After Annapolis: Israeli Rights, Arab/Islamic Anti-Semitism And International Law (Conclusion)

Posted on: February 27th, 2008

Some years ago, following one of the devastating suicide bombings in which small Jewish children were blown to bits, prominent Palestinian columnist Fahd al-Rimawi - then writing with obvious approval of Nobel Peace laureate Yassir Arafat in Amman's al-Majd newspaper, gleefully celebrated the monstrous act of terror:

Jewish Community Contacts

Posted on: February 27th, 2008

Over the past few weeks, I have been sharing contact information about various secular organizations in Poland.

The Justice/Security Connection

Posted on: February 20th, 2008

If the ideas put forward at the recent Herzliya Conference are any indication, both the classic Right and religious Right are captive to the Oslo paradigm and the consciousness that produced it.

After Annapolis: Israeli Rights, Arab/Islamic Anti-Semitism And International Law (Part I)

Posted on: February 20th, 2008

The recent Annapolis "peace" conference - and President Bush's subsequent visit to the Middle East - shows that where Israel is concerned, there is still nothing new under the sun. Once again, fundamental Israeli rights were shamelessly subordinated to the presumed rights of all others, including even of openly Arab defiant terrorists now conveniently disguised as an "Authority." Once again, it seems, Israel had been called upon to offer land for nothing.

Polish Center For Holocaust Research (Conclusion)

Posted on: February 20th, 2008

In order to emphasize the magnitude of the Holocaust and genocide, Director of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology: Polish Academy of Sciences, Professor Henryk Domanski, created the Polish Center for Holocaust Research, on July 2 2003.

Understanding Gaza: Pain And Perfidy Under International Law

Posted on: February 13th, 2008

It is easy to feel sorry for the Palestinians in Gaza. Televised and print images of their apparently unrelieved misery suggest Israeli cruelty in the creation of shortages and in the use of armed force. Exactly the opposite is true. The moment that flagrantly illegal Hamas rocket attacks upon Israeli noncombatants cease, no harms of any kind will be imposed by Israel.

Foundation Momentum Iudaicum Lodzense (Part Two)

Posted on: February 13th, 2008

The Foundation Momentum Iudaicum Lodzense was established on November 6 1995.

Well, Dear Candidates, Which Is It? A Tactical War On Terror, Or A Genuine Clash Of Civilizations?

Posted on: February 6th, 2008

From a national survival standpoint, the candidate debates remain pretty much beside the point. Not a single presidential aspirant has answered (or even attempted to answer) a very important question: Are we Americans now involved in a merely tactical struggle against particular terror groups and individuals, or are we, instead, embroiled in something much larger? Should we now be focusing on assorted political, military and logistical issues (the effective position, more or less, of all candidates), or upon the much wider religious and cultural context from which our principal terror enemies are spawned?

Secular Organizations In Poland

Posted on: February 6th, 2008

I am often asked what Jewish life in Poland is really like.

Living Amid Absurdity: Israel As Tragic Hero (Conclusion)

Posted on: January 30th, 2008

For Jews, free will must always be oriented toward life, to the blessing, not to the curse. Our binding charge is to strive in this obligatory direction of individual and collective self-preservation by using our intelligence and by exercising our essentially disciplined acts of will. In circumstances where such striving is consciously rejected, the outcome - however catastrophic - can never rise to the dignified level of tragedy.

Who Will Write Our History?: Emanuel Ringelblum, The Warsaw Ghetto, And The Oyneg Shabes Archive

Posted on: January 30th, 2008

Over the past 12 years that I have been writing this column I discussed the Ringelblum Archives numerous times.

Living Amid Absurdity: Israel As Tragic Hero (Part One)

Posted on: January 23rd, 2008

True life, it seems, can never be brought purposefully before the judgment seat of Reason. Much as we might wish it were otherwise, absurd narratives now best mirror the deteriorating situation of life on earth. Still living an elaborate pantomime of right and wrong, justice and punishment, we humans desperately want the unfolding world-drama to develop with both fairness and sensibility. Generally, we witness something quite different.

Chabad In Poland

Posted on: January 23rd, 2008

It is often said that in places you would least expect, there is certain to be a Beit Chabad.

The More Things Change… On Fighting A Terrorist Enemy Who Still ‘Loves Death’

Posted on: January 16th, 2008

Notwithstanding all of the alleged "progress" in combating Islamist terrorism, our leaders have yet to really understand the core Jihadist rallying cry. "We love death," the murderers shout ecstatically - and they always shout in chorus, for terrorism is a collective activity - but we seem to think this apparent necrophilia is merely perverse, that operationally it is beside the point. No judgment could be further from the truth. In fact, correctly interpreting this openly lurid affection is ultimately the key to fashioning a genuinely effective strategy of counter-terrorism.

Chanukah In Poland

Posted on: January 16th, 2008

Last week Rabbi Schudrich of Warsaw sent me more pictures from Poland showing the community celebrating Chanukah.

Annapolis And Annihilation: Avoiding A Requiem For Israel

Posted on: January 9th, 2008

The more things change, the more they remain the same. For anyone who can still think clearly, the Annapolis "Peace Conference" in November was merely the latest hallucinatory rendition of a very troubled sleep. It's not that this carefully scripted assembly actually confirmed a catastrophic outcome for Israel. Rather, it underscored America's perilous and persistent preoccupation with a determinably wrongheaded foreign policy.

Enemies From Within

Posted on: January 9th, 2008

When things get bad, I must remember that thousands of people in Israel are doing wonderful mitzvot daily, and we cannot become discouraged.

Getting Results In Poland

Posted on: January 9th, 2008

During my trip to Poland last summer I discovered a few areas that needed attention.

After Annapolis: A Palestinian State And International Law (Conclusion)

Posted on: January 3rd, 2008

Since Netanyahu, whose own slick administration disingenuously strengthened the hand of Palestinian terrorists, most Israelis have insistently kept up a hollow refrain for Palestinian "autonomy." But the Palestinians know full well the difference between autonomy and sovereignty, and they will have nothing of the former.

The Chassidic Route In Poland

Posted on: January 3rd, 2008

Every year more and more Jewish tourists go to Poland to visit the historic sites of pre-Shoah Jewish heritage.