[USC] Who are the people of Israel?
Immigration Issues / Israel / Jewish / USC Annenberg School Projects

[USC] Who are the people of Israel?

Mainstream media consumers often think of this tiny country’s population in terms of two factors: Jewish and non-Jewish — which often means Arab. Yet the reality is much more complex. Modern-day Israelis have emigrated from or descend from roughly 25 countries in substantial numbers, with Russia representing the largest migration, and Syria the smallest. And … Continue reading

[USC] Press Freedom for Israel?
COUNTRIES & CULTURES / Israel / Jewish / JOURNALISM / USC Annenberg School Projects

[USC] Press Freedom for Israel?

When I wrote this essay for a USC journalism class in October, there was no obvious sign that tensions between Israel and Palestine would soon flare up in the Gaza Strip once again. But then in mid-November Palestinians began lobbing rockets over the border. A decades-old conflict over territory and homeland picked up where it had last left off. Israel responded with air raids, and casualties resulted on both sides. U.S. media pounced on the story, filling front pages, radio reports, and TV shows. No doubt coverage in Israel and the Middle East was just as robust. But was it free of government influence and other constraints? Israel treats press freedom differently from the U.S., as my paper aims to explain. Times of war are especially sensitive. Israel and Palestine may have agreed on a cease-fire, but Israel’s political situation is still unstable. Israeli citizens — and the world — will need an active press to keep us informed about what is happening, and what we might expect next. Continue reading

[Blog] Summer Reading: China, North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Cuba and New York City
BOOKS & LITERATURE / Chinese / Cuban / Jewish / North Korean / Russian

[Blog] Summer Reading: China, North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Cuba and New York City

We’re nearing the end of those “lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer,” as Nat King Cole put it in his 1963 pop hit. The days have been especially lazy, crazy and hazy for those of us who just graduated college. Plenty of time for reading! No syllabus necessary. My picks have taken me to the … Continue reading

Jewish / LA Times

[LA Times] Echoing voices of a sorrowful past

L.A. Opera camp youths will perform ‘Brundibar,’ a Holocaust-era work. This month at Opera Camp, a program of L.A. Opera, children from 9 to 17 will sing, dance and make new friends. They will also learn about a vastly different camp — the Nazi concentration camp at Terezin, Czechoslovakia, that interned 15,000 children from 1941-45. … Continue reading

BOOKS & LITERATURE / Jewish / LA Times

[LA Times] In the shadows of a world torn apart by war

For Alan Furst, writing about European history in the 1930s and 1940s is like exploring “a room with a thousand corners.” His latest World War II book, “Spies of the Balkans,” is his 11th in a series of espionage novels set in Europe after Hitler’s ascent to power and seeks out yet another corner of the conflict… Continue reading