Opinion

Jewish Community Must Assume a Stronger Role Lobbying for Gun-Safety Laws

By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — After news broke that three children and three adults were gunned down in Nashville, I spent some time perusing the Anti-Defamation League’s lengthy report on antisemitic incidents last year. It covered much ground, and one could say that nothing about it disturbed me. There was nothing about gun-safety laws […]

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Bruce Ticker, Opinion, USA

Waiting and Wondering in Israel

By Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended new  judicial reform legislation until after the holidays. That means until close to the end of this month. Meanwhile, demonstrations continue around the country, with tens, if not hundreds of thousands gathering to protest what may happen when the suspension ends. Criticism continues, focused

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Ira Sharkansky, Israel, Opinion

Strength in Adversity

By Doron Krakow Over the past few days, a series of remarkable gatherings took place across the continent—gatherings of hundreds of Jewish Community Center professionals from dozens of JCCs, centers, and camps representing different regions of our movement. Programs and settings varied, but each one focused on skill-building while addressing emerging challenges around programs, operations,

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Doron Krakow, Lifestyles, Opinion, USA

Israeli Democracy is Still Under Threat, Even if Netanyahu Has Hit the ‘Pause’ Button

Published by The Philadelphia Inquirer The urgent threat to Israeli democracy that brought that entire country to a halt on Sunday is far from over. True, there is a lull. Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu was compelled to delay passage of legislation that would have dramatically weakened Israel’s Supreme Court because of opposition by hundreds

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Opinion

Big-Mouth Profs ‘Dare to Dissent’

By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — It would take someone like Carolyn McCoy to explain the words of Kareem Tannous, a terminated college professor whom she defends in a letter published last Friday in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Tweets the biz prof on International Holocaust Remembrance Day: “#zionism is the disease #Free Palestine is the cure

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Bruce Ticker, Israel, Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Should Israel’s Top Judges Be Ideologically Aligned?

By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — In a speech on the evening of March 23, 2023, after mass disruptions (a “Day of Paralysis”) were held throughout Israel, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu stated that his government was, “determined to responsibly advance a reform that will bring back the correct balance between the branches [courts &

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Israel, Opinion, Steve Kramer, USA

A Stream of Consciousness About the Ever-Changing Values of Our World

*Editor’s note: This column is posted posthumously. By Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — I recently read about a Missouri Congressman who was among the majority that voted on a new rule forbidding women from entering the chamber with bare arms, requiring them to cover up. My initial reaction was: “Here we go

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Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz, Opinion

On Armenia-Azerbaijan Tensions, Don’t Take the Headlines at Face Value

By Jacob Kamaras LA JOLLA, California — San Diego was thrust into the foreign policy spotlight last week when President Joe Biden as well as the prime ministers of the U.K. and Australia convened here to announce a submarine security pact. But another, often-overlooked region of the world is also on the White House’s radar

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California, International, Jacob Kamaras, Opinion, USA

Why Israel’s Status Quo Works

To the editor: Bruce Ticker asks: How can Israel retain the Judea-Samaria territories “without the loss of life,” since “the Palestinians compose the largest population grouping there?” And what about “the risks and benefits of building [Jewish] communities there?” he wonders. This is exactly the dilemma that faced Yitzhak Rabin when he became prime minister

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Israel, Opinion

What Price Annexation?

By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — The surest way to upset readers when writing about Israel is to trip over semantics. The surest way to upset me is to focus on semantics without addressing the larger issues facing Israel. I was zinged by no less an activist and writer than Stephen M. Flatow, whose daughter

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Bruce Ticker, Israel, Opinion