Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
It was almost two years ago now that I first saw Dida Pelled strumming her guitar as part of a jazz trio in a Jerusalem café. Her eyes squeezed shut as her fingers danced across the instrument. Her sound was understated but unapologetically passionate. Pelled has been playing guitar since she was 11 years old…
No, really. Earlier this week, OfCom, the official United Kingdom broadcast regulating authority, censured Iran’s state-run Press TV for conducting and airing an interview with Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari while he was being held captive and was under coercion from the Iranian government, as doing so was (unsurprisingly) against UK broadcasting rules. The Guardian reports…
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…
Those who enjoy the US media’s over-coverage of Israel should rejoice: The New York Times has printed no fewer than four editorials or op-eds yesterday and today having to do with the Jewish state. The surge in Israeli-Palestinian-related commentary comes in anticipation of a week filled with high-level Israeli-American dialogue. Tomorrow, President Obama will deliver a speech…
Nakba Day this Year Saw Unprecedented Violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Above, Palestinians in a well organized breach of the Israeli-Syrian border on the Golan Heights. Recognizing the nakba at this juncture would be a timid response to a day whose events were inspired as much by either the Arab Spring or prodding from a…
Yesterday’s tragic events–a terrorist in Tel Aviv killed an innocent man and the IDF shot and killed several people trying to breach the Israeli-Syrian border–are the latest results, in part, of the battle between two competing historical narratives: one that commemorates the fifth of Iyyar as a miraculous Day of Independence and another that marks…
Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day) was celebrated with flair in Vancouver, thanks in large part to an Israeli band called Mozaica. The group performed songs in Hebrew and kept the crowd moving. In addition, the night had all the fixings of an Independence Day ceremony; speeches, a moment of silence, and Hatikva, Israel’s national anthem….
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
It has been buzzing in the news for awhile, and today we all got our confirmation: the PLO and Hamas agree to a “historical Palestinian reconciliation deal“. After years of bitter rivalry and disagreements, they have come together to begin to form a “unity government”. And even though Abbas has more or less told Israel to…
International House Hunters. Seen it? Every week, I will watch repeat after repeat of couples looking houses in different countries. From multi-million dollar beach houses in Costa Rica to villas in Italy, I would like to think that I live vicariously through these individuals. Always making my top choice of the three home options they…