Ilan Stavans
By Ilan Stavans
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Culture A Texas politician wants to investigate my book and 849 others — bring it on
State Rep. Matt Krause, a Republican candidate for Texas attorney general, has prepared a list of 850 books that, in his judgment, should be banned from the state’s classrooms. He is concerned that such books address sexual and racial themes that “make students feel uncomfortable.” According to news reports, Mr. Krause, who chairs the House…
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Opinion Think Julia Salazar Isn’t ‘Jewish Enough’? You’re Writing Off All Latin American Jews.
The Jewish world is in an uproar over Julia Salazar, a candidate for state senate. Salazar portrayed herself in multiple interviews as a Jew of Color, claims that a recent exposé called into doubt. The article split the Jewish community in two. Salazar’s detractors called her a Jewish Rachel Dolezal, a reference to the woman…
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News After Fidel Castro’s Death, Can Cuba’s Resilient Jews Survive — or Even Thrive?
Fidel Castro has died at age 90. The former Cuban strongman was nothing if not a controversial figure — a socialist hero to some, a heartless dictator to many others. His relationship to the island’s small Jewish community — now just 1,500, down from a peak of 15,000 — was also far from clear-cut. On…
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News When the Forward Journeyed to Fast-Changing Cuba in Search of Its Lost Jews
Fidel Castro died Saturday at age 90. The former Cuban strongman was nothing if not a controversial figure — a socialist hero to some, a heartless dictator to many others. His relationship to the island’s small Jewish community — now just 1,500, down from a peak of 15,000 — was also far from clear-cut. On…
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News Fidel Castro Speaks Out About Freedom, Hope And Gary Shteyngart
This exclusive interview took place the morning of February 3 at the gracious hacienda of Fidel Castro just outside Havana, overlooking the ocean. The idea was initiated by Castro through a signed letter hand-delivered to the offices of the Backward by an officer of the Cuban army. “In the spirit of friendship and brotherhood, I…
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News Grave-Robbers Target Cuba’s Jewish Cemeteries in Search of Bones for Rituals
Guanabacoa, a colonial town southeast of Havana where the first African guild was created to alleviate the plight of slaves in Cuba, is a somewhat improbable home for not one, but two Jewish cemeteries, both of them more than a century old. They are not the only places where Jews are buried on the island,…
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Books Your Graphic Novel and Mine
Earlier this week, Ilan Stavans wrote about the problem with academic writing and asked: Is there a Jewish literary renaissance? His blog posts are featured on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog Series. For more information on the series, please visit: I’m a passionate lover of…
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Books Academic Freedom Is Wasted on Academics
Earlier this week, Ilan Stavans asked: Is there a Jewish literary renaissance? His blog posts are featured on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog Series. For more information on the series, please visit: Sometimes when I’m congratulated for writing well, the praise comes with a sense…
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Opinion Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point
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Opinion I discovered anti-Zionism at the University of Michigan. I’m glad it lives on there
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News They texted about Torah and mitzvahs. Feds say they were insider trading
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Opinion An alarming new battleground in campus fights over Israel
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Opinion Piers Morgan is what’s wrong with media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — and I can’t stop watching him
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Culture The Jewish secret to affordable eyewear that isn’t so secret anymore
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Opinion The profound internal contradiction that could spell doom for Hillel
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Looking Forward When the 92nd Street Y was a hub for Black innovation in dance