Sebastian Rejak, Poland’s envoy to the Jewish Diaspora, has spent the past two-and-a-half years assiduously cultivating relations with Jewish communities throughout Europe and North America to improve his country’s ties with the Diaspora. Most recently, he worked behind the scenes to stir awareness of the new Ulma Family Museum of Poles Saving Jews in World […]
When I tuned in to Israel Radio in Tel Aviv on October 6, 1973, I already had a sinking feeling that Israel was on the verge of war with its Arab neighbors. The night before, Israel had begun to mobilize its armed forces, giving credence to fears that war was imminent, but the somber newscast […]
Governments can play a decisive and positive role in shaping public opinion about Jews. Diana Dumitru, a Moldovan scholar, learned this lesson while conducting research on regional variations in civilians’ attitudes and behavior toward Jews in the borderlands of Romania and the Soviet Union during the Holocaust. To determine how ordinary Christian civilians responded to […]
Benjamin Brown left an extraordinary legacy. One of the first practising Jewish architects in Canada, he designed several of the most distinctive buildings in Toronto, Canada’s biggest city. He succeeded in spite of the endemic antisemitism that held Canada in its grip before World War II and that placed obstacles in front of talented Jews […]
The horrific suicide attacks on the airport and subway system in Brussels was a case of terrorism coming home to roost. They were ideologically symbolic — the Brussels international airport is less than five kilometers away from NATO headquarters, and the Maelbeek subway station is close to the main institutions of the European Union. […]
In the wake of this week’s terrorist attacks in Brussels, for which Islamic State claimed responsibility, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed out, quite correctly, that the international community is now engaged in “a global war against terror.” Having made this pertinent observation, Netanyahu careened off course by making a causal link between Islamic State […]
Approximately one million Muslims have flooded into Europe in the past year, the majority having been admitted by Germany in a grand humanitarian gesture. Haunted by visions of its Nazi past and its central role in the Holocaust, Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, has urged Europeans to emulate her example. Merkel’s openness to the migrants, many […]
It goes without saying that a peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli dispute will be fiendishly difficult to achieve unless both sides are psychologically prepared to make meaningful compromises. Israel must accustom itself to the idea that its occupation of the West Bank is unsustainable and counter-productive. How can there be peace when the Palestinians are […]
Islamic State and its 34 affiliates have launched terrorist attacks in countries ranging from France to Turkey, but the Sunni jihadist organization has yet to strike one of its arch enemies, Israel. It seems strange that IS, based in Iraq and Syria, has not targeted Israel, the object of hatred and revulsion in the Muslim world. […]
The spirit of Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza, the great 17th century Dutch-Jewish philosopher, hovers over Holland’s capital, The Hague. Spinoza (1632-1677), the scion of Portuguese Jews, lived here during his last seven years, earning a livelihood as a lens grinder after having been excommunicated by the Jewish community in 1656. A rationalist credited with having laid […]