Daniel Finkelstein

Latest from Daniel Finkelstein

The anti-Zionists try to start every debate right in the middle

Supporters of Israel can begin to win arguments by returning to first principles: the Jewish state exists as a safe haven and there is no evidence suggesting that it is no longer needed

3 min read

Hundreds of Palestinian nationals and pro-Palestinian activists gathered at Times Square on May 18, 2018 to support the ongoing struggle in Israeli-occupied territories . (Photo by Erik McGregor/Sipa USA)

Why were Jews left out of government report on racism?

3 min read

ER24PW Hay-on-Wye, Powys, UK. 25th May 2015. David Baddiel, English comedian, novelist and television presenter, in conversation at the Hay Festival 2015. Credit: Graham M. Lawrence/Alamy Live News.

It’s that rare thing — something new to say on antisemitism

3 min read

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 12: U.S. President Donald Trump turns to reporters as he exits the White House to walk toward Marine One on the South Lawn on January 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. Following last week's deadly pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol, President Trump is making his first public appearance with a trip to the town of Alamo, Texas to view the construction of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Politicians are our defence against mob rule

2 min read

The depressing truth about the left and Jews

'The left are so bound up with the interchangeable use of Zionist and Jews, and so committed to their attempt to describe the antisemitism problem as merely being about defending Israel from criticism, that they have become tangled up in their own argument.'

2 min read

December 3, 2020 13:36

The depressing truth about the left and Jews

Trump cannot be the leader of the free world

'Donald Trump is not a reliable ally for free nations nor a consistent critic of those that aren’t free'

3 min read

October 22, 2020 10:50

Trump cannot be the leader of the free world

Out and proud about my Jewish background

'In the last 20 years I have been a public Jew in a way I wasn’t really in the 20 years before that.'

3 min read

September 4, 2020 14:03

Out and proud about my Jewish background

Some answers are beyond our reason

'We use reasons to explain why we do things, but they aren’t necessarily actually why we do things'

3 min read

July 23, 2020 15:23

The issue that made me act out of character

'It may be that Israel’s friends abroad can see things that some people living there cannot.'

3 min read

June 15, 2020 17:36

The issue that made me act out of character

My son Isaac's Zoomitzvah

'It seemed unlikely to be a very satisfying arrangement. Our family wouldn’t be in synagogue. Our friends wouldn’t be in synagogue. We wouldn’t be in synagogue. How emotionally impactful could be it be?'

3 min read

April 30, 2020 07:55

Community is the way we can beat selfishness

'We are, unfortunately, quite self-centred but our sense of obligation stretches to our families. And beyond that to our friends and acquaintances. We can build a better society where people share and don’t fight, but these are the building blocks.'

3 min read

March 19, 2020 09:58

Community is the way we can beat selfishness

The heroic Poles who saved my mother’s life

Seventy-five years after his mother was liberated from Bergen Belsen, Daniel Finkelstein has learned about the brave Polish diplomats who saved her life

3 min read

February 10, 2020 09:31

The heroic Poles who saved my mother’s life

Always look beyond the holes in the cheese

It was affirming and very encouraging people turned out to understand and to care about racism against Jews, says Daniel Finkelstein

3 min read

December 30, 2019 11:16

Always look beyond the holes in the cheese

Voices from the past telling truth to the future

'As my sister always says, there is always a miracle in every survivor story. Because, if there wasn’t a miracle, you didn’t survive.'

3 min read

November 13, 2019 18:18

Voices from the past telling truth to the future

Tradition and progress need not be in conflict

It is ahistorical to suggest that Judaism must stay as it always has been, because the one thing it has always been doing is changing, says Daniel Finkelstein

3 min read

October 4, 2019 13:49