The following are excerpts from an interview with Wafa Sultan, an Arab American psychologist from Los Angeles. It aired on Al Jazeera TV on Feb. 21, 2006.
The first time Dr. Ruth Eshel witnessed esketa (which means shoulder dance, in Amharic), she was astounded. “I knew immediately that this was something new and different, something I had never seen before,” Eshel said with enthusiasm over a cup of steaming coffee at Tel Aviv’s renowned Performing Arts Center. “For someone like me, who has been dancing and choreographing for many years, to see something entirely new was very refreshing,” she continued, smiling wider at the memory. Eshel’s dream of one day forming an Ethiopian dance troupe was rooted in that first experience as an awestruck spectator.
In September 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), the Global Warming Solutions Act, regulating greenhouse gas emissions throughout the state. This year, the California Air Resources Board will adopt mechanisms to reduce those emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 — a 25 percent reduction — and 80 percent below that by 2050. Such landmark legislation puts California ahead of the country in combating climate change, but critics question whether it will be too expensive to a state already under economic stress.
Wanted: Visionary leader and strong community-builder with a knack for reinventing century-old organizations. Tasks include directing a $50 million annual fundraising campaign, leading 20 social service agencies through a major change in how they are supported by the organization and strengthening relationships with well-heeled donors across a vast territory.
The British Foreign Office informed Israel that it will not supply replacement parts and other equipment for the Sa’ar 4.5 gunship because the fleet participated in Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip, Haaretz reported Monday.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.