By Alan Elsner WASHINGTON, D.C – Over the past few decades, a strange affliction has seized the American Jewish community. As part of a people who pride themselves on questioning everything, debating everything and taking nothing at face value, we have suddenly become speechless when it comes to Israel. Many of our leaders regard it […]
American Jews need not be silent about Israel Read More »
USAEU report recommends boycott of Israeli products (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The European Union has recommended that its 27 member states “prevent” all financial transactions that support Israel’s Jewish communities in the West Bank. In its “Jerusalem Report 2012,” an internal report written by the EU mission heads in Jerusalem and Ramallah, the European
JNS news briefs: February 27, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Yehuda Bauer is one of Israel’s internationally recognized historians. His special fields of research include the Holocaust, genocide and anti-Semitism. His latest book is a collection of popular essays which he’s said to be currently translating into English, probably under the title, The Impossible People. In an essay that
Differentiating anti-Semitism from loving self-criticism Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — In the westerns that I saw as a kid, at a cost of $0.25 on Saturday afternoons, the meaning of “speaking with forked tongues” was clear. White man lied to the Indian. The Hebrew equivalent is כפל לשון (keffel lashon), double tongue. The Palestinian leadership is speaking in כפל לשון.
The deceitful words of international politics Read More »
Middle EastSusan Sherman, The Little Russian, Counterpoint © 2012, ISBN 978-1-61902-070-2, 332 pages, $15.95 By Donald H. Harrison This is an epic about Jewish survival in anti-Semitic Russia, in which the protagonist, Berta Lorkis, evolves from a self-important but poor relation in a rich relative’s home to a brave, self-sacrificing, single mother willing to risk
Survival in anti-Semitic, early 20th-century Russia Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Evelyn Gordon When massive protests forced Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon in 2005, it seemed that Lebanon had finally been liberated from foreign domination. But the liberation proved illusory: The country remained in thrall to Hezbollah, which took its orders from Iran and Syria. Hezbollah’s dominance was dramatically demonstrated in
Putting an end to Hezbollah Read More »
Middle EastProtesters decry Argentina-Iran bombing investigation (JNS.org) A crowd of people came out to protest in front of the Argentinian Consulate General in midtown Manhattan on Monday against an agreement Argentina recently signed with Iran to create a “truth commission” investigating the 1994 Buenos Aires bombing of the AMIA Jewish communal building, in which 85 people were
JNS news briefs: February 26, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy David Amos SAN DIEGO — Do we want it to be all-candy for the ears, or do we want it to provoke us? To challenge us and create an emotional response? Would we accept to go to a theatre play, or watch a film, or read a novel where everybody is sweet, everybody
What do we want from classical music? Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Stipulating that foreign aid can be an important part of American foreign policy, and further that trade is an important component of U.S. foreign policy; Secretary of State John Kerry made two really important mistakes in his maiden speech, delivered to a fawning audience of American University students.
Kerry’s American University speech indicates off-course policy Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USABy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Netanyahu and his supporters received an unexpected gift from Hollywood: neither of the two Israeli documentaries got an Oscar. Both are highly critical of Israeli government policies as the films testify to the country’s commitment to democracy that allows such open and explicit criticism of its government
The growing cost of Mideast stalemate Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Palestinian unrest is competing with domestic unrest about the Haredim as the principal items in Israel’s media. Has the third intifada already started? Is it only a matter of time? It appears that the Palestinian leadership on the West Bank has no desire for a full blown rebellion. They know
The recipe for Palestinian violence Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Sandi Masori SAN DIEGO – Near the entrance to Fashion Valley mall, you might see what, judging by the “True Food” name, could be a grocery store. Then you might notice the spacious outdoor seating area and a herb garden. Inside you would see spacious restaurant seating along with an open kitchen concept,
True Food Kitchen truly worth a try Read More »
San Diego CountyIsrael: PA inciting riots ahead of Obama’s visit (JNS.org) Further riots and possible calls for violence erupted on Monday following the death of a Palestinian man in an Israeli prison over the weekend. Hundreds of Palestinians hurled rocks at Israeli security forces during the funeral procession of Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jaradat, who died in
JNS briefs: February 25, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Purim is here once more. For me, it is a bitter-sweet holiday. The year was 1996. Earlier that day, I went to the hospital to wish my father a “Freilach Purim” (Happy Purim). I was reading the Megillah for my synagogue, when suddenly, somebody informed
A Survivor chooses the day to die Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi