leftward Britain Israel USA Videos 

The leftward movement of diaspora Jews

Is there a leftward movement of diaspora Jews? I took part in a webinar organised by EMET, the Endowment for Middle East Truth, which does sterling work defending Israel against the calumnies that distressingly pass for received wisdom in so much of the west. At this webinar, which was attended by more than 430 people, Caroline Glick and I were talking about the state of the Jewish community in the US and Britain. We discussed the scourge of antisemitism, the contribution to this of left-wing politics and whether or not…

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Coronavirus Audio Global conflict USA Videos 

Moral responsibility in the time of pandemic

I was very struck by observations about the coronavirus pandemic made this week by the former Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, on both BBC Radio’s Moral Maze and BBC TV’s Newsnight. What was so arresting was his optimism about the long-term effects of this global emergency on people’s behaviour. He repeated more than once that the crisis was encouraging the best out of people, that it was bringing us together, that it was eliciting innumerable acts of kindness which would continue to multiply, and that when it was all over we…

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mining Jewish people USA 

Mining for hate in “The Plot Against America”

The coronavirus pandemic has produced an intensification of anti-Jewish paranoia. One guest on Turkish television said “Jews, Zionists have organized and engineered the novel coronavirus as a biological weapon just like bird flu” to “design the world, seize countries and neuter the world’s population.” Similar vile theories are circulating in the West. False claims are being spread that Israel hasn’t helped the Palestinians in this crisis. In fact, Israel, has distributed testing kits to the Arabs in Gaza and the disputed territories, while its health ministry has provided Arab Israelis…

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Iran Britain Global conflict Israel USA 

Will a microbe seal the fate of Iran’s virulent regime?

The point about events that catch us unawares is that we are never prepared for the unexpected to happen. Who would have thought that the entire world would suddenly be destabilized by one microbe? It will take some time before people grasp the likely social, political and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. But it is already altering the landscape and knocking previous assumptions off-course. Until a few days ago, attention in the United States was focused on whether the Democrats could find a plausible candidate to beat President Donald…

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Britain Israel USA 

The real centre ground: the only political show in town

Democracy, the process through which the people get to choose who governs them, involves a choice of leaders telling competing stories about how the world should be organized. A healthy society, we have told ourselves, involves regularly changing those leaders and their stories to provide the checks and balances essential to avoid the dangers inherent in one-party rule. In Israel, the United States and Britain, that process has stalled. The reason is that, in all three countries as elsewhere in the west, the story offered by the progressive side of…

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USA Videos 

Politics Live – and the Biden scandal

I appeared on BBC TV’s Politics Live, which those with access to BBC iPlayer can view here. Among the issues we discussed was the impeachment hearings in the US Congress, concerning allegations that President Trump pressured the Ukrainian government to investigate the commercial dealings of the former US Vice-President and potential Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. I observed how odd it was that there was no similar concern over the report that, when he was Vice-President, Biden pressured the Ukrainian government to fire the prosecutor who…

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Iranian protesters stepping round US and Israel flags Britain Global conflict USA 

Iran’s heroic protesters expose decadence and humbug among western liberals

In the US, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have expressed their support for the heroic Iranian protesters who have returned to the streets calling for their ruling tyranny to be brought down. Trump tweeted: “To the brave, long-suffering people of Iran: I’ve stood with you since the beginning of my presidency, and my administration will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage”. He followed this with a warning to the Iranian regime that there must not…

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Britain Culture wars USA 

Political auto-immune disease among diaspora Jews

Why are so many diaspora Jews doing the dirty work of their mortal enemies for them? In the United States, most Jews still support the Democratic Party despite the refusal by some politicians — namely, the four freshmen congresswomen who call themselves “the Squad,” and have made anti-Jewish and anti-Israel remarks — to distance themselves from the Jew-baiting Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. American Jewish leaders are also deeply reluctant to speak out against black or Muslim Jew-hatred, of which there have been some shocking recent examples. Immediately after…

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Culture wars USA 

The New Jersey terror attack

The shooting attack on the kosher grocery store in New Jersey in which three Jews were murdered after a police officer was gunned down was a terrorist atrocity directed at Jews. New Jersey officials have confirmed that Jews were the target of the shooters who specifically selected the kosher store for attack. The incident began at a cemetery where a police officer was shot dead by two people, subsequently identified as 47-year-old David Anderson and 50-year-old Francine Graham, whom the officer had recognised as connected to a murder. Surveillance footage…

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Culture wars USA 

Illiberal liberalism and the onslaught on western values

In the never-ending uproar over U.S. President Donald Trump, his administration’s recent move to lift a ban on traditional Christian adoption agencies went relatively unremarked. Under President Barack Obama, child-welfare agencies were refused federal grants if they wouldn’t place children for adoption with same-sex couples. Last week, the White House reversed that ruling on the grounds that such agencies would no longer be forced “to choose between helping children and their faith.” This followed a notable speech last month at the University of Notre Dame law school by U.S. Attorney…

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