Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) -The student senate at Florida State University voted on June 18 not to remove its new president, despite his past anti-Semitic posts. The final tally was not disclosed. Ahmad Daraldik was selected by the Florida State University Student Senate to replace its previous president, Jack Denton, who was accused of racism. Along those lines, Daraldik faced calls to step down after screenshots surfaced of past anti-Semitic posts. "Being in a position of power presented Ahmad the opportunity to...
(JNS) - The Jewish Democratic Council of America has affirmed that it will not support Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in her upcoming primary, but did not provide a endorsement to her chief primary opponent, progressive Antone Melton-Meaux. Omar is set to face Melton-Meaux, who has been critical of Omar's anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements, in an Aug. 11 primary for Minnesota's 5th Congressional District. When asked by JNS about whether JDCA would be taking on Omar, executive director Halie...
(JNS) — The Republican Jewish Coalition announced on Tuesday that it will not endorse or support a candidate in a safely Republican district in Georgia who is leading in fundraising, as she has trafficked in conspiracy theories and posed for photos with a former neo-Nazi leader. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a businesswoman, has posed for photos with former Ku Klux Klan leader Chester Doles, posted them on social media and shared conspiracy theories about the Rothschild banking family, left-wing billionaire George Soros and factions of Saudi A...
(JNS) - Amid the rise in anti-Semitism in the United States and abroad, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Never Again Education Act into law as part of Jewish American Heritage Month, one month after the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. The story behind the passage of this landmark legislation is one that transcended the usual partisan politics of Washington, D.C., bringing together Jewish and Christian groups, and liberal and conservative lawmakers in a rare display of bipar...
(JNS) — Jewish and pro-Israel organizations have expressed outrage over the death of African-American George Floyd, 46, who died on May 25 in the custody of Minneapolis police. Police officer Derek Chauvin put his left knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes on May 25, according to the criminal complaint against the officer, causing Floyd physical distress to the point where he lost consciousness and needed medical attention. Three other police officers were also on site. The incident, filmed on civilian phones, went viral. Floyd was acc...
(JNS) - A Republican primary opponent of a sitting Florida state representative has been accused of engaging in anti-Semitism against the incumbent, who is Jewish. Randy Fine, who represents the Sunshine State's 53rd district and is the only Jewish Republican in the state legislature, has faced ethnic attacks by economist Marcie Adkins and a political consultant for her campaign, Robert Burns. In March 2019, a fake Facebook page was created called "Randy Fine Not So Fine," trafficking in almost...
(JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Never Again Education Act, which seeks to expand Holocaust education in the United States, into law on Thursday. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation in January, while the U.S. Senate did so on May 13. The new law expands the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s education programming to teachers nationwide, requiring the museum to develop and disseminate resources to improve awareness and understanding of the Holocaust and its lessons. A total of $2 million will be allocated ann...
(JNS)—Nearly two-thirds of American Jews believe that they are less safe today than a decade ago, according to a new survey by the Anti-Defamation League on Jewish encounters with anti-Semitism in the United States. The survey found that 54 percent of American Jews have either experienced or witnessed an incident they deem was motivated by anti-Semitism, while 63 percent of Jews say their communities are “less safe” than they were a decade ago. “Our tracking has shown that lethal and nonlethal anti-Semitic attacks have been on the rise in rece...
(JNS)—The U.S. State Department has changed its official description of Palestinians living in eastern Jerusalem from “Palestinian residents” to “Arab residents” or “non-Israeli citizens” in the department’s annual global human-rights report released on Wednesday. The majority of eastern Jerusalem’s 340,000 or so Palestinians identify as such. The Palestinians consider the area the capital of a future state. The change in name comes just months after the Trump administration released its “Peace to Prosperity” plan in January, which states...
(JNS) WASHINGTON-Making the case for U.S. President Donald Trump's re-election, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence warned on Monday that if elected, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would be the complete opposite of Trump as it pertains to the U.S.-Israel relationship. "We must ensure that the most pro-Israel president in history must not be replaced by one who would be the most anti-Israel president in the history of this nation," said Pence at the annual AIPAC Policy Conference, where he slammed...
(JNS) WASHINGTON-Former New York City Mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg laid out his case to the pro-Israel community on Monday at the annual AIPAC Policy Conference, even calling out one of his rivals, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), by name for skipping the largest gathering of pro-Israel activists. "Bipartisan support for Israel has been a defining feature of American politics since 1948-and this organization has played a crucial role in fostering it," said...
(JNS)—Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the frontrunner in the Democratic presidential primary, skipped the annual AIPAC Policy Conference. “The Israeli people have the right to live in peace and security,” said Sanders. “So do the Palestinian people. I remain concerned about the platform AIPAC provides for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights. For that reason I will not attend their conference,” he tweeted. “As president, I will support the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians and do everything possible to bring pe...
(JNS)-The anti-Israel group IfNotNow approached the leading Democratic presidential candidates in New Hampshire, ahead of the state's primary on Tuesday, to ask if they will skip the annual AIPAC Policy Conference next month-only to get one commitment so far. That commitment was from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who relayed her decision via an answer to a question by a potential constituent at a town hall in Derry on Feb. 6. "I'm an American Jew, and I'm terrified by the unholy alliance...
