תיאוריה וביקורת
The Seventh Eye, העין השביעית (Israel's journalism review), January 30, 2012. Read here.
(Uncovering errors in Haaretz and the New York Times to examine how scale and perspective are lost out in translation.)
Review of God vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality by Jay Michaelson
The Gay & Lesbian Review, Vol. 19, issue 1, January-February, 2012. Read here (PDF).
אובמה הווריד את הבית הלבן (Obma pinkwashed the White House)
Havana, ההבדל בין כאן לשם, December 31, 2011. Read here.
(We may not know the LGBT community’s opinion of Obama, but we know the President’s opinion of the LGBT community.)
לתשומת לב הנוסעות האמיצות (To the attention of courageous bus passengers)
Haaretz, December 27, 2011. Read here.
(What order did Tanya Rosenblit disobey? The real lessons from the comparison with Rosa Parks is about the rule of law in Israel)
Confessions of a Pinkwasher
Gay City News, December 7, 2011. Read here.
Schulman’s article contributes to an unrelenting focus on a useless question: Is Israel more pro-gay or more anti-Palestinian?
סוכנת כפולה
ידיעות אמריקה, July 17, 2011. Read here.
(Interview with Israeli author Dorit Rabinyan.)
המנהיגים הגדולים
ידיעות אמריקה, July 4, 2011. Read here.
(Ten great Americans who contributed to our understanding of liberty and accountability; a comparison between Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Netanyahu; a translation of two clauses from the Declaration of Independence into Hebrew. )
קיבוץ ברוקלין
ידיעות אמריקה, June 30, 2011. Read here.
(The Israeli kibbutz model is executed in New York.)
שווי זכויות
ידיעות אמריקה, June 29, 2011. Read here.
(The coming out of the gays of NY through the marriage decision.)
מתחת לחופה, למען השיוויון (Under the huppah for equality)
Haaretz, June 28, 2011. Read here.
(institutions not society, as a means for establishing justice through the rule of law, as exemplified through the institution of marriage in the US and Israel)
שווה תפילה
ידיעות אמריקה, June 7, 2011. Read here.
(Review of 18 synagogues in New York.)
מלכות בברודווי
ידיעות אמריקה, May 31, 2011. Read here.
(Review of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert on Broadway.)
הסופה לקחה (כמעט) הכל
ידיעות אמריקה, May 31, 2011. Read here.
(Serving in the IDF rescue unit little prepared Omer Mani for the tornado that hit his home in Joplin, MO.)
Rabbis finally break silence on sex abuse
The Jewish Chronicle, May 26, 2011. Read here.
The portraits of the founders of psychoanalysis looked on with approval as rabbis joined mental health experts to discuss the problem of sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community.
מזל בג'רזי
ידיעות אמריקה, May 25, 2011. Read here.
(Review of Atlantic City, NJ.)
גאווה שקטה: כך עושים את זה בפינלנד
Havana, ההבדל בין כאן לשם, May 21, 2011. Read here.
(Constitutional procedure and gay rights in Finland and Israel.)
Equalizing Blacks and Gays
Gay City News, May 11, 2011. Read here.
Is the LGBT rights movement a logical next step in the civil rights struggle that African Americans pioneered in the 1950s and ‘60s?
Mechanics of Activism: what Israel can learn from the American model
Present Tense, May 11, 2011. Read here.
(Constitutional lessons on the efficacy of activism and collective decision-making.)
ליל סדר נוסח שיקאגו (Chicago-style seder)
Havana, ההבדל בין כאן לשם, May 2, 2011. Read here.
(Democracy is balanced with efficiency in procedures of the Democratic Party in Chicago.)
Brothers’ Keepers: Review of Ivan and Misha by Michael Alenyikov
Gay City News, April 18, 2011. Read here.
הקהילה מציגה: מופת של דיון ציבורי (The community demonstrates public debate)
Havana, ההבדל בין כאן לשם, April 14, 2011. Read here.
