Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1915 - 1939 of 11373
(JNS) - A rare multi-compartment stone container dating back around 2,000 years has been revealed to the public for the first time at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The box, carved from soft limestone, measures 30 x 30 cm (about 12 x 12 inches) and and is divided into nine equal-sized interior compartments. The box was discovered in a destruction layer inside an ancient store dated to the end of the Second Temple period that once stood alongside the Pilgrimage Road in the City of David. The...
(JTA) - A bronze statue of the late Jewish singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse was defaced when a sticker with the Palestinian flag was placed over the statue's Star of David necklace. The management of Camden Market, where the statue is located, said the sticker was removed and that the incident had been reported to police, who are investigating. "Camden Market remains first and foremost, a place of diversity - a global destination that welcomes everyone," said the statement, which was posted to...
(JTA) — A campaign to protest President Joe Biden’s support of Israel by voting “Uncommitted” in the Michigan Democratic presidential primary declared victory on Tuesday night, as returns showed the movement garnering more than 10 percent of the vote. Biden still won the primary overwhelmingly. But the Uncommitted movement, also called Listen to Michigan, had set a goal of drawing 10,000 votes — the margin by which Donald Trump won the state in the 2016 presidential election. By early Wednesday, with most votes counted, more than 100,000 p...
(JTA) — On his first day of his visit to Israel, Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, told Israeli authorities that his country would move its embassy to Jerusalem. Milei had vowed during his campaign to move the embassy from its current home in Herzliya, in a sign that Argentina recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. If carried out, the embassy move would make Argentina the sixth country, and only the second major country, to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem. Since then-President Donald Trump moved the U.S. embassy in 2017, fulfi...
(JNS) — Israeli forces seized cash and financial documents from an underground compound in Khan Yunis showing direct Iranian financial support for Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces disclosed on Tuesday night. “We found official documents from 2020 detailing the funds transferred by Iran to Hamas between the years 2014 and 2020 and to [Hamas leader in Gaza Yahyah] Sinwar. More than $150 million were transferred from Iran to Hamas,” said IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. The intelligence indicated a “direct connection from Iran to Hamas—a...
‘Fauda’ star posts photo of injuries sustained in Gaza (JNS) — Israeli actor Idan Amedi posted on social media a photo taken soon after he was wounded while fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Amedi, 35, known for his role in the Netflix hit show “Fauda,” was released from the hospital last month after an explosion left him unconscious for days, with shrapnel in his eye sockets, jaw and neck. At the time of the blast, he had been serving in a reserve combat engineering unit. “Every now and then, I have some understanding of the miracle th...
(FLAME via JNS) — If members of the Ku Klux Klan vote overwhelmingly Republican, should Republican politicians adopt policies that curry favor with white supremacists? Certainly not. It would not only be wrong, it would also offend the vast majority of American voters, who are not white supremacists. Similarly, if voters who support terrorists vote overwhelmingly Democrat, should Democrats craft policies to attract them? Definitely not. It would be immoral and unethical—and would alienate the overwhelming majority of Americans, who oppose ter...
(JNS) — Israel is evaluating the credibility of Hamas’s confirmation to Qatar that the terrorist group in Gaza received a shipment of medical supplies in a deal brokered by Qatar and France and has started delivering them to hostages in Gaza. Doha made the announcement on Tuesday evening, over one month after the badly needed medicines entered the coastal enclave. “The Qatari announcement is the direct result of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on receiving proof that the medicines have reached our hostaAes,” the Prime Minister...
(JTA) — When the Biden administration announced new sanctions meant to stop the flow of U.S. donations to extremist Israelis, many watchdogs assumed that one charity would be especially concerned. But the Central Fund of Israel says it is unfazed by the new sanctions, which were announced amid a push by the White House to rein in violence in the West Bank. The sanctions came alongside a warning against funneling money to nonprofits that promote violence. The Central Fund is a New York-registered charity that distributes tens of millions of d...
Last November, circumstance connected the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Orlando and Central Florida Hillel. On Feb. 9, 2024, that connection was solidified in the traditional Jewish manner — over Shabbat dinner. The connection was, in fact, prompted by shared outrage. In November, local U.S. Representative Maxwell Frost, to the surprise and dismay of the local Jewish community, voted against a congressional resolution condemning the rise of antisemitism on college campuses in t...
The attitude about antisemitic groups in Central Florida used to be “if you ignore them, they will go away.” Not anymore. Now people hold to “if you see something, say something.” On Saturday, Feb. 17, a group of neo-Nazi demonstrators stood on the corner of Lee Road and Orlando Avenue waving a Nazi flag and a Confederate Flag, while holding signs that read “Jews love genocide,” “The ADL protects pedophiles” and “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” The protesters drew the attention of Sen. Rick Scott,...
The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society will host Dr. Isaac Amon, director of Academic Research at Jewish Heritage Alliance, at its meeting Feb. 29 to begin at 2 p.m. The one-hour presentation in which Dr. Amon describes "An Extraordinary Odyssey: The 3,000 Year Story of Sefarad," will take place at the Main Library, 1960 North Ponce De Leon Boulevard in St. The Jewish Heritage Alliance is an educational organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy of Sefarad, Jews of the...
