Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(Jewish Journal via JNS) — Across the country, angry protesters have been blocking highways, heckling political leaders and setting up tent encampments on college campuses, all to protest a non-existent genocide. But when a real genocide is unfolding, nobody’s interested. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof reported last week that genocide appears to be erupting again in the Sudanese region of Darfur. “Some of the same Arab forces responsible for the genocide in the 2000s are picking up where they left off,” Kristof writes. “They are mass...
(JTA) — Seventy-eight years ago this week, David Ben-Gurion rose before the Asefat Hanivcharim, Palestine Jewry’s elected assembly, and delivered an explosive “j’accuse” against the Allies for abandoning Europe’s Jews during the Holocaust. The words of the man who would soon be Israel’s first prime minister take on added significance in view of the upcoming release of Ken Burns’ three-part, six-hour PBS documentary “The U.S. and the Holocaust.” Its official website says the film “dispels” the “myth” that America “looked on with callous ind...
(JNS) Legislation to combat the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement against Israel has been adopted in more than 20 states in recent years, but it was derailed last month in Massachusetts. Pro-Israel activists are divided over the reasons why. The Massachusetts bill, known as the Act Prohibiting Discrimination in State Contracts, would have made it illegal for state agencies to do more than $10,000 worth of business with companies that discriminate on the basis of national origin, including, by implication, Israeli national origin. The bi... Full story
(JNS)—Major American Jewish organizations are calling for stricter gun-control laws in the wake of the Feb. 14 mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla., that left 14 students and three staff members dead. A spokesperson for the women’s organization Hadassah told JNS that the group supports all three of the legislative proposals under discussion in the aftermath of the shooting. One is a bill sponsored by U.S. Sens. Jon Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) to expand criminal background checks on prospective purchasers of guns. A second leg... Full story
Leaders of several major American Jewish organizations have told JNS that they are supporting the Israeli government's decision to prevent the entry of foreign citizens who promote boycotts of Israel. Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs on Jan. 7 released a preliminary list of 20 foreign organizations whose "central figures" will not be permitted to enter Israel because they have undertaken "significant, ongoing and consistent harm to Israel through advocating boycotts." There are six... Full story
The Reform movement has started to retreat from its opposition to the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Following President Donald Trump’s recognition announcement, Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs issued a statement on Dec. 6 expressing “serious concern” that the president’s action “may well undercut the Administration’s peace process efforts and risk destabilizing the region.” The URJ’s opposition broke with the broad American Jewish communal support of the Jerusalem recogni... Full story
In the wake of an attack by a teenage Palestinian terrorist that left two Israelis wounded last Friday, Jewish organizations and community leaders are calling for the withdrawal of a congressional measure targeting Israel's treatment of Palestinian minors. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) and nine other Democrats in the House of Representatives last week introduced H.R. 4391, which would restrict U.S. aid to Israel if the Israelis undertake the "military detention, interrogation, abuse, or... Full story
The Canadian government has announced that it will correct a memorial plaque at its new National Holocaust Monument, which spoke of the “millions of men, women and children during the Holocaust”—but neglected to mention Jews. Unfortunately, Canadian Minister of Heritage Melanie Joly has compounded the original error, by announcing that the new plaque will acknowledge “the six million Jews, as well as the five million other victims, that were murdered during the Holocaust.” But there is, in fact, no historical basis for that “five million” fi... Full story
The United Nations has crowned her a "human rights defender," while Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based broadcaster, hails her as a "Palestinian supermom." But Manal Tamimi's links to violence and tweets accusing Jews of "drinking Palestinian blood" are prompting some of her backers to reconsider their support. Tamimi, a 45-year-old mother of four, is a leader of the Popular Resistance Organizing Committee in the town of Nabi Saleh, near the Palestinian Authority (PA)-controlled city of Ramallah.... Full story
Two prominent U.S. senators are raising questions about an American-funded school in Ramallah that is running an extremist summer camp for Palestinian teens from around the world, many of them Americans. The controversial summer program, called "Go Palestine," is run by the Ramallah Friends School, a 148-year-old Quaker institution in the Palestinian Authority's de facto capital. Its stated mission is to provide Palestinian teens from abroad with "introductions to Palestinian culture, cuisine,... Full story
WASHINGTON—Some Jewish Democrats and community activists are concerned at what they see as fresh signs that the party is distancing itself from Israel. The latest controversy began when Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said at a July 22 Town Hall meeting in New York City’s Bronx borough that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “does not have a plan for peace.” Asked by JNS.org to elaborate, Gillibrand declined to reiterate her criticism of Netanyahu. Her senior adviser, Glen Caplin, said only that Gillibrand is “one of the strongest... Full story
Palestinians are vowing to continue their efforts to prevent Jews from living in large parts of Jerusalem’s Old City, despite a July 31 Israeli court ruling permitting a Jewish purchase of several properties there. The ruling by Judge Gila Kanfi-Steinitz, deputy head of the Jerusalem District Court, capped a 13-year legal struggle over the purchase by Jewish investors of two Arab-run hotels and an unidentified third property, all owned by the Greek Orthodox Church and located in the area of the Old City known as the Christian Quarter. The t... Full story
There is a broad consensus among American Jewish leaders in support of Israel's use of metal detectors to intercept terrorists on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations "supports taking the necessary and appropriate steps to assure security for all and to protect the sanctity of these holy sites," the umbrella group's executive vice chairman and CEO, Malcolm Hoenlein, told JNS.org. Herbert Block, executive director of the American Zionist Movement, said, "If the authorities responsible for... Full story
