Editorials

Editorials

Hamas — humanitarian? Steven Witkoff would say so

IJN Editorial Staff -
When Hamas released hostages, no one called the Hamas operatives “humanitarians.”But when Russia released a hostage, President Trump’s envoy Steven Witkoff called Vladimir Putin a humanitarian. The character of Hamas was measured by the fact that it kidnapped hostages to begin with. Putin’s character is measured by the fact that he arrested Stephen Hubbard to begin with.
Editorials

This isn’t prophecy. Netanyahu will still be PM after Israel’s Oct. 27 election

IJN Editorial Staff -
We don’t know who will win in America’s upcoming midterm elections, Nov. 3. We don’t need to know who will win Israel’s national election, Oct. 27. Benjamin Netanyahu will still be prime minister. It’s not prophecy. It’s how Israel’s parliamentary system works.
Editorials

Lodestar — Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan, 1933-2026

IJN Editorial Staff -
Denver’s Rabbi Kagan Israel Meir Hakohen Kagan — the dean, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Toras Chaim, whose soul ascended upward this week —bore the precise name of the Chofetz Chaim. And he was held in that same esteem in our community. Respected and beloved — universally.
Editorials

The questions Melat Kiros refuses to answer

IJN Editorial Staff -
Melat Kiros, Democratic candidate for Colorado Congressional District 1, told senior Politico reporter Dasha Burns on Oct. 18 that she condemns the Boulder bombing “at every juncture that I have the opportunity to.” Actually, Kiros has avoided a number of opportunities to condemn the attack, because she appears to be refusing to engage with her Jewish constituency.
Editorials

From Yasir Arafat to Navi Pillay: The Nobel Peace Prize disgraces itself

IJN Editorial Staff -
The inventor of modern terrorism, the chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Yasir Arafat, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. The justification was Arafat’s consent to the Oslo Agreements to make peace with Israel.
Editorials

The agony of Oct. 7 — Compounded. Softened. Hardened.

IJN Editorial Staff -
Three years is hardly enough time for the psychic wound to the Jewish people, the physical wound to the State of Israel, and individual wounds to bereaved and hostage families to heal. This was to be expected, though not eased thereby. Unexpected was the avalanche of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hatred spurred by the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023.
Editorials

Two rights do not justify a wrong — the Israel-Palestinian conflict on the West Bank

IJN Editorial Staff -
The cards are stacked against Israel no matter what it does, but that doesn’t excuse the Israel government’s failures on the West Bank.
Editorials

The Jewish experience in journalism since Oct. 7, 2023

IJN Editorial Staff -
If journalists value the free press and are troubled by attacks on it, journalists must live up to their own standards of curiosity, rigor and accountability; they must pursue the real story and not a token one, and a substantiated story and not a sloppy one.
Editorials

Embodying Sukkot

IJN Editorial Staff -
Each of the Four Species is symbolically connected to a part of the human body — etrog the heart, lulav the backbone, myrtle the eyes and willow the lips. Accordingly, Moving Traditions has drawn a Sukkot chart: “Embodying Sukkot.”
Editorials

Down below. Up above. Hope embodied.

IJN Editorial Staff -
Omer Shem Tov, 20, was held by Hamas for 505 days in underground tunnels in Gaza, mostly in the dark. About 100 days in — he can’t be sure since he couldn’t keep track of time — the Israel Defense Forces fought above ground, where he was held, and left behind various items.
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Special SectionsSteve Mark -

VIP: Legal legend Len Chesler

In a legal career that began in 1967, Denverite Len Chesler, by his accounting, has tried “hundreds and hundreds” of civil and criminal cases. He is a member of the exclusive, 200-member American Board of Criminal Lawyers.In the June, 2013, 100th anniversary magazine of the IJN, Chesler was characterized: “The mind of a defense attorney, the heart of humanity. Len Chesler walks into court. Immediately, the clerks, the judges, the opposing counsel relax. Len’s manners and mannerisms bespeak respect and fairness. Meanwhile, this legendary counselor wins very tough criminal cases.”