#stevekramer
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Steve Kramer – How will Israel Respond?
Steve Kramer – How will Israel Respond? At the moment, I’m writing while rockets and drones from Iran have just attacked Israel. The American president’s “Don’t” didn’t deter Iran from unleashing 300 drones, rockets, and missiles against
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Steve Kramer – Flourishing Israel
Steve Kramer – Flourishing Israel Israel’s significance as a Middle Eastern powerhouse has reached new levels with the help of two seminal events: the discovery of natural gas in Eastern Mediterranean waters and the success of the Abraham Accords
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Steve Kramer – Israel through a Tourist’s Eyes
Steve Kramer – Israel through a Tourist’s Eyes We recently spent an enjoyable time with Michal’s classmate from ACHS (Atlantic City High School). Jimmy has a great love of Israel and a great interest in Judaism – although, or maybe because
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Steve Kramer – Upheaval in Israel’s Government
Steve Kramer – Upheaval in Israel’s Government A new governing coalition has been formed by Ya’ir Lapid, whose centrist Yesh Atid party (There is a future) came in second behind Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu’s Likud. The paperwork proving that L
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Steve Kramer – Ethnoreligious War in Gaza and Israel & Not Enough Dead Jews
Steve Kramer – Ethnoreligious War in Gaza and Israel & Not Enough Dead Jews Here is my latest update about Operation Guardian of the Wall. Luckily, our city, Kfar Saba, has been spared any damage. But because (3,000) rockets are still being launched
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Steve Kramer – The Iranian JCPOA(Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) Conundrum
Steve Kramer – The Iranian JCPOA(Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) Conundrum President Biden’s administration is zealously dissociating itself from Trump’s agenda and accomplishments. One important goal for Biden is to return to the Iran deal,
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Steve Kramer - Hanukkah, Hanukkah, Light the MenorahSteve Kramer – Hanukkah, Hanukkah, Light the Menorah
Steve Kramer – Hanukkah, Hanukkah, Light the Menorah We just received a note from a dear friend and longtime reader. She wrote: I know you once told me Hanukkah is a minor holiday in Israel but, so, just in case you feel like lighting a menorah, en
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Steve Kramer - But is it Good for Israel?
Steve Kramer – But is it Good for Israel? In the recent election, American-Israelis voted 70%-30% for President Trump, the converse of how American Jews voted. That tells you Israelis value the president’s accomplishments abroad, feats which are n
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Steve Kramer - On being 30 years in Israel
Steve Kramer – On being 30 years in Israel Sequestered in our apartment because of the coronavirus lockdown, which will be relaxed somewhat soon, one has time to ponder. It’s been nearly 30 years since Michal and I (“courageously” as some said
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Steve Kramer - 5781 - A Year With Great Potential
Steve Kramer – 5781 – A Year With Great Potential I have often greeted the new year with a celebration of the one that just ended. 5780 brought much to celebrate, but we didn’t know how much, until the global pandemic transformed it into a s
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Steve Kramer - Black or White
Steve Kramer – Black or White No, this is not an article about tumultuous events in the United States. (For the record, I believe the horrible race-based riots in many US cities are a creation of the mass media, which colors every issue with a racia
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Steve Kramer - Emirates Breakthrough
Steve Kramer – Emirates Breakthrough It’s “early days,” but the surprise “Abraham Accord” announced by Washington has been a stunner. Against all odds, nothing leaked from any of the governments involved: Israel, the United Arab Emirates (
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Steve Kramer - Jew-hatred Revival
Steve Kramer – Jew-hatred Revival I grew up in the post-WW2 period, which could be called the Golden Age of American Jewry. I don’t remember receiving any racial insults, although others experienced it elsewhere. Quotas for Jews at elite colleges
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Steve Kramer - The Echo Chamber
Steve Kramer – The Echo Chamber I’ve been thinking about the nature of journalism, having been engaged in it as a non-professional for 30 years, including a previous 5-year stint as a film reviewer. The “news,” which reporters “report,” sh
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Steve Kramer - Jew-hatred Then and Now
Steve Kramer – Jew-hatred Then and Now Jew-hatred (politely termed antisemitism) has returned to the US and the West, jolting some Jews but befuddling others who fail to recognize the phenomenon. We baby boomers grew up in era of acceptance of the J
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Steve Kramer - Will Jewish History Repeat Itself?
