israel

Israel Beats American Labor Organizer Chris Smalls (and Only Chris Smalls) in Latest Attempt to Keep Starving Gaza

Mary Rambaran-Olm — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 03:46:19 EDT

Christian Smalls, a Black labor organizer who took on Amazon and won, just risked his life trying to bring aid to Gaza. He was not met with headlines but with fists. https://youtu.be/cS9ppIkPJJI Smalls joined the Freedom Flotilla on the Handala…

For Many Christian Zionists, Israeli Protesters are a Threat to God's Plan

Aidan Orly — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 12:50:45 EDT

Since Prime Minister Netanyahu and his far-right coalition have sought to curtail the powers of the Israeli judiciary, effectively seizing power in perpetuity , Israeli society has erupted into some of the largest sustained protests in its history. The world…

In Israel, Left and Right Join to Protest New Government Threat to Democracy — What's Striking is What's Missing

Shaul Magid — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 02:51:43 EST

A week after elections that produced the most far-right government in Israel’s history, the protests began — protests that increased exponentially in numerous cities and towns. In some way, it seemed, those in mourning had woken up as if rising…

Why Did an Antisemitic Christian Zionist Have the Chutzpah to Declare That He'd Be Leading a Holocaust March?

Ben Lorber, Aidan Orly — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 05:35:26 EDT

This week, Jews in Israel and around the world will commemorate Yom HaShoah, a Holocaust Remembrance Day that marks a somber time for remembrance and reflection. On Thursday, thousands of Israeli and diaspora Jews and supporters will walk silently from…

Chicago Synagogue Excoriated For Shift From ‘Non’ to ‘Anti’ Zionism — Maybe the Problem isn't the 'Anti' But the 'Zionism'

Shaul Magid — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 12:05:20 EDT

Progressive synagogue Tzedek Chicago, founded in 2015 and led by Rabbi Brant Rosen, recently made an announcement that elicited strong reactions in much of the Jewish press and beyond. Opting to change their identity from “non-Zionist” to “anti-Zionist,” they released…

Rather Than Attack Amnesty For Labeling Israel an Apartheid State Critics Could Address the Actual Problems

Joshua Shanes — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 04:56:37 EST

Amnesty International has just released a new, comprehensive report on the situation in Israel/Palestine. Like earlier reports from Human Rights Watch, Yesh Din, and B’Tselem—leading human rights groups documenting Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians along with Palestinian organizations like Al-Haq…

Is Zionism No Longer Able to Offer Solutions to the Present Reality?

Shaul Magid — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 01:56:29 EST

“Zionists just want to be happy.” - Hermann Cohen I do not think it’s provocative to state that liberal Zionism is in crisis . By that I mean that the present iteration of liberal Zionism as a humanistic project of…

In a New Manifesto Framing 'Wokeness' as Religion John McWhorter Sounds Like Moses Condemning Israel for Worshipping Golden Calf of Black Power

A. E. Brooks-Key — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 02:51:16 EDT

As American society remains embroiled in an endless shouting match over cancel culture and canceling cancel culture, Columbia professor of linguistics and American Studies John McWhorter has entered the debate with his latest offering, Woke Racism: How A New Religion…

Another Manufactured Outrage: Rep. Ilhan Omar Did Nothing Wrong in Listing Hamas, Israel, and U.S. Together

Joshua Shanes — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 04:24:23 EDT

Last week, Representative Ilhan Omar asked Secretary of State Tony Blinken a straightforward question. It was prompted by recent cases brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC) alleging war crimes, or crimes against humanity, by both Israel and Hamas in…

Unquestioned Support for Israel Wasn't Always the Way for Conservative Christians

Amy Fallas — Wed, 26 May 2021 04:01:31 EDT

As civilians in southern Lebanon fled an impending Israeli ground offensive, over three thousand Christian advocates converged in Washington D.C. to demand U.S. support for Israel. This was the summer of 2006. Israel’s invasion of Lebanon had entered its second…

Are We Seeing the End of the ‘Good Arabs’ in Israel?

Shaul Magid — Tue, 18 May 2021 11:57:23 EDT

For anyone who follows the conflict in Israel/Palestine, the latest conflagration seems all too familiar. Tensions rise in the West Bank, in this case around the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem where the government is considering evicting Arab residents…

Battle of Antisemitism Definitions is Actually a Proxy War For Criticism of Israel

Joshua Shanes — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 02:28:50 EDT

Last month, a global consortium of leading scholars released the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA), the product of a year-long labor to produce a new working definition of antisemitism that builds upon the widely-cited, but nearly as widely critiqued and…

Taking Evangelical Support of Israel at Face Value Is a Terrible Idea: A Response

Chrissy Stroop — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 01:18:32 EDT

Writing under a pseudonym in the Forward, a Christian lawyer dismissed the apocalyptic component of Christian Zionism urging readers to take evangelicals’ love for Jews at face value. But Chrissy Stroop, who was raised in fundamentalism, calls this gaslighting.

