On Nov 2, 2017 British and Israeli leaders met at a grand banquet in the majestic Lancaster House Mansion in London. The occasion was the 100th anniversary of a letter sent on Nov 2nd , 1917, during the First World War. The letter was penned by Lord Arthur James Balfour, then British Foreign Secretary, and sent to Lord Lionel Rothschild, British financier and one of the leaders of the Jewish community in Great Britain. Learn the remarkable history behind the Balfour declaration, the little document that changed the world.
Nowhere is the specter of war more probable than in the volatile Middle East. It’s a dangerous place when policymakers are, as Mikhail Gorbachev says, “confused and at a loss.” Conflicts that start small in one part of the world can quickly spread to all parts of the world. In effect, no place is safe! The tiny nation of Israel, and its chief city Jerusalem, are at the core of many Middle Eastern problems. Can Jerusalem survive the current and future volatility surrounding its very existence?
Pakistan is experiencing another outbreak of HIV among children whose parents do not have the disease! (BBC, May 21, 2019). Yet, this is not the first HIV outbreak among children in Pakistan as of late.
The Taiwan Strait and other waters off China are becoming areas of increasing confrontation. United States naval vessels have patrolled these waters in the name of keeping them open to international shipping. A recent “near miss” between a U.S. guided missile cruiser and a Russian destroyer has added to already heightened tensions in the region (Deutsche Welle, June 7, 2019). The U.S.
According to the Jerusalem Post, archaeologists from the University of Jerusalem recently unearthed a seal from the City of David bearing the inscription “(belonging) to Nathan-Melech, Servant of the King” (April 1, 2019). The seal is estimated to be about 2,600 years old and dates back to the time of King Josiah of Judah.