Until you take a real up close look at Samaria, it will remain an occupied territory of a fringe group of Jewish settlers trying to displace Palestinians and stymie the peace process. That is until you actually go there and see the region up close, talk to the people who live there and understand the size, demography and conditions the people live under. Is it a perfect situation? By no means it is not, but is it the obstacle to peace and the bane of the Palestinian existence? Hardly! more

It’s been over eight years since he first began his tenure as Executive Assistant to then New York State Governor George Pataki, (2004 – 2007) and, in the course of time since, Michael Fragin has become a household name in most any discussion about local politics. more

For many reasons, this was a sad week in our country. The obvious reasons loom over Newtown, Connecticut and words cannot express how sad and empty we all feel. There are no good answers when children are harmed, much worse killed. They are the most vulnerable among us and they look to us; they rely on those older, wiser and hopefully more reasoned to keep them safe and guide them into adulthood so that they can do the same. We have failed in so many ways. more

Something interesting occurred on Monday when a good friend of mine had the fortune of being interviewed on Fox News about his business. When we were younger, Jonathan Greenstein and I tore up the roads of Sullivan County and had a lot of fun, caused some trouble, and served food to the summer vacationers in the hotels and bungalow communities off Routes 42, 52 and 17. more

The election season is becoming an all out brawl between the candidates; each one is trying to paint a picture of the better America he will create in less than four years. Something is wrong with that philosophy, but it is hard to really put your finger on it after being indoctrinated with the short-term fix for so long. more

What can a young boy living in Israel teach us about American policy and the support of the American president for Israel? more

In all the traffic and confusion that is New York on the week the United Nations General Assembly is in town, there were some very important events that occurred that few may have paid attention to. Some people have become all worked up over the timing of the final address of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Assembly, for it was on Yom Kippur; the highest and most solemn of the Jewish holidays. more

With the conventions behind us and about 50 days left, the candidates are looking to garner whatever swing voters they can to firm up the election. Not surprising, Florida is a swing state, and appealing to Jewish voters there is pivotal to an election victory. more

To the Editor: In his predictable criticism of the statistically insignificant number of Rabbis for Obama who are on the board of Jewish Voice for Peace (an anti-Israel group) and those who are members of Rabbis for Human Rights (a pro two-state solution group that, unlike Jeff, has actually gone into Palestinian areas in West Bank to do their work, but never mind), Jeff wonders aloud how many more on the list he can smear. more

As the Republican and Democratic conventions draw near, the news media expends more of its time on election-related coverage. The focus is either on gaffes made by Vice President Biden, the fiscal policies and the fitness regimen of Mitt Romney’s choice for VP, Representative Paul Ryan, and the campaign battles between the two presidential candidates. more