April 28, 2011 | 6:47 am

This week in power: Palestinians, Helen Thomas, Black Panthers, Kiryas Joel

Posted by Danny Groner

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

Is a Palestinian state coming?
“Will a Palestinian state be born this fall,” asked a headline on CNN.com on Wednesday. Whatever happens, Obama has to act, said The Jewish Daily Forward in an editorial, because, as it stands, the situation is “unsustainable, especially now when the region is engulfed with democratic fervor.” But it may not be fixable, warned A.B. Yehoshua in Haaretz. Not only don’t we know how large either of these sides are, this is “a fundamental conflict that constantly creates primal and profound mistrust between the two peoples, preventing a possible solution.”

Helen Thomas bows out
Thomas backed out of her appearance at a pro-Palestinian conference called “Move Over AIPAC” to take place from May 21 to 24, according to JTA. “I understand why pro-Israel groups wanted to lash out at Thomas when she was still a major figure in journalism. But isn’t there a point when it simply pays to say, ‘look, she’s an old lady, nobody’s paying attention to her, let it rest?’” asked James Besser at The Jewish Week. This is about something bigger, though, said James Abourezk at Counterpunch. It’s an effort “to make the Helen Thomases of the world disappear, along with their views opposing what Israel is doing to those under its occupation.”

Death at Joseph’s tomb
Palestinian Authority officials are investigating the fatal shooting of Ben Yosef Livnat, 24, who was killed on Sunday after Palestinian police opened fire on their vehicle after he and others snuck in to pray at Joseph’s Tomb, according to reports. “By repeatedly and blatantly violating this so-called peace agreement, Palestinians have shot themselves in the foot—big-time,” said Peggy Shapiro at American Thinker. This also might indicate that “we are not on the cusp of a new era of Middle East peace,” said Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post. “Could it be that building mother-in-law apartments in East Jerusalem isn’t the root of the problem?”

Black Panthers’ rally
The New Black Panthers’ held a “National Day of Action and Unity” last Saturday in over 60 cities worldwide, which turned out to be “a fantastic dud,” said James M. Simpson at BigGovernment. In the days leading up to the rally, the ADL denounced the group, which “feeds directly into the media-hungry hands of NBPP leaders that are organizing the events,” said Ryan Dube at TopSecretWriters.com. “As they say – any publicity is good publicity.” Still, there is a lesson here: Instead of focusing on the Tea Party’s language and message, said Raven Clabough at The New American, worry about the “prevalent among the New Black Panthers, an indisputably violent, racist, and anti-Semitic group.”

The poorest place
A higher proportion of people are living in poverty in Kiryas Joel, N.Y., than in any other community in the country, according to The New York Times. “Those in the community are, unsurprisingly, not very interested in talking about their finances,” said Garth Johnston at Gothamist. But there’s something fascinating about these people, said Matthew Continetti at The Washington Post. “As you read stories like these, you begin to wonder whether poverty is more a spiritual than economic condition. And if that’s the case, the residents of Kiryas Joel are as rich as Croesus.”

April 21, 2011 | 6:59 am

This week in power: Palestinian statehood, Obama’s seder, Pollard, Burqas

Posted by Danny Groner

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

Is Palestinian statehood possible?
Pressure is mounting from prominent Israelis in support of a Palestinian plan to seek United Nations support for statehood, according to reports. They hope to seek the U.N.‘s endorsement in September for an independent Palestinian state, which prompted Hillary Clinton to propose a resuming of peace talks. Granting statehood “damages the sanctity of international legal foundations that give Israel the confidence to take risks for peace” and “also promises to radicalize Palestinian politics,” said Meyrav Wurmser in The Jewish Daily Forward.“Palestinian leaders cannot possibly believe such action will create the state they say is their top goal,” said a Jewish Week editorial. This is just an effort “to ratchet up the pressure on Israel.”

Obama’s Passover message
President Obama hosted his third consecutive seder at the White House, an event that was met with controversy after Glenn Beck and others took issue with Obama’s message that this year’s Mideast revolts echo those of the Biblical exodus from Egypt. “Well, way to go, President Obama. Or should I say ‘Pharaoh Obama?’” joked Jon Bershad at Mediaite. While I think Beck “is reading too much into the message Obama released,” said one blogger, “how can i criticize him when he is speaking up for Israel??!!”

