Blogs

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

Few can watch the footage of Palestinian suffering in Gaza these days without feeling great sadness and empathy. But while some of us blame the cynicism and brutality of Hamas for purposely putting civilians in harm’s way as part of its strategy, appealing to the world to stop Israel in its tracks, others blame Israel without considering the context – or worse yet, are convinced that Israel is the aggressor here, not an independent state fighting terrorist thugs whose sole purpose is to destroy it, and Jews everywhere.

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

James Besser in Washington

This is a really delicate question, so don’t get me wrong.  But I can’t help thinking American Jewish groups are taking a certain satisfaction that the Gaza offensive and the predictable shift of world opinion against Israel are presenting them a problem they know how to deal with – unlike the financial carnage that is upending the Jewish world and threatening the survival of some venerable institutions.

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

James Besser in Washington

During the presidential  campaign, a persistent subtheme in the Jewish community was the role of former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft in the Obama foreign policy team.

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

James Besser in Washington

This just in: Rep. Dennis Kucinich  (D-Ohio) is calling for  an “independent” investigation into “Israel’s war against Gaza,” which he says amounts to “collective punishment.” (Read his statement here)

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

James Besser in Washington

It’s hard to find anything positive to say about a record-shattering scammer who may have bilked Jewish charities out of hundreds of millions of dollars and shattered Jewish philanthropy by decimating the bank accounts of countless big givers, but there could  be one salutary impact of Bernard Madoff’s mother of all Ponzi schemes: it may force the Jewish world to confront a radically changed economic climate.

Friday, December 26th, 2008

James Besser in Washington

This week’s bizarre presidential pardon story probably didn’t do Jonathan Pollard any good – although there weren’t any hints that President Bush was ever seriously considering commuting the sentence of the Israeli spy, now in his 23rd year in federal prison.

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008

Adam Dickter in New York

President Bush’s second wave of pardons as he packs his bags included a man who paid a price for sticking his neck out for Israel. No, not Jonathan Pollard.

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

James Besser in Washington

The 111th Congress will be the most religiously diverse ever, but that doesn’t mean every religious group is represented according to its proportion in the population.

Friday, December 19th, 2008

Adam Dickter in New York:

As of Friday afternoon, nearly 4,000 people had called a toll-free number set up by TEACH-NYS, a coalition of independent and religious schools, that was routed to the state budget office to protest some $55 million in funds for reimbursement of costs incurred by non-public schools. The calls came within about 24 hours since the group sent out an e-mail blast to dozens of schools, who then sent out the word to their communities.

Friday, December 19th, 2008

James Besser in Washington

After his November 4 election, there was widespread speculation about which Jewish and pro-Israel groups would have access to Barack Obama’s White House – and which would be frozen out.