Insights into the Situation of the Jews in the Netherlands
Demographic research by the Jewish social organization JMW shows that three-quarters of the Dutch Jewish community, which numbers about 30,000, is not organized in one of the three religious organizations-the Ashkenazi, Progressive, and Portuguese. Among other things, this means they do not send their children to a Jewish school and, if they are ill, do not go to the Jewish hospital. Close to half of the Jews live in Amsterdam and the adjacent southern suburb of Amstelveen.
A Paradox of Peacemaking: How Fayyad’s Unilateral Statehood Plan Undermines the Legal Foundations of Israeli-Palestinian Diplomacy
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad published a plan in August 2009 to unilaterally declare statehood after a two-year state-building process. However, any unilateral action that undermines the existing Oslo interim framework could jeopardize the peace process and remove the basis for the existence of the Palestinian Authority.
Mainline American Christian “Peacemakers” against Israel
In 2004 and 2005, a group of five liberal Protestant (or "mainline") churches in the United States broadcasted a narrative that portrayed Israel as almost solely responsible for the violence of the Second Intifada. This campaign was evident in "peacemaking" resolutions approved by the legislative bodies of these churches and in the books produced by the publishing houses associated with them.
Benedict XVI, the Lefebvrians, the Jews, and the State of Israel
This article explores the relations between the Catholic Church and the Jews from the middle of the previous century until the present day. It will focus on how the Catholic Church has dealt with memory of the Shoah and how this has affected the Church’s relations with the Jews. It will look at the most recent developments in dialogue between the Church and the Jews under Pope Benedict XVI and the impact of his visit to Israel in May 2009.
The Jewish Community in Germany: Living with Recognition, Anti-Semitism and Symbolic Roles
This article deals with the diverse images of Jews in Germany: which roles they take upon themselves and which symbolic roles German society sees in the Jewish community. The author tries to unfold the origins and the meaning of these roles including Jews as victims, as sensors toward anti-Semitism and right-wing extremism.
Jews in the Psyche of America
The American Jewish experience is unique. Singularly different from other Diaspora encounters, one struggles to understand all of the historical, political, and social factors that have contributed to this exceptional national phenomenon. Yet it is as much an individualized encounter with this society as it is a formal connection to the nation called "America." Just as American society has embraced Jews, American Jewry has fully identified with this nation’s core values, thereby creat
The Field of Canadian Jewish Studies and Its Importance for the Jewish Community of Canada
The Canadian Jewish community has emerged recently as one of the more interesting and culturally creative centers of contemporary Jewish life. This article explores an aspect of that development: the evolution of Canadian Jewish studies from something almost wholly internal within the Canadian Jewish community to a phenomenon of interest to academics and community members alike.
Environmental Activism in the Canadian Jewish Community
While there have been numerous literary efforts to inform the scholarly and lay public concerning ecology and Judaism at least from the 1980s, the penetration of these concepts to the level of ordinary public discourse within the Canadian Jewish community is barely a decade old, and its appreciable impact has been even more recent.
Fifty years of MASHAV activity
In 2008 MASHAV (the Hebrew acronym for the Center for International Cooperation) marked 50 years of activity as a division of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since its establishment in 1958 it has provided professional guidance for 230,000 course participants from 140 developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where it has sent thousands of experts to launch projects. This article will deal with its activity in Africa, and will also touch on a question discussed in official
The Opening of the Haredi Educational System to the Secular and Its Transformation from a Peripheral Factor to a Central Factor in Israeli Society
This article analyzes the metamorphosis that occurred within Haredi education, transforming it from a single stream, limited both in scope and its affinity to the state, into two dominant streams that seek to influence the Israeli state and society. Within this framework the long march that the veteran Independent educational stream has made will be presented. From a policy of selectivity and "isolation" in the admission of Ashkenazi Haredim during the 1950s, it moved initially toward
Halachic Challenges Emerging From Stem Cell Research
As a partner with God in the creation process,[1] human beings have developed innovative technologies to treat and cure disease, to enhance human living conditions, and to protect or improve the environment. In concert with the development of new technologies, the halachic (Jewish legal) process has elaborated specific mechanisms to incorporate and integrate these emerging technologies.
The Audit in Hebrew Law
A fundamental study of major Judaic adjudication sources concerning public trustees reflects a trend of discomfort along with a demand for transparency and rendering an account by the trustee. This trend does not co-exist with such control and review mechanisms.
However, a scrutiny of various sources reveals a more complex picture:
Many biblical and Talmudic sources reflect the view that transparency is an important requirement for various reasons.
Joseph Morrison Skelly on Postcolonial Theory and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Sowing Historical Fallacies
Postcolonial Theory and the Arab-Israeli Conflict edited by Philip Carl Salzman and Donna Robinson Divine. Routledge, 2008, 256 pp.
Reviewed by Joseph Morrison Skelly
Mordechai Nisan on A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War
The Political Paradigm of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, and its Flaws
A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Mark Tessler, second edition, Indiana University Press, 2009, 1018 pp.
The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War by James L. Gelvin, new edition, Cambridge University Press, 2007, 296 pp.
Reviewed by Mordechai Nisan
Toby Greene on Londonistan by Melanie Phillips
The Challenge of Radical Islam in Britain
Londonistan by Melanie Phillips. Encounter Books, 2008, 352pp.
Reviewed by Toby Greene
