Film on The New Yorker writer’s coverage of the Eichmann trial lacks some passion.
New theater troupe, a division of the Folksbiene, mounts second production digging into Russians’ complex background.
Learn the "Top 18" Kosher white, red and Israeli Wines, Read about the American kosher wine scene, Israeli wines and much more
Tourism booming in the Negev, that first teen roots journey, driving in Israel (really!), and more.
I was much younger at the time that Mr. Klinghoffer (G-d rest his soul) was viciously taken away from this world yet if I remember correctly he was asked aboard the ship whether he was a Jew or not. Knowing the outcome he replied "I was born a Jew and I will die a Jew" (please excuse me if I am remembering incorrectly) without doubt or wavering from his choice. I will forever remember what those words meant. To this day the light of his bravery, the conviction of his courage and his great love of being a Jew still burns brightly in my mind. His soul was as powerful as his legacy. May Mr. Klinghoffer's neshama be elevated to greater worlds. May his righteousness in the face of evil be a never ending lesson to us all.
Regarding the reference to the Anti-terrorist act of 1990, President Clinton was still chasing young women as governor of Arkansas during the year in question. Not that much changed when he became president but either the year of the legislation is wrong or the name of the signee is incorrect. In addition to the decisive and gutsy manner in which our president acted, Lt. Col Oliver North, USMC ret, deserves much credit for his tenacity in tracking down the killers.
Thank you for bringing this long forgotten tragedy back into focus and we should all remember Mr. Klinghoffer. H'Y'D.
Would have been nice to include a link directly to Elie's book. http://store.isabellafreedman.org/store/1580234127.html
Sorry to be picky, but you might want to correct the numerous typos in this article. It doesn't seem to have been well edited after it was initially authored. Examples are "Christain", "Testemant" and "avoi" (probably is supposed to be "avoid"). Thanks.
Excellent analysis and right on. This was my first GA and I felt it was a large cheering section for JFNA, its good deeds and the continued need for Federations in the future while it ignored many legitimate issues. The Prime Minister did give a stirring speech during which he neglected to mention settlements or how he expected to achieve peace.
The theme was clearly the need for social action, the need to combat "de-legitimization" of Israel and the relevance of Federations even if the next generation doesn't quite believe but there needs to be lots more ideas about how to adapt and remain relevant. We need more thougful analysis and change with less whinning and self congratulation. Thanks for a clear analysis.
A great article to send to every synagogue in the metro area, and even in the country. Certainly in our area the old model is clearly working less successfully every year and a new model is sorely needed.
Actually, I think this was a vote for divided government more than it was a vote for democrats or against republicans. It is what happened during the Bush administration when people felt that his foreign policy was a disaster. It is what happened with Obama when people felt that he didn't concentrate enough on jobs and the economy. I honestly believe that Obama failed to communicate why health care reform was so essential. He could have done simply by pointing to the states. States balance their budgets with federal funds. Most states depend upon Medicaid money from the feds to do the balancing. This is true if they have Medi-Cal, medicaid HMO's like in Tennessee, etc. If he had challenged all of those republican governors on how they were going to balance their budgets when Medicaid goes away (and it will be diminished now) you would have seen a whole different dynamic. the Republicans walked away from health care reform and are still selling the notion of how cost effective the U.S. health care system is. That was an untruth and a mistake they got away with. I would not say that the current political climate is associated with repairing the world. Instead is more of an economic nihilism and Darwinian mentality. Happily that only tends to last a short time until the nihilists recognize they are not acting in their own best interests.
This will be a very wierd question.
May I ask Why President Obama does not like The Jewish people?
Why did he disrespect Mr. Netanyahu when he came to visit the White House and President Obama said to him "I have a meeting to go to"? Then turned his back
on Netanyahu.
Now Obama is visiting these Muslim Countries and as BBC said "Touting His Horn to the Muslims" in India...
I thought the President of the United States was supposed to keep Peace between
the two Countries...
He has not even vistied Yisrael, (or maybe I am wrong) yet he seems to be only
for the Muslims and the Jewish people.
Why should Israel stop building according to President Obama?
I could be totally wrong yet I see a President that does not support Israel as Mr. Clinton did.
