Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1332 - 1356 of 10919
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — An Iranian athlete who posted criticism online of Iran’s April 14 attack on Israel has reportedly been arrested, and her whereabouts have been unknown since Wednesday, according to media reports. Iranian national volleyball team player Mobina Rostami posted on her Instagram account: “As an Iranian, I am truly ashamed of the authorities’ attack on Israel, but you need to know that the people in Iran love Israel and hate the Islamic Republic.” She was reportedly arrested shortly afterwards. One of the comments on her po...
(JNS) - The Israeli Cabinet on Wednesday unanimously approved a five-year strategic plan to rebuild, develop and strengthen the western Negev communities devastated during Hamas's Oct. 7 terrorist invasion. The 19-billion-shekel ($5 billion) program, which will be carried out by the recently created Tekuma ("Revival") Authority, will see investment in housing, infrastructure, education, employment opportunities, medical services and more, the Prime Minister's Office said. "The Hamas terrorists...
(JNS) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday night shared new footage showing Yarden Bibas, the father of Kfir and Ariel and the husband of Shiri, being abducted by Hamas terrorists to the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7. The 40-second video segment shows a bloodied Yarden being kidnapped by armed terrorists on a motorcycle. A large crowd of Palestinians and journalists gathers around the hostage, taking photos and abusing him. “The world must not remain silent in the face of such crimes. Bring them home now!” Herzog wrote on X. The world must...
(JNS) - Some 50 animators and producers responsible for the character of Batman in various productions over the years signed a petition this week calling on Qatar and Egypt, two mediators in hostage talks between Israel and Hamas, to push for the release of the Bibas family. The Bibas family has been held in the Gaza Strip for 193 days. The father, Yarden, 34, his wife Shiri, 32, and their two children, Kfir, who spent his first birthday in captivity, and Ariel, 4, were kidnapped from Kibbutz...
The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida honored Jonathan and Nancy Wolf with the Tess Wise White Rose Award at its annual White Rose Tribute Event held at the Orlando Museum of Art on April 11. In addition, Nilam Patel, an English teacher at Dr. Phillips High School, was surprised with the first-ever White Rose Educator Award. The Tess Wise White Rose Award, created in 1989, honors individuals who magnify the values of inclusiveness and respect and who demonstrate that...
Iranian citizens are praising the Israeli army and calling on the Jewish State to assassinate key ruling figures such as the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini, as Iran girds for a potential Israeli retaliation following an unprecedented missile and drone attack. Residents of Iran are expressing those sentiments via social media posts and subversive street graffiti, with many asking Israel to bring down the government, which rules according to a strict interpretation of Islamic law. “Israel, strike back. They don’t have the guts to take rev...
The end to the current school year is fast approaching. This is the best time to start planning for the 2024-2025 school year. The Rosen JCC Early Childhood Learning Center is now registering for the new year. The ECLC provides a STEAM education focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics. STEAM is a hand on approach to learning these concepts and how they are part of everyday tasks. This gives kids a strong foundation for their academic career and builds a love of learning. The Rosen JCC ECLC is an award-winning program...
Temple Israel is celebrating their 70th Anniversary Simcha at their 50 S. Moss Road location on Sunday, May 19, at 5:30 p.m., and it’d be a shanda not to attend! Guests will enjoy catered appetizers, dinner, and drinks. There will be free babysitting, dinner, and activities provided for children 12 and under while adults enjoy live klezmer music, a photo booth, a keepsake program book, a slideshow full of memories, and many more surprises. Support the synagogue further with sponsorships and submit your favorite photos from the past 70 years s...
Reflect upon the tragedy of the Holocaust as those who perished are remembered at the Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and Heroism hosted by The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center. The event will be held Sunday, May 5 at 3 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 851 N. Maitland Ave. The guest speaker will be Greg Dawson, author of “Hiding in the Spotlight,” which chronicles his mother’s incredible journey and explores the resilience of the human spirit and the power of music to save lives. Register at www.holocau...
(JNS) — Christian and Jewish leaders gathered in Washington on Monday evening to call for Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and to oppose proposals for the creation of a Palestinian state in the wake of Oct. 7. David Friedman, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and one of the leaders of the Keep God’s Land movement that organized the event, told JNS that the group proposes to extend Israeli sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria. “Some of the most important parts of biblical Israel—whether it’s the Old City of Jerusalem, the city of...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — As the United States and other countries pressure Israel to increase food aid to Gaza, Israeli officials familiar with the situation say Gaza has been overwhelmed by food aid. Israeli officials harshly criticize American representatives, led by Ambassador David Satterfield, accusing them of echoing the lie about “starvation in Gaza.” Every evening at 8 p.m., a quadrilateral forum takes place with representatives from Israel, the United States, the United Nations and Egypt, where a daily report on the humanitarian situa...
(JNS) — Forty-eight countries condemned Iran and its proxies for the Apr. 14 missile and drone attack on Israel in a joint statement issued on Wednesday evening. “We unequivocally condemn” the attacks, read the statement, specifically naming Iran and its “militant partners” and noting that “this large-scale attack could have caused significant damage and loss of life.” While garnering broad support, the statement was only signed by Western nations. The effort was led by the United States and included five other members of the U.N. Security...
(JNS) — The Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) denied a report on Sunday by the British Daily Mail that intelligence gathered by Israel’s internal security service is leading to fears that only 40 hostages out of the 133 still being held by Hamas in Gaza are alive. According to the report from the London-based tabloid, a dwindling number of captives have survived after 253 were kidnapped during the Hamas-led rampage across the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7. The report cites the Shin Bet and anonymous sources to make the claim. “The publi...
