Germany and Its Military
I tried to get out of military service, I really did. When I was called up for inspection in 2010, it was easier than ever to evade the draft. They just didn’t seem to care anymore.(...)
Three Decades of Satanic Verses
Even after 30 years, Salman Rushdie will forever be associated with the fatwa against him. The Satanic Verses still divides opinion today, but what more can be said about the controversy?(...)
France Sending Mixed Signals
He is the perfect straw man. For anyone looking to discredit the gilets jaunes, Victor Alfonso Lenta is their man.(...)
A Progressive Jewish View of the EU
“Israel is outraged over the legislation against it in the Dail which is indicative of hypocrisy and anti-Semitism.” That was the statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the lower house of the Irish parliament advanced a bill in late January that would make it illegal for anyone in Ireland to buy goods or services from Israel’s settlements in the West Bank.(...)
Brussels, Brexit and Bannon
Bogeymen are everywhere — from illiberal presidents to government assassins to new-look fascists. No longer lurking in the shadows, or hiding under our beds, they’re out in the open, operating in plain sight.(...)
Everyone Owns the Shoah
I hate commemorating the Holocaust. Born to WWII generation Israeli-American parents in 1967, the Shoah, as we call it in Hebrew, has always been the cornerstone around which we defined our Jewishness and our politics.(...)
Travelling Through History
The passengers were black. The conductor was black. Everyone was speaking fluent English. Accented, that is. They must be from Liberia or Ghana, I reckoned.(...)
National Pride, Not Genocide
Populism is the political order of the day, both in Europe and, with a somewhat different texture and topography, in the United States. At the same time, the heritage of the Holocaust, as a defining event and an ethically foundational moment in European history seems to be in decline, even where it is not under direct attack.(...)
Multicultural Italy
From Palermo to Turin, to outsiders, Italy resembles a typically multicultural, globalised nation-state. Difficulty in understanding that has more to do with politics than it does with actually existing Italy.(...)
Matteo Salvini and the Italian Right
It had been his worst week in office. The press had started eating him alive. His coalition was showing signs of stress. And opposition was starting to coalesce around his refugee policy.(...)