I do not want to give the impression that everything is going smoothly and that there are no problems here.  It’s unlikely that anyone would believe me even if I said that. However…there is the sense that more is going well than has been the case for some time — …

When India supports an anti-Israel resolution, while Croatia, Romania, and Ukraine do not—invoking ingrained antisemitism rings somewhat hollow, and alternative explanations are called for..  The General Assembly …[a]ffirms that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem …

Lorde has announced that she has decided to cancel her show in Tel Aviv, Israel, after predictable calls for her to do so. She was told that to perform there would be to “break the boycott”. A boycott that is imposed by a fanatical fringe who try to bully everyone …

THE ARIZAL. Q. Some Jews say they follow the customs of the Arizal. Who was this? A. Arizal is the name popularly given to Rabbi Isaac ben Shlomo Luria, 1534-1572. Because his ancestry was German, Ashkenazi is often added to his name. Hence “Ari” is the initials of “Ashkenazi Rabbi …

Dear ANC delegate, I have never voted for you but I have respected you. I have spoken with pride about the lofty goals that you set yourself as a liberation movement. I have been awed by your capacity to forgive many of the injustices of the past, often to your …

One tends to get the impression—on reading the news about the General Assembly vote last Thursday regarding President Trump’s new policy of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital—that something of a diplomatic cataclysm had occurred. But when we look more closely we see it is not so. In fact, the reverse …

The western-left is the most racist political movement in the West today outside of political Islam. The categories of contemporary progressive-left racism include: 1) Anti-White Racism 2) Antisemitic Anti-Zionism and 3) Humanitarian Racism While left-leaning politicos in the United States are searching for Nazis and Klansmen and White Supremacists and …

I had expected to be writing about the visit of Vice President Pence in this posting, but that visit has been delayed until mid-January because of the important vote taking place in Congress on tax reform. Envoy Jason Greenblatt is here holding meetings. None of those meetings will be with …

“Iran will become a nuclear power. The only mystery over how that will happen is whether Obama was inept or whether he deliberately sought to make the theocracy…strategic power.” – Victor Davis Hanson   In its determination to secure a nuclear deal with Iran, the Obama administration derailed an ambitious …

The year started in almost the same way it finished – with controversy surrounding an American President and Israel. In late December 2016, the United Nations Security Council passed UNSC Resolution 2334, which related to Israeli settlements in “Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.” The United States of …

My answer to a Facebook question. I only realised after that the question really wasn’t addressed to me but to intellectuals and politicians in Arab states, a status I clearly don’t hold. The information is still valid. Pity to waste the effort.

Once again, Sydney Town Hall was the scene of flags emblazoned with images of guns, chants calling for an uprising and ethnic cleansing, and hate-filled war-cries in the name of Allah. NSW state politicians, Labor’s Shaoquett Moselmane and the Greens’ Mehreen Faruqi, were among those who addressed the crowd of …

Here we are, in the midst of Chanukah celebrations, which mark miracles for the Jewish people, most significantly regarding the miracle of Jewish survival at the time of the Hasmoneans. But this holiday inspires me to think more broadly about Jewish survival. The fact that we are here, having survived …

There is precious little reason to believe that any Palestinian state established in areas evacuated by Israel would not swiftly degenerate into a mega-Gaza overlooking greater Tel Aviv. The nightmare stories of the Likud are well known. After all, they promised rockets from Gaza as well. For a year, Gaza …

New Zealand is the only Western country where a tertiary institute has awarded a degree to a work of Holocaust denial or revisionism.  Joel Hayward wrote a Master of Arts thesis at Canterbury University that concluded “the weight of evidence supported the view that the Nazis did not systematically exterminate …

A Jordanian comes along and tells Israelis that Jordan is Palestine and that all our problems will be solved when the whole world recognizes that fact. Everyone will finally get off Israel’s back, bringing to life the Garden of Eden in the New Middle East. The “only” problem is that …

Tonight we light the first candle of Chanukah, a holiday that in its essence is about the survival of Judaism at a time when Hellenization threatened tradition. Let the lights shine bright upon us, and may we hold fast to all we are meant to be. ~~~~~~~~~~ My postings will …

Newshub reported that there were “at least 50”, TVNZ said there were “hundreds”, and one of the the organising groups thought they counted 400 people protesting in Auckland. In reality, approximately 150 people gathered in Aotea Square in Auckland to protest against the United States’ acknowledgement of Jerusalem as Israel’s …

LIGHTS INSIDE & OUT. The Lubavitcher Rebbe said that the Chanukah lights fulfil a double purpose. They are a source of light within the house, and they also symbolise the duty of bringing light to the world outside. This is suggested by midrashic sources which speak of the Jewish people …

Perhaps Donald Trump gave the Arab-Israel conflict the nudge that it needs. It is fascinating to see the various objections that many pro-Israel Jews have for United States recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Some people oppose the move primarily out of disdain for Trump or because they …