This President has done nothing for the people of the United States as far as jobs.
The Republicans dislike him,no one seems to get along in the White House
they all have left his Cabiniet.
I think i I have said enough.
Baffled
You are attacked. You win. You gain land. You keep the land, especially when you have an historic claim to the land.
For someone who doesn't like being pigeon-holed as Jewish, he certainly refers to his Jewishness a lot.
I saw the work at the Joyce. It did have power. While I did not think, overall, that the elements had a chance to gel, I'd say he definitely has a gift for choreography--and that's something rare, regardless of gender, religion, or anything else.
That's a nice straw man the Professor sets up. He omits the fact that the side that criticizes Israel is largely made up of those who seek its destruction. Yet another reason to closely investigate what kind of university we send our children to if they are to be subjected to this kind of thinking. Of course, the fact that practically all Muslim regimes do not aspire to such a standard is entire overlooked!
I would like to see all synagogues escort out known j street members.
And in time, I'd like to see special actions taken against the traders in our midst.
When the call goes out to take up arms against J Street, I will be first on line.
Greg Schneider and Gideon Taylor before did not have the slightest interst in either the Russians who worked at the Claims Confrence (about whom Schneider once said that they didn't make much money and weren't worth even that. I guess they are now!) or the money that came directly from the Germans for the Article 2 fund or other German monies - since these were funds with specific receipients and had to be accounted for. The Russian case workers had free reign, the Claims Conferece managment and Board gave their entire attention to funds which they could distribute without oversight, funds from the sale of East German Jewish property and from the Swiss banks....
Schhneider's arrogance and incompetence was obvious to the entire staff. (Gideon Taylor, his predecessor was hardly ever in the office, and was equally disinterested in the disbursement of monies to poor survivors). A few hundred dollars a month to needy persons was not worthy of their attention. They were only interested in "the big picture" and in manipulating the Board to comply with their vision of how the funds should be spent. This embezzlement - along with the never clarified embezzlement of March of the Living funds by Avraham Hirschson - happened on their watch, and they should be held accountable.
Holocaust survivors have been asking for transparency for years and have been treated like senile incompetents by the Claims Conference and by the Jewish media, and perhaps the Jewish Press can and Stuart Ain can look beyond Greg Schneider's charm and investigate what actually happened and how it could happen.
Of course these groups will veil their agendas with pleasant sounding terms like pro-peace, pro-justice and pro-human rights.
Pro-aggression, pro-islamic hegemony and pro-ethnic clensing (while more truthful) don't focus group as well.
JVP does not promote the "right of return." Its website espouses the following position on the "return" issue:
"The plight of Palestinian refugees needs to be resolved equitably and in a manner that promotes peace and is consistent with international law. Within the framework of an equitable agreement, the refugees should have a role in determining their future, whether pursuing return, resettlement, or financial compensation. Israel should recognize its share of responsibility for the ongoing refugee crisis and for its resolution."
Sounds reasonable to me. This is not a call for dismantling Israel.
Just because JVP also associates with other BDS groups with more extreme positions regarding the right of return, doesn't mean they support those positions themselves. Groups with overlapping goals and tactics collaborate all the time without necessarily endorsing all each other's positions. Similarly, the Israeli public, broadly speaking, supports the Israeli settler movement, though large segments of that public also disagree with some of the specific positions and actions of the settlers.
The boycott, divestment and sanctions movement has three main objectives: end the 1967 occupation, end "apartheid" in Israel and a call for the "right of return." Omar Barghouti, a major leader of the BDS movement, has stated that ending the 1967 occupation is the least important, while the "right of return" is the foremost. In other words, BDS supports ending Israel and forcing upon Israeli Jews a "return" of some 5 million Palestinian Arabs into Israel, rendering Israeli Jews a minority.
Jewish Voice for Peace supports the BDS movement, proudly and uncritically. JVP on its own web site cannot even commit itself to support Israel's right to exist. For its entire existence since the mid-90s JVP has co-sponsored numerous programs and lectures and rallies with numerous anti-Israel organizations.
JVP is anti-Israel and aids and abets Israel's enemies in the international campaign to demonize and delegitimize Israel. If JVP doesn't like being designated as "anti-Israel" they can change their behavior. Actions speak louder than words, and to date, their actions show them to be anti-Israel.
