Hostilities Continue in Gaza

The massive Israeli attack on Gaza may be over, but the hostilities are nowhere near over. Hamas has fired a small amount of rockets to Israel, including one which fell near Sderot last night. A few hours before, the Air Force struck a weapon manufacturing facility in response to a rocket launched at the Eshkol [...]

Roman Boxer Found in the City of David

A tiny statue (about 6 centimeters high by 4 centimeters wide) dating to the second or third century has been discovered in excavations of the Giv’ati Parking Lot across from the City of David. The shape of the face leads archaeologists to believe that an athlete is depicted, most probably a boxer. Boxing was the [...]

Ben Wildman-Tobriner in Israel

Ben Wildman-Tobriner, an Olympic gold medalist in the 400-meter freestyle relay team, traveled to Israel with Birthright Israel. Here’s what he told the NY Times about his experience:
WERE YOU FEARFUL GIVEN WHAT WAS GOING ON IN GAZA WHILE YOU WERE THERE? My mom was less than thrilled, but we had Israeli security police accompanying [...]

The Language of Conflict

NY Times reporter Ethan Bronner writes about the impossibility of reporting objectively about the Israeli-Arab conflict. He says the main problem is that both sides use totally different language to say the same thing, so no matter which terms he uses he is accused of subjectivity:
No place, date or event in this conflicted land is [...]

Biblical Archaeology or the National Enquirer?

It seems that every time an archaeological discovery is made in Israel, it is automatically connected to King David, the Gospels or the Dead Sea Scrolls. Archaeologists and/or journalists want to make the discovery exciting to the public, so they throw out wild baseless theories. In the most recent issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Craig [...]

The Inauguration and Israel

The presidential inauguration of Barack Obama was watched and attended by a record number of Americans. Media coverage of the event in Israel was extensive too. Many Israelis and Jews around the world wonder how this new president will affect Israel.
Support for Israel in the American government has been a given since the establishment of [...]

Who Won the War?

It appears that the ceasefire is holding and Israel has announced its plan to remove its troops from Gaza before President Obama takes office. Israel is claiming victory, saying it severely curtailed Hamas’ ability to launch rockets against Israel.
Hamas is claiming victory too. The Palestinian leaders are saying that the fact that they withstood the [...]

Ceasefire. Sort of.

Last night Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza. Claiming that Israel had reached all of its goals in the operation, PM Olmert declared that the IDF would cease attacks on Gaza but not withdraw its troops. Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that the army is ready to resume attacks if it became clear that [...]

Misinformation about Gaza

There is a tremendous amount of misinformation out there about the Gaza situation, especially on the web. But in these days of social media YOU can have an impact by spreading the truth.
A few ways to do this:
1. Facebook – join the group Help Us Win and follow their suggestions.
2. YouTube – subscribe to the [...]

What is the Israeli-Arab Conflict About?

In 2007, Bernard Lewis, professor emeritus at Princeton, posed this question. He offered two possibilities:
1. The conflict is about the size of Israel – where its border will be and how much land and how many people it will control.
2. The conflict is about the existence of Israel. The Israelis are fighting for their existence, [...]