America is a melting pot of cultures, and it is undeniable that the distinctions setting apart each culture are slowly deteriorating. According to the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, Jews make up approximately 10% of the UCLA population. Surrounded by…
Morsi, Obama and Bibi: which of these is not like the others?
Please Note: The individual opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Ha’Am Newsmagazine as a whole. An exciting trifecta of recent events: the American presidential inauguration was a few weeks ago, Israeli elections just…
Hussein Ibish offers post-election analysis of Israeli-Palestinian stalemate at UCLA
This past Thursday afternoon, Professor David Myers — chair of UCLA’s Department of History and scholar of modern Jewish intellectual history — hosted an informal discussion with Dr. Hussein Ibish, bringing together a diverse group of graduate and undergraduate students…
Is new Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel anti-Israel?
By now, thousands of articles have been written about newly-nominated Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. Many of them thrust one of two extremes at the reader: either that Chuck Hagel is a rabid anti-Semite and Israel-hater, or that Chuck Hagel is…
Kosher Korner: Banana Split
Early one Saturday morning, during the summer before my bubbe started fourth grade, her father woke her up to attend a sit-in at the lunch counter at the local Woolworth’s Department store. They were supporting the students participating in the…
The Jewish Museum in Munich: an attempt to reconcile identities in conflict
Munich. For many Jews, the first name associations may be the 1972 Olympics, or the destruction of the main synagogue during Kristallnacht, or the concentration camp Dachau. However, a city that once was a hotbed for anti-Semitic activity is now…
When Americans cannot compete, we all lose
Home to the second largest Jewish community, with some 5.2 million Jews, the United States’ political climate is undermining the ability of its citizens to trust their government. Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate in economics, opined in his blog Economics and…
Breed Street Shul: an attempt to unify the old and new, Jewish and Latino
Los Angeles represents a cross-section of cultures, an amalgamation of different peoples populating and repopulating the same expanse of land. But what happens when one group moves on, leaving behind only the structural remnants of the rich life it led?…
LA 2013 mayoral candidates Garcetti, Greuel, James, Perry, and Pleitez are off and talking
Playing to their audience, they cracked Jewish jokes, made Jewish references, and emphasized connections to Israel and Judaism. The mayoral candidates for Los Angeles’ March 2013 election who were invited to speak at the January 3rd “debate” at Beth Jacob…