Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) — In the largest antigovernment demonstration since Oct. 7, thousands of protesters gathered in Jerusalem to call on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to step down and for Israel to reach a deal to free the hostages held in Gaza. And in a dramatic turn in Tel Aviv, the main organization lobbying on behalf of the families of Israeli hostages in Gaza said it would cease its Saturday night rallies in what has come to be known as Hostages Square and instead join in anti-government protests that have taken place in a dif...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — There has been no shortage of hints when it comes to the White House’s efforts to convey the message that Israel should refrain from taking action in Rafah, find a path to a ceasefire, and increase aid to Gaza. Vice President Kamala Harris turned this subtlety into explicit policy when she threatened Israel that there could be consequences to an operation in the city. On Monday, the rhetoric turned into action at the U.N. Israelis by and large will likely brush off the Security Council resolution as yet “another examp...
(JNS) — Israel’s National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has accused U.S. President Joe Biden of siding with the enemies of the Jewish state. During an interview with The New York Times published on Tuesday, Ben-Gvir said, “Presently, Biden prefers the line of [Palestinian-American Democratic Representative from Michigan] Rashida Tlaib and [Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya] Sinwar to the line of [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir.” “I would have expected the president of the United States not to take their line, but rather to take o...
(JNS) — Hamas will not release any of the 134 hostages it holds until Israel ends the war, withdraws its troops, allows all Gazans to return to their homes and lifts the blockade on the coastal enclave, the terrorist group’s leader Khaled Mashaal said on Wednesday. Speaking at a women’s event in Jordan, Mashaal declared that the organization’s leadership is “waging a negotiating battle no less fierce” than the military conflict with the Israel Defense Forces, according to a readout of his remarks posted to Telegram by Hamas. “Inshallah...
LOS ANGELES (JTA) - Steven Spielberg warned that "the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuses" and lamented those killed in Israel and Gaza while being honored for his Holocaust remembrance work at the University of Southern California. The renowned Jewish filmmaker spoke at a ceremony Monday afternoon in which USC bestowed its prestigious University Medallion on the 56,000 Holocaust survivors who have provided testimony to the USC Shoah Foundation, which Spielberg founded...
(JNS) — Incoming Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa vowed on Tuesday to appoint a cabinet that can “gain both the trust of our people and the support of the international community.” In a vision statement seen by the Associated Press, Mustafa promises to reunify Gaza with Judea and Samaria and establish an “internationally managed trust fund” to rebuild the Strip after the Israel Defense Forces operation against the Hamas terrorist organization there ends. Mustafa claims Ramallah aims to enact wide-ranging administr...
(New York Jewish Week) – When event producer Erez Safar announced a Valentine’s Day comedy show to raise funds for survivors of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the flier included a date, time and photo of headliner Daniel Ryan Spaulding, the non-Jewish comic who has stood out since the attack for his pro-Israel activism. But fans hoping to attend the show wouldn’t be able to get there by looking at the poster. All it said was “Location upon RSVP.” Following a spike in antisemitic incidents in New York City and beyond following Oct. 7, Safar is...
By Luke Tress (New York Jewish Week) — On a cold night last week, Barbara Hoff, the owner of an antique store in the Catskills, heard from a friend in the local fire department that the Nevele Grand Hotel was burning. Hoff, who lives in the town of Cragsmoor on the Shawangunk Mountains, looked down into the valley below her home. She saw a smear of orange flames framed by the silhouettes of dark trees in the distance. Hoff, 70, remembers another era, decades ago, when the Nevele was a bustling summer retreat for a largely Jewish clientele. A...
By Etgar Lefkovits (JNS) — Most evangelical Christians around the world are being intimidated into silence by a vociferous “social justice” camp that is fanning a false narrative on Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and being presented by the global media, the head of a Jerusalem-based evangelical organization said this week ahead of Easter Sunday. Rev. Peter Fast’s remarks during the Christian Holy Week come as public opinion polls have shown a drop in support for Israel, including among you...
(JTA) – A school district in suburban Virginia is drawing backlash for announcing that middle school students could opt out of a talk by a Holocaust survivor on Monday. Critics of the school connected the announcement with widespread reports of spiking antisemitism in K-12 schools following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. But the school and the local Jewish Community Relations Council denied those claims, later announcing that the opt-out was specifically intended to help Jewish students. Fairfax County Public Schools, in a populous a...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A range of Jewish and pro-Israel figures, including Israel’s antisemitism envoy, accused Sen. Jeff Merkley of advancing a “blood libel” for linking Easter to what he called Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza. Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, had already marked Easter Sunday on X with a generic wish for a “blessed holiday.” He followed up with a post citing the holiday in his call to cut arms shipments to Israel and to pressure the country to facilitate the entry of more humanitarian assistance into Gaza. “On this Easter,...
(JNS) — Addressing video footage on social media purporting to show Palestinians being killed by Israeli bombs, Joe Rogan told the millions who listen to his podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” on Tuesday that Israel was committing genocide. “If you can’t talk about that, if you can’t say that’s real, then you’re saying that genocide is okay as long as we’re doing it,” he said. Then he brought the Holocaust into the discussion. “You’re saying that from the perspective of someone who literally went through the Holocaust or your people, your tr...
Ra’am Party head pushing US to recognize Palestinian state (JNS) — Mansour Abbas, chairman of Israel’s Ra’am Party, said in a recent interview that he has been advocating for the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state in meetings with U.S. government officials and others. “Every week I have two or three meetings with international officials, delegations, ambassadors and the like. And I say to them in a clear manner…It’s on you to take an immediate decision to recognize a Palestinian state,” Abbas said in an undated Arabic-language...
