Allison Kaplan Sommer is a journalist at Haaretz, host of Haaretz Weekend podcast and co-host of The Promised Podcast.
Allison Kaplan Sommer
By Allison Kaplan Sommer
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Life Male-Only Economics Conference Raises Difficult Questions
What if you were a woman entering a business conference in order to hear speeches the mayor of a city, a government finance minister and the CEO of a major bank, but were turned away at the door because you were female and the audience was limited only to men “for modesty reasons”? One might…
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Life ‘Relieving Stress’ or Engaging in Terrorism?
Unfortunately, it’s not unusual to read about violent acts of anger and vengeance by extremist Jewish settlers against Palestinians. Such attacks are part of what seems like an endless cycle of revenge in the territories where one side attempts to attack what they view as injustices. But what is unusual was the recent news that…
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Life At Tournament, Naama Shafir Wears Observance on Her Sleeves
For several weeks, it appeared that Naama Shafir’s shoulders would stand between her and an opportunity to play basketball on an international level as part of Israel’s national team. But in the end, she was able to take to the court. Shafir, the Orthodox Israeli basketball star whom the Forward profiled here, has overcome numerous…
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Life The Fascination With Murderous Moms
For the past several weeks, sitting atop Google News and on newspapers’ “most emailed stories” lists, alongside the multiple Arab uprisings, tornadoes, volcanoes and the woes of Rep. Anthony Weiner, is the trial of Casey Anthony, now in its third week. The Florida trial itself is standing-room-only event, with long lines to get into the…
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Life Earth to the Egyptian Army: Non-Virgins Can Be Raped
One of the most bizarre and horrifying stories to come out of the protests earlier this year in Cairo’s Tahrir Square was the headline that the Egyptian authorities, had, for some bizarre reason, conducted ‘virginity checks’ on female protesters who were detained by the military. The accusations were part of an Amnesty International report, which…
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Life Hello, France: Welcome to Israel’s Katsav-ian Nightmare
The French public is wrestling with the arrest a man who sat proudly on the top of the ladder of prestige and privilege, who is supposed to represent their country to the world and bring it pride. Instead, they are wallowing in the sordid details of his alleged sexual attack on a maid in a…
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Culture A High-Profile Call for Marriage Equality in Israel
The fight for marriage equality in Israel now features a catchy new video starring real-life couples that are unable to marry legally in Israel. Celebrity power never hurts when it comes to calling attention to a political cause, and the newly premiered video has received media attention due to the participation of actress Hanni Furstenburg,…
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Life Are ‘Birth Plans’ Just ‘Birth Fantasies’?
Melissa Langsam Braunstein’s post, “The Epidural Dilemma,” in which she agonizes over whether to ease the pain of labor with medication, took me back to the anxious months when I was a first-time mother-to-be. There are many parallels between one’s wedding and that first experience of childbirth. Both experiences are so important, that we do…
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