Tom Friedman Wins “Best NYT Israel-Related Editorial/Op-ed of Today or Yesterday” Award

By Ben Sales May 18, 2011

Those who enjoy the US media’s over-coverage of Israel should rejoice: The New York Times has printed no fewer than four editorials or op-eds yesterday and today having to do with the Jewish state. The surge in Israeli-Palestinian-related commentary comes in anticipation of a week filled with high-level Israeli-American dialogue. Tomorrow, President Obama will deliver a speech…

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The Reading List: College Costs a Lot

By Ben Sales May 18, 2011

Ouch! [Inflation Data] Schechter put $240,000 toward a new logo and slogan, among other initiatives. [JW] Birthright is raking in the cash. [JW] A self-hating Jew named Israel. [Tablet] This person hates Philip Roth. [The Guardian]

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“I Understand Hitler”

By akinman May 18, 2011

Melancholia. No, it’s not the name of a new drink, but it was certainly one of the most talked about movies at the Cannes Film Festival this morning. Not due to the movie’s impression left with the judges, but because of the director’s remarks at Wednesday’s press conference. “Melancholia,” a film by Lars von Trier…

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Beastie Boys — Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. Call it arthritis rap.

By mekeisler May 18, 2011

Crossposted from hipsterjew.com Maybe hip hop has just moved on from the Beastie Boys. I don’t want to be the one to say it, but listening to Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is, while not painful, not something I’d do more than twice. All the problems of the album you can hear on track 3,…

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The Reading List: A Baby Named “Like”

By Ben Sales May 17, 2011

Only in Israel… [Ha’aretz] I’ll be honest: This is here only because the words “New Voices” are in the title. [NYT] Interesting piece on the hunt for Ivan Demjanjuk. [Forward] Leonard Fein goes to Sderot and Gaza. [Forward] The first Jewish mayor of the Second City. [Tablet]

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The living God

By jcohen May 17, 2011

The other day, I was talking to my boyfriend Nick about God (I am religious and he is not). He asked me why I believe in God? My initial response was “because,” but then, I paused and thought more about it. Why do I believe in God? If there is a God, why do so…

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Mahmoud Abbas’ Blatant Contradiction in the New York Times: Whose Fault is the Nakba?

By greback May 17, 2011

Mahmoud Abbas claimed today Israel was solely responsible for the Palestinian exodus of 1948. That is not what he has said in the past. As if Mahmoud Abbas were looking for more ways to risk Palestinian public relations after the coalition deal with Hamas, Abbas remarked today in his editorial for the New York Times…

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Jewish Israelis Should not Recognize the Nakba out of Fear

By greback May 16, 2011

Nakba Day this Year Saw Unprecedented Violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Above, Palestinians in a well organized breach of the Israeli-Syrian border on the Golan Heights. Recognizing the nakba at this juncture would be a timid response to a day whose events were inspired as much by either the Arab Spring or prodding from a…

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Jewish Israelis Should Recognize the Nakba

By Ben Sales May 16, 2011

Yesterday’s tragic events–a terrorist in Tel Aviv killed an innocent man and the IDF shot and killed several people trying to breach the Israeli-Syrian border–are the latest results, in part, of the battle between two competing historical narratives: one that commemorates the fifth of Iyyar as a miraculous Day of Independence and another that marks…

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Taste and see…if you want to put it back.

By Laura Cooper May 15, 2011

Really long version crossposted at Crystal Decadenz I predicted that about eleven o’clock was the latest I could show up Saturday in time for Kaddish, but of course I got in a little early, right before the Torah reading. I looked at my watch and decided next week I could come in half an hour…

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The (more frequent and double) Reading List: Satire galore!

By Ben Sales May 12, 2011

A brilliant, though morally dubious, satire of the Bin Laden killing. [Galactic Empire Times] A hilariously appropriate response to the Der Tzeitung-Hillary Clinton fiasco. [Feministe] Turning the Der Tzeitung-HC fiasco into a meme. [Hasidic Photoshop] Who said falafel could unite Israelis and Palestinians? In Brooklyn, it’s another excuse to fight. [The Brooklyn Paper] A clever idea: limericks…

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Some suprising guests for Israeli Independence Day

By mmoncaster May 11, 2011

Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day) was celebrated with flair in Vancouver, thanks in large part to an Israeli band called Mozaica. The group performed songs in Hebrew and kept the crowd moving. In addition, the night had all the fixings of an Independence Day ceremony; speeches, a moment of silence, and Hatikva, Israel’s national anthem….

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The (now infrequent) Reading List: The “Friday” Shabbos Parody You Haven’t Been Waiting For

By Ben Sales May 11, 2011

This is what happens when the Maccabeats and Fountainheads can’t get their acts together. The best part is the voice crack on “Yeah!’ Ben Laden: still at large. [The Faster Times] This is the best response I’ve ever seen to attempted university censorship of a college paper. [College Media Matters] Here’s funnyman Joel Chasnoff being funny in…

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The photoshopped Hillary pic: Past outrage and on to journalism ethics

By David A.M. Wilensky May 11, 2011

By now, we’ve all heard about how the hyper-orthodox “newspaper” Der Tzeitung photoshopped Hillary Clinton out of a photo because it would be immodest to see women existing in reality or some such…. And most people have responded with total outrage. I skipped right past the outrage and onto the laughter because these guys are…

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The Spirit of Courage

By akinman May 11, 2011

In exactly one year, I will graduate the Univeristy of Florida. Thrown out into the “real world,” expected to quickly find a job, rise from entry level to CEO in only a matter of years and start a new chapter of my life. But parting with college also means parting from Jewish college life. The…

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