Mordechai Kedar: Syria, Iraq, the Gulf, and the Iranian Octopus

Posted on: April 22nd, 2012

Whoever wants to bring Iran down must support those rebelling against Asad. The leaders in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan understand this, and their support for the rebels may save them and the Gulf from the Iranian octopus. The question is how much time will it take for the sleeping Europeans and the dreamers in the White House to understand the complicated Middle East reality, and when will they begin to take action in order to bring Iran down?

Britain: Muslim ‘Cultural Sensitivity’ Runs Amok

Posted on: April 22nd, 2012

A survey of recent events in Britain suggests that religious accommodation has given way to cultural submission. Before we know it, the 2012 London Olympics will be rescheduled because it clashes with Ramadan.

Rubin Reports: Secrets of the Soft-Core Obama Supporters

Posted on: April 22nd, 2012

How to respond to the misinformation and fear that makes a potential Romney voter a soft-core Obama supporter.

Rubin Reports: Obama’s ‘Secret’ Plan on Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Issue and Why (Even the Saudis Tell You) It Will Fail

Posted on: April 19th, 2012

It is astonishing to note how much the Obama Administration, supposedly so sensitive to the views of Arabs and Muslims, has ignored the concerns of America’s own Arab allies.

Guest Editorial: Percy Sutton, Champion Of Soviet Jewry

Posted on: December 30th, 2009

The sad news of the passing of Percy Sutton at the age of 89 brought back a flood of memories. In the 1970s and early '80s, I worked closely with the then-Manhattan borough president and a key power broker in New York politics when I served as executive director of the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry and later of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.

Guest Editorial: Percy Sutton, Champion Of Soviet Jewry

Posted on: December 30th, 2009

The sad news of the passing of Percy Sutton at the age of 89 brought back a flood of memories. In the 1970s and early '80s, I worked closely with the then-Manhattan borough president and a key power broker in New York politics when I served as executive director of the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry and later of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.

Advocate For The Jews Of Post-War Europe

Posted on: August 16th, 2006

In Memory of Dr. Isaac Lewin, zt"l (11th Yahrzeit on 28 Menachem Av, 5766)

The Truman Diary

Posted on: August 15th, 2003

As is evident from this week's Media Monitor, readers of The Jewish Press should not be shocked by the revelation of President Harry S. Truman's anti-Jewish statements discovered in a 1947 diary ("The Jews, I find are very, very selfish....")

A Screamingly Funny Memoir

Posted on: November 18th, 2009

Not since John Podhoretz’s 1993 Hell of a Ride, a hilarious yet depressing account of working in the George H.W. Bush administration, has an insider political book satisfied as much as does Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor (Crown Publishers), Matt Latimer’s new, screamingly funny memoir of working as a congressional staffer and then as a speechwriter, first for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and later for President George W. Bush.

A Belated Appreciation

Posted on: November 4th, 2009

As the Monitor is only too aware, having received a fair number of admonishing e-mails on the subject, this column has disappointed at least some readers with what one called its “shameful silence” on the subject of William Safire in the weeks since the former New York Times columnist passed away in late September.

A Date To Remember

Posted on: October 19th, 2009

October 23 is a date the Monitor will always remember, and so should you. It was on that day in 1995 that Mayor Rudy Giuliani threw Yasir Arafat out of a UN event – and in so doing brought down upon himself the opprobrium of the Clinton administration, New York’s political elite, and not a few feckless Jewish “leaders.”

Recommended Websites And Blogs

Posted on: October 14th, 2009

It's been a while since the Monitor’s last listing of worthwhile websites and blogs. As always, there’s no particular order to the list, and the views expressed on the various websites and blogs do not necessarily reflect the Monitor’s.

A Newspaper That’s ‘Proud To Be Israeli’: An Interview with Yisrael Hayom Foreign Editor Boaz Bismuth

Posted on: March 3rd, 2010

At a time when media pundits are calling daily newspapers "print dinosaurs," Las Vegas casino mogul and Zionist philanthropist Sheldon Adelson tweaked the "experts" by investing millions of dollars in the creation of Yisrael Hayom (Israel Today), a free Hebrew-language tabloid newspaper that was launched on July 30, 2007.

‘To Secular Israelis, Hebron Jews Are A Pain’: An Interview With Professor Jerold Auerbach

Posted on: February 24th, 2010

Some people hate them, others love them. Perhaps no other group of Israelis engenders as much debate as the residents of Hebron. There, among 150,000 hostile Arabs, live 700 Jews determined to dwell in the city where the biblical Abraham purchased a burial plot for his wife Sarah.

‘His Belief Remained Unshattered’: An Interview With Professor Judith Tydor Baumel-Schwartz

Posted on: February 17th, 2010

Aside for designating the birth and death of Moshe Rabbeinu, the seventh of Adar (February 21 this year) also marks the 17th yahrzeit of Chazkel Tydor, father of Judith Tydor Baumel-Schwartz, a professor of Jewish history at Bar-Ilan University and the author of seven books.

