Tagged Vietnam War

The history and the future of Israel

Next week, Israel will celebrate the 67th anniversary of its establishment as a modern nation. On Remembrance Day, the day before Independence Day, Israelis will cherish the memory and legacy of the 23,000 soldiers who gave their lives so that we would be able to live as free people… Read more »

Countercultural spirit lives on at iconic 1960s havurah

The davening room at Havurat Shalom, virtually unchanged since the early 1970s. (Jesse Edsell-Vetter)

SOMERVILLE, Mass. (JTA) — To certain first-time visitors to Havurat Shalom, the congregation’s prayer room may look remarkably familiar. From the macrame Jewish star adorning the ark and the Middle Eastern-style lamp serving as a ner tamid to the pillows on a bare floor and the sparely decorated walls,… Read more »

To defeat Hamas, let them ‘win’

The bloody collision between Israel and Hamas is reaching a significant crossroad, with the U.S. Administration pressuring Israel to stop Operation Protective Edge now, and deal with demilitarization of Gaza later. However, many in Israel, including key ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, believe that stopping Israel’s ground operation now,… Read more »

George McGovern, a pacifist who wanted to bomb Auschwitz

George McGovern signing his book "Abraham Lincoln" at the Richard M. Nixon Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, Calif., August 2009. (Scott Clarkson via CC)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — George McGovern is widely remembered for advocating immediate American withdrawal from Vietnam and sharp reductions in defense spending. Yet despite his reputation as a pacifist, the former U.S. senator and 1972 presidential candidate, who died Sunday at 90, did believe there were times when America should… Read more »