Andrew Apostolou

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Nov 3, 2016, 10:43 PM

How Donald Trump threatens American Jews

Donald Trump’s campaign threatens the position of American Jews in U.S. politics and society. The Trump campaign explicitly targets the establishment that American Jews have successfully entered. Worse, Trump has repeated President Barack Obama’s tactic during the debate over...

Sep 4, 2015, 1:41 AM

A necessary argument with Corbyn

For years, the Labour Party in Britain has allowed Jeremy Corbyn to promote crackpot policies because he was on the margins of politics. His parliamentary colleagues, in my experience, regarded him as an amusing crank. One Labour MP told...

Jun 10, 2015, 2:15 PM

The dangers of inaction: From the mikveh to the sauna

American Jewish institutions have failed again. The latest installment involves Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt at the Riverdale Jewish Center (RJC) in New York City. Rabbi Rosenblatt has exposed his genitalia to young male congregants, including minors. He did this in...

Jan 18, 2015, 9:12 AM

Leaving no room for debate

Alexander Joffe and Asaf Romirowsky’s article in The American Interest (“With Friends Like These: What Type of Zionism is Acceptable?”) is an attempt to narrow the debate about Zionism. The authors seek to stigmatize Jewish Leftists who actively oppose Israeli...

Oct 22, 2014, 10:13 AM

Changing the script

The scandal that began with the arrest of Rabbi Barry Freundel for “voyeurism” is following a predictable path. The rabbi’s lawyer is asking for lenient treatment. Some of Freundel’s supporters are seeking to put the alleged offenses in context....

Aug 27, 2014, 10:16 AM

How Modern Orthodoxy survives

Much of American Jewish sociology is a study of failure. The most socially and economically successful community in Jewish history has failed culturally and religiously. Many of the descendants of the Jewish immigrants to the U.S. have been unable...

Jul 7, 2014, 3:20 AM

The Iraq crisis is not Kurdistan’s moment

The collapse of the Iraqi government and the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) do not present a wonderful opportunity for an independent Kurdish state. Instead, the replacement of the mismanaged Iraqi government by an...

May 11, 2014, 6:36 AM

Surviving World War II was not a privilege

Recently, a student at Princeton sought to end a political discussion with the phrase “check your privilege.” This is an old trick, an undergraduate’s parting shot. Such last words seek to steal an otherwise unsuccessful argument. It was the...

Mar 13, 2014, 5:23 AM

Keep the door open to tomorrow’s Jews

Prof. Steven Cohen and Rabbi Kerry Olitzky’s proposal for an “explicitly cultural pathway to join the Jewish people” could keep the door open to future American Jews. What Cohen and Olitzky suggest is “Jewish Cultural Affirmation.” By this they...

Mar 2, 2014, 11:00 PM

How a Polish thriller challenges Holocaust history

The Polish film “Pokłosie” (“Aftermath”), currently on release in the U.S., contributes to the popular understanding of the Holocaust and Polish history in an unusual way. Neither the Holocaust nor any event in Polish history occur during the story,...

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About Me

Andrew Apostolou is a historian based in Washington D.C. He has a D.Phil. in history from Oxford University and has worked on human rights campaigns in the Middle East.