human-rights
Let This Be Obama’s JFK Moment
February 26, 2011
As pro-democracy demonstrators, autocratic rulers, and hard-line Islamist forces jockey for position across the Middle East, the region is up for grabs. No one knows how things will look when the dust settles. President Obama has a...
A New Middle East?
February 12, 2011
A wise man once told me, “People get the government they deserve.” At the time, I thought this assessment was overly harsh. After all, what can unarmed civilians do when they are under the control of a dictator? I still believe...
Rutgers Students Rise Up To Protest Anti-Zionist Program
February 5, 2011
Hundreds of students and community members assembled on Saturday at Rutgers University to protest an event sponsored by two non-campus groups that invoked the memory of the Holocaust to criticize Israeli policy towards...
Israel and Jews Worldwide Should Support an Independent South Sudan
February 5, 2011
This week all eyes are on Egypt. It is uncertain who will succeed President Hosni Mubarak and what kind of government will be in power. But we should not miss other important developments. In a world where so few can truly be considered...
Who Knows What Will Happen in the Middle East? Omar Sharif Knows as Much as the Pundits Do
February 3, 2011
What the H&^% is going to happen to the middle east? Darned if this middle east commentator knows. I’ve avoided writing about the uprising in Egypt as long as I possibly could because this one’s got me stumped. I have...
Tunisians Overthrow Dictator; World Watches and Waits
January 23, 2011
Last week’s street demonstrations and overthrow of Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali were fascinating and inspiring to behold.
As a believer in democracy who cheers people everywhere who show the courage to demonstrate –...
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Jews
January 16, 2011
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday is commemorated today, Monday January 17. Of course, Dr. King is first and foremost a hero because of his great work on behalf of African-Americans, for, and with, whom he won the human rights...
Mental Illness, Not Politics, Was Likely Cause of Loughner’s Rampage
January 16, 2011
It is becoming increasingly clear that the killing spree of Jared Loughner, who claimed the lives of six and injured 14, including beloved Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was not fueled by political ideology; rather, it was the...
“Democracy … as Good as Christina Imagined It”
January 13, 2011
In his speech to the nation last night memorializing the victims of last Sunday’s massacre in Arizona, President Obama did something that may turn out to be epic.
He is a silver-tongued orator. But it was only yesterday evening that...
Racial Component of Conflict in Sudan: “To Them, a Black Person … is an ‘Abid,’ which is a Slave”; Boston Jewish Columnist on the Ground to Free Slaves
January 10, 2011
Fighting in Southern Sudan’s disputed Abyei region claimed the lives of more than 30 people over the weekend, but voting that will allow the country’s Southerners – mostly Christians and animists, or practitioners of native...