(JNS)—J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami embraced Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas after the latter made statements at a hotel on Tuesday following his remarks earlier at a U.N. Security Council session, denouncing the Trump administration’s Mideast peace plan. “Absolutely disgusting that @jstreetdotorg’s @JeremyBenAmi would embrace Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas funds terrorists to kill American and Israeli Jews. He is a virulent anti-Semite. Ben Ami isn’t a head of state, he doesn’t have to pretend Abbas is legitimate,” tweeted the Republica...
(JNS)—After more than six hours of deliberation, the student government at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign passed a BDS resolution in the early hours on Thursday morning that calls on the university to divest from “companies that profit from human-rights violations in Palestine and other communities globally,” as well as from firms that provide weaponry and technology to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a copy of the resolution obtained by JNS ahead of the vote, which includes endorsements from the stude...
(JNS)-The student government at the University of California, Berkeley, erupted into chaos on Monday, delaying a vote on a measure to censure a display by a pro-Palestinian student group. The Associated Students of the University of California Senate's University and External Affairs Committee met to debate student Milton Zerman's resolution titled "Condemning Bears for Palestine for Their Display in Eshleman Hall Glorifying Violent Terrorists." In December, the student group Bears for Palestine...
(JNS)-In the seventh and final Democratic debate before the Iowa Caucus on Feb. 3, hosted on Tuesday by CNN and The Des Moines Register at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, the six candidates on stage slammed U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East policies, especially regarding the Iranian threat. "We're in a situation where our allies in Europe are making a comparison between the United States and Iran, saying both ought to stand down, making a moral equivalence. We have lost our...
(JNS)-Rightly or wrongly, the first thing that comes to mind when most Americans think of Idaho is potatoes. Yet the northwestern state, which is also known for vast natural beauty and resources, is also home an emerging pro-Israel leader in Congress. "It's not typically the rallying cry when it comes to campaigns," Idaho Republican Rep. Russ Fulcher told JNS about support for Israel in his state. "The people in the state of Idaho are generally very pro-Israel, and that's just part of our...
(JNS)-Faculty who support the academic boycott of Israel are actively promoting BDS directly to students in their classrooms, according to a report released on Wednesday by the campus watchdog AMCHA Initiative, providing the first empirical evidence of such activity. The study, which examined 50 syllabi at 40 public and private colleges and universities over an 11-year period, revealed that academic BDS-supporting instructors had an average of 78 percent of their course readings authored by BDS...
(JNS)—For the most part, Jewish and pro-Israel groups reacted positively to the U.S. elimination of the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, Maj. Gen, Qassem Soleimani, in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq on Thursday. B’nai B’rith International CEO and executive vice president Dan Mariaschin told JNS, “The American strike today was a major step in the war against terror. Soleimani was the chief agent for Iran’s export of terror throughout the region and beyond. Hopefully, this will serve as a strong deterrent to those who wou...
(JNS)—The year 2019 consisted of ups and downs for the Jewish and pro-Israel community. Below is a listing of the top six events or themes that shaped news coverage throughout the year (in no particular order). Anti-Semitic attacks From Southern California to Jersey City, Jews were under attack as, in the former, one woman was killed and three people injured during Shabbat-morning services at Chabad of Poway on the last day of Passover on April 27. In the latter, two Chassidic Jews, a store employee and a police officer were shot and killed a...
(JNS)—The Trump administration is reportedly opposing a bill that would sanction Turkey for purchasing Russian missiles, claiming that it would push both countries towards further cooperation. The administration also opposes a part of the measure that would assist Syrian Kurdish refugees to resettle in the United States. The Daily Beast first reported the developments on Monday, citing a seven-page memo sent by the U.S. State Department to senators. The bill, the “Promoting American National Security and Preventing the Resurgence of ISIS Act...
(JNS)—Part of the $1.37 trillion spending bill that U.S. President Donald Trump signed on Friday included $150 million split evenly between assistance for security services, and humanitarian and civilian purposes for the Palestinians. The legislation included a bipartisan agreement on the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act that will allow the U.S. Agency for International Development to resume its operations in the West Bank and Gaza. USAID ceased projects in those areas earlier this year in accordance with ATCA, which provides protections for A...
(JNS)-Deputy Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development Bonnie Glick made headlines last week after Bloomberg reported that she placed a hold on U.S. economic assistance to Lebanon-a story that she denies. Her agency administers U.S. civilian and development assistance to countries overseas. "There was no hold on assistance to Lebanon," she told JNS. "We have a large assistance program in Lebanon that is robust and ongoing." She added, "I am absolutely concerned that there...
(JNS)—U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday, Dec. 11, addressing anti-Semitism amid the rise in hatred toward Jews in education in the United States, announced the White House in a call with reporters on Tuesday evening. The measure is particularly focused on activities on American college campuses, where the anti-Israel BDS movement has taken a hold among students and even faculty. It would require the U.S. Department of Education to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance definition of anti-Semitism in e...
