Editorials

Hillel is Home for UArizona Student

Hey everyone! My name is Zach “Schwally” Schawelson and I have been a Jewish student at the University of Arizona for the past FIVE years! I study engineering and when I’m not stressing about homework, projects, or finals, I spend my time at the Hillel building. During my 5… Read more »

Op-Ed: Antisemitism in the Workplace and How to Fight It

It’s there. It has to be. According to Anti-Defamation League Director and CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, antisemitism has increased 388% since October 7 over the same time period last year. Christopher Wray, FBI Director calls it at a historic level and points out that Jews are the target of international… Read more »

Op-Ed: Awareness and Diligence Save Lives

This article was first published in the October 2023 issue of DesertLeaf magazine. My Aunt Jan saved my life. The overall risk of a woman developing breast cancer during her lifetime is approximately 13%. My risk was much higher—55%-72%—due to a genetic predisposition known as a BRCA1 mutation. I… Read more »

Op-Ed: Tucson’s Multifaith Coalition Shows Up for Pride

What comes to mind when you think of a parade? Music, dancing, fanciful clothing, even a float or two? A  Pride parade is all that and more: it marks an exuberant and enthusiastic celebration for and by the LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual) community. (The… Read more »

OP-ED: Say “No” to the Nazi Salute, Pima County. Just Say “No.”

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Arizona Jewish Post or its publisher, Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona. At a Pima County (Arizona) Board of Supervisors meeting in early June, an attendee made a straight-arm… Read more »

It’s Human to Want to Give

Arizona. California. Israel. Peru. Boston. No matter what state, country, time zone or zip code, I call my mother every day. And at 97, she still answers the phone with energy and excitement. Calling home was a decision I made over two decades ago to intentionally stay connected to… Read more »

Honoring on the legacy of the Arizona Jewish Post

The Arizona Jewish Post (AJP), like the Southern Arizona Jewish community, grew, blossomed, and transformed over the past 75 years. The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona (JFSA) honors and celebrates the rich history of the AJP and its special place in our community. Timeline A powerful team Over the… Read more »

What ZOA’s legal victory at UNC means for Jewish students across country

The Old Well at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Fall. Photo: Getty Images

Those who care about Jewish college students should be celebrating a landmark legal victory in the fight against campus anti-Semitism. The victory stems from a civil rights complaint filed against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by our organization, the Zionist Organization of America. Triggered by the… Read more »

Netanyahu’s push to annex the Jordan Valley, explained

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement in Ramat Gan on September 10, 2019. Photo by Hadas Parush/Flash90

(JTA) — Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that if he is re-elected next week, he’ll immediately annex a big part of the West Bank: the Jordan Valley. That’s kind of a big deal. On the other hand, it’s not really — yet. That specific eastern swath of the West Bank… Read more »

New director ups ante for local security

Collaborating to strengthen security in Tucson’s Jewish community are, (L-R) Graham Hoffman, president and CEO, Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona; Paul Patterson, Jewish community security director; and Stuart Mellan, president and CEO, Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. (Photo courtesy Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona)

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona took a proactive stance to harden local vigilance, bringing on 23-year law enforcement and security veteran Paul Patterson in March as the Jewish community security director. Patterson is assisting all area synagogues and agencies with facility security assessments, ensuring best practices and up-to-date… Read more »

Photographer captures experience of Palestinians at Israeli checkpoints

Not every Palestinian crossing into Israel is going for work. Some 15 percent cross the border for medical, educational or other purposes. (Photo: Laura Ben-David/JTA)

I believe in the Jewish people’s right to live in our homeland. That profound belief has no bearing on the rights of others to live here as well. There are Palestinians who live and work in the land of Israel, and while I may seldom agree with the positions… Read more »

Local film screening reminds us of cost to survivors of bearing witness

(L-R): Pawel Lichter, Walter Feiger, Sidney Finkel, and Wolfgang Hellpap pose with their ‘World War II Holocaust Survivor’ caps at the Holocaust History Center in Tucson. (Courtesy Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona)

In an interview published Aug. 27, 2012, five years before his death in 2017 at the age of 87, Elie Wiesel spoke of devoting his life to the principle and the ideal of memory and remembrance. The article was titled “Elie Wiesel on His Fear of Being the Last… Read more »

Reflections: The Jewish view of love goes far beyond hearts and flowers

In Western culture today, Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, is a time to celebrate romance and love.  Despite its commercial appeal of candy, Cupid and romantic dinners, its origins are actually much darker. Dating back to the 3rd century CE, on Feb. 14, Roman Emperor Claudius Gothicus beheaded at least… Read more »

#WeAreAllJews: The American Jewish media stand with Pittsburgh

Earlier this year, our colleagues at the three leading Jewish newspapers in the United Kingdom published the same front-page headline and joint editorial voicing concern over rising anti-Semitism in Britain’s Labour Party. Today we have found a mournful occasion to follow in their footsteps. For many Jews, the United States… Read more »

As a black Jew, I am angry but defiant after Pittsburgh synagogue attack

Marcella White Campbell, on the right, at her son's bar mitzvah. (courtesy of Marcella White Campbell)

On Saturday, I received a text: “why do they hate us so much?” It was from my daughter, a first-year student at college who is thousands of miles away from home but, at that moment, was reaching out for comfort, wishing she was curled up on the couch beside… Read more »