Categories
Television

The Swedish Connection

Sweden hewed to a policy of neutrality during World War II, but Swedish industrialists profited from the conflict by selling iron ore and ball bearings to Nazi Germany, thereby enabling it to press on with the war. Sweden, too, allowed German troop trains to pass through its territory, all in the service of placating Germany […]

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Commentary

Russia And Ukraine Are Mired In A War Of Attrition

The longest and most destructive war in Europe since World War II grinds on remorselessly, exacting a horrendous toll in Russian and Ukrainian lives. When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he was apparently confident that his “special military operation” would succeed. Four years on, it has degenerated […]

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Commentary

A Malicious Palestinian Campaign In Canada

The Ontario Camps Association should be commended for having categorically rejected an arrogant and unreasonable demand by a coalition of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian organizations to strip the accreditation of 17 overnight Jewish children’s summer camps in Canada due to their support of and connection to Israel. These anti-Israel groups, ranging from the Palestinian Canadian Congress […]

Categories
Television

Deep Inside Iran

An Israeli documentary, Deep Inside Iran, adds an additional layer of substance and understanding to Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last June. Now available on Izzy, a streaming platform specializing in Israeli films, this 56-minute movie is constructed around an interview with an Iranian Mossad agent who secretly worked inside Iran during that conflict. The […]

Categories
Middle East

Trump’s Board Of Peace Faces Serious Problems

Four months after its formation, U.S. President Donald Trump’s  Board of Peace convened its first official meeting in Washington, D.C. on February 17. It went reasonably well, but serious problems lie ahead. Trump, in a flourish of enthusiasm, announced pledges of $7 billion from Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar and $10 billion […]

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Commentary

Jesse Jackson: A Flawed Fighter For Justice And Equality

Jesse Jackson, the American civil rights leader who died on February 17 at the age of 84, had a mercurial relationship with the Jewish community in the United States. An ordained Baptist minister who was born and came of age when segregation and Jim Crow laws and regulations oppressed African Americans, he was a protege […]

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Commentary

Trump Has Crossed A Red Line

Being the president of the United States, the world’s preeminent superpower, Donald Trump acts as if he can arbitrarily impose his views or diktats on whatever nation he fancies. Since his inaugural more than a year ago, he has pressured Canada to relinquish its sovereignty and join the American union as the 51st state and […]

Categories
Television

Field Agent 566

Eli Cohen has been a household name in Israel for decades. Sixty one years after his execution in Damascus, he is remembered as probably the greatest spy who ever worked for the Mossad, Israel’s external intelligence agency. Cohen arrived in Syria, Israel’s virulently hostile neighbor, in 1962 under cover as a Syrian Arab emigre from […]

Categories
Middle East

Trump Is Keeping His Options Open Regarding Iran

Donald Trump is engaged in a guessing game with respect to Iran. Since Iran’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters last month, the American president has spoken out from both sides of his mouth about an issue that could well trigger a war in the Middle East. While he has threatened to attack Iran, he has […]

Categories
Books

Philip Roth: Stung By Life

Philip Roth, the late Jewish American novelist and short story writer, was consumed by four related topics — the Jewish community, Israel, the Holocaust and antisemitism. His interlocking  preoccupations were reflected in his breakout novella, Goodbye, Columbus And Five Short Stories and in intense novels such as The Counterlife, Operation Shylock and The Plot Against […]