By Abdallah Schleifer
There are really two revolts going on here in Egypt. The first and most publicized abroad and, to a lesser degree, even here, is a revolt for a free political system — the release of political prisoners, a free press, constitutional reform that would allow free and fair elections and set limits on time spent in office, and an end to police brutality and to the use of torture. All these issues quickly coalesced under the banner of two slogans: “Mubarak must go!” and “Down with the regime!”Read More
By Nathan Guttman
Although proponents of democracy can only be excited by the prospect of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak leaving office after a 30-year dictatorship, they also fear that a possible successor in leadership of the country of 80 million could be worse — not only for Egypt, but for Israel.
Read More
By Nathan Guttman
After once uniting to support regime change in Iraq through an American military invasion, neoconservatives are now divided as they face the prospect of a regime change in Egypt driven by popular internal forces out of America’s control.
Read More
By Eric Trager
On “Angry Friday” — January 28 — just as the demonstrations that rocked Egypt turned violent, I tried to make my way home. After navigating side streets to avoid the suffocating clouds of tear gas that riot police shot into the sky with reckless abandon, I arrived at a key bridge over the Nile, only to find that protesters had blocked it with burning tires.
Read More
By Eric Trager
The once unthinkable is happening. As Americans ponder a post-Mubarak Egypt, they are asking the most natural question: What does this mean for us strategically? The Egyptian demonstrators are keenly aware of American concerns. They know that the United States is the most influential power player in the region, and that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has survived for 30 years with generous American patronage — about $1.5 billion annually.Read More
By Michael Goldfarb
The controversy over what is dead according to Jewish law is no longer an intramural question among Orthodox rabbis on either side of the Atlantic. In Britain it is now being played out in public. As in the United States, the emotional question of organ donation is the battlefield. The most recent round of arguments began in early January, when the London Beth Din, the religious court associated with the United Synagogue — Great Britain’s Orthodox umbrella group — and its chief rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, issued guidelines on organ donation. The beit din’s ruling was that brain stem death is not death for the purpose of heart and lung donation; a person is dead under traditional Jewish law, or Halacha, only when there is a cessation of cardio-respiratory function.
Read More
By Nathan Guttman
If Israelis are feeling increasingly internationally isolated, it is not only the result of pro-Palestinian sentiment overseas. Lately, it is also due to the work slowdown declared by Israel’s foreign service, a new phase in the diplomats’ ongoing struggle for higher wages and more funding.
Read More
By Donald Snyder
In Germany today, Muslims are often cited as a driving force behind contemporary German anti-Semitism — and are increasingly a target of ethnic-based prejudice and bigotry. Yet leaders of Germany’s Jewish community have joined others in combating what many view as a tidal wave of German Islamophobia.
Read More
By Nathan Guttman
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process may be near collapse, but the Washington turf wars surrounding it are still going strong, according to sources involved in the negotiations. The administration’s top Middle East hands — special envoy George Mitchell and White House adviser Dennis Ross — are increasingly at loggerheads, these sources say.
Read More
By Gal Beckerman
As Mikhail Khodorkovsky stood in a glass cage in a Moscow courtroom, listening to the judge extend his sentence in a Siberian prison by another six years, he smiled at times. It was a gesture that many of his supporters read as a sign that he accepted his fate and the role he was meant to play in the struggle for democratizing Russia.
Read More
Claims Conference Chief Knew of $57M Holocaust Fraud Probe Earlier 
Top Dog: Who Makes the Best Kosher Hot Dog in America?
Why Do Jews Intermarry at a Much Higher Rate Than Others?
End Orthodox Monopoly on Jewish Marriage in Israel
Boston Bombers Pal Slain in Florida Eyed in 'Jewish' Triple Murder
You've successfully signed up!