Israel should consider changing its electoral system
Since 1948, Israel has had 32 governments. Only three have completed the full four-year term in office. With this in mind, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition of 61 Knesset members will most likely collapse sooner rather than later. Just months after a contentious campaign, new elections could very well be on the horizon.
Perhaps 2017 will be an auspicious year
In 2017, we’ll observe two important milestones: the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration – the constitutive document in which the British foreign secretary informed Lord Rothschild that “His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish People” – and 50 years since Israel liberated/occupied Judea and Samaria/the West Bank in 1967’s Six Day War.
Israel’s Jewish and democratic ideals are in harmony
A new front in the relentless attacks on Israel is the attack on Israel’s democracy. The argument is perverse. Democracy remains MIA – missing in action – throughout the Arab world. Palestinians in Gaza suffer under a Hamas dictatorship. Palestinians in the West Bank endure an authoritarian regime with a president serving the 10th year of his four-year term.
COVER STORY: A Shavuot renaissance
Israelis celebrate Shavuot more than any other Jewish community in the world. On Erev Shavuot, religious, secular and traditional Jews from all over the country will join in the tens of thousands to study in various and incredibly diverse programs of Tikkun Leil Shavuot. What was once the inheritance of primarily the Orthodox has now become the inheritance of many.
Why is the Green Line not on our schools’ maps?
I always enjoy seeing my kids bring home assignments from Hebrew school, and last week was no exception. On a map of Israel were labelled five major cities whose names the students had to write in Hebrew. I delighted in reminding my son that we have relatives or friends in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa, and near Be’er Sheva. There was only one problem with the map, I noticed. There was no Green Line. So to the untrained eye, it looked like Israel’s borders span from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.
Why Netanyahu’s victory should please Canadian Jews
Benjamin Netanyahu’s stunning re-election victory in last month’s Israeli elections was the best result that all western nations, including Canada, could have hoped for.
Sure, there are some obvious reasons why I make this statement.
Why Netanyahu’s victory should please Canadian Jews
Benjamin Netanyahu’s stunning re-election victory in last month’s Israeli elections was the best result that all western nations, including Canada, could have hoped for.
Sure, there are some obvious reasons why I make this statement.
COMMENT: An open letter to the organizers of IAW
MONTREAL — As anyone who goes to college knows, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) in Canada, March 9 to 14, was especially marked by screaming, protests and boiled passions this year. And yet, I can't help but feel how totally and utterly useless IAW has become. So to those who organize Israeli Apartheid Week, let’s get some things straight.
McGill undergraduates defeat BDS motion – again
MONTREAL — The McGill University undergraduates’ association defeated a motion that urged the university to divest from companies “profiting from the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories” by a vote of 276 to 212, with nine abstentions.
The secret ballot was held at the winter semester General Assembly of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) on March 15.
The motion was put forward by the student club Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR).
Anti-Israel motion to be considered by McGill students
MONTREAL — An anti-Israel motion has once again been put on the agenda of the McGill University undergraduates’ association.
The motion, put forward by the student club Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) and calling for McGill’s divestment from companies “profiting from the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories,” is scheduled to be voted upon at the general assembly of the Students Society of McGill University (SSMU) on March 15.
