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This post borrows from a longer feature in Fathom, the British online journal: “Democratic Socialism, Israel and the Jews: An Interview with Michael Harrington (1975), with new preface by Mitchell Cohen (2020).”  Most of what follows is from the newly-written preface: Michael Harrington [1928-1989] was America’s most eloquent voice for democratic socialism for decades.  . […]

Over 25 years ago, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin complained about the anemic support of AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) for his government’s efforts at peace, prompting the launch of a more dovish organization within the pro-Israel American-Jewish community, the Israel Policy Forum.  But AIPAC’s rightward trajectory has continued.  One of our colleagues, David […]

On Feb. 11, Yossi Beilin spoke at New York University’s Taub Center for Israel Studies where he has an appointment for this semester.  A member of both the Rabin and Barak governments, he was a leading actor in the Oslo Peace Process and later headed the Meretz party.  He relates a compelling story of how […]

Most Jews engaged with their heritage are aware that Theodor Herzl was the founder of Zionism as an organized international movement.  Sadly, most are unaware that the World Zionist Congress that Herzl convened in Basel, Switzerland in 1897, still functions and holds elections approximately every five years.  The Congress determines the policy directions and funding […]

A number of Third Narrative colleagues were eager to discuss Sen. Bernie Sanders’ article in Jewish Currents magazine, “How to Fight Antisemitism.”  Steven Lubet has blogged twice on Sanders’ essay, beginning with praise for Sanders lauding (in the Senator’s words) “the enormous achievement of establishing a democratic homeland for the Jewish people after centuries of […]

On Sunday, November 3rd, the Manhattan JCC commemorated the 24th anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination (Nov. 4, 1995) with a public event featuring  Yossi Klein Halevi, an American-Israeli writer.  Yossi Klein (as he was known when growing up in the US) began his activism in New York as a teenaged disciple of rightwing […]

With a virtual tie between Likud and Blue-White, an interesting question is whether Netanyahu must go.  Given his olympic abilities as a survivor, one hesitates to completely rule him out, but it seems unlikely that he can still emerge as prime minister.  Among other open questions: Would he remain Likud leader without being prime minister?  And […]