Heart of Syria

By Rob Eshman
Published on June 6, 2012

In the constant argument that is Middle East politics it is very rare to achieve anything like universal agreement, but no one can begrudge what Hazem Chehabi did. He quit. Since Chehabi resigned last week as honorary consul general of Syria in Southern California, he has received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls. All positive. For 18 years, Chehabi, an oncological radiologist in Newport Beach, has volunteered to act as Syria’s consul general here. His office handled travel documents and birth, marriage and death certificates for the thousands of expatriate Syrians living in the Western states.

April 4, 2012

By Shmuel Rosner
Published on April 4, 2012

Brooklyn College reinstates adjunct professor

Published on February 1, 2011

Brooklyn College has rehired an adjunct professor whose academic work was said to be anti-Israel to teach a seminar on Middle East politics. Kristofer Petersen-Overton, 26, will teach the graduate-level course that begins Feb. 3, college President Karen Gould said in a statement issued Monday evening. Twenty students are registered for the course, The New York Times reported.

The Second Lebanon War—one year later

By Leslie Susser
Published on July 5, 2007

One year after the Second Lebanon War, Israel's northern front is quiet, U.N. forces are patrolling the border area and Hezbollah fighters have been pushed back deep inside Lebanese territory.

‘Hamastan’ in Gaza is a big challenge for Egypt, too

By Uri Dromi
Published on June 28, 2007

The emergence of "Hamastan" in Gaza sent leaders in the Middle East and elsewhere scrambling for an answer: Whose fault is it? Is it reversible? Will the same thing happen in the West Bank? What should and could be done now?

A Pyrrhic victory for Hamas?

By Gidi Grinstein
Published on June 21, 2007

The Hamas coup in Gaza last week might seem like a victory for Iran and its followers, who now have a foothold on Israel's doorstep. But if Israel plays its cards wisely, it might turn things around.

1967-2047

By Rob Eshman
Published on May 31, 2007

It is called the Six-Day War because it was over in six days. Yeah, right. The war is not over. The truth is, not even the battlefields are silent.

Bittersweet legacy of the Six-Day War

By Leslie Susser
Published on May 31, 2007

Was the Six-Day War a blessing or a curse for Israel's place in the Middle East and its long-term survival? Forty years on, the jury is still out.

Rocket attacks pose huge policy dilemma for Israel

By Leslie Susser
Published on May 24, 2007

More than a week of unabated Qassam rocket attacks on Sderot has created a huge policy dilemma for the Israeli government: What should it do to stop radical Gaza-based terrorists from firing missiles on Israeli civilians and causing pandemonium in the border town of 22,000.

Jews and Muslims unite behind Iran divestment bill

By Karmel Melamed
Published on April 26, 2007

Fourteen national and state Jewish organizations and dozens of Iranian Muslim groups opposed to Iran's regime have found common ground in support of California Assembly Bill 221, which would require state pension funds to divest an estimated $24 billion in investments from more than 280 companies doing business with Iran.

Pelosi’s delegation to Syria—who said what to whom?

By Ron Kampeas
Published on April 12, 2007

Did Rep. Nancy Pelosi drop the ball in the Middle East? Was she fouled? Was there a ball at all?

At Odds

By Steve Greenberg
Published on April 5, 2007

Cartoon.

Iran’s Jewish legislator criticized during L.A. appearance

By Karmel Melamed
Published on December 14, 2006

A group of local Iranian Jewish activists spoke out in protest of the Dec. 4 appearance of Maurice Motamed, the only Jewish representative to the Iranian parliament, at the Iranian American Jewish Federation (IAJF) synagogue in West Hollywood, where he provided an update on the current status of Iran's Jewry.

Films: Oscar buzz surrounds Israel ‘Disengagement’ documentary

By Tom Tugend
Published on December 14, 2006

"Storm of Emotions," a documentary on the agonizing evacuation of Jewish settlers from their Gaza Strip homes, is the first Israeli production in decades to have a serious shot at Oscar honors.

Depression grips Sderot as rockets continue to fall

By Dina Kraft
Published on December 7, 2006

Sderot is far, by Israeli standards, from the country's more prosperous center. But in the last six years, it has found itself unwittingly on one of the front lines of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its location, about two miles from the Gaza border, has made Sderot an easy target for terrorists' Qassam rockets. Before a surprise and partial truce went into effect about a week ago, fighting had escalated, especially in recent months, between the Israeli army and Palestinian terrorist groups.