Is a "mobilized faction" in the American Jewish community attempting to "censor" dovish views? The president of The Forward newspaper thinks so, but other editors and leaders of some left-of-center Jewish organizations see things differently. The dispute arises from the July 12 episode of the Jewish Broadcasting Service (JBS) television series "L'Chayim," which featured a panel discussion on freedom of speech in the Jewish community. At the center of the discussion was The Forward's decision to... Full story
Anti-Israel bias in the textbooks used by many American high schools may be to blame for the decrease in sympathy for Israel among young adults. According to the Brand Israel Group, only 54 percent of U.S. college students lean more toward Israel than the Palestinians, down from 73 percent in 2010. The decrease was even sharper among Jewish college students, dropping from 84 percent to 57 percent. “The problem starts in high school,” Dr. Sandra Alfonsi, founder of Hadassah’s Curriculum Watch division, told JNS.org. “There’s no doubt the lack... Full story
The decision by the Jewish weekly newspaper The Forward to publish a paid advertisement supporting imprisoned Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti is being questioned by some editors of other American Jewish newspapers. The full-page ad appeared in The Forward’s June 2 edition. It was sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a controversial organization that supports the BDS movement and is described by the Anti-Defamation League as the largest “Jewish anti-Zionist group” in the U.S. The ad featured a statement by Barghouti calling for m... Full story
WASHINGTON—Prominent Democrats and major U.S. Jewish organizations are joining President Donald Trump in calling on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to stop making payments to imprisoned terrorists and their families. Trump raised the issued during his May 3 meeting with PA President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, and also referred to it in his May 22 press conference with Abbas in Bethlehem, warning that terrorists should not be “tolerated, funded or rewarded.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) recently intro... Full story
President Donald Trump’s missile strike against Syria inaugurates a new chapter in the long and controversial history of American responses—and sometimes nonresponses—to mass murder around the world. Although the killing of Syrian civilians by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime does not technically constitute genocide—which the United Nations defined in 1948 as the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such”—there is no doubt Assad has committed heinous and large-scale war crimes. Trump’s d... Full story
WASHINGTON—Amid growing congressional concern about the Palestinian Authority’s misuse of U.S. aid, a major mainstream American Jewish organization has been quietly lobbying Congress to cover the PA’s unpaid bills at a Jerusalem hospital. JNS.org has learned that for the past several years, senior officials of the American Jewish Committee have undertaken the task of pressing U.S. officials, including members of Congress, to pay millions in unpaid bills the PA has racked up at the Lutheran-sponsored Augusta Victoria hospital in eastern Jerus... Full story
The most recent round of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations failed because the Palestinian Authority (PA) responded to each Israeli concession with new demands and the Obama administration kept taking the Palestinians’ side, according to a veteran Israeli negotiator. Brigadier-General (ret.) Michael Herzog, a member of Israel’s negotiating teams since 1993, disclosed previously unknown details about the U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian talks that took place in 2013-2014, in an essay for The American Interest Feb. 27. Herzog disputed claims by for... Full story
WASHINGTON—American Jewish leaders are enthusiastically applauding President Donald Trump’s call on the Palestinian Authority to remove anti-Jewish hate material from its school books. At his press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Feb. 15, Trump said “the Palestinians have to get rid of” the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish material that appears in PA school texts. “They’re taught tremendous hate,” he said. “I’ve seen what they’re taught... it starts at a very young age and it starts in the school room.” Malcolm Hoenlein, ex... Full story
Ahead of this year’s marking of International Holocaust Remembrance Day Jan. 27, new details have been revealed concerning how much the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration knew about the Nazis’ euthanasia policy, and why the U.S. failed to respond. German historian Thorsten Noack, writing in the latest issue of the scholarly journal Holocaust and Genocide Studies, describes how famed journalist William Shirer first publicly exposed the Nazis’ systematic execution of individuals with physical or mental disabilities. In the pages of Life magaz... Full story
WASHINGTON-American victims of Palestinian terrorism are applauding Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson's criticism of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and are urging him to press the PA to take specific anti-terror steps. During his Senate confirmation hearing Jan. 11, Tillerson said that while the PA has renounced terrorism, "it's one thing to renounce it and another thing to take serious actions to prevent it." He also said Palestinian leaders have to do "something to at least interrupt... Full story
Democratic and Republican lawmakers are vowing to challenge a limit on U.S. defense aid for Israel that President Barack Obama included in the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between the two nations. The agreement—reached in September—guarantees Israel $38 billion in aid over 10 years, but it also states that if Congress increases the aid, Israel is obliged to return the extra funds. U.S. Reps. Paul Gosar (R-Texas), Randy Weber (R-Ariz.), and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday at Agudath Israel of America’s annual legislative lunch... Full story
WASHINGTON-Although it will be some time before President-elect Donald Trump names the members of his cabinet, the four individuals most often mentioned as contenders for the administration's top foreign policy post all have strong pro-Israel records. Trump himself once floated the name of John Bolton for secretary of state. Asked on the "Hugh Hewitt Show" radio program in August whom he might consider for the position, Trump replied that Bolton "is a good man" and that he was "seriously... Full story
