In its latest jolt of turmoil, the United Jewish Communities has moved to dissolve its experimental venture in non-traditional giving, The Trust for Jewish Philanthropy. UJC, the roof body of federated Jewish philanthropies in North America, issued a statement Tuesday, reportedly in response to inquiries by the Forward, that it has pulled the trust’s funding,…
Following the 1994 bombing of Argentina’s AMIA center, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay launched a secret operation in coordination with Washington to disrupt the activities of suspect Arabs in the region, according to officials closely associated with what was called “Operation Double Top.” “We realized the best way was to hit their dirty businesses in the…
Do you like to stroll down memory lane? Or wistfully recall the bright gleam in the eyes of the stars of the stage? “Great Moments of 20th-Century Music” presents images of musical masters and magical moments culled from the Emmerich Gara Collection, the LIFE Picture Collection and the Associated Press Collection, representing not just opera…
ASUNCI”N, Paraguay — His cell is ready. So is his indictment. Ahmed Assad Barakat, a 35-year-old Paraguayan of Lebanese descent, is sitting in a Brazilian jail trying to fight off extradition to Paraguay, where he is wanted for financial crimes and criminal association. But the charges do not indicate the real reason behind the move:…
Carrying the Body By Dawn Raffel Scribner, 126 pages, $18. * * *| Staccato pacing, poetic phrasing and dark settings characterize Dawn Raffel’s debut novel. “Carrying the Body” is a thin volume that belies its emotional weight. The plot is simpler than the execution. A wayward, transient woman, Elise, returns to her childhood home with…
Victor Plotkin can’t remember a time when it was so difficult for him to find a job — not when he first came to the United States from Russia, and not when he switched fields from mining to technology. The 59-year-old resident of Castro Valley, Calif., a suburb of Oakland, has been out of work…
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…
Return to Sender: Bill Cotterell, a reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat, earned a one-week suspension for a private e-mail he sent to a reader that, according to an account of the affair by the Associated Press, “criticiz[ed] Arab nations for the way they’ve reacted to Israel.” The Democrat’s executive editor, John Winn Miller, announced Cotterell’s…
On September 1, 2002, the Hapless Jewish Writer was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. That request came from his parents. And although the HJW was known to complain loudly and frequently about living with mom and dad, there was a part of him that was terrified at being cast out of…
Poll: Likud Losing Ground Following yet another week of scandal, this time involving the prime ministerial family, the Likud Party is continuing to lose support among Israelis, according to the latest Dialogue poll, which puts the Likud at just 27 seats. The poll also shows the Labor Party breaking through the 22-seat barrier for the…
You could say that Howard Rigberg rocks the “computer programmer” look: He wears wire-rimmed glasses and sports a heavy backpack draped over both of his shoulders. His hair is graying. He walks with a shuffle. Ask him a simple question — how old are you? — and you realize that Rigberg is possibly more of…
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