A New Way to Experience the Beth Shean National Park

She’an Nights, a multi-media multi-sensory night tour of the ancient city of Beit She’an-Scythopolis, has recently opened at the Beit She’an National Park, located in the Jordan Valley. Developed at a cost of $3 million in a joint initiative of the Ministry of Tourism via the Israel Government Tourist Corporation, the Israel Nature and National [...]

Why is Zionism so Misunderstood?

An article entitled “Why is Zionism so Misunderstood?” appears in the Arkansas Indy Media. This is a fascinating question. Unfortunately, the article does not even attempt to answer the question, focusing instead on the history and ideology of Zionism.
The premise of the question is that Zionism is misunderstood around the world. This [...]

Music and Politics

Z-Word has an interesting piece on the complexity of cooperation between Arabic singer Natacha Atlas and Israeli singer Yasmin Levy.  In an interview for Abu-Dhabi’s English newspaper, Atlas tried to explain why many Arab singers would not work with a Jewish artist, even if he/she were not Israeli.  Levy was quite shocked by this remark.  [...]

Clark Hopkins on the Discovery of the Synagogue at Dura-Europos

“Once, when I was involved in a train wreck, I had no recollection of the moment between the shock when I was thrown from my seat and when I began to pick myself up from the bottom of the overturned car. So it was at Dura. All I can remember is the sudden shock and [...]

Israel at 60

The NY Post has has a whole spread on Israel at 60, including photos, opinion pieces and historical articles.  The picture of the surfer rabbi is particularly interesting.  Via Kumah.

Preservation of the Zion Gate

Preservation work on the Zion Gate has just been completed. The work included cleaning of the stones and restoration of stones which had been damaged in the Israeli War of Independence. The original shell and bullet damage has been preserved.
Israeli forces attempted to end the siege on the Jewish Quarter by storming the [...]

Do Jews Support Christian Zionism?

According to an online survey conducted by J Street, 78% of American Jews said Jewish organizations should not form alliances with Christian Zionists.  The survey also showed that 75% support a two-state solution and that when asked about the most important issues for them in the upcoming presidential election, respondents ranked the economy, the [...]

Archaeology News

Three stories about archaeology came out over the weekend:
1. Haaretz published an article about the excavations at Tel Beit Shemesh conducted under the direction of Dr. Shlomo Bunimovitz and Dr. Zvi Lederman, and the possible connection to Belit-nesheti, a Canaanite queen known from the Amarna letters.
2. A museum of archaeology has been opened in Gaza.  The [...]

Passenger from the Exodus Immigrates to Israel

JTA reports:
An 88-year-old woman who was a passenger on the Exodus in 1947 immigrated to Israel.
Frances Greenberg arrived in Israel Tuesday along with more than 200 other immigrants from North America on a flight charted by Nefesh B’Nefesh.
Greenberg, was the only family member to survive World War II.
After the Exodus was denied entry to Israel, [...]

Austrian Post Office in Jerusalem

The building of the Austrian Imperial Post Office marked the beginning of the public, international postal service that developed in Israel as part of the activity of the European powers (following the Austrians’ lead, similar postal services were then established by France, Russia, Germany, and Italy). The Austrian postal service in Jerusalem apparently had its [...]