Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — For many of us, the world’s hypocrisy when it comes to Israel is self-evident, and the double standards applied to the only Jewish state are clearly anti-Semitic. Typically, we think about these biases when issues arise directly related to Israel, but it may be even more obvious to others if we consider the likely response if Israel engaged in some of the policies and activities of other countries. Imagine the reaction if … Israel announced it was planning to ban halal slaughter. The European Union’s highest court ruled in 2020 that co...
In columns recently published by The Heritage, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream was excoriated for deciding not to sell ice cream in what the company calls “the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” Mel Pearlman equates the decision with antisemitism, stating “This action is part of the BDS effort to delegitimize the existence of the Jewish State, and to deny the indigenous right of the Jewish people to their homeland.” And Jim Shipley titles his column, “Anti-Israel equals antisemitism.” Whether you a...
Dear Editor: I was completely taken aback by your decision to publish Tamara Aronowsky’s article “Abortion’s Juneteenth” (July 9, 2021 issue). It was offensive on so many levels. At the very least, you should have included a counter article in support of this important and necessary law. That you chose to publish this despite the fact that 83 percent of Jews believe that abortion should be legal in all/most cases defies logic. Equally disturbing is that The Heritage believes it is an appropriate place for such a topic. Having a Jewish author...
(JNS) — If you thought that American Jews were going to unite against discrimination in ice-cream sales, you were wrong. The decision of the Ben & Jerry’s company to “end sales of our ice-cream in ‘occupied Palestinian territories’” was widely condemned across the political spectrum in Israel, by many mainstream Jewish groups and by American political leaders. But the notion that this is an issue around which Jews are going to rally is wrong. Even worse, it may be that, like so much else, it will become fodder for partisan squabbling...
(FLAME via JNS) — There’s no doubt that Arabs have lived in the Holy Land for many hundreds of years. You can’t blame them for making claims to some of the land. Arabs today control about 97 percent of the Middle East, and Palestinian Arabs represent about 70 percent of the population of Israel’s neighbor, Jordan. The problem is, Palestinian Arabs flatly deny that Jews have also lived in this land — especially that they have dwelled on their tiny sliver of territory continuously for over 3,000 years. This rejection of Jewish history leads Pal...
KIBBUTZ HANNATON, Israel (New York Jewish Week via JTA) — Like Tikvah, one of the two main characters in my debut novel, “Hope Valley,” I moved to Israel out of Zionist ideology. Growing up, I went to Zionist schools and summer camps, where I imbibed the narrative that after 2,000 years of exile and oppression, even genocide, we, the few, defeated the many evil nations who were out to destroy us, and created a third Jewish sovereignty here on this land promised to us by God. But once living on this land, I slowly began to open my eyes, ears...
(JNS) — Giant fissures are emerging from just beneath the earth’s surface throughout the Middle East and Israel is bracing for the inevitable eruption. The United States had better wake up, too, because the aftershocks will be felt here, and they will not be mild. In a briefing this week to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies’ Professor Manuel Tratjenberg stated that Tehran has accumulated immense knowledge of greater levels of highly enriched uranium and uranium metal production operating more...
Dear Editor: In major recent Jewish publications, much has been written on intermarriage. It is important to respect the love between two people and honor the choices couples make in their lives. With that said, I love Jewish weddings and soon I will be attending my nephew’s rescheduled Jewish celebration delayed by the pandemic. Jewish weddings are joyous, energetic and connect Jews across generations. There is traditional and soulful Jewish music. Many brides adopt the custom of circling the groom seven times. Marriage contracts or Ketubot a...
By I woke up to the echoes of the Islamic prayers through the Judean mountains that were both beautiful and haunting. Living here among Palestinian Arab Moslems I hear the call to prayer daily, five times a day, but today was different. Today the volume and length of the prayer was considerably louder and longer. The sustained repetition of “Allah Akbar” is audible, perhaps amplified by the mountains, and only competing with an occasional car, or bird. I have no problem with how one approaches God in their respective faith, as long as the...
Lately, the delicious flavors of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream have started to taste very bitter. Could it be the sudden introduction of antisemitic ingredients into the recipe have contaminated a great American product along with the story of a great American company? Prior to being acquired by Unilever, Ltd., a British based international conglomerate in the food industry, in 2001, the company was not only successful, but was socially conscience and active in civil rights and environmental concerns. It certainly was not at its inception destined...
There was a time that negative stereotypes flourished on major networks. “Amos and Andy” was a parody on Black Americans. Their parts were played on radio with white actors putting on exaggerated Black accents. A group of African Americans were portrayed as foolish, stereotypical black people who had trouble like many people but with a nasty racist twist. On radio, Jews were not portrayed with raw racist antisemitism. Maybe it was the preponderance of Jews in high positions in the radio and TV industry. “The Goldbergs,” a staple of daytime...
Unilever, Ltd., is a British multinational consumer goods company. They own over 400 brands. The conglomerate bought Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream in 2001. Owners Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield relinquished managerial control of the company, but maintained autonomy over social issues. When Ben & Jerry’s, the company, said that it is “inconsistent with our values” for their ice cream to be sold in Judea and Samaria, Unilever, the parent company was not — and is not — in agreement. In a press release from Arutz Sheva 7, Avi Zinger, CEO of Ben & Jerry...
