Please click on Number for previous installments: 1, 2 The Crazy Restaurant Scene (c) Edwin Black TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s adversaries in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement [BDS] thought they could starve Israel through economic warfare that included even its food sector. Many remember the BDS furor over SodaStream, Sabra hummus, ordinary fruits
Israel’s Tourism Triumph, Part III Read More »
Edwin Black, Middle East, Travel and FoodEditor’s Note: This article is a short excerpt from Alon Ben-Meir’s latest essay, “Preventing an Israeli-Iran War,” published in the May 2019 issue of American Diplomacy. The full-length essay is available by clicking here By Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK — Accusing Iran of being a rogue country bent on acquiring nuclear weapons, supporting extremist groups
OpEd: Iran and Israel face peace or war dilemma Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USABy Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel — “The term anti-Semitism was coined in 1879 by the German agitator [and Jew hater] Wilhelm Marr to designate the anti-Jewish campaigns under way in central Europe at that time. Although the term now has wide currency, it is a misnomer, since it implies a discrimination against all Semites.
The four sources of Jew hatred Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle East, Steve Kramer, USAAsylum by Moriz Scheyer (Translated by P.N. Singer); Little, Brown and Company, 2016 By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Written at the time of the actual events, this powerful book starts by describing the atmosphere in Vienna before the Anschluss by Nazi Germany, followed by the author’s flight, together with his wife and non-Jewish housekeeper, who
Book Review: ‘Asylum’ Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish HistoryBy Rabbi Joshua Dorsch SAN DIEGO — This has been somewhat of a surreal few days for the San Diego Jewish community. From Pittsburgh to Sri Lanka, over the past few months we have heard about attacks on houses of worship. While we gathered together and mourned with faith communities around the world, the attacks
‘Baseless love’ must replace ‘baseless hate’ Read More »
Jewish Religion, San Diego County, USA
By Toby Tabachnick Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — I ran into an old friend about three weeks after the Tree of Life massacre, a former Pittsburgher, who wanted to talk about the events of Oct. 27. In particular, she wanted to know about one of the survivors, someone with whom she had grown up.
Pittsburgh 6 months later: ‘We are not okay’ Read More »
Jewish History, USABy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — One of my congregants posed an interesting question we ought to consider asking: What would Rev Martin Luther King Jr. have said about the Poway synagogue shooting? It is an important question—not just for members of the Jewish community, but also for the African-American community. Throughout
What MLK would say about the Poway Chabad shooting Read More »
Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA
By Carol Greenwald CHEVY CHASE, Maryland — Jewish Democrats must decide: Trump’s pro-Israel policies, or the increasingly anti-Israel policies of the Democratic Party. (May 1, 2019 / JNS) The next president of the United States will be able to reverse nearly every one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s pro-Israel actions because most of them have
Would Democrats reverse Trump’s pro-Israel positions? Read More »
Middle East, USABy David Harris NEW YORK — In the Jewish tradition, we are commanded to remember (zachor) and not to forget (lo tishkach). This week we commemorate Yom HaShoah, the Day of Holocaust Remembrance. On this solemn occasion, 74 years after the end of World War II: We remember the six million Jewish martyrs, including 1.5
Yom Hashoah: We Remember Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle East, USABy Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort CARLSBAD, California — I just returned from an evening spent with my colleague, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein. Although wounded on Saturday, he was up late fielding phone calls, making plans, and sitting with some old colleagues (one of whom is me). Rabbi Goldstein stared death in the face; the rifle of the
Local Chabad rabbis to attend National Prayer Fete Read More »
Jewish Religion, Travel and Food, USA, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi
NEW YORK (Press Release) — His Excellency, Dr. Mohammad Abdulkarim Al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League, will become the most senior Islamic leader to visit the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. The trip is a key element of a historic memorandum of understanding signed by Dr. Al-Issa and American Jewish Committee CEO David
Muslim World League, AJC sign pact Read More »
International, Middle East, USABy Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — While our president must do “some very heavy research…(to) get to the bottom of it,” most Americans figured it out instantly: A deranged person had access to firearms, in this case an assault rifle. The maniac murdered Lori Gilbert Kaye, 60, and injured three others on Saturday by
Poway shooting again raises issue of gun control Read More »
Middle East, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, Jared Kushner, one of the administration’s point men on the Middle East, dispensed with the term “two-state solution” in its impending peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians. “The two-state solution has failed,” he said. Not for lack of trying. The “two-state solution” does not appear in
The reality of the two-state solution Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USABy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –Congresswoman Ilhan Omar never ceases to surprise us with the countless inane claims she makes on a daily basis. In one of her more interesting canards, she claimed that “Jesus was a Palestinian.” One might imagine that she will soon claim that the Israelites were also really
Jihadi Islam’s campaign to erase religious history Read More »
International, Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, USA