Israel will end up doing it. Despite official claims by our government that this is "the world's problem," we know there is no one in the world other than us who has the determination + the capablities to establish order in the Middle East. And you can bet all the Sunni Arabs who despise Iran will cheer us on quietly.
It is my wish that all the people who live in Israel and those who call themselves Palestinians as of 1967-and then, the Hamas
will sit together with no preconditions to work out a peace policy that works-i.e. no preconditions. It is about time the world
recognized Israel and the Jewish people as HUMAN and a peace-loving people. Netanyahu should not have been lectured to
or pressured. At the same time, the settlements are houses where people live.
Israel is not an imperialist nation; there have been too many in the world.
Jews have contributed a great deal to the world, from Biblical times to Talmudic times and on to the 21st century. Our Prophets were universalists who sought, justice, peace, and no more war. Jewish civilization is the only western civilzation which lasted for thousands of years.-this, despite the anti-Semitism, the murder of Jews, the Crusades, Expulsions, up to the Holocaust and
beyond-until today.
I wish President Obama would visit Israel and experience the beauty, the warmth of this Jewish state, as well as the technology,the spirit of home. The breather that it is even for non-observant Jews.
The world has to stop playing against Israel.
Lois Wasserman, Ph.D.
retired Historian,
Northeastern University
Mr. Foxman is disingenuous when he claims that he supports the right to criticize Israel.
His real message is: you may criticize, but only within parameters approved by me.
You may criticize, but only mildly.
You may criticize, but only if you criticize both sides equally (a guarantee, of course, that nothing will happen, since nobody will feel any actual pressure to do anything.)
If these people think Israel bears more of the blame than the other side, then they are perfectly entitled to say so. It does not make them anti-Israel; it just means they think Israel is wrong in this debate. Period.
Mr. Foxman, if you really support free speech, stand up for it.
Wow. Y'all sure are gifted haters. And when you're not seeking it out, you're creating it.
Our campaign against Serbia did not entail invasion. We need not invade Iran.
Did your military experts discuss the problems that a nuclear Iran would create, such as the complte loss of deterrence? Did they discuss the implications of the renewed "civilian" nucelar programs in Egypt and Saudi Arabia? Did they discuss the collapse of containment right now with the Islamist government in Turkey supporting Iran? Did they discuss the implications of the refusal of Turkey to not only enforce sanctions, but to allow a missile defense system "aimed at Iran"?
Or were your experts penny wise, pound suicidal?
What are the costs of a missile east where Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan all have nukes? When one goes off in New York or Tel Aviv, who do we blame? And might the loss of perceived willingness to respond destroy any possibility of MAD?
The problem is that attacking Iran is not the best option, cheapest option, or cleanest option. Wishing that the Iranian people had overthrown their regime was. But that failed. So pre-empting a nuclear Iran with force is the least bad option remaining.
The Jewish communities are very friendly. On my vacation, I visited Temple Beth Shalom on a Saturday Morning. I met so many swell people from all walks of life. After services there was a pot luck lunch and then adult education. I was informed that a group from the temple even formed a cemetery committee and inauguarated a Jewish Cemetery in January 2008. That was great news and comfort for the members and jJews that was to stay warm. I told my family that if anything happens to me while on vacation, I was to be buried there. Puerto Rico is really great and has much to see and ennjoy.
Thanks for everyone's comments, whether we agree or disagree. I appreciate the opportunity for dialogue. One issue I would like to address: I believe Jules Miller mis-reads Ben Gurion's intent in giving over to the Haredim certain control over religious life in modern Israel. It is clear from most readings of history that for Ben Gurion this was a temporary compromise--a fervent believer in modernity and "progress" Ben Gurion assumed that Haredi Jewish life would fade and the need for a Chief Rabbinate would be diminished. I don't think there is evidence to support the idea that Torah would be the "religion of the country."
This is kind of ridiculous that this guy keeps getting re-elected in spite of a wholly sub-par performance. I mean, the notion that everyone should be a homeowner is absurd and he is at least partly responsible for the fannie mae freddie mac debacle.