Tag: israel

Hamas will get the lethal and swift response from the overwhelming Israeli forces, but what about the Palestinian civilians living in Gaza without shelter, electricity, fuel, food or any medical aid? Who will give them swift justice?

There is something uniquely heinous about attacking Israeli civilians during Jewish holidays and on the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.

I start my column with the headlines from the past three years about the clashes between the Israeli forces and the Palestinians at the holy mosque of Masjid Al-Aqsa during the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims. 

To secure his sixth turn as prime minister, Netanyahu has forged a coalition with Israel’s most extreme political and religious interests. His retainers support settlement expansion on the West Bank further aggravating relations with Israeli Palestinians and prompting new violence.

Starting today (Dec. 8) Temple Beth Shalom will begin a 3-part series on Israel, and doors are open to the general Spokane community.

I imagine that if you surveyed 100 or 1,000 Israelis, you might get a similar response: that Israel is technically secular but often seems nonsecular, and yet a significant portion of its population considers pluralism and separation of religion and state very important.

Israel's government formally suspended plans on Sunday for a mixed-gender prayer space at Jerusalem's Western Wall, bowing to opposition from Orthodox Jewish politicians to reforms at one of Judaism's holiest sites.