‘We Need To Put The Spirit Back Into The People’: An Interview with Arutz Sheva’s Yishai Fleisher

Posted on: February 10th, 2010

A vigorous advocate of aliyah, Yishai Fleisher uses his position as Internet radio personality and director of programming at Arutz Sheva's Israel National Radio to promote the merits of living in the land of Israel. On his popular show "Yishai and Friends," Fleisher deals with Israeli politics, history and tradition and has interviewed personalities ranging from Dutch politician and filmmaker Geert Wilders to actor Jon Voight.

Surviving Bullying, Silencing And Torment For Being Gay In The Frum Community

Posted on: January 25th, 2012

It’s been more than six months since The Jewish Press published an op-ed titled “Orthodox Homosexuals and the Pursuit of Self Indulgence.” In the article, the writer, while not mentioning my name, calls me shameless and self-indulgent and suggests that I learn to suffer in silence.

Whatever Happened To Derech Eretz?

Posted on: January 25th, 2012

Years ago at a Torah Umesorah convention, I heard a presenter state that there is a correlation between derech eretz and the distance one is from New York.

Jerusalem’s Old Young Israel

Posted on: January 25th, 2012

Recently my wife and I spent Shabbat in Jerusalem with some friends. They made aliyah a year and a half ago and invited us to spend the day with them in the Holy City.

Building Bridges To Save A City And A Nation

Posted on: January 19th, 2012

Yes, it is true. I, a haredi with right-wing political leanings, stood on the same stage with representatives of Yisrael Chofshit, Hitorirut Yerushalayim, and Meretz – three secular and very left wing groups – at the massive rally in Beit Shemesh on the last night of Chanukah.

Mayor Barkat’s Partition Plan Must Be Repudiated

Posted on: January 4th, 2012

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, elected three years ago on a strong "Jerusalem will never be divided!" platform, has changed colors.

Why I Am Running For Head Of Likud

Posted on: January 4th, 2012

There we, Manhigut Yehudit’s strategy team, sat for our first strategy meeting ahead of the upcoming primaries. “According to Likud law, primaries for the party chairmanship will be held in about a year,” I said, “and we have to prepare now.”

Former Mossad Director: More Than One Military Option Against Iran

Posted on: January 4th, 2012

“You don’t need to hit only the immediate, direct nuclear infrastructure of theirs. You can achieve this goal by going after some other targets, without being more specific,” said Shabtai Shavit, who served as Mossad director from 1989 to 1996.

Political Scandal, Public Emptiness And America’s Soul

Posted on: December 29th, 2011

We have seen this movie before. Already, Herman Cain is off the front pages, but there will remain readily accessible political scandals to enjoy in the wings. Ironically, whatever the particulars of these chronic humiliations, all of them will commonly disclose far more serious shortcomings about their "audience" than about their subjects.

Arab Refugees: The Real Story

Posted on: April 14th, 2010

Editor's Note: Monday, April 19 (5 Iyar), is Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day. To mark the occasion, we've excerpted portions of an address by then-Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban to the UN General Assembly's Special Political Committee on November 17, 1958.

Condemned to Perish

Posted on: April 8th, 2010

It was evident, in the years preceding World War II, that humanity had no desire to throw a saving rope to the drowning Jewish people.

City of Graveyards: The Demise of Jewish Newark

Posted on: March 24th, 2010

It is a story that should serve as the ultimate cautionary tale for any Jewish community tempted to mistake a period of vibrancy for a guarantee of immortality.

Short Trip, Long Journey

Posted on: March 17th, 2010

Late last year, I was flying from Los Angeles to San Jose - a trip I have made many times in the course of my professional career. Over the years, I have watched the San Jose airport transform itself - from a one-building terminal with rental cars parked on the curb to an international airport with rental car facilities much larger than the entire airport I first visited many years ago.

Letters To The Editor

Posted on: May 3rd, 2006

Offensive ‘Joke’ As an avid reader of The Jewish Press, I was dismayed by the inclusion of a highly inappropriate joke in Arnold Fine’s “A Bi Gezunt” column last week. I use the word “joke” advisedly, because there was nothing the least bit funny about the joke’s subject matter, and it certainly did not belong [...]

Letters To The Editor

Posted on: April 26th, 2006

Rush To Judgment? I was disappointed by Dov Hikind’s op-ed article on the Boro Park disturbance (“Boro Park’s Night of Shame and Disgrace,” April 14). The assemblyman seems to assume the worst about our community and the best about the police. He wasn’t there during the incident, so how can he possibly know that the [...]

Letters To The Editor

Posted on: April 19th, 2006

Applauds EditorialI heartily applaud your April 7 editorial – “Warm and Fuzzy ‘Halacha’” – that called attention to the growing phenomenon of Jews, including some so-called Modern Orthodox Jews, seeking to change halacha to suit their own politically correct inclinations.I was not really surprised to learn that the Conservative movement is poised to legitimize homosexuality [...]

Letters To The Editor

Posted on: April 12th, 2006

Thoughtless CommentI just want to recount a hurtful incident that occurred recently. I went to a supermarket in Boro Park for my Pesach shopping along with three Argentinean Jewish friends. They were wearing jeans but were appropriately covered. As we entered the store, a middle-aged man with a beard went up to the three women [...]