(JNS) — The negotiations to forge a deal wherein Hamas would free hostages held in Gaza in return for a ceasefire and the release of terrorists held in Israeli prisons are at a delicate stage, Qatar’s prime minister said on Wednesday. “We are going through a sensitive stage with some stalling, and we are trying as much as possible to address this,” said Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The Gulf nation is mediating the talks, along with Egypt and the U.S. While Israel has shown flexibility in the hopes of arriving at a hostage deal, Hamas h...
(JTA) - Yakira Galler, a first-year student at Barnard College, has had trouble sleeping. Galler has an apartment that looks out onto Broadway, which divides Columbia University's campus from Barnard, its women's college. Each night this week, she has heard crowds of protesters banging pots and pans, chanting "Intifada, revolution" and calling for the Ivy League university to divest from Israel. The street protests accompanied a much larger on-campus demonstration that devolved into unrest on...
(JNS) — A Jewish student at Yale University was stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag during an anti-Israel demonstration on Saturday night at the school’s campus in New Haven, Conn. “Tonight at Yale, I was assaulted by a student today at an anti-Israel protest. He stabbed me in the eye with a Palestinian flag. Now I’m in the hospital. This is what happens when visibly Jewish students try to attend and document these rallies,” Sahar Tartak, a sophomore, tweeted after the incident. Tartak, who is studying history and is the editor-in...
Natalie Sopinsky lives in Suissa, Israel, in the southeast Negev. She shares her daily life with Heritage readers, her thoughts, her reality in the land she loves. Welcome to Israel ... where we allow terrorist murderers free reign. They have education, jobs, families, possessions...they are normal citizens. So why do they hate us so much? What pushes a mother to kill? What causes a mother to be a killer, to forfeit her life, to lead a life in jail? Why attempt to kill an Israeli soldier? As we...
(JNS) - "A farmer does not leave his land." Six months after losing his wife, his 15-year-old son and one of his legs in the Oct. 7 massacre perpetrated by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel, Avida Bachar is back on his land. Walking with a cane and a prosthetic leg after nearly half a year in the hospital, the 50-year-old farmer stares out at the avocado plantation in Kibbutz Be'eri, where he was born and which lies less than a mile from the border with Gaza. On Oct. 7, Bachar's wife and son...
(JNS) - Dor Kapah, 30, stood before a group of students at the University of Florida, recounting a harrowing tale that seemed straight out of a war movie. But it wasn't fiction; it was a gripping account of his escape from Hamas terrorists, relentlessly pursuing him no matter where he fled. His narrative unfolded with descriptions of shooting, bombing and the kidnapping and murder of his friends. The students listened in stunned silence as Kapah detailed the events of Oct. 7, a day etched in...
(JNS) - The mayors of cities in Massachusetts, South Carolina and Oregon returned last week from a four-day visit to Israel, where they met with political officials, business leaders, academics and regional experts. The three U.S. municipal leaders-Jon Mitchell, the mayor of New Bedford, Mass.; Daniel Rickman, mayor of Columbia, S.C.; and Travis Stovall, mayor of Gresham, Ore.-also spoke with released hostages, their families and those working to see the return of the rest of the captives still...
(JNS) — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a dozen pro-Israel and anti-Iran bills and resolutions this week, in the wake of the Islamic Republic’s missile attack against the Jewish state on Saturday. Lawmakers passed two bills on Monday that target Iran’s finances and a third that would deny tax-exempt status to U.S. charities that fund foreign terrorist organizations. The House passed nine bills and resolutions on Tuesday designed to support the Jewish state and combat Iran. Most of the bills passed overwhelmingly, facing oppos...
(JTA) — The mother of 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, is one of nearly a dozen Jews on Time Magazine’s 100 “Most Influential” list, couched among comedians, writers, music producers, athletes, business executives, and politicians. Since Oct. 7, Rachel Goldberg-Polin has become one of the most prominent and indefatigable voices advocating for the release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza. She has attended an audience with Pope Francis, Zoomed with President Joe Biden and spo...
IAF strike in Lebanon kills senior Hezbollah terrorist (JNS) — An Israeli Air Force strike in Southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed a senior Hezbollah terrorist responsible for firing rockets and missiles at the Jewish state, the Israel Defense Forces said. Since the Iranian terrorist proxy joined the war against Israel in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, Ismail Baz, who commanded Hezbollah’s coastal sector, “organized and planned various terrorist plots,” the IDF said. The military added, “Ismail served in several positions as a senior and veteran off...
(JTA) – A Holocaust research center founded by Steven Spielberg has gotten embroiled in a drama over campus Israel speech that is dividing the University of Southern California, where it is housed. The USC Shoah Foundation is downplaying its role in the school’s academics after the university’s valedictorian, a pro-Palestinian student who earned a minor in “resistance to genocide,” touted her ties to the center. After USC announced last week that Asna Tabassum would be the valedictorian, pro-Israel groups mounted a campaign against her, citi...
(JNS) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday urged the international community to confront Iran, as Jerusalem prepares a response to the Islamic Republic’s massive drone and missile attack over the weekend. “The whole world must work decisively and defiantly against the threat posed by the Iranian regime, which is seeking to undermine the stability of the entire region,” Herzog said after meeting the foreign ministers of Britain and Germany in Jerusalem. Herzog reiterated the Jewish state’s “unequivocal” commitment to defending its...
