Diaspora English: An American Election in Israel
“While American Jews continue to care about Israel, Israelis do not care as much about America.”
Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
“While American Jews continue to care about Israel, Israelis do not care as much about America.”
In his post on New Voices last week, Tomer Kornfeld recounts how he worked with his campus Hillel to set up “a debate, or ‘mock peace talk’ with Students for Justice in Palestine.” But “instead of reciprocating our goodwill, sitting down with us and working things out, S.J.P. sent out an email to club members…
In case you couldn’t tell, this week is Doppelgänger Week on Facebook. What does this mean? Practically, it means your newsfeeds will suddenly become overrun with a steady stream of highly attractive people who you’ll recognize not as your friends, but as actors, athletes, and an assortment of other famous people. Your friends will choose the…
As Obama signaled a more liberal second term during his second inaugural speech, I braced for the Israeli election. International media predicted a “right-wing doomsday,” decrying the end of once dominant “secular liberalism” in Israeli politics. One article from Israel/Palestine-based +972 Magazine projected that Prime Minister Netanyahu was losing ground—to the extreme right. In other words,…
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…
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…
“We need to talk about Beit Shemesh” [Sh’ma] In this article from Sh’ma, Laura Frank explores the connections between true modesty (an ambiguous idea) and the misogyny of many ultra-Orthodox Jews. Can a balance between inner and outer appearance, and the implications of “legislating” dress as a form of social control, be reached? “As a…
Both Israel and the Palestinians have a precondition for negotiations to continue. The Palestinians want construction in the settlements to stop and the Israelis want the Palestinian Authority to recognize Israel as a “Jewish” state. The fact that these are the two things that the two governments have to declare publicly demonstrates neither side wants…
There is nothing new under the sun. Nothing Barack Obama said is dramatic. But Benjamin Netanyahu is making it seem so. “He doesn’t get it,” said one Netanyahu aide: Referring to the US president’s Mideast policy speech, a Netanyahu associate said: “He (Obama) didn’t deliver the goods…Obama apparently does not understand the reality in the…
Clearly, I like to riff on the wisdom of Raymond Carver in my blog posts–but so what? I like repetition. And repetition is just one of the million things I want to talk about after having just gotten back from the General Assembly (of the Jewish Federations of North America) less than 24 hours ago….
This article was reported from the Jewish Federation General Assembly in New Orleans by Caroline Kessler and written by Ben Sales. Five activists from Jewish Voice for Peace disrupted Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the Jewish Federation General Assembly in New Orleans today. The activists stood in five separate locations near the front of the room and shouted slogans saying…
The coalition can’t hold, says Reven Rivlin and other Israeli political figures. The new question: how long until the next elections? [+972] Meanwhile, as that coalition refuses to renew the settlement freeze, Jewish building accelerates in the West Bank. [NYT] And on the peacenik side, Roger Cohen lists ten keys to the peace process that…
It’s possible: Reportedly, Israelis are making their way to the Palestinian Oktoberfest in the Christian town of Taybeh… [Forward Schmooze] And meanwhile, the Israeli government is advancing a bill requiring all Palestinian-Israelis to take a loyalty oath to the state. The shandas for the goyim never stop… [YNet] As long as we’re on the topic…