Segacs's World I Know » Israel

So much for the Olympic values of peace, understanding and bringing people together: A Syrian boxer has quit the World Boxing Championship rather than be forced to compete against his Israeli opp...

https://www.segacs.com/2016/syrian-boxer-quits-israeli.html

Two weeks ago, like Jewish people around the world, I went to my local synagogue on Yom Kippur for Kol Nidre prayers. I saw a giant “Shana Tova” campaign poster just outside my shul in Westmo...

https://www.segacs.com/2015/tories-israel-and-chutzpah.html

Whenever tensions rise in Israel, my stress level goes way up as a proxy war gets fought in social media channels. People I respect, colleagues and acquaintances and people I think of as friends,...

https://www.segacs.com/2014/im-done-apologizing-for-israel.html

Three coordinated attacks near Eilat and the Egyptian border have killed 7 people and injured 30: In the first incident, Egged bus number 392, traveling from Beersheba to the southern resort city...

https://www.segacs.com/2011/terror-attacks-in-southern-israel.html

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech to US Congress yesterday. Among other things, he spoke about Iran, Bin Laden, Obama’s ill-advised comments on the ’67 borders, and Israel’s ...

https://www.segacs.com/2011/bibi-addresses-us-congress.html

I give this a week. Ten days, tops. Rival Palestinian groups said they reached an agreement Wednesday on reuniting their governments in the West Bank and Gaza after years of bitter infighting tha...

https://www.segacs.com/2011/palestinian-unity-government.html

The Palestinian leadership has hinted that they may be open to continuing talks with Israel even if “settlement” building resumes: Speaking to a closed meeting of Jewish American leaders in N...

https://www.segacs.com/2010/abbas-blinks-first.html

Phyllis Chesler takes on TIME Magazine in this column for Arutz Sheva: According to Vick, Israelis don’t care about peace, peace negotiations, or about the Palestinians because they are simply ...

https://www.segacs.com/2010/phyllis-chesler-time-magazin.html

Conducting breakthrough medical research, that is. This time, it’s a research team from Hebrew University that has developed a breakthrough in the fight against AIDS: a treatment that appears t...

https://www.segacs.com/2010/those-darn-israelis-at-it-again.html

Good guest op-ed in the Gazette by Frida Ghitis: “No one much cares about what they endure, unless it can be blamed on Israel“: Palestinians are indeed victims of mistreatment. But you won’...

https://www.segacs.com/2010/if-you-cant-blame-israel-it-doesnt-count.html

So what really happened in the game of “the tree was on my property” that broke out on the Israeli-Lebanese border yesterday, resulting in a lethal exchange of fire? Pajamas Media takes a cra...

https://www.segacs.com/2010/israeli-lebanese-border-skirmish.html

A new Israeli study suggests that smokers have lower IQs than nonsmokers: According to the researchers, 28 percent of the study participants smoked at least one cigarette a day, around 3 percent ...

https://www.segacs.com/2010/are-smokers-dumber.html

I wonder how long it will take Ahmadinejad to blame this on the Israeli Mossad, too? The post Stormy weather first appeared on Segacs's World I Know .

https://www.segacs.com/2010/stormy-weather.html

Israel to North America on airport security: You’re doing it wrong: “I once put this question to Jacques Duchesneau (the former head of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority): say the...

https://www.segacs.com/2010/how-the-big-boys-do-it.html

Some good news, for a change: Gaza’s Hamas rulers have suffered back-to-back setbacks with Israel’s successful test of a rocket shield and Egypt’s push to block smuggling tunnels. The Iron ...

https://www.segacs.com/2010/israeli-rocket-shield.html

In a hell-freezes-over moment, the former U.S. President has asked for forgiveness for “stigmatizing Israel”: Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter has apologized to the American Jewish communit...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/jimmy-carters-apology.html

This according to Lonely Planet, which released its annual list of top 10 party cities a few weeks ago. Montreal ranked in second place: Easygoing Montreal is increasingly popular with foreign tr...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/montreal-tel-aviv-top-party-cities.html

A deal for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was said to be “imminent”, but now seems to have stalled. The stumbling block? Hamas wants the release of some of its most h...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/negotiating-with-terrorists.html

The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was commemorated with free outdoor concerts and celebrations this weekend. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Obama healthcare re...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/weekend-update.html