(Efficient and democratic public debate in America strengthens institutions.)
The LGBT Center's Town Hall: A Jerusalem Take
Gay City News, March 30, 2011. Read here.
Given the lack of underlying constitutional guidelines in Israel, the question of whether Israel is an apartheid state misses the point about Israeli politics.
למדו והספיקו לשכוח
העין השביעית, The Seventh Eye (Israel's journalism review), March 30, 2011. Read here.
(Errors in opinions on political economy.)
הזכות להומופוביה כמבחן חוקתי (The right to homophobia as a constitutional safeguard)
Havana, ההבדל בין כאן לשם, March 18, 2011. Read here.
(The right to racism as constitutional safeguard in America vs Israel, including a translation of the First Amendment into Hebrew.)
Mordechai Dzykansky: Interview
The Jewish Chronicle, March 10, 2011. Read here.
The rabbi’s son who cleaned up New York.
ניסויים בחוקי הנישואין (Experimenting in the laws of marriage)
Havana, ההבדל בין כאן לשם, March 3, 2011. Read here.
(Marriage and constitutional procedure in America vs Israel, including a translation of the Full Faith and Credit Clause into Hebrew.)
אובמה עדיין תומך בשלום (Obama still supports peace)
Haokets, February 27, 2011. Read here.
(The expectation that an American president should be judged according to Israeli and not American standards.)
פספוס הדדליין עלה ביוקר (Missing the deadline proved costly)
Haokets, February 16, 2011. Read here.
(On the first meeting of the Israeli constitutional assembly, the Knesset, in 1949.)
איך משפיעים? (How to impact?)
Havana, ההבדל בין כאן לשם, November 21, 2010. Read here.
(How and why activism succeeds in America but not in Israel.)
Israelis Don’t Ask. They Tell
Moment Magazine, November 1, 2010. Read here.
If you tried to enact a law like Don't Ask, Don't Tell in Israel today, you’d be laughed out of the Knesset. Whether or not they’re asked, Israelis tell.
("Worth a read"-The Washington Post)
Jewish Standard's Decision Fuels a Worthy debate
Teaneck-Patch, From Tel Aviv to Teaneck, October 25, 2010. Read here.
The Teaneck-based publication's move to apologize for printing a same-sex wedding announcement has helped advance an important debate in the Jewish community.
Provisional loyalty to a provisional state
Haaretz, October 15, 2010. Read here.
Each of us gets to decide whether to follow the rules or change them. In Hebrew we call this 'combina,' a slang word referring to the bypassing of rules or commitments.
The Challenge of a New Standard
Teaneck-Patch, From Tel Aviv to Teaneck, October 10, 2010. Read here.
Announcements—on our Facebook profile or in a newspaper—create new standards for better and worse.
Clinton's Summit About Commitments
Teaneck-Patch, From Tel Aviv to Teaneck, October 6, 2010. Read here.
(Accountability and commitment to rules in Jewish Law.)
New year all over again
Teaneck-Patch, From Tel Aviv to Teaneck, September 11, 2010. Read here.
(Rosh Hashana in Teaneck, NJ.)
The Math and Aftermath of Ground Zero
Huffington Post, September 8, 2010. Read here.
And this is where the ADL and I differ. They recommend a distance -- "the controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process" -- while I'm so naive to believe that the healing process rather requires bringing two points together.
Jones' Bonfire Lights an American Debate
Huffington Post, September 8, 2010. Read here.
This conflict -- between tolerating the intolerant action and the government's responsibility to curb its damage -- is an American dilemma... The bigot Jones shows me how American this country can be.
Bless Me, Brother, For I Have Sinned
Gay City News. September 1, 2010. Read here.
But after coming out of the closet, coming out of Plato’s Cave, we look at it from outside; in the sunlight, the colors get sharper and it is easier to make differentiations.
On Park Avenue
Alef, August 19, 2010. Read here.
