By Bassam Tawil, Gatestone Institute— The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) claims that it is on the “frontlines of responding to COVID-19,” and its officials are appealing for donations to help Palestinian refugees in the Middle East. According to an UNRWA statement from April 5: “UNRWA is doing its part to flatten…
DetailsBy Jacob Nagel and Jonathan Schanzer, Jerusalem Post—- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was among the first world leaders to understand the dangers of the coronavirus. He locked down the country in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus. Even so, the country’s economy has been hammered by the pandemic. The economic slowdown has…
DetailsBy Associated Press— Israel’s president on Sunday turned down a request from Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz for a two-week extension to form a new coalition government. The announcement by President Reuven Rivlin means that Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have a midnight deadline on Monday night to reach a power-sharing deal.…
DetailsBy Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman, JPost— For the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus in Israel, there has been a decrease in the number of people on ventilators. There were 123 being intubated at 8 a.m. Sunday vs.132 people 24 hours before. However, at press time, the total number was back to 131. While some…
DetailsBy Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post— In the Great Plague of London in 1665-6, nearly a quarter of the city’s population perished, while the Third Plague Pandemic, which struck beginning in 1855, led to more than 1 million deaths in China and over 10 million in India. Sadly, there are numerous other instances as well. But…
DetailsPassover 2020 will not be the kind of Passover we know. Starting on April 8th and lasting till April 16th, normally this is a time for extended families and friends of the family to all gather together for the most festive (and lengthy) meal on the holy calendar. Throughout the meal of matzah, wine, bitter…
DetailsBy Aish.com— During the Nazi occupation of the Warsaw Ghetto, despite the hunger, typhus and dysentery, the Jews did their best to celebrate Passover. But Passover of 1943 was different. The Nazis started deporting Jews to Treblinka in January, 1943. The final liquidation of the ghetto was scheduled for the night of Passover. On April…
DetailsBy Israel Today— Jerusalem, while small in geographical size, is a wildly diverse city, making its administration all the more difficult during times of national crisis like we are now experiencing amid the coronavirus pandemic. As a partial solution to the balagan (as we call such chaotic situations in Hebrew), the Jerusalem Municipality has effectively…
DetailsBy Itay Blumenthal, Ynetnews— Dozens of passengers traveling from the United States were allowed entry to Israel on Thursday, despite regulations requiring any non-nationals to enter a 14-day quarantine at a state-run facility. It is the second time in days that such a breach has happened. According to health regulations that came into effect overnight…
DetailsBy JPost— The curfew and other restrictions imposed on all Israelis to slow the spread of the coronavirus over the Passover holiday are supposed to be lifted Friday at 6 a.m. But at press time, as the number of Israelis infected with the novel virus hits 9,968 – 166 in serious condition – and 86…
DetailsBy Sarah Stern, Emet— “Never underestimate the power of ideas. Philosophical concepts nurtured in the stillness of a professor’s study could destroy a civilization” – Heinrich Heine Among the manifestations of contemporary anti-Semitism are its ubiquitous nature, and its emergence in some of the least expected places. One might expect it, perhaps, in a working-class…
DetailsThe COVID-19 Virus continues to haunt every nation, every people– nearly every corner of the globe. In so doing it has crippled life as we know it with stay-at-home and quarantine orders. Not only has it disrupted life, including freedom of movement and assembly, it has been crippling economies. Certain sectors, however, are flouring to…
DetailsBy Susan Michael, ICEJ USA Director— There is much discussion throughout the Christian world as to whether this coronavirus pandemic is God’s judgment on the earth or simply a highly infectious virus. Some say it is judgment, others that it is a warning of judgment to come. Whichever it may be, let’s learn the lessons…
DetailsBy Gordon Govier, Christianity Today— The nation’s leading evangelical archaeology program is closing, partly in response to COVID-19. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) will shut down its archaeology program in May, terminating five professors and discontinuing its degree program, which currently has more than 25 graduate students. The decision came as “part of campus-wide budgetary…
DetailsBy JOHN D. WILSEY, Christianity Today— Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president baptized in office. Shortly after his inauguration, Edward L. R. Elson of the National Presbyterian Church in Washington baptized the president in a private ceremony. For several reasons, Elson was an interesting figure during America’s civil-religious awakening of the 1950s. First, he…
DetailsBy Jacob Magid, Times of Israel-— Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, who tested positive for the coronavirus late Wednesday, allegedly broke his own ministry’s guidelines on social distancing by attending group prayer services in the days before he was diagnosed, a TV report said Thursday. Litzman’s positive test has forced almost all the Israeli politicians, officials,…
DetailsBy Maytal Yasur Beit-Or , Gadi Golan , Ariel Kahan , Efrat Forsher, Israel Hayom—- The Health Ministry on Sunday released updated figures on the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel, which now stands at 8,018 people. The number of deaths caused by the virus is now 48, with the latest fatality being that…
DetailsBy Arlene Bridges Samuels, Times of Israel— Like everyone who is remaining home to hopefully flatten and slow the Corona Virus, my husband and I search for good ways to fill our time; gardening, daily neighborhood walks, books, old movies, the discipline of both morning and evening prayers, and cooking special meals. Yesterday, we ran…
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