Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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By Stephen M. Flatow JNS.org Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas denounced as “heinous” the attack on French satirists who mocked Islam. That must have come as quite a surprise to the Palestinian satirist of Islam who Abbas recently jailed, tortured, and forced to publicly recant. The massacre of the staff of the Charlie Hebdo magazine was a “heinous crime, condemned by morality and religion,” Abbas declared in a telegram to French President Francois Hollande. Abbas never uses such language when commenting on Palestinian terrori... Full story
As predictably as birds flying south for the winter, this week’s abominable terrorist attack on the headquarters of the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, brought forth the usual burnt-out platitudes from those commentators who insist that Islamist violence is rooted in legitimate grievances with the West. One of the most heinous examples of this outwardly-nuanced, inwardly-confused discourse appeared in a piece for the Financial Times by Tony Barber. By the second paragraph, Barber was sagely counseling us not to jump to conclusions a... Full story
Israel and Palestine are having another dance that may seem unreal, but is the essence of our relationship. Each is pressing on the other. Palestinians say they will bring charges against Israel for war crimes, overlooking the capacity of Israel to bring charges against Palestinians for war crimes. Israel is responding by withholding the taxes collected at the ports, levied by Palestine on imports. Palestinians may respond by postponing the payment of workers’ salaries, threatening an increase in unrest and violence. Palestinian extremists are... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Before the HarperCollins Middle East atlas story is deleted from email inboxes, it pays to spend another moment ruminating on the damage caused by companies that ought to know better. On its website, HarperCollins bills itself as “one of the world’s leading English-language publishers.” It has a storied brand and a list of top-notch authors going back some 200 years. It markets books in more than 150 countries on a wide range of subjects and boasts of having had 400 best-sellers in the past fiscal year. Among its offerin... Full story
A major book publisher, deluged with criticism for leaving Israel off a map in its Middle East Atlas, has apologized and withdrawn the book from circulation. You don’t have to know the name of the publisher to know one thing for certain: it’s not the Palestinian Authority’s publishing division. Because if it were, there would be no outcry, no apology, no withdrawal. Why is there such a double standard? Before answering that question, let’s acknowledge the good news. HarperCollins, a major American publisher, this week apologized for omittin... Full story
Critics of Israel periodically issue doomsday warnings about how the Jewish state will face international isolation if it does not quickly give in to Palestinian demands. Last week’s United Nations Security Council vote shows, once again, how wrong they are. Earlier this year, Secretary of State John Kerry warned that Israel’s reluctance to make more unilateral concessions would bring down upon it “an increasing delegitimization campaign.” New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and other pundits likewise declared that Israel is increas... Full story
Well known rights advocate, celebrated criminal attorney and Harvard law Professor Alan Dershowitz is under attack. An under-age girl claimed in court proceedings that she had sexual relations with him while she was a “sex slave” by businessman Jeffrey Epstein. Dershowitz, who is truly a master of media, knows all too well that the the court of public opinion works much quicker than the court of law; and he is not wasting any time firing back at his accuser. Time will tell whether or not he is guilty—but his character will be hurt regar... Full story
Dear Editor: I had a non-Jewish girlfriend my first year at college some four decades ago. I remember being at her home one day and visiting with her and her mother. The mood was light and we were kidding one another, and then her mother said to me that I had the “map of Israel” on my face. Being caught off guard and not being familiar with the expression she tossed at me, I was at a loss for words. Sensing I had become uncomfortable, my girlfriend’s mother explained to me that I had a very Jewish looking face. She then assured me I was an at... Full story
It sometimes seems as if the see-saw debate about the true intentions of Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority has been with us for an eternity. One day, we’ll be saying that Abbas is genuinely a moderate, that he really is committed to a two-state solution, that perhaps he’s the guy upon whom the cautious, unsentimental Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should risk a bet. The next day, we’ll encounter yet another inciting, spiteful Abbas soundbite and it’s back to the drawing board. I don’t think that Abbas is the Machiavel... Full story
Remember that “arson attack” last month by “Jewish extremists” against a West Bank mosque? Remember how that outrageous assault made headline news around the world? Remember how it showed that “both sides”—not just the Arabs—are guilty of violence, and “both sides”—not only Israelis—are suffering? Well, guess what: it was a lie. The period from late October through late November was a time of escalating Palestinian terrorism against Israelis. On Oct. 22, a terrorist (or, according to the Palestinian Authority, a “hero”) drove his car into a Jer... Full story
The dramatic event often rips away the thin gossamer of protection that keeps a corrupt institution from exposure to the antiseptic of public outrage. Such an event is occurring for the second time in 2014 at Brandeis University. Daniel Mael, a Brandeis student and professional blogger, took to the Internet to expose fellow student Khadijah Lynch’s raw hatred for the New York Police Department, America, and the “Zionist” institution where she is getting an education and serves as a student leader and adviser to impressionable younger stude... Full story
Several months ago, there was some alarm in my local community regarding numerous sightings of coyotes. The trouble was a few cases of missing and dead small animals—cats and dogs alike. In discussing this matter with friends and neighbors, it seems there was a general confusion and puzzlement. How could these wild troublemakers have found their way to the civilized metropolises of College Park and Winter Park? One thoughtful friend suggested that they must have been dropped off from some wild animal park. In the last years, brown bears have tu... Full story
