Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1275 - 1299 of 2213
The U.N. has passed yet another anti-Israel resolution denying historical and archaeological evidence proving a long-existing Jewish presence on the Temple Mount. In blatant disregard of history, archaeology and plain common sense, the executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted a resolution on Friday that ignores Jewish historical ties to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall in Jerusalem. With 33 votes in favor, six against, and 17... Full story
By Caleb R. Newton Families from the Druze community of Israel came to the Jewish Academy of Orlando late after Shabbat on April 16, to share their stories of loved ones who died while serving in the Israel Defense Force throughout the past decades in several different conflicts. The families wanted to share their experiences with Central Florida to help build bridges between our communities and to recognize the bridges that are already present. "This...demonstrates the high level of... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-At least 21 people were injured in a bus bombing in Jerusalem, police said, in the first such attack in Israel in years. A city bus exploded and went up in flames Monday evening, April 18, on a major thoroughfare in the southern end of the capital. The blast set a second bus and a car nearby on fire. Two people were seriously injured in the attack, with seven moderately injured and 12 lightly injured. An explosive device was planted in the rear half of the bus, which was stopped... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-During the five-plus years of Syria's civil war, Israel has striven to stay neutral-supporting neither the government of President Bashar Assad nor the rebels, and certainly not the Islamic State. But on one issue, senior Israeli politicians have gladly taken sides: Israel keeping the Golan Heights. Facing reports of an international call for Israel to leave the territory as part of a settlement of the Syrian crisis, the Israeli Cabinet met Sunday on the Golan. The unprecedented... Full story
KFAR SABA, Israel (JTA)-One family lost their son in late July 2014. The other lost theirs on the first of August in the same year. One family has lobbied the United Nations and crossed an ocean in hopes of bringing their son's remains back. The other mostly stays home. One family is sure their son is dead. The other is plagued by uncertainty. But one thing unites the Goldin and Shaul families: Of the 67 sets of Israeli parents who lost sons in the Gaza War two years ago, only theirs have not... Full story
7 members of alleged Jewish terror cell indicted in Israel JERUSALEM (JTA)—Seven members of an alleged Jewish terror cell were indicted Monday in an Israeli court. An Israeli soldier and two minors were among those charged in Petach Tikvah District Court with setting Palestinian vehicles on fire, throwing firebombs at Palestinian homes and assaulting Palestinians in the West Bank, near Ramallah. The cell members also are accused of belonging to an illegal organization and causing grave bodily harm. The accused terrorists were arrested e... Full story
At a special concert fundraiser for Israel's largest volunteer EMS service held at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, United Hatzalah was honored by Jay Leno, who performed a long comedy set and offered on the spot to donate a $36,000 fully equipped ambucycle for the EMS organization to use to save lives in Israel. The former Tonight Show host called Eli Beer, founder and president of United Hatzalah, to the stage after his act to tell him "What you guys are doing is so special I am so... Full story
ISRAEL21c-In the wake of deadly terrorist attacks at Zaventem Airport and Maelbeek metro station in Brussels yesterday that killed 34 people and injured about 200 others, law-enforcement agencies in Europe's major cities are scrambling to beef up security at airports and transport hubs. This latest horrific incident-and the revelation that the Islamist suicide bombers were known to police and yet still managed to access the airport's departure hall-has intensified speculation that European... Full story
Netanyahu vows to keep Golan Heights forever JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel will never give up the Golan Heights, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, a day after the Israeli leader said he delivered the same message to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The meeting was held for the first time on the land captured from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War. “I chose to hold this festive Cabinet meeting on the Golan Heights in order to deliver a clear message: The Golan Heights will forever remain in Isr... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-The top Democrat handling foreign relations in the Senate says he will endeavor to get Congress to reauthorize Iran sanctions before year's end, a key goal of pro-Israel activists. "There's general agreement we have to extend the sanctions against Iran, and we need to do it before they expire at the end of this year, " Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told JTA on Thursday. Last month Cardin toured Israel, Saudi Arabia... Full story
SAINT-DENIS, France (JTA)-After three firebombs hit the synagogue of this poor and heavily Muslim suburb of Paris, municipal authorities advised the local Jewish community to lower its profile. Like dozens of attacks on French synagogues since 2000, the January 2009 incident at the Chabad House of Saint-Denis, which did not result in any injuries, was believed to have been Islamist extremists' retaliation for Israel's actions-that year against Hamas in Gaza. "We were told by the mayor from the... Full story
Bernie Sanders wins Wyoming, reiterates Israel’s ‘disproportionate’ response in Gaza war (JTA)—The day after his victory in the Wyoming Democratic caucus, Bernie Sanders doubled down on his assertion that Israel’s response in the 2014 Gaza war was “disproportionate.” “Was Israel’s response disproportionate? I think it was,” Sanders, an Independent senator from Vermont, told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview that aired Sunday on “State of the Union.” The Democratic presidential candidate complained that public figures were focusing on his init... Full story
