February 16, 2012 | 4:15 am

This week in power: Embassy attacks, Mormon apology, Contraception, Oprah

Posted by Danny Groner

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Who was behind the bombings?
Israel pointed at Iran for Monday’s attacks on Israeli diplomatic missions in India and Georgia, but some argued that Israel had planted the explosives itself to “tarnish Iran’s friendly ties with the host countries,” according to reports. “The Indian and international media have gone ballistic about it without a shred of evidence. If the argument is that the Indian prime minister’s house is in the vicinity and reveals lapses in our security, then why is no one apprehensive about our situation? It raises questions beyond safety measures,” said Farzana Versey at CounterPunch.. Well excuse us if that’s not our primary concern, said Nooredin Abedian in the Jewish Journal. “Iran’s leaders resort to terror because the tool has proven its effectiveness in the past.” And it should be stopped immediately.

Mormons regret baptism
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued an apology for a Mormon who baptized the late parents of famed Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal. “The practice stems from the belief that after the time of Christ, Christianity went astray. The faithful consider the Mormon faith Christianity restored and baptisms not conducted by the restored Church essentially don’t count. So Mormons are out to baptize those who didn’t have these restored baptisms,” reported NPR. Will this controversy have a political effect? “Presumably Mitt Romney will try very hard to ignore the whole controversy, and/or defer to LDS officials,” said Ed Kilgore at Washington Monthly. “I’m sure his campaign would love to see a very active news day to bury—no pun intended—the story.”

Jews, Obama, and contraception
“What were the Jews doing becoming so involved in a debate over contraception?” asked Ron Kampeas at JTA. With Obama’s controversial stance on offering contraception at religious establishments, the debate is in full force. “Without doubt each individual has the right to decide on the path best suited for them. Likewise each religious institution has the right to define its moral positions. The State has no business compelling the Church to compromise on its standards,” said Dovid Efune at the Algemeiner. Outrage was rampant, from all walks of life. “We believe the exemptions for purely religious practices are sound, and we believe that making contraception universally available and affordable is a sound public policy decision,” said a St. Louis Jewish Light editorial. “The compromise rule in particular demonstrates respect for religious belief and institutions, while taking a significant step in favor of reproductive rights and health.”

Oprah’s Brooklyn visit
Oprah made waves this week with the debut of “Oprah’s Next Chapter” that features the talk show queen visiting Crown Heights and talking to ultra-Orthodox Jews about their lifestyles. “We are more alike than we are different,” Winfrey said on the program. “The moment I walked into the Ginsberg’s home. I felt welcomed. I felt a sense of warmth. A sense of family, comfort, and value.” “Whether you are a Christian, Muslim, or or an Atheist you have something to gain by watching this two-part series,” said Adam Croan at The Urban Twist. “I think it is important that we, as Americans, learn more about the people and the heritage that make up the collective society we live in. In the process it may allow you to look at your own beliefs about God and family while learning about the Hasidic Jewish community that lives in Brooklyn, New York.” But you should tune in for other reasons, too, said Rachel Shukert at Tablet. “The fascination lies in watching Oprah herself, as she struggles, with barely concealed shock, to grasp her own irrelevance in the lives of these people.”

Beinart’s book
Peter Beinart’s new book, The Crisis of Zionism, had been met by strong opposition. “In it he attempts to tear apart the relationship of admiration, support and defense that has existed between Israel and American Jewry for over a century.,” said Yisrael Medad in The Jerusalem Post. But not everyone agreed. “Yet, as Beinart chronicles, major American Jewish organizations, their agendas often swayed by a few wealthy donors (like the casino mogul Sheldon Adelson), have in general made uncritical defense of Israel — rather than constructive criticism — the cornerstone of their policies and viewed deviation from the ever-refreshed victimhood narrative as unacceptable dissent,” said The New York Times’ Roger Cohen. But the writer may have made some enemies in his marketing of the book as well. “Peter Beinart raises crucial, abiding issues. Then he compares those who take a different view to racist destroyers of democracy,” said Rabbi David Wolpe in the Jewish Journal. “This is not debate. This is not dialogue. This is demagoguery. He is better than this and we must be, too.”