(JNS) — The National Library of Israel has embarked on a massive project to collect and archive all published materials about the Oct. 7 massacre, both the good and the bad. While scholars and the curious public explore the new library building in Jerusalem and its Israel, Judaica, Humanities, Islam and Gershom Scholem collections, Chaim Neria is quietly gathering more recent—and sometimes painful—printed and digital items associated with the murder by Hamas of some 1,200 people. “The significance of this project to Israel and the Jewish...
(JNS) — During his call on Sunday with U.S. President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the U.S. administration’s move to sanction four residents of Judea and Samaria over purported “settler violence,” Axios reported. Netanyahu’s protest signaled his belief that the sanctions, allowing the imposition of penalties on Israeli officials directly or indirectly involved in vaguely defined “settler violence,” could have implications for the entire country, including the political and defense establishment...
(JNS) — Israeli forces in Gaza recently found a secret document written by a senior Hamas official detailing the terrorist group’s psychological warfare strategy against the Israeli public, Channel 12 reported on Monday. Furthermore, the document was discovered at a site visited by Hamas’s senior leader in the Strip, Yahya Sinwar, according to the report. However, it was unclear whether the mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre had penned the paper. The document orders that photos and videos of the Israeli hostages continue to be published “due...
(JTA) - Jewish billionaire businessman and philanthropist David Rubenstein has reportedly agreed to purchase the MLB's Baltimore Orioles. Rubenstein, a Baltimore native who is best known as the co-founder of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group, is leading a new ownership cohort that includes Jewish former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Orioles Hall of Fame player Cal Ripken Jr. Rubenstein's group will initially purchase a 40% stake in the franchise, taking over from the Angelos...
Last month, Natalie Sopinsky, spokesperson for Hatzalah Y'osh, Rescuers Without Borders, spoke at The Roth Family JCC as well as at Fellowship Church in Winter Springs. It was clear to all that she really didn't want to be away from Israel. This attitude seems to be that of most Israelis. When there is danger brewing, Israelis run to the source of the danger while so many others run away from it. Sopinsky came on the insistence of the Hatzalah director who said she needed to tell Americans what...
(JNS) — A controversial “Muslim civil-rights and advocacy” organization experienced a major blow to its reputation last week after the Florida House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution to denounce the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The rest of the county should follow suit and permanently blacklist this Hamas-linked Islamist group. Introduced by State Rep. Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay), House Resolution 1209 encourages all state and local government agencies in Florida to “suspend contact and outreach activit...
(JNS) - The Israeli Defense Ministry has approved the purchase of more than 200 armored vehicles for civilian security squads in parts of the country facing increased security risk, including Judea and Samaria, the Gaza envelope and the Lebanon border. The purchase is estimated to be worth around 150 million shekels ($41 million), the ministry announced on Tuesday. The project is "intended to strengthen the resilience of the localities and the standby units" and provide a "quick response during...
(JNS) — France banned 28 Israelis from entering the European country, accusing them of attacking Arabs in Judea and Samaria, its foreign ministry said on Tuesday.‘ One day earlier, the U.K. announced similar measures. The statement did not name the 28 individuals who allegedly carried out acts of violence against Palestinians but urged Israeli authorities to “put an end to it and prosecute its perpetrators. “These measures come at a time when violence perpetrated by settlers against the Palestinian population has been increasing in recent...
(JNS) - The western German city of Aachen, which has awarded an annual Charlemagne Prize for nearly 75 years, has recognized Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt and European Jewry with the 2024 prize, named for the medieval Frankish king. "With this accolade, the Charlemagne Prize Board of Directors wishes to broadcast the message that Jewish life is a natural part of Europe, and that there is no place for antisemitism in Europe," the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen stated. "Jewish life is an...
(JNS) — As word spread about four residents of Judea and Samaria being sanctioned for “settler violence,” some scoffed while others wondered what exactly the four did to deserve the infamy. “I wonder what took them so long,” said Professor Yossi Spiegel of Tel Aviv University’s School of Management, president of the Israeli Economic Association. “The international community considers the settlements illegal, but until now consequences were just a threat. Now they mean business.” However, some are taking action. Marc Zell, an American-Israel...
(JNS) — The Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion of Israel has spurred a historic level of Jewish philanthropy, with the largest emergency fund set up when the war broke out alone raising nearly $800 million, the Jewish Federations of North America said on Monday. The surge in donations following the Hamas massacre that triggered the now four-month-old war created a huge surge in interest in giving to the Jewish state as it fights the Islamic terrorist group after years of decline in giving. “In these past months, we have witnessed our community comin...
(JNS) — The Biden administration is preparing to make a major push for Palestinian statehood if a Gaza ceasefire agreement being negotiated in Cairo this week takes effect. According to The Washington Post, the United States and its Arab partners are “rushing” to finalize the plan to establish a Palestinian state—a plan that could be announced in the next few weeks with hopes that a deal to release the remaining 134 hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza in exchange for a six-week pause in fighting takes effect before Ramadan, which begins o...
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces is expected to increase troop activity in northern Gaza in the coming weeks following attempts by Hamas to reestablish a foothold there. Israel’s Army Radio reported that the military is planning to carry out extensive raids due to increased activity by the terror group in northern Gaza, which included a rocket barrage on Sunday night that set off air-raid sirens in Ashkelon for the first time in nearly a month. The report also noted a recent gun battle near the coast in northern Gaza in which IDF soldiers kil...
