Odds & Ends

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. Is Jerusalem a sacred Islamic City? There is a big difference between a city being sacred in the eyes of God and it being a sacred Islamic city. By MOHAMAD TAWHIDI -January 26, 2019     ‘THE HOLY KORAN states very clearly that the Holy Land, Jerusalem, belongs to the Jewish nation of Moses, the Israelites.’. (photo credit: Courtesy)   Jerusalem is home to around 400,000 Muslims, but is it a sacred city according to Islam? This is a question the majority of Muslims within the political and academic world try to avoid, simply because it opens a rather uncomfortable discussion. In fact, a Muslim asking such a question could face serious consequences; such as society doubting in his/her faith. Until 2014, I…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. How to counter the 20 most popular anti-Israel arguments From TheElderOfZiyon - Published on Aug 29, 2013   Arm yourself with the facts! Here we take the most difficult anti-Israel arguments and show why they are wrong. Lecture given at Yeshiva University, January 2013 Click the triangle on the picture to view and listen. {source}  <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/waqmv-mlX_k" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>     {/source}

The key to cracking long-dead languages? Sophie Hardach BBC - 10 December 2018   Tablets from some of the world’s oldest civilisations hold rich details about life thousands of years ago, but few people today can read them. New technology is helping to unlock them. Broken and scorched black by fire, the dense, wedge-shaped marks etched into the ancient clay tablets are only just visible under the soft light at the British Museum. These tiny signs are the remains of the world’s oldest writing system: cuneiform. Developed more than 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers where modern-day Iraq now lies, cuneiform captured life in a complex and fascinating civilisation for some three millennia. From furious letters between warring royal siblings to rituals for soothing a fractious baby, the tablets offer a unique insight into a society at the dawn of history. They chronicle…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. The History of Civilization Is a History of Border Walls No invention has played a greater role in shaping our societies David Frye   When I joined my first archaeological dig at a site near Hadrian’s Wall in 2002, walls never appeared in the nightly news. Britain was still many years away from planning a barrier near the opening of the Chunnel in Calais. Saudi Arabia hadn’t yet encircled itself with high-tech barricades. Israel hadn’t started reinforcing its Gaza border fence with concrete. Kenya wasn’t seeking Israel’s help in the construction of a 440-mile barrier against Somalia. And the idea that India might someday send workers high into the Himalayas to construct border walls that look down on clouds still seemed as preposterous…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. Israel on the eve of 5779: the good, the bad and the exaggerated Not every headache augurs a stroke, nor every rosy cheek perfect health. By Herb Keinon September 8, 2018     Man blowing the shofar at the Western Wall before Rosh Hashana. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)   A tale is told, perhaps apocryphal, of an Israeli minister who traveled to the United States in the early 1950s to garner support among American Jews.At a New York synagogue the excited crowd gathered around the minister of the newly established Jewish state and entreated him: “Tells us in one word, Mr. Minister: How is the situation in Israel?” The minister shrugged his shoulders and said, “In one word, good.”“And in two words,” the…

Social services minister aims for no senior to celebrate alone "Our goal is to ensure that no senior citizen will remain alone during the holidays." By YVETTE J. DEANE August 30, 2018 The Jerusalem Post     Rosh Hashanah. (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)   Welfare and Social Services Minister Haim Katz invited all senior citizens, including Holocaust survivors, to celebrate the Jewish New Year together in guest accommodations that the ministry will operate in retirement and vacation homes throughout Israel.“Our goal is to ensure that no senior citizen will remain alone during the holidays, and I ask all senior citizens who live alone to register and join the activities,” Katz said. The office will finance every single elderly person a stay for three to four days during Rosh Hashanah or Sukkot in one of these guest houses, which will include accommodations, holiday meals and social activities.Those wishing to join for…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. A New Realism: America & Israel in the Trump Era John Podhoretz / Feb. 20, 2018 - Commentary Magazine   Of all the surprises of the Trump era, none is more notable than the pronounced shift towardIsrael. Such a shift was not predictable from Donald Trump’s conduct on the campaign trail; as hesought the Republican nomination, Trump distinguished himself by his refusal to expressunqualified support for Israel and his airy conviction that his business experience gave him uniqueinsight into how to strike “a real-estate deal” to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In addition,his isolationist talk alarmed Israel’s friends in the United States and elsewhere if for no otherreason than that isolationism, anti-Zionism, and anti-Semitism often go hand in hand in hand.But shift he did.…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. The twin Jewish belly dancers who took Cairo, and the world, by storm Very few people knew that the talented Jamal sisters were, in reality, Helena and Bertha Fishel. By Hagay Hacohen July 11, 2018       The Jamal sisters (Helena and Bertha Fishel). (photo credit: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF ISRAEL) Egypt once boasted a lively and fairly open society in which Muslims co-existed with Italian and Greek Christians, as well as the ancient community of the Copts and Jews.However, despite that it was not publicly known that the Jamal twins, adored by King Farouk himself, were daughters of Jewish musicians Fishel and Jini Alpert. Fishel, who was originally from Chernowitz (now in the Ukraine) arrived to Egypt in the 1920's and secured…

The Secret History of Israel’s War Against Hitler’s Scientists By Ronen Bergman On 4/12/18 at 11:21 AM Years after the Holocaust, the Mossad learned that Egypt was working with German scientists on weapons of mass destruction. Photo Illustration by Gluekit Since World War II, Israel has used assassinations and targeted killings on more people than any other country in the Western world. In many cases, its leaders have determined that in killing a designated target—and protecting its national security—it is moral and legal to endanger the lives of innocent civilians. Harming such people, they believe, is a necessary evil.  Israel’s reliance on assassination as a military tool did not happen by chance. It stems from the roots of the Zionist movement, from the trauma of the Holocaust and from the sense among Israelis that the country is perpetually in danger of annihilation. And that no one would come to its…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. Founder of the ‘most peaceful country in the Middle East’ dies at 88 By Sarah Levi - May 16, 2018       Akhzivland Museum. (photo credit: RAFAEL GOORI / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)   Eli Avivi, the eccentric founder and leader of Akhzivland, the bohemian country within a country, died on Wednesday.Akhzivland was founded in 1971 by Avivi, 4 kilometers north of Nahariya on the Mediterranean coast, and since then it was inhabited by two citizens, Avivi and his wife, Rina. Akhzivland was called the “Nueiba of the North,” and during his reign, Avivi earned a reputation locally and international as a bohemian, larger-than-life Israeli legend.(Nueiba, a town on the Sinai coast, is known as an inexpensive, marijuana-friendly beach vacation spot.)For decades, this hidden…