A few days ago, Reiko Fuentes, the principal of Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, a Toronto high school with a considerable number of Jewish students, took it upon herself to remove a Jewish Heritage Month banner from the main foyer of the mid-town school. She did this without bothering to consult the students who had been […]
The United States has always taken pride in being a democratic haven for the oppressed, a place where persecuted minorities like Jews could begin life anew. But for centuries, American society was racist to the core. A case in point is The Chinese Exclusion Act, signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882. […]
Is bipartisan support for Israel in the U.S. Congress slipping? This appears to be the case, judging by a series of recent events. A festive ceremony in Jerusalem on May 14 marking Israel’s 70th anniversary of statehood and the opening of the American embassy in Jerusalem attracted a small delegation of Republicans from the Senate […]
Bernard Lewis, the eminent scholar of Middle East politics and religion, died on May 19. He was, for some 80 years, a towering scholar of Islam, and informed scholarly, governmental and popular audiences alike. The outlines of his long career are well known. Born to Jewish parents in London in 1916, Lewis received his Ph.D. […]
The British playwright, composer and singer Noel Coward wrote in jest that only “mad dogs and Englishman go out in the midday sun.” His amusing lyrics came to mind during my last visit to Masada, the ancient Jewish rebel fortress conquered by a Roman army in 74 CE. Under a broiling sun in the Judean Desert, […]
Once again, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is shooting from the hip, creating a diplomatic crisis with one of Turkey’s most important neighbors. The volatile and authoritarian Turkish president did it again this week when he denounced Israel as a “terror state,” reiterated his allegiance to the Palestinian cause and downgraded Turkey’s loveless relationship with Israel, at […]
Zoe Leigh Hopkins celebrates Canada’s wilderness and its indigenous native culture in Kayak To Klemtu, a purebred Canadian movie opening in theaters on May 25. This is an old-fashioned film in the best sense of its meaning. No violence. No sex. No nudity. No pyrotechnics. In short, no gratuitous distractions. So refreshing. The plot is […]
Tellingly enough, Russia refrained from condemning Israel after it carried out massive air strikes in Syria against Iranian and Syrian targets on May 10. Russia, which has cordial relations with both Israel and Iran and a special relationship with Syria, issued an innocuous statement rather than a condemnation after Israel’s ferocious attack. Its deputy foreign minister, Mikhail […]
It was a day of jubilation and bloodshed, a surrealistic commingling of events. As the United States officially opened its embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, thereby fulfilling President Donald Trump’s campaign promise, Israeli troops, acting in self-defence, killed 60 Palestinians and wounded more than 1,300 from the Gaza Strip who had charged toward Israel’s […]
Shimon Redlich and Gabriel Shapiro immigrated to Israel as young men. Both have written engaging memoirs about their experiences in the Jewish state, which marks its 70th anniversary on May 14 by the Gregorian calendar. Redlich, a Ukrainian Jew, arrived in Israel in 1950 by way of Poland. In A New Life in Israel (Academic Studies […]