Новости за 30.05.2018

I’ve spent my entire professional life failing at talking about Israel. As a young soldier at the Israel Defense Forces’ spokesperson’s unit, I was taught that the key to winning hearts and minds was to be proactive, always ready with an evocative story that showed the army’s human face. As a slightly older press officer at the Israeli Consulate General in New York, I exchanged one uniform for another, trading my khakis for a cheap navy blue suit and my tough guy talk for an aspiring diplomat’s precious lilt. Читать дальше...

Second Wave Feminism “may be the most important social movement of the last century,” I read on page one of Joyce Antler’s thought-provoking new book. That “may” stopped me, coming from the celebrated historian and author of many books about Judaism, women, and America, including the impactful The Journey Home: How Jewish Women Shaped America, published over 20 years ago. Is Antler uncertain? Is the “may” more sleight of hand rather than scholarly mea culpa? If she does mean it, I am a bit disheartened... Читать дальше...

Growing up, I loved watching Hogan’s Heroes on TV. There was something very comforting to me, an Orthodox Jewish child coming of age in the dark shadow of the Holocaust, to see those bumbling Nazis stumble about. But my mother, a survivor of Hitler’s blitz in London, would have none of it.

Residents of the Eshkol Regional Council in the northwestern Negev, close to Israel’s border with Gaza, woke up yesterday at 6:59 a.m. to an alarm indicating incoming projectiles from the terrorist organization next door. As they went ahead with their morning routine, 24 consecutive alarms rang out in quick succession, heralding the worst day of Hamas rocket attacks in four years, with more than 100 such attacks launched in the span of 24 hours.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the song “God Bless America.” To celebrate, there are three new picture books about its creator, Irving Berlin. Spoiler alert: I like them all!

My wife and I spat into a couple of little plastic vials and sent them off for DNA analysis. We were curious and apprehensive to hear the tale of our genetic inheritance: markers for certain diseases and disorders, for intolerance to certain drugs, for aversion to cilantro or the smell of asparagus pee. In the matter of our ancestry, however, apart from slight uneasiness at the prospect of discovering that we were, like, third cousins, there was not a whole lot of suspense. My results came back... Читать дальше...

A central tenet of anti-oppression work is that marginalized communities are the authors of their own experiences. Those who experience a specific oppression get to define it, and how it shows up in their daily life in big and small ways. I cannot possibly grasp all of the ways racism shows up throughout the life of a person of color. As much as I may try, my white privilege will inevitably blind me to how simple daily acts like driving my car, walking my baby in the park, or waiting in a Starbucks can quickly become dangerous. Читать дальше...

Hummus & Pita Co., the small New York chain of Mediterranean food, introduced hummus-based milkshakes earlier this month. If you thought the humble chick pea hasn’t suffered enough indignities recently, with the hummus craze already spawning “dessert” hummuses (brownie batter? WTF?). But now, sweet hummus isn’t enough—you can drink it through a straw, and it’s vegan and gluten-free.

Ukrainian national police in Kiev have confirmed that Arkady Babchenko, a Russian journalist who had fled Putin’s Russia for the security of Kiev, has been shot multiple times in the back and killed by an unknown assailant as he was returning from the grocery store. The influential Ukrainian member of Parliament Anton Gerashenko has publicly declared that Babchenko was executed by an assassin who had lurked in wait under the stairwell. Babchenko died in the back of the ambulance. His friend, Borislav Bereza... Читать дальше...

Ukrainian national police in Kyiv has confirmed that Arkady Babchenko, a Russian journalist who had fled Putin’s Russia for the security of Kyiv, has been shot multiple times in the back and killed by an unknown assailant as he was returning from the grocery store. The influential Ukrainian member of Parliament Anton Gerashenko has publicly declared that Babchenko was executed by an assassin who had lurked in wait under the stairwell. Babchenko died in the back of the ambulance. His friend, Borislav Bereza... Читать дальше...