A 1991 Meeting with Prime Minister Narasimha Rao
A meeting between an international Jewish leader, an Australian diplomat, and the then Indian prime minister set the stage for major progress in Indian-Israeli relations. Matters discussed included the improved international climate regarding Israel, India’s position on the United Nations’ "Zionism is racism" resolution, India’s diplomatic constraints, and the possibility of convening an Indo-Jewish colloquium.
A 1981 Meeting with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
A meeting with Indira Gandhi in 1981 touched on such delicate issues as India’s relations with Israel and Jews in the face of Muslim pressures, Gandhi’s image in the U.S. media, her views of U.S. policies, and the situation of Soviet Jewry. At the meeting’s conclusion Gandhi gave mixed indications as to continuing the dialogue in the future.
The Jews as Contested Ground in Postmodern Conspiracy Theory
Normally conspiracy theories remain at the margins of a culture. But when conspiracism moves from the margins to the center, and from passive responses to active ones-Nazis and communists in the twentieth century-it can produce convulsions of paranoia and violence that leave tens of millions dead. After World War II, Western culture appeared to have definitively marginalized conspiracy theory. And yet, at the turn of the twenty-first century, there has been an aggressive rise in (traditional) Mu
The Final Exodus of the Libyan Jews in 1967
The Libyan Jewish community, which went back 2,500 years, has ceased to exist. Its decline began in the 1940s with the application of Italy’s Racial Laws, Libyan Jews’ internment in concentration camps, and pogroms under the British administration. This led the large majority of Libyan Jews to emigrate to Israel after its establishment. The community’s situation continued to deteriorate after Libya’s independence in 1952. The country’s fierce nationalism expressed itself in anti-Israeli and
The Multiple Distortions of Holocaust Memory
Recent years have seen greatly increased attempts to manipulate Holocaust history and its memory. For several decades much attention has been devoted to Holocaust denial. Distortions of the Holocaust past, however, occur in many other ways. The number of mutations of such distortions is also expanding. Manipulations belong to several groupings, such as: Holocaust Promotion, Holocaust Denial, Holocaust Depreciation, Holocaust Deflection, Prewar and Wartime Holocaust Equivalence, Postwar Holocaust
Pakistan and Israel
Since Israel’s establishment in May 1948, Pakistan, being a Muslim country, has refused to establish diplomatic relations with it. The agreements that Israel signed with Egypt in 1978, the PLO in 1993, and Jordan in 1994 brought no change in Pakistan’s policy. However, Israeli and Pakistani officials maintained clandestine contacts over the years.
The Coming U.S.-Russian Train Wreck – Is Israel Caught in the Middle?
The current elites define Russia’s strategic goals as being in opposition to the United States and its policies. The Moscow propaganda machine is only a step away from putting Israel on the “short list” of designated enemies. Jerusalem’s relationship with Moscow may deteriorate if Russia continues to treat Israel as an American satellite state.
Muslim-Jewish Interaction in the Netherlands
The immigration of a large number of Muslims into the Netherlands over the past four decades has led to major challenges for the Dutch Jewish community. These include, for instance, increased verbal and physical violence against Jews and the Jewish community, the need for greater security measures, impacts on the teaching of the Holocaust in Dutch schools, and changed attitudes of the authorities and third parties toward needs of the Jewish community.
Does the Prospective Purchase of British Gas from Gaza Threaten Israel’s National Security?
With Gaza currently a radical Islamic stronghold, and the West Bank in danger of becoming the next one, Israel’s funneling a billion dollars into local or international bank accounts on behalf of the Palestinian Authority would be tantamount to Israel’s bankrolling terror against itself. An urgent review is required of the far-reaching security implications of an Israeli decision to purchase Gaza gas.
Gerstenfeld on Het Zijn Net Mensen: Beelden Uit het Midden-Oosten (They Are Like Human Beings: Pictures from the Middle East) by Joris Luyendijk
Mingling Disclosures and Distortions
Het Zijn Net Mensen: Beelden Uit het Midden-Oosten (They Are Like Human Beings: Pictures from the Middle East) by Joris Luyendijk, Uitgeverij Podium, 2006, 215 pp. [Dutch]
Reviewed by Manfred Gerstenfeld
The Intellectual Assault on Israel and Pro-Israel Advocacy: How the American Jewish Community Should React
American support for Israel historically has rested on four main pillars: the high esteem Jews enjoy within American society; the strong base of Christianity within American culture; the kinship Americans have for a fellow democracy; and, especially since 9/11, the common foes that confront both America and Israel. None of these pillars may be taken for granted; nor are they necessarily unequivocal.
Al-Qaeda: The Next Goal Is to Liberate Spain from the Infidels
The memory of Islamic rule in Spain has become increasingly part of the discourse in radical Islam. The very same principle invoked for waging war against Israel – recovery of what was once Islamic territory – is being applied to Spain, the Balkans, Southern Russia, and India. Israel, therefore, is a small link in the greater confrontation between radical Islam and the West.
The Egyptian Beginning of Anti-Semitism’s Long History
Most anti-Jewish material from Greek and Latin authors is pre-Christian. The main protagonists in the anti-Jewish propaganda came from Alexandria. There also the first anti-Jewish pogrom in history took place in 38 CE.
Gerstenfeld on Het Marokkanendrama by Fleur Jurgens
The Nonintegrated Moroccans in the Netherlands
Het Marokkanendrama (The Moroccans’ Drama) by Fleur Jurgens, J. M. Meulenhoff, 2007, 176 pp. [Dutch]
Reviewed by Manfred Gerstenfeld
From the Editors
This issue opens with an analysis by Richard Landes of the increasingly important phenomenon of conspiracy theories. He points out that such theories contain three basic elements of apocalyptic movements: they are radical revelations about an otherwise opaque present; they are part of a larger, cataclysmic, final transformation of the world; and they refer to imminent events. After World War II, Western society seemed to have marginalized conspiracy theory. Yet, at the turn of the twenty-first century, there has been an aggressive rise in (traditional) Muslim conspiracism and a remarkable vulnerability to conspiracy theory in the West.
