Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA) — The world has had a crash course on Volodymyr Zelensky in recent days, as the Ukrainian president has galvanized his country against an unprovoked attack by neighboring Russia. The broad strokes of Zelensky’s career have long been known to those who pay attention to Ukrainian politics — or to their spillover effects in American government. He’s young, funny, Jewish and committed to a strong democratic Ukraine, even at the risk of death. “I need ammunition, not a ride,” he reportedly told American authorities this week after they offere...
Zelensky: ‘I don’t feel the Israeli prime minister has wrapped himself in the Ukrainian flag’ By Ron Kampeas (JTA) — Volodymyr Zelensky, the Jewish Ukrainian president under siege, said he was moved by pictures of Israelis standing in solidarity with his country during the Russian invasion — but not so much the Israeli leadership. “I saw a beautiful picture today,” he said in remarks translated into Hebrew by YNet, the Israeli news outlet that managed to attend Zelensky’s press conference in Kyiv on Thursday. “Jews wrapped in Ukrainian flags b...
(JTA) - Before Russian troops invaded Ukraine, the Hillel chapter in Kharkiv was preparing to celebrate its 25th anniversary this spring. In fact, just one week ago, the group working with Jewish students and young adults was advertising a Saturday evening game night. Now, its home has been destroyed, and Hillel International, the network of groups serving Jewish college students, is trying to figure out how to help its 600-plus students and employees in Kharkiv stay safe in their war-torn...
(JTA) — Konstantyn Batozsky believes he is on a list of so-called “neo-Nazis” to be rounded up “Gestapo-style” and “exterminated” by Russian forces seeking to enter Kyiv. Batozsky, a Jew from eastern Ukraine, said he was informed about the “bounty on his head” by Ukrainian intelligence sources. But as a longtime and avowed Ukrainian nationalist who has collaborated with a paramilitary group that has a reputation for including extremists, he knows that it’s people like him that Russian President Vladimir Putin was talking about when he cited...
(JTA) — The morning after Russian bombs fell at the site of a 1941 massacre of Ukrainian Jews, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the world’s Jews to speak out about what is happening in his country. Russia’s attack adjacent to Babyn Yar, the Kyiv site where Nazis and local collaborators executed tens of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, along with its bombing several days ago of Uman, the Ukrainian city where hundreds of thousands of Jewish pilgrims visit each year, repre...
(JTA) - Four years ago, Volodymyr Zelensky was an actor on the humorous Ukrainian TV show "Servant of the People," starring as an unlikely president of the Eastern European country. Now, he is at the center of the continent's most significant conflict since World War II, framing himself as a possible martyr on the world stage. "This might be the last time you see me alive," he reportedly told European Union leaders on a call about steps the bloc was considering to try to stop Russia's advances t...
(JNS) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recognition on Feb. 21 of two “breakaway” states in eastern Ukraine and his subsequent dispatch of “peacekeepers” there — considered by Western nations to be an official invasion of the country — has left its citizens and particularly the Jewish communities on edge. Throughout Ukraine, Jewish leaders are watching closely, and many have made contingency plans in the event the situation worsens. Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi Yaakov Bleich told JNS that the Jews “are part of the general community. What’s g...
(JTA) — Ukraine’s embassy in Israel tried to recruit Israelis to join the Ukrainian fight against Russia in a Facebook post Saturday. “The Embassy has begun the formation of lists of volunteers who wish to participate in combat actions against the Russian aggressor,” the embassy wrote in a Facebook post that was later taken down, according to The Times of Israel. The post asked volunteers to tell coordinators about any “military specialty” they have, something Israelis, most of whom complete mandatory army service after high school, wil...
Dan Green, CEO and director general of World ORT, wrote the following news release about the five schools and regional office in Kiev: World ORT has learned with dismay and great concern about the escalation overnight of the security situation in Ukraine. We are in constant contact with our regional office in Kiev and with our five schools and two affiliated schools in Ukraine — Zaporozhe and Odessa in the eastern and southern regions; and Chernivtsi, Kyiv, and Belaya Tserkov in the north and west — and are co-operating fully with our par...
(JNS) - "Everyone is just talking about the war," said Yana Koblenko from Ukraine, who arrived in Israel on Sunday with a plane of 74 other new immigrants. "Until the last minute, I was worried the flight would be canceled." The Koblenko family-Yana, her husband Yevgeny and their young daughter-had been longing to come to Israel for some time. The rest of Yana's family, including her parents, had made aliyah just before the pandemic. "It's scary in Ukraine right now," Yana said as she arrived...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has ordered Israeli embassy staff in Kyiv to move to consular offices in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, as war looms between Russia and Ukraine. “The consular office in Lviv has been working to provide travel documents to Israeli citizens since Thursday and will assist citizens interested in leaving the country, primarily through land border crossings to neighboring countries,” the ministry said in a statement. Officials said that the ministry was “prepared for any develop...
BBYO holds largest Jewish gathering since the pandemic began By Ron Kampeas BALTIMORE (JTA) — More than 3,000 teenagers from 40 countries attended a BBYO convention in what is believed to be the largest Jewish gathering since the beginning of the pandemic. A release from the organizations said the event at the Baltimore Convention Center running Feb. 17-21 focused on Jewish philanthropy and Jewish education. Speakers included Mike Posner, a Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter; Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of New York’s Central Synagogue, who fie...
