The waning sunlight reflects off of the golden dome of the Moorish-style Neue Synagogue, located on Oranienburger Strasse. Built in 1866, the synagogue was a center of Jewish life in East Berlin’s Mitte neighborhood. Today its insides are mostly gone, the combined casualty of Kristallnacht and Allied bombing, and the Friday night service is held…
MONTREAL — The Quebec Bar is mulling disciplinary action against a prominent lawyer who argued before the country’s Supreme Court that Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler was part of a Jewish conspiracy to have his client deported. Guy Bertrand, a lawyer in Quebec City, was representing a Rwandan political exile, Léon Mugesera, whom the Canadian…
The indictment of two former pro-Israel lobbyists last week on charges that they shared classified information with foreign officials and others is throwing light on the much-debated question of what is behind the so-called Aipac “spy” scandal. Some observers in the Jewish community argue that the indictments are the culmination of a long-running effort by…
Despite the rapid approach of an unprecedented Gaza withdrawal that Israeli leaders depict as evidence of a high point in Israeli-American ties, the two allies have found themselves embroiled in recent days in a bewildering number of highly visible disputes of visceral intensity. Seemingly without connection to one another, Israel has become mired in simultaneous…
Israeli Arab leaders have demanded that the police not investigate the death of the Jewish gunman who killed four Arabs last week. The gunman, Eden Natan-Zada, an AWOL Israeli soldier, was murdered by an Arab mob after he shot and killed the driver of the bus he was on, as well as three passengers. Twelve…
After years of dire warnings about Iran’s impending nuclear threat, Israeli and American officials abruptly backtracked this week, injecting a new level of uncertainty into delicate negotiations between European countries and Tehran. The Jerusalem Post reported Monday that Israel had reviewed its assessment of Iran’s nuclear progress and now believes that Iran will have a…
We would like to correct an error that appeared in the Forward’s July 22 article “‘Progressive’ Shmatte King, Sweatshop Foe, Faces Workers’ Protests Over Harassment,” regarding allegations against American Apparel founder Dov Charney. Our article stated that in July of last year, Jane magazine published a profile of Charney in which its writer described “a…
The Bush administration has “already given positive signs that it intends to help us,” he said. “The Jewish people ought to do the same.” Intense Jewish support could be vital for passing the aid package, which would supplement the annual $2.6 billion in American economic and military aid that Israel receives each year. Though the…
Despite the superpowers previously described in this space, medical students are normal people. They need places to lay their heads, white medical coats to keep out the rain, and three meals a day. Since their time for breakfast and dinner is sacrificed to sleep, three meals often means only one: lunch. What’s for lunch, and…
Israel is denying claims that it has adopted a policy of ethnic profiling aimed at Orthodox Jews. In a July 28 letter to leaders of the New York-based Orthodox Union, the deputy chief of mission of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Rafael Barak, said that he “can say with full confidence that the State of…
While much of America is busy these days reading about Harry — Harry Potter, that is — I’ve been spending much of my summer reacquainting myself with Sonya, Marjorie and Alexander — Sonya Vrunsky, Marjorie Morgenstern and Alexander Portnoy, that is — the fictional protagonists of “Salome of the Tenements” (1923), “Marjorie Morningstar” (1955) and…
