As Syrians slaughter each other in an increasingly vicious civil war whose death toll now exceeds 150,000 and whose outcome is still uncertain, Israel is straining to remain aloof from that conflict. Israel’s policy of neutrality was succinctly summed up by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last June: “Israel is not interested in intervening, as long […]
At the behest of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1,600 scientists from Germany were brought to the United States in a secret operation from 1945 to 1952. With the Cold War heating up, their expertise in such fields as rocketry, biological and chemical weapons, aviation and space medicine was highly valued by the American […]
Thousands of books have been published about World War II, but Lizzie Collingham’s book, The Taste of War: World War II and the Battle for Food (Penguin), is unique. As far as I know, it’s the first that examines the role food played in that protracted conflict. Collingham’s topic, often overlooked by historians, is extremely […]
The Conference of Major American Jewish Organizations, a New York City-based umbrella group with 50 member organizations, made an egregious mistake on April 30 by denying membership to J Street, a dovish pro-Israel advocacy organization that has been critical of some of Israel’s policies. The Conference voted to reject J Street’s application by a margin […]
To no one’s surprise, the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are dead in the water, having expired on April 29, and the prospects for reviving them in a meaningful fashion are extremely slim, if non-existent. At this point, it’s worth asking two relevant questions: Was it all a waste of time? Was […]
Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, has been exposed as a blatant racist, and now he has reaped the whirlwind. Having made disparaging and disgraceful remarks about African Americas, he has been banned for life from NBA games, practices and business discussions and fined $2.5 million. “We stand together in condemning Mr. […]
Mohammed Dajani, a professor at Al Quds University in eastern Jerusalem, is the kind of Palestinian the Palestinians need more of. Once a flaming radical, he’s now a pragmatist who supports a two-state solution to defuse the Arab-Israeli conflict and espouses such eternal and precious values as reconciliation and dialogue. Driven by these laudable ideas, […]
Jan Karski, born a century ago this month, was a member of the Polish resistance movement during World War II and wrote a searing expose of Nazi crimes in German-occupied Poland. Published in the United States in 1944, when the Jewish community in Poland had already been virtually decimated, Courier from Poland: The Story of a […]
Viktor Bout claimed he was a “legitimate businessman,” but in reality, he brazenly violated United Nations arms embargoes and grew wealthy as a merchant of death in Africa. Some even claimed that Bout, a Russian, was an Al Qaeda and Taliban arms supplier. The Notorious Mr. Bout, which will be screened at the Canadian International […]
Holland presents its prettiest face to the world in April and May, when it’s ablaze with a spectacular profusion of flowers. After a long and dreary winter, spring finally arrives as Holland’s pancake-flat fields release beautiful blooms in hues ranging from red and yellow to violet and white. This enchanting annual rite of nature is […]