Anti-Semitism
Mossad and Morality on FilmWednesday, September 7, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Most films conform to conventions that reflect the attitudes of their filmmakers, and films about the Mossad, or Israel Secret Intelligence Service, are no different. Hollywood's latest is a well-acted exploration of Israeli intelligence failures, moral ambiguities, and, of course, Jewish guilt.
Peace Treaty TroublesTuesday, September 6, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
With Turkish-Israel relations at a nadir, ties with Jordan practically on life support, the push for UN recognition of a Palestinian state, and the security threats stemming from Iran and its proxies, it's no wonder that Jerusalem has been considering taking exceptional steps to preserve its cold peace with Cairo.
Libya and the JewsWednesday, August 31, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
There are reasons for Jews to view the fall of Muammar Qaddafi with satisfaction: A bizarre and dangerous enemy of the West and Israel is on the verge of defeat, and the Libyan people may be on the threshold of freedom. But, as in Egypt, the second Arab Spring in Libya looks like a mixed blessing.
Jews against ZionismTuesday, August 30, 2011 by Lawrence Grossman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
It will come as a surprise to many that the current adamant Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state was once American policy. An even greater surprise is that an American rabbi and the Jewish organization he headed played a major role in the government's articulation of that policy.
Demonizing Glenn BeckFriday, August 26, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Few American public figures equal Glenn Beck in his ability to inspire loathing from his enemies and affection from his admirers. Beck was in Israel this past week for a series of public events—in effect, revival meetings. He called the tour "Restoring Courage."
Hidden MasterThursday, August 25, 2011 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The saddest saga in Jewish literary history involves some 500 Soviet Yiddish artists who were stolen away by Stalin's henchmen in the late 1940's. They met a tragic fate after twenty years under a relentlessly repressive regime whose creation they had greeted with utopian fervor.
Who Speaks for Israeli Arabs?Wednesday, August 24, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Historians writing about Israel's 1948 fight for independence generally place heavy responsibility for the Palestinian Arab refugee problem on the Arab leaders who urged their people to flee Palestine temporarily until the Zionists were driven into the sea.
Too Many Museums?Tuesday, August 23, 2011 by Diana Muir Appelbaum | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Although the paint is still wet on Philadelphia's National Museum of American Jewish History, an announcement has just been made of a planned National Museum of the Jewish People in Washington, D.C., steps from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and not far from two other Jewish museums.
Get Ready for Durban IIIOn September 22, one month from today, world bodies will gather at the UN General Assembly in New York on the 10th anniversary of the UN World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa.
Crown Heights in the MirrorThursday, August 18, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On the evening of August 19, 1991, the three-car motorcade of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, entered the intersection of President Street and Utica Avenue in Brooklyn.
Editors' Picks
Intellectual Guilt Jonathan S. Tobin, Contentions. The spate of attacks on French Jews since the Toulouse massacre flows from not just the anti-Semitism of Arab leaders but its legitimation by the European intelligentsia.
Bild-ing Zion Igal Avidan, Times of Israel. A new Frankfurt exhibition asks, why did Axel Springer, Christian publisher of the German newspaper Bild, openly take sides with the Jewish people after World War II?
Not Just Peace Barry Gewen, New Republic. Citing various instances of individual reconciliation, a new book questions the so-called clash of civilizations between Islam and the West. But personal anecdotes are no guide to statecraft.
Missing Mubarak Jacky Hougy, Globes. As Egypt passes sentence on Mubarak, some in Israel are mourning an ally. But Mubarak was no friend of Israel—and the military dictatorship which he led still holds the levers of power.
Good Story; Bad History Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, Standpoint. With its allegations of Allied brutality and Jewish revenge during and after World War II, Keith Lowe's Savage Continent is certainly fashionable. Too bad it isn't accurate.
The Other Olympics David E. Sanger, New York Times. The U.S. cyberwarfare program (likely working with an Israeli partner) has frustrated Iran's nuclear project for six years. But now that the virus is loose, America must be braced for retaliation.
Trippingly on the Tongue Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz. In one day, Obama aroused public ire by referring both to "Polish death camps" and to his superior knowledge of Judaism. He might tackle shmirat halashon as his next area of Jewish study.
Jews of Yemen, Get Out! Lyn Julius, Times of Israel. The few dozen Jews who remain in Yemen—many incentivized against aliyah by the Satmar movement—insist that Jewish life is good in Tzanaa despite a death toll attesting to the contrary.
Know Your Enemy Jodi Rudoren, New York Times. After a hiatus of two decades, schools in Gaza are starting to teach Hebrew again. It isn't because they've discovered a heartfelt interest in a neighboring culture.
With Friends Like These Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post. While the prevalence of overt anti-Zionism across Europe is notorious, it is less well known that even Europeans who claim to be pro-Israel are invariably hostile to the Jewish state.