The Conflation of Antisemitism and Israel Criticism Isn't Unique, But It Is a Problem

Elizabeth Shively — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 04:06:02 EDT

Our focus should be on the capture of the debate over U.S.-Israeli relations by a dominant narrative in which a single set of authorities (both political and religious) claims exclusive access to a rich and fluid set of political and religious traditions.

The Women’s March, Anti-Semitism, and 'The Jewish Farrakhan'

Shaul Magid — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 05:01:44 EST

Once again, the Women’s March has been derailed due to the national leadership’s connections to Louis Farrakhan. But Jews have had their own Farrakhans. And many Jews certainly have not treated them, related to them, or engaged with them as they expect American Muslims and African Americans to now treat Farrakhan.

2017 Around the World: Progress and Persecution For LGBT People

Peter Montgomery — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 12:38:20 EST

Journalist Masha Gessen dubbed 2017 “the year Russian LGBT persecution defied belief.” Pink News called 2017 “ the year of the homophobic purge” featuring “brutal crackdowns across the world.” The Daily Xtra’s year-end recap focused more on the good news…

Religious Conservatives Mobilize Internationally Against Spanish Nondiscrimination Bill; And More in Global LGBT Recap

Peter Montgomery — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 11:44:18 EDT

“Anti-Gender Campaigns in Europe: Mobilizing Against Equality,” edited by Roman Kuhar, associate professor at the University of Ljubljana, and David Paternotte, lecturer at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, has been published by Rowman & Littlefield International. From the publisher’s description…

Catholic Cardinal Slams Jesuit's Bridge-Building Book; and More in Global LGBT Recap

Peter Montgomery — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 11:26:44 EDT

Reports from several international LGBT gatherings: The Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa (IDNOWA), founded in 2016, reported on its August gathering in Accra, Ghana, which drew more than 30 delegates from 10 countries, for interfaith worship and conversations about…

Kuwait "Morals Committee" Announced Deportation of 76 Gay Men; and More in Global LGBT Recap

Peter Montgomery — Tue, 08 Aug 2017 12:45:26 EDT

Brian Brown, president of the International Organization for the Family, the parent organization to the World Congress of Families, bragged in a fundraising email about the organization working with the government of Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban and praising the campaign…

Catholic Archbishop Takes On Jesuit Magazine's Slam on "Ecumenism of Hate"; and More in Global LGBT Recap

Peter Montgomery — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 08:05:04 EDT

Earlier this month, the Jesuit magazine La Civilta Cattolica published an article on the political alliance between conservative evangelicals and Catholics in the U.S., calling it an “ecumenism of hate.” From the Jesuit-run America magazine: U.S. politics have become increasingly…

Turkish Police Move Against Activists Who Defied Pride Ban; And More in Global LGBT Recap

Peter Montgomery — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 12:50:22 EDT

The anti-equality World Congress of Families will hold its fourth Caribbean regional summit on June 29 and 30 in St. John’s Antigua, with speakers from US Religious Right groups Focus on the Family and Family Watch International joining Caribbean-based leaders…

Scottish Episcopal Church Angers Conservative Anglicans With Embrace of Same-Sex Marriage; and more in Global LGBT Recap

Peter Montgomery — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 12:32:18 EDT

The Global Interfaith Network on Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression has published an e-book, “ Behold, I make all things new: What do the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam really say in regard to human sexuality?”…

Pride Month & Prejudice; 'Worrisome Time' For LGBT People; Global LGBT Recap

Peter Montgomery — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 11:56:51 EDT

LGBT communities in many parts of the world celebrate Pride month in June. The U.S. State Department told embassies and consulates that they may recognize local celebrations. The Associated Press’s David Crary kicked off the month with a June 1…

Can Eurovision's Rainbow Arch Undermine Ukraine's Orthodox Value System? This and More in Global LGBT Recap

Peter Montgomery — Mon, 15 May 2017 01:00:21 EDT

Wednesday, May 17 will be commemorated around the world as International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Ukraine: Eurovision sparks conflict With Orthodox Church over rainbow arch AFP’s Olga Shylenko wrote about the contradictions around this year’s Eurovision being held in…

'Don’t Call Me Black No More, I’m an Israelite': Kendrick Lamar, Black Hebrew Religion, and Black Suffering

A. E. Brooks-Key — Wed, 10 May 2017 05:22:06 EDT

Kendrick Lamar’s fourth album, Damn, (stylized “DAMN”) has been number one on the Billboard charts for the past three three weeks. The first track, “HUMBLE,” caused an immediate stir, with verses praising stretch marks and natural beauty. But it’s the…