The protests following the beheading of Samuel Paty are France’s Swan Song. Paty, a schoolteacher, was murdered for showing cartoons of Prophet Muhammad while teaching about free speech. According to BBC News, “Police raided some 40 homes following the attack,…
A student told me he had heard, or perhaps read, the views of serious people recently, who had expressed fear that on November 4, right after the presidential election, a second civil war will break out in America. He said…
We’re entering a new stage in our “relationship” with the coronavirus. We’re pretty much done with the denial stage and people are beginning to accept that it is here and there is nothing we can do to chase it away.…
Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Omer Yankelevich, is promoting a proposal that will obligate the Israeli government to consult representatives of World Jewry on matters relating to them before making decisions. The idea, although essentially correct, highlights the chasm separating…
American Jews used to think that antisemitism in America existed only on the fringes of the Right. But currently, you find more of it in the mainstream Left. In all likelihood, however, the Left and the Right will unite around…
In the U.S., anti-Semitism was commonly considered as emanating from the far-right, yet today, it is tilted more to the left. However, the phenomenon of anti-Semitism itself is beyond political affiliation, and in the future, I expect both sides to…
American Jews used to think that antisemitism in America existed only on the fringes of the Right. But currently, you find more of it in the mainstream Left. In all likelihood, however, the Left and the Right will unite around…
Despite all the enmity, and despite the escalating violence in America, I believe that America’s democratic values will triumph in the end. I’m aware of the surveys showing that more Americans than ever feel that it is justified to turn…
Ire and frustration have erupted into the streets of Europe. Anti-lockdown protests and raging clashes between demonstrators and the police erupted in multiple cities across Europe, including Germany and Spain, and were particularly violent and widespread in Italy. Further restrictions…
Even though hatred, polarization and unrest accumulates from one day to the next in American society, and even though riots could emerge in relation to a range of issues, I doubt that there will be civil war in response to…
We have almost arrived at what Americans call “money time.” A nail-biting election campaign to many is coming to a zenith with the US election day, when the course that the country will follow will be determined. Public health and…
Democratic countries often put the right for freedom of expression on a pedestal. But what if that right is used to spread hate; is it still permitted then? Many countries in Europe guard free speech with champions of liberal ideals,…