(JTA) — One week ago, Jews outside of Ukraine knew Volodymyr Zelensky as the world leader on the other end of the “perfect phone call” that resulted in the impeachment of President Donald Trump. But now, after days of watching Zelensky balance humor and gravitas while rallying his fellow Ukrainians to rebuff the Russian army invasion, they know him as a contemporary Jewish hero. “Zelensky gives modern Maccabee energy,” Peter Fox, a writer, wrote on Twitter. Fox was referring to the ancient Jews who, though outflanked in every way, fended of...
‘F— Jews’ sprayed outside Israeli restaurant on Upper West Side By Lisa Keys (New York Jewish Week via JTA) — A recently opened Israeli restaurant on the Upper West Side has been vandalized with vulgar, antisemitic graffiti. On Thursday morning, staffers arrived at Miriam, an Israeli eatery on Amsterdam Ave. and 74th St. that opened on Jan. 24, to find the words “F— Jews” spray-painted three times on its outdoor dining shed. According to Patch, the NYPD arrived on the scene around 12:20 p.m. and began the process to remove the hateful scraw...
China has been accused of committing genocide against the Uyghurs. Here's what you need to know, and what you can do about it. Some people are refusing to watch the Winter Olympics this year because of concerns over China's dismal human rights record of the Uyghurs, a persecuted minority in China. The US, Britain, Canada, and other nations have refused to send officials to the Games in a quasi-boycott. A recent British report accused China of committing genocide against the Uyghurs. Here are som...
(JNS) — The blowback over a biased report by Amnesty International on Israel continues nearly a week after its release as 469 organizations and more than 4,000 individuals signed a strongly-worded letter on Monday urging U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to make sure the report is not used to attack Israel within the United Nations. Besides the 4,000 individual signees, the letter was signed by 172 Jewish Federations and Jewish Community Relations Councils. “The Amnesty report traffics in false claims against the sole Jewish state, dist...
Washington Commanders defensive tackle wishes he could dine with Hitler By Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA) — A defensive tackle for the NFL’s Washington team said that if he had his druthers he’d break bread with Adolf Hitler. Jonathan Allen removed his offending tweet on Wednesday after Twitter blew up with outrage. Allen, who was drafted by the newly renamed Washington Commanders in 2017, opened up in an “ask me anything” tweet, and a fan asked him who were the three people, dead or alive, he wanted to dine with. He listed his grandfath...
(JNS) - Amnesty International's latest controversial report released on Feb. 1 during a press conference in Jerusalem, this time accusing Israel of apartheid, has come under fierce condemnation from the Israeli government and Jewish groups around the world as being "anti-Semitic." The Biden administration rejected it as "absurd." Some U.S. lawmakers denounced it as "rooted in historic prejudices and false narratives." But Amnesty has doubled down on its accusation, claiming any argument to the...
BERLIN (JTA) - On a recent Friday afternoon, with the Beijing Olympic Games only three weeks away, Mischa Ushakov and Padma Wangyal chained themselves to the entrance of the Allianz insurance giant's headquarters in Germany's capital. They had two demands: that Allianz "drop their sponsorship of the games in China and comment on the human rights abuses of the Chinese government," Ushakov said. "We gave them a one week deadline," he added. Ushakov, 23, is a cofounder with Bini Guttmann of Never...
Israel appoints first female attorney general (JNS) — The Israeli Cabinet on Monday approved the appointment of Gali Baharav-Miara as attorney general, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. “This is one of the most important and sensitive appointments in the public service,” said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the start of the Cabinet meeting at which Baharav-Miara’s appointment was finalized. “At this time, given the erosion of public confidence in law enforcement, there is an important opportunity here to maintain wh...
(JTA) - Despite the continuing COVID chaos and the mounting protests about China's human rights record, the 2022 Beijing Olympics are proceeding on schedule, just six months after the delayed Tokyo games - and we have your guide to the Jewish athletes who are on their way. In Tokyo, dozens of Jewish athletes competed, and many clinched medals. The Winter Olympics are typically a smaller affair, with fewer sports and fewer countries participating. Nevertheless, we're excited to cheer on these...
Israeli government officials have begun laying the groundwork for the possible evacuation of Ukrainian Jews as fears of a Russian invasion continue to rise, Haaretz reported. According to the report, representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office, the foreign, defense, diaspora affairs and transportation ministries, the National Security Council and the Jewish Agency gathered on Sunday to discuss the threat level faced by Ukraine’s Jewish communities. They were also joined by officials from Nativ, an organization that maintains ties between I...
(JNS) - At a crucial moment for U.S. President Joe Biden's foreign policy, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken held a virtual policy session with an Atlanta synagogue on Monday night, where tensions regarding a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine's borders were front and center. China was also discussed as another threat to America's interests. The lecture, titled "21st Century Global Challenges Facing the U.S.", was moderated by Stuart Eizenstat, the U.S. Special Adviser on Holocaust Issues, who...
(JTA) — Ambo Anthos, the Amsterdam-based publishing house that printed the Dutch-language translation of a controversial book alleging that a Jew had betrayed Anne Frank, has apologized for not reviewing the material more critically and ceased printing new copies of it on Monday. The book “The Betrayal of Anne Frank,” published earlier this month by the Canadian author Rosemary Sullivan, hypothesizes that the teenage diarist and her family were turned over to the Nazis by Arnold van den Bergh, a notary and a member of the Jewish Council, which...
(JTA) - A full-page advertisement in The New York Times on Saturday paid for by the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity urged athletes and corporate sponsors to "walk away" from the Olympic Games, set to begin next month in Beijing, to protest China's persecution of the Uighurs. "We urge the athletes and the sponsoring corporations to walk away from these games unless Beijing takes steps to reunite Uyghur families. And we urge the world's citizens to embrace the cause of this persecuted...
