Last weekend in Paris, Jean-Marie Le Pen insulted some celebrities who had criticized the National Front’s success in the recent elections to the European parliament. When he came to the French Jewish actor and pop singer Patrick Bruel, Le Pen said “We will organize an oven for him next time.” Le Pen used the […]
We have just commemorated the 70th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1944, when the liberation of France began. But four years earlier, a defeated France had effectively become a fascist state — and it’s amazing how quick was the transformation. Within a few weeks of the country’s invasion by Nazi Germany on May 10, 1940, the […]
Burma, or Myanmar — the country is known by both names — has for decades been one of the most oppressive states in Asia, under military rule between 1962 and 2010. Part of the reason stems from its many ethnic divisions, which has made it difficult to establish democracy in this southeast Asian nation. Burma […]
In 1991, when the Soviet Union fell apart, the five central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, sometimes called the “five stans,” became sovereign states. They were all part of a largely Turkic Muslim civilization that had flourished in the region for hundreds of years, until conquered by tsarist Russia in the […]
While much of the world’s eyes were on Ukraine, and pundits were wondering about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions there, populist parties often tinged with racist and antisemitic beliefs made gains in yesterday’s elections to the European Parliament, the legislative body for the 28-member European Union. Parties strongly opposed to the European Union performed well […]
Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, recently wrapped up a five-day visit to Japan which focused on economic, diplomatic and security issues. He and Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, agreed, among other things, to upgrade defence cooperation and bolster economic ties. It marked the first visit to Japan by an Israeli prime minister in more than […]
Pope Francis I was in the Middle East — Jordan, the Palestinian autonomous areas of the West Bank and Israel — on a pilgrimage this week. It was be his second trip outside Rome since becoming head of the Roman Catholic Church. To say that the church historically has had a contentious relationship with the Jewish […]
As almost everyone who watches newscasts knows, Donald Sterling, the elderly and foolish billionaire who is owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association, has become the object of intense – many would say excessive – media coverage. Sometimes it seems that the story is getting more airtime on American networks like […]
On August 22, 1939, when planning the invasion of Poland and contemplating the destruction of European Jewry, Adolf Hitler was reported as having said to his Wehrmacht commanders, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” Well, people certainly remember it now, despite continued denials or rationalizations by Turkish authorities. The slaughter of […]
Canada’s first Jewish federal cabinet minister, Herb Gray, has died at the age of 82. In a way, his career is the story of the coming of age of the Canadian Jewish community in the political life of the country. Many Jewish politicians have been more exciting and flamboyant – David Lewis, the long time […]