However confused the signals emanating from the Trump administration’s policy on Israel, there are still only three basic approaches to making Middle East peace.
I’m not surprised that it took Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a full three days until he said anything about the events in Charlottesville. Or that, after three full days, he said, basically, nothing.
Once again, our city has been taken over by jealousy. Once again, it has been reduced to little more than a humiliated pawn in the hands of politicians who, in their attempts to own this city, are willing, quite literally, to let her die.
Naomi Ragen
The future of Europe’s dwindling Jewish communities is bleak.
But can President Trump and his special Middle East envoys accept anything less?
North American Jewish leaders say they are shocked that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled the Kotel compromise and agreed to promote the Orthodox conversion bill. They shouldn’t be.
I want to celebrate that day when the walls that had cut the city in two came down, and we thought that East and West could merge. But it’s hard to celebrate in Jerusalem when right-wing, nationalistic politicians are putting up new walls.
The “miraculous” victory of 1967 returned major holy places in Jerusalem and the West Bank to Jewish control, including the Temple Mount in the Old City (known as Haram al-Sharif to Muslims), the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem. This unexpected bounty, like other seemingly wondrous developments, actually fueled intense friction between Jews and Muslims. Sadly, the miracle of Israeli control of the holy places over 50 years has reduced the possibility of a peaceful solution to the wider conflict.
For feminism and Zionism to coexist without contradiction, we must truly embrace a feminist movement that includes the lived experiences of all women, and we must expand our understanding of Zionism to include supporting the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians. Most important, we must engage in meaningful work with those with whom we may strongly disagree about Israel.
With only a few exceptions, the days are long gone when individuals are shunned by their communities and even disowned by their parents as a result of intermarriage.
I feel oddly comforted by remembering that, while purveyors of anti-Jewish sentiments have always pressed their advantage during unsettled political times, they always vanish back into their netherworlds.
Early on in my tenure, I realized how much my Muslim students were like Jewish students 100 years ago.