Steve Kramer – Will Jewish History Repeat Itself? The Torah portion (parsha) for the week of June 13, Shelach lecha (Go up there), is well known to contain “the sin of the spies.” Moses had ordered leaders from each of the twelve tribes of Israe
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Steve Kramer - Israel on a Tightrope
Steve Kramer – Israel on a Tightrope Israel’s greatest ally is unquestionably the US. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel has augmented its reliance on America and the West with an outreach to the East, primarily China, which
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Steve Kramer - Netanyahu in the Dock
Steve Kramer – Netanyahu in the Dock Now that Israel finally has a government, a centrist unity government at that, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu will finally face Jerusalem District Court judges, where he is accused of bribery, fraud, and breach of
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Steve Kramer - Explaining Israeli Sovereignty in the Land of Israel
Steve Kramer – Explaining Israeli Sovereignty in the Land of Israel I thank Marc W., an old high school and college friend, for inspiring this article regarding my April 12 column, [https://israelseen.com/2020/04/14/steve-kramer-the-nerve-of-some-am
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Steve Kramer -The Nerve of (some) American Jewish Leaders
Steve Kramer -The Nerve of (some) American Jewish Leaders What if American Jews read on the front pages of The New York Times and the Washington Post that Israeli Jews would estrange themselves from American Jews, if the latter chose to vote for a preside
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Steve Kramer - Passover and the Pandemic
Steve Kramer – Passover and the Pandemic Why is this Passover different from all other Passovers, to paraphrase the Haggadah? This year, because of the pandemic, we must celebrate it alone, apart from our friends or family. But the impact of the pan
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Steve Kramer - Paradigm Shift
Steve Kramer – Paradigm Shift Perfect is the enemy of the good, as an old saying goes. Israel must remember that, as it examines its third major challenge for “peace.” The first challenge was when David Ben-Gurion took advantage of the UN Assemb
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Steve Kramer - Why I Love Brexit
Steve Kramer – Why I Love Brexit The European Union is a group of countries that seemingly have a collective hatred of Israel, and by extension, the Israelis – 75% of whom are Jewish. (What else do we expect from the continent that brought us
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Steve Kramer - Amsterdam in Winter
Steve Kramer – Amsterdam in Winter Well, it wasn’t quite winter, but it felt like it when Michal and I visited Amsterdam at the end of November. Having been to Amsterdam about 25 years ago with our young sons, it wasn’t at the top of our wish li
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Steve Kramer - Friends Like These...
Steve Kramer – Friends Like These… The NGO J Street “organizes and mobilizes pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans who want Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the Jewish people. Working in American politics and the Jewish com
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Steve Kramer - Crypto-Jews of New Mexico
Steve Kramer – Crypto-Jews of New Mexico When Jordi was just ten years old, his grandfather said, “This is how we butcher a chicken,” as he demonstrated the kosher slaughtering method. Jordi’s grandfather thereby revealed that the family w
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Steve Kramer - How Ignorant Can a College Freshman Be ... Very
Steve Kramer – How Ignorant Can a College Freshman Be … Very The British “Independent” (independent.co.uk) internet newspaper recently printed an article by a very ignorant young American who had just finished her freshman year in college.
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Steve Kramer - Why Jews Assimilate
Steve Kramer – Why Jews Assimilate Contrary to the title of this article, I don’t really know the reason that Jews assimilate, especially in the US. I do know without doubt that Jews are extraordinary and that those who leave Judaism behind litera
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Steve Kramer - Glad You're Not Coming
Steve Kramer – Glad You’re Not Coming Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, all “women of color” known as “the squad,” are the darlings of the m
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Steve Kramer - Who Are the (Jewish) Israelis
Steve Kramer – Who Are the (Jewish) Israelis There is concern today by many in Israel that some Israelis are unappreciative of their Jewish heritage. Author and journalist Shmuel Rosner has challenged this by suggesting a new paradigm for most of us
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Steve Kramer - Dana Milbank's "Quintessentially American" (Not)
Steve Kramer – Dana Milbank’s “Quintessentially American” (Not) Just a week after writing critically about an article by a well known journalist in an influential publication, I again feel the necessity to respond to the utter nonsense that th
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Steve Kramer - Peter Beinart Is Concerned for Israel's Future (NOT)
Steve Kramer – Peter Beinart Is Concerned for Israel’s Future (NOT) I write articles like this one because popular columnists such as Peter Beinart have the reach and the power to misinform many readers. In a recent article on the traditionally le
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Steve Kramer - Using Law to Fight for Israel
Steve Kramer – Using Law to Fight for Israel We recently attended the first day of a two day “Law and War” conference in Jerusalem held by Shurat HaDin, a terrific organization that fights Israel’s battles by legal means, using court systems a
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Steve Kramer - On Support for the Two-state Solution
Steve Kramer – On Support for the Two-state Solution Reported in the Jerusalem Post (6/21/19): Ten progressive Jewish groups sent a letter calling on the US House of Representatives leadership to vote on House Resolution 326, which supports the two-
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Steve Kramer - White Nights in Russia
Steve Kramer – White Nights in Russia For many years, Michal and I have wanted to visit Russia during June, when the days are longest. We finally did it this month and it was beyond our expectations. While Russia casts a big shadow on the world stag
