International

Israelis’ Stockholm syndrome

Many, perhaps most, Israelis seem to think that it’s time for Netanyahu to resign. He doesn’t appear to think so, but it’s not clear that he’ll be able to stay in office. Unless a government is formed in the next few days, Israel will go to elections again. As they seem to abhor the idea of having to go to the polls for a third time within the year, they’ll blame Netanyahu for it and his Likud party may do badly, despite the fans afflicted by the Stockholm syndrome. Let’s hope that parliamentary colleagues will move heaven and earth to avoid elections and join the Blue and White party in forming a unity government. But will they succeed? [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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Middle East

JFS plans 4th ‘Safe Parking’ facility for homeless

Jewish Family Service is in the process of contracting for its fourth “Safe Parking” area for homeless persons who live in their motor vehicles.  Three such areas are located in the City of San Diego –  on Balboa Avenue, Aero Drive, and near the SDCCU stadium.  The fourth, if given final approval Dec. 18 by the Encinitas City Council, will be located at the Leichtag Commons on Saxony Road. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Trouble at the top in U.S., Israel

Scholars are asking if the various checks and balances of the US are strong enough to deal with a President who seems to be breaking a lot of the rules. We’ll see if his disregard for realities, truth, and the revelation of his tax returns, along with all the other charges continue to attract enough of the poorly educated Whites to give him another four years. Here in Israel the process is more clearly legal than political, but certainly with its political elements. [Ira Sharkansky, PhD]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Jew hatred dressed in academic clothing

In a country where multiculturalism has a reverent following and criticism of protected minorities has essentially been criminalized as “hate speech,” it is more than ironic that on some Canadian campuses radical students have taken it upon themselves to target one group, Jewish students, with a hatred that is nominally forbidden for any others. And with a recent incident that took place on November 20th, York University, in particular, has now revealed a troubling pattern of tolerating physical and emotional assaults by pro-Palestinian radicals against Jewish students and others who dare to demonstrate any support for Israel or question the tactics of Islamists in their efforts to destroy the Jewish state. [Richard L. Cravatts, PhD]

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International, Middle East, Richard L. Cravatts, Science, Medicine, & Education

Peters joins critics of State Dept’s Israel policy

Congressman Scott Peters (D-San Diego) was the only member of the county’s congressional delegation to sign on to a letter drafted by Rep. Andy Levin (D-Michigan) that rebuked the State Department for its recent decision to reverse American policy that had opposed Israeli settlements in the West Bank, an area also known as Judea and Samaria. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Dueling movies and the case against torture

“I’m not in favor of torture,” Dershowitz writes, “but if you’re going to have it, it should damn well have court approval.” His claim is that if we are, in fact, going to torture then it ought to be done in accordance with law: for tolerating torture while pronouncing it illegal is hypocritical. In other words, democratic liberalism ought to own up to its own activities, according to Dershowitz. If torture is, indeed, a reality then it should be done with accountability. There are, however, significant problems with the reasoning behind torture-warrants [Sam Ben-Meir, PhD]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Middle East, Sam Ben-Meir, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

What local Jewish candidates are telling voters

From time to time, we’ll be checking the websites, Facebook pages, and news releases of local Jewish candidates to see what they are emphasizing to voters.  As they are competing in contests for federal, state, county, and city offices, it is natural that they address different kinds of issues. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, The World We Share

JFS official tells DHS abuses of asylum seekers

Attorney Kate Clark, who serves as the senior director of immigration services for Jewish Family Service, told a congressional panel on Friday that officials of the Department of Homeland Security at the southern border routinely ignore DHS’s own regulations concerning the protection of unaccompanied minors and individuals with significant medical issues. Furthermore, she said, the Remain-in-Mexico program “has caused unnecessary suffering and harm to over 55,000 asylum seekers forced to return to Mexico and has completely overwhelmed the U.S. immigration courts. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

$200m offered in match for Rady Children’s Hospital

In the past, philanthropists Ernest and Evelyn Rady donated $60 million and $120 million to Children’s Hospital, which renamed itself as Rady Children’s Hospital.  Now, the married philanthropists have offered to outdo themselves.  They promised to match $200 million in donations from other people in an effort to create a $400 million Rady Reimagine Fund to chart and implement the pediatric hospital’s growth. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food

The political cost Netanyahu inflicted on Israel

The long-anticipated indictment of Prime Minister Netanyahu has finally come to pass today (Thursday, Nov. 21). For three years, Netanyahu spared no effort to scuttle three criminal cases against him, but failed. These charges and their implications have now become rather clear. They have occupied Netanyahu’s thinking as to how to save himself and maintain his position as Prime Minister. They have impacted Israel’s policies, in particular toward the Palestinians, and without a doubt the charges have adversely impacted Netanyahu’s efforts to form a government following the last two elections. [Alon Ben-Meir, PhD]

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Alon Ben-Meir, Middle East

Historian tells of FDR’s anti-Semitism

Vice President Henry Wallace, an eye-witness to the event, recorded in his diary that when President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill met in mid-1943, Churchill raised the “Jewish question” to which Roosevelt replied the Jews should be spread as thinly as possible all over the world, noting that he tried this method where he lived—Meriwether County, Georgia and Hyde Park, New York and his neighbors appreciated it. This anecdote encapsulates the mindset of Franklin Roosevelt. [Fred Reiss, EdD]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, International, Jewish History, USA

Drop Netanyahu prosecution if he resigns

There’s, therefore, a case for dropping charges against him on the understanding that, having just celebrated his 70th birthday, it’s time for him to retire and make money on the American lecture circuit. His friend Professor Alan Dershowitz, the distinguished jurist famous for having defended dubious characters in the United States, has argued that, from a legal point of view, Netanyahu hasn’t done anything wrong, implying that the prime minister’s contention that the police and the judiciary are after him may be justified. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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Middle East