As 2014 draws to a close, I can’t help but reflect on this year’s dramatic increase in anti-Semitic and anti-Israel attacks, and hope that the coming year will see more Jews actively join the fight to reverse these trends. In Israel itself, 2014 saw another round of the now-familiar cycle: Israeli concessions to “advance” the fake peace process, Palestinian Arab rejection, and increased violence against Jews. This year’s violence included the murder of the three teenage boys, car attacks killing adults and infants, multiple murders by stabbi... Full story
The most notorious living perpetrator of genocide can sleep a little easier. The International Criminal Court (ICC), which five years ago indicted Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for organizing the genocide in Darfur, recently suspended further action on Darfur because of the failure of the United States and other countries to help bring Bashir to justice. Ironically, the ICC’s announcement came just before the 70th anniversary of a long-forgotten double-cross by the Roosevelt administration of its own ambassador to the Allied c... Full story
Do we need Holocaust Remembrance Day? Since some of you may be incredulous that I even asked that question, let me first explain why I am doing so. Over the last week, a scandal has erupted in Ireland regarding whether or not Israel can be mentioned at the forthcoming official Holocaust commemoration on Sunday, Jan. 25. (The official international remembrance day follows two days later.) It was Yanky Fachler, the avuncular Irish-Jewish broadcaster who has been master of ceremonies of the event for several years now, who alerted the outside worl... Full story
At some point in the life of the average adult, the conversation shifts from “How are the kids?” to “What’s happening with your parents?” If you’re lucky, you can talk about two silver-haired retirees, enjoying their relative good health, their Road Scholar vacations, and their time with the grandkids. But no matter how lucky you or they are, the conversations will one day become less pleasant and more fraught. Mom or dad will inevitably decline, and you’ll start to talk about “options”: perhaps an aide to help around the house, or maybe a... Full story
It sounds worse than it really is. This is an optimist’s view of Israel’s condition with itself and in the world. Most of the resolutions seeming to recognize a Palestinian state are advisory. Resolutions expressing the sense of the house, but not requiring action, are a dime a dozen among what legislatures do. Moreover, many of them hitch on to their sentiments the process of a negotiated settlement. Several of them are explicit in mentioning a two-state solution. The U.S. is prominent in demanding a negotiated agreement, and opposing an impos... Full story
By The new U.S. policy of rapprochement with Cuba, which was accompanied by the celebrated release of imprisoned Jewish aid worker Alan Gross, probably will give American Jews greater access to a Jewish community with which few are familiar. But visitors will find that the years have not been kind to once-thriving Cuban Jewry. During the centuries of Spanish rule in Cuba, no more than a scattered handful of Jews lived there. Catholicism was the only religion the Spanish colonial authorities permitted. The modern Jewish connection to Cuba began... Full story
Jewish-American aid worker Alan Gross arrived home to celebrate Chanukah after five years in a Cuban prison, prompting the Jewish world to both celebrate and breathe a collective sigh of relief. But analysts say Gross’s humanitarian release and the subsequent U.S.-Cuba prisoner swap have little to do with the prisoners and everything to do with the Obama administration’s final two years—and the reverberations might be felt as far away as the Middle East. “You could say the president was saving face [by renewing diplomacy with Cuba],” said Rees... Full story
For years, Palestinian leaders and their media allies have claimed that the “Second Intifada”—the mass violence of 2000-2001—was a “spontaneous” uprising against Israeli “oppression.” But occasionally they tell the truth: it wasn’t spontaneous at all. It was organized by the Palestinian Authority leadership itself. Last week Mahmoud al-Zahar, co-founder of Hamas and its former foreign minister, let the cat out of the bag in an interview with the Hamas television station, Al Aqsa TV, on Dec. 12. He revealed that PA chairman Yasir Arafat hims... Full story
We live in an age of clichés. They surround us, influence us, often controlling the way we speak and think. They are nefarious in their ability to suck meaning out of important statements and events. And they are, in general, dead wrong (which, by the way, is a cliché.) A few painful examples: If you work hard you can achieve anything. Dreams really do come true. If you’re not first, you’re last. Which goes with winning is everything. True love. Love at first sight. You’re comparing apples... Full story
In the 1920s, Vladimir (Zev) Jabotinsky traveled through Eastern Europe trying to warn Jewish communities of a coming disaster. His was a lone voice in the wilderness. Jews knew of pogroms under the czar of Russia who was now gone. They were aware of the extreme anti-Semitism of the Catholic Church, which seemed to be under control. They lived mostly in the shtetls, the little towns or villages surrounding the large cities of the time. Those who lived in the cities such as Budapest in Hungary or Warsaw in Poland lived a fairly good life. They... Full story
Jews have had a Diaspora at least since the middle of the sixth century before the Common Era. During the time of the Second Temple, a substantial number, perhaps even a majority, lived outside of the Judean homeland. The Jerusalem-centered Diaspora figures in Christian anti-Semitism, via the episode of Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers. The story features elements of Jews whose concern for money competes with what should be sacred. The reality was that money changers were essential to the religious rites. Jews came for the... Full story
It’s an article that’s more than 10 years old now, but I still maintain that anyone who wants to get an insight into the dynamics of anti-Semitism in France would do well to consult “France’s Scarlet Letter,” published by the journalist Marie Brenner in the June 2003 edition of Vanity Fair. In that superlative piece, which had at its core a profile of Sammy Ghozlan, the Jewish ex-cop who started his own agency to monitor and expose anti-Semitic incidents, Brenner provided fascinating insight into the class divisions that streak the French Je... Full story
(JTA)—A former Clinton administration envoy has let the cat out of the bag on the issue of Palestinian incitement, putting him squarely at odds with Secretary of State John Kerry. Shibley Telhami was one of the Clinton administration’s representatives to the Trilateral U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian Anti-Incitement Committee. Never heard of it? That’s because after meeting a few times in 1999-2000, the committee stopped functioning. Now we know why. In a Washington Post Op-Ed on Dec. 6, Telhami revealed that the committee hit an impasse becau... Full story
