For a movement that talks incessantly about diversity, the Democratic Socialists of America has an awkward problem of its own: it is remarkably white.

According to an internal survey obtained by City & State New York, 60% of respondents in the New York City chapter of the DSA identified as white. Some 63% of the chapter's 15,600 members completed the optional survey, so this was hardly a small sample.

These results are difficult to square with the organization's own rhetoric.

In official NYC-DSA materials, the organization has repeatedly spoken of building and organizing a "multiracial working class."

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Rebeca Grynspan, a Costa Rican Jew, emerged on July 30 as the early frontrunner in the first informal U.N. Security Council poll to select the world body's next secretary-general.

A former vice president of Costa Rica, Grynspan received 10 "encourage" votes from the council's 15 members, one more than her nearest rival. The poll was nonbinding and more rounds are expected, but if Grynspan ultimately prevails, she would become both the first woman and the first Jew to lead the United Nations.

Her candidacy casts an intriguing light on the history of the Central American nation's tiny Jewish community.

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Recently, I got into a debate online with someone who demanded to know why, after all these years, there is still no Palestinian state.

The question was clearly meant as an indictment of Israel.

But as the exchange went on, it became clear to me that the person knew almost nothing about the history of the conflict. There were plenty of accusations but very little knowledge of the facts, a phenomenon we see all too often nowadays.

So let's set the record straight.

Before asking why there is no Palestinian state today, it is worth recalling a basic historical fact: there has never been a Palestinian state in all of history.

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There are few things more natural than fear on the battlefield.

A soldier facing an enemy knows what is at stake. The next few minutes may determine whether he lives or dies, and it would be unnatural for him not to feel fear.

And yet, in this week's Parsha of Shoftim, the Torah commands precisely the opposite.

"When you go out to war against your enemy, and you see horse and chariot, a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your G-d is with you, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 20:1).

The Torah does not minimize the danger. It acknowledges that Israel may face a more powerful force yet still insists: Do not be afraid.

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For the Jews of Karachi, Pakistan, Friday evenings once followed a familiar rhythm. A century ago, as the sun descended over the Arabian Sea, families would make their way to the Magain Shalome Synagogue to welcome the Sabbath.

Women had already lit Shabbat candles before leaving home. Men greeted one another at the entrance while children settled beside parents and grandparents. Soon the sanctuary filled with the sounds of Hebrew prayer, recited in the distinctive cadence of the Bene Israel Jews whose families had come to Karachi from western India.

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