David Friedman, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel, was on his best behavior on the first day of his confirmation hearing in the Senate a few days ago. He apologized for his use of “inflammatory rhetoric” during the presidential campaign, acknowledged that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not “a […]
Author: Sheldon Kirshner
Israel’s movie industry is on a roll, as the four films in the forthcoming Toronto Israeli Film Series attest. The festival, which runs from February 25 to 26 at the City Playhouse Theatre, is presented by Israel’s consulate general and the UJA Federation. The opening night picture, The Wonderful Kingdom of Papa Alaev, is a delightful […]
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I Am Not Your Negro
Raoul Peck’s documentary, I Am Not Your Negro, is a meditation on race in the United States, a topic unlikely to grow stale or irrelevant due its resonance in American history. Scheduled to open in Canadian theatres on February 24th, Peck’s thoughtful film is framed by the observations of the late African American novelist and […]
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Has Trump Upended U.S. Policy?
Donald Trump won the presidency of the United States as a disrupter of received convention. Judging by his first official meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, D.C. on February 15, the newly-inaugurated president has no intention of changing his disruptive and confusing style. At a joint news conference with Netanyahu prior to […]
It would be disappointing in the extreme if McGill University in Montreal falls short of taking disciplinary action against a student who recently called on fellow students to physically attack Zionists on campus. Having urged his Twitter followers to “punch a Zionist today,” Igor Sadikov — a board member of the Students’ Society of McGill […]
For the sake of peace, one can only hope that Israel’s ill-conceived Regulation Law, passed earlier this month by the Knesset by a margin of 60 to 52, will be declared null and void. Sponsored and promoted by Naftali Bennett’s far right Jewish Home Party, which calls for the annexation of much of the West […]
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Fanny’s Journey
Fanny Ben-Ami’s astonishing story of survival as a Jewish child in Nazi-occupied France has been brought to the screen by Lola Doillon in Fanny’s Journey. The movie, based on her harrowing experiences, will be presented by the Toronto Jewish Film Foundation’s Chai Tea series at the Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk (5095 Yonge Street) on Sunday, February 19 […]
How did the German people experience World War II? What did they think or know about their government’s plan to exterminate the Jews of Europe in the Holocaust? These are among the key issues that Nicholas Stargardt deftly explores in his sweeping new book, The German War: A Nation Under Arms, 1939-1945, published by Basic Books. […]
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Hong Kong’s Majestic Skyscrapers
Hong Kong is defined, in part, by its stylish skyscrapers, which rival those of Manhattan or Chicago. Rising majestically from the congested Central District and affording stunning views of picturesque Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong’s skyscrapers were designed by renowned architects such as I.M. Pei and Norman Foster. Viewed from Victoria Peak, 554 metres above sea […]
Islamic State, the jihadist organization bent on establishing a caliphate in the Middle East, is being pounded relentlessly by the United States and its partners in a concerted military campaign to dislodge it from its bases in Iraq (torn by sectarian strife), Syria (bloodied by a civil war) and Libya (mired in anarchy). The new […]