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Michael Sussman

Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie (left) at Dubai’s Crossroads of Civilizations Museum, Dec. 6, 2020. Credit: Mustafa Fardan.

Holocaust remembrance in a Muslim country

The main theme of Holocaust Remembrance Day is “Never Again.” In Dubai’s ceremony, a new dimension was added.

Michael Sussman

April 18, 2021

The Arabian Nights Bedouin Village in the United Arab Emirates, the site of a Passover seder with Israeli Ambassador to the UAE Eitan Na'eh and Canadian Ambassador to the UAE Marcy Grossman. Photo courtesy of Michael Sussman.

The most unlikely Passover seder

Why was this night different? This was the first time an Israeli ambassador had told the story of the exodus from Egypt in the UAE.

Michael Sussman

March 31, 2021

Candles, challah and a Kiddish cup for Shabbat. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

My multicultural Shabbat in a Muslim-Arab country

Dubai was so unexpectedly open that I felt safer wearing my “kippah” there than even on the streets of New York, Toronto and London.

Michael Sussman

December 23, 2020

The European Parliament. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Europe’s Jewish malaise

In the realpolitik of the 21st century, Europe will have to decide whether its discomfort with Jews outweighs its professed values.

Michael Sussman

October 21, 2020

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone with U.S. President Donald Trump and UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Aug. 13, 2020. Credit: Kobi Gideon/GPO.

The cultural genius of the Abraham Accords

To restore and maintain “mu-wazana,” (“balance”), the rest of the Gulf States—and other Arab countries—will wish to follow Abu Dhabi’s lead.

Michael Sussman

September 13, 2020

An effigy of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Aug. 8, 2020. Source: Twitter.

Putting Hezbollah ‘out of business’

What’s clear from Israel’s experience in Lebanon in the 1980s, and that of America in Iraq and Afghanistan, is that trying to overthrow regimes and install replacement governments has not delivered desired results.

Michael Sussman

September 3, 2020

A coronavirus patient prays in the coronavirus unit at Maayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak, Israel, on April 27, 2020. Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90.

Judaism’s triumph over coronavirus

Just as it has the Holocaust, pogroms, the expulsion of the Jews in 132 C.E. and the ancient Greek wars, Judaism will survive the coronavirus pandemic.

Michael Sussman

April 27, 2020