Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 2727 - 2751 of 3706
Dear Editor: Last evening (Saturday, April 16) I attended a presentation by Israeli Druze families. Each had sons or brothers who died while serving in the IDF or Border Police. They shared their lives and their loses. It was an emotional and profound evening. It was a privilege to be among these devoted and brave citizens of Israel. I thank the sponsors of the event, the Orlando/Israeli nonprofit organization We’re With You, for making our lives richer and for their devotion and support to these families and to many more who have e... Full story
Over the years, I’ve spoken at or attended a number of academic conferences on the subject of rising anti-Semitism. Parleys like these are essential for boosting our understanding of why, seven decades after the end of the World War II, the taboo around anti-Semitic invective—whether directed at Jews as Jews, or through code words like “Zionists”—has been broken. Historians, sociologists, and political scientists, along with scholars from similar disciplines, all play a decisive role in determining how the trajectory of anti-Semitism changes e... Full story
No, the headline doesn’t refer to America’s president. I’m referring to the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas. But let’s keep President Barack Obama’s party, the Democrats, in mind as we examine the latest developments involving Abbas and his Fatah party. Established in 1964—long before there were any settlements or “occupied territories”—Fatah has long been the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and it carried out many of the PLO’s most notorious terrorist massacres. The 1972 Munich Oly... Full story
A recent visit with a young Japanese friend, a paratrooper in the IDF, provided an insight into the nature of Israel and other places. He said that fellow soldiers take him for Chinese or Korean, even though he explains that he comes from Japan. Israelis do a lot of traveling. It’s tough being cooped up in a small country with hostiles all around. We can reach Europe, depending on destination, with 30 minutes of flying (Cyprus), four hours (Italy or France), or five hours (Britain). There are more than four million departures annually by I... Full story
For some, the members of the Israeli NGO calling itself Breaking the Silence (BTS) are “whistleblowers” and human rights activists; for others, they are a tiny group of dangerous messianists who tour the world promoting anonymous and false allegations of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) war crimes. The recent exposé on Israel’s Channel 2 showing how they gather sensitive and potentially classified information on IDF tactics and equipment—far removed from any human rights claims—increased the suspicion and hostility with which they are viewed by... Full story
(Rabbis Without Borders via JTA)—There are two funny images I like to circulate this time every year as we approach the Passover holiday. The first is a cartoon of a truck with large text on the side reading Morty’s Passover Cleaning. On the driver’s side door is the word “chametz” inside a circle with line struck through it. Underneath the large Morty’s Passover Cleaning text on the side of the truck it reads: Orthodox $89.95, Conservative $49.95; Reform $19.95. The second image is of a person’s office cubicle completely covered in aluminum f... Full story
Yesterday a group of students from New York University came to visit Karnei Shomron. They were on a semester in Israel program and as part of a course on religion and politics, they were interested in how religious beliefs affected the settlement movement. They also wanted to learn more about the partnership between Jews and Christians on the settlement issue. I was eager to meet these young students but as soon as they entered, before I even had a chance to open my mouth and say anything, I was met by a feeling of distance, bordering on... Full story
Dear Editor: The Heritage issue of April 1 was particularly interesting notably for the various columns dealing with the presidential elections and AIPAC. After reading all of these columns, of course, I had my own thoughts and decisions on these very critical issues relating to the future presidency and the core issues that surround Israel and the Jewish people. As we approach the holiday of Passover, let us remind ourselves once again what took place between G-d and His covenanted people—Israel. The Jewish Liberal Democrats are ... Full story
For the past 10 years I have been living in a state of constant denial. “I’m still cool,” I’d tell myself. “I can go to rock concerts and fit right in.” “I haven’t lost a step on the tennis court.” “I’m still as good looking as I ever was.” All of these thoughts, as they raced through my mind, were meant to be affirming, but they were much closer to delusional. And while it can, at times, be healthy to delude oneself, to see someone else staring back at you in the mirror, to imagine your... Full story
The former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic finally received a modicum of justice this week, when a United Nations court in The Hague sentenced him to 40 years in prison for his monstrous war crimes. The 10 charges Karadzic was convicted of included his role in the massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica in July 1995. Those who remember that horrific event will recall that, along with the disgraceful buck-passing that stained the European response to that genocide, there was a more generalized disbelief that... Full story
An American friend, who is almost as old as I am, can’t remember a presidential election with worse choices. An internet friend wrote about a bumper sticker, “I hate them both.” Another likes ABC, Anybody but Clinton. The latter recalls a movement in the Knesset when the Members had to select a President in 2000: Anybody but Peres led to Moshe Katsav, currently seeking a parole. Activists are arguing if it should be granted to a man convicted of rape and other crimes, who has yet to admit his guilt and promise reform. Ms Clinton’s long record... Full story
In parts of Europe, Jews have been warned that wearing anything that identifies them as Jewish means putting a target on their back. In Stockholm, Jews were asked to stay away from the Kristallnacht remembrance ceremonies for fear of sparking violence. French Jews are immigrating to Israel in increasing numbers. In Manchester, England, special police accompany Jewish children to school. The main synagogue in Florence, Italy, looks like an American military outpost in Afghanistan. All of this is in response to a growing and flourishing anti-Semi... Full story
There are a few paradoxes as the World Happiness Report was published this month by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), ranking Israel as the 11th happiest country in the world. As summarized in the daily Yisrael Hayom, “Israel is caught in an intractable conflict and situated in a region that is crumbling amidst religious extremist violence. And yet, Israelis are amongst the happiest people on earth.” It’s noteworthy that the top 10 happiest countries this year were Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, Neth... Full story
