“Israel should not be the main thing that you rally around in your conversation with the African-American community,” former Israeli diplomat Ido Aharoni advises American Jewish groups. Because for American blacks, Israel is “defined by its problem” — its treatment of Palestinians. So — change the subject!

What do certain auto part suppliers, contractors and barbers in Maryland all have in common? In order to bid for procurement contracts with the State to provide services or goods, they must effectively first pledge loyalty to Israel. If this doesn’t concern you, it should.

Palestinian-American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib from Michigan was sworn into Congress today wearing a traditional embroidered Palestinian dress known as a thobe, inspiring many to post images of themselves and relatives to social media wearing similar dresses.

Israel and the United States have officially quit the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), citing “anti-Israel bias.” Israeli officials have long attacked UNESCO for listing several sites in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem as “Palestinian World Heritage Sites.”

Rabbi Wendi Geffen, senior rabbi of one of Chicago’s leading Reform temples, says she does not invite pro-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions speakers to her temple because they support physical “violence,” equivalent to rightwingers who say Palestinians should die for opposing Israel. The issue is dividing her temple, Geffen acknowledges.

Two weeks ago the Australian Labor Party unanimously passed a resolution committing to recognize an independent state of Palestine if the left faction takes over the government in elections this coming May.

“What new year are you talking about bro?” said Samar Al-Atrash, 33, a mother of seven children living in a Gaza refugee camp on December 31, 2018. “You need a wizard’s wand to change this misery.” Much of Gaza is impoverished, but conditions are even worse in the camp.

Amos Oz was a refined literary craftsman, writes Hatim Kanaaneh. But he also “functioned as the literary equivalent of Shimon Peres, the Nobel Peace prize laureate who introduced nuclear weapons to the middle East. Oz used his superior skill to apologize for Israel’s aggressions and war crimes.”