Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

There is sadness along with satisfaction in recent stories of Palestinians captured or killed as a result of their attacks against Jews. A 13-year-old girl was shot to death as she charged, with knife raised, against a security guard on the border... Full story

A New York Times review of a book describing what may be the world’s largest refugee camp, near Kenya’s border with Somalia, notes that 60 million people have been displaced throughout the world as a result of conflict and other mass mis... Full story

In one of the episodes of the TV drama, Homeland, a CIA operative reports to a meeting of senior officers about his experience in Syria. The discussion proceeds something like this: There are too many militias to count, and more than a few... Full story

A video showing young and religious Israeli men—along with at least one enthusiastic old man—dancing at a wedding and celebrating the killing of an Arab family has gone viral. It’s not “dancing” of the ballroom kind familiar in the better circles o... Full story

It was possible to hope that this wave of violence was winding down. Soon after Friday prayers at the mosques, there was not much more excitement than routine stone throwing at a light rail train as it passed by an Arab neighborhood. For some time no... Full story

Imagine Donald Trump as the leader of the free world. It may be something we have to get used to. Coming after eight years of Barack Obama, who came after George W. Bush, who came after Bill Clinton, one can wonder what made America great. A... Full story

John Kerry is seeking to top up his several efforts to deal with the Middle East by joining the Israeli and international left in warning that Israel will have to accommodate itself to a single country, with a Palestinian majority, if it doesn’t m... Full story

It’s not exactly the story of Sisyphus, with Israel always pushing a stone but never getting it to the top of the hill, but it’s close. Currently we’re at another of the upticks in violence. We’ve lost count as to how many of these have occurred in t... Full story

Routines are everywhere, with everyone. Almost all our waking hours we are employing one or another. How we brush our teeth, fix our breakfast, drive to where we’ve been before, get ready for bed. They are crucial for government and politics. Just a... Full story

This letter is prompted by a note I received from an Internet friend who chided me for minimizing the threats of Barack Obama, John Kerry, and BDS. He thinks like Caroline Glick, whose columns express the view that if things aren’t optimal, they a... Full story

It is not yet clear what caused the destruction of the Russian airliner as it flew from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh over the Sinai toward Saint Petersburg. However, the betting is an explosive device. Maybe slipped on the plane by a... Full story

We are seeing in recent events the advantages of a state, as well as reasons to doubt the wisdom of creating a Palestinian state. It’s not a simple issue. A state can discipline its people, via decisions of a government, police, and courts. H... Full story

The alleged division of Jerusalem has brought forth a prolonged singing of our national anthem, oy gevalt. In order to deal with the recent wave of violence coming from the most restive of the Arab neighborhoods, exit roads have been staffed with... Full story

There are no sure answers to either of those questions. Both Israelis and Palestinians are arguing—with each other and among themselves—if the current uptick in violence signifies an intifada or something less. Politicians, activists, and sec... Full story

By Ben Cohen JNS.org Remember how the terrorists fighting American forces during the occupation of Iraq gave us a chilling new acronym, IED, which stands for Improvised Explosive Device? The four-year war in neighboring Syria has now done the same.... Full story

Tensions, competition, or dust-up—call it what you will—between Russia and the U.S. presents a fascinating subject for analysis. No doubt, the U.S. is stronger by far economically and militarily. It was left standing at the end of the Cold War, whi... Full story

The Temple Mount (to Muslims Noble Sanctuary or Haram al Sharif) has returned to world headlines for God may know how many times, according to Jews, since the time of Solomon. Whatever happened there, and happens now, is a matter of intense concern.... Full story

One of the principal lessons that should be taught in courses dealing with politics and public policy is the persistence of uncertainty. People who insist on telling us what will be, or what will not be, have a lot to learn. Many who claim to be... Full story

The numbers are large, and projections are that the stream of refugees from the east and south will remain at flood stage. Some are predicting another historic migration, such as that which brought tribes from Asia to Europe long ago, and the great... Full story

It’s time for another round of that hoary folk song about disaster just about everywhere, i.e., “They’re rioting in Africa, they’re starving in Spain...” The ugliest story concerns more than 70 bodies, decomposed to a smelly lump making counts di... Full story

The US State Department and Justice Department are wrestling with an issue concerned with a verdict handed down by a Federal Court in New York. It involves a civil suit, brought by American families who suffered injuries and death due to Palestinian... Full story

It’s worth pondering at some length Barack Obama’s overlooking of Winston Churchill in his comment that he does not remember a case when a foreign official involved himself as much in American politics as Benyamin Netanyahu. Churchill was intent in... Full story

Commentators have long noted that Israel is a western outpost in the Muslim Middle East, and suffers accordingly. This note accepts such a designation, but begins with a slightly different perspective, and seeks to learn what is relevant for the... Full story

By Ira Sharkansky Israel is currently facing two especially delicate issues. We’re hearing about a New Middle East. This is not the one that Barack Obama and his supporters saw coming out of his Cairo speech and Arab Spring, but a post-Arab Spring a... Full story

There aren’t any in the realms of politics or public policy, except in the books written for children, or childish adults. The world is too complex. We know too much to be heroic. There may be heroes on the field of battle, some of who survive t... Full story