Cornelius Gurlitt, the reclusive German art collector whose father acquired a treasure trove of 19th and 20th century European master works under questionable circumstances during the Nazi era, passed away in Munich on May 5. He was 81 and had been suffering from a heart ailment. Gurlitt’s death closes a chapter in the history of […]
The late George Plimpton (1927-2003) was a Renaissance Man — a writer, editor, athlete and actor. One of the founders of The Paris Review, as well as a successful sports writer, he’s the subject of Plimpton, a PBS biopic due to be broadcast on Friday, May 16 at 9 p.m. as part of its acclaimed American […]
Montreal documentarian Abbey Jack Neidik is a secular Jew, but he can see the wisdom of the ages in traditional Judaism. This attitude works itself deeply into his latest documentary, Shekinah: The Intimate Life of Hasidic Women, which is coming to Toronto next week. Neidik’s film — which will be screened at the Carlton Cinema […]
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, […]