Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 2826 - 2850 of 3650
There are no sure answers to either of those questions. Both Israelis and Palestinians are arguing—with each other and among themselves—if the current uptick in violence signifies an intifada or something less. Politicians, activists, and security professionals are arguing among themselves and with each other about the most appropriate ways to deal with the violence, and how to act in ways not likely to increase the violence. There is wide agreement that we are in a wave of violence, not all that different from previous waves that have bee... Full story
As the Palestinian terrorism continued to grow worse in Israel on the afternoon of Oct. 15, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a Hebrew/English press conference for domestic and foreign journalists at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. The event was broadcast live online by ynet news, and it coincided with continued terror carried out by Palestinians, including stone attacks on Israeli civilians driving on a highway. Netanyahu and his team took the opportunity to address what he called the two “big lies” being per... Full story
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (JTA)—“Hey, Rabbi,” the bat mitzvah candidate said, “can I tell you about my mitzvah project? I’m raising money to help people join our synagogue if they can’t afford it.” I was impressed. And moved. And shocked. Why shocked? Many religious schools require that bar/bat mitzvah candidates do a mitzvah project. Once upon a time, those projects were all Jewish in nature. Families would plant trees in Israel in honor of their guests or display material from local Jewish organizations on the tables at the celebration. Kids would do... Full story
Terrorists who get caught before they strike don’t usually attract much attention. But the arrest of Mrs. Ayman Kanjou deserves extra attention, because she defies every stereotype we have ever been taught about Palestinian terrorists. Men are presumed the most likely to become terrorists, since in Muslim society they are the ones who enjoy various freedoms, while women are sheltered and carefully watched by their husbands or fathers. They didn’t stop Mrs. Kanjou. Young unmarried men are the ones whom we expect to get caught up in rad... Full story
By Ben Cohen JNS.org Remember how the terrorists fighting American forces during the occupation of Iraq gave us a chilling new acronym, IED, which stands for Improvised Explosive Device? The four-year war in neighboring Syria has now done the same. Syrian opposition activists are urging world leaders to pay heed to the favored weapon of the dictator Bashar al-Assad’s fighter planes and helicopters. It’s called a “barrel bomb,” and it’s the airborne equivalent of the IED—a crude, deadly, and unguided barrel casing, often made of metal and f... Full story
Tensions, competition, or dust-up—call it what you will—between Russia and the U.S. presents a fascinating subject for analysis. No doubt, the U.S. is stronger by far economically and militarily. It was left standing at the end of the Cold War, while the Soviet Union disappeared. Now Russia is a fragment, albeit a significant fragment, of its former self, without the populations and resources of the Baltic Republics, Ukraine, Central Asian Republics, and tightly held allies of Eastern Europe. However, it has Vladimir Putin, who learned how to... Full story
With the potential devastation and catastrophic deaths a nuclear bomb can cause you would think the first question needed to be answered in the affirmative, is can Iran be trusted to keep an agreement? According to Iran’s track record, clearly the answer is no. In May 2010 The Christian Science Monitor reported that Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state, said Iran had violated the UN’s NPT101 that they had signed. A United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report said Iran has been pursuing nuclear weapons since before 2004,... Full story
What is the value of spending our time on lost causes? As I watched the proceedings at the United Nations last week I couldn’t help but remember the story of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and my father—and, most important of all, the lesson my father taught me I needed to learn from that historic moment. I would’ve liked to say the time my father met with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but that wouldn’t be true. That meeting should have happened, but it didn’t. And therein lies a remarkable tale that happened two days before Yom Kippur in 1943. It... Full story
Every day now, I am waking up to news of more murders around Jerusalem. Outside my window, I hear screaming, and as my stomach twists in fright, I have to wonder whether I am hearing yet another Arab attack against Jews in my area. This violence is personal. Four Arabs and their pit bull chased my ulpan friend down the street the other day. Over the Jewish holidays, five Jews were killed in terror attacks in and near Jerusalem. And other than the Israeli media, the world is silent. I am sorry that I have to take up my weekly post this way, but... Full story
Was the urgency of preventing a nuclear Iran truly embedded within AIPAC’s institutional DNA? If so, how could the fervent appeals, made year after year over the last decade, by 15,000 Policy Conference disciples, have been so callously ignored? Regardless of the unprecedented amount of pressure that the president brought to bear, the defection of 42 senators on an issue which carries such a cataclysmic downside, begs the question as to whether the conversations that needed to have been had inside of AIPAC were truly taking place. AIPAC has l... Full story
In November 1974, the late Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat addressed the entire world from the rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly. Always a master of spectacle, Arafat cut an arresting figure as he strode toward the podium in a tieless black shirt and flowing cream jacket, with a perfectly-coiffed keffiyeh wrapped around his head. A holster without its gun—firearms are forbidden in the General Assembly Hall—was draped by his side pocket, completing the aesthetic effect of a Palestinian Che Guevara. Ara... Full story
(Washington, DC)—U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, made the following statement Sept. 29 on the floor of the House of Representatives regarding the need for American leadership and reform at the United Nations. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen: Mr. Speaker, yesterday we witnessed thugs, tyrants and dictators, from Russia, Iran, and Cuba, speak before the General Assembly at the United Nations. And with straight faces, each claimed to be defenders of peace, of international standards, of h... Full story
