Categories
Arts

Soviet Jews At War

It’s one of the most iconic photographs of World War II. Evgenii Khaldei’s stark black-and-white image of a Red Army soldier holding aloft a Soviet flag over the ruins of Berlin, circa April 1945, still resonates. Dubbed “Raising the Red Flag Over Reichstag,” the photograph speaks to the military victory of the Soviet Union over […]

Categories
Middle East

Jihadist Extremism In Gaza

Hamas has strenuously denied reports that Islamic State — the jihadist organization that has conquered wide swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria — is active in the Gaza Strip. Responding to social media accounts that Islamic State had distributed fliers threatening 18 writers who had breached the “tenets of Islam” and warning women to […]

Categories
Middle East

Liberman’s “Pragmatism”

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman has not exactly forged a reputation as a pragmatist, yet he recently called for a “pragmatic approach” to deal with the simmering Palestinian problem. “I wish pragmatism dominated the political discourse in Israeli society,” he said the other day. “We are torn between … pragmatism and fanaticism.” Calling on Israel […]

Categories
Arts

Remembrance

The Holocaust has generated a long list of feature films, and Remembrance, unfolding in Polish, German and English, is one of the latest ones. Now available on the Netflix streaming network, it takes place in the past and the present, cutting back and forth in time. Based on a true story by Jerzy Bielecki, Remembrance shifts between a […]

Categories
Arts

Sony’s Capitulation

Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Japanese-owned conglomerate, has cravenly caved in to terrorism by cancelling plans to release The Interview, a satirical film portraying the assassination of Kim Jong-un, the dictatorial, clownish leader of North Korea. In the past few days, Sony has dropped the Christmas day release of the $44 million movie, co-directed by Seth Rogen […]

Categories
Travel

Civil Rights Museum

The American constitution enshrines the principles of democracy and egalitarianism for all citizens. Yet for much of its history, the United States was not the land of freedom and opportunity for African-Americans. The injustices and humiliations they endured are presented with laser-like precision, intensity and emotion at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. The […]

Categories
Middle East

Israel’s Rapprochement With Greece

A man riding a motorcycle recently attacked Israel’s embassy in Athens, spraying the building with more than 50 rounds of gunfire. Greek police believe the assailant probably belonged to a far-leftist group. Following the incident, Greek Public Order Minister Vassilis Kikilias said, “No one is going to affect the relations between Greece and Israel.” It […]

Categories
Arts

Mr. Turner

He was the master of the brush — a painter of light. He was Joseph Turner (1775-1851), the British landscape artist whose moody oils, watercolours and drawings guaranteed him a place of immortality in the pantheon of great European painters. Mike Leigh’s biopic, Mr. Turner, which opens in Toronto on Dec. 25, covers the last […]

Categories
Arts

Jewish Soul Food

Israeli cuisine is a fusion of culinary tastes. Jewish immigrants from Muslim lands brought their traditional, time-honored dishes to Israel, as did Jews from Europe and the rest of the world. Through what Israeli food maven  Janna Gur describes as a “process of natural selection,” Israeli society adopted them. Gur, in Jewish Soul Food: From […]

Categories
Arts

Son Of A Gun

Julius Avery’s crime thriller, Son of a Gun, crackles with energy and tension. A new director, he has made a tightly-wound film turning on the theme of honor among thieves, if there is such a thing. Scheduled to start its run in Toronto on Dec. 19, it opens as Jesse (Brenton Thwaites), a young man […]