War on campus: Gaza rocket disaster brought to UCLA

Free free Palestine. Long live the intifada. Intifada. Intifada. Thursday, November 15 witnessed these slogans ring forth from the mouths of students on the lawn in front of Kerckhoff Hall. About 30 students gathered with signs declaring “Free Palestine,” “Stop…

Israel on the backburner: is Obama too busy for the Jewish state?

This article is in response to an op-ed piece by Thomas Friedman published in the New York Times on November 10th, 2012. I would like to express my utmost respect for Mr. Friedman as a renowned journalist and state that…

Eco-pollution: Israel’s silent threat

Israel is advertised as one of the most environmentally conscious countries in the world. Perhaps most well known is the Israeli irrigation drip system, which involves a hose that slowly drips water directly to the root of the plant, strategically…

Deflection of political criticism leads to unfriendly international neighborhoods

Many of Israel’s ardent defenders would sooner point to injustices taking place in other Middle Eastern countries than entertain the idea of having a discussion about what the Jewish State is doing right and what it is doing wrong. Israel…

Israel and apartheid: a lesson in the risks of media bias

For Israel, a country trapped under the brutally judgmental microscope of global scrutiny, public image is everything. A recent poll published on October 23, 2012 by Haaretz (a leading Israeli news source), and its accompanying piece by Israeli journalist Gideon…

Blurring democracy: the Orthodox vision of respecting women

It was my first time at the Western Wall. It should have been a beautiful and emotional moment, one that allowed me to connect to the history of the Jewish people. And yet, something irked me. Perhaps it was the…

Ultra-Orthodox Jews, unemployment rates, and the Israeli economy

As Americans and inevitable participants in this country’s financial infrastructure, we are all acutely aware of the unforgiving crisis engulfing the economy of the United States and spreading to the rest of the world. In the wake of the ailing…

Answering the call: Jerusalem Online U as a supplementary education for college students and beyond

The Problem: anti-Semitism on American university campuses In order to make life a little simpler and to make sense of a chaotic world, humans subconsciously overlook pressing problems, preventing themselves from seeing the harsh reality in front of them and…

Check out our Winter 2012 issue on Issuu!

  >>Ha’Am Winter 2012: Difficult Questions<<  

Israel in the Media – Two Brief Reviews

Stepping into the fray of a debate about the Middle East is always a nerve-racking experience. Tensions run high, and well-meant words can easily be misconstrued. Despite this, I would like to pass comment on two articles relating to Israel…