| |  | | | October 16, 2005 | 
|   Israeli Wins Nobel Prize for Conflict Resolution Theory
Prof. Emeritus Robert J. Aumann of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was named as the co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics for 2005. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that Aumann and Prof. Thomas C. Schelling of the University of Maryland will share this year's prize "for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis." (Israel21c) Read More. | |  Israel Gets UNESCO Committee Seat by Roee Nahmias
Israel has been selected as a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Committee, a small international panel that consists of 20 members. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said he views the decision as a significant diplomatic accomplishment. The representatives of 80 countries supported Israel's nomination for the post. (Ynet News) Read More.
See also UN Gets Manners; It Finally Treats Israel with Respect - Editorial (Newsday) | |  Threat of U.S. Church Divestment over Israel Eases by Michael Conlon
Some U.S. Protestant churches are turning their back on the idea of dumping investments in Israel, people involved in the issue said last week. Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, along with a debate over whether divestment is the right move in the first place, may have helped cool what looked like a growing trend just a few months ago. U.S. Episcopal Church leaders recently rejected divestment in favor of corporate engagement and another major denomination, the United Church of Christ, turned down the divestment idea at its convention last summer. (Reuters) Read More. | |  Pakistan Accepts Israeli Earthquake Aid
Pakistan on Saturday welcomed an offer of earthquake assistance from Israel but said it would have to be channeled through the United Nations, the Red Cross, or donated to a relief fund. Pakistani foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said since Pakistan does not have diplomatic relations with Israel it could not receive aid directly from the Jewish state. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev, however, said Israel offered the aid through direct channels and that Pakistan had accepted. (AP/Jerusalem Post) Read More.
See also Afghanistan "to Open Ties with Israel" - by Herb Keinon (Jerusalem Post) |
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| Nobel Superpower by Sever Plocker
Once again, I am proud to be Israeli. Proud, with no reservations, not a hint of shame, and no need to justify or defend myself. Hebrew University Prof. Israel Aumann is the fourth Israeli Nobel laureate in the past four years, winning the 2005 Nobel Prize for Economics with American Prof. Thomas Schelling for work in Game Theory. Few countries can boast such a run of exclusive prizes. Certainly no country as small as ours comes anywhere near Israel's overall Nobel haul - three peace prizes, two for chemistry, two for economics, and one for literature. (Ynet News) Read More. | |  Mideast Knot: One Map, Many Paths by Steven Erlanger
At their first summit meeting last February, Prime Minister Sharon described to Mahmoud Abbas the case of Hasan al-Madhoun, a Gazan and former member of the Palestinian preventive security forces who was responsible for organizing a suicide bombing in March 2004. Sharon asked Abbas to "at least make a start," and provided Madhoun's Gaza address. Abbas promised to arrest him within 48 hours. More than 48 days later, Secretary of State Rice again raised the case of Madhoun to Abbas. Again, he promised an arrest. This time, Madhoun was called into a police station and spent the evening using his cellphone. He left the next day. This story, confirmed by Palestinian officials, is a serious factor in the loss of confidence that both Israel and the U.S. have in the ability of Abbas to show strong leadership in the face of threats to his own rule. (New York Times) Read More. | |  Should Hamas Be Made Kosher? by Ze'ev Schiff
An intensive public relations campaign has been conducted on behalf of Hamas in various parts of Europe and the U.S. of late, and not necessarily by Muslims. Hamas is in many ways similar to bin Laden's organization, and like it, employs terror. That's how it should be treated and it must be fought aggressively, unless it changes its goals and methods. The former CIA station chief in Israel, Stan Moskowitz, asked recently: can the American president view a terrorist attack that blows up a bus full of passengers in Tel Aviv differently from an attack that blows up a bus full of passengers in London? (Ha'aretz) Read More. |
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|  Bethlehem & BGU: Professors' History Project Opens New Chapter for Israeli, Palestinian Students by Martin Patience
The battle lines of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict extend to the classroom, where the two sides' versions of their shared history diverge sharply. Now, two university professors aim to change the way the conflict is taught by exposing Palestinian students to Israeli history lessons and Israeli students to the Palestinian version of history. The project is the work of Dan Bar-On, a social psychology professor at Ben-Gurion University, and Sami Adwan, an education professor at Bethlehem University in the West Bank. They devised a series of booklets that set the competing versions of history side-by-side on the same pages for students. (USA Today) Read More. | |  Dartmouth: Levin Analyzes Middle East Psyches in Oslo Accords by Katie Silberman
Combining psychiatric analysis with international relations, Dr. Kenneth Levin spoke about his new book analyzing Israeli psychological responses to the Palestinians in a speech sponsored by Chabad last week. Levin, an instructor of psychiatry at Harvard University Medical School and frequent commentator on Israeli politics, claimed that "The Oslo process was supposed to bring peace, and instead it led to, at that point, the worst terror that Israel had ever seen. The obvious question is why," Levin said. "People haven't answered the basic whys because when you answer them, you realize that Oslo was doomed from the beginning." (Dartmouth) Read More.
