Weekly roundup of world briefs

Biden civil rights nominee, under fire from the right, gets some Jewish backing

By Ron Kampeas

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Vanita Gupta, President Joe Biden’s nominee for a top civil rights enforcement job, has been targeted in recent weeks as an extremist by a number of conservative groups and the conservative media.

A couple of Jewish groups, the Anti-Defamation League and the National Council of Jewish Women, are expressing their support.

Gupta, who was tapped for the post of associate attorney general, the No. 3 job at the Justice Department, faces her first Senate confirmation hearings on Tuesday.

The ADL in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month and the NCJW in a letter last week to the same body cited their work with Gupta in her current capacity as the CEO of the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights, as well as her prior stints in the Obama administration leading the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, at the NAACP and at the American Civil Liberties Union.

“As a groundbreaking civil rights advocate with an extraordinary track record of success, Ms. Gupta is an ideal candidate to ensure that the pursuit of racial justice and equity take precedence among DOJ’s endeavors,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.

NCJW’s chief policy officer, Jody Rabhan, said Gupta has “built consensus within the civil rights community on key efforts including voting rights, the 2020 census, federal courts, and justice reform.”

The ads attacking Gupta, spearheaded by the Judicial Crisis Network, and commentary on sites such as Fox News allege that Gupta backs defunding the police, but do not cite any evidence. Gupta notably has the backing of a number of police groups.

Diego Schwartzman becomes emotional after finally winning hometown Argentina Open

(JTA) — (JTA) — Diego Schwartzman, the 28-year-old Jewish tennis star, won his hometown Argentina Open on Sunday for the first time, beating a countryman in the final.

The top-seeded Schwartzman, who grew up in Buenos Aires, defeated unseeded Francisco Cerundulo in straight sets to win the $24,400 champion’s share. It was the first time a local player had won the tournament in 13 years.

“I’m very happy, I wanted to play well today, the atmosphere was spectacular,” Schwartzman said while crying after the match. “I haven’t words, just emotion and happiness.”

Schwartzman, who at 5-foot-7 carries the nickname “El Peque” (Shorty), reached the final at the so-called Cathedral of Argentine tennis in 2019. In his childhood he played at the Hacoaj JCC in the Argentine capital and helped inaugurate an esports team there earlier this year.

The Buenos Aires ATP tournament is organized by another Jewish tennis player, Martin Jaite, also a local hero because of his success in the 1980s and ’90s.

Schwartzman is the world’s highest-ranked Jewish player at No. 9 in the ATP rankings. Israeli Dudi Sela, at age 35, is ranked 240th.

Yaniv Iczkovits’ shtetl mystery ‘The Slaughterman’s Daughter’ wins top UK Jewish book prize

By Gabe Friedman

(JTA) — Yaniv Iczkovits’ novel “The Slaughterman’s Daughter” was awarded the 2021 Wingate Literary Prize, British Jewry’s top book award.

Originally published in Hebrew in 2015 but translated into English last year, the novel takes place in a Pale of Settlement village in the late 19th century. Its protagonist, Fanny Keismann, a ritual slaughterer-turned-housewife to cheesemaker, sets out to track down a missing relative.

“In a post-Holocaust world, reading a book about Jewish shtetl life which is at the same time, funny, shocking and entrancing, enables someone who is not Jewish to understand so much of what makes us tick,” Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, England’s top Reform rabbi and a judge on the award’s decision committee, said in a news release Sunday. “‘The Slaughterman’s Daughter’ is like your closest friend that you want to show off to everyone because you want people to see how special they are.”

The prize, which comes with a cash prize of 4,000 pounds, or over $5,500, is awarded annually “to the best book, fiction or non-fiction, to translate the idea of Jewishness to the general reader.” Past winners include Oliver Sacks, Etgar Keret and Zadie Smith. Last year, author Linda Grant won for her novel “A Stranger City,” about Jews coming of age in London.

Iczkovits, 45, formerly taught in the philosophy department at Tel Aviv University.

“The Slaughterman’s Daughter” is not the first shtetl-based book to win acclaim this year. Max Gross’ “The Lost Shtetl,” about a fictional Jewish village in Poland that avoids the Holocaust, won a National Jewish Book Award and The Association of Jewish Libraries’ top fiction award.

Blinken urges Iran to release answers on death of former FBI agent Robert Levinson

(JNS) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with the family of former Jewish FBI agent Robert “Bob” Levinson, who U.S. officials believe was abducted by the Iranian government more than a decade ago.

“I was honored to speak with the Levinson family yesterday,” said Blinken, according to a State Department release. “Since his abduction in 2007, Bob, a father and husband, has missed graduations, marriages and the birth of all but one of his grandchildren. Bob’s family continues to advocate for the answers about what happened after he went to Kish Island in Iran 14 years ago.”

“We call on the Iranian government to provide credible answers to what happened to Bob Levinson, and to immediately and safely release all U.S. citizens who are unjustly held captive in Iran,” he added.

Levinson, who disappeared in 2007 while visiting Iran and working part-time for the CIA. He is believed to have died while in Iranian custody.

In October, a U.S. court ordered the Iranian government to pay more than $1.4 billion in punitive and compensatory damages to Levinson’s family.

In December, two senior Iranian intelligence officials were sanctioned for allegedly being involved in Levinson’sabduction, detention and probable death.

