As we quickly approach the New Year with hopes, aspirations and resolutions let's take a brief moment to look back on 2012’s highlights on
The Jerusalem Post blog site.
The past year saw a fresh redesign for the JPost.com blog site, as we said goodbye to many esteemed writers and welcomed the addition of several new high profile bloggers like
International Broadcaster and Journalist Earl Cox and
Pro-Israel Activist Maurice Ostroff. Veteran bloggers like
Abe Foxman,
David Harris, and
Ed Koch were also exceedingly popular with readers as they weighed in on some of the top stories of 2012.
New addition to the team, Radio Talk Show Host Gadi Adelman, whose blog post
Benghazi- October Surprise was the most popular blog of the year, captured readers with his analysis of the Obama administration's response to the tragic
attack on the US Embassy in Benghazi and his exclusive sit down interview with former CIA operative Clare M. Lopez.
Other hot button topics that seized readers' attention this past year included the Iranian threat, the Palestinian UN bid, and Operation Pillar of Defense.
Michael Omer-Man's blog post
Iran: A game gone too far was an especially popular post on the subject. Under an eye-catching headline, he claims that the Israeli government engaged in a dangerous "good cop, bad cop" game with the Iranian regime and the international community whose path may ultimately lead to war.
Similarly, Rabbi Eric Yoffie's aptly titled article
Five things I never want to hear again about the conflict in Gaza was well-received by readers. Writing the piece in the midst of Operation Pillar of Defense, Yoffie lists five statements commonly heard about the Gaza conflict and then proceeds to tear them to shreds. The post ignited great debate among readers, with some individuals even creating lists of their own in the comments section.
Another popular blog was Gil Troy's post,
Why Israel should say 'NO' to the Palestinians' UN UDI (unilateral declaration of independence). While the title is self-explanatory, readers clicked in to get the full scoop and read veteran blogger Troy's analysis on the UN bid.
Other notable blogs of 2012 included David Turner's series on the
Foundations of the Holocaust, which sparked debate amongst readers the likes of which the blog site has never seen; with each post receiving hundreds of comments. Michael Ordman's series of uplifting posts in his blog
Just Look at Us Now were also increasingly popular and were even picked up by sites and newspapers as far as Malaysia. Yisrael Medad and Petra Marquardt-Bigman also intrigued readers, as they took on
anti-Israel bias in the mainstream media and
anti-Semitism on Twitter and social media respectively. And of course, our
Jewish pop-culture blogger Abe Novick managed to entertain readers throughout the year.
Finally, I'd like to remind our readers that the
Post is looking for new bloggers to join the team in 2013. If you are interested in becoming a regular blogger and have a novel idea for a new blog send a proposal along with a writing sample to
jpostblogeditor@gmail.com.
What will 2013 have in store for us?
The writer is The Jerusalem Post’
s blogs editor