Submitted Comments RSS Feed Comments by I Randolph S. Shiner
Posted in: Best take so far on Blumen-journalism
Let's see, when Mel Gibson got caught spouting off against Jews in a drunken rage, everyone said that booze makes the lips speak the truth, or some such thing. Now, some people would have us believe that these kids, drunk on whatever, weren't speaking the truth as they saw it. Max Blumenthal may be a lot of things, but all he did was ask a question. He did not ply those people with booze so they'd say racist, horrible things about Obama. He just happened to ask a question. I am quite fearful that there is an utter disconnect between Israeli Jews and American Jews who think like these kids do and those of us who want to see Obama succeed in trying to bring peace to the MIddle East. If this is what he (and we) are up against, we are in deep gefilte fish.
Posted in: Study: Israeli Jews also blame Israel for conflict
I agree with Mr. Kass. I read the study results. This article misrepresents the totality of the responses. I can't comment, however, on "anti-Israel professors in the US". The questions were well-formulated, but the interpretations of the response here and in the press release accompanying the study seem to go out of the way to pin some kind of blame -- for anything -- on Israel when the vast majority of responses are as Mr. Kass represents in his comment. Looks like a case of mass Stockholm Syndrome to me.
Posted in: Israeli film passed over at Academy Awards
It's all poliitical, somehow. We can speculate about why the AMPAS voters voted the way they did - for the Japanese entry this year - but does it matter? "Waltz With Bashir" is a great film and while it didn't win, it did get nominated and that, I guess, is going to be good enough. That and all the other honors it garnered from other film societies that are perhaps more concerned with the quality of a film and not what an award says about the group giving it. But truly, I am not worried. Bar Refaeli is on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, and there's absolutely nothing political about HER, thank you very much, something that we can ALL agree on. Well, except for those countries that prefer to hide their women's beauty in beekeeper uniforms.
Posted in: Orthodox group: Rabbi violated rules by joining National Prayer Service
How utterly ridiculous. I am appalled at the RCA's stand on this issue. Is Orthodox Judaism so fragile that they think that Rabbi Lookstein was going to come out of the National Prayer Service singing gospel music with the Harlem Boys Choir? Do these neanderthals think that Judaism is so weak that its Rabbis cannot go to a National Prayer Service or an interfaith service in a church and come out - gasp - still a Jewish Rabbi? If this is halacha, then the halacha has to change. Modern Orthodox Judaism wants a place at the American National conversation, yet would prohibit one of its Rabbis from participating in a prayer service for that same nation? Please. Get real.
Posted in: Liberals push criticism of Israel's Gaza strikes
The battle between Hamas and Israel is one of nerve and will. The ones calling for a "political settlement" are delusional in their thinking that Hamas is interested in anything other than the destruction of Israel. I am all for a political settlement, but it cannot be based on a failure of nerve or will to get rid of enemies who have no interest in peaceful co-existence. There is entirely too much talk by Jews about "proportionality" and other niceties that bear no relationship to present reality. Why bother to have an Israel if it cannot defend its citizens from terrorism?
RSS Feed Breaking News
Updated 11/20/09 @ 11:30AM EDT
- Canada's opposition Liberal Party is crying foul after the ruling Conservatives mailed out flyers extolling themselves as stronger supporters of Israel.
- Israel arrested five Palestinian Authority intelligence officers in the West Bank.
- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel is conducting secret negotiations with Hamas.
- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was welcomed Thursday in Brazil by a state governor who is Jewish.
- Prominent South African Jewish leader and philanthropist Mendel Kaplan has died at the age of 73.
- Canadian Liberals object after Conservatives say they’re stronger Israel backers
- Israel arrests five P.A. officers
- Abbas: Israel talking to Hamas
- Abbas welcomed by Jewish pol in Brazil
- South African Jewish leader Mendel Kaplan dies
- Israel will send ship to NATO anti-terror force
- Obama: New Iran sanctions coming within weeks
- What should we bring? Thanksgiving foods that travel well
- Female Orthodox scholars helping women talk about sex
- Obama half-brother has Jewish roots
- Lieberman: Fort Hood could be terror attack
- J Street confab shows generational divide on Israel
- What really happened at the Reform biennial in Toronto
- Rubashkin convicted on 86 charges
- Obama shifts to Israel’s corner, but tries not to show it
- Sniffing underwear and other high jinks in satire on intermarriage
Posted in: At least 139 of the Forbes 400 are Jewish
10/06/09 11:02 PM
If this same article were posted on a Neo-Nazi website, we would be shrying like banshees from the depths of hell about how anti-Jewish and horrible this list is. This just goes to prove the point of the anti-Semites, at least in a small way: we are too damned concerned with money, or so the JTA and the Fundermentalist think. That there is some fluff at the beginning about how these people gave their money away, that is their business and no-one else's. We Jews are good at getting pissed off at others, but when it turns out that we are pissing on ourselves, we just think it's raining. For shame on the JTA for allowing this trash into a respectable outlet for Jewish news. This is just bad.