Posts By PHYLLIS BRAUN - AJP Executive Editor

After pulling out of the Iran deal, Trump is open to Plan B — but no one knows what that is

President Donald Trump announces his decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House, May 8, 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — When President Donald Trump teased and then announced he would be pulling the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, the next obvious question was, what next? What was Plan B? “Congress has heard nothing about an alternative,” Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the chairman of the… Read more »

This bike saved Jews from Nazis

The Giro d’Italia bike race is moving from Israel to Italy but this story lives on — about the heroic sports hero Gino Bartali, the Tour de France and Giro champ who saved 800 Jews from the Holocaust by teaming up with a convent of singing nuns and document-forging… Read more »

OP-ED Ms. Diagnoses: Women’s Lives Are at Risk

Ellen Hershkin

A national call to action for National Women’s Health Week (May 13–19) Women’s health is on life support. Inequities in insurance premiums, gender bias, treatment and care must end. Women’s health doesn’t advance itself, so it’s up to women to be their own healthcare advocates. Women have always been… Read more »

Local forum on response to sexual violence is eye-opening

Joan-e Rapine of Jewish Family & Children's Services speaks, flanked by Amalia C. Mora of the University of Arizona, left, and Alba Jaramillo of YWCA Southern Arizona. (Simon Rosenblatt)

Alba Jaramillo, J.D., has worked for almost two decades in the field of human rights, particularly immigrant and women’s rights. She’s an expert on domestic and sexual violence, both as a professional and as a survivor herself. Yet none of that prevented her from being terrorized by a serial… Read more »

Jewish Latino Teen Coalition life-changing for local youth

At the United States Capitol on April 11, (L-R): Isabella Luna, Rebecca Dubin, Sophie Holtzman, Peris Lopez, Rachel Davenport, Senator Jeff Flake, Eric Brown, Yuval Barel, Jessica Hernandez, Rafi Zinman, Sophia Greenhill, and Manuel Barcelo (Courtesy Jewish Latino Teen Coalition)

“I don’t know what path I would be on right now without JLTC . . . everything has changed,” says Catalina Foothills High School junior and student body president Peris Lopez. The Jewish-Latino Teen Coalition is life-changing for the sophomores and juniors it brings together annually from high schools across Tucson.… Read more »

Growth, laughter to be Salkowitz’ legacy at JCF

Tracy Salkowitz, right, with her husband, Rick Edwards, at a Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona gala on Oct. 1. (Martha Lochert)

After six years of dedicated service as the president and CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, Tracy Salkowitz is moving on. Salkowitz and her husband, Rick Edwards, are heading to Mendocino, California, where the climate is kinder on her lungs. But her hands-on approach to community… Read more »

JFSA recognizing Glaze for community service

Leslie Glaze

Leslie Glaze, Ph.D., furthers the critical work of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona in both traditional and novel ways. That’s why the selection committee tapped her as the recipient of the JFSA’s 2018 Special Recognition Award. She will be honored next week at the 2018 Jewish Community Awards… Read more »

Former resident continues Holocaust education in Austria

[L-R): Holocaust survivor Walter Fantl, former President of Austria Heinz Fischer, Holocaust survivor and former Tucsonan Alfred Schreier at the imperial palace in Vienna, Austria, in 2017.

As a former member of the Southern Arizona Holocaust Survivors Group, I was touched by the article about Fort Huachuca (“Army dedicates plaque to survivors at Fort Huachuca Holocaust ceremony,” AJP 4/20/18). I had the privilege of attending the ceremonies on two different occasions while I lived in Sahuarita,… Read more »

Five books even crazy busy moms will want to read

So many people tell me that they don’t have time to read. I understand the dilemma. Reading is often portrayed as an immersive experience, one that you can’t do without a full-fledged commitment of an event-free day and a deck chair. Well, would-be reader, I’d say that is wrong.… Read more »

Beyond history and geography, it is the people who make Israel special

Amir Eden

On Sunday, April 22, our community celebrated Israel’s 70th Anniversary of its Independence. I would like to take a moment and thank, from the bottom of my heart, all the lay leaders, volunteers, and professionals who were a part of Tucson’s communal celebration. A special thank you goes to… Read more »

In Focus 5.4.18: Israel@70

The University of Arizona Marching Band takes the stage after leading the opening parade. (Yossi Lasko)

Some 4,500 people attended “Israel@70: A Living Bridge,” a festival celebrating Israel’s 70th Independence Day, on Sunday, April 22 on the Jewish community campus. The free festival organized by the Weintraub Israel Center included live entertainment, food, kids’ activities, a shuk (market) featuring local Jewish organizations and other vendors, and… Read more »

Irene Wolff

Irene Frances Wolff, 90, died April 22, 2018. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Mrs. Wolff was a lifetime member of Hadassah and volunteered in her community throughout her life. A graveside service was held at Evergreen Cemetery, with Cantor Janece Cohen of Congregation Or Chadash officiating. Mrs. Wolff was preceded… Read more »

Elaine Lisberg

Elaine R. Lisberg, 88, died April 29, 2018. Mrs. Lisberg was born in Decatur, Illinois, to Emanual and Hannah Rosenberg. In 1993, she moved from the Chicago suburbs to Tucson, where she continued her strong volunteer work both on a local and national level. Mrs. Lisberg was preceded in… Read more »

Steve Kippur, former JFSA Man of the Year, dies at 65

Steve Kippur, 65, died April 20, 2018. Mr. Kippur was born and raised in Denver, raised his children in Pueblo, Colorado, and spent the last 15 years of his life in Tucson. Mr. Kippur owned a furniture store in Pueblo and was a third-generation scrap metal dealer at Amcep… Read more »

OP-ED Mahmoud Abbas’ remarks on the Holocaust explain why two-state solution is dying

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the Palestinian National Council in the West Bank city of Ramallah, April 30, 2018. (Flash90)

NEW YORK (JTA) — Rabbi Donniel Hartman had some bad news for his audience on the largely liberal Upper West Side: The two-state solution might not be dead, but it’s not imminent either, and most Israelis don’t believe the two-state solution is “implementable in their lifetime.” It’s not a… Read more »