Donald H. Harrison

Donald H. Harrison

Donald H. Harrison is the publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World. 

Harrison began his journalism career in 1962 on the UCLA Daily Bruin.  Following graduation he joined the staff of the Associated Press, and later became politics writer for The San Diego Union.  Afterwards he pursued a career in tourism, helping to establish San Diego’s Cruise Ship Program as well as Old Town Trolley Tours of San Diego.  He also wrote for such Jewish publications as the San Diego Jewish Press Heritage and San Diego Jewish Times before starting San Diego Jewish World in 2007.

Don’s  latest work is the three-volume Schlepping and Schmoozing Along the Interstate 5.  

He is the author of six previous books.  Those with links may be obtained on Amazon.

A Profound Choice Faces Israel, Visiting Israeli Professor Declares

One choice, he told an audience at Tifereth Israel Synagogue on Wednesday evening, Sept. 12, is to continue its war with the Palestinians. “It means that it (Israel) will become a pariah state and in the long term, perhaps also an apartheid state,” he said.  “It will lose what is left of its authority in the Jewish world. What’s more, it means giving up on the original Zionist dream of creating a safe haven for Jews.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Israel, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Sept. 11 Memorial in Jerusalem Conflated with Oct. 7th Remembrance

The ceremony was held at the 9-11 Living Memorial where the names of all 2,977 of those victims are permanently engraved in an amphitheater dominated by a large empty tomb topped by a sculpted American flag with a representation of a flame at its tip. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Israel, Gaza, Russia, Ukraine Prompt Vociferous Trump-Harris Exchange

Presidential opponents Donald Trump and Kamala Harris clashed on numerous topics during their 90-minute televised debate in Philadelphia, but perhaps most vociferously about the Israel-Hamas War and the Russia-Ukraine War. It started when ABC reporter Linsey Davis posed a question to Vice President Harris about how she would go about breaking the “stalemate” in Gaza. [Donald H. Harrison]

Israel, Gaza, Russia, Ukraine Prompt Vociferous Trump-Harris Exchange Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Insider Tells Lives of TV Sports Producers, Broadcasters, and Athletes

Steinfeld sketches his interactions with basketball player David Robinson, baseball strong man Cal Ripken Jr., and broadcasters Robin Roberts, Bob Costas and Merle Harmon.  He devotes an entire chapter to WNBA superstar and fellow Jewish community member Nancy Lieberman. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Coalition Calls on Gov. Newsom to Sign ‘Stop Hate Littering Act’

Elected officials and Jewish communal leaders on Monday, Sept. 9, asked San Diegans to write to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and urge him to sign Assembly Bill 3024, the Stop Hate Littering Act which had its genesis here in San Diego. [Donald H. Harrison]

Coalition Calls on Gov. Newsom to Sign ‘Stop Hate Littering Act’ Read More »

Antisemitism, California, Donald H. Harrison, Fred Kropveld, Holocaust, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Report: IDF Now Avoiding Maneuvers in Gaza Areas Where Hostages Being Held

That assessment was made by Jonathan Conricus, former spokesman for the IDF in a webcast interview Sunday with Michael Dickson, the StandWithUs director, who spoke with him from Jerusalem. [Donald H. Harrison]

Report: IDF Now Avoiding Maneuvers in Gaza Areas Where Hostages Being Held Read More »

Antisemitism, Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Dershowitz Biography Skims Over Some Famous Cases, Concentrates on Trump, Epstein

Dershowitz was involved as a defense and appeals court attorney in so many memorable cases – those that filled our newspapers and nightly television news – that in attempting to enumerate them all, biographer Schmidt could devote only a few pages to any one of them.  This resulted in the biography providing broad coverage of Dershowitz’s life and career but with only limited depth. [Donald H. Harrison]

Dershowitz Biography Skims Over Some Famous Cases, Concentrates on Trump, Epstein Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Hanukkah Book is a Tribute to a Child’s Imagination

This book is an ode to a child’s imagination. On each of the first seven nights of Hanukkah, a young girl gets a present from her parents. She imagines them to be a dragon that she names Nerry; a rainbow; a treasure chest filled with gold coins and rubies; a merry-go-round, a time-travel machine; rocket boots, and three unicorns. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Travel and Food

6 Slain Israeli Hostages Memorialized by United San Diego Jewish Community

Songs, psalms, poetry, and prayers recited by clergy and lay leaders of San Diego’s Jewish community were woven through a memorial service on Monday evening, Sept. 2, for six hostages brutally executed by Hamas as they waited defenselessly in tunnels under Rafah, Gaza, for their rescue by the Israel Defense Force. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Children’s Tennis Story Tells of Gibson and Buxton Overcoming Discrimination

So well did they get along that they decided to become doubles partners in the competition that became the French Open. They ignored boos and rude comments from bigots in the stands as they made their way to the court together. They prevailed all the way to a championship game, at which they lost the first set. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

‘Klop, Klop! Wake Up; It’s Time for Morning Prayers’

In Eastern Europe before alarm clocks were generally available, a Jewish person known as a “klopper” was appointed to knock on doors early in the morning to help assure people would get to morning prayers on time. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Children’s Book Describes Shock and Mourning over Lincoln’s Assassination

The narrative moves to the assassination of President Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre on a Friday night – the same time that many observant Jewish families were at their Shabbat dinners. When Rebecca’s mother lights candles, they unexpectedly flicker – symbolizing the spiritual blow to the nation. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Ethnically Jewish Author Explains His Atheism

Eventually, he imagined people sitting in a gigantic house with an infinite set of windows. Each person’s view of the world was influenced by the location of his or her window.  They could see what was in front of them, but not what was in front of the other residents.  Each person’s beliefs are determined by what happens outside their individual windows. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA