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Jewish Affairs

Israel-Hamas War Triggers A Wave Of Global Antisemitism

It is virtually axiomatic. Whenever Israel is engulfed in a major conflict with the Palestinians and a significant number of them are killed, there is invariably an upsurge of antisemitism outside the region. To cite but two examples, Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in the West […]

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Jewish Affairs

A Sound White House Strategy To Counter Antisemitism

Last December, in response to a sharp rise of antisemitism in the United States, the federal government created a working group to develop a strategy to combat this ageless, pathological scourge. On May 25, the details were released at a White House ceremony during which U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a videotaped speech. Speaking of […]

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Jewish Affairs

The Western Wall Agreement Should Be Implemented Now

Seven years have elapsed since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a burst of good faith, assured Conservative and Reform Jews that a permanent pluralistic prayer space would be established alongside the gender-separated prayer spaces at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Lamentably enough, he has yet to fulfill that promise. Netanyahu’s predecessors, Naftali Bennett and Yair […]

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Jewish Affairs

A Sobering Report On Antisemitism In The U.S.

At a moment when African Americans are enjoying the fruits of equality to a far greater degree than at any time in their often tragic history, a new survey commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League paradoxically shows that antisemitic stereotypes in the United States have reached their highest level in decades. The data is “stunning and […]

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Jewish Affairs

The Normalization Of Antisemitism In The U.S.

The United States has been a safe haven for Jews since its inception as a nation more than two hundred years ago. And since World War II, American Jews have made tremendous strides in breaking down discriminatory barriers that  once were taken for granted with a shrug of the shoulders. But of late, in the […]

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Jewish Affairs

American Ultra-Orthodox Jews Are Outliers

Judging by the last few U.S. presidential elections, ultra-Orthodox American Jews are firmly in the Republican Party camp. But of late, some Republican haredim have changed sides and voted for the Democratic Party, says Nathaniel Deutsch, a University of California Jewish studies professor who has closely studied this traditional and insular community. By far the […]

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Jewish Affairs

Yeshiva University’s Untenable Policy

Yeshiva University has painted itself into an untenable, unsustainable and unacceptable position. As a secular institution, this flagship university of Modern Orthodoxy in New York City accepts public funding for its graduate programs, yet its undergraduate program is religiously oriented. The inherent tension between these diametrically opposed streams came to a head recently following the […]

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Jewish Affairs

Irving Abella Was A Stellar Canadian Historian

Irving Abella left an indelible mark as a scholar, particularly after the publication of his landmark book, None Is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe 1933-1948, in 1982. From that point onward, he and his co-author, Harold Troper, were recognized as two of the most preeminent Canadian historians of their generation. A stinging […]

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Jewish Affairs

The World’s Oldest Hatred Surging

With sadness and resignation, I regret to say that the world’s oldest and most durable hatred is burning bright yet again. Reports released in recent days by Tel Aviv University’s Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, the Anti-Defamation League in the United States, and B’nai Brith in Canada point in only one disconcerting […]

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Jewish Affairs

Mel Mermelstein Exposed Holocaust Deniers As Liars

Mel Mermelstein was a fearless fighter and a loyal son who kept faith with his doomed father. Bound by a solemn pledge to him to perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust, he successfully sued American Holocaust deniers in a celebrated case that exposed them as malicious liars and forced them to pay a hefty financial […]