The usual list of celebrity idiots are protesting the Toronto film festival for highlighting Israeli films and culture: The group is circulating a letter of protest and has drawn more than 50 sig...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/anti-israel-crowd-targets-tiff.html

Mermaid sightings in Kiryat Yam have been reported for the last several months: An alleged mermaid, said to resemble a cross between a fish and a young girl, only appears at sunset. It performs a...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/the-little-israeli-mermaid.html

Looks like it will be an Yisrael Beiteinu-backed Likud government. One potential monkey wrench: Lieberman made his support of Netanyahu conditional on forming a broad-based coalition. And so far,...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/lieberman-endorses-netanyahu.html

Reports out of Egypt that Hamas is going to agree to a long-term truce with Israel for Gaza. Read between the lines. We have: The truce being contingent on the re-opening of border crossings. Tra...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/another-truce-for-hamas-to-blatantly-violate.html

Speak Hebrew? Think you can fix Israel’s political mess? Try your hand at coalition building with this fun tool. (Hat tip: Yonah.) The post Choose your own coalition first appeared on Segacs...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/choose-your-own-coalition.html

With over 85% of votes counted, Tzipi Livni’s Kadima has a narrow lead over Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud in today’s Israeli election. Netanyahu had a commanding lead in the polls and the elec...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/surprising-narrow-lead-for-livni.html

Freakin’ brilliant ad campaign by a Tel Aviv ad agency for Berlitz, using a play on words on the Obama campaign slogan: Sometimes, the greatest ideas are the most obvious. (Hat tip: Matt). Th...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/yes-we-can-make-great-ads.html

Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud party holds a commanding lead in the polls ahead of next week’s Israeli election, says he wants to form a unity government to deal with “unprecedented challeng...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/israeli-election-update.html

Further evidence of the increasing antagonism between Iran-backed Hamas and the Arab nations, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak publicly blamed Hamas for bloodshed in Gaza: “How long will Arab b...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/egypt-blames-hamas.html

Canada was the only member of the ironically-named UN Human Rights Council to vote against a resolution condemning Israel for its actions in Gaza yesterday: At a meeting in Geneva, Canada asked f...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/canada-shows-some-moral-courage.html

I said it in my last post, but in case you didn’t get the message, here’s a repeat: If you’re not reading Imshin religiously lately, you need to be. As in, now. Here are just a few reasons ...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/read-imshin-now-seriously.html

I was lucky enough to spend a week in Israel over the holidays. Good times, good friends, relatives and parties, shopping and nightlife. All the good stuff. I absolutely adore visiting Israel, an...

https://www.segacs.com/2009/israel-and-gaza.html

Shimon Peres’s attempt to put a positive spin on the global economic crisis: “The leaders of Iran cannot give their children uranium for breakfast,” Peres said, adding that the world financ...

https://www.segacs.com/2008/always-looking-for-the-silver-lining.html

Ruti at Ki Yachol Nuchal has a great post filled with anecdotes of random acts of kindness that fly in the face of the stereotype of the “rude Israeli”. My favourite: “A teenager’s wallet...

https://www.segacs.com/2008/random-acts-of-kindness.html

A Palestinian terrorist asshole sent Livni a welcome message by slamming his car into a group of Israelis in Jerusalem, injuring 19. Analysts are predicting more attacks, as summer vacation is ap...

https://www.segacs.com/2008/in-brief-3.html

Exit polls show that Tzipi Livni has won the Kadima leadership race, with a comfortable lead over Shaul Mofaz. Ehud Olmert is expected to resign quickly, at which time Livni will work to form a c...

https://www.segacs.com/2008/its-livni.html

A terorrist went on a murderous rampage with a bulldozer in Jerusalem, killing three and wounding dozens. Meryl has more. The post Terrorism by bulldozer first appeared on Segacs's World I Kno...

https://www.segacs.com/2008/terrorism-by-bulldozer.html

The deadliest terrorist attack in Israel in two years… This time at a prominent yeshiva: A Palestinian terrorist opened fire at a central Jerusalem yeshiva late Thursday night, killing eight st...

https://www.segacs.com/2008/terrorist-attack-in-jerusalem.html

As many people know, Monopoly (the board game) is launching a new world version, and the cities that will represent each proprety are being decided by a worldwide online vote. It’s the final da...

