GJV: Hasbarah Facebook Campaign is Just Slacktivism

By Gabriel T. Erbs November 26, 2012

If you are a Jewish student on Facebook, then your exposure to infographics probably stands at around 500% of normal due to the storm of social media hasbarah meant to buoy Israel’s Gaza operation, called Pillar of Defense. Most people don’t think twice about re-posting these images, confident in their “contribution” to Israel’s safety or happy…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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Open Dialogue at Hillel?

By Sandra Korn November 18, 2012

Last week, it became painfully clear to the Harvard College Progressive Jewish Alliance (PJA) that Hillel is moving farther and farther from being “the foundation of Jewish campus life” that it claims to be. As an affiliated group of Harvard Hillel, PJA tries to promote dialogue and discussion between Jews and Palestinians on campus and…

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Pitching Your Tent in the Promised Land

By Stacey R. Hamman November 7, 2012

Jerusalem, ISRAEL — Coming to Israel as a student or volunteer, you can easily determine how independent, or how insulated, you want to be. With all the package-deal options available through organizations like MASA Israel Journey, you might never have to face the “housing question,” but MASA and others also offer you a chance to …

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New Beginnings: Jewish Votes and Values

By Stacey R. Hamman October 25, 2012

Jerusalem, ISRAEL — The High Holy Days have now come and gone, and the Torah cycle has begun afresh. Rolling open our Torahs to Genesis has brought the religious Jewish world into a reflection of all things new: A new year, a new school season, a new expression of our best intentions. Those of us…

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Arresting the Victim (Again)

By Editorial Board October 25, 2012

Anat Hoffman does good work for the Jewish community. As the head of the Israel Religious Action Center, she directs an organization that is helping to build the civil society devoted to liberal democracy that Israel desperately needs. Yet many in the Jewish world have never heard of her. She doesn’t even pass the does-she-have-a-Wikipedia-article…

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GJV: Can’t Make Peace With Evil

By Gabriel T. Erbs October 23, 2012

What’s new with the globe? You could have watched the foreign policy debate last night. But, if you actually want to learn anything, you might instead read this week’s Global Jewish Voice highlight. As Israel’s climate teeters on the edge of war, Author Liran Shamriz sounds off on the moral conflicts plaguing the Israeli region….

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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…

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Is Bibi Changing the American Vote?

By Joshua Lapidus October 11, 2012

A few weeks ago there were too many headlines blaming Netanyahu for intervening in U.S. elections. “The clash has led Netanyahu to brazenly intervene in the U.S. election, but is that all that new, asks Lawrence Davidson” in Netanyahu’s ‘Red Line’ on Obama is a great example. This got me to toying with some grim thoughts. Are Israel…

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Iran and My Dog Chester

By Joshua Lapidus October 3, 2012

I just got a two-year old Beagle/Dachshund, Chester. He’s as smart as a dog could be – but he started barking ferociously at me the other day when I wouldn’t let him have a bite of my mint-chocolate CLIF Bar.  All he is thinking is: You have food, I want food. You don’t need food. I…

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When Refugees Become Israel’s Homeless

By Koko Jaeger September 27, 2012

This article was originally posted on the personal blog of the author, which you can find here.  We met at 9:00 AM this morning at the Yeshiva for a walking tour of “the untold history of South Tel Aviv”. Itamar Manoff, our program coordinator and, in this case, tour-guide, led the way through wide cobble-stoned streets, spread…

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$50,000 a Plate? Romney’s Israel Fundraiser Too Steep for Me

By Joshua Lapidus July 29, 2012

Mitt Romney, presumptive Republican nominee for President, is in Israel now to hold high-level meetings with his “friend,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to host a fundraiser for high-rollers. I thought about going myself, but $50,000 a plate was a tad too steep for my taste. (Of course, I could also get a few…

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Sci-Fi & the Jews; Mother’s Day; the Internet; and more. [Required Reading]

By John Propper May 14, 2012

Haredim and the Internet… part whatever [Haaretz] Hmm… so it’s tough to know what to make of it, but whatever you think, it’s an intriguing report. Maya Epstein writes: “To put things into proportion, both the Arab and Haredi communities are relatively impoverished, and their proportion of households with Internet is lower. But among those who…

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