Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Jonathan Russo

Syria and the Muslim World

Jonathan Russo — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:02:32 +0000

Not Just Buildings, but Dreams Aleppo, July 4 – A United States F16 jet bombed a house in Syria’s largest city today, killing all 12 members of the Al Halbi family, as the men were preparing to go to the local mosque. The house was totally destroyed and the bodies of the numerous women [...]

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Quarks of China’s Banks

Jonathan Russo — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:37:39 +0000

Fuel for the Fire Chinese Economic Policy Last week, two major discoveries were announced. First, physicists found compelling evidence that dark matter—which comprises some 95% of the universe, yet has never been directly seen or observed—may in fact be positrons, the detritus of colliding energy. Just as worms leave digested matter behind as proof they [...]

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Is the West Suicidal?

Jonathan Russo — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:57:12 +0000

Oswald Spengler He couldn’t have seen this coming In 1918 and 1922 German historian Oswald Spengler published two books that are collectively known as The Decline of the West. Frankly, it is eye-wateringly dense, written with scholarship from the old school, when professors read classics in their original language and made historical connections to texts [...]

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Palestine’s New Capital

Jonathan Russo — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 19:27:29 +0000

“It is important to be open and honest with one another,” said President Obama in Israel the other day as he addressed a group of students in Jerusalem. Let us try to exercise this “open and honest” concept. Honestly, over the last 40 plus years so many countries and their leaders, plus private envoys, have [...]

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Political Avatars

Jonathan Russo — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:18:00 +0000

Based on the results of the recent elections in Israel and Italy, the Mediterranean has resumed its historic role as political incubator for the Western world. The rise of Yair Lapid and Beppe Grillo, while perhaps not as profound as the idea of voting and democracy itself, may be a harbinger of an electoral revolution [...]

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Israel and Unit 61398

Jonathan Russo — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:28:41 +0000

Note: This blog was written days before the revelations in The New York Times (Feb. 19) about China’s secret army of cyberwarriors and their attack plans Chinese Army Unit Is Seen as Tied to Hacking Against U.S. History is replete with examples of small nations exercising outsized influence. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Florentine [...]

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Israel and the Axis of Evil 2.0

Jonathan Russo — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:35:52 +0000

WORLD CLASS ENABLERS As we all know, George W. Bush uttered these words in his January 2002 State of the Union speech. He singled out Iraq, North Korea and Iran and their quest for weapons of mass destruction as the members of this “axis.” Eleven years later, it might be useful to see how it is [...]

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Syria as Kashmir

Jonathan Russo — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 22:21:39 +0000

Syria or Kashmir? Friday’s Wall Street Journalcontains an excellent op-ed by Naser Danan and Louay Sakka, two Syrians committed to a “free, independent and democratic Syria.” How the U.S. Can Help Avert a Failed State in Syria They wrote a cri de coeur asking for American assistance and intervention in the Syrian conflict, to prevent Syria from [...]

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Forced to Look Within

Jonathan Russo — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:02:07 +0000

Being Jewish means being aware of the existence of ghettos. Jewish religious/cultural education often includes the history and significance of the ghetto. When visiting European cities Jews frequently visit the “Jewish Quarter.” Many years ago I toured Girona, Spain because the city has ancient Jewish streets, recently uncovered after literally being buried under garbage for [...]

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