Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — A resolution “calling for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and occupied Palestine” has drawn 18 House Democrats signatories, led by Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.). Bush’s fellow “Squad” members Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) were among the original co-signers of H.Res. 786. Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) and Greg Casar (D-Texas) were also signatories. Bowman and Lee signed on at the beginning, on Oct. 16, and Casar a...
(JNS) — “I came to Israel with a single message: You are not alone,” U.S. President Joe Biden posted on social media on Wednesday. As Air Force One returned stateside, some critics say the president should have left well enough alone, even as America’s close ally is at war. Biden’s several hours in Israel proved “a missed opportunity to show strength and secure the release of American hostages,” wrote the Republican National Committee. Biden barely mentioned the kidnapped Americans but did announce $100 million in new funding for Gaza, “shower...
(JNS) — The late Dianne Feinstein is often described as a fierce supporter of Israel throughout her more than 30 years serving as a California senator. The Democrat was proud of her “strong Jewish heritage” and did all she could “to stop the United States from selling weapons to Israel’s enemies,” Raleigh Resnick, rabbi and director of Chabad of Tri-Valley in Pleasanton, Calif., told JNS. (Feinstein attended Chanukah menorah-lightings that Chabad led in San Francisco’s Union Square.) “On the world stage, she presented herself as a proud Jew...
(JNS) - Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) began a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia on Wednesday with a moment of silence for Taylor Force, the 28-year-old West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran who was killed in 2016 while on a graduate-school trip to Israel. "His death was a deranged and inhumane action," said Wilson, who chairs the subcommittee, which is part of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The congressman also slammed the Palestinian...
(JNS) - Sen. Robert "Bob" Menendez (D-N.J.), a longtime supporter of Israel and critic of the Iran nuclear deal, is facing widespread calls for his resignation following charges from the U.S. attorney's office that he accepted bribes. The Democrat "allegedly agreed to use his official position to benefit" three New Jersey businessmen "and the government of Egypt in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes to Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, which included gold bars, cash...
(JNS) — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker drew criticism from Jewish groups recently when he vetoed a bill that would have required the state’s public schools and hospitals to offer upon request kosher, halal and other religion-based dietary options. State and federal prisons are required, per the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, to offer such dietary accommodations to inmates. But no such federal law applies to state schools and hospitals. The bill, IL HB3643, which the billionaire Jewish democrat vetoed on Aug. 11, was...
(JNS) - If elected in 2024, Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur vying for the Republican presidential nomination, would combat antisemitism as part of a broad campaign against what he believes is a far-left ideology dividing the country into victim groups. "Antisemitism is a symptom of something that is broken in our society," Ramaswamy told JNS. He added that Jew-hatred points to a "void in our heart as a nation." "Whenever a society is broken, you have people who try to find someone to blame....
(JNS) — The Southern Poverty Law Center is a Montgomery, Ala.-based nonprofit that according to its website was founded in 1971 “to ensure that the promise of the civil rights movement became a reality for all.” Before reaching that first paragraph on the group’s site, however, comes the SPLC’s self-identification as “a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people.” SPLC is often quoted...
(JNS) - First, she represented Iraq in the "Miss Universe" competition. Then she fled her country after posing for a selfie in 2017 with "Miss Israel." Now, Sarah Idan is running for California's 30th congressional district-the seat that Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is vacating as he vies to replace the retiring Dianne Feinstein in the Senate. "I'm running because this is a critical time in U.S. history when our democracy is fundamentally at stake," the Baghdad native, 33, told JNS. "I've always...
(JNS) — Fourteen Democratic members of Congress, led by Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), urged U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 13 to condition U.S. aid to Israel. “We call on your administration to ensure that all future foreign assistance to Israel, including weapons and equipment, is not used in support of gross violations of human rights, including by strengthening end-use monitoring and financial tracking,” wrote the lawmakers. The other signers were Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.)...
(JNS) — Hours after China brokered a surprise deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia, a reporter asked U.S. President Joe Biden what he thought about the two countries, which come out of rival Islamic branches that have competed for centuries over guardianship of the faith, re-establishing diplomatic relations. “The better the relations between Israel and their Arab neighbors, the better for everybody,” he said. Critics ridiculed the president’s non sequitur, but Biden’s statement raises the question of what impact the deal—and importantly...
(JNS) - When Jeff Schoep, former head of the violently antisemitic National Socialist Movement, spoke at a private Highland Park, Ill., residence on March 14, he intended to cite his life as a cautionary tale for those seeking meaning by joining white supremacist groups. "A common misconception is that someone joins neo-Nazi organizations in order to be evil," Schoep told JNS. "This may be true for a small minority of people who are sociopaths who join. But for most people, it is like joining a...
(JNS) — Accusations of Islamophobia came almost immediately after the U.S. House of Representatives voted earlier this month to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from its Foreign Affairs Committee. The vote followed repeated promises from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to remove the congresswoman due to her history of antisemitic and anti-Israel remarks. Omar took to CNN’s State of the Union show, saying “it is politically motivated, and in some cases, motivated by the fact that many of these members don’t believe a Muslim refugee...
(JNS) — In 2021, a University of Michigan music professor showed a 1965 film adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Othello,” which featured a white actor in blackface, in class. The professor apologized and stepped down, yet a dean at the university stated that the experience “was hurtful and upsetting to the students in the class,” and the professor’s actions “do not align with our school’s commitment to anti-racist action, diversity, equity and inclusion.” When someone distributed racist fliers on the school’s Ann Arbor campus five years prior, the...
(JNS) — On Jan. 7 after midnight, the 118th Congress was finally sworn in with the election of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to the House speakership. Democrats had managed to gain one Senate seat in November’s midterms, breaking the 50:50 tie in the upper chamber that required Vice President Kamala Harris to break tied votes. For some anti-Israel Democratic lawmakers, the future is uncertain. A House minority leader During the midterm elections, Republicans recaptured the House by a narrow margin. Democrats nominated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N...
(JNS) — Prominent Christian pro-Israel organizations are speaking out against Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) after the rapper used Christianity to justify a months-long series of antisemitic statements. “Christians are mandated by God to stand with the Jewish people,” Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), told JNS. “One cannot be antisemitic and follow the teachings of Jesus.” Among many other antisemitic statements, Ye tweeted that he would go “death con 3” on Jewish people, accused Jews of givin...
(JNS)—In a now-viral video, five American girls staged a walkout on the final day of their trip to Israel courtesy of Birthright, a not-for-profit educational organization that sponsors free 10-day heritage trips to Israel for young adults of Jewish heritage. The protest was organized by the anti-Israel organization IfNotNow, which seeks to end American Jewish support for Israel and has been widely criticized for refusing to even engage in dialogue with those it slams in the Jewish community. The protestors accuse Birthright of hiding what t...
