Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Hillel Schenker

Israel at 65: Is Zionism still alive?

Hillel Schenker — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:56:39 +0000

When I came on aliya to Israel from New York in 1963 as a graduate of the progressive Zionist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair, I believed that I was fulfilling the Zionist dream, the Jewish right to national self-determination. I was helping to build the homeland of the Jewish people, and as a kibbutz member, participating [...]

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From Malcolm X to Barack Obama

Hillel Schenker — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 08:02:05 +0000

President Barack Obama was not the first great black orator I had the opportunity to hear. As a teenager, an appearance by Malcolm X, the controversial and feisty fighter for the rights of black Americans at Brooklyn College left an indelible mark on my memory. Born Malcolm Little, the autodidact who was educated in the [...]

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Israelis and Palestinians to Obama

Hillel Schenker — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:33:24 +0000

On the eve of President Barack Obama’s arrival for a three-day visit to our historic and troubled neighborhood, about 15 Israelis and Palestinians gathered together to talk about their expectations, hopes and recommendations for the future. The meeting took place, symbolically enough, at the Notre Dame Center, literally on the border between West and East [...]

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How Country Music Helped Me to Make Aliya

Hillel Schenker — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 09:09:03 +0000

What a great title for a book – intriguing, original, and accompanied by a built-in soundtrack! The book is a new short autobiographical novel by Lois Michal Unger, mainly known for her sharp, moving poetry. Lois is a member in good standing of the community of Israeli poets who write in English, and this is [...]

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Limor, Go See “Gatekeepers”!

Hillel Schenker — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 09:36:27 +0000

So following the Oscar ceremony, Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat said she wasn’t sorry that “The Gatekeepers” “Five Broken Cameras” didn’t win the Best Documentary Award. She added that, in her view, “too many movies” made in the past few years “libel Israel throughout the world”. Of course, as Minister of Culture, she [...]

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Israelis Voted for Change and a Normal Life

Hillel Schenker — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 13:09:49 +0000

There is definitely an atmosphere of hope and possible change in the Israeli air, just a few days after the surprising outcome of the 2013 elections. We know that Benjamin Netanyahu will once again be prime minister, but he and his right-wing Likud Party were seriously weakened by the results of the elections. His Likud [...]

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Elections 2013: Israel at the Crossroads

Hillel Schenker — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:18:56 +0000

Here we stand, at a major crossroads in Israel’s history, the elections to the 19th Knesset. Are we living and realizing the dream that my uncle, Dov Barnir one of the youngest members of the first Knesset had? Or of my daughter’s god-father, Tzvi Luria, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence in [...]

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Time for a new American peace initiative in the Middle East

Hillel Schenker — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:39:05 +0000

So now we know that Senator John Kerry will be the point man of President Obama’s foreign policy during his second term. Given the fact that the president will devote most of his presidential time and energy to domestic issues, Secretary of State Kerry will have the opportunity to take the lead on all the [...]

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Israel – Yes, to Palestine

Hillel Schenker — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 10:22:12 +0000

Anyone who was educated in a Zionist youth movement like myself, or who grew up in the Israeli educational system, remembers the famous recording of the UN General Assembly vote back on November 29th, 1947, the acceptance of UNGA Resolution 181, the Partition Plan. And we all remember the roll-call – the United States [...]

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Athens and Jerusalem

Hillel Schenker — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 10:40:54 +0000

Friday has arrived, just a little more than a week after all hell broke loose in Israel and Gaza. A cease-fire has been achieved, and to paraphrase James Joyce, the rains are falling in Israel and Gaza, “falling upon all the living and the dead.” Will the cleansing of the rains bring new beginnings? While [...]

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Nabil Shaath: ‘Palestinians still committed to two states’

Hillel Schenker — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 07:53:55 +0000

“We continue to believe in a two state solution” declared Dr. Nabil Shaath, the former Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority and currently Fatah’s Commissioner for International Relations, at a rare encounter with over 70 members of the Meretz Party who came to meet him in Ramallah at President Mahmoud Abbas’ headquarters in the Muqata. [...]

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No to War with Iran!

Hillel Schenker — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 09:40:33 +0000

Last night a few hundred angry and worried demonstrators gathered outside Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s luxury apartment in a new hi-rise building in the heart of Tel Aviv to protest against the possibility of an Israeli-initiated war with Iran. “No to war with Iran!” was one of the main slogans they shouted, while carrying placards [...]

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July 14th – The Fire This Time

Hillel Schenker — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 09:39:56 +0000

When I left the demonstration last night marking the first anniversary of the Israeli social protest movement, I was planning to call this piece “July 14th – One Year Later.” When I got home, I learned that Moshe Silman, a desperate 57 year old man had set himself on fire. The note he left said [...]

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We’re Back! – Return of the Social Protest

Hillel Schenker — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 08:09:08 +0000

There was a lot of energy in the air in Tel Aviv last night, as over 10,000 demonstrators gathered at Habima Square, next to Rothschild Boulevard, where it all began in the summer of 2011. Smaller demonstrations also took place in Haifa and Jerusalem. The march headed out via Ibn Gvirol Street at 9 p.m, [...]

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Madonna for peace

Hillel Schenker — Thu, 31 May 2012 20:01:10 +0000

“You can’t be a fan of mine and not want peace in the world,” declared Madonna to a crowd of some 30,000 enthusiastic fans in Tel Aviv last night. The singer and general phenomenon chose to open her current world tour in Israel, at the Ramat Gan National Soccer stadium on the outskirts of Tel [...]

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