You are here

Search Results for: American Jews

Israel 

Madonna chooses freedom singing at Eurovision

Melanie, ,

The singer Madonna has announced she’ll be singing at next month’s final of the Eurovision song contest in Tel Aviv before an estimated global audience of 180 million viewers. She intends to perform two songs, including a new one from her forthcoming album. Cue all the too predictable outrage from those who demonize Israel. Jewish Voice for Peace launched a “Tell Madonna to Choose Freedom” campaign, claiming that “there’s no neutrality in situations of injustice,” and calling on the star to “stay home” and “lend your voice for freedom.” Would…

frenzy Britain Culture wars Global conflict 

After the New Zealand mosque attacks, an Orwellian frenzy

Melanie, , ,

It’s not often that I find myself in the same boat as Chelsea Clinton. At a vigil in New York for the 50 Muslims slaughtered by a gunman at two New Zealand mosques, Clinton was accused by students of being a cause of the massacre. The reason for this ludicrous charge was staggering. It was that she had criticized the antisemitic tweet by Rep. Ilhan Omar suggesting that Jews use their money to suborn American politicians in the interests of Israel. “Forty-nine people died because of the rhetoric you put…

antisemitism Britain Culture wars USA 

How antisemitism became unleashed in the west

Melanie, , ,

Why is antisemitism now out of control in the west? Jew-hatred, alas, is always with us. The most we can expect is that it is kept down by unequivocal social disapproval. What causes it to explode into an uncontrolled epidemic is the weakening of that powerful social stigma. After the Holocaust, the enormity of that crime was such that antisemitism went underground. Any such expressions that did occur were regarded as the province of cranks on the fringes of society who were accordingly shunned. What tells you the Jews are…

antisemitism Culture wars 

Why Labour party antisemitism is a crisis for the world

Melanie, , ,

At long last, the British government has proscribed Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Ministers previously banned only its military wing, pretending that Hezbollah also had a legitimate political function in the government of Lebanon. This week, however, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said it was no longer possible to distinguish between Hezbollah’s “already banned military wing and the political party.” About time. Hezbollah is a murderous proxy for the Iranian regime, through which it destabilizes and effectively controls the Lebanese government. It is responsible for numerous murderous attacks around the world…

Europe Israel 

Is Netanyahu making deals with the devil?

Melanie, , ,

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been severely criticized for cozying up to sundry dictators, autocrats or governments that downplay or deny their country’s role in the Holocaust. Among those he has either visited or hosted are Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán who boasts of creating an “illiberal democracy” and President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines who once compared himself to Hitler. The next summit of the Visegrád group, an alliance of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, will be held this month in Jerusalem.…

USA 

Democrats burned by blowback in America’s culture wars

Melanie, , ,

The US Democrats’ lurch towards extreme leftism has been well charted — their increasing flirtation with socialist economics; their sanitising or embrace of black power ideologues and their demonisation of Jews and Israel; the blind eye they turn towards the censorship, threats or outright violence used by so many of their supporters against their political enemies. But now Democrats have revealed a brutalised contempt for life itself. In the Virginia assembly, Democrat delegate Kathy Tran proposed a law loosening restrictions on abortion in the final stages of pregnancy. She later confirmed…

Ireland Israel 

Ireland’s obsessional hatred of Israel

Melanie, , ,

There’s a particularly sweet spot in the enormous technology deal Israel has just pulled off. Over the next five years, the tech giant Intel will invest a whopping $11 billion in a new semiconductor fabrication plant in Israel. The investment will be worth around 0.7% of Israel’s gross domestic product and is expected to produce thousands of jobs. The sweet spot is that in securing this deal, Israel beat off competition from Ireland. For Ireland has become the most extreme Israel-bashing country in the West. Its Dáil, or parliament, recently…

antisemitism Britain Culture wars USA 

The dirty little secret of the “diversity” agenda

Melanie, , ,

If there’s one concept in Western progressive circles that is deemed essential for a decent society, it’s “social inclusion.” The promotion of diversity is assumed to be morally unchallengeable. That’s also the prevalent attitude among Jews in both America and Britain. Many if not most support liberal immigration policies and equate antisemitism with “Islamophobia.” The belief is that those who are against immigration and diversity will be against the Jews too. In fact, the opposite is the case. The default narrative on the left is venomous hostility to Israel. This…

Labour party antisemitism Britain Israel 

How western humbug gives antisemitism a free pass

Melanie, ,

A few days ago, I wrote about antisemitism in the Labour party following the rough ride given to shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry when she spoke at Limmud. I suggested that those who, like Thornberry, were concerned about the egregious examples of antisemitism in their party were nevertheless unable to face an inconvenient truth. This was that the bigotry against Jews which so horrified them was symbiotically connected to the commitment throughout progressive circles to the Palestinian cause, whose foundation, activities and goals are defined by virulent, murderous Jew-hatred. In response,…

conservatism Britain Israel USA 

The nation as an island: the source of Israel’s resilience

Melanie, , ,

At this week’s annual dinner in London of the Anglo-Israel Association, which promotes understanding of Israel in the UK, the Israeli thinker Daniel Gordis poignantly described Israel as an island surrounded by enemies. This image of Israel under siege is currently all too apposite. With Iran’s regime now entrenched through its proxies in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, Israel now faces a genocidal enemy on three simultaneous fronts. In the face of these dangers, not to mention the recent mini-war when thousands of rockets from Gaza rained down on southern Israel,…