At almost 90 degrees at noon with 60 percent humidity on a Thursday, one may think the main difference between Manhattan and the Promised Land is that here Jews complain about the weather in Fahrenheit.
אהבה בסטארבאקס (Love at Starbucks)
Gogay, July 26, 2010. Read here.
Cecilia and Me
Gay City News, July 21, 2010. Read here.
On a recent flight, I was fortunate enough to share a seat next to Cecilia, a charming elderly woman from Mexico City. Three hours of attempting to impress her with my five words of Spanish proved enough to transform us into intimate travel companions. No wonder, then, that as I helped Cecilia with her bags at the end of the flight, her motherly instincts got the best of her and she asked me whether I had a girlfriend.
The whys and hows of pride
Gay City News, July 8, 2010. Read here.
When being gay is normative or even cool and when the parades are endorsed by the larger community, what exactly are we proud of?
The demotion of credibility (with Noam Wiener)
Haaretz, November 20, 2009. Read here.
What kind of example were the military appeals court judges setting for Israel's soldiers and civilians when they annulled Moshe Tamir's sentence last week, and restored him to the rank of brigadier general?
Bringing regret out of the closet
Haaretz, August 7, 2009. Read here.
So it is precisely now, when condemnation of homophobia is the order of the day, that we must demand that the prime minister make it clear that, from now on, no minister will be allowed to curse and malign members of the LGBT community.
We ignore gay-bashing at our cost
The Jewish Chronicle, August 6, 2009. Read here.
What does last week’s shooting of young lesbians and gays in Tel Aviv tell us about Israeli society?
The World's Jews do speak out
The Guardian, Comment Is Free, May 25, 2009. Read here.
Don't simplify the relationship diaspora Jews have with Israel – they have never lacked the courage to speak their minds.
Temple of the NOW
The Jewish Week, May 29, 2009. Read here.
Few cities define themselves by what they are not, but Tel Aviv prides itself on being the city that is “not” Jerusalem. Indeed, the distance between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is precisely that between a living-in-the-moment present and a layers-of-history past that can sometimes be a burden to creativity.
Bias in black and white
Haaretz, April 5, 2009. Read here.
The venomous disregard for the truth makes Spanish criticism of Israel banal and misses important issues. This simplistic anti-Israel narrative represents not a noble struggle for human rights, but rather a contamination of both journalism and the great democracy that the newspaper serve.
Prejuicio en blanco y negro
Spanish translation at Pilar Rahola's website. Read here.
("Este artículo sobre la actitud española respecto a Israel, escrito por el lúcido periodista y amigo Yoav Sivan, y publicado en Haaretz, merece una profunda reflexión." Pilar Rahola)
הבירה - תל אביב
Haaretz, April 29, 2009. Read here.
Israel's new far-right
The Guardian, Comment Is Free, March 2, 2009. Read here.
Avigdor Lieberman wants to make Israel as ethnically Jewish as possible, even if that results in a loss of territory.
Iranian Santa
Haaretz, December 28, 2008. Read here.
Britain's Channel 4 invited Ahmadinejad to speak not because it wants to offer viewers 'a different perspective,' but because it believes this different perspective is a ridiculous joke, and not something that can ever be implemented with, say, nuclear arms.
סאנטה קלאוס מאיראן (Hebrew version of Iranian Santa)
Haaretz, December 28, 2008. Read here.
The last Herzlian
Ynet, November 13, 2008. Read here.
With Yossi Beilin’s departure, Israel lost greatest Zionist visionary of our time.
Sarah Palin - pro-Israel by default?
The Jerusalem Post, September 23, 2008. Read here.
Some Jewish voters are horrified by the thought of a VP with no foreign policy record.
Israël: les homosexuels résistent aux rabbins ultras
Alternatives Internationales, Paris, March, 2008. Read here.
Dans l'Etat hébreu, les gays et les lesbiennes ont conquis de nombreux droits dont celui d'adopter en couple. Mais d'influents chefs religieux entretiennent l'homophobie dans la classe politique.
