This year marks the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the state-orchestrated “anti-Zionist” campaign in Poland, then under Communist rule. At the time, Jews numbered no more than 30,000 members out of a Polish population of 32 million. Cold War politics and a power struggle within the Polish Communist party would result in a purge […]
I read an unusual news story the other day about a disgruntled airplane traveller, his like-minded fellow travellers and a pathetically timid and spineless airline. Call it, if you wish, a social media spectacle stretched to absurd lengths. In a recent tweet, Dani Williams, a passenger aboard a Virgin Atlantic aircraft, accused the British-based international […]
At its national convention in Ottawa this past week, the left-wing New Democratic Party of Canada adopted a balanced position on Israel’s protracted conflict with the Palestinians. Fears had been circulating that hotheads might hijack the proceedings and cajole the NDP to pass a one-sided resolution calling for the Palestinians’ “right of return.” But thanks […]
From the moment I learned to appreciate fine literature, Ernest Hemingway became one of my favorite authors. I admired his style, his lean, supple, simple, flowing, effortless and evocative prose, which manifested itself beautifully in novels such as For Whom the Bell Tolls and in short stories such as The Killers. Mary V. Dearborn’s illuminating […]
Benjamin Netanyahu, serving his fourth term since first being elected prime minister in 1996, is on course to set an Israeli record for political longevity. If he’s still managing Israel’s affairs of state in July 2019, he will surpass David Ben-Gurion in terms of time served in this position. Netanyahu also may be cruising toward […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to balance Russia’s conflicting interests in war-ravaged Syria. It’s a devilishly difficult exercise that requires nerves of steel and formidable diplomatic skills. Putin’s competency was put to the test on February 10, following a series of deadly clashes during which Israel downed an Iranian drone in its territory, attacked an […]
One of the most memorable images in Loveless, an evocative Russian film by Andrey Zvyagintsev opening in Canada on February 23, summarizes its relentlessly bleak mood. In the opening frame, the camera lingers pensively on a big tree whose branches have been shorn of their leaves by lashing autumn winds and rain. It’s a stark […]
Iran and Saudi Arabia, carrying the banners of the Shi’a and Sunni strains of Islam, are engaged in an intense struggle for primacy in the Middle East. Their bruising competition for dominance, playing out mainly in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, has already affected Israel and Arab countries. Martin Smith, a seasoned Middle East correspondent, […]
Sad to say, Poland has been deluged by an outpouring of nasty rhetoric with antisemitic overtones. It has surfaced since the passage this month of controversial legislation which criminalizes the accusation that the “Polish nation” was complicit in the Holocaust and which outlaws the erroneous phrase “Polish death camp.” These malicious expressions were swiftly and […]
Stacey Tenenbaum’s unusual documentary, Shiners, examines an archaic trade that seems destined for oblivion. Her subjects are shoe shiners who polish and buff shoes and boots for a living. As she suggests, they’re a dwindling breed. Her film, a paean to working-class men and women, will be screened at the Royal Cinema in Toronto on February […]