While I was recently traveling throughout Israel, I drove about 600 miles. Looking at the landscape around me, I quickly realized that we were often driving nearby the Palestinian territories and at times even through some Arab neighborhoods. It was as if someone had ripped pages from the Bible and made street signs and town signs […]
It doesn't matter if you are Catholic or not, the Pope is an international figure that cannot be ignored. As a Jew, I do not fall under his authority like a Roman Catholic would, but I understand that he can be a very influential person. Over the centuries, many popes have come and gone and those […]
In my travels, I meet a lot of people from the Evangelical Christian community. Many of them have never heard of BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) and frankly, this frightens me. This movement has picked up a lot of momentum in the past few months and has become quite pervasive. I find it ironic that most of the […]
The 5th Global Forum for Combatting Anti-Semitism took place in Jerusalem on May 12-14, 2015. The theme was: "The Oldest Hatred in the Newest Vessels: Confronting Antisemitism and Hate Speech on the Internet and in Social Media" and "The Rise in Antisemitism in Europe's Cities Today: Means of Response". This is a conference that is […]
The western world has become accustomed to various reactions at the mentioning or drawing of the prophet Mohammed. The reactions have been from verbal to violent to bloody, and even lethal as we have seen in the case of the murder of Dutch movie director Theo Van Gogh in 2004 or the Charlie Hebdo massacre […]
In a world crippled by xenophobia and injustices of all kinds, we should welcome the work of organizations like Amnesty International (AI). Since 1961, this grassroots movement has been a global voice of outrage against racism, violence and injustice. Today, with over three million members and established branches in 68 countries, AI continues to fight […]
It was in 1953, only eight years after the close of World War Two that Yom HaShoah became an official national memorial day in Israel. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion established that day as a yearly memorial of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Since then, every year and all over the world, Jewish people […]
In the midst of a global crisis involving Iran's race for nuclear power, Benjamin Netanyahu was re-elected for another two-year term. The landslide victory showed us that Israel isn't so fed-up with Bibi's policies. It actually proved that Israelis are very concerned about the Iranian threat and feel that Bibi is the best man to […]