Articles written by Ben Sales
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Israel is having yet another election - could Netanyahu lose? Here are the basics.
(JTA) - In about two months, Israelis will vote in a national election. Seem familiar? It is. Israel will be holding its fourth election in just two years - the latest sign that in a country...
Six weeks ago, Facebook announced a ban on Holocaust denial - it's still easy to find
(JTA) - As of Wednesday afternoon, one of the first results in a Facebook search for "Holohoax" - a term popular with Holocaust deniers - was a post decrying "Zionist White Jewish Supremacist Child...
Israel signs COVID vaccine deal
(JTA) — Israel’s government has signed an agreement with the Pfizer pharmaceutical company to acquire 8 million doses of its vaccine. “This is a great day for the State of Israel and a great day on the way to our victory over the...
Two weeks after Twitter bans Holocaust denial, CEO Jack Dorsey says it's still allowed
(JTA) — Two weeks ago, Twitter banned Holocaust denial. Or did it? The company announced earlier this month that it would ban posts that “deny or diminish” violent events, including the Holocaust. But in a Senate hearing Wednesday, CEO Jack...
State Department to label 3 human rights groups anti-Semitic
By Ron Kampeas, Ben Sales WASHINGTON (JTA) — In an unusual move, the State Department is planning to formally identify three large international human rights organizations as anti-Semitic, citing disputed aspects of the groups’ agendas. Elan...
Northwestern University president spars over anti-Semitism with activist group and professors
The president, Morton Schapiro, said it could be. The activist group said it was not. The ensuing debate has divided Northwestern’s campus just north of Chicago this week, with the school’s Hillel offering students the opportunity to reflect on...
Facebook bans Holocaust denial
(JTA) — Facebook announced that it will now ban any posts that deny or distort the Holocaust, a landmark change from its previous policy. For years, Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, had defended Holocaust denial as a misguided but legitimate...
Michael Oren published a book of short stories - he's more worried about the future of literature than democracy
(JTA) - You may know Michael Oren as a cable news commentator on Israel and the Middle East. You may know him as the Israeli ambassador to the United States during Barack Obama's first term, when he...
Report: white supremacists the 'most persistent and lethal' threat in the US
(JTA) — A new report from the Department of Homeland Security names white supremacists as the biggest domestic terror threat in the United States. The Homeland Threat Assessment, released on Tuesday, details an array of violent domestic threats in...
Fox show called out Gingrich for his George Soros rhetoric
(JTA) — An exchange Wednesday on a Fox News show struck many as remarkable: Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker, blamed “George Soros’ money” for violence in American cities before being shut down by two other panelists on “O...
Study: More than one in 10 Americans under 40 thinks Jews caused the Holocaust
(JTA) — More than one in 10 American adults under 40 believes that Jews caused the Holocaust. That’s one finding from a survey published Wednesday trying to gauge Holocaust knowledge among millennials and Generation Z, a cohort ranging in age...
This map shows the 20 congressional districts with the most Jews
(JTA) - About one-third of American Jews live in just 20 of the country's congressional districts. Nearly half of those districts are in New York, and all but one of them is represented by a...
The pandemic's first High Holiday season has synagogues wondering: Will people pay dues?
(JTA) - Like many synagogues, Temple B'nai Hayim used to rely on the High Holiday season to survive financially. The small Conservative synagogue in Southern California would receive the lion's share...
Kenosha's rabbi on graffiti at her synagogue: 'What's happened these last few days is not about us'
(JTA) — In early June, as anti-racism protests swept the country in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha, Wisconsin, signed onto an interfaith letter supporting peaceful protest and condemning “a broken...
Rosenblum says she won't stand for authoritarianism in Portland
(JTA) — When reports emerged two weeks ago about federal agents seizing protesters from the streets of Portland and putting them in unmarked vans, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum sued to get federal officers off the street. A judge rejected...
For the few Jewish camps that are opening despite risks, finding willing families hasn't been hard
(JTA) - This week, as he prepares to open Camp Modin and administer coronavirus tests to its hundreds of campers and staff, Howard Salzberg is still fielding 50 calls a day from parents who want to...
ADL and NAACP call on companies to stop running Facebook ads in July
(JTA) — The Anti-Defamation League, along with the NAACP and other civil rights groups, is calling on corporations not to advertise on Facebook in July because of the social media platform’s unwillingness to police hate speech. The campaign,...
800 rabbis and cantors support peaceful protest against racism
(JTA) — More than 800 rabbis and cantors, including the leaders of three major denominations, signed a statement in support of peaceful protest against racism and in memory of George Floyd. The statement invoked Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, an...
Is George Soros funding George Floyd protests?
(JTA) — Right-wing conspiracy theorists are increasingly claiming that George Soros is funding recent protests and riots across the United States in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing. According to the Anti-Defamation League, “aggressive l...
Hope fading and regulations tightening, more Jewish camps set to cancel
(JTA)—At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, and as recently as a couple weeks ago, some Jewish camps had hoped they could run for part of the summer. For a growing number of camps, that hope now appears to be vanishing. Two Conservative Ramah...
Ramah camps anticipate a total budget shortfall of $27 million this year, but don't expect to fold
(JTA)—The network of 10 Conservative Jewish Ramah camps in North America will lose approximately half of their collective annual revenue if they all need to cancel camp and refund tuition—a total...
Conservative Jewish youth group USY cancels summer travel programs
(JTA)—The Conservative Jewish youth group United Synagogue Youth is canceling its summer travel programs for teens, the latest in a string of canceled Jewish summer programs. The announcement comes as several Conservative Ramah summer camps are...
It's official: Most Reform Jewish camps will cancel this summer
(JTA)-Nearly all Reform Jewish summer camps, and at least one Conservative camp, will remain closed for the 2020 summer due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency has... Full story
From cabins to bungalows: Some Jewish overnight camps may become socially distanced family retreats this summer
(JTA)-Every summer, JCC Ranch Camp in Colorado gives hundreds of kids an outdoorsy Jewish experience. There's hiking, mountain biking, ropes courses and horseback riding, along with the traditional...
Jewish nonprofits are struggling-how can donors help?
By Ben Sales NEW YORK (JTA)—In the weeks after it became clear that the coronavirus pandemic would spark a lasting economic crisis, the Jewish world’s leading funder group put together a memo with some back-of-the-envelope projections for how muc... Full story
