Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 2651 - 2675 of 3706
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas must be surprised at the international outcry over his accusation this week that Israeli rabbis are plotting to poison Arab wells. After all, Abbas and his colleagues have been making similar allegations for more than 30 years, yet the international community has hardly said a word. The best-known allegation was the declaration by Yasser Arafat’s wife, Suha, at a 1999 press conference that Israel was engaged in the “daily and intensive use of poisonous gas” against Palestinians, as part of a pl... Full story
Our flight returning from Europe occurred with the news of a multiple terror attack on the Istanbul airport, which has so far produced more than 40 deaths and 260 injuries. No organization has claimed credit, but the betting is on the Islamic State, or maybe Assad. Turkey has acquired numerous enemies domestic and foreign, including its Kurds and those living elsewhere. Experts on the subject are saying that this was not the style of the Kurds. Turkish Airlines has come into its own with lots of connections, good service, and pursuing a larger... Full story
In a remarkable turnaround, Democratic Party activists who are known to be pro-Palestinian are calling on their party’s platform committee to condemn the Palestinian Authority (PA). Or am I misreading something? Two pro-Palestinian members of Congress, Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, issued their call last week on the blog of J Street. It happens that Ellison and Gutierrez are members of that same platform committee, so it may seem strange that they are taking a public position before the committee has finished... Full story
It’s not the disputed occupation of the West Bank that convinced a 17-year-old Palestinian teenager to stab a 13-year-old Jewish girl to death while she was sleeping. Rather, it’s the corrosive and longtime occupation of Palestinian hearts and minds with vicious, genocidal Jew-hatred. “Hate has no place in the curriculum of schools, and the glorification of violence has no place in the education of children,” Sen. Hillary Clinton said in 2007, after a Senate hearing on Palestinian Authority (PA) schoolbooks and media presented by the watchdo... Full story
Recently I visited with Christian friends from Orlando in Jerusalem. We connected some time ago and became immediate friends, sharing our respective faiths, reverence for God, and love for Israel. They are frequent visitors, know Israel well, and we are in touch often. We’ve been planning an Israel solidarity event together and spent some time discussing details of date, timing, format, and how to involve both Jews and Christians. We also spoke about our respective families, ministries, and current events in Israel and the U.S. The week they l... Full story
In the days since the massacre of 49 people and the wounding of hundreds more by an Islamist gunman at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, America’s political leadership has sounded more discordant than ever. Never mind the absence of a bipartisan consensus about what we should do; our politicians are engaged in unsightly squabbling about the nature of the problem itself. In one corner, we have the Democratic Party, led by President Barack Obama, aggressively steering the national debate toward gun control. According to this camp’s account, the... Full story
The headline of this note, letting aspirations for an organized work rest in peace, may reflect more cynicism than reality. Colonialism began its demise with World War I, when the European powers that could carve up the world and color the maps as they thought best, endured economic and demographic catastrophes until then unequaled in world history. The European-centered world took a while to die. The U.S. opted out by putting domestic politics ahead of Woodrow Wilson’s dream of a League of Nation. Britain and France led the way to changing G... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—If you’re a supporter of Israel and of the Jewish community, you should be very worried about a new executive order issued by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on June 5. While billed as an initiative to prevent New York state from supporting the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, the law actually constitutes a frightening attack on free speech while likely creating a backlash that will do harm both to Israel and the Jewish community. Cuomo’s order mandates the creation of a list of every company worldwide that “enga... Full story
This is the second of two contrasting views on laws that prevent state agencies from doing business with companies that support a boycott of Israeli products. CHICAGO (JTA)—On June 16, the New Jersey Assembly is expected to have a final vote on a bill restricting the state’s dealings with companies that boycott Israel. The measure, S1923/A925, would have the Garden State join the nine states that have already adopted such measures in just the past year. Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order implementing similar policies in New... Full story
Suhair Halabi is very proud of her son, Muhannad. Mrs. Halabi is so proud, in fact, that she recently displayed her pride by visiting the site where Muhannad became famous. We know about her visit because she posted, on Facebook, a photo of herself at the site, flashing “V” for “Victory” signs with both hands. But Muhannad’s “accomplishment” was not a 4.0 grade point average in school or a game-winning goal in a soccer field. It was the cold-blooded murder of an Israeli rabbi on the streets of Jerusalem, the slashing of the rabbi’s wife... Full story
Dear Ira, You’re right: “I’m sure to hear from Americans who don’t like what I write about the US. They can insist that they are not living in a bubble, but admit that there is no reason to go to places that are unattractive, i.e., outside their bubble.” And your perception of this being a “la la land” by virtue of having a large underclass relative to other societies, will only hold water when its backed by statistics that weigh the size of the country (330MM) in its relationship to other countries. Frankly, I’m rather surprised that... Full story
There is an old Jewish joke (are there any new Jewish jokes?) about a young man rushing in to his grandmother’s kitchen in 1969 and exclaiming “Bubbe! We just landed a man on the moon!” The grandmother stopped chopping liver and looked up. She asked “Is that good for the Jews or bad for the Jews?” There was a time for us as a people where everything was measured against that standard. Supposedly, less than a century after the Holocaust, a little less than 70 years after the founding of the Third Jewish Commonwealth in Israel, that should no... Full story
