Anti-Semitism
The Night of the Murdered PoetsTuesday, August 16, 2011 by Nahma Sandrow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On August 12, 1952, thirteen major Soviet Jewish figures were executed for espionage, bourgeois nationalism, "lack of true Soviet spirit," and treason, including a plot to hand the Crimea over to American and Zionist imperialists.
Israel and the AntipodesMonday, August 15, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
During the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, a boulder smashed into a car, killing 23-year-old Israeli Ofer Mizrahi. The death toll from that earthquake was 181, including two Israelis besides Mizrahi.
The Challenge of EilatFriday, August 12, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In a country where the sky is mostly blue, the southernmost city of Eilat has nonetheless laid claim—with justification—to being Israel's sun capital. Reliably good weather does not, however, solve all problems.
The New Enemies of CircumcisionThursday, August 11, 2011 by Jon D. Levenson | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Among the practices that have characterized the Jewish people over the millennia, surely none has been observed more widely, or more faithfully, than circumcision.
The New SinaiWednesday, August 10, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The Sinai Peninsula is known for its aura of stillness. But amid the timeless mountains and endless dunes, the great crossroad between Africa and Asia is more active today, and potentially more explosive, than at any time in history.
The Palestinian Mandela?Tuesday, August 9, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
To his Israeli backers, Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti is the "Palestinian [Nelson] Mandela." That image—of a principled, graying freedom fighter with the courage to move his people toward reconciliation—is promoted by political and cultural figures on the Israeli Left.
John Lennon and the JewsFriday, August 5, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
"It's not cool to be Jewish, or Negro, or Italian. It's just cool to be alive, to be around." So said Aretha Franklin. I know, because my father used to have the soul diva's wisdom hanging on the wall of his study at home. He also used to walk around in a t-shirt with "Miscegenate" emblazoned across the chest.
Hizballah in AmericaThursday, August 4, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Hizballah is a Shiite Muslim movement, Iranian-created and -funded, which strongarms Lebanon through threats and violence, assaults Israel with rockets obtained through Syria in contravention of UN resolutions, and is funded through massive criminal enterprises. And it has arrived in the Americas.
Slaughterhouse RulesFriday, July 29, 2011 by Elli Fischer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Pending approval by its upper house of parliament, the Netherlands will join Switzerland and a handful of other Western countries in mandating that animals slaughtered for food must first be stunned unconscious, generally by a hammer blow to the skull.
Minorities in the IDFWednesday, July 27, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Recently, while driving by the Israeli settlement of Nokdim (where Avigdor Lieberman lives), I picked up a hitchhiking soldier. We started chatting, and I asked the soldier his name. "Mustafa," he said. "You're a Muslim?" I asked. "Yes," he answered, "from Haifa."
Editors' Picks
Sacha Baron Cohen Never Forgets Steve Sailer, Taki's. The comedian's four main characters have been parodies of present or past foes of the Jews. At this rate, he might even get around to making a movie mocking the Amalekites.
The Spirit is Unwilling Mary Pilon, New York Times. Why won't the president of the International Olympic Committee allow for a moment of silence, in "the Olympic spirit," on the tragic anniversary of the 1972 murder of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches?
Hezbollah's Newest Threat Lee Smith, Tablet. The culture of resistance crafted by Hezbollah is on the wane, as many Shiites aren't eager to serve as human shields in the next round of warfare.
Nakba and Narrative Matti Friedman, Times of Israel. The simple narrative of the 1948 displacement of Palestinian Arabs erases the uncomfortable truth that half of Israel's Jews are there not because of the Nazis but because of the Arabs themselves.
The Reality of Race Jon Entine, Forward. Historical analysis now depends not only on pottery shards, flaking manuscripts, and faded coins, but on something far less ambiguous: DNA. And the study of Jewish DNA yields some surprising findings.
The Measure of Marx Shlomo Avineri, Jewish Review of Books. "Rather than focus on biblical sources, I decided to alert [UNESCO] to the fact that there has been a Jewish majority in Jerusalem since the 1850s, before the emergence of Zionism." According to whom? Karl Marx.
The Good Göring Christoph Gunkel, Spiegel. Albert Göring has remained essentially unknown—perhaps because it's hard to believe that the brother of Hitler's deputy was a member of the resistance.
"Kinat Sofrim" Laurent Binet, Garth Risk Hallberg, The Millions. One writer at work on the (false) memoirs of an old SS veteran reads another's bestselling, prize-accruing (false) memoirs of another SS veteran.
How to Talk about Israel at Harvard Matthew Ackerman, Contentions. Hint: Forget the humanities departments.
The Times and Kenneth Libo Karl Grossman, Jerusalem Post. "The horror," the historian said, "is to find a one-column headline on Page 16 of the New York Times saying, ‘One Million Jews Killed.'"