New Articles Worth Reading

I would love to write more about each of these stories, but I am preparing for a trip to my favorite little country in the Middle East. (hint: not Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, anywhere in Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Yemen, or Qatar.  I came up with that list off the top of my head)

If you have ever tried to write for Israel on Wikipedia, you have probably experienced the frustration I have from anti-Semites battling to against anything Jewish.  If you have, or have not, had the experience, I encourage you to get involved and keep Wikipedia, one of the most linked to sites on the Internet, free from anti-Israel and anti-Jewish lies.  Either way, take the time to read this well written article by Karin McQuillan on Front Page Mag.  The article, called Wikipedia’s Jewish Problem, has a pretty self descriptive title.  Make sure to read to the end to understand what is really happening out there.

If you are Reform or Conservative, you might be very interested in reading about Israel’s plans for treatment of olim (new immigrants).  Today, anyone with a Jewish mother or anyone who has gone through any Jewish conversion is eligible to move to Israel and become a citizen.  A Knesset committee is looking at giving control of this immigration policy to the Chief Rabbinate, which would no longer recognize Reform or Conservative conversions for immigration purposes.  I would love to read your thoughts on this in the comments.  Thanks to Joel for bringing this article to my attention.

My friend Dan wrote a lengthy, well reasoned, intelligent post about pressure on the government to free Gilad Shalit.  Dan argues that pressuring the government is just giving Hamas more leverage to demand more terrorists in exchange for Shalit if the deal ever comes to fruition.  He suggests that you camp out on the Gaza border to bring attention to Hamas rather than on Benjamin Netanyahu’s door step.