Columnists

Obama pressure Israel? Bad idea

The election of a new American president is always an anxious time for the state of Israel. More than a third of the world's Jews live in the USA and, although these Jews account for a mere two per cent of the USA's total population, they tend to punch very much above their weight, being prominent in business, commerce and the professions. Last week, around three-quarters of them appear to have voted for the Democrat ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Try America’s new dream, Israel

As one marathon election campaign ends, another begins. Though something tells me the world will not be following the battle of Tzipi Livni and Bibi Netanyahu - which will rage from now until February - with anything like the obsessive interest they showed in the clash of Barack Obama and John McCain.

Denial is not a criminal matter

In its issue of October 3, the JC ran the story of the arrest, at Heathrow airport on an EU warrant issued by the German government, of a German-born Holocaust-denier, Frederick Toben. Mr Toben is actually an Australian citizen. No matter; he arrived at Heathrow from the USA, en route to Dubai. The Metropolitan Police arrested him because the German government alleges that he has persisted in posting material on the internet denying or "playing down" the Nazi Holocaust of the Jews.

How we’ll beat natural hostility

We all knew it would happen, didn't we? The question of whether it would didn't come up. We just instantly knew. So I want to ask a different question, the question "why?" And then I want to put this to you - are we all that much better?

The moment Lehmans went belly-up we knew there would be people who would blame it on the Jews. And when Congress rejected the President's bailout plan, we all just waited for the newsreaders to point out that a new plan couldn't be agreed because of Rosh Hashanah, and for the conspiracy nutters to get to work with that.

God is not the enemy of reason

It is an article of faith (except, of course, among those who actually have a faith) that the dethronement of God by the apostles of secularism has ushered in an age of reason. Belief in the Almighty is now widely held to be a priori evidence of primitive stupidity.

Why we really need the Queen

Shortly after he became Prime Minister, Gordon Brown announced that there was to be a "national conversation" on constitutional reform. This was the time (how very long ago it seems now) of the "Brown bounce", when Mr Brown actually enjoyed a modicum of national popularity. He was determined (his spin-doctors assured us) to sweep away the heavily cobwebbed constitutional niceties that the country had inherited from long ago.

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