Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that the current negotiations could be Israel's last chance to secure the return the remaining hostages captured by Hamas on Oct. 7. Speaking ahead of meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv, Blinken said, "This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire, and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security." "I'm here as part of an intensive diplomatic effor...
(JTA) - Hundreds of mourners gathered in Rishon Lezion, Israel, Tuesday night for the funeral of Jordan Cooper, 26, an American-born "lone soldier" who had died the day before from a severe allergic reaction. His parents, Marla Covin Cooper and Ross Cooper, younger brother Ethan and grandfather Jerry were visiting him in Israel when he died, and ahead of his funeral a request went out to the public saying that they were inviting members of the public to "come and accompany him on his final...
(JNS) — U.S., Egyptian and Qatari leaders released a statement on Thursday calling jointly for an immediate conclusion to talks between Israel and Hamas about a ceasefire and hostage release agreement. “It is time to bring immediate relief both to the long-suffering people of Gaza as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families,” the three stated. “The time has come to conclude the ceasefire and hostages and detainees release deal.” The statement, signed by U.S. President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatari E...
By (New York Jewish Week) - Vandals defaced the apartment building of Cas Holloway, Columbia University's chief operating officer, on Thursday, splattering red paint around the entrance to the building and painting inverted red triangles, a Hamas symbol, on its facade. The vandals also smashed a glass door, put up threatening posters, and released insects inside the building, according to the New York Post. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the vandalism, saying the NYPD's Hate Crimes Task...
(JTA) — Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar won her Democratic party primary on Tuesday, securing a victory for the hardline-left “Squad” member who is one of Israel’s fiercest critics in Congress. Omar defeated her challenger, Don Samuels, in Minnesota’s 5th District by a margin of 56 percent to 43 percent with nearly all votes reported. Samuels is a centrist, pro-Israel Democrat who narrowly lost a primary vote to Omar in 2022. This time around, Omar’s campaign said it had learned from the close call and worked harder to shore up support. Omar’s win...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) — A video from 2018 has surfaced showing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz referring to a Muslim cleric with controversial views as a “master teacher,” according to reporting by the Washington Examiner. The footage, which emerged during Walz’s campaign for vice president, contradicts recent statements from his campaign team. The video, recorded at a Feb. 16, 2018, event hosted by Minnesota’s Muslim American Society, captures Walz praising Asad Zaman, director of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota. “I am a teacher, so...
(JTA) — For days, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz has been dogged by criticism — including from the Republican Jewish Coalition — about his ties to a Minnesota imam who praised Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and once shared a link to a pro-Hitler documentary. Now, the Harris-Walz campaign has responded, saying that Walz has no “personal relationship” with Imam Asad Zaman, the executive director of the Muslim American Society Minnesota, a network of seven mosques, despite appearing together in public events on several occasions....
(New York Jewish Week) — Columbia University restricted access to its campus on Monday, a sign that the university is girding for a renewal of anti-Israel student protests as the fall semester is set to begin. The university’s chief operating officer, Cas Holloway, said in a Friday statement that the campus would effectively be closed to members of the public starting on Monday. The official first day of classes is Sept. 3, though some schools’ orientation activities begin this week. “This change is intended to keep our community safe given r...
US, UK again attack Houthi targets in Yemen (JNS) — American and British forces carried out airstrikes on Houthi targets on Yemen’s Kamaran Island on Monday, Iranian state media reported. Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that there was no immediate information on casualties or damage following the coalition strike. U.S. Central Command—the geographic command responsible for the Middle East—and the British Ministry of Defense did not immediately confirm the airstrikes. Kamaran, Yemen’s largest island in the Red Sea, is located off the p...
(JNS) — The Kremlin regards the creation of a Palestinian state as a top priority, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas during their first in-person encounter since Gaza terrorists carried out the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The two men last met in October 2022, on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia in Kazakhstan. “We believe that in order to secure lasting and stable peace in the region, it is imperative to implement all...
(JTA) — “What are these for?” the security guard at the Dubai airport asked as three others inspected my bris kit — the bag of supplies I carry when I perform circumcisions on Jewish baby boys. Whenever I travel for work and I’m away from Israel for only a short time, I never check a bag, so this can make for interesting encounters at the X-ray machines. There are times I’ve lied and said I make jewelry, but since circumcision is a cultural norm in the United Arab Emirates and other Muslim countries, I decided to come clean. “I perform circu...
(JTA) — A man charged with multiple counts in the killing of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll has had a murder charge dismissed by the judge in the case. Woll, a 40-year-old Democratic and interfaith activist and president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, was found stabbed to death outside of her home on Oct. 21, 2023. Her killing came just two weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, alarming Jews in Detroit and beyond who feared that she had been the victim of an antisemitic attack. But law enforcement was quick to say tha...
(JTA) - The 2024 Paris Olympics conclude on Sunday, and at least 21 Jewish athletes from the United States, Australia and Israel will return home with some new hardware: The tally includes six golds (with one athlete winning two), seven silvers and five bronzes. The medal total of 18 is more than all but 15 countries. Israel in particular has racked up a historic medal collection, with seven total medals, its most ever in a single Olympics. Israel won three medals on Aug. 3 alone, its most...
