Medically-assisted suicide finally may be legalized in Canada, following a unanimous Supreme Court ruling last September that Canadian adults have a right to end their lives with the help of physicians. With this historic verdict, Canada’s parliament may yet enact legislation allowing terminally ill Canadians to end their lives in dignity. Kathy Wardle, I’m certain, would […]
Though generally supportive of Israel, Jews in the United States are distancing themselves from it, claims American scholar Michael Barnett. “American Jews are losing their love for Israel,” he said in a speech yesterday at the University of Toronto’s Monk School of Global Affairs. “It’s palpable and everybody is talking about it.” As American Jews […]
University professors enjoy the benefits of academic freedom and free speech. These cherished concepts are essential ingredients in the unhindered exchange and flow of ideas. Joy Karega, a non-tenured assistant professor of rhetoric and composition at Oberlin College, a liberal arts institution in the state of Ohio, made an utter mockery of these hallowed principles […]
Much to its credit, the International Criminal Court in The Hague has set an important precedent, having laid charges against a jihadist accused of destroying historic properties in a legendary African town on the edge of the Sahara desert. It’s the first time the ICC has addressed the issue of cultural destruction as a war […]
Current efforts by the United States and Russia to achieve a “cessation of hostilities” in Syria’s five-year-old civil war hang by a thread. Periodic clashes are still breaking out. Two of the major combatants, Islamic State and the Al-Nusra Front, have been excluded from the partial ceasefire and presumably will keep on fighting. The uncertainty […]
Anwar al-Awlaki was a lucky guy, at least until his luck ran out. Born into an elite Muslim family from Yemen, he was a member of the lucky sperm club. His father, Nasser, was a government minister and president of a university. Anwar, his son, was superbly educated and possessed the gift of the gab. […]
Reformers and middle-of-the-road conservatives in Iran have won majorities in parliament and the Assembly of Experts, the body which selects Iran’s supreme leader. But it’s doubtful whether their victories will soften Tehran’s hardline policies, particularly as they relate to Israel. Iranians who back the presidency of Hassan Rouhani — an Iranian-style pragmatist who seeks engagement […]
As Allied armies battered the Wehrmacht on all fronts toward the close of World War II, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler issued an order that all cultural artifacts the Nazis had looted from Jewish collectors, museums and churches should be destroyed. These ran the gamut from paintings and drawings to sculptures and illuminated manuscripts, all worth a […]
Holland, though remarkably small in size, has produced a stunning constellation of great painters from Frans Hals to Vincent van Gogh, both of whom have enriched the canvas of Western civilization. Some of their finest paintings and drawings are found in two museums in Amsterdam, Holland’s major city. The Van Gogh Museum has the distinction […]
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, dedicated to the proposition that Israel’s existence is illegitimate, has achieved a string of successes since its founding eleven years ago. It’s no longer a marginal group in the shadows struggling for recognition. Created by a coalition of non-governmental Palestinian organizations, it draws inspiration and strength from a BDS […]