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February 9, 2012 | 3:41 am

This week in power: Obama, Nevada, Iran question, Eddie Long

Posted by Danny Groner

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

How’s Obama doing?
“The 2012 election, most analysts believe, will hinge on the state of the economy, but in the Jewish community the Israel issue can figure prominently, in the race both for money and votes,” reported The Jewish Week. So far, Obama has held on pretty well in polls. “Of course, party affiliation really has no bearing on how people will vote in the general election,” warned Adam Dickter, also in The Jewish Week. But he may be focused on the wrong population, said Cokie & Steve Roberts in a syndicated column. “Obama can’t leave that politically dangerous charge unanswered in this churchgoing country. The Republican candidates are already trying to capitalize on the bishops’ concern. Without some conciliatory move from the White House, the president risks losing a significant number of Catholic voters in an election where he can’t afford to lose one.”

Furor in Nevada
Mitt Romney may have walked away the big winner in the Nevada primary last weekend, but that doesn’t mean all went smoothly. Orthodox Jews, who couldn’t vote before sundown, were given special permission to vote in the evening, a permission that some believed should have been granted to everyone. “Why wouldn’t I be able to vote just because I’m not Jewish?” one Ron Paul supporter said. See others complain about the provision here. “Second, the absurdity of this whole affair demonstrates once again that caucuses are outdated, idiotic, immoral and inefficient ways of choosing the leader of the free world. They should be abolished and replaced with primaries. Now, if Adelson would give a few million dollars to that cause, it might turn out to be a better investment than the Gingrich campaign.,” said Ben Adler in The Nation.

Will Israel attack Iran?
Israeli leaders have stepped up the rhetoric that they’re prepared to take action against Iran, if necessary. “If Israel is going to gamble so much on a strike, it should play for large stakes. The Islamic Republic means to destroy Israel. If Israel means to survive, it should commit itself similarly,” said Bret Stephens in The Wall Street Journal. “Destroying Iran’s nuclear sites will be a short-lived victory if it isn’t matched to the broader goal of ending the regime.” Is war the only way? wondered Peter Beinart in The Daily Beast: “American Jews have long basked in the wartime prowess of Israel’s soldiers and spies. Perhaps it’s time we started admiring their aversion to war as well.”

Eddie Long: Live the king?
Bishop Eddie Long apologized for a video of him being draped with a tallis and holding a Torah scroll and being crowned “king.” “The ceremony was not my suggestion, nor was it my intent, to participate in any ritual that is offensive in any manner to the Jewish community, or any group. Furthermore, I sincerely denounce any action that depicts me as a King, for I am merely just a servant of the Lord,” Long wrote in a letter. “But if the ceremony was to acknowledge Long as a figurative king or a symbolic king, it has left many questioning what actually occurred at the megachurch,” said Norman Byrd at Huliq. Others were less amused. “Eddie Long’s continued pandering to keep the remnants of his deluded flock intact has no bounds,” said Anthea Butler at Religion Dispatches.

Congressman Shmuley?
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach declared his intent to run for Congress in New Jersey’s 9th District, according to JTA. He said he’ll decide in the coming months whether to follow through with it, once he’s assessed how much money he can raise for his cause. “Why would a rabbi run for Congress? Because the problems we’re seeing in our great nation are not caused by an economic downturn but by a values erosion, and I intend to be the values voice that Congress so desperately needs,” Boteach said in a Jerusalem Post editorial. But has has his opponents. “Lost in all of this rhetoric is humility (also a Jewish value), a recognition of complexity (that too), and a tolerance for the multiplicity of interpretation of tradition and values (ditto) as to what constitutes a fair reading of Jewish tradition,” argued Yehuda Kurtzer, also in the Jerusalem Post.

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February 2, 2012 | 4:10 am

This week in power: Florida, Romney’s kashrut, Super Bowl, Israeli show

Posted by Danny Groner

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Romney’s Florida win
Mitt Romney gained a new head of steam with his win in the Florida primary on Tuesday thanks in part to the state’s large Jewish population. But hold up before accepting that as the sole reason, warned Reuters. “If anything, it’s Republican arguments on the U.S. economy - not Israel - that might win more favor with Jewish voters here come the general election in November.” It may not matter in the long run, said Alex Koppelman at The New Yorker, since Jews everywhere tend to vote Democratic in general elections. That doesn’t stop Jews from investing heavily in the elections, though, said Steven F. Windmueller in the Jewish Journal. “How important is Jewish financial support for political campaigns? While it is difficult to quantify the sources of all contributions, there is significant evidence that Jews play a major role in underwriting candidates and supporting both political parties.”

