Categories
Film

The Polish Woman

The white slavery trade in the early 20th century robbed thousands of Polish Jewish women of their dignity, freedom and self-worth. Thousands were lured to Brazil and Argentina on the false pretence that they would have a far better life abroad, only to discover to their bitter anguish that they had been tricked and assigned […]

Categories
Middle East

Biden’s Peace Plan For Gaza Misrepresents Israel’s Proposal

Joe Biden is acutely aware that his phased plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip may well be stillborn, at least for now. “I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and will call for the war to continue indefinitely,” he said as he outlined its […]

Categories
Television

Kafka: The Journey Of A Great Writer

Franz Kafka died 100 years ago today in a sanatorium in Kierling, Austria, the victim of laryngeal tuberculosis. He was just 40 when he passed on June 3, 1924. One of the greatest German-language writers of the last century, this Prague-born Czech Jew left behind an eclectic collection of novels, short stories, diaries and notebooks. […]

Categories
Film

5th Paragraph

At the age of 16, citizens of the now-defunct Soviet Union received their official identification card. This was usually seen as a festive and significant event, a giant step forward into adulthood. One’s “nationality” was inscribed on the fifth line of this document. In a multicultural country with 100 nationalities, you could be Russian, Ukrainian, […]

Categories
Commentary

Dismantle The University Of Toronto Palestinian Encampment

The vociferous anti-Israel protesters who have illegally occupied a considerable expanse of land at the University of Toronto’s King’s College Circle are determined to flout the law come what may. Last week, the university issued trespass notices ordering hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators to pack up their tents and leave their encampment, which is filled with […]

Categories
Film

Auction Explores The Theme Of Nazi-Looted Art

Nazi-looted paintings turn up in the most surprising of places. In Pascal Bonitzer’s French-language movie, Auction, which will be screened at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival on June 2, a canvas by the Austrian Expressionist painter Egon Schiele is found in the home of a young factory worker who has no idea of its intrinsic […]

Categories
Film

Midas Man

He discovered them in 1961 in The Cavern, a dingy nightclub in the British port of Liverpool. The four scruffy young men he heard singing that night impressed him, and under his tutelage, they achieved astonishing success. The Beatles, arguably the most successful band in musical history, rose to stardom thanks in no small part […]

Categories
Film

Radio Propaganda

The Voice of Israel, or Kol Israel, broadcast special radio programs to the Arab world from the late 1940s onward. Mostly hosted by Arabic-speaking Iraqi Jews superbly acquainted with Arab culture, they were quite popular, judging by the stream of appreciative letters from Arab listeners that landed in an Israeli postal box in Geneva, Switzerland, […]

Categories
Film

Arugam Bay

Marco Carmel’s bitter-sweet movie, Arugam Bay, is set in an idyllic corner of Sri Lanka to which surfers gravitate. It’s where three Israelis go on vacation to chill out and reminisce about an old friend who has passed. It will be screened on June 1 at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, which runs from May […]

Categories
Middle East

Israel’s Invasion Of Rafah Sours Its Relations With Egypt

Thanks to a recent agreement between the United States and Egypt, humanitarian aid has begun flowing into the Gaza Strip via Israel’s Kerem Shalom border crossing, albeit it on a far lower scale. This assistance had been channelled through the adjacent Rafah crossing prior to Israel’s invasion of Rafah and its takeover of the crossing […]