The Islamic World
Evil GeniusThursday, February 23, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Very little anti-Semitic literature is new; most of its tropes seem ageless, continually recombined and updated by haters reacting only dimly to their actual circumstances. Few anti-Semitic works exhibit literary or lesser, sociological gifts. The one exception is The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
The Signal-to-Noise WarWednesday, February 15, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
A "signal-to-noise" ratio compares the power of a transmitted signal to that of the accompanying background noise. In the war of words between Israel and Iran the noise-to-signal ratio is so high that it is an almost overwhelming task to decipher what's going on.
Terror in the Shadow of the HolocaustFriday, February 10, 2012 by Sohrab Ahmari | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
For most people, "Mykonos" evokes sunny holidays on the Greek coast. But for the Iranian diaspora, the word is a warning that the murderous arm of the Islamic Republic can reach Iranian immigrants even when they find new homes in the democratic West.
Hear, O Friends of IsraelThursday, February 2, 2012 by Daniel Johnson | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In 1987, exactly a quarter-century ago, the appearance of a work of Jewish history caused a stir. For one thing, the author was not Jewish; for another, the book was unashamedly supportive of the State of Israel, which even then was enough to provoke hostility, especially on the Left.
Whose Holocaust?Friday, January 27, 2012 by Margot Lurie | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
For much of Europe, today is the UN-designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has dedicated his address this year to children murdered by the Nazis, with the message that "the best tribute to the memory of these children is an ongoing effort to teach the universal lessons of the Holocaust, so that no such horror is visited upon future generations."
Listening to SaddamThursday, January 26, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In the debate over Iran's nuclear intentions, the question of rationality looms menacingly. How do Iran's rulers perceive cause and effect, calculate costs and benefits, and make policy decisions in order to maximize the well-being of their state and citizens? How do they understand the outside world?
Whither the AlawitesFriday, January 20, 2012 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Time does not appear to be on the side of Syria's minority Alawite-led regime. President Bashar Assad has reportedly been offered asylum in Moscow, which wants an orderly transition that will preserve Russian strategic interests. Other stories have Assad and his loyalists preparing mountain strongholds for a last-ditch stand.
Two Palestines, CompleteWednesday, January 11, 2012 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Some saw history in the making. With jubilation and fanfare Fatah and Hamas agreed last spring in Cairo to form an interim technocratic administration, hold parliamentary and presidential elections by May 2012 and, ultimately, to establish a national unity government.
The State of ChristianityThursday, January 5, 2012 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On a sun-drenched day during the week before Christmas, Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre was crowded with pilgrims from Nigeria. They were taking turns kneeling and praying at a marker on the spot where, sacred history has it, Jesus was crucified, entombed, and resurrected.
The Mughrabi Bridge to NowhereTuesday, January 3, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
From the southern end of the plaza in front of Jerusalem's Western Wall, a temporary wooden bridge ascends eastward to the Mughrabi Gate, the only one of the 11 gates into the Temple Mount area that is accessible to non-Muslims.
Editors' Picks
Morsi the Moderate? Eric Trager, New Republic. Although Egypt’s new president is trusted by the military establishment, the Muslim Brotherhood chose him as their candidate for his uncompromising ideological integrity.
Food for Peace Kenneth M. Quinn, Huffington Post. Daniel Hillel's micro-irrigation technology, which turns desert into farmland, has earned him the World Food Prize—and the gratitude of people across the Middle East.
Flow of History Harold Brodsky, H-Net. While the Jordan River was agriculturally useless until the modern day, it has been politically and spiritually significant for millennia.
Intellectual Guilt Jonathan S. Tobin, Contentions. The spate of attacks on French Jews since the Toulouse massacre flows from not just the anti-Semitism of Arab leaders but its legitimation by the European intelligentsia.
Missing Mubarak Jacky Hougy, Globes. As Egypt passes sentence on Mubarak, some in Israel are mourning an ally. But Mubarak was no friend of Israel—and the military dictatorship which he led still holds the levers of power.
Non-Arab Spring Emanuele Ottolenghi, Times of Israel. Analytic focus on the Arabs misses the real beneficiaries of the ongoing Middle Eastern revolutions: the non-Arab minorities who have gained autonomy and, in some cases, even statehood.
Proliferation Problem Chemi Shalev, Haaretz. Dennis Ross confirms that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah told him years ago that if Iran acquired nuclear weapons, the kingdom would seek them too.
The New Egypt Ariel Blumenthal, Jewish Journal. That Egypt's leading presidential candidates entertain the idea of annulling their country's peace treaty with Israel is chilling—but it's an annulment that 61 percent of their countrymen favor.
Jews of Yemen, Get Out! Lyn Julius, Times of Israel. The few dozen Jews who remain in Yemen—many incentivized against aliyah by the Satmar movement—insist that Jewish life is good in Tzanaa despite a death toll attesting to the contrary.
Know Your Enemy Jodi Rudoren, New York Times. After a hiatus of two decades, schools in Gaza are starting to teach Hebrew again. It isn't because they've discovered a heartfelt interest in a neighboring culture.