Posts By PHYLLIS BRAUN - AJP Executive Editor

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Stephen Bannon, in his first interviews since Donald Trump named him a top White House aide, denied being anti-Semitic or a white nationalist. At the same time, he continued to advance a theory of “globalist” conspiracy that echoes centuries-old anti-Semitic libels, but without any mention of Jews.… Read more »

(JTA) — European far-right politicians were quick to hold up Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election as a harbinger of their own impending triumphs. Marine Le Pen, head of France’s far-right party, said that what Europeans call “the Trump effect” — that is, right-wing nationalism fueled by anger toward… Read more »

  (JTA) – When you share a name with someone you respect and admire, you always try to live up to the connection, because sometimes outsiders aren’t aware of the difference. That’s how it was for decades with me and Ruth Gruber, the noted photojournalist, reporter and author who… Read more »

(JTA) — The upset victory by Donald Trump in the 2016 elections stunned a Jewish activist and leadership class that is at times as divided as the electorate at large. JTA asked some of those leaders to describe their concerns and expectations in a series of brief essays, “Worst… Read more »

  (JTA) — In his inspiring book “Words That Hurt, Words that Heal,” Rabbi Joseph Telushkin wrote: “Because words can be used to inflict devastating and irrevocable suffering, Jewish teachings go so far as to compare cruel words to murder.” Thus it is painful to see the malicious character… Read more »

  LOS ANGELES (JTA) — It was just a few weeks ago, on the night of Nov. 8, that my family had all anxiously exchanged text messages as we watched the election results trickle in. State by state, my Hillary-loving family saw our hopes slipping away — and now, too… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — After Brett Parker’s great-grandfather fled the pogroms in Europe and came to the United States, he opened a drug store where he sold comic books. Each week he would give his grandson, Parker’s father, five comic books to take home. Growing up during the early… Read more »

(JTA) — Speakers at an event of the white supremacist think tank the National Policy Institute quoted Nazi propaganda and said the media protects Jewish interests. The day-long event of speeches and panel discussions attended by about 200 people was held Saturday in Washington, D.C. The New York Times… Read more »

Holocaust survivors’ book reading On Wednesday, Nov. 9, the Jewish History Museum hosted Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona for a morning of readings from JFCS’s book, “To Tell Our Stories: Holocaust Survivors of Southern Arizona.” Five of the survivors featured in the book read excerpts from… Read more »

Anna Rogovin, 100, died Oct. 27, 2016. Born in New York City to Russian immigrants, Ms. Rogovin attended Hunter College in New York at age 15. She graduated with honors and began her career with a civil service job in the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. When World… Read more »

Muriel S. Bromberg, 89, passed away Oct. 28, 2016. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Ms. Bromberg was among the first generation of her family to be born in the United States along with one of her brothers. Three older siblings were born in Poland and the family escaped before… Read more »

BRUCE GREENBERG was appointed to a three-year term on the Americas Board for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The New York-based regional branch of RICS is the largest global organization for professionals in real estate, construction, valuation and related industries. Greenberg is managing director and Mexico country leader… Read more »

A son, LOUIS KRAUSZ NEUMAN, was born Oct. 21, 2016 to Eszter and Ariel Neuman of Los Angeles. Grandparents are Yael and Shlomo Neuman of Tucson and Eva and Tamas Lengyel of Los Angeles. Louis joins his brother, Zev Loren Neuman.… Read more »

Elijah Ivan Nogales, son of Celina Alday and Reuven Shorr, will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah on Saturday, Nov. 19 at Congregation Chaverim. He is the grandson of Alisa and Kenneth Shorr, Celina and Tony Nogales, and Patricia and Ken Wagner, all of Tucson. Elijah attends Robins Elementary School… Read more »

I  recently completed the reading of all 15 volumes of “The Cambridge History of English Literature” by A.W. Ward and A.R. Waller. It took me several years. When it came to the history of religious writing having to do with Christianity and its various forms and manifestations, the authors paid… Read more »

  WASHINGTON (JTA) – Enforce the Iran deal. Violate the Iran deal. Leave it to Congress. Do nothing. President-elect Donald Trump has an array of options before him when he assumes the presidency on Jan. 21, according to supporters and opponents of the deal. Reached last year between Iran and six major powers led by the… Read more »

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Asher Susser

Asher Susser, a professor emeritus of Middle Eastern history at Tel Aviv University, signed on as the Stein Family Professor of Modern Israel Studies at the University of Arizona four years ago. He is the moderator for the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies’ second annual Modern Israel Conference, “Balancing… Read more »

The Tucson International Jewish Film Festival will hold a FAST (First Annual Short Topics) & Fun! evening to announce the schedule for the festival on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The festival, which will run from Jan. 12-22, will feature more than… Read more »

Rabbi Stephanie Aaron

On March 7, 1945, the 104th Signal Company of the U.S. Army 104th Infantry Division entered and liberated Cologne, Germany. They removed the Nazi flag from the German Wehrmacht headquarters. On a bright, hot day near the end of September 2016, this flag was handed to me; it was… Read more »