Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS)-Jewish and pro-Israel groups are reacting to the latest round of violence in Gaza after Hamas launched nearly 400 rockets into Israeli civilian areas since Sunday, following the death of an Israeli special-forces soldier. On Monday night, one man was reported killed and two women injured in the city of Ashkelon when a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit their apartment building. In response, the Israel Defense Forces reacted by striking 20-plus Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets...
(JNS)—The second round of American sanctions on Iran will took effect on Nov. 5. That’s been the plan since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States in May from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, which lifted those sanctions. The upcoming round will include targeting Iran’s “energy, shipping and the ship-building sectors, as well as the provision of insurance and transactions involving the Central Bank of Iran and designated Iranian financial institutions,” said State Dep...
(JNS)-The controversial Canary Mission-an anonymous campus watchdog group that exposes organizations, academics and activists that demonize Israel on college campuses-recently came under fire when the San Francisco Jewish Federation indicated that it would no longer facilitate private-donor funding of the group. Articles in The Forward blasted the organization as "shadowy" for refusing to identify its leadership and sources of funding. Yet for pro-Israel student activists who are actively...
(JNS)-Despite mixed reactions, U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon in the aftermath of a gunman killing 11 people and injuring six others at the Tree of Life*Or L'Simcha Synagogue. The visit comes as the community buried the first of the victims on Tuesday. The president was accompanied by his wife, Melania; chief of staff John Kelly; press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders; and White House deputy chief of staff for communications Bi...
(JNS)—In the aftermath of Saturday’s shooting at the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue in Pittsburgh, where 11 Jewish worshippers were shot dead and six others injured by a lone gunman, have come calls for increased security at Jewish institutions across the United States. Although this funding cannot be used for armed security, synagogues and other Jewish places have relied on a Department of Homeland Security grant to protect themselves. “The primary purpose of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program is to provide funding support for target...
(JNS)-Chess warrior. Former political prisoner. Longtime Israeli minister and head of the Jewish Agency for Israel. Always a Jewish inspiration. Natan Sharansky has checked many boxes throughout his life, eight years of which were spent in a gulag in the former Soviet Union. One of the most well-known refuseniks and a leader of the fight to release Soviet Jewry, he pushed relentlessly for freedom, supported by his wife, Avital, and Jews and non-Jews around the world. He was eventually released i...
(JNS)-Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Tuesday that he would consider moving the country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which would mark a major shift in policy in support of the Jewish state by a world power following the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as its capital by the Trump administration in December. The Australian leader also announced that his country will vote against recognizing the Palestinian Authority as the chair of the G77 bloc in the...
(JNS)—The University of Michigan is again under fire for anti-Israel sentiment as a pro-BDS instructor rejected a Jewish student’s request for a letter of recommendation to study in Israel for a semester, just a few months after an associate professor refused to do the same for student Abigail Ingber. In August, associate professor in the American Culture Department John Cheney-Lippold wrote to Ingber via email: “As you may know, many university departments have pledged an academic boycott against Israel in support of Palestinians living in Pa...
(JNS)—Pro-Israel students at George Washington University have faced a number of challenges from both the BDS movement and anti-Israel groups in recent years. In 2017, the school successfully defeated a BDS resolution; however, last April a new resolution passed. A recently released report by a watchdog group highlights the rampant anti-Semitic and anti-Israel tactics that were used by members of the Students for Justice in Palestine amid the vote. According a recent report by Canary Mission, watchdog website that documents the activities of a...
(JNS)—Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate running for governor of Florida, has associated with the radical left-wing group Dream Defenders, whose founder, Phillip Agnew, has ties to Ahmad Abuznaid, a supporter of the U.S.-designated terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This development comes amid Gillum’s opponent, Rep. Ron DeSantis, attacking the Democrat in a TV campaign ad for having “anti-Semites around him,” such as welcoming the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)...
(JNS)—The Trump administration has come under pressure to deny Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas entry into the United States for next week’s annual U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York. Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), a group that tracks anti-Semitism and terrorism in Palestinian media, petitioned the White House, as well as the State and Treasury departments, to reject Abbas from stepping foot on American soil in accordance with new federal statutes prohibiting international terrorist leaders from traveling to the United Sta...
(JNS)-A University of Michigan professor who denied a student a letter of recommendation for a semester-long study-abroad program in Israel is standing by his decision, citing his support for the BDS movement. John Cheney-Lippold, an associate professor in the American Culture department, told JNS that this was the first time he rejected a student's request for a letter of recommendation to study abroad anywhere, as he labeled Israel an "apartheid" nation. "I declined to write the letter because...
(JNS) WASHINGTON—Ahead of the second round of American sanctions on Iran in November since the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Friday that those measures will drastically change the way any business is done with the regime. “Make no mistake, come November 4th, there will be a fundamentally different set of rules on anyone who deems it necessary to engage in economic activity with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said. Pompeo added that countries, especially in Europe, have alrea...
(JNS)—Amid tensions between the Trump administration and the Palestinian Authority, the former announced on Sept. 10 that the Washington offices of the Palestine Liberation Organization will close in the same week as the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn is being marked by politicians and the press. “We have permitted the PLO office to conduct operations that support the objective of achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between Israelis and the Palestinians since the expiration of a previous wai...
(JNS)—U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday the founding of the Iran Action Group, which will “be responsible for directing, reviewing and coordinating all aspects of the State Department’s Iran-related activity.” “For nearly 40 years, the regime in Tehran has been responsible for a torrent of violent and destabilizing behavior against the United States, our allies, our partners, and indeed, the Iranian people themselves,” said Pompeo. “Our hope is that one day soon we can reach a new agreement with Iran. But we must see m...
and United with Israel US President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act on Monday, which includes $550 million in assistance to Israel and temporarily halts the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. This comes amid tensions between Washington and Ankara, which is currently holding an American pastor hostage, among other political moves. The $717 billion Act includes a bipartisan measure honoring a decade-long Memorandum of Understanding between America and Israel, with the US giving $3.8 billion annually to the Jewish stat...
(JNS)-A documentary featuring the notorious Louis Farrakhan will not be available to Netflix customers next month after all, with the media streaming giant citing an "internal miscommunication." "This film will not be released on Netflix. Due to an internal miscommunication, it appeared to be scheduled for release on Netflix, but it is not," a Netflix spokesperson told JNS. "We apologize for any confusion this has caused." The 2014 film, "The Honourable Minister Louis Farrakhan: My Life's...
(JNS)-In addition to showcasing a major pro-Israel constituency, Christians United for Israel's 13th annual summit, which took place from July 23-24, emphasized the contrast between the current White House administration and previous ones, with Israel's ambassador to the United States hailing U.S. President Donald Trump as the best ally Israel has ever had. "Over the decades, Israel has been blessed with strong supporters in Congress on both sides of the aisle. We have been blessed with...
