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Feb 1, 2017, 8:15 PM

Oppose Trump with all your might but don’t compare him to Hitler

If you are tempted to compare Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, as many celebrities and politicians have done this week – stop it now. It is perfectly reasonable to be outraged by President Trump’s executive order directed at seven Muslim majority countries. There has been...

Jan 27, 2015, 12:45 PM

“Those who deny Auschwitz would be ready to remake it”

On this very day seventy years ago, the forces of the Soviet Red Army trudged into the complex of Auschwitz-Birkenau. As they crunched their way through the frozen grass, they encountered acres of barbed wire, air choking with human ash, pits filled to the rim...

Oct 14, 2014, 4:20 PM

Ignorance and arrogance in UK Parliament

I am what is commonly referred to as a “political junkie.” I absorb BBC News and Hansard to an extent that is at times probably a danger to my sanity. So when I turned on BBC Parliament to watch last night’s Commons debate on whether...

Sep 18, 2014, 5:53 AM

The Great War – White Tsars, Red Tsars and Jews

Part 2 of a two part series outlining the reasons why I believe the Great War was the defining moment of modern Jewish history. The outbreak of war in 1914 unravelled the perilous system of alliances that had existed between the imperial powers. Russia hurried...

Sep 7, 2014, 12:49 AM

The Great War – Jews and the War

Part 1 of a two part series outlining the reasons why I believe the Great War was the defining moment of modern Jewish history. “Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who teacheth my hands to War, and my fingers to fight.” (Psalm 144) So read...

Aug 13, 2014, 10:37 PM

The Great War – The Defining Moment of Modern Jewish History

If you were to ask your average Jewish person “What was the defining moment of modern Jewish History”, I would be prepared to make a large bet that they would respond “The Holocaust.” There is no doubt that the Holocaust (or Shoah) weighs heavily on...

Jul 27, 2014, 1:35 PM

I Feel Like A Stranger In My Own Country

I love Britain. This country has played a disproportionate role in the betterment of humanity – from the freedoms we all enjoy, the laws that protect us, the language that millions of us communicate with and the culture that enriches us. I will always be...

Jul 9, 2014, 9:05 PM

The difference between a society that sanctifies life and one that worships death

Almost a hundred years ago, as the British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey was staring out of the windows of the London Foreign Office on a hot summer’s day, he remarked “the lamps are going out all over Europe, we may not see them lit...

Mar 13, 2014, 3:35 PM

“Courage is to be a Zionist on campus”

When I took on the responsibility of leading Oxford University’s Israel Society, I felt honoured to be serving a cause which has always been close to my heart. A lifelong Zionist, I looked forward to representing the State of Israel on campus. I knew that...

Mar 5, 2014, 5:05 PM

We stand in solidarity with Ukrainian Jews: An open letter from the UK

We, Jewish students in the United Kingdom, stand by our Jewish brothers and sisters in Ukraine, during their hour of need. The history of Jewish life in Ukraine is even older than the country itself. In times of peace, the community in Ukraine has flourished...

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About Me

Richard Black is a freelance journalist and a recent graduate of the University of Oxford.