Israel

Mar 22 2013

He’s awarded Israel’s Presidential Medal of Distinction

JERUSALEM—Look at the world through the eyes of Palestinians, President Barack Obama said Thursday in a speech to Israelis that followed his visit to the West Bank to raise the American profile in the Middle East peace process.

The address in Jerusalem laid out Obama’s vision of a Jewish state and Palestinian state existing side-by-side in peace, and he called on young Israelis to pressure their leaders to work for such a future.

Oct 13 2011

“Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace”

Entertainment executive, lawyer, and former NAACP board member Andrew Tollin debuts his first feature film, a documentary on the 1979 Camp David Peace Accords and Treaty between Egypt and Israel. It opens tomorrow at the Laemmle Music Hall 3 theater in Beverly Hills and screens through Oct. 20. “Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace” is the true story of the men who brought an unprecedented period of peace to the Middle East. Tollin is releasing the film through his Channel Productions Films. 

Apr 18 2011

Begins at sundown

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Passover, which celebrates what the Old Testament describes as God's deliverance of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, begins at sundown today with observant Jews in the Southland and around the world gathering for a feast called a Seder.

Seders feature six symbolic foods, including matzo, a cracker-like unleavened bread symbolizing the Exodus from the land of pharaoh, when there was not enough time to let the bread rise. Jews are not supposed to eat anything leavened during the holiday period.

Stanley O. Williford  |   OW Editor
Feb 17 2011

Has conducted excavations, surveys in 42 countries

Willie E. Dye, Ph.D., is a biblical archaeologist, and he might be the only African American in the field. No one seems to know of another one.

But digging for artifacts around the world is just part of what Dye does. Most archaeologists devote their time to teaching, but Dye also does field work at digs, teaching and research.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”