https://www.segacs.com/2008/monopoly-controversy.html

I haven’t really wanted to write anything about the Annapolis “peace summit” (ha!). And I didn’t really have to. Allison said it all – two weeks ago – and much more insightfully than ...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/annapolis-a-bit-overdue.html

The U.N. took a break from its usual Israel-bashing agenda today to call out some actual human rights violators: A United Nations panel rebuked Myanmar, Iran and North Korea on Tuesday for human ...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/breaking-news-flying-pigs-spotted.html

Can I just state for the record that I strongly believe that Ehud Olmert is swimming with sharks… without a life preserver? US elections do not create legitimate Palestinian peace partners. Olm...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/on-the-same-subject.html

ABC News is reporting that the hush-hush Israeli strike against Syria was to target a nuclear facility. What’s more, the report claims that the U.S. stopped Israel from attacking two months ear...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/abc-report-it-was-a-nuclear-facility.html

According to this, when it comes to terrorism threats, Canada’s gotten more dangerous: Canada’s “elevated” threat level is now the same as that of the United States, and “elevated” is...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/canadas-elevated-threat-level.html

Since the most fun way to procrastinate is to start an argument… He was elected democratically… twice… the people had a choice, which is more than we can say about people in most of the wor...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/15-reasons-to-like-g-w-bush.html

Lisa posts her thoughts following a fascinating interview with five refugees from Darfur currently staying on an Israeli kibbutz. An absolute must-read. The post Darfur refugees in Israel firs...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/darfur-refugees-in-israel.html

That’s my impression of Nancy Pelosi and her trip to the Middle East, in open opposition to the White House’s policies in the region. More of political stunt than anything, she’s waded head...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/in-too-deep.html

The Two-Minute Haggadah A Passover service for the impatient. By Michael Rubiner Opening prayers: Thanks, God, for creating wine. (Drink wine.) Thanks for creating produce. (Eat parsley.) Overvie...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/passover-for-hockey-fans.html

Thousands of crazy English football fans descended on Israel this week to watch… a whole lot of nothing. It sometimes baffles me how a sport where teams can kick around a ball without scoring f...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/speaking-of-sports.html

Another day at the U.N., another toothless move to try to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions: The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose new sanctions on Iran for its nuclear ...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/un-slaps-irans-wrist-iran-yawns.html

The Eurovision song competition is the latest to jump on the anti-Israel bandwagon, threatening to ban this year’s Israeli entry for having an “inappropriate political message”: Eurovision ...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/eurovision-israeli-entry-not-appropriate.html

This would be funny if it weren’t so sad: A marketing campaign launched by the Ha-Ir chain of local Israeli newspapers has been used by Hizbullah to spread anti-Israel propaganda, according to ...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/beware-the-poisoned-balloons.html

The media still insists on calling it a truce, despite this: The air strike came a day after a Palestinian bomber killed three Israelis at a bakery in the Red Sea resort town of Eilat. The two ra...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/what-truce.html

Police are investigating: Police are investigating vandalism at Edmonton’s oldest synagogue, where a swastika and anti-Semitic graffiti was written just minutes before a visit by Alberta Premie...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/synagogue-vandalised-in-edmonton.html

It was inevitable, I guess, though the timing surprised some: IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz has submitted his resignation. Olmert expressed his disappointment, but he has other things on his mind...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/halutz-resigns.html

Yesterday’s Ynet had a piece about female Sudanese refugees from Darfur who have found their way to Israel and the private shelter that has offered them a refuge: Eleven young women and 18 of t...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/darfur-refugees-in-israel-need-help.html

Hamas acknowledges Israel exists: Hamas acknowledges the existence of Israel but formal recognition by the group will only be considered when a Palestinian state has been created, the movement’...

https://www.segacs.com/2007/flying-pig-moment.html

Where did this come from? Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas are holding talks: JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held their first form...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/olmert-and-abbas-are-talking.html

Sometimes, Iran really reminds me of a child seeking attention. After incessant posturing, threats, a proxy war waged against Israel via Hezbollah, a Holocaust-denial conference, and (by the way)...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/u-n-wags-finger-iran-shrugs.html

Ehud Olmert found out the hard way that Prime Ministers aren’t allowed to have slips of the tongue. . . especially when the subject in question is nuclear weaponry: Israel’s prime minister sp...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/oops.html