See also Myth and Madness in the Middle East by Emily Ghods-Esfahani (Dartmouth Review) | |  Florida International: Israel Conflict Addressed at Middle-East Lecture by Robin Chicly
An ethnically diverse mix of students, faculty, administrators and parents filled Biscayne Bay Campus's Wolfe Center for a lecture by Asher Susser, director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at the Tel Aviv University. Susser's lecture focused on whether Israel's disengagement from Gaza was about peace or war. "It is not the easiest thing to do, to expel 5,000 Israelis from Gaza," Susser said. According to Susser, whether Israel's disengagement from Gaza is about peace or war remains to be seen. (Beacon) Read More. | | Hebrew U Profs Share Their Wisdom with Torontonians by Tania Haas
Israel's recent pull-out from Gaza signals a new era in Israel policy, said visiting Israeli academic Ya'acov Bar-Siman Tov to 275 people who attended a seminar at Beth Tzedec synagogue recently. "There is no other way to get away from terror but to disengage from it, which was very hard for [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon, the godfather of the settlements. He had to admit that he didn't solve the conflict, but he also ushered in new Israeli priorities." (Canadian Jewish News) Read More. | |  Michigan: Students Push for Israel Study Abroad Program by Laura Frank
While on a trip to Israel in 2002, LSA sophomore Ben Friedman was just blocks away from a shooting at a gate in Jerusalem. But despite this encounter, Friedman said he and other students on the trip were "happy to be there (because we) wanted to do this our whole lives." Now Friedman is working with the student group American Movement for Israel to help give other students the opportunity to travel to Israel. But Douglas Kennedy, a member of the university's International Travel Oversight Committee, said the university will continue to stand by its policy of not sponsoring any study-abroad program to a country for which the State Department has issued a travel warning. (Michigan Daily) Read More. | |  University of Toronto Student Rallies for Peace in Mideast by Sheri Shefa
In an effort to promote dialogue on campus between Jewish and Muslim students about the conflict in the Middle East, Jonathan Stein is in the process of planning a week-long Peace Rally. "One of my goals is to get to the people who are undecided [about the conflict], educate them and provide them with an unbiased look at the situation," said the 20-year-old University of Toronto student who is currently studying politics and history, but has ambitions to major in peace and conflict studies. (Canadian Jewish News) Read More. | |  South Florida: Case of Prof Accused of Aiding Terrorists Nearing Completion
Prosecutors working to prove that a former college professor was a key figure in a notorious Palestinian terrorist group moved closer to wrapping up their case in a federal courtroom last week. After more than four months and over 70 witnesses, U.S. attorneys prosecuting fired University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian and three other defendants expect to rest soon after returning on Oct. 24 from a planned break in the trial. (AP/Michigan Daily) Read More. | |  Syracuse: Terrorism Program Partners with Israelis by Lauren Pauer
Syracuse University's Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism recently began a partnership with the Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. The partnership will allow students and faculty to take classes at each university, conduct research in both locations and strengthen each institute's ties to experts in the national security and counterterrorism fields, said William Banks, director of INSCT and a law professor at SU. "It's the leading institute for security and counterterrorism in Israel and possibly the world," Banks said of the Israeli center. (Daily Orange) Read More. |
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|  UC Irvine: The Situation Isn't Hopeless
At least for me, its easy to criticize policy-makers' decisions as they attempt to make "peace in the Middle East." I've asked myself numerous times "Why can't Sharon just give up more land to the Palestinians," or, "Why can't Abbas just declare an independent Palestinian state?" To my surprise, I realized that my perception of Middle Eastern politics were completely false after spending 11 days this past summer in the heart of what I imagined to be a gruesome day-to-day conflict. Don't get me wrong, violence still erupts in some parts of the region, but on a much smaller scale than I had originally thought. After being in Israel for a short amount of time, a lot of my misconceptions were cleared up. (New University Paper) Read More. | |  Cal State Northridge: BBC Shines Bright Once Again by Sean Paroski
This week's feature in the theater of the absurd is the BBC's new documentary series, "Elusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs." The BBC claims in this series that President Bush told Nabil Shaath, then foreign minister for the Palestinian Authority, that God had given Bush a personal order to drive the terrorists out of Iraq. White House press secretary Scott McClellan denied it. It's especially ignorant to believe that he would say such a potentially damaging thing to the foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority. That group is not known for either its discretion or its honesty. (Sundial) Read More. | |  Iowa: Token Perspective Not Real Dialogue by Gerald L. Sorokin and Jeffrey R. Portman