Universal Service and the embrace of gays
Gay City News, December 6, 2007. Read here.
A critical reason the Israeli army is progressive on LGBT issues, however, is usually overlooked - we have a draft. The draft leads to stronger pressure on the military to liberalize than is the case when service is voluntary.
Iranian denialism no laughing matter
Gay City News, September 27, 2007. Read here.
Inside the Columbia University auditorium where Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke this week, audience members responded with peals of laughter to his assertion that Iran is a gay-free nation.
Is the closet ok for gay-friendly pols?
Gay City News, August 30, 2007. Read here.
But the tougher dilemma is what do we do about closeted gay politicians good on most of our issues, but who, for example, might still oppose marriage equality?
No pride in Israel's government
Haaretz, June 20, 2007. Read here.
It is not enough that Olmert is personally gay-friendly, it is high time for him to come out as publicly gay-friendly as well.
Calls to boycott Israel weaken peace efforts
The Irish Times, March 6, 2007. Read here.
Campaigns demanding a boycott of Israel are naive, unhelpful and perhaps even destructive.
Redefining the right-left divide
Haaretz, March 2, 2007, read here.
This actually indicates how normal Israel has become: We too have our own European-like extreme right-wing party.
Let's not play the 'no talk' game (with Limor Ben-Har)
The Jerusalem Post, January 15, 2007. Read here
negotiations are not the end-goal but the process leading to the big moment - the behind-the-scenes work that eventually enables that desired photo-op. And in emotionally-laden conflicts like ours it is impossible to agree on a final draft before actually negotiating it; and it is a mistake to demand to know the closing details from the outset.
Eventful trip to Germany
Ynet News, December 21, 2006. Read here.
PM Olmert's Berlin visit produces more headlines than expected.
הקו הירוק תמיד (The ever green line)
Hazofe, December 19, 2006. Read here.
המהלך העקבי למחוק את הקו הירוק בא למנוע את הקמתה של מדינה פלשתינאית בצד ישראל, וייתכן מאוד שהוא גם יצליח. אבל מותו של הקו הירוק עלול להיות גם מותו של הרעיון הציוני.
The gay question and the Jewish question
Haaretz, December 10, 2006. Read here.
The Orthodox monopoly in Israel competes with itself in raising the bar of ignorance and extremism, as exemplified through homophobia among religious circles.
Gay rights - how are we doing?
The Jerusalem Post, December 4, 2006. Read here (PDF)
How to portray the condition of Israeli gays to leftist politicians abroad?
American Jews face dilemma
Ynet News, November 12, 2006. Read here.
How should US Jewish community relate to Israel's Arabs?
מצעד הדמוקרטיה הישראלית (The March of Israeli Democracy)
Haaretz, November 5, 2006. Read here.
(The LGBT community’s demand for recognition and respect)
Pride and prejudice
Haaretz, October 29, 2006, read here.
Apparently both Jerusalem Open House and Shas seem to think the Lebanon war should set aside ongoing issues, including confrontations about gay legitimacy.
Time is right to be proactive
Haaretz, October 15, 2006. Read here.
Israel should seize the opportunity of the German EU presidency, as it is in its best interests that the European role be led by Germany, the union's most populated country and its economic locomotive.
We didn’t ask, Halutz tells
Ynet News, September 21, 2006. Read here.
Recent gay bashing proves that relatively tolerant Tel Aviv is hardly the consensus.
Despite debate, university maintains anti-gay policies, benefits
Badger Herald, September 23, 2005. Read here.
Rhetoric fails complexity of issues
Badger Herald, September 13, 2005. Read here.
If Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon chose to refer to the difficulties and hopelessness of Palestinian routine life in his speech to the nation on the very day his pullout plan from Gaza was about to be executed, there might be more common ground than we usually think. Isn't such a delicate agreement a better way for a debate, for enlarging and enriching our political lexicon, than some false moral or historical comparisons?
