Thousands of Egyptians gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo to mark the first anniversary of the uprising that led to the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak. Liberal and Islamist protesters gathered in groups on opposite sides of the square, according to...
JERUSALEM—The fundamentalist Islamic political party the Muslim Brotherhood won 47 percent of the seats in the new Egyptian Parliament. An alliance of ultraconservative Islamist parties, the Salafi Al-Nour, also won 25 percent of the vote in the first...
Egypt has cancelled an annual Jewish pilgrimage to the grave of a 19th-century Moroccan rabbi. Dozens of Israeli pilgrims annually visit the grave of Rabbi Yaakov Abu Hasira, a 19th-century Moroccan rabbi whose tomb is in the Nile Delta, on the anniversary...
By Joshua Mitnick, N.Y. Jewish Week, Tel Aviv
• Published December 7, 2011
Israelis are watching elections in Egypt with the same ambivalence they have viewed the Arab Spring: historic images of Egyptians casting ballots for the first time were accompanied by troubling commentary by officials and analysts that the election is...
BY ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
• Published November 2, 2011
According to Jonathan Adelman, professor in the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver, it is "hard to say" right now if the Arab Spring sweeping the Middle East and North Africa is positive or negative for the security interests...
By Linda Gradstein, JTA JERUSALEM
• Published September 14, 2011
Retired Israeli Air Force pilot Uri Dromi remembers the day 34 years ago when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat landed in Israel to tell the Israeli people that he was ready to make peace.Dromi, who had flown missions in the 1967 Six-Day War against Egypt,...
BY ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
• Published August 17, 2011
The so-called "Arab Spring" which began on such hopeful notes a few months back has since morphed into a "Long, Hot, Arab Summer of Discontent." The confusing array of new developments has included setbacks to the interests of Israel and the United States....
Egyptians or Americans upset about United States offers of aid to groups promoting democratic principles ought only look a few hundred miles north to Syria. The latter country is suffering the worst of the violent and depressing stresses that occur so...
It's a nasty state of affairs when national and world leaders come plummeting down due to criminal activity, and depending on our political leanings, it can be personally disappointing as well. We saw, for instance, former Israeli President Moshe Katsav...
In addition to Passover's ususal powerful meaning, the year 5771 edition holds special meaning for not only Jews and Israel, but for a broader region as well. The Middle East and North Africa are experiencing what is being called the "Arab Spring."...
