Divest Now: How a Two-State Solution Can Only Come Through Divestment

By Aaron Lerner June 19, 2014

Witnessing the first day of the Presbyterian General Assembly has been both empowering and dismaying. I am glad to have been part of an effective coalition of Jews, Presbyterians, and Palestinians, and Muslims coming together to support the Presbyterian Church’s effort to divest from Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola. But I’m dismayed by the opposition’s claim…

Read More...

Israel Now is What White South Africa Was

By Jonathan Katz May 7, 2014

 Activists often term Israel’s Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and sometimes Israel itself, as constituting an “apartheid state.” So too do political figures concerned with ending the awful situation – be they Omar Barghouti, John Kerry, or Tzipi Livni. Indeed, it is a convenient, short, and powerful way to term the brutality of…

Read More...

Challenging “The J Street Challenge” (or, Why I Didn’t Go To AIPAC This Year)

By Amram Altzman March 17, 2014

I am an American. I am neither an Israeli, nor am I a Palestinian. However, I am a Jew, and a pro-Israel American, who lives in a country which has strong, positive relations with Israel. As a Zionist, I see it as my job to defend Israel as a Jewish State, and that means protecting…

Read More...

I Violate Hillel’s Israel Guidelines: A Non-Apology

By Anonymous January 13, 2014

In a rebuttal to last month’s New York Times article profiling college students who question Hillel guidelines on Israel, Hillel International President and CEO Eric Fingerhut wrote that an “unwavering line” existed on cosponsoring events or welcoming students who “delegitimize, demonize or apply a double standard to Israel; support boycotts, divestment or sanctions against Israel;…

Read More...

A New Year of Peace?

By Emily Greenspan September 23, 2013

Just a few weeks ago, the White House released a video of President Obama wishing the American Jewish community a sweet New Year.  Obama emphasized the importance of the newly-resumed peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the responsibility of American Jews to act to bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Now…

Read More...

Israel Aid Mission: First-Responders in Terror Zone

By Stacey R. Hamman December 3, 2012

Jerusalem, ISRAEL — Life-threatening terror ripped into Israeli skies two weeks ago, sweeping sleep from the eyes of an elderly resident of Moshav Even Shmuel and paralyzing his heart. A 2 a.m. siren wail and the nearby explosion of a Hamas-fired grad missile triggered a heart attack that might have listed Mordechai among the fatalities…

Read More...

An Open Letter to Gaza

By Simi Lichtman November 21, 2012

Gaza, I wanted to be unbiased about Israel. I really did. I went to a Zionist school as a child, and grew up in a Zionist home. My whole life I’d been taught that Israel was right and our haters were ignorant, cruel, and just plain wrong. It was easy enough to believe, and I…

Read More...

A Change in the Game

By Eliana Glogauer November 21, 2012

A bus just exploded in Tel Aviv, less than four miles away from where I sit right now, typing this article. Up until now, the current situation has felt more than a bit surreal. Sure, I’ve heard the “tzeva adom” sirens go off, and I’ve spent time sitting in our apartment’s “safe room,” but at…

Read More...

Not a Normal Day

By Eliana Glogauer November 19, 2012

“Beep… beep… beep… beep.” It is 9.00 am on a Sunday morning, and apparently my week is about to start the same way that any other week starts – with a mad dash to get out the door and to campus on time for my first class of the week at IDC Herzliya. Forty minutes…

Read More...

There Is No College Application Season in Gaza

By Editorial Board October 18, 2012

For American high school seniors, October means one thing: College applications are right around the corner. It’s almost so obvious it doesn’t need saying, but in the Gaza Strip, there is no season when the minds of a generation automatically turn toward college applications. Here in America, tis the season for prospective students to roll…

Read More...

Oy with the Jewish stereotypes already; Palestinian prisoner hunger strike; Free the press, and more [Required Reading]

By pkessler April 17, 2012

Stereotypes, Oy [Huffington Post] Howard Meyer laments the longevity of unflattering Jewish stereotypes, claiming they are representative of the prejudices of a few discontents years ago and have little relevancy in today’s Jewish communities. He cites examples from the Seinfeld episode “The Yada Yada”, above, in which Jerry’s dentist converts to Judaism “for the jokes”,…

Read More...

Don’t lick the Lubavitcher Rebbe; artsy synagogues; and more. [Required Reading]

By John Propper February 29, 2012

Up close and personal in the Gaza Strip [Vice News] After a failed attempt in 2007 to make it into Gaza, during a violent conflict there, Vice News finally makes it in, sharing their insights and experiences on one of the most hotly debated geographic regions on Earth. Licking the Lubavitcher Rebbe…? [Jerusalem Post] A…

Read More...

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]

Read More...

If Goldstone Doesn’t Speak Turkish, It Won’t Make Much Difference

By greback April 3, 2011

Surveying the headlines in Turkish papers (in Turkish or English), you will not see the name Goldstone anywhere. Goldstone’s words would force the Turkish government to say something substantial, which would increase the pressure for it to mend fences with Israel. There is little that can be done to ensure the Turks take into account…

Read More...

The Reading List: Gazan students to Visit Holocaust Museum

By Ben Sales December 21, 2010

It will be one of their stops on a tour of the U.S. This really proves the “Muslims hate Jews” hypothesis. [JTA/JJ] Six Haredi yeshivot in Israel may have stolen tens of millions of shekels from the government. [Ha’aretz] Is Israel a hi-tech paradise? Not for students. [YNet] Watch out for pick-up artists, even if…

Read More...