Opinion

Israeli President Shimon Peres presents the Presidential Medal to President Obama at Peres' residence in Jerusalem, March 21, 2013. (Mark Neyman/GPO/Flash90/JTA)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — President Obama had three goals for his first presidential trip to Israel. He wanted to persuade Israelis that the United States is committed to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. He wanted to promote the renewal of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, albeit without any specific “deliverables.” Most… Read more »

During the Vietnam War protests at the University of Wisconsin, students were said to have gathered on the front lawn of noted historian George Mosse, imploring him to stop supporting the university’s policy of allowing the ROTC on campus. To some students, this alignment with the machinery of war… Read more »

Is it appropriate for a respected institution to sponsor or host a speaker who harshly accuses the Israeli government of standing in the way of Middle East peace or grossly violating human rights because of its policies toward the Palestinians? Absolutely. While American Jews overwhelmingly disagree with these broad… Read more »

(Miami Herald) While stories about the formidable Mossad, Israel’s parallel of the CIA, endow the agency with a nearly mystical aura, Israelis, ever quick to slaughter a sacred cow, tell this joke: A Mossad agent is sent to London on a covert mission. His contact in London is a… Read more »

It’s rare for light to be cast on the origins of a rumor.  But a recent revelation about a charge made against Chuck Hagel before his confirmation as Secretary of Defense does that – and might provide us all some illumination too. (Contrary to what some have surmised, I… Read more »

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — It seems as though the Oscars writers think that Hollywood is so liberal that they can get away with making offensive comments because everyone knows they’re “just joking.” I don’t agree. Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony featured a not very subtle onslaught of sexist, racist,… Read more »

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jewish identity and connection are the birthright of every Jew. So why do so many Jewish institutions discriminate against Jews with disabilities? It keeps happening because we let it happen. We make excuses by saying there isn’t enough support or enough dollars, or because we value… Read more »

Uri Dromi

The announcement that President Obama will visit Israel in the spring came as a total surprise. Not that a visit of the leader of the greatest nation on earth (still) and the closest ally of Israel should be unwelcomed, but the circumstances seem a bit odd. First of all,… Read more »

  The public face of world Jewry will change this summer. Come September, both England and Israel will install new chief rabbis. Jonathan Sacks, the brilliant and widely published chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, is retiring to be succeeded by the affable Ephraim Mirvis, currently rabbi of the… Read more »

One of the seminal slogans of the 20th century was the historic refrain “Never again!” This cry that rose from the ashes of the Holocaust was meant to ensure that there would be no repeat of the greatest tragedy in modern European history. The refrain remains hollow if it… Read more »

Khaled Abu Taomeh

The truth sometimes hurts; that is why the Palestinian Authority (PA) has been working hard to prevent the outside world from hearing about many occurrences that reflect negatively on its leaders or people. In recent years, the PA leadership, often with the help of the mainstream media in the… Read more »

Rabbi Avi Shafron mentions the importance of empathy in his article (“Halachah must rule at the Western Wall, but empathy is the most important factor,” AJP, 1.11.13, but, in my opinion, he  does not demonstrate empathy and respect to either Anat Hoffman or to Jews who may think and… Read more »

Rabbi Avi Shafran’s commentary, “Halachah must rule at Western Wall” (AJP, 1/11/13 ) can only be seen as part of his continuing effort to hijack our traditions. Assigning himself to be the supreme halachic authority and protector of our traditions, Shafran informs us that women and religious services other… Read more »

I was extremely disappointed to read the condescending piece by Rabbi Shafran about Women of the Wall (“Halachah must rule at Western Wall, but empathy most important factor,” AJP, 1/11/13). I have been a supporter of Women of the Wall for years. The group’s actions are not “antics” nor… Read more »

Trees have been known to break their way through the toughest rock slabs to get to the water and nutrients they need to live the life they were destined to live. So it is with my sister, Anna Greenberg, and her Healing Groves. The Greenberg family, in cooperation with… Read more »

This year, U.S. Jews, like other Americans, mark Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by remembering him as a powerful voice against racism and for civil rights. But, for Jews, Dr. King was also something else: a uniquely important ally in the fight against anti-Semitism and for a secure Israel.… Read more »

For almost two years, Chavez has been fighting cancer. And for most of that time, he has been claiming —falsely — to have been cured. But less than two months after winning a fourth term in last October’s election, Chavez was spirited back to Cuba, where Fidel Castro’s doctors… Read more »

It’s easy to dismiss the antics of “Warrior of the Wall” Anat Hoffman. Her guerrilla gatherings of women in vocal prayer services at the Kosel Maaravi, or Western Wall, in defiance of an Israeli Supreme Court decision and in affront to the traditional Jewish men and women who most… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — For those of us who closely follow the progress in America in the battles against racism and anti-Semitism, the observance of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday this year has particular relevance. First, the King holiday, which this year is observed on Jan. 21,… Read more »

In the decade since the attacks of 9/11, the United States and its allies have portrayed terrorism as primarily al Qaeda-centric. This, in turn, has led, logically, to a search for the origin of the terrorism aimed at us. Thus, after 9/11, many American analysts wondered, “Why do they… Read more »