(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has apologized for the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in which more than 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage. “I am sorry, deeply, that something like this happened,” he told Time Magazine during an hourlong interview this week in Jerusalem. The interview, which Time published in full, was Netanyahu’s first major one with any news organization since Oct. 7. Eric Cortellessa, Time’s national political correspondent, interviewed the prime minister shortly after his visit to...
(JNS) — “Hezbollah and Iran have taken you, the residents of Lebanon, as their hostages.” This was the message Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant sent to the Land of the Cedars on Thursday. Gallant, a former IDF major-general, published the message in Arabic, saying, “Hezbollah and Iran have taken you as hostages for their narrow interests. If Hezbollah does not cease its aggression in the north, Israel will enter into a harsh war.” The minister in his missive called the 2006 Second Lebanon War an “adventure” that Hezbollah undertook. Be...
Starting in September, the Jewish Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce a new opportunity for professionals to connect and grow their networks. Held on the first Tuesday of every month from September through December, the Chamber will host a free monthly networking breakfast at One Senior Place in Altamonte Springs. The event will begin promptly at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 9:30 a.m. The breakfast gatherings aim to bring together members of the Jewish community and beyond, offering a relaxed...
From Sept. 22-27, the Jewish Pavilion Senior Services will host its 5th annual online charity auction, featuring an array of fantastic items. Bid on luxury hotel stays, fitness packages, sports memorabilia, gift baskets, event tickets, restaurant gift cards, homemade meals, self-pampering experiences, wine tastings, one-of-a-kind items, and much more. This auction is an excellent opportunity to treat yourself while supporting a wonderful charity and finding unique gifts. Easy Online Registration Registering for the auction is simple and does...
Aug. 17-18, Florida Kids & Family Expo — Join the Holocaust Center from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the 9th Annual Florida Kids & Family Expo on Aug. 17 & 18 at the Orange County Convention Center, 9800 International Dr., Orlando. The Holocaust Center will be part of the largest kids and family expo in the United States. The Center will present the all-new VR tour of Anne Frank’s annex and Holocaust Center educators will be on hand to chat with. Sept. 14, Holocaust Center Benefit Concert — Opera Orlando will present the premiere of “Defiant Requiem:...
(JTA) — Pennsylvania’s Jewish governor, Josh Shapiro, hasn’t had the easiest week when it comes to, well, being Jewish. So, when it came to speaking publicly about Vice President Kamala Harris and the man she chose over him to be her own running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Shapiro had a point he wanted to make. “I lean on my family and I lean on my faith which calls me to serve,” Shapiro said at a rally Tuesday in his hometown, Philadelphia. “And I am proud of my faith!” Shapiro was among the top two or three contenders that Harris, the D...
(JTA) — J.D. Vance, the Ohio senator who is Donald Trump’s running mate, said he “feels bad” that Josh Shapiro, the Jewish Pennsylvania governor who was in contention to be Kamala Harris’ running mate, has to “run” from being Jewish to get the job. Harris, the vice president who is the Democratic presidential nominee, on Tuesday named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Shapiro was in the top two or three in contention and was also subject to a campaign from the progressive left to keep him off the ticket because of his views on Isra...
(JNS) — Three deans at Columbia University, who the university’s president said exchanged messages that “disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes,” have resigned, the New York Times reported on Thursday, adding that a fourth, who participated “to a lesser extent,” remains in his job. “About time. Actions have consequences, and Columbia should have fired all four of these deans months ago,” stated Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee. “Instead, the university continues to send mixed sig...
(JTA) — WASHINGTON — The White House condemned as “inflammatory” a pledge by Missouri Rep. Cori Bush to AIPAC that she would “tear your kingdom down,” implying that heated rhetoric like hers could inspire political violence. Bush, a member of the “Squad,” the group of far-left Democrats that is harshly critical of Israel, lost a costly primary on Tuesday to St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell. Political action committees allied with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent more than $9 million against Bush, making the election th...
(JNS) — As some 10,000 people braved the summer heat and rain in line to enter Temple University’s Liacouras Center in North Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon for Vice President Kamala Harris’s first event with her newly-announced running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, half a dozen protesters chanted “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.” The protesters, some of whom were clad in keffiyehs and masked, used bullhorns and yelled for hours in front of an essentially...
(JNS) - A medical opinion submitted in the case of the Hamas terrorist who was allegedly raped at the Israel Defense Forces' Sde Teiman detention center suggests that the IDF reservists suspected of attacking him could be innocent, Israel's Channel 14 News broadcaster reported on Thursday. The expert opinion-written by Professor Alon Pikarsky, director of general surgery at Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Medical Center and a board-certified general surgeon specializing in colorectal...
(JNS) — The United Nations announced Aug. 5 that nine staff members of the scandal-plagued UNRWA organization “may have been involved” in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel, as its internal investigation into Israeli allegations came to a close. The U.N. Internal Oversight Services handled the months-long fact-finding investigation in the wake of Jerusalem’s stunning allegations that a number of UNRWA employees had taken part in the atrocities of Oct. 7. The contention had led to 16 countries suspending assistance to UNRWA,...
