The centenary of World War I, supposedly the war to end all wars, will be commemorated in November. It will be a somber occasion, given the ghastly death toll that this conflict exacted. Journey’s End, a British feature film which unfolds over a short period of time in March 1918, brings these thoughts to mind. […]
When people like Ronald Lauder publicly worry about the political and social direction in which Israel is heading, it is high time for Israeli leaders, especially Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to pause and take stock. On March 18, The New York Times published a thoughtful op-ed piece by Lauder, the president of the World Jewish […]
The Middle East as we know it today was forged in the crucible of World War. This incredibly destructive war drastically redrew the regional map, sweeping away the sprawling Ottoman Empire and creating a host of new nations ranging from Turkey and Syria to Iraq and Lebanon. It also gave rise to Arab nationalism and […]
What is it like being a Palestinian living outside the homeland? Seventy years after the eruption of the first Arab-Israeli war, which led to the dispossession of some 500,000 Palestinians from their homes in what is now Israel and to the intensification of the conflict between Zionism and Palestinian nationalism, this question remains very relevant. […]
A 10-part series on the ambitious, power-hungry henchmen who worked closely with Adolf Hitler is now available on the Netflix streaming network. Hitler’s Circle of Evil, a skillful German production, is an amalgam of newsreels, wordless dramatizations and commentary by British and German historians. Judging by four of its episodes, this fascinating documentary is a […]
Israel’s embassy in Jordan — one of only two Arab countries with which Israel has diplomatic relations — still remains closed, eight months after the Israeli ambassador and her staff fled Amman following an eruption of shooting during which two Jordanians were killed. This incident brought Israel’s important relationship with Jordan to a virtual standstill […]
Certain American liberal feminists seem to be in thrall to Louis Farrakhan, the fiery Nation of Islam leader who rarely misses an opportunity to excoriate Jews. At the annual Saviours’ Day event in Chicago late last month, the African American demagogue spewed brimstone and fire as he delivered one of his trademark blistering speeches. During the course […]
Polish President Andrzej Duda recently delivered a candid speech to mark the 50th anniversary of the antisemitic campaign launched by the then Communist regime under the guise of anti-Zionism. As a result of the calumnies levelled against Polish Jewish citizens, the vast majority of whom were highly assimilated, 13,000 or more Jews fled into exile, […]
Al Capone was the first American gangster to achieve celebrity status. Such was his notoriety that he appeared on the cover of Time magazine on March 24, 1930, an honor normally reserved for politicians, statesmen, scientists, movie stars, novelists or captains of industry. Capone’s ascent to stardom is the subject of Al Capone: Icon, which will […]
Grief, anguish, boredom and callousness course through Samuel Maoz’s emotionally wrenching film, Foxtrot, which opens in Canada on March 16. Divided into three related segments, it takes place in a high-rise condo in Tel Aviv and at a remote checkpoint in the desert. As in his previous movie, Lebanon, he presents Israel as an embattled […]