Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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What are the details of the Middle East peace plan that President Donald Trump will use to craft what he hopes is the “ultimate deal?” Sometime in the next few months, they will be unveiled as part of an effort to revive the dead-in-the-water peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Though we’ll have to wait and see what exactly is in the proposal being cooked up by a team led by presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner and chief negotiator Jason Greenblatt, the only two things that seem certain are that it is likely to be accep... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—“Is So-and-So Jewish? How Jewish is she? Find out if she’s Jewish.” I often joke that JTA reporters and anti-Semitic bloggers write the same stories, only with different headlines. We proudly search down Jewish celebrities to show the diverse ways that Jews are contributing to the wider culture. The Daily Stormer uses the same names to prove that Jews are taking over. The problem for us, of course, is when the Jews we report on do bad things. Very bad things. The last few months have seen a deluge of stories about Jews in trou... Full story
Dear Editor: While I like a good story with a happy ending, as occurred in your story ‘SupermanHPV’ in the Nov. 3, 2017, issue, I would like to add a cautionary note about the level of enthusiasm given to the Gardasil vaccine series in that story. There are 170 known types of HPV that cause different issues in humans from warts to cancer. Of these, 17 strains are known to cause cancer in humans. That being said, Gardasil is supposed to protect against 9 of these different strains that can cause cancer. The problem is, is that HPV is ubiquitous,... Full story
Dear Editor: We are very appreciative of the thoughtful letter to the editor regarding the use of the Gardasil 9 vaccine to prevent HPV-related cancers. The points you made deserve discussion. While it is true that some individuals, even newborn children, can be exposed to HPV, the vast majority of infections develop following initiation of sexual activity. The recommended age to initiate the series is between ages 11 and 12, but it can be given as early as 9. The benefit of administration at this time is that it likely predates sexual debut... Full story
Dear Editor: I have seen Kehillah and I am so excited about the exhibit at the Orange County Historical Museum. First let me thank all of the men and women who put this together. Just looking at the exhibit, you get an idea how many places they had to go to and people they had to chase down to get the information needed for this first-class exhibit. Second, I want to encourage everyone who reads this letter to take a couple of hours to see this exhibit—you won’t be sorry. You will be reminded of many people you know or knew. For me it was a r... Full story
Another week, another centennial. Following the Balfour Declaration’s milestone, it’s now time to look back on the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, where a communist insurrection in St. Petersburg, then known as Petrograd, gave birth to a state that caused untold misery to millions for almost the remainder of the 20th century. Led by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolsheviks—the “majority” faction of the Russian communists—were a tight-knit, fiercely revolutionary group. Its core members had shared the experience of exile in grand cities like London... Full story
Senior Trump administration officials reportedly are crafting a plan for Middle East peace. Based on the details that are available so far, friends of Israel have good reason for concern. According to a front-page New York Times report on Nov. 12, the administration is preparing what it considers to be an “ultimate deal” between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. There appear to be two phases to the plan. Phase one will consist of “confidence-building provisions” by each side. The problem is that Israel will be expected to make new concess... Full story
We were heartened to learn that a Philadelphia synagogue is offering an adult education course about anti-Semitism, a timeless scourge that every generation must combat. But why is the course seemingly prompted, as its website suggests, solely by Christian sources of Jew-hatred and August’s despicable anti-Jewish events in Charlottesville—rather than July’s equally despicable calls in two California mosques for Jews to be slaughtered, or even the continuous despicable Jew-hatred from Nation of Islam leaders? Are Jew-hatred and threats from... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—Leaders of North America’s Jewish federation movement kicked off their annual conference here Sunday with a tribute to the 1987 march on Washington that brought out hundreds of thousands of people in support of Soviet Jews. The film and testimonials by refuseniks were moving, but felt a little like those perennial tributes by the New York Mets to their 1986 championship team: a reminder not only of what was, but what’s gone. The rescue of Soviet Jews and their resettlement here and in Israel was a high point for the netwo... Full story
Defenders of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the Iran nuclear deal is known, have argued that Iran’s aggression was intentionally not addressed by the deal. For example this week, Federica Moghereni, the high representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said, “The Iran deal has been designed to address one thing only: the Iranian nuclear issue.” One problem with this argument is that it isn’t true. The agreement addressed a number of other issues between Tehran and the rest of the world, and when it did, it went... Full story
One of the complaints about the organized Jewish community is that it is silencing criticism of Israel. Left-wingers paint a dismal picture of a Jewish community in denial about Israel’s sins and determined to squelch debate about the peace process or controversial issues like settlements. So it probably came as quite a shock to many American Jews to read what happened at Princeton University this past week when the Center for Jewish Life—as the campus Hillel is called—cancelled a speech by Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s deputy foreign ministe... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—In a famous episode of “Seinfeld,” Jerry is upset that his dentist, a recent convert to Judaism, is already telling Jewish jokes. He complains to the dentist’s former priest. “I wanted to talk to you about Dr. Whatley,” Jerry says. “I have a suspicion that he’s converted to Judaism just for the jokes.” “And this offends you as a Jewish person,” the priest says “No,” Jerry says. “It offends me as a comedian.” Larry David, the co-creator of “Seinfeld,” did a Holocaust bit on “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend, and a lot m... Full story
