Force-Feeding Hunger Strikers is Wrong and Illegal No Matter What

By Michael Goldin July 10, 2014

  The context in which the force-feeding bill is passing through the Israeli Knesset is clear. Ziva Miral, a spokesperson from the Israeli Medical Association said that the practice “goes against the DNA of the doctors to force treatment on a patient…force-feeding is torture, and we can’t have doctors participating in torture.” The bill has…

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Presbyterian Divestment Works, Israel Stands Down, Palestine Goes Free

By Derek M. Kwait July 9, 2014

July 6, 2014: The recent decision of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to divest from three companies, Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola, it sees as playing an instrumental role in Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories, has succeeded beyond the church’s wildest expectations, ending the occupation and bringing about peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians mere weeks…

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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…

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Is My Birthright a Sexual Playground?

By Jonathan Katz March 4, 2014

Let me be direct: the men in Birthright ads are hot. As in, “let’s do something not tzanua together” hot. This queer man, despite his dovish tendencies, distaste for right-wing “anti-assimilation” efforts, and critiques of Israel, is not completely displeased when a Birthright ad featuring smiling, shirtless, muscular Jewish men surfaces on Facebook. The Jewish…

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In Praise of Al Jazeera America – Israeli Media Can Take a Lesson

By Sam Hantverk February 6, 2014

Al Jazeera. Simply hearing the name would bother me two years ago, like nails on a chalkboard. In my ethnocentric view, I believed Al Jazeera existed for the sole purpose of promoting anti-Israel propaganda with the utmost criticism of the nation. How could I trust any of their other journalism with their articles containing blatant…

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From Costa Rica to Israel

By Zach C. Cohen January 23, 2014

San José is an ugly city. The streets are lined with storefronts due for a paint job. Trash and dog droppings line the sidewalks. Every afternoon, like clockwork, the tropical weather brings in a rainstorm that puts most Sunday showers stateside to shame. At night, drug dealers and (legal) prostitutes roam the streets. In this…

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Shortsighted Syria Policy Stems From Shortsighted View of History

By Eliana Glogauer September 24, 2013

Former President George W. Bush once referred to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 as “[the] most devastating attack[s America has experienced] since Pearl Harbor.”  Last week was the twelfth anniversary of 9/11, and by interesting coincidence, that day also saw a United States governmental official’s confirmation to CNN that weapons funded and organized by the…

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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…

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Boston Marathon Attack Restores My Faith in Humanity

By Simi Lichtman April 18, 2013

Usually, at New Voices, we try to keep our articles topical to Jews and to college students. When tragedy strikes, it affects everyone. There’s not much that can be said about the Boston Marathon attacks that hasn’t already been said. And there’s not much that qualifies me to say anything about it. But I’m a…

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Battling Numbness in Israel

By Koko Jaeger December 6, 2012

This article was originally posted on the personal blog of the author, which you can find here. Today I saw a pregnant woman lying in an alleyway crying, and I jogged right past her. Re-read that sentence. I jogged right past her. Yes. That’s right. Who have I become? Around 7:30 tonight, I left my apartment…

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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…

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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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No news is good news, this isn’t that

By mekeisler April 8, 2011

Real talk, I hate Comcast. We pay 75$ a month for internet (which is way too much), and it only works around 75% of the time. That time did not include most of Thursday. When I call customer service to complain, they pretty much tell me to shut up. What else can I do? They…

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A bomb explodes in Jerusalem.

By hdilman March 23, 2011

I was sitting in the Ministry of the Interior office in the center of town in Jerusalem, I was applying for my Israeli passport.  I was sucked into a fairly successful game of angry birds on my ipod.  I looked up, the “take a number” board listed 32, only 10 more numbers until it was my turn….

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