The Democratic Party’s 80-page platform on foreign and domestic policy devotes only three paragraphs to Israel, a major U.S. ally. But their inclusion in the official party program received final approval only after an impassioned debate pitting progressives against mainstream Democrats at their national convention, which ended yesterday in Milwaukee. The committee that produced the […]
A small minority of emancipated Jews in 19th century Europe, having tasted a whiff of liberty and freedom as equal citizens under the law, went one step further. They converted to Christianity, leaving behind Judaism once and for all and fully integrating themselves into Christian societies. Ellie R. Schainker, a professor of history and Jewish […]
To the European Jewish refugees who found a temporary haven in Shanghai during the late 1930s and early 1940s, China’s biggest port was as faraway as any metropolis in the Far East could be. Vibrant, chaotic, dirty and cosmopolitan, Shanghai was a destination of last resort for upwards of 20,000 German, Austrian, Czech and Polish Jews […]
Turkey’s reaction to Israel’s landmark peace treaty with the United Arab Emirates is a telling commentary on the misguided policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On August 14, a day after the historic agreement was announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, Erdogan disclosed he had instructed his foreign minister to either suspend […]
Of all the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis before and during World War II, the wanton theft of Jewish-owned books is probably the least known. Under the direction of Adolf Hitler’s fascist regime, Nazi thieves plundered millions of books in Germany and throughout Europe, in what was “the largest and most extensive book-looting campaign in […]
Israel’s historic peace treaty with the United Arab Emirates, its third with an Arab country since 1979, shatters what was long regarded as a sacrosanct convention. In plain language, Israel can enjoy the fruits of peace with an Arab state without having to cede territory it conquered during the Six Day War or agree to […]
France has circulated a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council calling for the extension of the mandate held by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Ideally, it should be renewed because that international peacekeeping force has played a fairly useful and constructive role in southern Lebanon since its formation in 1978. […]
China’s ambitions in the Middle East are laser sharp, driven by economic interests, a policy clearly reflected in its burgeoning relationship with Iran, the preeminent Shi’a power in the region. Unlike the United States or Russia, China has little or no desire to project its political or cultural influence in the region. China regards Iran […]
Emboldened by vicious conspiracy theorists who maliciously blame Jews for the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, a Toronto Polish newspaper recently carried an article disseminating that outrageous calumny. By way of response, B’nai Brith Canada justifiably filed a criminal complaint with the police and requested an investigation of this gross manifestation of antisemitism as a […]
The ripple effects of the catastrophic explosion that levelled the port of Beirut on August 4 have shaken Lebanon to its core. The blast killed 158, wounded about 6,000 and left upwards of 300,000 homeless. Causing $10 billion to $15 billion in damage, it was felt 150 miles away in Cyprus, and was the biggest […]