US President Donald Trump initiated an important change in US policy toward Iran. No, in his speech de-certifying Iran’s compliance with the nuclear accord it struck with his predecessor Barack Obama, Trump didn’t announce a new strategy for preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, or stemming its hegemonic rise in the Middle East, or limiting its ability to sponsor terrorism. Trump’s move was not operational. It was directional. In his address Friday, Trump changed the policy dynamics that dictate US policy on Iran. For the first time... Full story
What an eventful day Sunday, Nov. 12, was! It was the opening of the Kehillah: A History of Jewish Life in Greater Orlando exhibit, and it is an amazing history. As a volunteer for the project, I attended the opening “thank you” luncheon for volunteers and sponsors. During the program, Marcia Jo Zerivitz, LHD, exhibition curator, said in the word “history” is the word “story,” and this is the living story of this Jewish community. Walking through the exhibit is enlightening, but to walk through with descendants of the first Jews to arrive in C... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—What is MBS? Why did Lebanon’s prime minister resign, and why in Saudi Arabia? What’s Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas doing in Saudi Arabia? Where is Jared Kushner in all this? And what does it all mean for Israel? It’s been a busy week in the Middle East and, for a change, the two ground-shifting stories—they may be the same story, but we’ll get to that—don’t directly involve Israel. Mohammed bin Salman (the MBS contraction is so cool, it’s already uncool), the recently minted Saudi crown prince, has place... Full story
One of Israeli’s prime time evening news programs ran a series on what it called the Palestinian middle class. It featured glitzy hotels, shopping malls, and restaurants in Ramallah and other West Bank cities, interviews with managers and patrons, details of West Bankers, Israeli Arabs, and overseas tourists sharing in what seems like the good life, and interviews with individuals seeing their future in Palestinian high tech Some of the extravagance portrayed was over the edge, too much for a modest Israeli to enjoy. The design of hotels and re... Full story
Every year, the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration passes by quietly in Israel with hardly any notice. Only this year it is being noted and celebrated because it is the 100th anniversary. However this is not true of the Palestinian Authority. Ever since Palestinian Media Watch has been monitoring the PA, the date of the Balfour Declaration was among the most important days on the PA calendar. Each year, PA schools would have special sessions discussing Balfour. In 2011, for example, the PA organized a letter writing campaign from schoolchil... Full story
It was a minor news story when it broke in the summer of 2016. Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas announced he was suing Great Britain over the Balfour Declaration, issued on Nov. 2, 1917. But as we prepare to observe the centennial of the document this week, it’s important to understand that although his lawsuit was a stunt, Abbas was serious. More than that, the symbolism of his protest tells us more about what is preventing peace between Israel and the Palestinians than any of the usual explanations about settlements, b... Full story
For the Palestinians, the year zero is not 1948, when the state of Israel came into being, but 1917, when Great Britain issued, in the November of that year, the Balfour Declaration—expressing support for the establishment of a “Jewish national home” in Palestine. So central is the Balfour Declaration to Palestinian political identity that the “Zionist invasion” is officially deemed to have begun in 1917—not in 1882, when the first trickle of Jewish pioneers from Russia began arriving, nor in 1897, when the Zionist movement held its first congr... Full story
In his keynote survey of the descent of American democracy in the Trump era, at the recent Zionism 3.0 conference in Palo Alto, Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg dwelled for some time on the proliferation of “fake news,” which he attributed, in large part, to the thousands of portals of entry of information—be it true or false—into the public consciousness. Not surprisingly, he gave much higher marks for accuracy and objectivity to the old media, which while not perfect, does a pretty good job of bringing pertinent and accurate informa... Full story
The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) late in 2018 is one shot across the U.N.’s bow. Notoriously hospitable to dictatorships, hostile to Israel and mismanaged as well, UNESCO deserves the warning. But what does the U.S. do about UN member countries consistently voting against it and against Israel without even a national policy excuse for doing so? Not enough, yet. The countries in question are not adversaries like Russia or Iran, which pursue policies... Full story
While Americans have been tearing down statues that honor people who don’t deserve to be honored, Palestinian Arabs are doing exactly the opposite. A statue honoring Saddam Hussein, the notorious dictator, terror sponsor and mass murderer, was unveiled last week in the Palestinian Authority (PA) city of Qalqilya. Technically, the statue was sponsored by the Arab Liberation Front (ALF), not the municipality of Qalqilya or the PA itself. But the PA’s district governor for the Qalqilya District, Rafi Rawajba, attended the unveiling ceremony. Raw... Full story
Have you ever asked yourself or wondered why after almost 70 years there are still “Palestinian” refugee camps? Have you ever wondered why there are still “Palestinian refugees”? I have asked myself the same questions. Apparently this one issue has been a constant stumbling block in finding a resolution to this horrific situation between the “Palestinians” and the Israeli government. So, I started to do a little research. It was easy using Google Chrome as my search engine, I was able to find a wealth of information. To begin with, you have to... Full story
President Trump’s first overseas trip in May 2017 coincided with a very special day—the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, when for the first time since the destruction of the Second Temple by Roman armies 2000 years ago, Judaism’s holiest sites were finally under Jewish sovereignty. Jerusalem is a vibrant, modern, thriving city. A pilgrim site central to the history of Jews, Christians and Muslims, and open to people of all faiths. The home of the Israeli government, parliament and high court. A place interspersed with unive... Full story
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any messier over at the Center for Jewish History, a New York Times columnist who was invited to speak at an event there has unleashed a barrage of verbal attacks on Israel. The columnist, Roger Cohen, was invited to deliver this year’s Leo Baeck Memorial Lecture. The Leo Baeck Institute is one of six Jewish organizations that operate from the Center for Jewish History building. I did not attend Mr. Cohen’s lecture Oct. 15. But in a pre-lecture interview with the Baeck Institute’s newsletter, LBI New... Full story
