Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
By Eileen Fleming The real impact of Jon Stewart and how the bogus anchor influenced real anchors is a story in progress; but for this reporter it all began when The Daily Show went back on the air nine nights after THAT DAY we call 911. Watch it HERE Jon began by asking, “are…
By Eileen Fleming On Monday at a Likud election rally in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ignored the increasing congressional efforts to dissuade him from speaking before the U.S. Congress on March 3rd claiming: “A bad deal with Iran is forming in Munich that will endanger Israel’s existence. … Therefore I am determined…
Read More “Netanyahu and Congress: Let’s Talk Israel’s Nukes @nytimes” »
By Eileen Fleming On Tuesday Amnesty International emailed this update and action request in support of a free Mordechai Vanunu: Once again, the Israel High Court of Justice (HCJ) has rejected Vanunu’s petition against restrictions on his freedom of movement, association and expression, in their decision dated 25 January 2015. In summary, the judges basically…
Read More “Amnesty International Calls for Action to Free Vanunu” »
By Eileen Fleming John Boehner’s latest boner –meaning a clumsy or stupid mistake- was inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint Session of Congress two weeks before the Israeli elections in March. Boehner’s invite inserted Bibi into the middle of the dispute between the President and Republicans over Iran’s nuclear program which…
Read More “Boehner’s Boner Bibi’s Toast Vanunu’s Freedom Soon or Later” »
By Ray Hanania While the Middle East and issues related to Arab countries dominate the attention of Americans through news media and national security, most Americans are avoiding travel to Middle East countries. A recent study by Hotels.com shows that of the top 50 destinations where Americans are traveling, only one Arab Middle East destination, Dubai in…
Read More “Americans shun Middle East as travel destination” »
By Ray Hanania I used to watch beauty pageants purely for entertainment. But in recent years, they’ve become the focus of a cultural debate between the Arab world, and the rest. The Miss Universe Pageant was held Sunday in Doral, Florida in the United States. It featured 88 female contestants competing in categories involving their…
The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced its association with one of the Arab world’s most popular pop stars – Amr Diab, as a Brand Ambassador. As an Arab star with a strong international following, Amr Diab will now represent Western Union and its quick, convenient and reliable money transfer services, offered across…
Read More “Western Union Signs Amr Diab as Brand Ambassador” »
By Ray Hanania Last year during the Academy Awards, Oscar hostess Ellen DeGeneres ordered Big Mama’s & Papa’s Pizzeria (BMPP) pizza delivered to the show and then walked through the audience with the delivery driver, sharing slices with stars such as Harrison Ford, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The humor drew big laughs at the Oscars…
Read More “Pizza franchise featured at 2014 Oscars makes Middle East debut” »
By Ray Hanania Wars are fought with many armaments. Some of them blow up. Others cause things to blow up. And still more can undermine entire nations simply with a few words. In the Arab-Israeli war, the Arabs are losing. They have been losing for a long time, but they are losing even more, now….
Read More “The war is in English and the Arabs are losing” »
By Eileen Fleming Ned Rosch, a certified yoga teacher and graduate of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine’s “Healing the Wounds of War,” program said he “was raised in a traditional Zionist Jewish home and torn apart by an internal conflict between my increasingly progressive politics and my Zionist upbringing. Ultimately, I realized I needed to…
Read More “Healing Gaza Palestine Israel with Yoga and Physicians for Social Responsibility” »
Saturday’s email included one from Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire who concluded with “Lots of love, Mairead” and as we read her; we recalled this quote attributed to Jimi Hendrix: When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. Mairead’s email contained: PRESENTATION TO NOBEL SUMMIT, ROME, ITALY 12TH DECEMBER,…
Read More “Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire with Love Peace and Nonviolence” »
Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be observed in the United States on Jan. 19 this year, but he was born on Jan. 15, 1929. In his manifesto from Birmingham Jail, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. directly challenged his “fellow clergymen.” By Eileen Fleming I have taken a few liberties with King’s masterpiece, added a…
By Eileen Fleming Israeli dissident and prolific writer, Roi Tov was born in South America and grew up as Reuven Schossen, in a tight-knit communist kibbutz along the Jordan Valley. After four years of service in the Israeli Defense Force, Captain Schossen became a reservist and graduated with four degrees; three in chemical physics….
Read More “Orwell’s Nightmare Vanunu’s Reality and Roi Tov’s Silencing” »
By Eileen Fleming AIPAC praises failure of UN resolution to recognize Palestine as a state, an effort by Palestinians to kickstart the peace process killed by Netanyahu’s extremist government On December 19, President Obama signed bills to bolster the ‘special relationship’ with Israel, support Syrian rebels, to disrupt Native American land rights, and to protect…
Read More “AIPAC Commends Obama’s Failure to Recognize Palestine’s Rights” »
By Eileen Fleming Banksy, the graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter depicts 21st century Bethlehem reality onto holiday greeting cards and informational cards with this message: Towering walls and militarized fences now encircle Bethlehem, turning the 4,000-year-old city into a virtual prison for its Palestinian Christian and Muslim citizens. Bethlehem has…
By Eileen Fleming On Tuesday, ABC NEWS filed the AP Report UN Resolution: Israel Must Renounce Nuclear Arms: The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved an Arab-backed resolution calling on Israel to renounce possession of nuclear weapons and put its nuclear facilities under international oversight. The resolution, adopted in a 161-5 vote, noted that Israel is…
Read More “UN Resolution Israel Must Renounce Nuclear Arms and USA Media remains MIA” »
By Eileen Fleming Evil is relatively rare. Ignorance is epidemic and the cure for that is journalism and expression Jon Stewart has reiterated regarding why he produced “Rosewater” which is based on the memoir Then They Came for Me by Maziar Bahari, which recounts Bahari’s 2009 imprisonment by Iran, after an interview with Jason…
Read More “Jon Stewart’s next movie: Vanunu Israel’s Snowden and Photographer WMD Facility?” »
By Eileen Fleming Sixty-six years of political conflict in Israel Palestine, the so-called Holy Land has focused on borders, settlements, checkpoints, terrorism and human rights has now morphed into Debates over access to sites in Jerusalem’s Old City, where Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven and where Jews believe their holy ancient temples…
Read More “Israel Palestine Religion VS Spirit and Imagination” »