Sheldon Kirshner's Latest Posts
Key Provision In U.S. Peace Plan Disavowed
President Donald Trump’s Arab-Israeli peace plan, released at the White House on January 28, aroused indignation in Palestinian and Arab circles. Among the ideas that provoked a storm of criticism was one that advocated land swaps between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority in populated and unpopulated areas of Israel and the West Bank. Under […]
Benny Gantz’s Blunder
With Israel’s March 2 general election just more than one week away, Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz appears to have painted himself into a corner. It could cost him dearly. Gantz, whose centrist party won more Knesset seats than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud Party in the last two inconclusive elections in […]
Memory Is Our Homeland
Upwards of one million Polish citizens were deported to Siberia by the Soviet Union following its invasion of eastern Poland more than 80 years ago. But in an astonishing twist of fate, some 20,0000 of these refugees left Siberia shortly afterward and migrated to six African countries, bringing a chunk of Poland in their baggage. […]
A Long Overdue Apology From Holland
At long last Holland has apologized for its abject failure to protect Jewish citizens during the German occupation. At a Holocaust commemoration event in Amsterdam recently, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte issued a formal apology, belatedly acknowledging that Holland had failed to provide either “justice” or “security” for the Jewish community during that terrible period. […]
Israel And Hamas Locked In A Deadly Embrace
It was another case of deja vu all over again. Just hours after Egypt and the United Nations hammered out the latest ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on February 13, a new round of violence erupted. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired two rockets into southern Israel and the Israeli Air Force struck back, leaving […]
Standing Up, Falling Down
Matt Ratner’s comedy, Standing Up, Falling Down, often plays out like a doom-laden drama. Wisecracks abound because the central character is a young Jewish standup comedian trying to break into the limelight. Since he’s having trouble carving out a viable career in a crowded and competitive field, levity inevitably gives way to darker moments. The […]
A Fair Peace Plan
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, in New York City a few days ago, and predictably enough, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vociferously condemned their meeting as “shameful” and “disgraceful.” For Netanyahu, Olmert and Abbas were convenient targets. Twelve years ago, they came tantalizingly close to reaching a peace […]
An Irrational And Absurd Conspiracy Theory
It’s essentially an irrational, delusional and absurd phenomenon, but it’s been around for ages and has gotten stronger of late. This corrosive and destructive conspiracy theory, otherwise known as antisemitism, is the world’s oldest form of hatred. Deborah E. Lipstadt, a professor of modern Jewish history and Holocaust studies at Emory University, casts a practiced […]
Jojo Rabbit Mocks Nazi Germany
Far from being original, Jojo Rabbit, which won this year’s Academy Award for best adapted screenplay, is the latest film in the past seven decades to poke fun at Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Lest it be forgotten, Nazi Germany was satirized by Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator, Ernst Lubitsch in To Be […]
The Two Faces Of Iran
Two separate stories in the February 11 edition of the Times of Israel speak volumes about the diversity of opinion in Iran regarding its arch enemy, Israel. The headline of the first story was blood-curdling: “Top Iranian official: We’re looking for a pretext to raze Tel Aviv to the ground.” The headline over the second story was […]
Continue Reading »