Alon Raab
By Alon Raab
-
The Schmooze Welcoming the Apocalypse at the Jerusalem Philosophy Festival
Two days before the world was to end, as calculated by engineer and prophet Harold Camping, seemed as good a time as any to find answers to eternal questions about human life and meaning. Thus I joined “What’s on your Mind? ” an “International Philosophy Festival” in Jerusalem that ran from May 18 to May 20…
-
The Schmooze Celebrating the Film Studio That Showed Israel’s Early Days
Bronzed workers forge a winding road through the hills leading to the Dead Sea; smiling politicians cut ribbons marking the National Water Carrier, chemical factories and a gleaming submarine; proud generals lecture an adoring audience on their latest military victories; Jewish athletes march at the Maccabiah Games — these images, known as “Yomaney Geva” (“Geva…
-
Culture Chasamba! Chasamba! Chasamba!
‘Chasamba! Chasamba! Chasamba!” This battle cry of the fictional patriotic youth group Chasamba (an acronym for “absolutely secret group”) — familiar to every Israeli child during the first decades of the state — is once again heard across the land. Resurrected from a series of novels to feature in the television show “Chasamba Generation 3,”…
-
News Sidelining Conflict
Under a full moon in Bethlehem’s Manger Square, two lovers recite poetry — the late Palestinian national bard Mahmoud Darwish’s words of affection and longing. Shadows cast on the stones of Christ’s birthplace merge. The scene shifts to an acrimonious meeting at a sports club. Debate flares over which game to watch and over politics….
-
News Was the Desert Supposed To Bloom?
Pollution in a Promised Land: An Environmental History of Israel By Alon Tal University of California, 546 pages, $34.95. * * *| ‘The swiftly flowing waters of the Yarkon River enticed us to leap into them and swim, though occasionally we had to make way for a water buffalo or a camel.” Thus enthused my…
Most Popular
- 1
News Who was Horst Wessel, and why are people comparing Charlie Kirk to him?
- 2
Culture Charlie Kirk kept a ‘Jewish Sabbath.’ What did he mean by that?
- 3
Antisemitism Decoded Israel is being blamed for Charlie Kirk’s death. Here’s what that conspiracy theory says about the far right’s divide
- 4
Film & TV Robert Redford’s legacy is surprisingly Jewish
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Yair Golan: On this Rosh Hashanah, Israel’s reckless government needs to hear the voices of Diaspora Jews
-
Fast Forward ADL files new lawsuit against 8 terror groups tied to Oct. 7 attacks
-
News Why does Andrew Cuomo have to keep clarifying his position on Israel and Gaza?
-
News ‘No place for Zionism’: Why some vegans are starting beef with Israeli chefs
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism