JERUSALEM — Shoshana Damari, whose voice came to embody the emerging nation of Israel and comforted its people during their most trying times, died Tuesday after suffering from pneumonia. She was 83. Damari, known as “the queen of Hebrew music” and a recipient of the nation’s most prestigious cultural prize, entertained Israeli civilians and soldiers for nearly seven decades with … Read More
TEL AVIV, Israel — A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at a Tel Aviv fast-food stand Thursday, wounding 20 people in an apparent attempt to destabilize the region just a week before the Palestinian parliamentary elections. The militant Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility in a telephone call to The Associated Press. The group has been responsible for all six … Read More
THURSDAY, Jan. 19, 6 p.m. local TEL AVIV, Israel, The Old Bus Station Israel’s first suicide bombing of 2006 was also its first in five years without Ariel Sharon at the helm. A strange reminder of Sharon’s absence came in the form of the owner of the shwarma stand targeted. His name? Aryeh Sharon. Otherwise, the scenes from “The Mayor’s … Read More
CAESAREA, Israel — The ball explodes off Zohar Sharon’s club and flies into the distance. Sharon can’t see it, but he knows it’s a good one and he flashes a big smile. Two strokes later, he has a birdie. With the help of a demanding coach, determined caddie and dedicated dog, Sharon has earned an unlikely title — the world’s … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Steven Spielberg’s controversial new movie, “Munich,” about the 1972 Olympic massacre and its aftermath, got an unlikely endorsement Wednesday – the widows of two of the 11 slain Israeli athletes said the film neither dishonored their husbands’ memories nor tarnished their country’s image. “The movie respects the athletes,” said Ilana Romano, widow of weightlifter Yosef Romano. She … Read More
JERUSALEM, Israel (AP) — Doctors expect Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to recover fully from a mild stroke and leave the hospital Tuesday, but his illness raised questions about his long-term health and ability to lead Israel if he wins a third term next year. As the 77-year-old Sharon recovered, members of the hardline Likud Party, which he quit last month to … Read More
YERUHAM, Israel (AP) — Israel’s latest political earthquake is playing out in places like this neglected desert town, founded for North African immigrants and until recently a stronghold of the hardline Likud Party. After Prime Minister Ariel Sharon bolted Likud and set up a more moderate party and the Moroccan-born Amir Peretz took over the dovish Labor Party, Likud loyalists are … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) – Condoleezza Rice was up all night in her Jerusalem hotel. The U.S. secretary of state huddled with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in her ninth floor suite, passing around a laptop computer, going through every word and comma on a proposed deal on Gaza border crossings. At 10:05, an agreement was clinched – a major achievement for the Bush administration … Read More
HADERA, Israel (AP) — A 20-year-old Palestinian blacksmith blew himself up at a falafel stand in an open-air market Wednesday, killing five Israelis and wounding more than 30 in the deadliest attack in the country in more than three months. The bombing stifled faint peace hopes following Israel’s pullout from the Gaza Strip. The blast also embarrassed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, … Read More
KISSUFIM CROSSING, Gaza Strip (AP) _ The sun poked out from beyond the horizon, and Lt. Col. Tzvika Tzoran ordered his driver: “OK. Let’s move.” The jeep roared to life and led the last convoy of Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers out of Gaza. Within moments, it was done: Thirty-eight years of Israeli rule in the Gaza Strip came … Read More
In the Bay of Fundy, halfway between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, 50 spectators aboard a sailboat peer silently into the distance. The noises of nature reverberate: the flap of eagle wings and the splash of porpoises cutting through the still water. But one distinctive groan echoed throughout the bay sounding like a cry for help from the most endangered … Read More
OTTAWA – A day after his 67th birthday, and eight days before he died, Peter Jennings found out he would be awarded the Order of Canada, the nation’s highest honour. The nomination process began long before Mr. Jennings’ dramatic on-air announcement on ABC-TV on April 5 that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. The decision was made on June … Read More
OTTAWA _ He was one of the world’s most accomplished journalists; a name, and face, recognized the world over. But at heart, Peter Jennings always remained an Ottawa boy. Born in Toronto, but raised in Ottawa, the famous anchor of ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings returned to the national capital area nearly every year to vacation at his … Read More
OTTAWA – When Ghazal Omid first heard about the public hanging of two gay teenagers in Iran, she instinctively started to cry. “I was devastated. When I saw those pictures it was like someone putting a hand to my heart and pulling it,” said Ms. Omid, 35, a Vancouver-based author and human right advocate from Iran. “That’s what the government … Read More
When Israeli troops start pulling out of the Gaza Strip on Aug. 15, they will leave behind 38 years of painful memories. Most non-settler Israelis who have been to Gaza were there as soldiers. To them, Gaza meant danger, often death. The pullout will mark a blessed exodus from a place to which no one wishes to return. Ironically, I … Read More