A pro-Palestinian group called Friends of Sabeel is presenting a conference entitled "Hope for the Holy Land: Truth and Reconciliation" at Coe College in Cedar Rapids. As people active in interfaith dialogue and discussions of the Middle East, we were both invited to lead a workshop on "Jewish Perspectives on Middle East Peacemaking." After due consideration, we both refused. Why? Because the organizers were willfully insensitive to the needs of Jewish people. Because, as supporters of Israel, we were not consulted in planning the event and were slotted into a token position in the program. And, most important, because the organizers of the event and the keynote speakers on the program advocate a perspective that demonizes people who support our positions. (Iowa City Press-Citizen) Read More. | |  Rhode Island College: Israel: The Other Side by Amanda Sagarin
I refute the argument that Israelis are trying to "drive the Palestinians out." A friend of mine, an Israeli solder, was once taking shelter in a second grade Palestinian classroom. In that classroom, he found, taped above the chalkboard, a picture of a suicide bomber with a halo about his head and a picture of a Jew with blood and fire coming from him. (Anchor) Read More. | |  Harvard: Go Forth. The College's Change in Travel Policy Will Enhance International Experiences - Editorial
The College's decision last week to reinstate some countries under State Department travel warnings as approved travel destinations was a welcome turnaround from a wrongheaded previous policy. With the previous stringent policy in place, students could not study in countries such as Israel, Lebanon, Iran, and Kenya. As it stands now, Harvard's restrictions are already among the loosest in academia. Yale, for instance, still refuses to acknowledge all travel to the West Bank and Gaza. (Crimson) Read More. | |  When Young Jews Major in Anti-Semitism by Dennis Prager
Universities have become society's primary breeding ground for hatred of Israel. This hatred is often so intense that the college campus has become a haven for people who use anti-Zionism to mask their anti-Semitism. Moreover, anti-Zionism itself is a form of anti-Semitism, even if some Jews share it. Why? Because anti-Zionism is not simply criticism of Israel, which is as legitimate as criticism of any country. Anti-Zionism means that Israel as a Jewish state has no right to exist. And when a person argues that only one country in the world is unworthy of existence - and that happens to be the one Jewish country in the world - one is engaged in anti-Semitism, whether personally anti-Semitic or not. (Los Angeles Times) Read More. |
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|  Foreigners Spend $500M on Israel Software Firms
Foreign companies spent more than $500 million in acquiring 15 Israeli software firms over the past 12 months, Israel's Manufacturers Association said on Sunday. Over the past decade, foreign companies have bought more than 30 Israeli software firms for about $6 billion. Over the first half of 2005, Israel's software exports grew about 6% from a year earlier to $3.18 billion. (Reuters/Boston Globe) Read More. |
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|  Columbia: Softball Star Discusses Her Travels in the Off-Season by Maiya Chard-Yaron
From the age of 8 to my current age of 20, a nostalgic vision of playing softball with "Israel" across my chest never left me. This past summer I had the amazing opportunity to travel overseas and represent the Israeli National Softball Team in two tournaments - the World Maccabiah Games, held in Israel, and the European Softball Championships, hosted by the Czech Republic. The things I experienced, people I met, and all of the anecdotes I have in my head after this adventure are too great to share here. It was undeniably one of the greatest adventures of my life - helping to build a sport that I love in a country that is so special and unique truly meant so much to me. (College Sports) Read More. | | Michigan: Three Netters Bring Home Gold
Ever wonder what it would feel like to win a gold medal for your country? After this summer, three Wolverines no longer have to. In July, Michigan tennis juniors Ryan Heller and Steve Peretz and freshman Andrew Mazlin traveled to Jerusalem to compete in the 17th Maccabiah International Jewish Olympics. Despite tough competition - the Maccabiah Games attract the best Jewish athletes from around the world - all three earned the coveted top spots, and all the glory that goes with it. But it was being in Israel that made the experience one that the teammates will never forget. (Michigan Daily) Read More. | |  Qatar's Stadium in Israel
The $6 million donation offered by Qatar to the Israel's predominately Arab Sakhnin municipality will be enough to complete construction of the local stadium, with change left over. This is the stadium that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised to build a year and a half ago, after the Bnei Sakhnin soccer team won the State Cup. The donation will turn the stadium into a unique Arab-Israeli project, the fruit of open cooperation, not between Israeli and Arab individual business people but rather between governments. (Ha'aretz) Read More. |
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|  Diverse Israeli Artistry on Display in the U.S. by Ahron Shapiro
