By Abraham Foxman, Special to the Jewish Sound When it comes to the safety of the Jewish community in Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to think he can have it both ways. On one hand, he makes clear that the Jewish community should feel safe in their ownContinue Reading
By Andy David, Special to the Jewish Sound In newspapers, it is highly unlikely that you will see pictures of Hamas terrorists storing rockets in multiple UNRWA schools, shooting from hospitals, operating from mosques and other civilian structures, as opposed to images of civilian casualties. Since we don’t suspect civiliansContinue Reading
By Edmon J. Rodman, JTA World News LOS ANGELES (JTA) — After weeks of missiles falling on Israel and bombs dropping on Gaza, we land on Tisha b’Av. With the day-to-day images of explosions and tunnels so fresh, I wondered how they might connect to my mid-summer night’s struggle withContinue Reading
By Aaron D. Panken, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) – When the siren sounded, the Rolling Stones’ tortured 1969 track “Gimme Shelter” popped into my head, oddly enough. That haunting song offered a stunning reminder of the endless horrors of war, reawakening a sleepy world with a vividContinue Reading
By Rabbi Jaron Matlow, Special to The Jewish Sound In the last few years, the ugly specter of suicide has popped up twice in my extended family. In both instances, thank God, the attempts were unsuccessful. Both were cases of despondency over poor health and fear of the unknown givenContinue Reading
Those of us who support I-594 (background checks for most gun sales) realize that it is not a cure-all for our country’s gun problem. It is better than doing nothing, however. As mentioned in your June 27 article (“Jews and guns: What’s our responsibility?”), when Missouri rescinded its background checkContinue Reading
Are there readers of the JTNews who think that the recent kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers on a hike will hurt the “Palestinian cause”? If so, they should think again. Killers, like other people, follow the news. They know that every new act of terror, the more barbaricContinue Reading
I’m terribly disturbed by a second article written by Janis Siegel about a young Jewish man accused of “inappropriate communication with a minor.” (“Judge grants continuance to August in Varon case,” June 13). How insensitive and callous to villainize and embarrass a young man before the court’s verdict as toContinue Reading
By David Shayne, Special to the Jewish Sound A while back, I heard Palestinian academic Nadia Elia brag that the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement is so effective that Israel’s very existence is threatened. “Empty bravado from the side that is clearly losing,” I thought. Afterward, I heard some pro-IsraelContinue Reading
By Gary M. Bretton-Granatoor, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — The Jewish world has been shaken by the decision of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to divest from three companies that it claims “further the Israeli occupation of Palestine.” The denomination has placed itself squarely on the side ofContinue Reading
Shoshana Wineburg’s impassioned plea for “transparency” regarding BDS and other issues germane to the Israel-Palestinian conflict in her open letter to Ari Shavit (June 13) begs an obvious question: Short of unconditional surrender to Mahmoud Abbas and his kleptocratic Palestinian Authority, when might we expect some transparency on the partContinue Reading
This is in response to Shoshana Wineburg’s open letter to Ari Shavit of June 13. I am a Millennial. I have been on Birthright and formed lasting friendships. I have participated in the full range of Jewish observance, from Reform to Orthodox, and have invested much personal time and effortContinue Reading
Asher A. Nov’s letter (“The Greatest Sin?” June 13th) decrying the JTNews’s reporting of the facts surrounding the Eli Varon case displays an unfortunate corruption of priorities. Janis Siegel did not humiliate anybody. She reported the facts of an important case that deals with an issue that our community mustContinue Reading
After reading the recent opinion piece by Rabbi Oren Hayon (“How much have we lost?” May 30) about the divisive BDS debate at the UW, I’m struck by the strong, thoughtful, effective leadership we enjoy and have enjoyed at our Hillel. Rabbi Hayon didn’t fully describe the important strategic roleContinue Reading
By Rabbi Bruce Kadden, Temple Beth El Earlier this month we celebrated Shavuot, the holiday of “matan Torah,” the “giving” or “gift” of Torah. It had special meaning for our family this year because our first grandchild, Matan Aviv Ballon, was born on May 5, which was not only CincoContinue Reading
By Nurit Asnash, Special to the Jewish Sound I had never heard about BDS (the boycott, divest and sanctions movement against Israel) until about a year ago when I attended an “Israeli Diversity Week” at Antioch University in Seattle. These three-day, 1-1/2-hour sessions were initiated by a courageous Israeli studentContinue Reading
I was immensely moved by both the story of triumph and loss in Rabbi Hayon’s recent piece on boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS), and his courage in revealing the painful sacrifice wrought by such a victory (“How much have we lost?” May 30). So many of us decry the ManicheanContinue Reading
Thank you Rabbi Hayon for an honest assessment of the risk of limiting our response to boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) and all criticism of Israeli policy with the blunt and stultifying tools of the past (“How much have we lost?” May 30). While your commentary may draw the ireContinue Reading
It’s wonderful that UW students working together, with the support of Rabbi Oren Hayon, StandWithUs Northwest, and others, helped defeat the anti-Israel divestment resolution considered by the UW student senate. But I would like to respectfully disagree with Rabbi Hayon’s characterizing their victory as possibly “Pyrrhic,” so costly that itContinue Reading
How could this newspaper feature on its front cover a handwringing and unnecessarily lengthy editorial about the cost of turning back the BDS (boycott, divest and sanction) resolution at the University of Washington student senate (“How much have we lost?” May 30)? Rather than simply reporting the news on itsContinue Reading