Romney’s pork problem
Romney, it was revealed, voted against a $600,000 package of funds for poor Jewish nursing-home residents to get kosher meals, according to The New York Post. Newt Gingrich seized on it and pointed to Romney’s insensitivity to the Jewish people’s needs. “Mind you, for Gingrich’s last, desperate stand, it seemed a long shot that many Republican voters in Florida would care that in the course of cutting the Medicaid budget (something they of course love), some Jews in Massachusetts had to have kosher meals brought in rather than prepared in their nursing homes,” said Sarah Posner at Religion Dispatches. “If anything, this was probably more of an oy gevalt moment for Gingrich, who, after making the claim on the campaign trail, subsequently denied knowing that his campaign dispatched a robocall claiming Romney ‘forced’ Holocaust survivors to “eat non-kosher.” And, “politically it was boneheaded of him to target a population that he dearly needs to woo. Stay tuned as we keep you in the loop with ongoing election year news—including the latest political goofs, gaffs and gambits as they relate to long-term care—in what’s sure to be a rough and tumble election season,” said Patricia Sheehan at Long-Term Living.

‘New Jews’
Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache of Vienna is under fire for comments he made defending a fancy party being held that was met with some protest. Strache compared the violence to Kristallnacht. “We are the new Jews,” Strache declared to other ball guests. “The fact that the ball had been organized for the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945 was seen as a provocation by many on the left,” the Global Post reported. Officials are urging Stache to apologize for his remarks.

Super Bowl Sunday
Who should you root for on football’s biggest night? This year’s teams have some Jewish ties to them, following in the footsteps of the past. Both teams’ owners give you good reason to cheer them on, too. “On Sunday we will gather with friends and family, serve lots of food, and, in a ritual shared by millions, root for over-achieving underdogs to defeat their historical rival. You know — like every Jewish holiday,” joked Ron Kaplan in the New Jersey Jewish News.

Prime minister show
The granddaughter of the late Yitzhak Rabin is the creator of a new Israeli show called “The Prime Minister’s Children.” ““The most interesting thing about being the daughter or son of a prime minister is the price you pay, willingly. In a normal family, in your teens, your mission is to rebel, but here, at that crucial stage, you defend your father. In politics you are a soldier of a political camp, and above all you are loyal,” Noa Rothman told The New York Times. “But if you expect insights into Rabin’s life, you’d be disappointed,” said The Jewish Week’s Eric Herschthal. “The fictional P.M. the show follows is a right-wing conservative, worried about his own political survival above all.” A far cry from reality.

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January 26, 2012 | 4:13 am

This week in power: Florida, Newt, German anti-Semitism, Kosher Jesus

Posted by Danny Groner

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Florida factors in
“How Florida Jews cast their ballots January 31 is actually serious business,” said The Jewish Daily Forward in a preview piece for next week’s primary. “After all, the Florida GOP primary will be the first opportunity to get a glimpse of the highly regarded ‘Jewish vote,’ and we will finally see some “voting patterns of this decidedly vital demographic group.” So how will it go? Steven Windmueller said in the Jewish Journal that while Jews are “primarily a moderate-liberal base of voters,” they “can be found in all sectors of the political spectrum.” But this focus and attention could all be misguided, warned Peter Beinart at the Daily Beast: “In fact, most American Jews don’t really vote as Jews at all. On many issues, in fact, they’re indistinguishable from atheists. They vote as secularists.”

Newt’s rise
According to recent polls, Newt Gingrich could be the candidate to walk away with the much-coveted Jewish vote in Florida. As he’s gained momentum, Gingrich has also run into some resistance. “The notion that Gingrich, whose campaign has been revived by large contributions from Sheldon Adelson because of the candidate’s down-the-line backing for Israel, is somehow such a covert Jew-hater is simply a smear,” said Jonathan S. Tobin at Commentary. “Though his faults are many, he is, if anything, a more ardent Zionist than many Jewish liberals and has never done anything that could possibly link him to hatred for Jews.”

Germany’s anti-Semitism endures
Many decades after WWII Germany is still grappling with hatred against Jews, according to a recent report. “According to the report, Iran’s anti-Semitic ideology not only manifests itself in propaganda within the country, but also influences Germany.” A 10-person committee spent two years worked on producing the first-ever report. “We commend the authorities for honestly exposing and confronting the scope of the problem,” said Elan Steinberg of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants. “The tragic legacy of the Nazi era places a special burden on Germany to confront anti-Jewish hate.”

