Jerusalem: The Scandal of Particularity
On May 24th, COMMENTARY’s editor-at-large Norman Podhoretz received the Guardian of Zion Award from the Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies at Bar-Ilan University. The Guardian of Zion Award...
View ArticleSilence as Gesture
The world-famous mime Marcel Marceau (1923-2007), who died this week at 84, was buried on September 26 in Paris’s historic Père-Lachaise cemetery. The previous Grand Rabbi of France, Algerian-born...
View ArticleObama’s Church and Israel’s “Ethnic Bomb”
It is becoming clear that the Trinity United Church of Christ’s anti-Israel stance represents a significant aspect of its political agenda. The blog Sweetness & Light dug up a June 2007 missive...
View Article“Citizens of Israel: Masada shall never fall again, and America will be at...
What follows is the text of President Bush’s speech today in Jerusalem: President Peres and Mr. Prime Minister, Madam Speaker, thank very much for hosting this special session. President Beinish,...
View ArticleObama Picked the Wrong Issue
At the time, many of us who have been highly critical of Obama’s Israel policy noted that it was a bad idea for him to make Jerusalem housing permits the focus of his ire (at least for now). There is...
View ArticleJ Street Comes Clean: It Wants to Divide the Old City
The J Street Education Fund has taken out an ad that takes issue with Elie Wiesel’s criticism of Obama on building in Jerusalem. But J Street doesn’t merely call for a housing freeze or for outlying...
View ArticleAre Jews That Gullible?
Ben Smith says that he was dubious about the Obama team’s charm offensive with American Jews. After all, how could they be so foolish as to take puffery seriously and be wowed by a lunch with Elie...
View ArticleIf Jews Back Obama’s Pressure, Why Was the ‘Charm Offensive’ Necessary?
For those who were thrilled by President Obama’s decision to distance the United States from Israel and to treat Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem as illegal settlements, the recent “charm offensive”...
View ArticleThe Nod and Smile Offensive
Earlier this week, Jen cited an AP report about President Obama’s Tuesday-evening meeting with 37 Jewish Democratic lawmakers, in which participants urged him to discuss publicly his commitment to...
View ArticleWill J Street Weigh Down Its Endorsed Candidates?
Last week, I questioned whether J Street had become more trouble than its worth to liberal Democratic candidates. In its highest-profile race — the Sestak-Toomey Pennsylvania Senate contest — the...
View ArticleBill Clinton: Giving Carter a Run for His Money
Bill Clinton’s noxious comments, complaining that Russian immigrants to Israel pose an obstacle to peace, sounded like the utterances of xenophobes in America who lament that our country is being...
View ArticleA Study in Contrast on Iran
Obama went to the UN and delivered namby-pamby remarks on Iran, eschewing any mention of the potential for military force. The sum total of his remarks: As part of our effort on non-proliferation, I...
View ArticleWhite House Retreat on Ground Zero Mosque?
David Axelrod and Elie Wiesel had a conversation at the 92nd Street Y. Axelrod, and presumably his boss, are disappointed with us — still — for our lack of moral sophistication. On the reaction to the...
View ArticleA Man Like Bush
At the New Yorker, George Packer has a harsh assessment of George Bush’s Decision Points, a book he predicts “will not endure.” Packer’s 3,300-word piece has only two sentences of praise, stuck in a...
View ArticleShould Romney Tell Mormon Church to Stop Proxy-Baptizing Jews?
Keep a close eye on this issue, because if Mitt Romney wins the nomination it’s going to be a big component of Democratic attacks. Elie Wiesel has been a longtime critic of the Mormon Church’s...
View ArticleWhere is Atrocity Prevention on Syria?
Lee Smith has already noted at the Weekly Standard’s site the irony of the Obama administration creating the Atrocities Prevention Board at the very moment the administration is choosing to do nothing...
View ArticleThe Most Disgraceful Piece of Anti-Semitism Published in Years
I thought quite a while before deciding to write this item, because it deals with an online publication that is kind of a distant cousin to COMMENTARY. But after spending years calling out...
View ArticleIllegal Immigrants Are Illegal
Is it racist or wrong to use the term “illegal immigrant?” That’s a position that is getting more of a hearing these days as liberals seek to change not just the laws, but also the way we talk about...
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