Sheldon Kirshner's Latest Posts
U.S. Bill Enhances Mideast Peace Prospects
At a time when an Israeli rapprochement with the Palestinians has never been dimmer, the Trump administration would do well to declare its unreserved support for a bipartisan congressional bill that would enhance the prospects for peace. The bill would restore funding for Jewish and Arab coexistence and dialogue groups, endorse a two-state solution, and encourage […]
Back To The Fatherland
Thousands of young Israelis have immigrated to Germany and Austria in the past decade. By some estimates, upwards of 20,000 have made that move. It’s a deeply ironic development, given what happened in these countries during the 12-year Nazi interregnum. In most cases, the Israelis who’ve forsaken their homeland are the grandchildren of German and […]
The World Of The Cairo Geniza
By the end of the 19th century, the venerable Ben Ezra synagogue in Cairo was falling apart and was in dire need of repair. During the restoration, workmen stumbled upon a massive cache of mouldering documents in the dusty attic ranging from the sacred to the mundane. For approximately 1,000 years, the attic had been […]
Visiting A Coffee Plantation In El Salvador
As you savor a full-bodied cup of espresso coffee in your home or in a cafe, spare a thought for El Salvador. Ranked 11th among 55 coffee-producing nations and accounting for two percent of world production, El Salvador — the smallest republic in Central America — is synonymous with that crop. First cultivated in El Salvador […]
Photograph: A Poignant Bollywood Movie
Ritesh Batra’s unassuming, poignant and likeable Bollywood film, Photograph, which opens in Canada on May 31, conjures up what might have been a successful romantic relationship in a better world. Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) ekes out a living as an itinerant photographer in Mumbai’s Gateway to India tourist attraction. He seeks out new customers by promising […]
The Rise And Fall Of John DeLorean
Call him what you will — a con man or a visionary, a winner or a loser. John DeLorean was all these things, a riddle wrapped in an enigma. A brilliant automotive engineer who was on a trajectory to becoming the president of General Motors, the world’s biggest car manufacturer, he was the creator of […]
City On A Hilltop
Of the roughly 400,000 Jews who’ve settled in the occupied territories since the 1967 Six Day War, approximately 60,000 are originally from the United States. These settlers have played an outsized role in establishing settlements beyond the old Green Line. Sara Yael Hirschhorn, a specialist in Israeli studies at Oxford University, zeroes in on this […]
Poland Needs To Pass Restitution Legislation
The Polish government has finally come clean with the truth. Poland, having agreed to compensate Polish Jews who lost their properties during the Nazi and Communist interregnums, has now officially rejected such a plan of action. Several days ago, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki vowed that his country would never pay restitution to Jewish families […]
Peace Now Director Urges Israel To Change Course
The executive director of Peace Now, Shaqued Morag, was in Toronto recently as the guest of Canadian Friends of Peace Now to discuss the prospects of a peaceful resolution of Israel’s long-running conflict with the Palestinians. I asked her several questions about the current situation, and here is a record of our exchange. 1. What […]
Volkswagen Meets Its Historic Responsibility
Having announced that it will join forces with the Anti-Defamation League to fight the rising tide of antisemitism in Europe, Volkswagen, the German car manufacturer, has taken yet another step to make amends for its role in the Holocaust. Last week, Volkswagen said it will fund the operations of an Anti-Defamation League office in Berlin […]
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