Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Sweat clings to my face as stale air gets whipped around by my laughably small room fan. I stare at the keys of my computer because, for once, I don’t know what to say in my blog post. I could talk about the weather, which is unbelievably humid and unpleasant. Or I could talk about…
The American Jewish World Service exists to help out the under-privileged around the world. Is that a model for Jewish intervention in foreign conflicts? Israel is noticeably absent from the operations in Libya. It has been quiet about suppression in other countries. It does not send peacekeepers to conflicts around the world. It keeps a…
Announcing our new office and new editor in chief! At around this time two years ago, I found out via a five-minute phone call that I would be the next New Voices editor and director of the Jewish Student Press Service. About six weeks later I began my first day in a room cluttered with…
The famed Exodus is stopped trying to bring European refugees to the British Mandate for Palestine: the Holocaust did not justify the establishment of the State of Israel, but it made the founding much more dramatic. The Holocaust is not itself the justification of the State of Israel, rather the vindication of the argument that…
Angels in America bored me and I found Munich cliché. Suffice it to say, I am not a fan of Tony Kushner. And I don’t agree with his politics. Regardless, he’s still a major contributor to recent American drama and literature. So I’m wondering why Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld, the right-wing Zionist trustee of the City University…
I have gotten my bachelor’s and started my master’s degrees in the era where Iranian nuclear proliferation has supposedly shaped the strategic map of the Middle East. It, coupled with Iranian influence, has apparently pushed Israel and its authoritarian Arab neighbors to be less than veiled about their relationship (and willingness to work together) to…
Before I start, let me just say that I intended to write this post. Try buying tzitzit on the internet. Just try it. I learned something quite fascinating at about 4:30 AM last night. You may not have known this, but there are lots of different types of tzitzit. Not just techelet and non-techelet, oh…
Last Friday at San Francisco State University, the atmosphere of Malcolm X Plaza was thick with music and cheers. The sun was out and so were students. Spontaneous circles of hora dancing erupted in the quad. Students and Israel fellows wearing brand new, bright blue shirts with a tri-lingual peace logo blazing across the chest…
“There’s a lot of dialogue and but it’s the silent minority. The loud majority doesn’t want dialogue,” said Gila Hashkes, Israel Fellow at UC Berkley Hillel. “We (at Berkeley) had a whole week during apartheid week, we had a big tent with a sign that said: “Let’s Talk.” And it was really interesting.” The tent…
Palestinian Girls Ignore Israeli Memorial Siren at Hebrew University last week for Holocaust Memorial Day (picture taken by the author) It is difficult to word this correctly, but for all the patience I have in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the rejection and denial of the Holocaust irritates more than anything. Palestinian leaders repeatedly reject major events…
I saw (and interviewed) Yemen Blues back in March, when they did a set for the Boston Jewish Music Festival. Their album hadn’t come out yet, but live they were a tight band, experienced sounding. Their album came out a few days ago and I copped it, mostly on the strength of that concert. Considering…
As news spread that Osama bin Laden had been killed on Monday night, chants of “USA, USA” broke out in my school library during finals week. University students across the country rallied with joy, rather than anger. People throughout the country smiled and breathed a sigh of relief at the success of our troops. But…
Turkey is now paying the price for its coziness with Iran and Syria. What was probably an inevitable pitfall of its decision to orient itself toward regimes in direct opposition to Israel, Turkey may soon feel the anger of a revolutionary Syrian population eager to cut off ties with Turkey. It would be a satisfying…
Most colleges do not promote “flunking,” but here at Knox College we celebrate it (just not in the way that you think). Flunk Day is a school holiday when classes are cancelled and students are roused before dawn and partake in carnival games and general shenaniganry. Half of the fun of Flunk Day is that…
Canadians went to the polls today for a federal election and handed the Conservative Party a resounding victory. To be sure, the party’s success was never in doubt. But the magnitude of their dominance was unclear. It certainly is not anymore. The Conservatives (or Tories) claimed 167 seats in Parliament, more than the 155 required…