For more than 500 years, between the 10th and 15th centuries, Spanish Christians, Jews and Muslims coexisted in what Jeffrey Gorsky calls “unparalleled harmony.” This period, known by some as the convivencia, a word which means living together in Spanish, ended tragically in persecution, forced conversion and expulsion. Gorsky’s masterful account of this golden era […]
Reshef Levi’s Hebrew-language film, Hunting Elephants, is a non-stop exercise in farce. Scheduled to open in Toronto theatres on June 12, it’s set in Jerusalem and revolves around a nerdy 12-year-old boy and his grumpy, tough-as-nails grandfather. Jonathan (Gil Blank), whip smart but socially awkward, is the butt of jokes and pranks at his school. […]
The anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement is gaining ground at a fairly rapid pace. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, some pro-Israel supporters who had previously downplayed this clear and present danger to Israel’s well-being have pressed the alarm button with alacrity. The most recent lover of Zion to do so is the outspoken […]
Two years ago, as Islamic State swept through northern Iraq in a rampage of conquest, pillage, rape and murder, the fighters under its ominous black banner singled out Christians and Yazidis for maltreatment. Members of these ancient minorities were killed and compelled to convert to the Sunni variant of Islam, while their women were subjected […]
Standing on the cusp of becoming Israel’s first former prime minister to be packed off to jail and stamped with the infamy of a criminal record, Ehud Olmert is making history for entirely the wrong reason. On May 25, a district court in Jerusalem sentenced him to eight months imprisonment on charges of breach of […]
The chicken was nowhere to be seen, but it didn’t matter. Even without it, I was on the cusp of experiencing a different and exhilarating kind of bus ride. Something to be remembered long after it’s ended, a trip on a Guatemalan chicken bus is a giddy dip into local color. Chicken buses, gaudily painted […]
With the six major powers struggling to meet an end-of-June deadline for attaining a comprehensive and historic nuclear deal with Iran, two formidable issues remain to be settled — the timing of sanctions relief and the extent to which international monitors would have unrestricted rights to inspect Iran’s nuclear facilities. Judging by the rhetoric emanating […]
In the spring of 1933, less than four months after Adolf Hitler’s accession to power, four Jewish inmates in the newly opened Dachau concentration camp were killed while supposedly trying to escape. In fact, they were murdered by SS guards, who fired the opening shots of an incremental process which culminated in the Holocaust. The […]
Fifteen years after its unilateral withdrawal from southern Lebanon, this combustible area remains a thorn in Israel’s side and a potential threat to regional peace. Since completing its hasty pullout on May 24, 2000, Israel has fought a war with Hezbollah — the Lebanese Shiite movement aligned with Iran and Syria — and may yet […]
Even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new Israeli government was sworn in on May 14, the 34th since 1949, he reiterated his interest in enlarging his cabinet and making it more representative of the country. In the general election on March 17, the Likud won 30 seats, more than any other party. In lengthy negotiations […]