Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1551 - 1575 of 3636
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—Another Jewish community has sustained a bloody attack that left Jews everywhere reeling. On Tuesday, a small enclave of Hasidic Jews in Jersey City, New Jersey had their worlds shaken and disrupted during a frightening siege. Schools were on lockdown, four people were murdered and people from around the Jewish world suddenly were on high alert yet again. Whether overheard in adult conversations, picked up on radio or TV news broadcasts, or through word-of-mouth in the schoolyard, many of our children are undoubtedly aware o... Full story
The President of the United States issued today an executive order invoking Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to combat anti-Semitic crime and discrimination on college campuses. The executive order calls for the enforcement of “Title VI against prohibited forms of discrimination rooted in anti-Semitism as vigorously as against all other forms of discrimination prohibited by Title VI.” In his remarks at the IAC National Summit, the president endorsed and shared the main stage with Adela Cojab, an immigrant who recently graduated fro... Full story
(JNS)—Despite the intense focus on Israel’s ongoing political stalemate, the Israeli media has found plenty of room in recent days to run lengthy features on food, music, sports, shopping and gossip. Stories have included the victories of Tottenham, Manchester and Liverpool in the British Premier League, another visit to Israel by Quentin Tarantino and the pregnant Daniela Pick, a comedy show in Tel Aviv by Louis CK, Sacha Baron Cohen’s attack on Facebook, oodles of advice about where and whether to buy cellphones on Black Friday, instr... Full story
The annual intersection of Chanukah and Christmas is once again approaching and with it the combined joy of the season. The close proximity of the two holidays this time of the year becomes complicated because of the different meaning and commemorations of what each holiday represents and how each should be observed and celebrated. Each year the Jewish community faces this annual dilemma of how to keep from getting caught up in the holiday season while at the same time respecting our Christian friends in their celebration of Christmas. How do... Full story
(JNS)—The news out of Iran should shock the conscience of the world. As The New York Times reported in a front-page article published on Monday, when Iranians tried to protest their government’s arbitrary decision to drastically raise gasoline prices, the regime responded with unprecedented force. Throughout the country, security forces, including units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, have opened fire on unarmed citizens. According to the Times, in the first two weeks of the protests, anywhere from 180 to 450 persons have been kil... Full story
What is the essential philosophical difference between the Greeks and the Jews? Over two thousand years ago a battle ensued between the Jewish nation and the Greek empire that culminated in the retaking and dedication of the Temple and the continuation of its service. Chanukah is from the Hebrew word for “dedication” denoting this historical victory. The clash was not as simple as good guys versus bad, for in addition to the fight with the Greeks there was an internal conflict within the Jewish people as well. It was the first time in history t... Full story
(JTA)—A Facebook friend is looking for nominations for the Great Chanukah Song. I’m not impressed by the candidates. The classics—“Maoz Tzur (Rock of Ages),” “Oh Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah,” “Sevivon” and “I Have a Little Dreidel” -- have a nostalgic appeal, and I couldn’t imagine this minor holiday without them. But no one one would call any of them a great song. Newer suggestions range from “Tom Lehrer’s “(I’m Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica” to Adam Sandler’s frequently revised “Hanukkah Song.” The former is really a riff on multiple Jew... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—Here we go again: Just this week, two more cases of the abuse of Holocaust imagery have surfaced and created an international stir. In November, Russian figure skater Anton Shulepov wore an Auschwitz-themed costume during his free skating performance at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating event. To compound the offense, the International Skating Union listed it on Sunday as a contender in the best costume category, which is open to voting from the public. After protests, the skating union quickly removed the Shulepov costume from i... Full story
(JNS)—The long-awaited indictments of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges haven’t changed many minds in the Likud Party. His loyal followers are still not only convinced of his indispensability, but also of the bogus nature of the legal assault on his tenure in office. Most of his supporters would still vote for him in the next election and, more to the point, in a primary election against a challenger. Gideon Sa’ar, a former minister in past governments led by the prime minister and one of the more popular Likud Kne... Full story
(JNS)—The following quotes are from Jewish citizens of various European countries, gathered during a survey earlier this year on Jewish perceptions of anti-Semitism that was carried out by the European Union. “Anti-Semitism and racism are like the Wiener Schnitzel. They are part of the Austrian cultural heritage, just as xenophobia and ‘we are different.’ There is nothing to fight against, just suppressing the consequences has to suffice.” “The way things are now, I experience, for example, that ‘Jew’ is a widespread cuss word in Copenhagen.... Full story
(JNS) Ever since the Muslim conquest, occupation and colonization of the Middle East and North Africa in the seventh century, the region’s Jews, among others, lived under a dhimmi status. While the Arabic term dhimmi has been translated as “tolerated,” the actual meaning is far more sinister. Under Islamic law, Jews were less than second-class citizens. They were a brutally oppressed minority, forced to pay special taxes called jizya, frequently forced to place distinctive signs on their houses and clothing and sometimes brutally humil... Full story
(JNS)—The U.S. position on the future of Judea and Samaria should be based on U.S. interests in the context of a violent, volcanic, uncontrollable and unpredictable Middle East, where agreements are as tenuous as are the regimes which conclude them. On Sept. 18, 1970, the pro-USSR Syrian military invaded Jordan in an attempt to topple the pro-U.S. Hashemite regime, an attack which, if successful, would have destabilized the regional balance. The invasion was rolled back on Sept. 23, largely due to Israel’s deployment of its military and Isr... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—Although it hasn’t yet been determined whether the brutal stabbing of a young father on his way to morning prayers in Ramapo, New York, was a an anti-Jewish hate crime, it was described by the local police chief as a “vicious, violent attack” and would certainly fit the ugly pattern of violence against identifiably Jewish Jews over recent months. Like the 64-year-old rabbi who was hit in the head with a brick while on his daily morning walk in Crown Heights. He was hospitalized with “a broken nose, missing teeth, stitches... Full story
