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Sundown: Auster Takes on Erdogan

Plus circumcisions done in a snap, Goldberg on Mearsheimer, and more

by
Marc Tracy
February 01, 2012
Paul Auster in 2008.(Krafft Angerer/Getty Images)
Paul Auster in 2008.(Krafft Angerer/Getty Images)

• Paul Auster refused to visit Turkey because they jail journalists. Prime Minister Erdogan responded that Auster (who is Jewish) has a double standard because he visited Israel. Auster replies: “Whatever the Prime Minister might think about the state of Israel, the fact is that free speech exists there and no writers or journalists are in jail.” [NYT ArtsBeat]

• Circumcisions helps prevent the spread of HIV and are now, thanks to an Israeli company, as easily done and minimally painful as ever. [NYT]

• Contributing editor Jeff Goldberg adds a bit more room to the new one he tore for John J. Mearsheimer a few years ago. [Atlantic Goldblog]

• An OECD study pegs Israel the second most-educated country in the world (congratulations Canada, I guess). [Haaretz]

• Submit your embarrassing bat mitzvah photos to Gawker. Bar mitzvah photos are presumably banned to give the ladies a chance to win. [Gawker]

• The lost and new Jews of … Crown Heights! [NYT]

If you read Hebrew, you’ll recognize that this is Haaretz discussing Liel Leibovitz’s Scroll post yesterday.

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