Word: arabism
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...stung, took steps to cement Abraham's Jewish identity. The Talmud describes him anachronistically as following Mosaic law and speaking Hebrew. And they severely downgraded Ishmael. Initially, says Shaul Magid, professor of Midrash at New York City's Jewish Theological Seminary, Jewish parents named their boys after Abraham's Arab son, but the custom evaporated as they began living under Muslim rule. By the 11th century the great biblical scholar Rashi, citing earlier authorities, described Ishmael as a "thief" whom "everybody hates," an insult that can still be found in his prominently placed commentary in many Torah editions today...
Nonetheless, moderate Islamic leaders have periodically enlisted Abraham as a bridge builder. In 1977 Egypt's President Anwar Sadat, announcing before the Israeli Knesset the brave initiative that would become the 1979 Camp David peace accords, invoked, "Abraham--peace be upon him--great-grandfather of the Arabs and the Jews." Sadat noted that Abraham had undertaken his great sacrifice "not outof weakness but through free will, prompted by an unshakable belief in the ideals that lend life a profound significance," clearly hoping that both sides would approach Arab-Israeli cohabitation in the same spirit. The accords went through, although this...
Trapped between the imminent threat of an Israeli army bulldozer crashing through a ground-floor wall or catching a bullet on an upper floor, Yasser Arafat spent much of last Friday and Saturday on the second floor of his Ramallah refuge telephoning Arab and European leaders to ask for support and fuming at the latest Israeli incursion into his West Bank compound. With his oldest enemies once again closing in around him and allies questioning whether they should continue to support him, Arafat was assailed from above and below...
...there had never been a death among sailors or smugglers. That changed on Nov. 18, when the 200-ft. Samra sank at 4 a.m. in 10-ft. seas, drowning the two sailors and four Iraqis. Sixteen were rescued, including six U.S. sailors. The leaking vessel, owned by a United Arab Emirates shipper, was built to transport grain but secretly carried four large tanks inside its cargo hold for smuggling oil. The Navy's first mistake was to underestimate the amount of oil on board, which made the ship more likely to go down. But it also dispatched a guard crew...
...urge restraint upon Israel? Israel truly has a sovereign right to defend itself against foreign attack. Its restraint in 1991 was only possible do to the fact that, miraculously, the 39 scud missiles launched at it did little damage. Furthermore, Israel’s restraint was seen by the Arab states, not as a sign of wisdom and restraint, but as a sign of weakness. This is a show that Israel cannot afford to repeat while engaged in its present struggle for its very existence...