Opinion (Page 4)

By Abraham H. Foxman , JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA)—Nelson Mandela will always be remembered as a symbol of courageous resistance to the racist policies of apartheid South Africa. He was a true hero of conscience. But he also will always have a special place in the memoryContinue Reading

By Steven M. Cohen and Kerry Olitzky , JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA)—Right now, there is just one way for someone who is not Jewish to become Jewish in a publicly recognized and officially authorized fashion: undergo religious conversion under the auspices of a rabbi. Whether the pathContinue Reading

By Harold Berman , JTA World News Service EFRAT, West Bank (JTA)—The reputable car dealer’s advertisement in the local paper screams “Brand New Mercedes—Only $500!” You get excited but think it sounds too good to be true. Upon closer inspection, it is: The car dealer is offering only the hubcapsContinue Reading

By Edwin Black , JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — As the current round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks flounder and seek to regain momentum, many are wondering what America can do with its prodigious economic resources to encourage peace and reconciliation between the parties. For this reason, it mayContinue Reading

By Donniel Hartman , The Shalom Hartman Institute Facts rarely shape or change our opinions. We prefer to select the facts that mirror and justify that which we already hold. The release of the recent Pew survey, “A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” with its treasury of facts and figures, hasContinue Reading

By Abby J. Leibman , Special to JTNews On Sept. 19, the House of Representatives passed a bill that slashes nearly $40 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps). It’s difficult to capture just how monumental a shift this is in American policy. ItContinue Reading

By Ron Kampeas , JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (JTA) — The good news for Israel in President Obama’s speech at the United Nations was his insistence that any steps Iran might take to solve the standoff over its nuclear program must be transparent and verifiable. The bad news wasContinue Reading

By Knate Stahl , Special to JTNews I live in a senior-housing complex in Seattle. Many of the residents are Jewish. Each Saturday my wife and I coordinate a program — with the help of other volunteers — that provides free food to our fellow residents donated by a localContinue Reading

By Jacob Kamaras , JNS.org On June 1, 2010, the day after the Gaza flotilla incident in which nine Turkish militants were killed after attacking Israeli soldiers aboard the Mavi Marmara, famed reporter Helen Thomas didn’t hide her opinions about Israel in a briefing with White House Press Secretary RobertContinue Reading

By Steven Blum , Special to JTNews When I found out David Irving, noted anti-Semite, Holocaust denier, and widely discredited “historian” was coming to Berlin, I had the kind of reaction I think many Jews can relate to: I groaned and wanted to move on to the next article inContinue Reading

By Marvin Stern , Special to JTNews My father Klaus Stern died on May 12. Sitting in the hospital with him those last 12 days I was constantly focused on his hands. Obviously as children we hold our parents’ hands and of course over the years I often shook handsContinue Reading

By Donniel Hartman , Shalom Hartman Institute Dear President Abbas: The new administration in Washington has brought to our neighborhood a Secretary of State who has not yet given up on the possibilities of progress in bringing our conflict to a peaceful and just end. It seems, as well, thatContinue Reading

By Marc Schneier , JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is correct to describe a new proposal by the Arab League to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as “a very big step forward.” Yet there will be no serious movement toward peace untilContinue Reading

By Edith Shaked , Special to JTNews The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), should amend the “Proclamation of the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust,” as annually posted at its website, to truthfully commemorate all the different victims. A reading of the first paragraph seems exclusive.Continue Reading

By Wendy Rosen , Special to JTNews This past July, a bomb went off in Burgas, Bulgaria, murdering five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian bus driver, and wounding dozens more. After a six-month investigation, the Bulgarian minister of the interior recently announced the findings: The atrocity was carried out andContinue Reading

By Ben Cohen , JNS.org WASHINGTON, DC—The razzmatazz at this year’s AIPAC policy conference couldn’t quite mute the background murmurs about the organization’s declining influence. There was Chuck Hagel’s confirmation as defense secretary, and there is the ongoing debate about the impact of sequestration on Israel’s defensive capabilities. When Sen.Continue Reading

By Hen Mazzig , Special to JTNews I had been in Seattle and the U.S. only a few days when I heard that Palestinian Iyad Burnat, brother of the filmmaker of the Oscar-nominated feature documentary, “5 Broken Cameras,” would be speaking about the “non-violent” nature of Palestinian demonstrations. I knewContinue Reading

By Eitan Isaacson and Wendy Elisheva Somerson , Special to JTNews On Sun., Jan. 13, the Seattle chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, with Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER), co-hosted a talk by Iyad Burnat. Burnat is the head of the Bil’in Popular Committee and a leader inContinue Reading

By Abraham H. Foxman , Special to JTNews It is fitting that the United Nations, as part of the international commemoration of the Holocaust on January 27, is paying tribute this year not only to the millions of innocents who died in the Nazi gas chambers, but also to thoseContinue Reading