Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 2233 - 2257 of 3736
You know that critics of Israel are getting panicky when they start trotting out the old “one state” bogeyman. “As a 2-State Solution Loses Steam, a 1-State Plan Gains Traction,” a New York Times headline announced on Jan. 5, above an article so palpably absurd that it can only reflect the mad panic among advocates of Palestinian statehood as they see their dream fading away. And the fact that The Times chose to make it page one news says a lot about the fearful mindset among the left-wing news media, Israel-bashing pundits and Jewish peace c... Full story
Some years ago, the French actor Robert Clary appeared on a television interview. He was famous for another television program—Hogan’s Heroes, a comical take on a prison camp in Germany during the Second World War. In the interview, Clary, for the first time, told the story of his experience with the Holocaust. How he, as a young Jewish actor in Paris was rounded up along with his Jewish neighbors and Jewish contemporaries by the Paris police and eventually sent to Buchenwald. The rest of his family was also taken to German Concentration Cam... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—Arguably the world’s greatest writer of fiction about the world’s foremost nonfiction atrocity, the Holocaust, died Thursday in Israel. Aharon Appelfeld, a Holocaust survivor himself and one of the icons of Israel’s first generation, was 85. No writer captured and reclaimed the lost world of European Jewish life with as much imaginative intensity and heartfelt longing. The author of over 40 books, written in Hebrew and translated around the world, he was the recipient of the State of Israel Prize for Literature in 1983, and a f... Full story
We didn’t need the publication of a new book filled with behind-the-scenes gossip to know that Donald Trump is an unconventional and, at times, inappropriate president. His use of Twitter provides many examples of this fact. But amid another flurry of questionable tweets on Jan. 4, Trump also talked about threatening aid cuts to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Most of the mainstream media treated that idea as being as loopy as the latest exchange of insults with North Korea’s dictator. But while it’s easy to mock Trump’s social media habits,... Full story
The New York Times closed 2017 with a parting shot at Israel. A Dec. 30 feature (“Coming Out in Lebanon”) in The Times identifies Lebanon as perhaps the “one exception” in a region hostile to its gay, lesbian and transgender citizens. The article opens, “Throughout the Middle East, gay, lesbian and transgender people face formidable obstacles to living a life of openness and acceptance in conservative societies.” But the newspaper insists, “If there is one exception, it has been Lebanon.” The article completely ignores Israel, the one Middle... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—JTA doesn’t give out Person of the Year honors, but if we did I’d be tempted to nominate Michael Kadar, the Israeli-American teenager accused of making hundreds of bomb threats against Jewish community centers in early 2017. As I wrote soon after his arrest: “[T]he JCC bomb threat hoax wasn’t just an isolated swastika daubing—it was an ongoing story affecting Jewish institutions in nearly every American Jewish community. It shaped a communal narrative that something ugly and insidious was happening out there. And it fueled a po... Full story
The Palestinians say “no” ties with the US, “no” meetings with US peace emissaries, and a big “no” to Washington’s recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. All of these negatives have combined to turn President Donald Trump’s twitter arsenal against the PA. According to the US president, the Palestinians had no legitimate reason to be furious over his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital because Israel would have had “to pay” for his declarations with concessions in future negotiations. The United States currently gives the P... Full story
By Daniel Krygier Like all empires and despotic regimes, the Iranian Mullah regime has a shelf life that it desperately seeks to prolong. The renewed popular protests in Iran against the regime and the deteriorating living conditions in the country could potentially bring profound positive change for Israel, the Middle East and the world. Alongside Turkey, Iran stands out as a Muslim non-Arab country in a Middle East region dominated by the Arab world. Prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Israel and Iran enjoyed close economic and security... Full story
President Donald Trump’s recent announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and declaring that the U.S. will move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem did not happen in a vacuum or come out of nowhere. It did not happen solely because of Jewish influence, either. It happened because millions of good Christians in America urged the president to do so. But where did this groundswell of Christian support come from? It was exactly 40 years ago when I initiated some of the earliest dialogues ever between evangelical Christians and Jew... Full story
(Kveller via JTA)—My family joined a synagogue a few months ago, and overall it’s been wonderful for us. But after our first family Shabbat service, I realized I had a lot to learn. And I wanted to learn. I wanted to be a good example for both my children, but especially my 7-year-old, who was thriving in Hebrew school. Somewhere during a frantic, late-night Google search for Jewish classes and seminars, I stumbled upon a group called Jinspire. It was linked with the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project, a group that offers trips to Israel for J... Full story
On Dec. 14, the star singer-songwriter Lorde tweeted, not uncharacteristically, “my cutie tour mate covered the heart song.” A week later, she was taking a crash course on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. By Christmas Eve, she had acquired enough knowledge of Middle East politics to cancel her June concert in Tel Aviv in accordance with the cultural wing of the BDS movement, which seeks to make Israel a pariah state by encouraging musical and other artists to boycott it. Elvis Costello is among the best-known entertainers to refuse to per... Full story
Time and time again, the Obama Administration took a back seat on the international stage. Whether it was the president’s “red-lines” in Syria—crossed without consequence—the ill-conceived Iran nuclear deal, or the sad spectacle of last December’s US vote to abstain, rather than veto, a one-sided, anti-Israel resolution in the UN Security Council, the Obama Administration’s view of American foreign policy stood in sharp contrast to previous administrations. The United Nations’ obsession with Israel is nothing new. It is well known and well docu... Full story
