Editor-in-chief: David Suissa
June 20, 2022
The United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) Commission of Inquiry (COI) is opening an inquiry into the charge of apartheid against Israel, according to COI chair Navi Pillay.
It is time to pass the COI Elimination Act and do just that, because the impunity with which the UNHRC has operated until now has only emboldened it to keep pushing the envelope—and the Overton curve—when it comes to spreading lies and hate about the Jewish state. They no longer even care to pretend to be fair.
The UNHRC inquiry and its report are flagrant diplomatic terrorism against Israel. The investigators responsible for it should themselves be investigated for aiding and abetting acts of terrorism and violence against innocent civilians.
Not content with a mandate of unprecedented scope, her commission has already exceeded those terms by repeatedly referencing the “occupied Syrian Golan,” the critically strategic plateau that has enjoyed decades of calm, prosperity and freedom thanks to Israel. For that alone, Pillay should be removed from her position.
Israel has warned its citizens in Turkey to return home, citing the potential threat of Iranian attacks. Despite this, some are staying put.
It is tricky enough for Israeli and Turkish security forces to track down the would-be assassins without also having to run around begging hundreds of potential victims to evacuate.
Contrary to popular belief, the state of Israel is not an insurance company. Its travel warnings are advisory. Once a citizen decides to fly to a place declared dangerous, it should be seen as a waiver of responsibility.
On Monday, the National Security Council raised the warning level for travel to Istanbul to its highest level, putting it alongside Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Iran as places that Israelis must leave immediately and may not visit.
The European Union has decided to put Ukraine on a “path to membership.” How likely is this and what would it mean for Ukraine’s war of defense against Russia? More at Reuters.
Kyiv will need more than a membership, cash, and a cheering section to survive the slow onslaught of the Russian army and the devastating barrage of artillery ahead of it. Ukrainian forces are struggling to hold off Russian forces in the Donbas region; the roads to Kyiv and Odesa are open.
Ukrainian accession could take years, not least because the country is in the middle of a full-blown war with Russia. And it may not happen at all, with the risk that future political developments in Kyiv and other European capitals could derail the process.
Russia has already reacted very badly to the suggestion that Finland and Sweden, EU member states, might join NATO. Seeing Ukraine warmly embraced by an institution so associated with the West will no doubt be seen as an act of aggression by Putin.
It seems that political polarization and constant culture wars have become defining features of life in America. Is it really as bad as it seems?
Almost 3 in 10 Americans said they were worried about extremism and polarization, which is essentially unchanged from our poll last month.
Although America has two dominant ideological tribes, there is nothing uniting all of the positions of either side. The parties have coalesced around the concepts of “left” and “right,” but the concepts themselves are fictions.
By manipulating the discourse surrounding hot-button topics and painting disagreements as a fight between the correct or good perspective and the wrong or bad one, people are forced to side with what they are told is the right or just perspective.
Some look at American non-Orthodox Judaism and see decline, disengagement, and dwindling numbers. Others see renaissance.
Our ancestors came to these shores, largely from hostile countries in Europe. Their successors now embody the diversity that helped America thrive, holding fast to Jewish values that encourage goodness and well-being.
We are losing our fellow American Jews to assimilation every day. Every Jew has a responsibility to do what we can to change that. This means more than just focusing on our own families.
The phenomenon that is worth paying attention to is those segments of the American Jewish community that are not connected. I’m worried about those that are apathetic. I think that may be the bigger category in American Jewish life, not the strong rabid for or the rabid against, but for whom it doesn’t live personally.
Dall-E, a new AI program available to the public, creates images based on text generated by users. The results are uncanny, hilarious, shockingly accurate, and often beautiful. Try it here.
The clunky look of DALL-E mini image generations is also becoming an internet art form of its own, Bown says.
“I can imagine that this would just be huge for something like Instagram or just direct messaging with your mates when you’re trying to send memes.
Most people I know who work in A.I. believe we’re hurtling toward a world in which machines that can learn will change everything and perhaps even know they are changing it. At first, I doubted them. But the year-on-year advance in marvels has confirmed their predictions, not mine.
The type of cultural climate that surrounds Dall-E’s growth in popularity is something that we should welcome and work to nurture. The memes surrounding it make the Internet enjoyable and fun, bringing people together in a very healthy way.