We have just finished celebrating the Jewish Holiday of Purim. It is the one day in the Jewish calendar where merrymaking and drinking are sanctioned to the point where you can’t tell the difference between the bad guy (Haman)and the good guy (Mordechai). But even with the ISIS Belgium attacks still reverberating across the globe, we’re left wondering if the spirit of Purim hasn’t infected the White House. How else to explain two parallel headlines emanating from Washington? First, in an unprecedented indictment as the U.S. Justice Depar... Full story
Dear Editor: In reference to the Kafir soldier who fired on a Palistinian knife attacker: The soldier saw the knife attacker on the ground, not moving. The soldier shot the bullet to finish him off. Dear Commanding officer, These two attckers were out to kill Israeli soldiers. The soldier in question did not know if the terrorist had an explosive belt or not. He made the prudent decision to protect himself as well as other nearby soldiers. His family cannot believe that their son, who has an excellent record in the military, is now being... Full story
President Barack Obama’s determination to downgrade U.S. international power has generated massive global instability and chaos with especially ominous implications for Israel. The Obama policies have undermined longstanding alliances within the Western bloc. By supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and allying with terrorist and rogue states like Iran, the U.S. has alienated Arab states such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which consider themselves abandoned and betrayed. The wooing and groveling toward Iran has empowered the world’s leading Isl... Full story
By David Suissa How powerful is AIPAC? It did what no one else in America has come close to doing: It tamed the wild verbal beast of Trump. For nearly 30 minutes Monday night in front of close to 18,000 raving Israel fans at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., the Donald showed that he, too, can play politician—he read from a speech. Sure, there was the odd ad lib, but compared to his usual rambunctious rambling, his performance Monday night was worthy of a High Holiday sermon delivered by a meticulous Rabbi. It was a speech perfectly c... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—I am trying to imagine a conversation between Donald Trump’s people and a delegation of Reform rabbis and lay leaders. Rabbi Jonah Pesner, the Reform movement’s man in Washington, told me that Trump’s people have agreed to a “staff-to-staff” meeting to discuss Jewish concerns about Trump’s policies on immigration, Muslims and women, to name a few. Pesner hopes it is the start of a long process of repentance—“teshuvah,” in Hebrew—for the real estate mogul and Republican front-runner. “Teshuvah is not a quick thing,” Pesner to... Full story
The Regents of the University of California (UC) are preparing to issue a policy statement that could be a major advance in the battle against campus anti-Semitism. In response to anti-Semitic incidents throughout the UC system’s 10 campuses, the Regents have released an important draft Statement of Principles Against Intolerance. It is not what the Jewish community requested. But it will be a game-changer nevertheless—if the Regents formally adopt it. (By way of disclosure, I was one of the two national experts on anti-Semitism with whom the... Full story
(JTA)—Growing up, trips to stay with my Jewish family in Brussels were a taste of freedom. In my native Israel, waves of Palestinian terrorist attacks kept me under constant maternal surveillance. Fear of regular bus bombings limited my excursions to biking distance. On the tranquil streets of the Belgian capital, by contrast, I could wander at will amid the mix of Medieval architecture and glass-and-steel skyscrapers. Even riding the tram with my cousin Eli was exhilarating. The rails seemed to stretch out endlessly, and there was the added t... Full story
Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein released the following statement: On Monday evening, at AIPAC’s invitation, Donald Trump presented his views on the Arab war against Israel at AIPAC’s policy conference. It is innappropriate that AIPAC’s leaders then turned around the next morning and condemned Trump’s appropriate criticism of President Obama’s anti-Israel policies. It was also disgraceful that AIPAC’s leaders chastised the rank-and-file AIPAC audience for cheering Trump’s well-justified condemnation of President... Full story
John Kerry has a new strategy for achieving Mideast peace: mobilize the international community to gang up on Israel. That was the essence of the secretary of state’s disturbing remarks in Paris on March 13. Kerry declared that the Obama administration is “looking for a way forward” to bring about creation of a Palestinian state. He said that Palestinian statehood is “absolutely essential.” Not just “an idea worth exploring”; not just “something to be considered.” Rather, “absolutely essential.” Kerry and President Obama have made up their mi... Full story
Joe Biden visited Israel in the past few weeks. He had a little better dinner with Bibi—last time he left before dinner was served because the Shas Housing minister decided to stick his thumb in the eye of Israel’s number one ally by announcing new Jerusalem settlements while Biden was in town. This trip, Biden went to visit the offices of the Palestine Authority in Ramallah, where he heard the old saw that the present terror attacks against civilians by Palestinians (which, in addition to over 40 Israelis, has killed two U.S. citizens so far... Full story
By Ira Sharkansky One of the more problematic stories associated with the present wave of Palestinian violence is that of an attack on a security guard at a shopping mall in Maale Adumim. A video shows repeated blows with an ax, directed at the head of the security guard, which continue despite the guard already down and defenseless. You can see it here. What’s especially troubling about this episode is that the attacker is someone who worked at the shopping mall, and was known to his victim. They had coffee together at the canteen, and the v... Full story
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (JTA)—At many colleges and universities today, Jewish students are often pitted against students of color when it comes to Israel. In my three years at Vassar College, I have been told—by a Jewish student leader, no less—that supporting Israel is tantamount to supporting oppression. I have watched Jewish friends bullied into silence by aggressive anti-Israel activists who call the Jews racists. I have seen many anti-Semitic comments from fellow students on social media. Although I have had many good experiences at Vassa... Full story
