-
2 weeks ago | 
unherd.com | Howard Jacobson
AntisemitismBBCGary LinekerSocial mediaSocietyUK Gary Lineker, prince among football pundits, avid retweeter of other people’s opinions, a man of more heart than he has sleeve to wear it on, does not like what’s going on in Gaza. “I just feel for the Palestinians,” he says. To which the answer “Who doesn’t?” is neither a rebuff nor an endorsement. There is nothing wrong with feeling what everybody feels.
-
3 weeks ago | 
jacobsonh.substack.com | Howard Jacobson
Gary Lineker, prince among football pundits, avid retweeter of other people’s opinions, a man of more heart than he has sleeve to wear it on, does not like what’s going on in Gaza. ‘I just feel for the Palestinians,’ he says. To which the answer ‘Who doesn’t?’ is neither a rebuff nor an endorsement. There is nothing wrong with feeling what everybody feels. What’s wrong is believing that what you feel makes you right because you feel it.
-
2 months ago | 
dailymail.co.uk | Howard Jacobson
There are walkers and joggers, sitters and standers, sleepers and sloggers. It all comes down, in the end, to which we more comfortably inhabit: our bodies or our heads. I am so dedicated a sitter that it can surprise me to discover I even have a body. Whether I began with a shape ideally suited to sitting or acquired chair-friendly contours over years of writing at a desk I don’t know.
-
Jan 29, 2025 | 
thejc.com | Jake Wallis Simons |Gavin Schaffer |Howard Jacobson |Olivia Marks-Woldman
Dear Reader, Today we are pleased to announce an exciting new chapter in The Jewish Chronicle’s 184-year history by welcoming our new Editor, Daniel Schwammenthal. Daniel joins us here at the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper from the American Jewish Committee’s Transatlantic Institute in Brussels where he served as its director.
-
Jan 29, 2025 | 
thejc.com | Kasra Aarabi |Jake Wallis Simons |Gavin Schaffer |Howard Jacobson
“We zealous youth will not forget cowardice of the decision makers [in Syria]”, a young radical from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Iranian regime’s paramilitary, tells me. Fault lines are emerging in the IRGC over the handling of Syria, which resulted in the collapse of Bashar al-Assad. The younger radicals are enraged at what they see as the “abandonment” of Syria. These divisions within the IRGC are causing Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, major problems.
-
Jan 29, 2025 | 
thejc.com | Keith Black |Jake Wallis Simons |Gavin Schaffer |Howard Jacobson
On October 7 2023, thousands of savage Hamas terrorists, determined to slaughter as many innocent civilians as possible, broke the beautiful tranquillity of a Shabbat festival morning and inflicted unimaginable horrors on thousands of men, women, and children across the south of Israel. Since then, Israel has fought a war of defence, determined to rescue the hundreds of hostages taken by Hamas, and to ensure that these terrorists can never again perpetrate these atrocities.
-
Jan 29, 2025 | 
thejc.com | Keren David |Jake Wallis Simons |Gavin Schaffer |Howard Jacobson
I bring good news – because someone has to, in a world where Jews are feeling attacked and gaslit. Strangely, both of my titbits of positivity involve graveyards, but that’s 2024 for you. The first involves my father’s grave, the wording of which has been a subject of hot debate with my siblings.
-
Jan 29, 2025 | 
thejc.com | Osher Feldman |Jake Wallis Simons |Gavin Schaffer |Howard Jacobson
Waking up last Friday morning to the news that a synagogue in Melbourne had been firebombed felt like waking up to bushfires raging out of control in the middle of summer: terrifying but, sadly, not unexpected. Since October 7, when Hamas unleashed its horrific attacks on Israel, Australian Jews have been living with increasing fear and isolation.
-
Jan 29, 2025 | 
thejc.com | Jake Wallis Simons |Gavin Schaffer |Howard Jacobson |Olivia Marks-Woldman
The other day, an Israeli intelligence officer who shares information with British agencies in London told me about her work. “Iran is the big focus for us. But for the British, it is maybe third on their priority list,” she said. Fair enough. Tehran may be a grave threat to Britain but due to its apocalyptic obsession with Jerusalem, it poses a far greater danger to Israel. Despite the differences in priorities, however, the Britain-Israel intelligence collaboration has long been very fruitful.
-
Jan 29, 2025 | 
thejc.com | Yossi Melman |Jake Wallis Simons |Gavin Schaffer |Howard Jacobson
Officially, the Assad regime fell on December 8 when rebel forces seized Damascus in a swift offensive that lasted just over a week. But the countdown to Syria’s collapse – and with it, the erosion of Iran’s influence in the region – began much earlier, on September 17. On that day and the next, thousands of pagers – hand-held communications devices used by Hezbollah – as well as radio gear exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria.
