign policy...
Anatomy of a fake check scam
September 9th, 20180 Fake checks drive many types of scams — like those involving phony prize wins, fake jobs, mystery shoppers, online classified ad sales and others. In a fake check scam, a person you don’t know asks you to deposit a check — sometimes for several thousand dollars and usually for more than what you are owed — and wire some of the......
When illness is a ‘death sentence’: The victimization of Gaza women
September 1st, 20180 Hanan al-Khoudari, a Gaza resident, resorted to Facebook in a cry for help when Israeli authorities rejected her request to accompany her 3-year-old son, Louay, to his chemotherapy treatment in East Jerusalem. The boy is suffering from an “aggressive soft tissue sarcoma.” Israeli authorities then justified their decision based on...
What are political parties good for? Plenty, actually
September 1st, 20180 If you take a dim view of our political parties, you’re in sterling company. So did George Washington. In his famous farewell address, he warned us against “the baneful effects of the spirit of party.” A political party, he wrote, “agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of......
Hold the plaudits, John McCain’s 2008 campaign paved the way for Donald Trump
August 31st, 20180 What if John McCain hadn’t run for president in 2008? Donald Trump might not be sitting in the White House today. At first glance, that might sound odd. The six-term Republican senator, who passed away Saturday, has been hailed as an outspoken opponent of the president, while Trump himself despised McCain and famously claimed the...
Israel’s total control over Palestinian lives
August 26th, 20180 It is almost comical that recently Israel finally decided to release more than 10 tons of mail that it has prevented from reaching Palestinians in the West Bank, much of which was sent eight years ago. Not eight weeks or months, but years. In the U.S., many people become irritated when their Amazon packages arrive late on the third day,......
