Bruce Ticker

Bruce S. Ticker, who writes from Philadelphia, also blogs for The San Diego Jewish World and Smirking Chimp and previously for the suspended Philadelphia Jewish Voice. He was previously a reporter and copy editor for daily newspapers in eastern Pennsylvania.

Column: A Future for Israel?

Israel's flag flying atop Masada.

“Palestinians Must Have Hope for a Brighter Future,” urges a New York Times headline. It tops a Thanksgiving Day opinion piece authored by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Hope for what? To kill more Jews? What about hope for the Jewish people?

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Column: The Hate-Crimes Obstacle Course

Paul Kessler, a 69-year-old pro-Israel protestor died after clashing with pro-Arab protestors. Loay Abdelfattah Alnaji, 50, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and battery. The incident's classification as a hate crime remains disputed.

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Column: From Rashida’s Big Mouth to Fears of Sitting Shiva

U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib was censured by the House of Representatives for inciting statements against Israel, amid concerns her words may inspire violence towards Jewish and pro-Israel individuals.

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Column: Putin’s New Man in Washington Games Israel

The headline that Mike Johnson hoped for on Friday: “Democrats betray Israel.” Instead he got this New York Times headline: “House Passes Bill Tying Israel Aid to Spending Cuts With Nothing for Ukraine.”

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Column: Free Palestine? Free the Brooklyn Bridge

brooklyn bridge new york

We cannot be blamed for suspecting that 40-year-old Samantha Woll was stabbed to death at her Detroit home because of the crisis in Israel. Her murder occurred two weeks after Hamas butchered 1400 Jews in southern Israel, followed by Israel’s merciless bombing of Gaza.

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Column: A Queer Clash in Houston Between Gay Students and Hillel at Rice U.

A gay student group in Houston bashes a nation that protects, sustains and facilitates gay rights while shielding a society that slaughters its own inhabitants who engage in same-sex relationships. Not only that, but they send a forceful signal that antisemitism propels their behavior.

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Column: A Palestinian Peace Pact Blown to Pieces?

“Our Palestinian neighbors” will almost certainly blow up any deal with Israel without anyone else’s help. Palestinian society long ago sent the message that an independent state is far from enough. They want all of Israel.

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Column: Vegas-style Reporting Out of Israel

What is not fit to print is printed. What is fit to print is not printed. These are two glaring examples of what passes for coverage of Israel in two major daily newspapers. One publishes a distorted article, the other ignores significant news. A Jewish weekly even discards news that is important to its ethnic readership.

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Column: The Potential Fall of Rep. Summer Lee, the Squad Member from Pittsburgh

After seven months on the job, U.S. Rep. Summer Lee set herself up for the winter of Summer, to borrow from “The summer of George” title of a Seinfeld segment. Earlier this month, she traded barbs with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which criticized her decision to boycott Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address before Congress.

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Column: Jews in (Rudy Giuliani’s) Space

us supreme court flag half mast

“This is an affront to American democracy and does permanent, irrevocable harm to our justice system,” says America’s Mayor. Rudy Giuliani was not referring to charges that he conspired to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.

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Column: A ‘Racist State’? Or Do We Mean a Racist Congresswoman?

We all know what brought this on. The resolution targeted Jayapal for labeling Israel a “racist state” when she addressed the liberal Netroots Nation in Chicago on the previous Saturday night. On Sunday, her fellow Democrats protested, prompting Jayapal to revise her original remarks.

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Column: Child Abuse, ‘Palestine’-Style

Of 12 Palestinians killed in Israel’s in Jenin the other week, at least four were under 18, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, according to The New York Times. Terrorist groups claimed that at least five of those killed were fighters, including a 16-year-old boy. Israel said that all Palestinian fatalities were combatants.

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Column: Adam Schiff’s Censure Amounts to Antisemitism

Almost immediately I shuddered when I switched on the television Wednesday night last week and learned that U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff was censured by the House of Representatives. I felt as if I was watching a replay of the trials of Alfred Dreyfus and Leo Frank.

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Column: Must Pittsburgh Jews Endure Another Trial?

Pittsburgh’s Jewish community is currently forced to relive the murders of 11 members of three congregations who gathered to worship at Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018, and  the experience is obviously most traumatic for surviving victims who testified at the alleged gunman’s trial.

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