Perhaps it was the civilian, Karnit Goldwasser, who said it most clearly: \”There are so many powerful and important people gathered together here. Together, we must raise up our voices.\”
Because of their intense activism, Jews have been among the paper\’s most devoted readers and fiercest critics. A substantial part of the paper\’s circulation base has long been in the broad Jewish belt extending from the Westside through the West Valley.
\”The Israel Lobby,\” a paper by Stephen Walt of Harvard University\’s Kennedy Center and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago charged supporters of Israel with undue influence on American policy. At an Aug. 28 Washington forum hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the two accused Israel of working in concert with the U.S. government to find a pretext for war with Hezbollah. Reports of the forum prompted Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss, a former student of Walt\’s, to pen this letter to his one-time mentor.
If Barry Gordon seems to be one of the lone liberal voices on the radio (he jokes that listeners are as likely to hear Gordon Liddy as him on KCAA), he follows in a tradition that goes back to FDR.
Israel\’s military campaign in Lebanon has left the Jewish state spiritually and financially drained. The overall cost of the conflict, including the amount spent on the war and business losses in northern Israel, exceeds $7 billion, according to The Israel Project, a nonprofit, pro-Israeli advocacy group.
Even in the face of recent international criticism of Israel\’s war tactics, American Christians, especially Evangelicals, have remained steadfast in support of Jews and the Jewish state. Whereas vicious anti-Zionist attacks in much of Europe and the Arab world have lately bled into rank anti-Semitism, even those American Christians critical of Israel\’s recent actions have gone to great lengths to stress their support for the nation\’s right to exist.
Amotz Zakai is vice president of production and manager at Echo Lake Productions, an independent film company that has produced films like \”Tsotsi\” and \”Water.\” Needless to say, Zakai is very busy right now. But when the 33-year-old Israeli American dual citizen heard about the fighting in Israel, he immediately called his army commander to see if he should return to Israel to serve.
Critics say that starting in the mid-1990s, the JCRC slowly began losing its voice and shirked a core mission: to be as visible and forthrightly active as possible.
\”He\’s the James Brown of the Jewish community, the hardest-working man in L.A. Jewry,\” Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss said. \”I see him everywhere.\”
Although in some ways, Fishel is everywhere but nowhere. A bearded, slender man with a direct gaze, the shy Fishel seems to prefer keeping his own counsel. He sometimes materializes at events in his well-tailored suits and then slips away after talking to but a handful of folks.
Today, contentious issues and tough questions persist. Aside from continuing enmity over the election, residents are battling in court over the construction of a synagogue on a busy residential street. And an Orthodox school and its neighbors are testing just how far they can push each other.
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