This past week, two American comedians managed to spark controversies regarding anti-Semitism. The first came from Dave Chappelle, whose most recent stand-up routine included two jokes that played on ugly Jewish stereotypes, and an even uglier view of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. While some Jews have condemned Chappelle—joining in the louder clamor over his comments about transsexuals—Ruthie Blum cautions against taking humor too seriously:

To be sure, the implication [of these jokes] is appalling, not amusing. The trouble is that the outcry against Chappelle for rejecting “woke” political correctness isn’t funny either. On the contrary, his “blasphemy” against the language and thought police is like a breath of fresh air in a polluted societal environment. Moreover, he’s an equal-opportunity offender. In his routine, he repeatedly uses the “N-word,” refers to women [with a crass epithet], and claims that “what the feminist movement needs to be successful is a male leader.”

[A] piece of advice . . . for the American Jews who were horrified by his anti-Semitism: expend more effort combating the vile phenomenon where it most matters in the United States these days—in the Democratic party. This might be a tall order, though. The vast majority of those concerned by the likes of Chappelle not only belong to that side of the aisle [politically] but have contributed greatly to, if are not mainly responsible for, the current climate that borders on cultural totalitarianism.

It’s fine to call a comic to task for crossing a line. Doing so is what free speech is all about. Prohibiting comedians from being sacrilegious, on the other hand, is a sign of a sad—and dangerous—society.

Something similar can be said about the Jewish comedian Sarah Silverman, who raised sincere complaints about Gentile actors playing obviously Jewish roles—while other instances of cross-ethnic acting invite the ire of the politically correct. Though there is undoubtedly a double standard, Jonathan Tobin argues that Jews should not race to jump on the woke bandwagon:

Jews need to realize that they have thrived because America is a place where you are judged as an individual, not solely as a member of a group—be it privileged or unprivileged—which is the way critical race theory categorizes everyone. Aligning with the woke frame of reference about casting may give a few more juicy Jewish roles to Jewish actors, yet doing so would mire us further into the morass of entitlement and moral panic about race that is antithetical to the best interests of Jews as well as everyone else.

On the same day the cease-fire went into effect along the Israel-Lebanon border, rebel forces launched an unexpected offensive, and within a few days captured much of Aleppo. This lightening advance originated in the northwestern part of the country, which has been relatively quiet over the past four years, since Bashar al-Assad effectively gave up on restoring control over the remaining rebel enclaves in the area. The fighting comes at an inopportune moment for the powers that Damascus has called on for help in the past: Russia is bogged down in Ukraine and Hizballah has been shattered.

But the situation is extremely complex. David Wurmser points to the dangers that lie ahead:

The desolation wrought on Hizballah by Israel, and the humiliation inflicted on Iran, has not only left the Iranian axis exposed to Israeli power and further withering. It has altered the strategic tectonics of the Middle East. The story is not just Iran anymore. The region is showing the first signs of tremendous geopolitical change. And the plates are beginning to move.

The removal of the religious-totalitarian tyranny of the Iranian regime remains the greatest strategic imperative in the region for the United States and its allies, foremost among whom stands Israel. . . . However, as Iran’s regime descends into the graveyard of history, it is important not to neglect the emergence of other, new threats. navigating the new reality taking shape.

The retreat of the Syrian Assad regime from Aleppo in the face of Turkish-backed, partly Islamist rebels made from remnants of Islamic State is an early skirmish in this new strategic reality. Aleppo is falling to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS—a descendant of Nusra Front led by Abu Mohammed al-Julani, himself a graduate of al-Qaeda’s system and cobbled together of IS elements. Behind this force is the power of nearby Turkey.