Haaretz

Haaretz (Hebrew: הארץ‎) (lit. "The Land [of Israel]", originally Ḥadashot Ha'aretz – Hebrew: חדשות הארץ‎, IPA: [χadaˈʃot haˈʔaʁets] – "News [of] the Land [of Israel]") is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International New York Times. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet. In North America, it comes out as a weekly newspaper, combining articles from the Friday edition with a roundup from the rest of the week. It is known for its staunch left-wing and liberal stances on domestic and foreign issues.

History and ownership

Haaretz was first published in 1918 as a newspaper sponsored by the British military government in Palestine. In 1919, it was taken over by a group of socialist-oriented Zionists, mainly from Russia. The newspaper was established on 18 June 1919 by a group of businessmen including prominent philanthropist Isaac Leib Goldberg, and initially, it was called Hadashot Ha'aretz ("News of the Land"). Later, the name was shortened to Haaretz. The literary section of the paper attracted leading Hebrew writers of the time.

International Peace Conference

The International Peace Conference was an anti-war conference held on December 10, 2005. It was organised by the Stop the War Coalition (StWC), and included speakers from Iraq, the United States, and Italy.

The conference sold out a week before its occurrence, leaving many people who wished to attend the conference disappointed. 1,500 tickets were sold for the event, which was held in the Royal Horticultural Hall in Vincent Square, London. The conference began at 10 a.m. and ended at 8 p.m. 33 people spoke from the platform in four different sessions. In an unusual move, media organisations were made to pay to attend the conference. According to a StWC spokesperson, this was because the coalition had little funds, and the conference was costing £25,000 to put on.

The conference was opened by the veteran Labour Party campaigner Tony Benn. Benn told the conference delegates that the anti-war movement which is calling for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq is the biggest he had seen in this lifetime.