Wary Olmert takes chance on Gaza cease-fire

By Leslie Susser
Published on November 30, 2006

Disappointed by cease-fires so often in the past, but casting an eye to a better future, Israelis greeted this week's cease-fire announcement in the Gaza Strip with a mixture of skepticism, fear and hope.

Israelis prod Shoah Claims Conference for bigger share

By Uriel Heilman
Published on November 30, 2006

An Israeli coalition, including the Jewish Agency for Israel, Israeli Holocaust survivor organizations and the Knesset's pensioner affairs minister, is calling on the Claims Conference to give Israel a larger share of Holocaust restitution funds and more control over distribution decisions.

An AIPAC ‘stranglehold’ on US foreign policy? Huh?

By Neal Sher
Published on November 22, 2006

Fascinating, isn't it, to watch professors Stephen Walt (Harvard University) and John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) attain near rock star status by resurrecting the tired and discredited canard that U.S. foreign policy is dictated by a devious, dangerous and disloyal cabal known as the pro-Israel lobby -- sort of a Protocols of the Middle-Agers of Zion. Of course, the good professors are convinced that any policies advocated by the cabal are anathema to the interests of this country.

Ahmadinejad Dismisses Israeli Threats; Cluster Bombs Under Scrutiny

Published on November 22, 2006

news briefs

Olmert Promises Students: Iran ‘Danger Will Be Removed;’ Sderot Children’s Heartfelt Drawings Come t

Published on November 22, 2006

world news briefs

Dems win won’t hurt Israel but could impact Iran

By Ron Kampeas
Published on November 16, 2006

The tone of the U.S.-Israel relationship remains the same whoever controls Congress, but Democratic pledges to stringently oversee the Iraq war could affect how the United States confronts Iran. Democrats won control of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate in Nov. 7 elections, the latter conclusively decided with Sen. George Allen's concession of the Virginia race on Nov. 9.Bipartisan support for Israel would be constant, Jewish and Israeli officials said, defying a pre-election barrage of Republic Jewish Coalition ads that insisted that the Democratic Party's support for Israel was eroding.

Briefs: Dershowitz debates; Ben-Gurion for sale; Federation campaign nets $20 million for Israel

Published on November 16, 2006

Sinai Temple drew a large crowd Nov. 8 for a debate titled, "America, Israel and the Middle East: Can There Be Reconciliation?" Participants were Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow of the American Task Force on Palestine, which seeks the creation of a Palestinian state to exist peacefully with Israel.

GA News: Netanyahu compares Iran nuke threat to Hitler’s Germany

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 13, 2006

The Iran missile program calls for developing 25 nuclear weapons per year, ultimately with a range to reach the East Coast of the United States, Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu warned the annual summit meeting of North American Jewish leaders Monday afternoon. "It's 1938 -- and Iran is Germany," he repeated again and again as he addressed some 5,000 delegates attending the United Jewish Communities' General Assembly (UJC-GA) at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Victory in Iraq Key for Israel

By Leslie Susser
Published on March 27, 2003

The war in Iraq may not be Israel's war, as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon likes to say -- but the stakes for Israel could hardly be higher. If the United States wins a convincing victory, it could assure Israel's place in a more stable Middle East for years to come. If it does not, Israel could find itself the prime target of emboldened Middle Eastern radicals and face far greater threats to its existence than it does today.

Preparing for War

By Loolwa Khazzoom
Published on February 20, 2003

"Hi, uh, I need to prepare for the war," I awkwardly told the clerk at the Tel Aviv branch of Home Center. Somewhere in my tree-lined Northern Califonia brain, I expected him to have no idea what I was talking about. Instead, he efficiently led me to a section replete with full body chemical protection gear, fire extinguishers, battery-operated radios and lights, a miniature Port-o-Potty for the sealed-off room of choice in one's apartment and what seemed like miles and miles of plastic and tape for covering windows, doors and every other conceivable means of ventilation. Forget chemical weapons. I could just imagine myself suffocating from no oxygen.

Muslim-Jewish Discord Debated

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 31, 2001

Two of the keenest American academic minds on the politics of the Middle East -- one Jewish, the other Arab -- debated the present and future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Monday evening, and reached agreement on at least three points.