(JNS)—With Michael Bloomberg’s announcement that he will be running for president as a Democrat, the former New York mayor may have given American Jews a reason not to decamp for the GOP en masse. Yes, I realize that the Democratic Party has been home to American Jews since the New Deal. So cozy has this domestic arrangement been that nearly 80 percent self-identify as Democrats. Even pro-Israel Republican presidents—the current incumbent, especially—have been exasperated by this staunch party solidarity. But apparently, American Jews are not... Full story
Monday will long be remembered as a turning point in Middle East history. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s statement Monday that Israeli settlements are not illegal per se is the most significant shift in U.S. Middle East policy in the past generation. Jerusalem’s status as Israel’s capital has been a matter of U.S. law since 1996. There was little interest in Washington in recent years in pressuring Israel to withdraw from the Golan Heights. But the issue of the legality of Israeli settlements has been the defining issue of much of the i... Full story
(JNS)—Amid all the hubbub over the latest wave of Palestinian Arab rocket attacks against Israel, one extremely important part of the story passed almost unnoticed. I call it Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas’s dirty little secret. A news brief carried by one of the wire services reported that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine announced that it has “expanded its rockets’ range beyond Gaza border communities.” The significance of the news, as presented by the media, was that a terrorist faction was boasting of new ro... Full story
(JNS)—U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Monday that the United States no longer considers Israel’s settlements in the West Bank inconsistent with international law. This policy shift comes in the wake of last week’s ruling by the European Court of Justice, laudably criticized by the Trump administration, holding that labels for food produced in Israeli settlements must adequately inform E.U. consumers of their origin in “occupied territory.” The legality of the settlements, in fact, largely hinges on whether the territory... Full story
(JTA)—This week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States no longer considers Israeli Jewish settlements in the West Bank to be illegal. Following the announcement, many 2020 Democratic candidates claimed the decision would “make peace harder to achieve” and “inflame tensions in the region.” However, as usual, the fears proved all for naught. Hamas did not respond with violence—in fact, they have even canceled their weekly “March of Return” protests along the Gaza border in an effort to avoid further confrontation w... Full story
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s Nov. 18 announcement that the U.S. now regards Israel’s West Bank settlement enterprise as “not inconsistent with international law” is just the latest blow delivered by the Trump administration to the prospects of a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. It follows a series of similar steps designed to abet the clearly expressed annexation desires of Prime Minister Netanyahu, including President Trump’s refusal to endorse a two-state solution as U.S. policy and the State Department’s removal of... Full story
WASHINGTON—On Monday, Nov. 18, Pastor John Hagee, the founder and Chairman of Christians United for Israel, expressed support for the Trump administration’s revocation of the Hansell Memorandum: “I want to express my profound appreciation to President Donald Trump for his bold and courageous support of Israel and the Jewish people. Thank you Secretary Pompeo for revoking the Hansell opinion of 1978 that held civilian settlements in Israel were not legal under international law. “CUFI has opposed the Hansell opinion, as it pre-judged the out... Full story
Dear Editor: The American Jewish Congress greets yesterday’s historic announcement by the Trump Administration on the legality of settlements as a step in the direction of moving both sides towards a meaningful resolution. We reject the concept that policy changes that benefit Israel are zero-sum and will harm the stalled non-existent peace process. The status quo is unacceptable. The nearly forty-year-old policy recognizing settlements as illegal has not brought Israelis or Palestinians closer to lasting peace. The history of the peace p... Full story
(JNS)—The atmosphere on North American college campuses today is one in which anything that can be labeled, fairly or unfairly, hate speech or which might make virtually any group feel “triggered” or otherwise upset can be banned or otherwise silenced. Universities that once prided themselves on their defense of free speech against efforts to suppress dissent now go out of their way to provide “safe places” for those who are too sensitive to hear views that contradict their own prejudices and biases. But there’s one particular kind of hate spee... Full story
Technology has brought the world ever closer together, but increasingly, political instability, terrorism and war reminds us how very far apart different places remain. In 1963 when I made my first flight to Israel, our Air France flight had to stop in Paris to refuel in order to complete the journey to our destination. That trip to Israel from New York City took more than 18 hours. Today, that same route is nonstop and can be accomplished in under 10 hours and in greater comfort. The same is true for international (and domestic)... Full story
More than 150 rockets were fired at Israeli civilian targets by the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists from Gaza within hours after the Nov. 12 targeted air strike assassination of Baha Abu al-Ata, a top commander of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine. Coming just over two weeks after the U.S. successfully targeted ISIS terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to be captured or killed there is a simple question to ask here: What would the U.S. do if after al-Baghdadi killed himself his terrorist soldiers fired 150 rockets as U.S.... Full story
BIRMINGHAM, England (JTA)—My heart jumped when I saw the phone number of my oldest son’s school on the screen. “Hello?” “Is this Dr. Skinazi?” “Yes.” “Don’t worry, Lucas is fine. Only—I just wanted to let you know that there was a little anti-Semitic incident at school today.” Breathe in, breathe out. “What happened this time?” I asked. The last time there had been a “little anti-Semitic incident” was when Lucas mentioned being Jewish in a religious education class during the first year of secondary school, and one of his classmates teased, ... Full story