Free Jonathan Pollard?
A top Israeli rabbi called on Barack Obama to free Jonathan Pollard if he wants Jews to back him in his re-election bid, reported the AFP. Others, including President Shimon Peres and Pollard’s wife, Esther, have asked Obama to let Pollard go in the spirit of the Passover holiday. Well, “the rabbi is wrong,” said Martin Peretz at The New Republic. “If five percent of American Jews vote against the president in 2012 because he fails to free Pollard, that would be a lot. Anyway, most of them (maybe all of them) already voted against Obama in 2008.” This isn’t really an issue that American Jews will vote on.

Burqa ban
Last week, France made its controversial burqa ban a full-fledged law in the country. “I’m not entirely sure that the ban is the way to go, and it’s looking like the ban is doomed to failure, buttressing Islamic fundamentalism, and placing Muslim women in some very difficult predicaments,” said Elana Maryles Sztokman at The Jewish Daily Forward. Years ago, the country banned all religious clothing in public schools, including Jewish skullcaps, “The law is rooted in the long-standing French policy of cultural integration and the pursuit of a uniform French identity,” pointed out Bonita Meyersfeld in the Mail and Guardian. Yet, some believe it was necessary: “France is brave and right to ban the burqa. There is no reason for a modern Western country to honor what is, essentially, a political statement and an ethnic and misogynistic custom,” said Phyllis Chesler at Fox News.

Get the Yid out
The Kick It Out organization wants to put a stop to the use of the offensive term “Yid” that some soccer fans have chanted at Tottenham Hotspur games. Players, appearing in a viral video, are joining the campaign against casual use of the slur. “I never really give a moment`s thought to this being anything racist or offensive coming from a Tottenham fans mouth, but the fact I have always sung the song with pride and affection, perhaps doesn`t make it right, wondered OxfordSpur at VitalFootball, “or are we again going too far in the political correctness bandwagon?” This “practice is unutterably vile and should be stamped on without delay,” said Natalie Wood at Technorati. Still, the term has been used this way for years without protest so “I must argue, if ‘the Yids’ themselves are not offended by the term, why should anyone else?”

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April 14, 2011 | 8:16 am

This week in power: Budget, WikiLeaks, Slaughter ban, Bieber

Posted by Danny Groner

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

Government shutdown averted: Now what?
President Obama was able to strike a deal with Republicans at the deadline last weekend that kept the federal government open and operating. “But there was something deeply disturbing about the process that led the nation to the brink of a shutdown,” said a Jewish Week editorial. “Deficit reduction is essential, and it will require sacrifices from all of us.” And, with so much still in flux, James Besser worried about Jewish groups that “don’t like to dip their toes in the treacherous partisan waters of budget and taxation debates.” Where does civility get you? wondered Leonard Fein in The Jewish Daily Forward. For instance, “How in the world can a serious person not experience indignation in the face of the clownish behavior of Israel’s Knesset or the U.S. House of Representatives?” Let you your passion and outrage show.

WikiLeaks: Israel edition
A batch of leaked U.S. diplomatic cables shared with Haaretz by WikiLeaks recently came to light, according to reports. The cables, among other things, revealed that Israeli officials expect Hezbollah to fire about 500 missiles a day at Israel from Lebanon, and it could mean war. They also show evidence that Israel weighed an attack on Iran back in 2005, but “these revelations by themselves are not particularly newsworthy,” said Christopher A. Preble at The National Interest. It’s been know that Israel “lacked the firepower to definitively demolish the Iranian nuclear program.”

Bombing suspect caught
The man charged in connection with an explosion last Thursday at a Chabad House in Santa Monica, California, is heading back to California to stand trial, according to reports. Hirsch had fled to Ohio, where he had been welcomed by the Jewish community with open arms, reported the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. But one rabbi grew suspicious and reported Hirsch to police. “In a small community, someone would be noticed because everybody knows everybody,” said one community member.

Dutch slaughter ban
The Netherlands may soon pass a law banning Jewish and Muslim traditions on the ritual slaughter of animals, reported the Associated Press. Animal rights activists and the xenophobic Freedom Party have joined together to push for the ban on “methods that critics say inflict unacceptable suffering on animals.” This is an effort to “suppress the ancient and essentially humane methods of slaughtering animals that Jews have used for millennia,” said Brice Walker at the New American. They want to “abolish religious practices of Christians and Jews by imposing, in place of God’s law, man’s law.” This is an “unjust” law, said Abraham H. Foxman in a JTA editorial. “Members of today’s Dutch parliament should be guided by their founding fathers’ championing of religious freedom.”

