Islamic World
A Convenient HatredTuesday, March 6, 2012 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
With some 1,000 books currently in print on the subject, does the world desperately need another tome on anti-Semitism? What difference will it make, when anti-Israelism provides only the latest justification for Europe's persistent prejudice against Jews and anti-Semitic views are shared by 15 percent of Americans and 90 percent of Muslims worldwide?
Evil GeniusThursday, February 23, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Very little anti-Semitic literature is new; most of its tropes seem ageless, continually recombined and updated by haters reacting only dimly to their actual circumstances. Few anti-Semitic works exhibit literary or lesser, sociological gifts. The one exception is The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Hear, O Friends of IsraelThursday, February 2, 2012 by Daniel Johnson | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In 1987, exactly a quarter-century ago, the appearance of a work of Jewish history caused a stir. For one thing, the author was not Jewish; for another, the book was unashamedly supportive of the State of Israel, which even then was enough to provoke hostility, especially on the Left.
Whose Holocaust?Friday, January 27, 2012 by Margot Lurie | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
For much of Europe, today is the UN-designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has dedicated his address this year to children murdered by the Nazis, with the message that "the best tribute to the memory of these children is an ongoing effort to teach the universal lessons of the Holocaust, so that no such horror is visited upon future generations."
Whither the AlawitesFriday, January 20, 2012 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Time does not appear to be on the side of Syria's minority Alawite-led regime. President Bashar Assad has reportedly been offered asylum in Moscow, which wants an orderly transition that will preserve Russian strategic interests. Other stories have Assad and his loyalists preparing mountain strongholds for a last-ditch stand.
Jerusalem’s Ego and IdThursday, January 19, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Biography is not the same as history. Biography charts the outer and inner life of a person—character, spirit, morality, emotion, perhaps even soul. History, by contrast, incorporates different narratives and pieces of evidence, seeks out new data, then rises above all the fragments with a synthesis.
Our Defenders at the CIAWednesday, January 18, 2012 by Jonathan Neumann | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
News flash: Top-secret intelligence memos written during the last years of the Bush administration describe covert activities—in intelligence parlance, a "false flag" operation—by Israeli Mossad officers, posing as American CIA agents.
Two Palestines, CompleteWednesday, January 11, 2012 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Some saw history in the making. With jubilation and fanfare Fatah and Hamas agreed last spring in Cairo to form an interim technocratic administration, hold parliamentary and presidential elections by May 2012 and, ultimately, to establish a national unity government.
The Trouble with HitchensFriday, December 16, 2011 by Benjamin Kerstein | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
When Christopher Hitchens passed away yesterday at the age of 62, the encomia started pouring in almost immediately. Most of this praise is deserved, as the acumen of Hitchens's muscular criticism and the wit of his ripostes will be with us for a long time to come.
Newt and the PalestiniansTuesday, December 13, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
It was almost inevitable: Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has lobbed a grenade into the Republican nomination race, and the subject is Israel.
Editors' Picks
Obama Peaces Out Scott Wilson, Washington Post. “Mr. President, what lessons have you learned [from three years of trying to broker an Israeli-Arab peace]?” the president of the Rabbinical Council of America asked. “That it’s really hard,” Obama said.
Sunni Outlook in Lebanon Daniel Nisman, YNet. While Sheikh Nasrallah cowers in his underground lair, a new Sunni force is standing up to the Shiite-led government—and attempting to disarm Hezbollah.
Yes, There is No Occupation Gil Troy, Jerusalem Post. Edmond Levy’s report, if adopted by the Israeli government, will give Israelis a legal right to settle in the West Bank. But there is a difference between “can” and “should.”
The Story of Silwan Shaul Bartal, Middle East Quarterly. While Silwan is routinely presented as a Palestinian neighborhood being colonized by Israel, historically the village has had a strong Jewish presence—evacuated in response to Arab attacks in 1939.
All Quiet on the Hamas Front? Moran Stern, Atlantic. While Gaza’s terrorist overlords remain implacably opposed to the very existence of the Jewish state, over the last fifteen months Israel and Hamas have found themselves facing common enemies.
A Martyr’s Death for Arafat? Alex Fishman, YNet. Despite the most recent conspiracy theory, Fatah’s old guard has much greater reason to claim that Yasser Arafat was poisoned than Israel ever had to assassinate him.
How I Became an Islamist Maajid Nawaz, Jewish Chronicle. Now a democratic activist, at the time the author joined the pan-Islamic Hizb ut Tahrir, he was a disaffected British teenager who had never read the Koran.
The Reality Principle Paula R. Stern, Jewish Press. At the Israeli Presidential Conference, Ayaan Hirsi Ali stole the show with a sober reminder about what can be expected from Islam, really.
The Wolf Lies Down with Islam Barry Rubin, Rubin Report. If Obama owes his critical attitude toward Israel to Rabbi Arnold Wolf, his sometime friend in Chicago, why didn’t the president pay any attention to Wolf’s reflections on the Islamic world?
The More Deceived Alex Joffe, Middle East Quarterly. Palestinian rhetoric is not merely based on lies; it does not consider truth to be a value. And Western critical filters are more eroded than ever.