Here’s the Canadian Jewish News’s take on the subject. The post Stephane Dion: Where does he stand on Israel? first appeared on Segacs's World I Know .

https://www.segacs.com/2006/stephane-dion-where-does-he-stand-on-israel.html

Looks like it. A limited one, anyway. Or, as Meryl would say, another “shudna”. Noteworthy: this would apply only to rockets, not “other” forms of attack, such as suicide bombing… which...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/another-hudna.html

Now that Syria’s excitement in launching missiles at Israel through its proxy, Hezbollah, has been dampered thanks to the IDF, it has returned to its regularly-scheduled programming: assassinat...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/back-to-regularly-scheduled-assassinations.html

What does the US midterm election result spell for Israel? Here’s a brief roundup from the Israeli media: Ynet calls the Democratic gains “expected” and claims this is good news for Israel:...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/the-israeli-media-reacts.html

The BBC has long been widely-acknowledged as one of the most anti-Israel media outlets in the western world. So the BBC, in the midst of all these complaints, went out and commissioned an indepen...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/bbcs-anti-israel-bias.html

In the wake of a disastrous war aftermath, a few sex scandals, and widespread disillusionment, Ehud Olmert signed an agreement to bring Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party into the govern...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/olmert-makes-deal-to-prop-up-government.html

Liberal leadership candidates are falling all over each other to deny Harper’s accusation that they’re anti-Israel: Bob Rae, Ignatieff’s chief rival, likened Harper’s comment to being acc...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/whaddaya-mean-anti-israel.html

No, not the words of a typical Jewish bubby – it’s the Israeli fashion industry urging too-thin models to put on some weight: Top Israeli retail companies have agreed not to employ overly thi...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/you-look-skinny-eat-something.html

Believe it or not, other newsworthy things happened in the world yesterday and today. You’d never know it from watching the local news, of course, which has been covering Dawson nonstop since y...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/catch-up-time.html

Hmmm, maybe it’s time to switch banks. The head honcho over at BMO seems to get it: One-sided and disproportionate criticism of Israel has the effect of inflaming anti-Semitism, Tony Comper, pr...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/bmo-bigwig-gets-it.html

Al-Qaeda is whining because it thinks that the Shiite groups are getting to have all the fun: The statement does, however, represent the seething resentment of Sunni al-Qaeda, directed at what it...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/but-we-wanted-to-attack-israel-first.html

So let’s see, what can be said about the past 48 hours? Israel has begun pulling out of Lebanon. But the UN peacekeeprs aren’t going in – and nobody’s willing to hold Hezbollah to its obl...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/cease-fire-update.html

Meryl gives it a D. Allison believes Ehud Olmert’s days as PM are numbered. In an op-ed in Ha’aretz, Moshe Arens claims that Israel’s war was too much for its leaders to handle. The Jerusal...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/cease-fire-round-up.html

I guess Nasrallah is catching onto the fact that rockets landing on Arab-Israelis in Haifa isn’t exactly boosting his popularity in the Arab world. Now, he wants to get them out of the way, pre...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/terrorist-asshole-wants-arabs-out-of-haifa.html

Imshin is fed up, and writes why: I started this blog in 2002 because I was so upset about the lies being told about Israel all the time. Lies being told and being believed. I don’t care any mo...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/a-fight-for-survival.html

Interesting interview transcript from FoxNews on the media coverage from Arab news outlets of the Israel-Lebanon war. The post Process stories first appeared on Segacs's World I Know .

https://www.segacs.com/2006/process-stories.html

The London Times reports that Iran is trying to mine Uranium in Africa, with the goal of importing it to make, well, I’ll give you three guesses. (Via IrisBlog). Related to the above, Mark C. a...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/in-brief.html

Today was one of the deadliest for Israel so far in this war. Two rockets that crashed into buildings in Haifa, killing three and injuring dozens, have prompted this response from Shadi Mzawin, a...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/finish-off-nasrallah.html

The lack of posts about the Lebanon war in the past few days has nothing to do with there being nothing to blog about. On the contrary. But I’ve had to shut down for a few days, to block out th...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/shutdown.html

This piece by Jerusalem-based writer Naomi Ragen has been making the rounds online. I expect it will show up in my e-mail inbox about a dozen times over the next few days: Please remember this wh...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/why-naomi-ragen-is-wrong.html