An Obama hit?
After writing a piece speculating that Israel would think about killing President Obama, Atlanta Jewish Times owner and publisher Andrew Adler resigned and said he would write an apology to appear in the next issue of the print publication. He said he wrote the article to see what kind of reaction it would provoke among readers. “Andrew Adler did not start a debate. He focused attention on some of the worst aspects of the right wing – the virulent, baseless hatred of Democrats, the blind support Israel and the arrogant hypocrisy of a nation born out of a holocaust and centuries of oppression demanding a right to do the same to others,” said Linda Carbonell at LezGetReal. It’s time to tone down the rhetoric, said Chemi Shalev at Haaretz. “Anyone who has spent any time talking to some of the more vociferous detractors of Obama, Jewish or otherwise, has inevitably encountered those nasty nutters.”

‘Kosher Jesus’ furor
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is back with a new book titled “Kosher Jesus” and it’s already caused a storm in recent weeks. “Jesus was a Torah-committed Jew whose mission was to restore Jewish observance fully among his Jewish brethren and fight Roman persecution,” said Boteach in a Jewish Week editorial. And he has his defenders. Josh Fleet at The Huffington Post said, “In 2012, the topic of Jesus should not be a Jewish taboo. If we believe so much that our relationship with Christianity is based on deceit, tragedy and senseless hatred—that it has broken us—then we are obligated to believe it can be based on trust, opportunity and boundless love—that it can be fixed.”

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January 19, 2012 | 4:02 am

This week in power: The Iran question, Romney, “False flag,” Haagen-Dazs

Posted by Danny Groner

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney speaks at the Devine Millimet-Manchester Chamber of Commerce Forum in Manchester, New Hampshire Nov. 18, 2011. Photo by REUTERS/Brian Snyder

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Iran flares up
A joint anti-missile exercise has been pushed back to the summer and the anticipation over the visit to Israel of Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, this week has Iran back front and center. “If you’re an optimist you may decide to interpret the comings and goings of the US and Israeli generals as yet another way to intimidate Iran and prevent it from manufacturing nuclear arms,” said Rabbi Dow Marmur at the Jewish Journal. But Lynn Gottlieb at the Fellowship of Reconciliation warned that “outside military intervention will only make matters worse for everyone.” What would an Israeli attack provoke, exactly? The New York Times’ Roger Cohen lays it all out:It “unites Iran in fury, locks in the Islamic Republic for a generation, cements the Syrian regime, radicalizes the Arab world at a moment of delicate transition, ignites Hezbollah on the Lebanese border, boosts Hamas, endangers U.S. troops in the region, sparks terrorism, propels oil skyward, triggers a possible regional war, offers a lifeline to Iran just as Europe is about to stop buying its oil, adds a Persian to the Arab vendetta against Israel, and may at best set back Iran’s nuclear ambitions a couple of years.”

Where’s the Jewish vote stand?
Mitt Romney appears to be ahead of the Republican pack when it comes to the Jewish vote, according to the Jewish Journal, “a sign that A. Jewish Americans are really becoming more conservative (as some have argued), or B. That Obama’s policies (on Israel and other matters) were truly hurting the Democratic ticket with one of the most staunchly Democratic groups in America.” At a recent event, it was reported, Romney said: “And I would note that there are people in our nation that have different beliefs; there are people of the Jewish faith, and people of Islamic faith, and other faiths who believe other things, and our president will be president of the people of all faiths.” But Romney’s respect for the Jewish people hasn’t come without opposition. Stay tuned.

Israel’s “False flag” allegation
The Israeli government denied that it had intelligence officer pose as CIA officers to assassinate Iranian officials. The events reportedly took place in 2007 and 2008. The so-called false-flag accusation came to surface just after the latest assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist. “No good realists should be surprised when countries do deceitful or underhanded things to try to advance their interests, and if that’s the way the Israelis want to play it, so be it,” said Stephen M. Walt at Foreign Policy. “But this sort of behavior helps you understand why more and more U.S. officials are questioning the ‘special relationship,’ no matter what they have to say in public to keep the lobby quiet.” David Dayen at Firedoglake warned that this kind of escalation should be considered carefully. “We’re seeing a significant rising in the possibilities for war, and the genus of much of the tension comes from spy games played by either Israel or a Western consortium, outside the boundaries of international law.”