Congress recently passed the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, which reaffirms the U.S. commitment to secure the freedom of every U.S. citizen unjustly imprisoned abroad and codifies a commitment to providing guidance and support for the families of U.S. hostages and wrongfully held detainees.

Locals prevent stabbing by Palestinian woman at farm in Judea and Samaria

(JNS) — A Palestinian woman armed with a knife infiltrated the Sde Ephraim farm in Judea and Samaria on Monday and attempted the stab the owner’s wife, reported the Israel Defense Forces.

Residents apparently managed to subdue the woman until IDF soldiers arrived.

“The terrorist was arrested by locals. Security forces are operating in the area,” said the IDF.

The farm is located south of Qalqilya in the Binyamin region. A month ago, an attack at the same farm was thwarted when a security guard shot a Palestinian man attempting to infiltrate the farmhouse.

In that incident, a resident of Ras Karkar, a village outside of Ramallah, approached the farm in a vehicle at high speed, stopped at the doorstep of the farmhouse and attempted to break through the front door while shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great” in Arabic).

Also on Monday, Israeli forces stopped an attempted stabbing attack in the town of Tubas in northern Judea and Samaria. The assailant was shot and killed, while one of the Israeli soldiers suffered light wounds in the incident, according to the military.

Brazilian delegation arrives in Israel to investigate potential COVID-19 cure

(JNS) — A Brazilian delegation arrived in Israel on Sunday to learn about a EXO-CD24, a new drug developed at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, which has shown promising results in curing COVID-19 patients.

The delegation—led by Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo and Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of President Jair Bolsonaro and chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in Brazil’s National Congress—also came to discuss ways in which the two countries can cooperate on handling the pandemic, Ynet reported.

“We are working together to increase bilateral cooperation in the war on the virus,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, who hosted Araujo at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. “We will assist Brazil in any way possible and will examine ways to increase research and development of drugs and other solutions for dealing with the virus.”

During the meeting, Ashkenazi spoke about the friendship between Brazil and Israel, which he noted dates back to before the establishment of the state. The foreign ministers also discussed bilateral cooperation in the fields of economics, technology and health, especially in light of the ongoing pandemic.

Brazil has been hit hard by the disease, with a death toll so far of some 265,500.

During visits by the prime minister of Greece and the president of Cyprus last month, both heads of state requested that their countries be included in future EXO-CD24 trials.

Last week, Austrian and Danish leaders came to Jerusalem to discuss establishing a joint fund for the research, development and production of future coronavirus vaccines.

Top Iranian official threatens to destroy Haifa, Tel Aviv

By Neta Bar

(Israel Hayom via JNS) — Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami on Sunday dedicated an entire speech to threats against Israel, warning that provocations by Jerusalem would result in Tehran’s destroying of Haifa and Tel Aviv.

Hatami made the remarks at a youth conference organized by the Iranian Defense Ministry.

“Thank god that, at this time, Iran has all of the important aspects for exerting power and all options available to it to protect the Islamic Revolution,” he said.

“The Zionist regime understands the new situation better than anyone. They stopped their new occupations and now they are holed up behind walls and bunkers. The reason for this is the victory of the Islamic Revolution,” Hatami continued.

“Despite this, and out of deep desperation, the Zionists’ leaders occasionally say things they cannot back up and make threats out of a lack of choice. The Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolution] gave them an answer a long time ago, and I repeat it today: If they make the mistake of challenging us, we will take out Haifa and Tel Aviv.”

“The issue is being studied and developed for a broad action plan that will allow, when the time comes, for the opening of an operation at one simple command from the leader. I suggest the Zionists don’t make the mistake that spurs us to action, not even through words,” he concluded.

Hatami’s threats come as Iran is believed to be posed to enter negotiations with the United States on its return to the nuclear deal and the removal of sanctions on Tehran. The ayatollah-led regime is more confident of its military abilities than it was in the past, due to the achievements of its emissaries in Syria, Yemen and Iran, and its rhetoric has grown increasingly more aggressive in recent months.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.

UCLA student government passes resolution accusing Israel of ‘ethnic cleansing’

(JNS) — The student government at the University of California, Los Angeles passed a resolution on March 3 that claimed Israel is engaged in the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians.

Titled “A Resolution Calling for the UC to Divest from War,” it urged the academic institution “to sever itself from companies that engage or aid in the oppression of any people” and called on the school to divest from Israel’s “war industry.” It also stated that divestment is a tactic in fighting against injustices, such as “South African apartheid” and the alleged “ethnic cleansing in Palestine by the Israeli government.”

The resolution supports an older resolution passed by the UCLA student government in 2014 that promotes the BDS movement.

Aaron Ahdoot, president of Bruins for Israel Public Affairs Committee at UCLA, told the Jewish Journal that last week’s resolution was passed unanimously.

“We had no idea this resolution was coming up and were not alerted by anyone ahead of time,” he said. “The language of the resolution was not released ahead of the council meeting, making it impossible for any of the students to speak out on it.”

Rabbi Aaron Lerner, executive director of Hillel at UCLA, wrote in an email to community members that the resolution “follows the familiar pattern of seeking to delegitimize Israel within broader language. The resolution was deliberately hidden from Jewish students, preventing them from engaging in the debate.”

He called the passage of the resolution “invalid and anti-democratic.”