Palestine banner is flawed

By Adam Weissmann / November 3, 2005

Anyone who has walked through the Reynolds Club marketplace in the past two days has seen the banners advertising next week as Palestine Awareness Week on our campus. What many do not realize is that suddenly Israel has ceased to exist, vanished without a trace into obscurity. Or at least that is what the event’s...

Life of the Mind: Becoming philosopher-citizens

By Adam Weissmann / June 2, 2005

Just the other day, it dawned on me that my time here in Hyde Park is drawing to a close. On Friday, I turned in my final paper for my final class, and as I ambled down the corridor in Pick Hall away from my professor’s office I suddenly felt as if I had no...

A Very Long Disengagement from Israel

By Adam Weissmann / May 26, 2005

Things seem to have quieted down in the Arab-Israeli conflict in the last few months. Nonetheless, a storm is brewing. Laura Bush’s visit to the region earlier this week and the throng of protesters who followed her every step attest to this. In a move conceived of during the frustrating final months of Yasser Arafat’s...

Uzbekistan: A Green or Purple Revolution?

By Adam Weissmann / May 19, 2005

President Bush praised the people of Georgia last week for the “Rose Revolution” of late 2003, which overthrew former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, as the precursor to the flurry of democratic uprisings across Eurasia in the past year. The “Orange Revolution” in Ukraine (in late 2004), the “Cedar Revolution” in Lebanon (this past February), and...

Something rotten in Denmark? I think not.

By Adam Weissmann / May 9, 2005

This week marks the 60th anniversary of victory in Europe, and leaders of the Allied states marked the occasion this weekend in Moscow. Across the continent, liberated nations are commemorating the revival of their freedom. On Wednesday, May 4, at a celebration marking Denmark’s liberation from the Nazis, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen issued...

With a strong hand and an outstretched arm

By Adam Weissmann / April 28, 2005

This week marks the Jewish holiday of Pesach, which recalls the story of the Israelites’ exodus from slavery in Egypt. Known in English as “Passover,” this celebration of freedom also reminds us of the divine hand passing over the houses of the Israelites in order to slay the firstborn sons of their enslavers. Each year...

A Brussels-Beijing Axis: Strange Bedfellows?

By Adam Weissmann / April 18, 2005

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, political scientists the world over began analyzing the new global situation. Many declared that American hegemony had been achieved and that it would last. Others warned against the potential of a new bipolar rival in China. There has been much talk in the past decade about the impact...

Why Is Everybody Pickin’ On Me?

By Adam Weissmann / April 7, 2005

In the last two weeks there has been a plethora of discussion on anti-Semitism in this paper. From Teresa Mia Bejan’s reflections on European attitudes to Daniel Wagner’s appeal to consider anti-Jewish sentiment only within the broader context of global racism, a discussion of the goals and practices of discussing anti-Semitism has taken center stage....

U.S. diplomats must intervene in Iran talks

By Adam Weissmann / April 3, 2005

Lately, when reading the news about Iran, I have been feeling the same vibes that resonated in the months leading up to the 2003 Iraq War. The scenario is familiar: European doves clashing with American hawks about how to stop the spread of illegal weapons in the Middle East. Over the last few months, the...

Drawing better lines in the sand

By Adam Weissmann / February 25, 2005

What strikes me as the one of the more upsetting aspects of the Iraq war and its aftermath is the preoccupation with preserving Iraq’s territorial integrity. Both the United States, which leads the coalition of the willing that toppled the previous Iraqi government and now occupies the country, and the other leading powers in the...

How do you say “bipolarity” in Estonain

By Adam Weissmann / February 18, 2005

For the past decade, pundits and analysts have been counting down the years until China awakens as the next superpower rival to the United States. Despite continued Chinese economic and scientific strides, the Communist Party leaders in Beijing still rule undemocratically, and it will be at least another decade or more before the tiger breaks...

Ending our love affair with the Co-Op

By Adam Weissmann / February 10, 2005

Since the beginning of the academic year, almost every Friday afternoon, I ritually shop for the upcoming week’s groceries. When my pantry’s shelves seem more empty than full, I know it is time to hop in the car and stock up. When I was living in Max Palevsky and still relying on the CTA to...

Reevaluating the new global war

By Adam Weissmann / January 31, 2005

As President Bush commences his second term in office, perhaps it is an appropriate time to reevaluate the motives behind the current global war. To begin with, many dispute the war’s exact purpose; is it a conflict between the West and fanatical Islam, a global effort to spread democracy and freedom (as indicated in Bush’s...

Helping the U of C see green for the future

By Adam Weissmann / January 24, 2005

While hurriedly scuttling between classes, meetings, and events, many students fail to notice the beautiful flora on campus. We at the University are truly blessed to be surrounded by such a diversity of plant life. In 1997 our campus was officially designated a botanic garden, and it has long been a priority of the University...

Iraqi elections: What about the Jewish vote?

By Adam Weissmann / January 18, 2005

As the January 30 Iraqi elections draw closer, a new debate is brewing—in Israel. In an article in last Thursday’s Ha’Aretz (“Israelis of Iraqi Origin Can Vote in Iraqi Elections,” 1/13/05), journalist Yoav Stern reports that the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) will allow Iraqis living abroad, including their children, to participate in the...

The complex legacy of Yasser Arafat

By Adam Weissmann / November 11, 2004

Yasser Arafat’s death on Wednesday evening forces us both to reflect on the nature of his life and his role in history and to speculate about the uncertain days to come. By Palestinians he is hailed as the father of the nation; in Israel his face causes even children to shudder in loathing. Guerilla, terrorist,...

Shades of gray in the Jewish world

By Adam Weissmann / October 31, 2004

In her op-ed piece (“Jewish-conspiracy theorist surfaces at Duke,” 10/22/04), Phoebe Maltz boldly and cleverly outlined the major flaws and absurdities of Philip Kurian’s article “The Jews” in a recent edition of Duke University’s Chronicle. Yet Kurian’s article, as well as Maltz’s critique, highlights serious problems of identity and perception within the Jewish community, both...