This week in power: Netanyahu’s visit, DSK, Von Trier, Bear Jew

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

Netanyahu vs. Obama
The prime minister’s U.S. visit was highlighted by an ongoing tension between him and President Obama as they repeatedly squared off on the ever-contentious subject of Middle East peace. “t was Netanyahu, not Obama, who electrified Washington,” ” title=”http://www.thenation.com/blog/160936/netanyahus-boorish-performance-gives-obama-edge” target=”_blank”>said Robert Dreyfuss at The Nation, but “Netanyahu didn’t help his case by displaying a stunning set of bad manners. He was rude, boorish and recklessly arrogant.” Netanyahu left in good favor with his supporters for refusing to back down, while at the same time Obama showed he’d like to get the “peace process moving again,” ” title=”http://www.forward.com/articles/138035/” target=”_blank”>reported The Jewish Daily Forward. Why’s it matter so much? Well, a majority of French citizens believe that Strauss-Kahn was brought down by a plot because he “was well on track not just to become France’s president but its first Jewish president,” ” title=”http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/opinion_groping_in_the_dark_20110524/” target=”_blank”>said Erica Brown in the Jewish Journal. Even before this scandal arose, Strauss-Kahn’s Jewishness mattered. “Reporters and editors were talking about his very good chances to defeat President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s presidential election, when he said there were three hurdles in his way: women, money and Jewishness.,” ” title=”http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/22/ED8M1JIUGM.DTL” target=”_blank”>San Francisco Chronicle editorial. The measure has obviously upset Jews in the area. The American Jewish Committee has called it a “direct assault on Jewish religious practice in the United States…unprecedented in American Jewish life.’’ “Talk about blatant violations of the First Amendment,” ” title=”http://www.care2.com/greenliving/should-san-francisco-ban-circumcision.html” target=”_blank”>said Lissa Rankin at Care2. “I don’t believe we should be imposing our own plastic surgery notions on young boys without their consent.” Now, opponents are rallying Californians to stop the bill from passing. “When San Franciscans vote this fall, the disgraceful anti-circumcision initiative deserves a decisive defeat,” ” title=”http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/von-trier-apologizes-again-for-hitler-remarks_1221459″ target=”_blank”>issued an apology saying he was “unintelligent, ambiguous and needlessly hurtful.” But some are slow to forgive the director. “It is often assumed that comments like those made by Von Trier are perfectly normal among many European intellectuals. Anti-Semitism, we are told, has made a strong comeback among them,” ” title=”http://www.jewishjournal.com/hollywood_jew/article/not_mel_gibson_20110524/” target=”_blank”>said Danielle Berrin in the Jewish Journal. “But unlike his anti-Semitic-spewing brethren, von Trier’s prattle was not hostile; he used no slang nor slurs, nor threatening language.” Yeah, let’s move on and forgive Von Trier for saying he understands Nazis, ” title=”http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northnorthwest/ct-x-n-jewish-bear-20110525,0,3121698.story” target=”_blank”>reported the Chicago Tribune. “My Judaism is important to me — I make it work. I fasted on Israeli time, so I could begin my fast earlier, from noon to noon the next day. That way, I was able to be true to my religion and play the best for my team,” ” title=”http://jewishworldnews.org/2011/05/18/the-great-rabbino-the-bear-jew-gabe-carimi/” target=”_blank”>said Jeremy Fine at Jewish World News. “I respect a man who stands for something,”