New Jersey hate
Someone is vandalizing synagogues in New Jersey and parts of New York by spray-painting swastikas and other hateful messages. In other cases, Molotov cocktails were thrown. It has local Jews on edge. In one of the incidents, people have arrested a suspect, who is Jewish, who apparently was tormenting his mother. “If we act as if the vandals represent the tip of an anti-Semitic iceberg, Jews are going to have to accept the kind of security seen in many European synagogues and Jewish centers: armed guards, 24-hour surveillance, garrison architecture. The costs — literal and in a lost sense of well-being — will be enormous,” said Andrew Silow-Carroll in the New Jersey Jewish News. And some wonder if anti-Semitism is on the rise.

Haagen-Dazs under fire
Kosher-keeping Ice cream lovers may lose one of their favorite snacks if the Chief Rabbinate in Israel has its way, as Haagen-Dazs fights to keep its kosher certification. The ice cream is reportedly made with an unsupervised liquid milk that causes “a severe infringement of kashrut procedures.” “Why the ban has been issued now remains unclear. The rabbinate claim their notice about Haagen Dazs has been issued several times previously but gone unheeded, recommending Israelis turn to home-made kosher ice creams to fill the gap,” according to The Telegraph. Some consumers are worried: “Still, I shudder to think what’s next. No more Toyota cars and trucks in Israel because their carburetors aren’t sufficiently supervised? A blockade on iPhones because the workers in the assembly plants might be eating ham and cheese sandwiches while checking the screens for glitches? A ban on seaweed for sushi because it might contain traces of shellfish (oh, wait, that already happened,” said Brian Blum at Israelity.com.

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January 12, 2012 | 4:11 am

This week in power: New Hampshire, Santorum, Holocaust analogies, Credit cards

Posted by Danny Groner

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Romney’s win
Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, with Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman finishing second and third, pushing Romney even further ahead of the competition. “Of the entire field, Romney has the greatest upside among Jewish voters,” said someone quoted in The Jewish Week. “Of the remaining Republican field, he is the one Jews feel most comfortable with – he’s kind of heimish.” But if we’re just going based on the campaign and the debates, warned Shmuel Rosner of the Jewish Journal, We still know “nothing exactly about the way a President Romney will act tomorrow.” And the debate goes on about who has Israel’s best intentions in mind.

Santorum’s “Jesus guy” comments
Late last week, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum told a radio show host that we could always use a “Jesus guy” running the country. “Most American Jews will be hard put to find their place in this new interdenominational Christian alliance,” said Chemi Shalev at Haaretz. Let’s keep the religious attacks out of the campaign, shall we? suggested Tod Robberson in the Dallas Morning News. “Voters should be encouraged to make their decisions based upon their assessment of the qualifications, integrity and political positions of candidates, not the intensity of their religious beliefs.”

Nazi imagery law
The Israeli government passed a law this week that will make it illegal to use any Nazi or Holocaust imagery, according to reports. Violators face big fines or possible jailtime. The law follows recent unrest over ultra-Orthodox people’s use of Nazi imagery in protests over immodesty. “As Jews, we have found ourselves needing to constantly raise our voices against this kind of trivialization in an effort not only to remind others of the pain and offensiveness of these remarks, but also to protect the memory of the Holocaust, so that we do not wake up one day to a world that no longer remembers the lessons of that period—or, worse, is indifferent to them,” said Abraham H. Foxman in JTA.

A new political party in Israel?
Until recently, Yair Lapid was a popular TV personality on Israel’s Channel 2. Now, he’s running for Knesset and might be forming his own party. “The trouble is that politics is not about ratings. One must ask what Lapid brings to politics that gives him the skills to make decisions about the country’s fate. He has no political or administrative experience and has never been immersed in the turmoil that is Israeli politics, whose pressures, from within and without, are some of the greatest in the world,” said Shlomo Avineri at Haaretz. Of course, Lapid could wind up just finding his place within the establishment. “With the centrist Lapid possibly more willing to join a Netanyahu coalition than Kadima (Lapid doesn’t expect to be PM, Livni does – there’s a lot of ego involved with such ambitions), Netanyahu might have a viable path towards being less dependent on the hardcore right-wingers and the ultra-Orthodox parties,” said Shmuel Rosner at the Jewish Journal.

