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Sundown: This Week’s ‘Celebration’

Plus oh hi Farrakhan, ‘Brooklyn Shore,’ and more in the news

by
Marc Tracy
March 01, 2010
Barak with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington, D.C., last week.(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
Barak with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington, D.C., last week.(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

• Several universities around the world are marking “Israel Apartheid Week,” advocating for divestments, boycotts, and sanctions. I have read both the Anti-Defamation League and J Street condemn the comparison of Israel to South Africa, and accuse organizers of attempting to de-legitimize Israel’s existence. [Haaretz]

• The Israeli Embassy in Madrid has of late received letters from Spanish schoolchildren urging the ambassador: “think about not killing the Palestinian children and elderly. I don’t know if it doesn’t bother you, having to murder people. You should leave Palestine.” [Ynet]

• Visiting Washington, D.C., Defense Minister Ehud Barak would not answer questions from a friendly audience on the state of U.S.-Israel relations vis-à-vis Iran. [Laura Rozen]

• Whom does Louis Farrakhan think is partly to blame for the difficulties President Barack Obama has encountered in office? No, you don’t get any hints. [JTA]

• A great piece from Israel on how Russian speakers—who now make up 15 percent of Israelis—have turned entire cities into Moscows-on-Mediterranean. [NYT]

• Meanwhile, in Brooklyn’s Little Odessa (otherwise known as Brighton Beach), there are plans for a reality show that is “a cross between Jersey Shore and Anna Karenina.” The show’s producers will likely find that most residents are—unlike the denizens of the two cited masterpieces—Jewish. [NY Post]

Oh, and regarding my noon post: the two Jews not born in America are Albert Einstein and Isaac Asimov; the convert to Judaism was Sammy Davis, Jr.; and the convert from Judaism was Mel Brooks (who became a Catholic when he married Anne Bancroft).

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.