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Sundown: Reform Jews Bring Home the Bacon

Plus, exit Mitchell, stage irrelevant, and more

by
Marc Tracy
May 13, 2011
U.S. envoy George Mitchell in November.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
U.S. envoy George Mitchell in November.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

• On average, the religious group (including secularism) with the richest adherents in America is Reform Judaism; Conservatives take third (with Hindus sneaking in at second place). This is as much an indication of education levels. [NYT Mag]

• George Mitchell resigned as U.S. special envoy for the Mideast, ostensibly for having served his two years but actually because the peace process is on life support. [Politico]

• “I don’t see Hamas as a terror organization,” said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “Hamas is a political party.” [JPost]

• Nakba Day is Sunday, but the clashes have already begun in East Jerusalem. [Al-Jazeera]

• A fascinating look at the Alawite sect—it’s like a non-mainstream, neo-Platonic version of Shiism—and how its adherents came to power in Syria despite comprising only 12 percent of the population. The Alawites of French Syria are eerily reminiscent of the Jews of British Palestine. [NYRB]

• Jordan has agreed to buy natural gas from Egypt at a higher price than it did under the Mubarak regime, making it likely that Israel will eventually do so as well. [JPost]

• Reflections from a Times reporter on Jeff Hall, the neo-Nazi whose son allegedly shot and killed him on May 1. [NYT]

• Jeffrey Herf argues that the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise in Egypt is bad not only for Israel but for Egypt itself as well. [TNR]

• Some ultra-Orthodox newspapers airbrush women out of more than just photos. [Unorthodox Gymnastics]

• The head of an Orthodox day school in Buenos Aires was assaulted to shouts of “Jew, Jew!” [ADL]

Wishing you a sunny afternoon.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.