Israel vs. hacker
A Saudi teenage hacker posted Israeli credit card numbers online, prompting the Israeli government to call it “a breach of sovereignty comparable to a terrorist operation, and must be treated as such.” “I’ve hacked much more than you can imagine,” wrote the hacker. He said he had more credit card information than what he published so far. “Yes, because shooting a missile at someone and killing them is exactly the same as leaking their credit card data and temporarily inconveniencing them, and taking out a shit-eating script kiddie is essential to Israeli sovereignty. It’s only a few more dumb leaps in logic to blowing up anti-Israel YouTube trolls,” said Adrian Chen at Gawker. “Yeah, they sound pretty pissed,” said Tanya Ghahremani at Complex.

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January 5, 2012 | 4:31 am

This week in power: Iowa, Bibi’s year, Beit Shemesh followup, Fox poll

Posted by Danny Groner

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Iowa caucus
Everyone was paying attention to Iowa on Tuesday as the Republican candidates vied for votes, resulting in a close contest that left three strong contenders: Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and, Ron Paul. It became even clearer that foreign policy - particularly that related to Iran - will play a major role in the election season. “Iran is about to have nuclear weaponry just down the road,” Romney said. “Iran is important, but one should still wonder: China, Russia, Korea, Europe, the Arab Spring – aren’t they all important enough to be worthy of some discussion?” asked Shmuel Rosner at the Jewish Journal. Jewish voters might tip the scales for one of the candidates, said Mik Moore at Shma, but they should tread carefully. “When the media covers the Jewish vote, it will likely focus on the candidates’ support for Israel. After all, why should this year be any different? But the fight for Jewish swing voters, volunteers, and donations will almost certainly be won or lost elsewhere.” Heading toward New Hampshire, the Jewish vote remains a concern.

How’d Netanyahu do?
“Bibi Netanyahu had a very good year,” said Douglas Bloomfield in The Jewish Week. “He may have dissed the President of the United States with a rude lecture on live television but that didn’t stop Barack Obama from leading the campaign to block the Palestinian bid for U.N. membership, raising the level of security cooperation to new highs and approving the transfer of weapons system denied by the Bush administration. As a bonus, Netanyahu got standing ovations at a joint session of Congress that insulated him from pressure to be more flexible in the peace process; he returned home stronger than ever – and less interested in fulfilling his end of the U.S.-Israeli partnership.” But that’s not the complete story, said Aaron David Miller in the Los Angeles Times. “Unless Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu find a way to cooperate on a big venture that makes both of them look good, and in a way that allows each to invest in the other, the U.S.-Israel relationship may be in for a bumpy ride.” Stay tuned.

Beit Shemesh furor goes on
The conflict goes on in the Israeli city between ultra-Orthodox and modern Jews over modesty. And the commentary continues to pour out. “Rape is not about sex, it’s about violence. So too Orthodox Jewish men attacking young Orthodox Jewish girls in Beit Shemesh, Israel this past week for wearing short sleeves was not about modesty (the perpetrated acts of violence were of course anything but modest), but about power,” said Rabbi Hyim Shafner in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Clearly, the haredim see themselves as the victims here,” said a Jewish Week editorial. “But while it is true that the number of ultra-Orthodox militants is small, the deeper concern is the passive behavior toward them by fellow haredim and the relative silence of the leaders of their communities.” Either way, this needs to end soon, said Richard N. Weltz at American Thinker: “This has got to be nipped in the bud, and decisively so, for the sake of all the rest of us Jews.”

Nazi imagery
As the debate has heated up in Beit Shemesh, so have the methods, according to reports. Ultra-Orthodox protesters reportedly gave young boys yellow stars and striped prison camp uniforms to wear, an evident comparison to the Holocaust. Some people were arrested for a similar stunt. This “constitutes a new low point,” said Ronn Torossian at the Algemeiner. “People in Israel misuse the Holocaust in politics and other areas all the time,” said someone quoted by the Daily Beast. ‘It’s used mainly by the right wing but also by the left and center’ to vilify political adversaries.”

