US
Lawrence M. Krauss explains why terrorism is not as big of a threat as many Americans feel it is:
As far as the U.S. is concerned, it has been pointed out already—by the President, in fact—that about thirty-three thousand people die each year from gunshot wounds. That’s about four hundred thousand people since 2001. By contrast, setting aside 9/11, and even including the San Bernardino shootings, only fifty-four deaths have occurred because of domestic acts of terrorism during that time. Even if you include 9/11, the total death toll from terrorism amounts to less than one per cent of the death toll from gun violence.
Lee Smith doesn’t think American foreign policy is going to get any better in 2016:
This was a bad year for American foreign policy and therefore for much of the rest of the world. Instead, of bringing peace and security to Syria, the White House has jeopardized the peace and security of our friends and partners around the world—from the eastern Mediterranean to Western Europe, and from the Persian Gulf to our own shores. What makes the administration's glib year-end self-assessment even more demoralizing is the near certainty that the White House will continue on this path, and that next year will therefore be even worse.
Israel
Avi Issacharoff believes that the Israeli government should still try and talk to the Palestinian Authority:
Based on the fairly realistic assumption that no Palestinian state will be established here anytime soon and that the settlement enterprise will go on, let us be honest: This will not be the Zionist state that we prayed for. We may control all the territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, but we will continue to occupy another people. Either we will treat it according to the rules of apartheid, or we may grant it the rights of full citizenship — and then the composition of the population on which the State of Israel’s foundations are based will be altered beyond recognition.
Dov Lipman looks at last year’s impressive Aliyah numbers and wishes they were driven by something other than fear:
The dream of the Zionist movement was the return of the Jewish people to their ancient and biblical homeland, and we have been blessed to witness in our lifetime the ingathering of the exiles as prophesized in the Bible. It is my hope and prayer that as we celebrate the increase in overall aliyah — an aliyah largely being driven now by running FROM something — that Jews worldwide will tap into the spirit captured by those lone soldiers and be inspired to run TOWARD something.
Middle East
Ted Galen Carpenter believes that defeating ISIS will not solve America’s larger problems in the Middle East:
We need to understand that the war against ISIS is simply the latest phase of a hyperinterventionist U.S. policy in the Middle East that has been going on for decades. And each time proponents insist that the latest victory will be the definitive one. I remember well how hawks throughout the decade before the Iraq War kept urging a military offensive to overthrow Saddam Hussein and “take care of the problem once for all.” They got their wish in 2003. The problem of Saddam was indeed solved, but the invasion created an assortment of new, even worse problems. Inflicting a crushing defeat on ISIS may well do the same. It certainly is not likely to be the policy panacea that its proponents seem to assume.
Shlomi Eldar writes about the dramatic internal struggle going on in the Palestinian Fatah movement:
The 51st year of the Fatah movement will not be an easy year. This will likely be Abbas’ last year in power. But whether he goes home in the course of the coming year or continues to flounder in his position as president, the struggle within Fatah will continue to shake up the movement. If Abbas makes good on his threats and actually quits, the odds are that Fatah’s activist camp that wants to return to armed resistance will stop sitting on the fence. They will get off the fence even if Abbas’ successor will hail from the “reconciliation camp.”
Jewish World
Roberta Rosenthal Kwall examines the efforts to protect the copyrights (and legacy) of the Diary of Anne Frank:
As soon as “The Diary of Anne Frank” enters the public domain, there will be some who will seek to publish altered versions of her work, some of which may change her language and even content in a way that will damage or destroy the creative integrity of her work. As long as the copyright exists, so do the moral rights protections. Those who are opposing the foundation’s move to establish Otto as a co-author need to understand that its claim of protecting Anne has some merit, even if they disagree with the move to block the diary’s entry into the public domain.
Sibel Hurtas describes a “small miracle” that Istanbul's Jewish community experienced this Hanukkah:
Molinas said the sentiment of stupefaction was overwhelming. “There were about 1,000 people of all ages — old, young, children. They were lighting up candles and singing in the street. The elderly Turkish Jews were crying, shedding tears of joy. Some would not believe it. ‘We are out in freezing weather, celebrating our holiday in the street. Is this for real?’ they would ask. Then, they would go to the candelabra and touch it, and would go ‘Oh, it’s really real.’”
Molinas stressed it was the first Hanukkah ceremony held at a public venue in a Muslim-majority country.
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