Stories about Israel from February, 2009
Israel: Battling Cancer
Daughter of Cancer from Israel describes the suffering her 56-year-old mother is going through battling brain cancer.
Arab Bloggers Rally Against the Judaization of Jerusalem
As Israeli authorities evict Arab residents and demolish their houses in Jerusalem, Arab bloggers are set on not letting this pass unnoticed. Another blogger calls for designating a week to blog for Jerusalem.
Syria: Violation of Terms of Service
Syrian Hosam Akras writes that WordPress has disabled a blog which lists Israel's “crimes against humanity” because it did not comply with its terms of service.
Palestine: Attacks On Gaza Continue
Despite the announcement of unilateral ceasefires by both Israel and Hamas, attacks by the Israeli military on Gaza continue while Palestinian factions have been launching rockets into Israel. In this post we hear the latest from Gaza's blogs.
Israel: Election Shehanigans
JoeSettler discusses what he describes as Israeli “election shenanigans” in this post.
Israel: Dubai Denies Shahar Visa
Dubai has denied Israeli female tennis star Shahar Peer a visa to play in the Dubai Tennis Championships, while her male colleague Andy Ram, was able to receive one. “There might have been some logic as to why Ms. Peer was not allowed to play, at least in some circles,...
lsrael: Spiderman Stops Traffic
Who is least likely to slow your daily commute? Spiderman probably features low on the list. Israeli police arrested a costumed Spidey yesterday who had created a traffic jam by jumping from car to car with webbed ropes, Benji Lovitt of What War Zone??? reports.
Canada: Rally Threatens Jewish Students at York University
An anti-Israel rally at York University in Toronto, Canada forced Jewish students to flee for cover. Threatening cries included: “Die, Jew, get the hell off campus,” and “Die… go back to Israel,” Jewlicious reports.
Israel: Exhibit Features Intimate View of Ultra-Orthodox Jews
A new photography exhibit will reveal an intimate look into the lives of Ultra-Orthodox Jews. On display at the Land of Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, Menahem Kahana's photographs will be on view until June 2009. Dion Nissenbaum of Checkpoint Jerusalem recommends: “For those who are curious and interested, the...
Egypt: Bloggers Take on the “Sons of Zion”
The bombs on Gaza may have stopped falling, but a fierce cyber battle continues, with bloggers on both sides of the fence mobilising their troops to 'obliterate' the presence of the other - at least online. Marwa Rakha taps into the Egyptian blogosphere to present to us another facet of this war.
MENA: Is the BBC Impartial in its Refusal to Air the Gaza Appeal?
Long respected as a beacon of free speech, bloggers across the Arab world and beyond have been left questioning BBC's integrity after its refusal to air an appeal for the victims of the latest Israeli war on Gaza.
Israel: A Royal Link?
Israeli blogger Yisrael Medad may soon be counting British royalty as relatives. Click here to find out how.
Jordan: Cook for Peace
“Arab Chick and Jewish Girl, two of the most hilarious bloggers hailing from the region, have created a cooking blog to achieve for world peace. No snark, we’re all serious here,” reports Kinzi, from Jordan.
Japan: Jerusalem Prize to writer Haruki Murakami
Mojimoji praises [jp] a speech given by writer Haruki Murakami (村上春樹), who received the Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society on Sunday Feb. 15th. The blogger also remarks on how, in his opinion, Japanese media intentionally avoided giving weight to Murakami's words, which should be read...
Russia: Yandex, Anonymity, “Oligarchs”
A few updates from IZO: “Yandex (acronym apparently of Yet ANother inDEXer), which is way ahead of Google in Russian search, is opening an office in Silicon Valley”; Ministry of Internal Affairs demands “an end to anonymity on the internet”; Russian organized crime in Israel; and what awaits “most of...
Israel/Arab World: Reflections on Waltz with Bashir
Rantings of an Arab Chick posts a trailer from Waltz with Bashir by Israeli Ari Folman about his experiences during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. “I think this is a film I'll want to see… And not see,” she notes.
Israel: “Strange” and “Complicated” Elections
Two former Prime Ministers, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, and Foreign Affairs Minister and Acting Prime Minister Tzipi Livni ran a tight race to win the votes of Israelis. The result is a “nail-biting poll” and an election cliff hanger, which sees Livni as a forerunner and Netanyahu a very close second. And while the election results will not be announced for days, Israeli bloggers share their thoughts on this “strange,” and “complicated” elections in this post.
Jordan: Whoever Wins in Israel, Palestinians Lose
“Whoever truly ends up winning the Israeli elections, whether through seats or the formation of a coalition government, one thing is for certain: Palestinians will be losing out,” writes Jordanian Naseem Tarawnah on the outcome of the Israeli elections.
Palestine: Obama on Nuclear Weapons in the Middle East
Here's American Palestinian KABOBfest‘s take on Helen Thomas‘ question at Barack Obama's Press conference on Monday: “Do you know of any country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons?”
Palestine: Shoe thrown at Israel's ambassador to Sweden
Palestinian Laila El Haddad links to a video and story showing protesters throwing a shoe at Israel's Ambassador to Sweden Benny Dagan, during a talk at Stockholm University.
Syria: Israel arrests and deports aid workers
Syria News Wire reports that a group of Syrian and Lebanese aid workers have been arrested and deported from Israel.