Sergey Bunkov grew up in Russia and immigrated to Israel at the turn of the millennium. Buthina Abu Milhelm is from an Israeli Arab village in the Wadi Ara region. Both are artists, specializing in the decorative arts. No, they aren't exactly household names. Yet. But that could change very soon. Along with seven other select Israeli artists, Bunkov and Abu Milhelm are about to become much better known in the international art community. Their works will be shown together in a special exhibit at the prestigious Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Expo, to be held at the Navy Pier in Chicago from October 28-30. (Israel 21c) Read More. |
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What Abu Mazen and Sharon Should Talk About
| Talk About Tactics, Not Strategy by Yossi Alpher
It is tempting to suggest that in their summit meeting, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon should discuss the road to peace and an agreed two-state solution. But they are completely mismatched for such an endeavor, and neither is up to the task, so that would be an exercise in wishful thinking. Sharon, a better tactician than strategist, enjoys the advantage and has good reason to be generous. He can and should offer Abu Mazen confidence-building measures that help stabilize his authority. He should also undertake to avoid interfering in Palestinian elections despite his understandable objections to Hamas' participation. But he should take this opportunity to clarify that, after January 25, Israel will not be obligated to negotiate with a Palestinian Authority that comprises an Islamic fundamentalist movement if Hamas still deploys a terrorist force and rejects Israel's very existence. Abu Mazen, a better strategist than tactician, should not waste his time trying to persuade Sharon to restart the peace process; he has far more urgent issues on his agenda. He has to explain how his cooptation approach to Hamas will ultimately succeed in disarming and moderating that organization; how he will overcome the current government crisis in Ramallah and finally create a cohesive security establishment; and how he is going to put Gaza back on its feet. There are additional heavy issues that it would be pointless for either side to put on the summit agenda, if only because the other side doesn't have persuasive answers. These are not the leaders who will end this conflict or even get the roadmap going. But they can do some good if, in their summit, they limit their aspirations and take into account one another's political constraints and ideological limitations. (Bitterlemons) Read More. | | Starting at the End by Yoel Marcus
The postponement of the summit meeting between Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas until after the holidays was actually good news. While emissaries and go-betweens deal with trivial matters, whether to let the Palestinians have bullets or guns and what level of prisoners are to be released according to what "seniority" and the amount of blood on their hands, a threat of missed opportunity hovers above. The Palestinian state and/or the end of the conflict here depend on the leaders of both peoples. Arafat was not a partner, and could not be a partner, because he did not want to reach an agreement. But the reins are now in the hands of two veteran and experienced horsemen. They were supposed to get together for a private conversation. Mahmoud Abbas' statement that he is weak, and therefore Israel must be magnanimous, help him and cut him some slack, is really off base. Sharon certainly exudes power and belligerence, but he is not omnipotent, either. He did indeed carry out the disengagement from Gaza, but a few dozen voters shifting from here to there at the central committee convention and he would have been ousted from the leadership. This indicates that it is not enough for Abu Mazen to demand consideration; he, too, must take into account the fact that Sharon is limited and not omnipotent. My contribution, Sharon can say, is that I have proved that a majority of the people is willing to compromise and has been weaned of the dream of a Greater Israel. The Palestinian rationale needs to be that you cannot destroy the State of Israel. Unfortunately, you have not reached that point yet. You've got organizations that are gearing up to resume the third intifada. My honorable Mahmoud, Sharon would say, it is unfortunate that our resilience has yet to be seared into your consciousness. It will not bring about a major unilateral disengagement; at most it can finish me off. And there is nobody besides me who can make painful concessions. Sharon can switch to a more personal note: Listen, what is most important is that you learn from us of what we are and are not capable. We have to be sticklers, because we are a law-abiding country. We cannot "strengthen you" by releasing prisoners who murdered innocent children and women. We cannot accept that Hamas, an entity that was declared by the greatest superpower in the world to be a terrorist organization, and which sows hatred of Jews and launches Qassams, should participate in the elections and be in the government. Instead of squabbling over the number of bullets and prisoners, they must reach a private understanding in advance on how to reach an agreement on the issue of the Palestinian right of return and on resolving the matter of Jerusalem, so as to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Both leaders have limited credit of no more than a year before they leave the stage. Apres les le deluge. (Ha'aretz) Read More. |
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