Yes, Israel will still be around in another 64 years, but we need to change our ways
Israeli Nobel winner Daniel Schechtman talks to David Horowitz of the Times of Israel about how he sees education as key to a successful future for the Jewish state.
Salaries are low and will stay so for the foreseeable future. Some Arab sectors have good educators, especially in chemistry. They can’t find jobs, so they become teachers. In some religious schools, they see teaching as a mission and so they’re not so worried by low salaries. But overall, this current system with colleges for teacher training is faulty. The government funds teaching training colleges per capita. If a college can attract 300 students, the government says, we’ll fund 300 students. So, of course the college will do everything to get 300 students. There are too many colleges and there’s competition for students. They accept everybody. And I mean everybody. That means low-quality entrants. The graduates can’t teach because they were not chosen properly.
The Arab springtime of nations?
Writing in Today’s Zaman, Shlomo Avineri looks at the way ahead for the Arab world in the wake of a year of revolution.
Simply put, a rosy outlook for countries like Egypt cannot be assumed on the basis of exhilarating images on CNN or Al Jazeera or the fact that masses of young, well-educated, English-speaking men and women are connected through Facebook and Twitter. The great majority of Egyptians were not in Tahrir Square, and many of them lack not only access to online social networks but also electricity and safe drinking water. Democracy and free speech are not at the top of their agenda.
In a wide-ranging interview, President Barack Obama talks to Jann S. Wenner of Rolling Stone about the upcoming election, racial politics, and, of course, the Middle East.
As for Iran, I came into office in 2009 saying, “Let’s see if we can end 30 years of mistrust between the United States and Iran.” That outstretched hand was rebuffed, in part, because Iran embarked on repression of its own people after the elections in 2009, and they continue to pursue a nuclear program that nobody in the international community believes is simply for peaceful purposes… There is a window of opportunity to resolve this issue diplomatically, and that is my fervent preference. There’s no reason why Iran shouldn’t be able to rejoin the community of nations and prosper. They have incredibly talented and sophisticated people there. But this continuing pursuit of nuclear weapons capability continues to be a major challenge, and it’s going to be consuming a lot of my time and energy over the next several months.
Mubarak’s Old Stalwarts Vie for Supremacy
Khairi Abaza of the National Interest takes a look at the battle for control of the country being waged via Egypt’s presidential election.
Wittingly or unwittingly, Tantawi enabled the Muslim Brotherhood to dominate the political scene in hopes of outmaneuvering Suleiman, but he soon found himself losing control of the country. And while the generals exchange recriminations with the Brotherhood in public, they cannot seem to cooperate with the intelligence and police forces—the only other people who can muster guns and international support.
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