Latest Articles

Watching the new state of South Sudan fall into chaos

May 18, 2012  •  Ha'aretz

When the state of South Sudan came into existence last July, with great fanfare, Israel was one of the first nations to recognize it, having provided support for South Sudanese leaders since the 1960s during the first civil war. Indeed, in late December, Salva Kiir Mayardit - the president of South Sudan - came to Jerusalem, where he discussed the unique prospect of locating the country's embassy there. It was therefore no surprise that President Shimon Peres spoke so enthusiastically of the visit as a "moving and historic moment" for him and Israel.

Now, less than a year later, in light of Israel's plans to deport South Sudanese refugees, it is worth taking a look at how the world's youngest nation is faring.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

A cardinal, an atheist and phony media outrage

May 10, 2012  •  The Jerusalem Post

"Australia's most senior Catholic Archbishop sparks outrage after saying Jews are 'intellectually and morally inferior," reported the Daily Mail on April 12.

Cardinal George Pell said "the little Jewish people" were shepherds who lacked intellectual development during a debate with atheist Richard Dawkins.

Pell is known in the Australian Jewish community as a good friend. Nevertheless, the Australia Jewish News was flooded with email from upset readers. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group that represents the country's Jews, expressed "serious concern," finding the cardinal's remarks "problematic" from the Jewish perspective and in general.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

Libya: Assessing Berber Prospects

April 28, 2012  •  PJ Media

One reason the term "Arab Spring" is a misnomer is because of the participation of non-Arabs, including Kurds in Iraq and Syria as well as Berbers in Morocco and Libya. While both of these non-Arab groups are Muslims, they tend to oppose Islamism both because they see it as tantamount to Arabization and because their observance of religion is often more flexible due to their own customs and history.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

Nizar Nayouf, al-Haqiqa, and Syrian Christians

April 23, 2012  •  The American Spectator

In an April 6 article for Ha'aretz I wrote with two co-authors, I traced the widely circulated claim that 90 percent of Christians had been ethnically cleansed from the Syrian city of Homs by Islamist militants back to a site known as al-Haqiqa (Arabic for "The Truth"). This site, despite claiming to oppose the Assad regime while being critical of the Syrian opposition, is accurately described by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) as a "pro-Assad" site.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

Rethinking Early Roman Anti-Semitism

April 15, 2012  •  Israel National News

That anti-Jewish prejudice features among Latin authors of the early Principate cannot be doubted.

For example, in the Cena Trimalchionis, which is a part of the satirical novel Satyricon, written during Nero's reign, two freedmen- Habinnas and Trimalchio- have a discussion on the slaves they own. The former mentions a particular favorite of his, but adds that his "duo vitia" ("two vices") are that "recutitus est et stertit" ("he is circumcised- i.e. a Jew- and he snores"- Petronius 68.8).

Continue to the full article  |  More articles