All posts tagged: Abraham

Trump links Abraham Accords to Iran deal

Trump links Abraham Accords to Iran deal

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he asked Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan to join the Abraham Accords en masse to normalize relations with Israel as he tries to negotiate an agreement to end the war with Iran. Pakistan rejected the proposal. None of the other countries has so far publicly reacted to Trump’s demand and a positive response was unlikely when the public mistrust of Israel in these Muslim nations remains high over the scale of its military offensive in Gaza. Trump said he spoke on Saturday to leaders of those countries, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which have already signed the accords, a set of agreements to normalize relations with Israel. “I am mandatorily requesting that all Countries immediately sign the Abraham Accords, and that, if Iran signs its Agreement with me, as President of the United States of America, it would be an Honor to have them also be part of this unparalleled World Coalition,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. …

Middle East war live: Trump urges Saudi Arabia, Qatar to sign Abraham Accords in Iran peace push

Middle East war live: Trump urges Saudi Arabia, Qatar to sign Abraham Accords in Iran peace push

Published by Sam Flores

25/05/2026 – 15:30 Israeli opposition leader Lapid says Trump’s emerging deal with Iran is ‘bad for the region’ The peace deal being discussed between the US and Iran fails to achieve any of Israel’s goals for the war, Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Monday, as he accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to influence a better agreement. Lapid, who is part of an alliance attempting to unseat Netanyahu in elections this year, said details of the emerging deal are “disturbing”. “The deal is bad for Israel, bad for the region, bad for the citizens of Iran,” Lapid told reporters in Jerusalem. According to regional officials, under the current deal being discussed Iran would give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz in exchange for ending a US blockade of Iranian ports and the lifting of sanctions against Iran. Key details on Iran’s nuclear program would then be negotiated during a 60-day period. It is unclear if the deal will address Iran’s missiles or support for …

Abraham Foxman was a warrior against hate. His work is hardly complete.

Abraham Foxman was a warrior against hate. His work is hardly complete.

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Right about now, the angels in the world to come are tearing their hair out. That is because Abraham Foxman has arrived. They will never know what hit them. Abe Foxman, the longtime national director of the Anti-Defamation League, died Sunday (May 10) at the age of 86. He joined the organization in 1965 — fresh out of New York University Law School — and served for 50 years, 28 of them as national director. He made the ADL into one of the world’s foremost civil rights advocacy organizations and was the unquestioned dean of the alphabet soup system of Jewish legacy organizations. And, I dare say that even he could not have predicted the wave of antisemitism we are now experiencing — the very thing he spent his entire life fighting against. About 13 years ago, during a professional transition, I spent a year working for the ADL. I had long admired its mission and its purpose. I appreciated how their scope went far beyond antisemitism in how they protested discrimination against …

Abraham Foxman, antisemitism umpire for the ADL, dies at 86

Abraham Foxman, antisemitism umpire for the ADL, dies at 86

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — People used to joke that Abraham Foxman, the longtime national director of the Anti-Defamation League, was the “Jewish pope” for his frequent comments on any attack on Jews around the world. A better description might be top cop. During the late 20th century, Foxman — who died Sunday (May 10) at age 86 — was one of the most recognized American Jewish leaders for his regular pronouncements whenever he perceived antisemitism. As the national director of the ADL for almost three decades, he built up the organization into a formidable agency that tracked antisemitism and other forms of extremism. His successor, Jonathan Greenblatt, described him as “an iconic Jewish leader who embraced the ideal of an America free from antisemitism and hate and who strongly believed that these scourges could be defeated if good people opposed it,” in a statement mourning his death.  Abraham Foxman. (Photo courtesy of ADL) The American Jewish Committee in a statement said, “Abe brought moral clarity, courage, and unwavering conviction to generations of advocacy and leadership.” To New …

Tom Hanks to Play Abraham Lincoln in ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’ Movie

Tom Hanks to Play Abraham Lincoln in ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’ Movie

Published by Daniella Wilson

Tom Hanks is set to take on Honest Abe. The Oscar-winning performer will portray former President Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln in the Bardo, a feature adaptation of author George Saunders’ best-selling 2017 novel. Duke Johnson is directing the film that is a hybrid of live-action and stop-motion animation. Hanks will appear as a live-action version of the 16th U.S. President for the film that is currently in production in London. Johnson, who co-directed the Oscar-nominated 2015 animated feature Anomalisa, helms Lincoln in the Bardo from a script by Saunders. Lincoln in the Bard centers on Lincoln’s relationship with his recently deceased 11-year-old son Willie Lincoln. Producers include Hanks and Gary Goetzman for Playtone, along with Johnson, Devon Young Rabinowitz and Paul Young for Starburns Industries. Saunders, Steven Shareshian and Aaron Mitchell are executive producing. Saunders’ acclaimed novel won the 2017 Booker Prize. Hanks’ recent features include The Phoenician Scheme, Here and Freaky Tales. He reprises his voice role of cowboy Woody in Pixar’s Toy Story 5, set for release this summer from Disney, and also …

Mike Johnson’s biblical defense of US border policy ignores the Bible’s stance on power

Mike Johnson’s biblical defense of US border policy ignores the Bible’s stance on power

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — In the middle of a recent 3 a.m. doomscroll — yes, we clergy are as susceptible as anyone — I ran across clips of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, invoking the New Testament to defend U.S. border policy against Pope Leo XIV’s comments about the moral obligations Christians bear toward migrants. Johnson’s argument was a familiar one, citing Paul’s Letter to the Romans to suggest that Christians are called to submit to governing authorities, whose responsibility it is to preserve order through law. That Scripture, Johnson claimed, means migrants are to be welcomed, yes, but only on the condition that they assimilate. Unable to fall back asleep, I did what Anglican clergy do when the night runs out: I turned to Morning Prayer. As if by providence — or perhaps irony — the Old Testament reading appointed for the Daily Office that morning was the Book of Genesis, chapter 23, in which Abraham negotiates for a burial plot for his wife, Sarah, in a foreign land. Reading it with Johnson’s appeal to …