(JNS) — The Biden administration is telling Israel that disagreements between them should remain private. Its double standard, like its hypocrisy, is astounding. Washington had no problem, for example, publicly criticizing Israel’s decision to proceed with its effective policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinian-Arab terrorists who murder Jews and Americans. Earlier this month, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said, “We attach a good deal of priority to this, knowing that the home of an entire family shouldn’t be demolis...
(JNS) — It may have been discouraging, but the dismal turnout for a national rally that was supposed to bring Jews together against antisemitism was also an appropriate reminder of the greatest challenge facing them. A week before Tisha B’Av — the annual day of fasting and mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples, in addition to other disasters that befell the Jews throughout history — a well-meaning attempt to mobilize and unite the community to confront antisemitism didn’t seem to resonate with most Jews. While lots of e...
(The Jewish Journal via JNS) — Whose job is it to define who I am? Is it an institution’s job or is it mine? In all the brouhaha over critical race theory, this question is rarely asked. That may be because much of the controversy over CRT has been about defining a nation and a system. CRT is a theoretical genre within the larger realm of critical theory that has become a mainstream movement. It teaches that the United States was founded on racism, oppression and white supremacy — and that these forces are still rooted in our society. What...
(JTA) — The Arizona Diamondbacks made baseball history Monday when they made Jacob Steinmetz, a 17-year-old right-handed pitcher from Woodmere, New York, their third round pick in the Major League Baseball draft. Steinmetz, who lists at 6-feet-5 and 220 pounds, is the first Orthodox Jewish player to be selected in baseball’s annual talent hunt, which dates back to 1965. The media made a big deal that he “keeps the Sabbath and eats only kosher food,” although the teen does play on Shabbat and holidays — he walks to the fields in those situation...
(JNS) — The first thing to be said about the “No Fear” rally against antisemitism held in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sunday was that it was a noble effort. The organizers and those who showed up deserve credit for trying to shine a spotlight on a surge in hate crimes against Jews. A new group called Alliance for Israel was the primary organizer of the effort; it was launched in the aftermath of the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in mid-May that led to a torrent of incidents of antisemitic incitement and violence acros...
(JTA) — Anyone teaching the past by skipping over the unpleasant parts isn’t teaching history. They are engaged in propaganda. Jewish tradition understands this: Refusing to sugarcoat their own people’s culpability, the Sages themselves teach that the destruction of the Temple by the Romans is a consequence of baseless hatred — among Jews. Yet in nearly two-dozen states, the movement to impose restrictions on the teaching of history is gaining momentum. Incited by a national hysteria over “critical race theory,” advocates of these educational f...
(JNS) — The decline of polling firms has been part and parcel of the general decline of institutional trustworthiness. There’s still a market for “internal polls” for political campaigns, but there’s also an abundance of “poll trolls” and highly dubious clickbait polls. The media is happy to pick up the clicks from the clickbait without reporting basic questions about the firms behind the numbers. Take this latest one loudly promoted by the JTA, with a bold headline: “Poll finds a quarter of US Jews think Israel is ‘apartheid state.’” The JTA d...
(JNS) — There is no more obvious sign that American education is in trouble than the fact that most state legislatures have become battlegrounds over how to teach history. The subject can be fraught with controversy under any circumstances. But in the last year, as efforts to put critical race theory into public-school curricula have increased, the entire question of how to think not just about the history of ourselves but the United States itself has become wrapped up in controversies about education. On the one hand, some Americans believe t...
One of the factors in the early formation of humans into social groups was a common belief in spiritual powers, mythical gods and superstitions. The consensus of so-called religious beliefs within these groups at the dawn of civilization was as much a driving force in the formation of tribal community life as was the need to collectively survive by delegating and cooperating in food gathering, hunting and protecting against other tribal communities. While unanimity of religious belief within the tribe was beneficial to its safety, well-being...
(JNS) — Over the last couple of months, everyone once again attempted to take sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Hamas, acting under insidious and aggressive tactics, used an emotionally charged court case as a reason to wage a large assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip. More than 4,000 rockets later, of which many misfired and ended up hurting Palestinians, we are seeing a lull in hostility. However, as Israelis and Palestinians are clearing the rubble from this horrifying violence, there is an age-old conflict arising in the United S...
(FLAME via JNS) — As the Palestinian Authority tightens its iron grip on dissent in the West Bank—and a dissident is brutally murdered while in P.A. custody—Western media virtually ignore the story. One Palestinian activist accuses the United States government itself of supporting the increased repression. Ironically, just last February, P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas seemed to have found a new love for the freedom of speech. Reversing more than a decade of strangling speech critical of his regime, he decreed a ban on “the detention, arrest,...
(JNS) — The Biden administration is determined to provide aid to the Palestinians in violation of the spirit, if not the letter of the Taylor Force Act, which bars U.S. aid from going to the Palestinian Authority (PA) so long as it continues its pay-to-slay policy. PA President Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly said he will not end the payments to terrorists and, in recent months, has tried to restructure the means of payments in hopes President Joe Biden will ignore the deception. Regardless, the Palestinians don’t need the money and should not...
(JNS) Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Massachusetts Boston put together a “March for Palestine” at the Massachusetts State House on June 24. The event began with a UMass Boston SJP member taking the microphone and telling the crowd that participants would be marching to the local offices of the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Community Relations Council. The choice of these locations seemed interesting, given that the Israeli Consulate is only a short walk away from the State House. “I’m so sorry; I’m still lea...
