While we’ve been busy keeping track of how well Jewish candidates did in the November mid-term elections, James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, is counting representatives of Arab descent. His list includes Justin Amash, the new Republican to represent Michigan’s 3rd congressional district. Amash’s father immigrated from Palestine 54 years ago and settled…
Ishmael Khaldi does not deny the difficult conditions of the Bedouin communities living in Israel’s southern desert, the most impoverished group in Israel. A Bedouin from the north of the country, Khaldi said that he donated 250 shekels — about $70 — to the residents of Al-Arakib, the unrecognized Bedouin village in the Negev that…
A new poll of Palestinian public opinion offers a mixed bag in terms of supporting the Middle East peace process. The poll, conducted by The Israel Project, a pro-Israel organization based in Washington, found support for peace talks and for the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad, but also detected a reluctance to see…
The lascivious details of the defamation lawsuit filed by former AIPAC staffer Steve Rosen, and the increased scrutiny on the non-profit organization run by terror expert Steve Emerson are the subjects of this week’s Reporters’ Roundtable. In this podcast, news editor Larry Cohler-Esses and staff writer Nathan Guttman join host Josh Nathan-Kazis. Subscribe to Forward…
The fate of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard could be turning into a partisan issue. On Thursday, Democratic lawmakers, joined by Jewish communal leaders, held a Capitol Hill press conference presenting a letter to President Obama that called for Pollard’s release. The letter, signed by 39 House Democrats, argued that Pollard had received a disproportionate…
The faith-based initiative was among the more delicate inheritances left to President Obama and his fellow Democrats by the Bush administration. The initiative — which basically entails using federal funds to support social services provided by religious organizations — was viewed by liberals as problematic at best, since it blurred the lines of separation between…
A Medical Mazel Tov for the Merger of Manhattan’s Lenox Hill Hospital With North Shore Long Island Jewish Health Systems “Three years ago we gathered here to celebrate 150 years,” William Hiltz, Lenox Hill Hospital’s executive committee chairman, told the 900 black-tie guests at its November 1 Autumn Ball. Beaming, he said that “the evening…
After Fira Stukelman lost her family during the Holocaust, the only document to her name was a letter from the orphanage for children of victims where she lived. Stukelman, 77, was traumatized 16 years ago when she had to recite her story in detail — including how her mother was dragged from their home in…
The first time I traveled to the National Museum of American Jewish History, I got lost. The museum, from its founding in 1976 until recently, shared space with Philadelphia’s venerable Sephardic congregation, Mikveh Israel. Its official address included the magical words “Independence Mall,” but in reality, the museum was tucked away onto a side street…
Steven Emerson has made his reputation by scrutinizing American Muslim organizations and individuals, trying to uncover their possible ties to terror groups. But lately he is being scrutinized himself, by a Nashville, Tenn., daily newspaper digging into the finances of his operation. Now, under pressure to introduce more transparency to his tax-exempt charitable organization, Emerson…
A Jewish student group at Columbia University canceled its sponsorship of a talk by a top Gaza-based United Nations official after facing pressure from the campus Hillel. John Ging, who runs the Gaza operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, spoke at the New York City…