Bieber and Bibi
A meeting between the improbable pair was called off suddenly, and each side has a different story. Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Bieber backed out after refusing to meet with children affecting by terror, while the singer cited “logistical” problems for the cancellation. The Israeli leader tried “to turn a photo op with a teen idol into a propaganda stunt for the war on Gaza,” said an Economist blogger. Now it sounds like “he won’t agree to be the boyfriend of EITHER Israel or Palestine,” joked Jack Stuef at Wonkette. Let’s just hope the “Israeli media will back off, and that the country’s leadership gets a little savvier about how to greet high-profile visitors with millions of fans,” said Nathan Burstein at The Jewish Daily Forward.

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April 7, 2011 | 7:37 am

This week in power: Goldstone, Obama, Facebook, Gadhafi

Posted by Danny Groner

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

Goldstone’s regret
“We know a lot more today about what happened in the Gaza war of 2008-09 than we did when I chaired the fact-finding mission appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council that produced what has come to be known as the Goldstone Report. If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document,” said Richard Goldstone in a Washington Post op-ed last weekend. But Goldstone fell short of wishing the U.N. to nullify his report entirely. How’d the media react to this news? “A blood libel travels faster and can get even farther, and even a heartfelt mea culpa cannot call it back,” said Jeff Jacoby in The Boston Globe. The good news it that this revelation “restores some measure of moral equilibrium to Israel,” said David N. Myers in the Jewish Journal. And while it’s step in the right direction, “Goldstone’s belated change of heart does not absolve Israel of the need” to “be publicly transparent” and remain honorable in the eyes of the rest of the world, said a Jewish Daily Forward editorial.

Obama begins 2012 campaign - he’ll need the Jewish vote
As Republicans Mitt Romney and John Thune met with the Republican Jewish Coalition, Obama kicked off his re-election campaign on Monday with a video that featured, among others, someone with a mezuzah necklace. “While having little impact in terms of numerical votes, American Jews’ continued monetary support of Obama makes explaining the irrationality of that voting bloc extremely difficult,” said Lauri B. Regan at the American Thinker. Everyone is after the Jewish vote, though. “Israel is a powerful symbol among the white voters the Republicans must bring out to the polls if they want any chance of victory in ‘12,” said Ira Chernus at The Huffington Post. Let’s just keep the discussion civil, said The Jewish Week in an editorial. “Debate about Middle East policy is healthy, but maybe this would be a good year to dial down the rhetoric and to work especially hard to keep U.S. support for Israel from getting sucked into the maws of hyper-partisan political campaigns.”

Facebook sued over Palestinian intifada page
Last week, Facebook wiped the “Third Palestinian Intifada” page from its site because it made direct calls for violence, according to reports. But that didn’t apparently end the saga - Political activist Larry Klayman filed a billion-dollar, class-action lawsuit, claiming that the page put his life - and the lives of other Jews - in danger. Klayman’s made charges like this before, warned Amar Toor at Switched. “Accusing Mark Zuckerberg of profiting from an Intifada is very much within his strike zone.” Get used to these types of suits, said David Zax at Fast Company. This is “a madhouse glimpse into what might be a real future of legal and legislative wrangling.” Some, though, wonder if there’s something there: “Based on my non-professional legal opinion, I’d say the case has merit,” said Mike Pechar at The Jawa Report.

Wasserman Schultz, DNC chair
Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida was appointed the next chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Among other things, Wasserman Schultz, who is Jewish, gives the president some much-needed lift in the Jewish community thanks to her “strong ties with Jewish groups,” reported The New York Times. The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC)‘s chair and president said in a joint statement that “Few people are better positioned to understand the interests of the American Jewish community-and to continue ensuring that they are reflected in all of the work of the Democratic Party They added: “We wish her a hearty mazel tov on her selection.”

Is Gadhafi Jewish?
Some have wondered if the Libyan leader is secretly Jewish, according to reports. NBC reported last week that “one in five rebels was fighting Gadhafi because he believes the leader is Jewish.” The rumors stem from a belief that Gadhafi’s mother was Jewish. Yeah, but “the same ‘fact’ surfaces from time to time about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” said Roger Kaplan at The American Spectator, and it “is significant only if it is taken seriously.” Don’t believe everything you hear.

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