(JTA) – Authorities in Newton, Massachusetts, said they are investigating a string of seven recent instances of vandalism targeting homes with pro-Israel signs as individual hate crimes. In one incident this week, more than 100 posters displaying Israeli hostages who are being held in Gaza were destroyed, in what the Jewish homeowners said had been a site of communal memory since shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Most of the reported incidents in the heavily Jewish Boston suburb over the past month involve the defacement or removal...
By Andrew Lapin (JTA) – For years, Candance Owens and Ben Shapiro traveled parallel paths. Both are millennial right-wing culture warriors with social media followings in the millions. And both depart from broader communities that have historically voted Democratic — Owens is Black, Shapiro Jewish. Occasionally, they would defend each other online. Meeting Shapiro in 2018 at the Trump White House, Owens wrote on Twitter, now X, “the future of America is bright.” In 2020, Owens joined Shapiro’s media company, the Daily Wire. But like so many o...
(JNS) - Ahmad ("Sauce") Gardner, an American football cornerback for the New York Jets, has clarified that he didn't mean to suggest any antisemitic conspiracies in comments he made on a livestream broadcast with gamer Adin Ross, who is Jewish. On the Monday show, Ross had described purchasing a Tesla truck from another Jewish man, prompting Gardner to say, "I'm gonna be honest. Like, no funny weird s***. You all run the world." Gardner then said that Jews "got so much motion throughout the whol...
(JTA) - Tens of thousands of Jews around the world joined in a collective recitation of the Shema prayer on Thursday that was broadcast from Jerusalem's Western Wall to support the more than 130 hostages still held by Hamas. The event was organized by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum along with Aish HaTorah, a haredi Orthodox yeshiva and outreach movement. They timed it to the Fast of Esther, which commemorates the threat the Jews of Persia faced from their persecutor, Haman, during the...
(JTA) — In Jerusalem, a service omitted the loud noise-making associated with the holiday in order to accommodate soldiers traumatized by months of war. In Tel Aviv, bakeries peddled a triangular treat renamed for a contemporary villain, the leader of Hamas. And in Jewish communities around the world, costumes and holiday gifts paid homage to the more than 130 Israeli captives who remain in Gaza. Those adjustments marked some of the many ways that Purim, a generally whimsical Jewish holiday that celebrates an ancient victory over a t...
(JNS) - As part of truce talks taking place in Doha, Qatar, Israeli officials have agreed to release between 700 to 800 Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to various media reports. The inmates include 100 serving life sentences for murdering Israelis, Axios journalist Barak Ravid reported on Sunday, citing two Israeli officials. Ravid reported that the number stands at 700, while an Israeli official briefed on the Doha...
(JNS) — Hamas terrorists are regrouping at Gaza hospitals, forcing the Israeli military to conduct operations to eliminate these insurgencies, Channel 12 reported on Monday. An operation at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City has been going on for over a week and is expected to last another two days. According to the Israel Defense Forces, 170 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists have been killed in firefights in and around the compound and another 500 have been apprehended so far. A large amount of weapons have also been confiscated, many of which were...
The Jewish Heritage Festival, taking place April 7, is a phenomena in itself. Who knew it would be so successful from the get-go? What began in 2007 as a suggestion by 80-year-old Murray Steinberg to the Temple Presidents' Council for Volusia and Flagler counties that Volusia County should have a Jewish festival similar to the ones he went to in Richmond, Va., became the largest Jewish heritage and cultural event in the state. The ball to research this project was handed to Jeff Bigman, who...
On Thursday, March 14th, Oakmonte Village in Lake Mary echoed with the warm laughter and camaraderie of the Jewish Pavilion's annual Spring Breakfast. The event, sponsored by the Jewish Pavilion, brought together a diverse array of individuals, including staff, sponsors, and board members, in a celebration of community and connection. One of the highlights of the morning was the opportunity for everyone to introduce themselves and share their unique connection to the Jewish Pavilion. From...
(New York Jewish Week) – An Israeli hostage who was released from Hamas captivity said the support of New York’s Jewish community “gives us strength” as thousands of demonstrators gathered in Central Park on Sunday morning to mark 150 days since the captives were taken in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. “This support is really moving,” said Keren Munder, who was taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz with other members of her family. She was released in November, during a temporary ceasefire, with her 9-year-old son, Ohad, and her mother, Ruti, 78. Her father,...
(JNS) — The pro-Israel writer who uses the pseudonym “Elder of Ziyon,” had the sense that Jewish community centers were downplaying Israel programming compared to what they had done in the past. So, he started looking at JCC websites at random to see if his impression was correct, the writer told JNS. “I saw lots of progressive-friendly events and very few Israel-centered events,” he said. “Then I decided to look at the mission statements.” “Most of them never had any mention of Israel, although the programming from 20 years ago was definit...
(JNS) — More than 450 Jewish executives and Hollywood professionals have signed an open letter denouncing the speech film director Jonathan Glazer gave at the Academy Awards ceremony on March 10 when accepting his Oscar for Best International Feature Film, “The Zone of Interest.” “We refute our Jewishness being hijacked for the purpose of drawing a moral equivalence between a Nazi regime that sought to exterminate a race of people, and an Israeli nation that seeks to avert its own extermination,” the letter states, according to Variety....
