Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — Five tiny figurines — including black wood-carved heads depicting African figures — have been uncovered in Israel’s Negev Desert, offering rare insight into unexpected cultural connections in the region some 1,500 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced. The statuettes were discovered in 2017 during an excavation at Tel Malhata in the Arad Valley, in graves belonging to women and children. The findings date to the Byzantine period and suggest trade or cultural ties that extended far beyond the immediate region. The res...
This year, more than ever, it's impossible not to think about the execution of my best friend, Shirin Alamhooli, on May 9, 2010. I met Shirin in Iran's notorious Evin Prison where I had been arrested and sentenced to death by hanging because of converting to Christianity, a "crime" the Islamic regime calls "apostasy" and which carries a death penalty. I was arrested in March 2009. Shirin had already been in prison for some time as a political Kurdish prisoner. As a Christian, I had many people...
(JTA) — A Palestinian poet and essayist who evacuated Gaza with his family and chronicled the experience of dislocation for the New Yorker has won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Mosab Abu Toha left Gaza in December 2023 — after being detained by Israeli soldiers, in an experience he chronicled in his writing — and moved in 2024 to Syracuse, New York, after receiving a visa permitting him to teach at Syracuse University. The Pulitzer committee recognized four essays by Abu Toha: one exploring his memories of a now-destroyed landscape; o...
(JNS) — Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas recently claimed that the First and Second Jewish temples were in Yemen, not Jerusalem, citing the Quran. Not only does all reputable archeological research locate the temples in Jerusalem, but the Quran does not assert that they were in Yemen. So much for Abbas’s “facts.” The Palestinian narrative claiming rights to “Palestine” is based almost entirely on deceitful attempts to nullify deep Jewish connections to the region. Lacking any evidence of Palestinian peoplehood earlier than the 20th ce...
This is the final consideration, with conclusions presented. To avoid confusion, the term West Bank will be used here when referring to Judea and Samaria. Israel’s Obligation to a Two-State Solution Israel’s four most influential prime ministers were possessed of differing personalities, political philosophies, and security challenges. They were consistent in recognition of the Palestinian National Identity that required geographic commitment to self-governance and political consequence. However, any implementation must be subject to the sac...
(JNS) — A fourth round of talks between Tehran’s envoys and Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s lead negotiator, did not take place in Rome over the weekend as had been expected. Neither Tehran’s spokesmen nor the State Department gave a clear explanation for why, but I’ll venture a guess: Iran’s rulers want concessions in exchange for continuing to talk. They think Trump needs negotiations more than they do. Their assessment is based on years of palaver with presidents Obama and Biden. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei hopes that,...
(JNS) — Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas claimed that in the Quran, the Jewish Temple is described as being in Yemen. “In the Noble Quran, and I believe that also in other divine books, it says that the [First and Second] Temples were in Yemen,” said Abbas on April 23 in a televised speech during the 32nd PLO Central Council meeting in Ramallah. He made the remarks in the context of his claim that Israeli authorities were targeting Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is built on the Temple Mount, where the Jewish Temple used to stand....
Hamas has released Edan Alexander, an American-Israeli citizen, back to Israel under a deal reached with the United States. The release, conducted Monday evening in Gaza, may inaugurate a new phase in the hostage crisis that has consumed Israel since Hamas attacked on Oct. 7, 2023, taking 250 captives and opening the war in Gaza. “I’m very happy to announce that Edan Alexander, an American citizen who until recently most thought was no longer living, thought was dead, is going to be rel...
(JNS) — Tal Shoham, who was freed from Gaza as part of the hostage deal with Hamas on Feb. 22, revealed that the terrorists had called his wife, freed during previous ceasefire, and threatened to kill him if she talked about her own experiences in captivity. Adi Shoham was taken hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre alongside her two young children. They were released after 50 days in captivity as part of the first ceasefire agreement with the terrorist group. Tal Shoham, a 40-year-old Israeli with dual Austrian citizenship, was abducted f...
(JNS) — The Hamas terrorist group released a propaganda video on Wednesday showing a sign of life from Israeli hostage Omri Miran, who was taken captive from his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz 565 days ago. Miran was abducted during the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. Gunmen invaded the home that he shared with his wife, Lishay, and their two daughters. They moved the family to an adjacent house and then decided to abduct Omri, leaving his family behind. “Hello, my name is Omri Miran. Today, I am 48 years old. This is the second bir...
(JNS) — Some 130 Palestinians left the Gaza Strip through Ramon Airport in southern Israel. Around 110 Gazans flew to France, while the remainder will settle in Bosnia and Chile, according to Channel 12 News, which cited Israeli officials. On April 1, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel visited Ramon Airport to inspect “the voluntary departure process” of Palestinians from Gaza. “Dozens of Gazans were flown to Leipzig, Germany, on a designated flight accompanied by German diplomats today,” said the Population and Immigration Authority, part of t...
