By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Israel and the United States are at another hiccup, or maybe something more. Catherine Ashton, serving as the European Union’s foreign minister and the chair of a meeting in Istanbul between Iran and representatives of Britain, France, Germany, Russia, the United States and China, is upbeat after the first
Tension increases between U.S. and Israel over Iran Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, USA
By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM –I surmise that most of the media in the Diaspora that report on Israel will describe the way the Government of Israel handled the “flytilla” earlier this week to have been not only successful but also prudent. That’s not the only impression I get here. To recap: Several hundred activists
How did Israel handle ‘flytilla?’ Depends on whom you ask Read More »
Middle EastDear Chancellor Reed, Over two months ago, 1,800 members and supporters of the California Jewish community — including hundreds of CSU students, parents, alumni, and donors — signed a letter to you expressing their outrage over the University-hosted web pages of CSU Northridge Mathematics professor David Klein, which include anti-Semitic material promoting the economic, cultural and academic boycott of the Jewish
AMCHA’s open letter to CSU Chancellor Reed Read More »
USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — A lick of historicism would serve the Obama administration well in its much-too-friendly relationship with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and other manifestations of the Arab uprising. There is a political space between going to war with countries that do not share our democratic norms and principles, and embracing them
U.S. should oppose Islamic dictatorships as it did Soviet ones Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USA
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Only a 15-minute walk from our home in French Hill is Mt Scopus. That is the site of the Social Science Faculty and several other units of the Hebrew University. A half-hour walk around the perimeter of Mt Scopus–outside the campus–is a good way to spend a cool morning.
A walking tour of Jerusalem with Ira Sharkansky Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Isaac Yetiv LA JOLLA, California–Years ago we were regaled with a “wardrobe incident” on TV : a female performer “inadvertently” uncovered her breast. Days ago, a similar kind of incident occurred. It was a “mike incident” (microphone kept on while speakers thought it was off) , showing the president of the United States whispering to the president
Obama made cynical anti-missile promise to Medvedev Read More »
USA
By Cynthia Citron SAN DIEGO — Not since Mel Brooks’ outrageous Springtime for Hitler has there been a Holocaust musical as ill-conceived and badly performed as No Time to Weep, now onstage at L.A.’s Matrix Theater. No Time to Weep is the autobiography of a sweet, eternally upbeat Czech poet, Lucy Deutsch, who survived Auschwitz, came
Holocaust musical is poorly conceived Read More »
Cynthia CitronSAN DIEGO — Two of the four candidates for mayor of San Diego are Jewish, although their political viewpoints are quite different. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis is a Republican and Congressman Bob Filner is a Democrat. Craig Gustafson, a writer for U-T San Diego, has profiled both of them. Here is a link to his
UT stories on Dumanis, Filner emphasize overcoming rejection Read More »
San Diego CalendarBy Cynthia Citron SANTA MONICA, California — Unless you’re an aficionado of the ups and downs of the Russian Revolution of the early 20th century, it’s very hard to keep track of the players without a scorecard. Take the White Army. Anti-Communist, anti-Bolshevik, anti-Semitic, and loyal to the Russian Empire of the Tsar, they were
Baryshnikov stars and even dances in ‘In Paris’ Read More »
Cynthia Citron
Staff Report SAN DIEGO — An era for the San Diego Jewish community came to an end Saturday morning with the passing of Gertrude (Gert) Shelley Thaler, who was pronounced dead of heart failure in the emergency room of Scripps Memorial Hospital. Born to pioneer San Diegans, George and Anna Shelley, Thaler was a graduate of San
Death of Gert Thaler, 91, ends a San Diego Jewish era Read More »
San Diego County
By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON, California — Whimsy was a theme of Grossmont College’s two-day festival celebrating its 50th anniversary. An old-fashioned sock hop in the college’s gymnasium on Friday, April 13, looked back to the college’s founding in 1962, and students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends gave the “old college try” on
Grossmont festival marks college’s golden anniversary Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish HistoryBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM– I’ve believed for a long time that the greatest danger that the Jewish state is currently facing doesn’t come from the outer threat of Iranian nukes but from within, particularly from the continued expansion of the settlements. I thought I saw ample evidence of it when my wife and I spent
Palestinian Jew-hatred a major threat to peace Read More »
Middle East
By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — Dear Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington, Can you guys maybe start to leave Anne Frank out of your comedy routines? Okay, some of your fans are laughing, but I’m not: why did the Holocaust diarist become a subject for mirth? Yes, that Anne Frank, the teenage girl who
Open letter to Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington Read More »
Travel and Food
By David Brin ENCINITAS, California–The brilliance of Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes, Prince Waleed and their clade really impresses me. Twenty years ago, they were subsidizing Rush Limbaugh and the neoconservatives to spread what’s become the core notion of today’s right. (Though it also crops up on the far-left!) The notion that assertions can trump facts.
Right-wing assertions drive you bonkers? Offer to bet! Read More »
USA