On the other hand

The challenges presented by neighbours who do not want us here never daunted the early pioneers. Instead, they determined to surmount all barriers and as a result, Israel is a leading country in various fields. Read more

Feintooner

This week’s cartoon…Casino of the Century. Read more

The Palestinians’ bluff has been called

U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East “deal of the century” offers the Palestinians a state. They have rejected it and threatened instead to ramp up violence against Israel. Read more

Never again? Only if the Jews never stop fighting

How does a Jewish girl born after the war experience the Shoah and remember it? The answer is with strain, disgust and disbelief—yes, quite naively. Read more

My problem with religion

Marx was right. Religion is the opiate of the masses. And Freud was right, too, that religion is wish-fulfilment and satisfies the need for a father figure. Read more

After the Holocaust Forum

The VIP’s have departed, Jerusalem roads are back to their normal congested state and Israelis are now bracing for inevitable fallout from the “deal of the century.” Read more

‘Peace to Prosperity‘ plan shatters failed Oslo paradigm

With the presentation of its peace plan, titled, “Peace to Prosperity: A vision to improve the lives of the Palestinian and Israeli people,” the United States has essentially shattered the once-holy Oslo paradigm, having learned from the peace process’s failures and establishes a new path forward to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Read more

The ‘deal of the century’ illuminates a century-old conflict

Read more

A Universe of Sufficient Size: a book review by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen

At the first Limmud-Oz I gave a presentation on Holocaust Novels: Fact from Fiction. It posed the possibility that some holocaust novels appear so real and some true stories seem to be pieces of fiction. Read more

Trump’s vision is a mirage based on shaky foundations

President Trump’s now released deal of the century – calling for the creation of a second Arab state in former Palestine in addition to Jordan (“the two-state solution”) – has predictably already been consigned to the dustbin of history by PLO President Mahmoud Abbas on the day of its publication. Read more

Netanyahu pulls the rug out from under his rivals

Justifiably emboldened by his warm reception at the White House—and by the imminent unveiling of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 80-page “deal of the century”—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threw a curveball at his rivals back home. Read more

Trump’s critics shouldn’t encourage Palestinians to make another mistake

As far as those Americans who despise President Donald Trump, as well as many of those Jews and Israelis who feel the same way about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the ceremony unveiling a new U.S. peace plan for the Middle East was a sham. Read more

Why Trump is releasing his peace plan now

From early in the Trump administration, a Mideast peace team led by senior advisor to the President Jared Kushner, Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman set out to correct the mistakes of the failed Oslo Accords and redefine the terms for a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. Read more

A Hail Mary in the Holy Land?

If the impeachment of an American president and the prosecution of an Israeli prime minister are in the air, then it’s probably a good time to unveil a peace plan in the Middle East to suck in some of the oxygen otherwise dedicated to removing President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from their respective offices. Read more

Gantz faces moment of truth after meeting Trump

Blue and White Party leader – Benny Gantz – could well see his dream of becoming Israel’s next Prime Minister on 2 March implode after meeting with President Trump at the White House this coming week. Read more

Ask the rabbi

Q. How did the Bat-Mitzvah ceremony originate?   Ask the rabbi. Read more

Don Giovanni: singers shine in Mozart masterpiece

Don Giovanni is the tale brought to Mozart by his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte when he was looking for a story to follow his great success with The Marriage Of Figaro writes Victor Grynberg. Read more

A Polish-Russian row over commemoration of the Holocaust

A profound and bitter battle between Israel and Poland has been brought to crisis point by the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, which is being commemorated by world leaders this week at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem and next week at Auschwitz itself. Read more

On the other hand

Many world leaders gathered in Jerusalem to commemorate the 75^th. Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and eulogize the millions who were murdered in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany, their allies and collaborators in various countries. Read more

Erich Fromm

Erich Fromm, was one of the most influential psychiatrists of the last century. He was educated in Germany. When the Nazis came to power in 1934, he moved to Switzerland and then on to New York. Read more

If only…

There are many times in life when one can look back and proclaim: “if only events had been different the results would not have been so dire.” Read more

Just Mercy: a movie review by James Bernardinelli

Just Mercy is the kind of high-minded tale about social injustice that often opens around this time of the year. Read more

Online Hate Prevention Institute turns eight

The Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI), Australia’s only charity dedicated to tackling the problem of online hate and extremism starting its war with online hatemongers on this day in 2012.
Read more

Russia’s displeasure with Israel simmers as Putin readies to visit for Yad Vashem event

Russian President Vladimir Putin will leave his controlled environment in Moscow to enter a media firestorm when he alights from his plane in Israel this Thursday as he arrives for the Fifth World Holocaust Forum at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem. Read more

Why the bombing Auschwitz argument still matters

In his 1989 book From Beirut to Jerusalem, columnist Thomas Friedman of The New York Times, wrote, “Israel is becoming Yad Vashem with an Air Force.” Read more

To combat antisemitism, one must first define it

An unprecedented conference will begin on Jan. 23 (an official dinner will take place the night before) in Jerusalem—one in which world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and French President Emmanuel Macron, will confer on how to defeat the scourge of antisemitism. Read more

Another anti-Jewish textbook gets the publisher’s thumbs down

The decision by Pearson Education Limited (Pearson) to withdraw Hilary Brash’s text book – The Middle East: Conflict, Crisis and Change, 1917- 2012 – comes after trenchant criticism by blogger David Collier. Read more

Image and perception – beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Devastating drought and bushfires in Australia and extreme flooding in Israel. Read more

Amid surging antisemitism, 75th commemoration of Auschwitz liberation comes at crucial time

To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.” ― Elie Wiesel, “Night” Read more

Despite mergers and ousters on right and left, Israel’s electoral map looks similar to previous election

Two consecutive elections in Israel just five months apart have produced inconclusive results without the formation of a left-wing, right-wing or centrist majority government. Read more

« Previous Page — Next Page »