Iraq’s dictatorial strongman, Saddam Hussein, ruled his country with an iron hand, tolerating no dissension. Barring a coup or fatal illness, he could have governed Iraq indefinitely had he kept his nose to the grindstone. But being guided by hubris and wildly false assumptions, he made the major mistake of invading neighboring Kuwait on August […]
Ida Lupino (1918-1995) was a prominent film actress and director in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s. In a 48-year career, which began in Britain in 1931, she appeared in 59 movies and directed eight others. As an actress, she was something of a femme fatale, projecting a gutsy persona and playing tough yet vulnerable characters. […]
Tucked into the lush green hills of the forested Carmel mountain range is Israel’s only artists’ village, Ein Hod. Founded almost 65 years ago by a Romanian Jewish painter, it’s a serene retreat far from the hustle and bustle of Israel’s coastal plain. A short drive from the port of Haifa, Ein Hod is a […]
In a courageous and searingly candid acknowledgment of France’s complicity in the Holocaust, President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday that France had played a central role in one of its darkest chapters. Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Velodrome d’Hiver (Vel d’hiv) roundup of Jews in Paris in the summer of 1942, and speaking in the […]
Warsaw, Poland’s capital city, is truly a phoenix. It was almost totally destroyed during World War II while under Nazi German occupation, which was followed by almost five decades of dreary Soviet-imposed Communist rule. Since the fall of Communism, Warsaw has risen from the ashes to become a vibrant, modern, efficient, clean, and beautiful city. […]
Much to its credit, Germany — a nation still in the process of striving to overcome its Nazi past — has passed a law that will force social media companies to delete extremist messaging and posts on their digital platforms. The legislation, drafted by Justice Minister Heiko Maas recently, goes into effect in October. It […]
The Toronto Public Library came to its senses yesterday, albeit belatedly, when it announced it would review its discredited room rental policy. The library caused an uproar when one of its suburban branches permitted a bunch of white supremacists and racists to use its facilities for a private event on July 12. The controversy erupted […]
Three years years after the eruption of the third Gaza war, the Gaza Strip remains a tinderbox. The Gaza region has been fairly quiet since the end of the war, with relatively little cross-border fighting having broken out, but both sides are acutely aware that a fourth round of hostilities could easily flare up again. […]
The tiny Persian Gulf state of Qatar, with just over 300,000 citizens, has been described as punching above its weight, and has sought to parlay the financial muscle it derives from its enormous oil and natural gas reserves into a diplomatic status otherwise undeserved by its size. To carry that metaphor a little further, is […]
Assimilated Hungarian Jews were in the forefront of shaping the popular culture of late 19th and early 20th century Budapest, one of the capitals of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and one of the major cities in Europe today. Its edgy nightlife and innovative entertainment industry, encompassing coffee houses, clubs, music halls and theatres, were largely the creation […]