How Hispanics and Jews Can Help One Another

Born to immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Jesse Rojo grew up in Washington Heights, a historically German-Jewish neighborhood of Manhattan that is now also a Dominican enclave. In conversation with Robert Nicholson, Rojo moves from his own story to the broader scope of Jewish-Latin American history—from conversos who came to Brazil and Curaçao to escape persecution, to the Dominican Republic’s decision to open its doors to Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. He also discusses the role of evangelical Christianity in the Spanish-speaking parts of the Western Hemisphere and his own efforts to educate Hispanics about Jews, Israel, and the Middle East. (Audio, 63 minutes.)

 

Read more at Deep Map

More about: American Jewry, Evangelical Christianity, Evangelical Zionism, Jewish-Christian relations, Latin America

The Mass Expulsion of Palestinians Is No Solution. Neither Are Any of the Usual Plans for Gaza

Examining the Trump administration’s proposals for the people of Gaza, Danielle Pletka writes:

I do not believe that the forced cleansing of Gaza—a repetition of what every Arab country did to the hundreds of thousands of Arab Jews in 1948— is a “solution.” I don’t think Donald Trump views that as a permanent solution either (read his statement), though I could be wrong. My take is that he believes Gaza must be rebuilt under new management, with only those who wish to live there resettling the land.

The time has long since come for us to recognize that the establishment doesn’t have the faintest clue what to do about Gaza. Egypt doesn’t want it. Jordan doesn’t want it. Iran wants it, but only as cannon fodder. The UN wants it, but only to further its anti-Semitic agenda and continue milking cash from the West. Jordanians, Lebanese, and Syrians blame Palestinians for destroying their countries.

Negotiations with Hamas have not worked. Efforts to subsume Gaza under the Palestinian Authority have not worked. Rebuilding has not worked. Destruction will not work. A “two-state solution” has not arrived, and will not work.

So what’s to be done? If you live in Washington, New York, London, Paris, or Berlin, your view is that the same answers should definitely be tried again, but this time we mean it. This time will be different. . . . What could possibly make you believe this other than ideological laziness?

Read more at What the Hell Is Going On?

More about: Donald Trump, Gaza Strip, Palestinians