The Israeli blogosphere is already reacting to the Qana strike. Here is some of what is being said: Allison smells a rat, sensing that not all is as it may seem: I am waiting patiently for a logi...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/around-the-israeli-blogosphere.html

Israel has agreed to temporarily suspend aerial bombardment of Lebanon for 48 hours, to permit “investigation” of today’s strike that killed dozens of civilians, including an estimated 37 c...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/time-out.html

Israel’s attack on the UN Observer Post in Lebanon wasn’t – despite what Kofi Annan thinks – deliberate. But these attacks sure were: Palestinian protesters stormed the main U.N. compound...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/guess-whos-deliberately-attacking-the-u-n-now.html

I’ve read a lot of nonsensical analogies and analyses about the Israel-Lebanon war in the past couple of weeks. But I just had to highlight this editorial, written by a certain Marie Choi of To...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/worst-analogy-ever.html

The wife of the United Nations observer killed in Lebanon is blaming Israel for the death of her husband: Cynthia Hess-von Kruedener said Tuesday’s attack was not the first on her husband’s o...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/assigning-blame.html

Could it be that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn’t quite believe the reports of Hezbollah claiming massive victory against Israel? He’s calling for a cease-fire, which one thinks would be counter-p...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/meanwhile-in-iran.html

On this story, I’d comment but I think I’ll refer you instead to Allison, who says what I would say, only better: The man has got to be on drugs to accuse Israel of deliberately targeting UN ...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/u-n-deaths-in-lebanon.html

L. Ian MacDonald thinks that Harper’s position on the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is one born out of conviction, not out of politics: As Harper said: “There is a crisis b...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/taking-a-moral-stance.html

The headline: Half think Harper too pro-Israel. The article: said 45 per cent agree Harper’s position is “fair and balanced and completely appropriate,” while 44 per cent say it is “deci...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/who-comes-up-with-these-headlines-anyway.html

Hockey fans will recognize the above statement as good advice for players looking to avoid the penalty box, since refs are more likely to penalize a retaliation than an initial provocation. (At l...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/instigate-dont-retaliate.html

Think again: A group of Israeli journalists on Thursday renounced their membership in the International Federation of Journalists, after the organization’s General Secretary refused to retract ...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/supposedly-impartial-journalists.html

“Moving our children to safety” is a campaign launched by the Jewish Agency for Israel to send Israeli kids living in Northern Israel to summer camps in central and southern Israel. Not only ...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/how-to-help.html

As an extension of the news article, my friend Iris was interviewed on 940 News Radio this evening. Listen to the clip here. Update: Unfortunately, this interview clip is no longer available. T...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/on-the-radio.html

There’s no shortage of analysis about the crisis in Israel and Lebanon out there. This piece is a breath of fresh air. The post Some sensible analysis first appeared on Segacs's World I Know...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/some-sensible-analysis.html

My friend Iris was interviewed by the Gazette for a piece on what it’s like to be here in Montreal and be worrying about family in Haifa: “They’re okay, a little frightened but okay,” Mes...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/family-in-haifa.html

Ha’aretz publishes its dictionary for the crisis. The post Lexicon first appeared on Segacs's World I Know .

https://www.segacs.com/2006/lexicon.html

From an MSN conversation last night between a local friend and her friend in Haifa (paraphrased): “How are you?” “I’m great!” “Great? How can you be great?” “Seeing a new guy and ...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/reactions.html

This afternoon, while baking in the hot sun waiting to get into Parc Jean-Drapeau to see Bon Jovi, we received a panicked phone call from a friend whose entire family lives in Israel. “They’r...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/spiralling-out-of-control.html

They’re celebrating and dancing in the streets of Lebanon, because they’ve kidnapped Israeli soldiers and fired rockets. They see all-out chaos in sight, and they’re celebrating. In Gaza, H...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/cringe.html

In his own words, here’s Ehud Olmert addressing the world media: The main purpose of the Israeli operation in Gaza is twofold: One, is to take measures in order to allow the release of the Isra...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/olmerts-address-to-foreign-media.html

Some things never change. Anti-Israel media bias is one of them. From today’s Reuters: Israel rejects Hamas ceasefire call. From the headline, the casual reader would make the assumption that b...

https://www.segacs.com/2006/another-day-another-anti-israel-biased-headline.html