The Forward

YouTube Yanks Israeli Army Videos

2008-12-30T16:21:00

YouTube has removed videos that the Israeli army posted as part of a public relations effort to rally world opinion behind its operation in Gaza. On December 29, the IDF began posting videos of its aerial strikes. The rationale was that it wanted to support the claim that it is not targeting civilians, but rather Hamas targets

P.A. Denies Border Crossing to Injured Gazans

2008-12-31T12:56:00

Wounded residents of Gaza have been withheld urgent medical treatment because the Palestinian Authority refuses to transfer them to Israeli hospitals, the Forward has learned. When doctors at Shifa Hospital in Gaza found out that requests to move five seriously ill patients to Israel had been refused, they presumed that Israeli officials were behind the decision.

YouTube Restores Israeli Army Videos

2008-12-31T15:57:00

YouTube has restored four videos posted by the Israeli army that were removed on December 31 following complaints filed by users of the video-sharing site.

Rabbi Arnold Wolf, 84, Was Progressive Leader

2008-12-31T17:37:00

Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, a prominent Chicago spiritual leader and rabbi emeritus of the Reform synagogue situated across the street from President-elect Barack Obama’s house, has died, apparently of a heart attack. He was 84.

Dovish Jewish Groups Break Ranks,

2008-12-31T17:39:00

Breaking ranks with most Jewish organizations, several dovish pro-Israel groups have come out against Israel’s military operation in Gaza and called on the United States to push for an immediate cease-fire.

Learning From Lebanon, Israel Sets Up

2008-12-31T17:40:00

Even as their surprise military campaign remained secret, Foreign Ministry officials scurried to put in place another dimension of modern warfare that they considered crucial to their success.

Charities Change Course After Madoff

2008-12-31T17:41:00

In the wake of the ever-widening Madoff scandal, prominent Jewish fundraising experts are calling for a return to the days when Jewish charities engaged the entire community — not just an elite group of mega-donors.

Israeli Martial Arts Gurus Duke It Out For Real

2008-12-31T17:42:00

When grandmaster Haim Gidon, a top-ranking practitioner of the Israeli martial art of Krav Maga, entered a studio in New Jersey on a recent Monday, the 20-odd people in the room stopped pummeling each other and lined up like soldiers standing at attention. Gidon was visiting from Israel to give them advanced training, and the students — who included law enforcement officers, military personnel and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter John Mayer — treated him like a commanding officer.

Transgender Jews Now Out of Closet, Seeking Communal Recognition

2008-12-31T17:43:00

When Elliot Kukla, a Reform rabbi, came out as transgender six months before his ordination in 2006, he never imagined how openly the Jewish community would be addressing transgender issues just three years later. This month, he is poised to address a West Coast regional conference of Reform rabbis on the subject, and even the elderly Jews that he works with in the Bay Area are largely accepting of his identity.

A Murder in Yemen Stirs a Tiny Remnant

2008-12-31T17:43:00

Unlike many of his more isolated countrymen, Moshe Yaish Nahari, a Yemeni Jew, spent years studying abroad, then returned to act as a leader of Yemen’s ancient but tiny Jewish community. Now, however, the recent murder of Nahari has thrown the fate of Yemen’s Jewish population into doubt.

As Bush Exits, Four High-Profile Felons Hope For Pardons

2008-12-31T17:44:00

Even the naughtiest Jews know the commandments against breaking the law. But for those who just couldn’t help themselves, the road to redemption — for the next three weeks, anyway — leads straight through the Oval Office.

Israel’s Stark Choice in Gaza:Cease-Fire or Regime Change?

2008-12-31T17:45:00

It was on the third and fourth days of its retaliatory air offensive in Gaza that the fork in the road for Israel became clear: another cease-fire agreement, or regime change.