ByIn a demonstration of how completely at odds his views are from those of the foreign policy establishment, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman reportedly asked the State Department to stop using the term “occupied territories” and instead refer to the “West Bank.” According to accounts that have filtered out of Foggy Bottom, the State Department said no. But we are also told that after pressure “from above”—i.e. President Donald Trump, the current boss of everyone at State as well as Friedman—the issue has yet to be decided. If thi... Full story
Trump’s speeches, and what has happened since, remind us once again about the marginality of Jews. Some may feel comfortable, and justly, given his realism about Jerusalem the Western Wall, and non-Israeli sources of problems throughout the Middle East. But Muslims, and Europeans, are rabid, or upset about what he has unleashed. We are problems for ourselves and others. It’s nothing new. There are signs in the histories told by the Hebrew Bible, Josephus, and much that has occurred since then. It’s probably inevitable in the case of a small... Full story
Europe is the epicenter of the political war against Israel. Europe fights Israel on the streets of Europe, in the corridors of power in Brussels, other Western European capitals and the UN, and in Israel itself. Europe’s war against Israel is a passive-aggressive campaign fought and denied simultaneously. But in recent years, the mask has fallen over and over again. In the days that have passed since US President Donald Trump’s dramatic announcement that the US recognizes that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital and is beginning to take concr... Full story
Nations around the world have condemned the US for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying the recent move by President Trump is an obstacle to an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement. But the real obstacle to peace is the stubborn refusal by Palestinian leaders to accept the reality of Israel as a permanent Jewish state in the historic homeland of the Jewish people. This refusal to accept reality can be labeled Palestinian Derangement Syndrome. As long as Palestinian leaders continue to embrace it, they will not agree to a fair a... Full story
On Dec. 8, American Muslims for Palestine held a protest in front of the White House, reacting to President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The featured speaker was Imam Omar Suleiman, who also led Friday prayers. Suleiman is a notorious bigot who has called homosexuality a “repugnant shameless sin,” advocated for gender segregation and justified Islamic sex slavery. Also speaking was the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Nihad Awad. During Awad’s remarks at the White H... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—The Israeli-American Council’s Fourth Annual National Conference in Washington, D.C., held last month felt like a long-overdue family reunion. Enveloping warmth and a powerful sense of togetherness, the love for Israel was infectious, radiating to and from all the participants. In the corridors of the Washington Convention Center, teenagers spoke with unique pride about their hybrid Israeli-American identity, rooted in the idea that they are deeply connected to their home in America while maintaining a strong affinity to the... Full story
(JTA)—We were wrong. As Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky pointed out, “The Reform response to the recognition of Jerusalem was terrible. When... a superpower recognizes Jerusalem, first you... welcome it, then offer disagreement. Here it was the opposite.” Sharansky was referring to the Dec. 5 statement issued by all 16 North American Reform organizations and affiliates in response to President Donald Trump’s declaration recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The operative clause reads: “While we share the president... Full story
U.S. National Security Advisor Gen. H.R. McMaster underlined an important point this week that deserves a wider audience. Speaking at a conference in Washington, D.C., McMaster highlighted two countries that he said were playing a key role in advancing radical Islamist ideology through the Muslim community’s “charities, madrassas and other social organizations.” Not Pakistan. Not Libya. Not Shi’a Iran. The two countries named by McMaster have been regarded for most of the past century as stalwart allies of the West. One is a member of the NAT... Full story
(JTA)—I’m sorry... sometimes adults just don’t get it. A number of articles have been published recently in the Forward about a “point system” game played by members of United Synagogue Youth (and other Jewish youth groups) now and in the past. According to the game, teens keep an informal tally of their “hookups” with other members, earning points for their partner’s position in the youth group hierarchy. “Sexual experimentation is a fact of life anywhere teens gather,” according to the Forward. “But the ‘points system’ explicitly link... Full story
PORTLAND, Ore. (JTA)—As a 27-year-old female Hillel executive director, I spend my days focused on enriching the lives of Jewish students in my community. Working for an organization with a mission and vision so closely aligned with my values is a privilege. It’s not lost on me how fortunate I am to hold such responsibility. One of my most important responsibilities is to raise the funds needed to carry out the work with students that I care about so passionately. Last week, I received an email from a prominent donor in our community ask... Full story
In the last two months, the avalanche of stories about sexual abuse and harassment has touched virtually every sector of American society. The revelations about deeply troubling behavior on the part of politicians, journalists and figures in the entertainment world have transfixed the country. As more victims come forward to tell their stories, the consequences have gone beyond the disgrace of some prominent individuals, the end of careers and, in Alabama, a surprising election result. What began with a shocking story about movie mogul Harvey... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Amid the global controversy over President Donald Trump’s recognition last week of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state, Israeli and Palestinian leaders actually found rare consensus: They agreed that the development was a win for Israel and a loss for the Palestinians. To be sure, Trump’s concession was not a major one. Israel was always expected to get a recognized capital in Jerusalem under any Middle East peace deal, and the president did not reject Palestinian claims to have their capital in the city, too. Howev... Full story
The “P is for Palestine” children’s book that is causing so much controversy presents anti-Israel propaganda and deeply disturbing justifications for “intifada” violence. But it also contains one very important truth. Golbarg Bashi, the Iranian-born author, decided to use the device of an alphabet book to indoctrinate children with anti-Israel messages. The most incendiary part, which has been at the center of much of the public debate about the book, declares, “I is for Intifada, Arabic for rising up for what is right, if you are a kid or grow... Full story
