Category
June 9, 2010
Can the Center Hold?
Fear pervades the Jewish community today. The fallout from the Gaza flotilla episode continues to reverberate in unpredictable and unsettling ways. Israel finds itself in a very difficult bind. It faces growing political isolation and, at the same time, has to deal with Hamas and Hezbollolah — both tough and unpleasant neighbors perched on its borders. Meanwhile, the greater strategic threat, Iran, is led by a clever dictator who spews bile at every turn and constantly outmaneuvers the West in his dangerous quest for nuclear weapons.
Beinart’s Failure
I love Peter Beinart. The last time we had breakfast, in Washington, D.C., about a year and a half ago, our conversation got so lively that I think someone asked us to quiet down. We don’t see eye to eye on everything, but I’ve been moved by his compelling logic and sense of fairness in the many opinion pieces he has written over the years.
Flotillas, a New Center and Other Questions for Peter Beinart
In your essay, you wondered “what Israel’s leaders would have to do or say to make the heads of AIPAC and the Presidents’ Conference scream ‘no.’“ Take the Israeli response to the first aid-bearing flotilla in the waters off of Gaza. Should American Jewish leaders have screamed “no” to that?
Wagner: Kosher or Treif?
The very first complete presentation in Los Angeles of Richard Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” is being staged by LA Opera through the end of June, and more than 120 events comprising Ring Festival LA are being held around the city in conjunction with the production. As part of this festival, a symposium titled “Richard Wagner’s Music and His Anti-Semitism” took place June 6 in the Gindi Auditorium of American Jewish University (AJU) under the sponsorship of the Sigi Ziering Institute, named in memory of the respected scientist and writer who was also a Holocaust survivor.
Words and No Words
It was a week where I overdosed on words. Rarely do I recall being inundated with so many words as in the aftermath of the flotilla crisis. Everybody had an opinion and\na half. How else can we express our emotions — whether they be outrage, exasperation, anger or love — than through words? Even powerful images that “spoke for themselves” came attached with explanations and commentary.
U.N. Security Council passes Iran sanctions
The United Nations Security Council passed new sanctions against Iran, setting the stage for new and tougher U.S. sanctions.
Bedouin mosque vandalized
A mosque in a Bedouin village near Haifa was vandalized with extremist graffiti.\n
Blair sides with Israel on Gaza inspections
Israel has the right to inspect what goes into Gaza, Middle East mediator Tony Blair told an Israeli television station.
Flotilla deaths reportedly causing anti-Semitic uptick in France
Several anti-Semitic acts have been reported in France since Israel’s interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla.
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