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Nov 3, 2023, 6:29 AM

Take Temporary Hostages to Be Exchanged

Israel is under international pressure to agree to a ceasefire in its war with Hamas. Hamas started the war on Oct. 7 by massacring about 1,400 Israeli citizens and visitors, and kidnapping about 240 survivors who are now held hostage inside Gaza. (Although Hamas’s shocking...

Oct 23, 2023, 7:55 AM

Small Steps to Aid Civilians while Fighting Hamas

The people of Israel are selfish. They want to live. They also want their nation to survive. Hamas, the government of Gaza, their neighbor, denies the right of Israel to exist. Hamas vows to liberate Palestine from the river to the sea, which leaves no...

Oct 13, 2023, 5:03 AM

Propose Israeli and Saudi Mutual Defense Treaty

Israelis, Jews everywhere, and hopefully, many non-Jews, are stunned by the devastating surprise attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, 50 years after the traumatic Yom Kippur war of 1973. More than 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas and about 150 were taken hostage. Hamas...

Jul 31, 2023, 10:46 PM

Possible Peace Between Israel and Saudi Arabia

Optimists believe that if peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the motherland of Islam’s two holiest cities, can be achieved, then other Muslim countries could be prompted to also make peace with Israel. Prior to possibly normalizing relations with Israel, Saudi Arabia has made the...

Jul 10, 2023, 7:55 AM

Elite College and Average College

In a July 8 opinion piece in the New York Times (Opinion | For Most College Students, Affirmative Action Was Never Enough – The New York Times (nytimes.com) ), the authors report that only 6% of all college students attend a highly selective or elite...

Jun 1, 2023, 8:20 AM

Release Bank Accounts to Nullify Refugee Status

On Aug. 14, 15, 1947, Britain partitioned its colony of India into two independent states, India and Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan accepted the partition. The partition was followed by a massive exchange of populations as large numbers of Hindus moved from Pakistan to India,...

May 11, 2023, 10:26 PM

In Defense of College Degrees

Several people argue, correctly, that a college degree should not be a prerequisite for professional employment. Certainly, many bright, successful people lack college degrees. However, most employers consider a college degree to be a valuable credential for a prospective employee. Employers have found that people...

Jan 9, 2023, 11:54 PM

Fund New Housing to Enable Future Withdrawal

Many Israeli and American Jews are disappointed that in 2023 the new far-right government of Israel appears poised to approve the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. But no Israeli government lasts longer than a few years. Perhaps in the future, a majority...

Dec 27, 2022, 1:24 AM

Berkeley Law Student Groups Ban Zionist Speakers

At the University of California, Berkeley, a student group, Law Students for Justice in Palestine, has banned supporters of Zionism from speaking at its events. The ban applies to all Zionists, irrespective of what topic they would choose to discuss on campus. Currently, nine Berkeley law student groups...

Jul 27, 2022, 6:45 AM

No State That Bans Abortion Bans Assault Weapons

States in which the peoples’ elected representatives protect a woman’s right to have an abortion call themselves pro-choice. Currently, assault weapons are banned in only seven states, all of which are pro-choice. The seven states are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New...

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About Me

Ted Sheskin is a professor emeritus of industrial engineering at Cleveland State University, and the author of a textbook, Markov Chains and Decision Processes for Engineers and Managers. He has published peer-reviewed papers on engineering systems and mathematical algorithms. His letters to editors addressing politics, economic policy, and issues facing Israel and American Jews have appeared in the NY Times, Daily News, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland Jewish News, Jewish Week, the Forward, and Jewish Voice.

Contact Me