(JTA)-In the wake of last week's terror attack in Brussels, Belgians transformed a central square in the capital into an impromptu memorial for the victims. Thirty-five people died Tuesday in a series of suicide bombings at the city's main airport and a subway station. Starting the next day, people gathered in Place de La Bourse and lit candles amid spontaneous singing and guitar playing of French-language songs about peace, along with some Beatles hits for good measure. Locals and foreigners... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-It began as an all-too-common story: A Palestinian assailant in the contested West Bank city of Hebron stabs and wounds an Israeli soldier. Israeli forces shoot him dead. But hours after the incident Thursday, a political and moral firestorm engulfed Israel. A video showed a soldier executing the already incapacitated attacker. One day later, after condemnation from the highest reaches of Israel's government, a second video appeared to show that the attacker might have still... Full story
"Every week there is an attack at the U.N. against Israel," Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told me at the recent American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference. In the week that followed our interview, the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) appointed a Canadian legal expert who has expressed anti-Israel views to the post of special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights. The UNHRC also adopted a measure that calls for the creation of a database-or what Danon... Full story
NEW YORK—Known as the most coveted season in Israel, spring boasts cool breezes, wild flowers blooming and savings on EL AL Israel Airlines nonstop flights from all USA gateway cities. The special roundtrip airfare is $899 on nonstop flights from New York (JFK/Newark) and Boston for departures from May 11 through June 15, 2016. From Los Angeles, the roundtrip fare is $1,069 and is available for travel May 8-June 7, 2016. (Prices include all taxes & carrier imposed surcharges.) For Matmid as well as Executive and Premium Tier Frequent Flyer C... Full story
UN censors exhibit on Israel set for NY headquarters (JTA)—The United Nations has censored an exhibition about Israel set to go on display at the organization’s headquarters in New York. Three of the 13 panels in the exhibition “Israel Matters,” which is set to open Monday, will be deleted, the U.N. decided over the weekend. The censored panels deemed “inappropriate” are on the subjects of Zionism, Jerusalem and Arab-Israelis. The exhibit was created by Israel’s permanent mission to the United Nations with the organization StandWithUs.... Full story
From 1947 to September 1950, 48,818 Yemenite Jews-almost the entire Jewish population in Yemen-flew to freedom in Israel through Operation On Wings of Eagles, better known as Operation Magic Carpet airlift. (See the full story of the airlift in the Feb. 12 issue of the Heritage.) Approximately 14,000 Yemenite Jews remained behind, and then were trapped in Yemen in 1962 after civil war broke out, making it almost impossible to reach the small population. However, over the years, The Jewish... Full story
ANTWERP (JTA)—The hundreds of rifle-toting police and soldiers who patrol Isaac Michaeli’s neighborhood have done little to improve his sense of safety. “When the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing, the soldiers might as well be cardboard cutouts,” he said. A jeweler in his 40s, Michaeli lives with his family in Antwerp’s Jewish quarter, a small neighborhood of 12,000 that is one of the largest haredi communities in Europe. The troops have been assigned to protect the neighborhood, with its 98 Jewish institutions, since May 2... Full story
Political leaders around the globe, including United States presidential candidates from both major parties and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, all had words to say as to what they perceived as the best response to the suicide bombings carried out by Islamic State operatives at a metro station and airport that killed at least 34 people in Brussels, Belgium, on March 22. Netanyahu’s remarks were delivered for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s 2016 Policy Conference on March 22. After “sending his condolences” to the vic... Full story
Sanders sweeps 3 Western states, winning handily WASHINGTON (JTA)—Sen. Bernie Sanders handily won Democratic nominating contests in Washington state, Alaska and Hawaii, narrowing the delegate gap with front-runner Hillary Clinton but still facing a daunting challenge to secure the party’s presidential nod. With the Sanders’ victories on Saturday, Clinton now leads the Vermont Independent in the number of pledged delegates, 1,234 to 956. But his overwhelming wins in all three states could lend his campaign momentum and bring in donations. In Al... Full story
On March 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise announcement that he would withdraw the “main part” of Russian forces from Syria, in an announcement that shocked many of the countries concerned about the ongoing conflict in the country, including Israel. The move by Putin came as Syrian peace talks began this week in Geneva, Switzerland between the Syrian government, and opposition and rebel groups in the wake of a ceasefire announced in late February between Russia and the United States. “I believe that the task put before the d... Full story
(JNS.org) Two 17-year-old Iranian-Jewish teenagers were arrested in Tehran this week after they were caught spray painting the words “Death to Haman” on a building. “Based on the details that came from Iran, the Tehran police promised to release the two boys, both 17, after it was made clear to them that this is not a political act, but a simple Purim prank, but as of now, the boys have not been released,” said an official familiar with the case, according to Maariv. Jewish groups in the U.S. have become involved in advocating for the boys re... Full story
Police and Shin Bet: New Duma fire not arson attack by settlers JERUSALEM (JTA)—Arson was not the cause of a fire that damaged the Duma home of a key witness in a deadly attack last year in the same West Bank Palestinian village, police believe. Ibrahim Dawabsheh, the owner of the house, and his wife escaped from the burning home early Sunday morning and were treated in a West Bank hospital for smoke inhalation, the Palestinian Maan news agency reported. He is the key witness to the July 2015 attack that killed his relatives Reham and Saad D... Full story
(JTA)—Iran said a U.S. court ruling last week ordering it to pay more than $10 billion for its alleged role in the 9/11 attacks is “ridiculous.” “This judgement is so ridiculous... more than ever before it damages the credibility of the U.S. judicial system,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said, according to Agence France Press. U.S. District Judge George Daniels in New York issued a default judgment Wednesday against Iran for $7.5 billion to the estates and families of people who died at the World Trade Center and Pent... Full story
