The Truthful Project

 As appeared in my Times of Israel Blog . The recent article “ Israel’s Hunt for One Elusive Militant Brings Gaza Tactics to West Bank ” By Omar Abdel-Baqui and Fatima AbdulKarim ( The Wall Street Journal , April 24, 2024) is missing some important “context” as it paints a sympathetic picture of Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade commander,   Abdulla Abu Shalal. The reporters state that “ Israel is deploying wartime tactics against militants in some of the 19 refugee camps that still dot the West Bank over 75 years after Israel’s founding displaced more than 700,000 Palestinians. The camps are now dense urban environments marked by poverty and longing by residents to return to family homes in what is now Israel.” The reporters do not put this into the following context: ·        The displaced were lured by the governments of the invading Arab (Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and others) armies to leave their homes in Palestine with the promise that once t...

This appeared on Arutz Sheva Israel National News .   The definition of “unique,” is markedly different from “unusual,” “rare,” or even “uncommon.” Unique means: ‘one of a kind.’ There is no other. Something unique stands, and falls, alone. A quick internet search shows that practically no other country (except perhaps only Holland and Finland) connects their Memorial Day (Yom HaZikaron) and Independence Day (Yom HaAtzmaut) the way Israel does in a two-day event; somber memorial day into festive independence celebration. The ceremonies at key sites throughout Israel to remember and honor those who gave their lives are moving and significant. And because of their sacrifices throughout the recent past, and the unfortunate still continuing efforts of our enemies to destroy and kill all of us, we can experience that unique Israeli transition from the solemness of Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Remembrance Day) to the joy and celebration of Yom HaAtzmaut. It is movingly televised live from Har...

As appeared on my Times of Israel Blog  The new Netflix block buster “Testament: The Story of Moses,” is a docudrama retelling the Exodus with commentary from religious leaders across a variety of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim denominations. The limited series mixes dramatized scenes and traditional footage of experts and, historical evidence. While the dramatizations sometimes take liberties in comparison to the actual Biblical text, it is an attempt to be both entertaining and true to the overall story. A few reviews have cited “mediocre” visual effects, biblical inaccuracies, and claims of empty attempts to anachronistically interpret Moses’s story as one of social justice. One of the comments that jumped out at me was one of historical inaccuracy that carried with it a potentially politically charged hidden message. Dr. Monica Hana Assoc Prof, College of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage,  states [at time stamp 27:19 in Episode 1]  “…he [Ramses II] leads several cam...