British Mandate
Not-So-Young AdultThursday, April 25, 2013 by Diane Cole | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
With remarkable sensitivity and clarity, Israeli novelist Nava Semel portrays children in Mandate Palestine working as hard as they can to make sense of a post-Holocaust, pre-state limbo.
World War II and the Impossibility of Polish HistoryWednesday, February 27, 2013 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Must any history of Poland in the Second World War therefore put the Jews and the Holocaust at the center? If it does not, is that originality or revisionism?
When Prayers for Rain are AnsweredFriday, January 11, 2013 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Israel is, in most minds, an arid land bereft of water, not cursed with its superabundance. But a look at geography and history suggests otherwise.
America and the Muslim Brotherhood: A RomanceThursday, December 20, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
One of the most consistent and depressing aspects of U.S.-Middle Eastern relations is the determination of our intellectuals and officials to defend Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.
Partition, Then and NowTuesday, December 11, 2012 by Allan Arkush | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Since the beginning of the Zionist project, the partition of the land into two states has never found enthusiastic support among either Jews or Arabs.
Editors' Picks
Lone Survivor Marc Pitzke, Spiegel. Refused entry into Palestine in 1942, set adrift by Turkey in the Black Sea, the Struma was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing all 800 of its Jewish passengers—except one.
Mapping the Holy Land Matti Friedman, Times of Israel. Founded in 1865 to explore "the land to which we turn as the fountain of all our hopes," the London-based Palestine Exploration Fund completed its survey in June 1914. One month later, war began.
Sing to the Lord A New Song Samuel Lewis, Musical Opinion. Israel not only punches above its weight in classical music, but has also cultivated a unique musical voice.
Havah Nagilah: From Niggun To Cliché Chavie Lieber, JTA. Today, it is the clichéd stuff of American weddings. But it began in Europe as a Hasidic niggun, and picked up its words in 20th-century Palestine.
Wingate of Zion Max Boot, Weekly Standard. Israel remembers Orde Wingate for turning Jews in Mandate Palestine into a fighting force—as T. E. Lawrence had done for the Arabs. But Wingate's legacy stretches further still.
Arendt and the Arabs Richard L. Rubenstein, New English Review. Hannah Arendt feared that Zionism would create a “Jewish island in an Arab sea.” But her Eurocentrism kept her from seeing just how hostile that sea would be.
The Great War's Jewish Soldiers Naomi Sandweiss, Tablet. Military service in the First World War marked the entry of many Jewish immigrants into wider society; but for those in the Jewish Legion, it also represented Zionism's first military victory.
Herzl House Aviva Bar-Am, Shmuel Bar-Am, Times of Israel. Situated in the JNF’s first forest, Herzl House was built as a memorial to the Zionist founder; but when Arab rioters murdered Jews in 1929, it served as a sanctuary for the next generation’s pioneers.
Mounting Tension Daniel Tauber, Jerusalem Post. When Israeli police arrest Jews for the crime of praying on the Temple Mount, they are subjecting peaceful citizens to the whims of a violent minority.