June 2, 2011

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Netanyahu fallout
“As the dust settles in the wake of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s dramatic altercation with President Barack Obama, one is now able to evaluate the repercussions,” ” title=”http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/05/30/the_virtues_of_folding?page=0,1″ target=”_blank”>said Aaron David Miller at Foreign Policy. “The Obama administration—with the best of motives (Arab-Israeli peace is really important to U.S. interests) but lacking a real strategy—made this situation worse, at least for America.” Netanyahu’s visit gave us some insight into President Obama’s feelings on the issue, ” title=”http://www.thejewishweek.com/blogs/political_insider/hasner_backs_ryan_medicare_plan_will_fly_jewish_voters_fla” target=”_blank”>said James Besser in The Jewish Week. “History is with the Democrats on this one, but 2012 promises to be an unusually volatile election year. Stay tuned; Florida could once again be the epicenter of Jewish politics as the campaigns get underway.” There are no tough choices here, ” title=”http://www.forward.com/articles/138293/” target=”_blank”>any religious group in America.”

Is Obama really losing the Jews?
The Republican Jewish Coalition ” title=”http://www.observer.com/2011/daily-transom/barack-obamas-jewish-vote-rushing-republican-arms” target=”_blank”>said David Freedlander in The New York Observer. Well, duh, ” title=”http://www.shalomlife.com/eng/15318/Obama_meets_with_Poland%27s_Jewish_community/” target=”_blank”>said Piotr Kadlcik, president of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities. “He seemed clearly moved by the memorial, lingering to talk to a line of people and posing for a group photo,” ” title=”http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/civil-war/2011/may/28/president-obama-memorial-day-no-show-commander-chi/” target=”_blank”>asks Martha M. Boltz in the Washington Examiner.

Tiki’s Anne Frank gaffe
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) denounced Tiki Barber’s recent comparison of his experience of hiding from his wife to Anne Frank’s plight, calling his comments “outrageous and perverse,” ” title=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-jason-miller/tiki-barber-anne-frank_b_868321.html” target=”_blank”>said Rabbi Jason Miller at The Huffington Post. The quote appeared inside a Sports Illustrated profile about the former NFL player’s comeback attempt. “Lost in all of this is that the article was actually relatively positive. How quickly one Anne Frank reference can change things,” ” title=”http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-sports-guru/2011/05/tiki-barber-compares-his-plight-to-that-of-anne-frank.html” target=”_blank”>said thesportsbank at ChicagoNow. “I never underestimate the ability of egocentric and clueless celebrities to play the victim card, even when they have all the money, fame and sexy babes in the world, but this still shocks me. Barber is really effing stupid, immature and oblivious.”