jns writer

Rafael Medoff

column
Rafael MedoffMarch 26, 2018
Ben-Gurion and Bolton vs. the United Nations
American Jewish organizations had high hopes for the United Nations and actively promoted its establishment. Yet it wasn’t long before its limitations and biases began to emerge.
news
Why did anti-BDS bill fail in Massachusetts when it succeeded in other states?
Rafael MedoffMarch 21, 2018
The executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, which helped draft and promote the measure, conceded that “there were just too many obstacles to overcome.”
The Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill in Boston. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
column
Rafael MedoffMarch 16, 2018
Professor David S. Wyman, 89, a historian with heart
How one man changed the way we think about America’s response to genocide.
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Jewish groups weigh in on Pompeo for secretary of state
Rafael MedoffMarch 15, 2018
Contrasting Mike Pompeo with Rex Tillerson, who reportedly opposed U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, confirmed on April 26, 2018. Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr.
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Challenging Palestinian universities over students who honor a terrorist
Rafael MedoffMarch 5, 2018
The American Victims of Palestinian Terrorism organization is urging U.S. universities with relationships to Palestinian schools to cut ties with a group that honors Palestinian terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who perpetrated the 1978 Coastal Road massacre that killed 38 Israelis.
Palestinians hold posters showing Dalal Mughrabi, a terrorist involved in an infamous 1978 attack in which 35 Israelis were killed. Photo by Issam Rimawi/Flash 90.
news
Florida shooting exposes need for stricter gun control, say Jewish groups
Rafael MedoffFebruary 21, 2018
American Jewish groups are calling for stricter gun control measures following last week's deadly school shooting in South Florida.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. (2008) Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
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Should Rep. Ellison step down?
Jewish groups urge resignation of Rep. Keith Ellison over ties to Louis Farrakhan
Rafael MedoffFebruary 16, 2018
Major Jewish groups, including the leading organization representing Jewish Democrats, are strongly criticizing Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) over his previously undisclosed contacts with Rev. Louis Farrakhan, head of the anti-Semitic political and religious movement Nation of Islam.
Rep. Keith Ellison speaks at a Hillary Clinton campaign event at the University of Minnesota in October 2016. Credit: Lorie Shaull via Wikimedia Commons.
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Despite reward for fugitive Palestinian terrorist, U.S. and Jordan remain slow to act
Rafael MedoffFebruary 8, 2018
Relatives of the terrorist’s victims are expressing disappointment and anger at what they call a half-hearted U.S. effort in this and similar cases.
An FBI "Most Wanted Terrorist" poster for Palestinian terrorist Ahlam Ahmad al-Tamimi, one of the masterminds of the Aug. 9, 2001 bombing of the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem. Credit: FBI.
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As Democrats’ support for Israel drops, political scientists debate the causes
Rafael MedoffJanuary 25, 2018
A new poll has revealed a continued erosion of support for Israel among rank-and-file Democrats. The question political scientists are debating is: Why?
On Nov. 10, 2016, two days after the U.S. presidential election, President Barack Obama (left) meets with then President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Credit: White House/Pete Souza.
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Longtime Jewish supporters of peace process: Abbas disqualified as negotiating partner
Rafael MedoffJanuary 19, 2018
Some prominent Jewish proponents of the decades-long peace process between Israelis and Palestinians now claim that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s controversial speech on Jan. 14 disqualifies him as a negotiating partner, while other dovish Jewish leaders are accusing the Trump administration of provoking the Palestinian leader.
Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting of the Palestinian Central Council in Ramallah, Jan. 14, 2018. Photo by Flash90.
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Major Jewish organizations back Israel’s BDS entry ban, barred group calls it ‘bullying’
Rafael MedoffJanuary 17, 2018
Leaders of several major American Jewish organizations told JNS they support the Israeli government’s decision to prevent the entry of foreign citizens who promote boycotts of Israel.
Protesters compare U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall to Israel's West Bank security fence at a Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) demonstration in New York City last September. Credit: JVP via Facebook.
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Reform movement retreating from opposition to Trump’s Jerusalem decision
Rafael MedoffJanuary 8, 2018
The Reform movement has started to retreat from its opposition to the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Union for Reform Judaism president Rabbi Rick Jacobs speaks at the organization's biennial convention in Boston in December 2017. Credit: URJ via Facebook.
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Major Jewish groups back Trump on cutting Palestinian aid, left-of-center voices disagree
Rafael MedoffJanuary 8, 2018
Many major Jewish groups are expressing support for the idea of reducing U.S. aid to the Palestinians after President Donald Trump mentioned the possibility of a cut.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 3, 2017. Credit: Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead.
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Jewish leaders laud Trump doctrine’s affirmation that Israel not root of Mideast turmoil
Rafael MedoffDecember 24, 2017
Jewish leaders are applauding the Trump administration’s newly released global strategy doctrine, which rejects the notion that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the main cause of Mideast turmoil.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem on May 23, 2017. Credit: U.S. Embassy in Israel.
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Scorned by Obama, Israel forges beneficial ties with Russia and others, expert says
Rafael MedoffDecember 16, 2017
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) visits an armory museum in the Russian capital of Moscow June 8, 2016. The museum housed an Israeli tank captured by the Syrian army during the First Lebanon War's battle of Sultan Yacoub, but following a request by Netanyahu, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to return the tank to Israel. Credit: Haim Zach/GPO.
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