We’ve known for some time that American society looks as much like a Third World country as a First. Sure, it has a GDP that is still larger than China’s, and it is viewed, especially by Americans, as a world leader in just about everything good. However, its social gap is the largest among western democracies. The U.S. has what sociologists call the “underclass,” with gangs, drugs, 14-year-old mothers and 30-year-old grandmothers, not too far from nice bubbles of the well-to -do. The country is either enviable or deeply troubled, dependi... Full story
Sunday morning as I walked home from the synagogue after spending all night in study and prayer at our annual All-Night Tikkun Leyl Shavuot, I arrived home to hear the tragic news of yet another terrorist attack at a nightclub in Orlando, targeting the LGBT community. The news Sunday morning was shocking and unspeakably tragic. The city of Orlando now has the sullied distinction of forever being mentioned alongside Virginia Tech., Aurora, Sandy Hook, Charleston, San Bernardino and so many other places in our country where mass shootings have no... Full story
Egyptian Muslim President Gen. Abdul Fateh al-Sisi’s address to Egypt’s religious leaders at Al-Azhar University on Jan. 1, 2015, called for Muslim religious officials to lead a “religious revolution” to stop Muslims throughout the world from killing and causing destruction. This starkly contrasts with President Obama’s angry tirade on June 14, 2016, condemning those who criticize the president and his administration for refusing to use the term “radical Islam.” Pres. al-Sisi courageously and properly urged Muslim religious leaders that... Full story
Dear Editor: By now, everyone has heard the news of the massacre in a gay nightclub in Orlando. The terrorist is a Muslim fanatic who hated homosexuals. Nothing can obscure this fact or show more clearly the madness of extreme Islam. ISIS has spared us all the meaningless controversy of our law enforcement agencies, government and media whether the atrocity was an “act of terrorism” or a “hate crime.” Nevertheless, the madman is still referred to by all dutifully as “the suspect.” The month my wife and I were in Israel (May) was Gay Pride M... Full story
Every Iraqi Jew has a tale to tell about the Farhud, the two-day pogrom that befell the Jews of Baghdad 75 years ago in June 1941. In the case of my own family, it was a matter of heeding the advice of a Muslim business colleague of my grandfather, who told him that dark days were looming for the Jews, and that he would be wise to get his family out of the country as quickly as possible—which my grandfather did. But my grandfather was part of a fortunate minority. When the Farhud—which means, in Arabic, “violent dispossessio... Full story
The June 8 terrorist massacre in Tel Aviv exposed all five of the major myths that cloud discussions of Israel and the Palestinians. Myth #1: “The problem is the settlements” This was not a massacre of “settlers.” The attack did not take place in some disputed territory. Nobody can claim that the victims “provoked” the violence by living in some predominantly Arab area. These were people drinking coffee in the heart of Tel Aviv. Myth #2: “It was a reaction to the occupation” The attackers are residents of the village of Yatta. The Israeli occ... Full story
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (JTA)—Normally, to quote the famous song, “I love a parade.” Except when I don’t. This weekend was the celebration of the 49th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem during the Six-Day War. The anniversary was accompanied by gleeful, one might even say ecstatic, observances throughout the capital of the Jewish world. I celebrated as well, in my own way: I discussed the reunification in my Shabbat sermon and offered a prayer for the peace of Jerusalem. In less than a month, I am about to visit Jerusalem for the 45th ti... Full story
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Long before Emma Lazarus’ quote was mounted on a pedestal plaque for the Statue of Liberty, “Native Americans” were immigrants to what became American soil. There’s really nothing unique in America about an immigrant background. We all have one; just some more recent than others. On my mother’s side, nine generations settled in America before I was born here. On my dad’s side, I’m a first generation. I exist because my Czech Jewish father escaped the Nazis and mad... Full story
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton both harshly condemned the recent bloody terror attack in Tel Aviv. Clinton stated in a statement, “I condemn the heinous terrorist attack in Tel Aviv today. I send my deepest condolences to the families of those killed and I will continue to pray for the wounded.” “I stand in solidarity with the Israeli people in the face of these ongoing threats, and in unwavering support of the country’s right to defend itself,” she stated, adding, ... Full story
“It’s the state of Israel I’m against, not the Jewish people.” A mere justification to continue pushing an irrational narrative. “I’m anti-Zionist, not anti-Semitic.” A clarification to dispel any notion that one can discriminate against an entire group of people. “Make America Great Again.” All expressions that evoke a specific set of emotions. We have become numb to the point of blind acceptance when it comes to these statements when we should be questioning the underlying meanings and intentions of these dangerous assertions. Taking issue wi... Full story
“He’s not Hitler. He wants to help America.” Melania Trump’s comment about her husband, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, will go down as one of the more memorable quotes in an election cycle that has had its fair share of gaffes, outbursts, and the like. While her second sentence is debatable, the first one is undoubtedly true. If you are looking for this era’s aspiring Hitlers, you will not find them in America. In another country and in another political system, Donald Trump could quite conceivably become a dictator. Given his admir... Full story
“I’m sure you get this question a lot, but...” It always starts with those words. What follows is the predictable, frequently asked question on the minds of friends, family, and Jewish mothers when I get back to the U.S. “Is it safe?” “Do you feel safe?” “So, how’s the security in Israel?” It’s not that I blame people for asking. I’m sure that I asked my Israeli friends the same question before some of my trips to Israel. But every time I get asked this question (which is usually a knee-jerk reaction to telling people I live in Israel), I can... Full story
There’s been another resignation associated with the appointment of Avigdor Liberman as Minister of Defense. This one comes from the Minister of Environment, who associated his resignation not only with the appointment of Liberman, but with the government’s loss of Moshe Ayalon, and with the approval of the gas deal. The Environment Minister had opposed the deal, lost in several governmental votes, and made it one of the reasons for his resignation. He added an emotional, quasi-religious element to his resignation, saying that he saw the est... Full story