(JTA)—The rise of a new global power usually creates tensions with the incumbent superpower, and the United States-China duo is no exception. At their summit last week in Washington, D.C., Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping spoke of progress in some areas, such as cyber espionage and climate change, but skirted more contentious issues, such as China’s reclamation of contested islands in the South China Sea and human rights. While the U.S. and China are managing an uneasy relationship, Israel and China are in the midst of a romance. Wit... Full story
(JTA)—As the new school year gets underway, Jewish educators are making decisions regarding how best to teach about Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Most begin with the premise that Jewish students should learn to support Israel and defend its government. Throughout the year, their lesson plans will flow from this fundamental objective. As a rabbi and Jewish educator this concerns me. I question why our Jewish institutions encourage critical thinking when teaching ancient Jewish texts—challenging students to consider multiple voi... Full story
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—During the course of the second Republican presidential debate, Ann Coulter, the well-known commentator, writer, speaker and provocateur, tweeted: “How many f---ing Jews do these people think there are in the United States?” Her explanation was that she had grown frustrated with the candidates’ remarks that concentrated on things nearly all Republicans agree on—admiration of Ronald Reagan, opposition to abortion and support for Israel—and ignored what she considers the biggest domestic problem facing America: immigration... Full story
During the past few days, Arabs in Jerusalem stoned a Jew to death in the Armon HaNetziv neighborhood, wounded three Israeli policemen in the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood, and hurled rocks and firebombs at policemen on the Temple Mount. How did the Obama administration respond? By condemning “all sides.” White House spokesman Josh Earnest put it this way at his daily press briefing: “The United States remains deeply concerned by the recent violence and escalating tensions surrounding Haram al-Sharif, or the Temple Mount, as it’s also known.... Full story
In the weeks since the Obama administration announced the perilous international nuclear deal with Iran, growing attention has been paid to the network of organizations and foundations that have been actively lobbying to normalize relations between the U.S. and the Islamist regime in Tehran. Rightly, that network is being referred to as the “Iran lobby.” The welcome and much-needed scrutiny of its workings and contacts provides a salutary lesson in how to identify enemies who present themselves as friends. At the head of the pack is the Washing... Full story
The Temple Mount (to Muslims Noble Sanctuary or Haram al Sharif) has returned to world headlines for God may know how many times, according to Jews, since the time of Solomon. Whatever happened there, and happens now, is a matter of intense concern. It is not a stretch to conclude that it is the prime reason, or at least among the prime reasons, why Jews and Palestinians have not moved beyond where we are to a final settlement of our disputes. There is no decent doubt that it was the site of the First and Second Temples, with the present... Full story
What was all the hoopla about the Iran nuclear deal? All the time spent discussing the deal and debating the deal among Americans across the country seems now to have been wasted time (By the way, Americans were against this deal four to one according to a compilation of polls by The Israel Project). All the agony of decision making and wrestling of consciences among Congress as to how to vote on this deal—called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—and now, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the Islamic Re... Full story
Twenty years ago this week, Israel’s occupation of the Palestinians came to an end. So why do Israel’s critics keep claiming that Israel is still occupying the Palestinians? On Sept. 28, 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo II accord, also known as the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement. It provided for Israel’s withdrawal from the cities in Judea-Samaria where 98 percent of Palestinian Arabs reside. And in the weeks that followed, Israel did just that. Israel’s forces... Full story
Dear Editor: I was surprised and disappointed to see the letter by Jeffrey Prince in the Sept. 18, 2015 edition of the Heritage Florida Jewish News. I thought that letters to the editor were to contain comments and opinions by the writer, of course not necessarily agreeing with positions in the Heritage. Instead this particular letter was just a rant consisting of conspiracy theory statements, most of which have been proven to be incorrect. Almost in the beginning of the letter the write begins by claiming that President Obama is a Muslim (alth... Full story
Let’s assume—despite evidence that polling on the issue was at best “quick and dirty,” according to one prominent analyst—that the Jewish establishment was out of step with most American Jews in opposing the Iran agreement. And let’s agree with other polls suggesting American Jews as a whole are to the left of the biggest Jewish organizations, especially, if not exclusively, when it comes to Israel. Who cares? Various op-eds lamenting this gap note that the Jewish vote remains overwhelmingly Democratic and that most American Jews support rev... Full story
The High Holy days are designed as a time for reflection, repairing and making ready. A new year, a new set of ideas and a determination to do better than last year. Really? One day leads to another, time goes on. I hit a BIG birthday a couple of months ago (really?). I had decided that I would cut back on my physical workouts when I hit that number. But, the next day I said to myself “Hey! I’m only a day older”—and went back to the routine. We all live life one day at a time. Jews have been doing this for millennia. Our history is that we... Full story
One of the principal lessons that should be taught in courses dealing with politics and public policy is the persistence of uncertainty. People who insist on telling us what will be, or what will not be, have a lot to learn. Many who claim to be predicting are telling us what they want to happen, or alternatively telling us that their enemies currently in power are bound to make things worse. The reality is that there are many things capable of influencing who wins an election, which party or sub-party faction will have the upper hand in the... Full story
One year ago, we commemorated the beginning of the “War to End All Wars” in 1914. So traumatized were the Great Powers by both the carnage, with millions of lives lost, and the loss of treasure, that they were determined to avoid future worldwide conflicts. Instead, their actions helped precipitate one. Three years following the 1918 armistice that ended The Great War, the Great Powers met in Washington, D.C., to prevent further development of the most fearsome weapon of war to date, the capital naval warship. The Washington Naval Treaty (the ... Full story
