In the American mid-term elections that took place on Nov. 6, three Democratic candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives who have been highly critical of Israel won in their reliably blue districts. Because they comprise only a tiny minority (just three out of 535 Members of Congress), the pro-Israel community isn’t very concerned. But…
I have often argued that the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is anti-Semitic in effect if not always in intent. After all, in the view of most BDS leaders, the Jewish people have no right of national self-determination. For them, all of pre-1967 Israel is occupied Palestinian territory, and the Jews are foreign colonialists….
Shortly after serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, my father (z”l) received a job offer from a chemical manufacturer in Pennsylvania only to have the offer rescinded when the firm discovered he was Jewish. He ended up making a living as a bookkeeper in his native Portland, where, until the 1970s, there…
PHOTO: Bob Horenstein, third from right, was part of a JCPA mission to Israel that visited the Ziv Medical Center in Safed. The hospital has treated more than 700 injured Syrians smuggled from Syria into Israel by the IDF. It’s widely known that Israel is often singled out for criticism and held to an…
Over the past several years, there has been a rising hostility toward Jewish students amid increasingly aggressive anti-Israel campaigns on many American college campuses. Finally, one public university system has done something about it. In late March, the University of California’s Board of Regents adopted a statement declaring that anti-Semitism, including what it called “anti-Semitic…
This past October, anti-Semitism reared its ugly head in my hometown. First, the Portland Human Rights Commission, an independent body appointed by the city council, endorsed a petition from the local Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions coalition calling on the city government to divest from four U.S. companies “due to their serious human rights violations in…
Editor’s Note: The U.S. Congress failed to block the agreement on the Iranian nuclear deal. The divisive rhetoric from both sides is likely to leave a feeling of acrimony between those with differing views in the Jewish community, which is why we are running this piece now. This piece originally appeared in the Jerusalem Report…
(Originally published in the Jerusalem Report Magazine) Most American Jews are well aware of the alarming upsurge in European anti-Semitism. In fact, Jewish advocacy organizations on this side of the Atlantic have become quite vocal in demanding that European governments combat this spreading scourge. Ironically, when it comes to the rise in anti-Semitism in our…
EDITOR’S NOTE: In light of the serious situation in Israel as we were preparing this issue of Oregon Jewish Life, the following Guest Editorial replaces the Letter from the Editor this month. Bob Horenstein is the community relations director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. As most of us sleep soundly in our beds…
