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My article, “HOW TO COUNTER WHITE SUPREMACISTS ENERGIZED BY TRUMP,” was published in the LA Jewish Journal, August 17, 2017: The smartest graffito I ever saw proclaimed “If I didn’t believe it with my own mind, I never would have seen it.” The converse works too: deep beliefs blind people to the obvious. Maybe that […]

A surprise to me about the outrageous case of Otto Warmbier’s murder by the North Korean regime is that the 22 year-old college student was Jewish, and proudly so.  The organized Jewish community was likely surprised as well.  We do not know if North Korea knew he was Jewish, nor if he was victimized specifically […]

The following article, “Answer on Campus: Liberal Zionist Education,” was originally published in the Atlanta Jewish Times: In “Offense Not Defense” (Oct. 6), the Center for Israel Education’s Rich Walter thoughtfully explores the role of memory in Jewish tradition and challenges the way the community develops programs as aggressive and defensive forms of Israel advocacy […]

Scholars and activists of The Third Narrative email list have recently discovered that the leadership speaking in the name of “The Movement for Black Lives” has issued a Platform that includes an embrace of BDS and a one-sided pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli perspective.   While legitimately expressing concern for the fate of Palestinians living under occupation, it unreasonably […]

This commentary is inspired by “When Your Enemy’s Enemy is Your Enemy,” an article written by the liberal American-Israeli journalist, Gershom Gorenberg, for his usual venue, The American Prospect (March 11, 2016). While his piece does not directly address BDS, it analyzes the anti-Western/anti-Imperialist ideology that often accompanies support for BDS. The summary sentence beneath the title reads: “A defense of Hezbollah […]

The author, Cooper Boyar (pictured in Habonim-Dror shirt at a J Street conference) is a junior at Brandeis, where he is president of the J Street U chapter and a new member of the Ameinu TTN committee.  The following article, “Federations Have a Choice to Make: Will They Side With the Israeli Government or Students Fighting BDS?” […]

As hot as things have become in Israel and the West Bank over the last several weeks with escalating violence, here in North America a chill is palpable. It comes in the form of silencing within and across communities – in private homes, on university campuses and in community institutions. It’s coming from both sides: […]