Fox’s Jesus poll
The Latin American division of Fox issued an apology for a controversial poll last week that included a suggestion that Jews killed Jesus. It asked people, “Who do you think is responsible for the death of Christ?” and gave three choices: Jewish People, Pontius Pilate and High Priests. “There really isn’t much else to say, except what else can we expect from Fox News? This is the norm for this network, whether it’s done here in the U.S. or overseas,” said Claudio E. Cabrera at The Root. “There was no word on the results of the poll,” added Nando Di Fino at Mediaite.

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December 29, 2011 | 4:55 am

This week in power: Ron Paul, Israeli policy, Beit Shemesh, TV station

Posted by Danny Groner

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Ron Paul under fire
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is getting support from questionable sources that have some Jewish voters worrying even more about Paul’s recent surge in the polls. “If Ron Paul takes Iowa GOP Jews might be somewhat embarrassed, but the real loser would be the state of Iowa,” said Shmuel Rosner in the Jewish Journal. The bottom line is that “A great year for Paul might even give President Obama a chance to do better than he did in 2008 with Jewish voters.” But Paul could be good for Jews for the same reason he could be good for all Americans, said Gabriel Martindale at the Algemeiner: “To be blunt, it won’t do much good having America backing Israel to the hilt if America is in precipitate economic collapse.” Jewish Republicans have taken a stand against him nonetheless, and it’s “too bad the rest of the party doesn’t share that sense of decency,” said Douglas Bloomfield in The Jewish Week.

Controversial firing
The Truman National Security Project let go former AIPAC spokesman Josh Block after he attacked several progressives. “Block had sent out an email to a neoconservative listserv in which he said, referring to writers at the Center for American Progress and Media Matters, ‘These are the words of anti-Semites, not Democratic political players.’ That was further than Block had gone publicly and it was a particularly serious charge; he also urged journalists on the listerv to ‘amplify’ the attacks,” reported Salon’s Justin Elliott. Bloggers went back and forth about whether the attacks were justified.

Naama
The world was taken this week by the story of 8-year-old Naama Margolese who says that on her way to school in Beit Shemesh she has encountered ultra-Orthodox extremists who have spat on her. “When I walk to school in the morning I used to get a tummy ache because I was so scared ... that they were going to stand and start yelling and spitting,” she told the Associated Press. “They were scary. They don’t want us to go to the school.” “Underneath the clothes, they are no different from any other group of testosterone-poisoned bullies, weak and mean of spirit, wary of exposure, hiding unspeakable urges behind terrible acts,” said Bradley Burston at Haaretz. The message has spread worldwide, too. “But the larger lesson I take away from this is that society is rarely better off when fanatics –religious or political or of any other ideological persuasion – are allowed to dictate the way everyone else will live and to take away someone else’s rights. That holds as true for some of what has been happening lately in the United States as it does for what is going on in Israel,” said Andrea Johnson in the Minot Daily News.

TV station’s last legs?
Israel Channel 10 is “fighting for its life,” according to The New York Times, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hostility toward it may have a part in the downfall.  “The fight over Channel 10 is partly a matter of revenge — Netanyahu wants to make them pay for what they did to him,” said one member of Parliament about the channel’s harsh reports about Netanyahu’s spending. American Thinker’s Leo Rennert sees it differently, though: This is part of an “all-out New York Times campaign against conservative, right-of-center institutions - whether in the U.S. or in Israel.  For example, since Rupert Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journal and turned it into a successful competitor to the Times, the Sulzbergers have gone after him, milking every jot and tittle of a hacking scandal at a Murdoch-owned British tabloid.  There’s still plenty of pugnacity in the Old Lady.” He continued: “The left, including the Times, is determined to retain command of cultural and media agendas.  It’s ready to use every trick of the trade against right-leaning actors - whether it’s Murdoch in the New York press wars or Netanyahu allies when they push back against Israel’s dominant left.”

Hottest Jewish women
Complex.com unveiled this week its list of the 50 hottest Jewish women. What did the masses think? “Bad puns aside, there’s something very unsavory about the compilation, in that it’s the most recent instance of what seems to be a growing media fixation on Jewish women,” said Naomi Zeveloff at The Jewish Daily Forward. “By discarding old stereotypes and simultaneously setting Jewish women apart, Complex.com is telling men to pay attention to Jewish women just because they’re Jewish.” Yet some were pleased with the list anyway. “Although there are some converts, there’s a smorgasbord of hotness in that list,” said one commenter at SportsInferno.com.

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