Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1094 - 1118 of 1920
NEW YORK (JTA)—Sitting at the front of a large room lined floor to ceiling with Jewish holy books, Rabbi Joseph Beyda’s voice broke as he processed, seemingly in real time, the idea that a trusted teacher had preyed on his students. “I think the overarching feeling of the administrators and the faculty and the board of the school is, we know you trust us, we take that trust very deeply, we dedicate our lives to it, we failed on this,” said Beyda, the principal of the Yeshivah of Flatbush’s Joel Braverman High School. “You could say it’s not our... Full story
(JTA)—The New York Police Department said it will increase its presence in Jewish neighborhoods before and during the High Holidays. Increased foot patrols and specialized units such as counterterrorism teams will be deployed throughout the communities, Commissioner James O’Neill announced Wednesday. He said not all of them would be identifiable. The NYPD has reported a 63 percent rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes throughout the city this year. Brooklyn’s heavily Jewish neighborhoods have seen a slew of attacks on visibly Jewish people over... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Jason Greenblatt, President Donald Trump's top Middle East peace negotiator, is leaving the White House. Although the "ultimate" deal he helped craft has yet to be fully announced, the Trump administration suggested in the announcement that Greenblatt was leaving now that it had been written. A senior White House official said the plan is done. "The vision is now complete and will be released when appropriate," the official said in an email. Greenblatt said in a statement: "It... Full story
(JTA)-Like other local officials, Deborah Lauter can't say exactly what's causing the recent spike in hate crimes against Jews in New York City. It could be, in her words, "the rhetoric that's coming out of various elected officials." It could be animus among the city's diverse communities. It could be that the attacks are getting more press and therefore inspiring copycats. It could just be a hot summer when people need to blow off steam. "It's difficult to make generalizations," Lauter said.... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-A decade after the Bernie Madoff debacle-one so serious that Hadassah officials refuse to even utter the Ponzi schemer's name-the women's Zionist organization is back. The finances are robust-2017 tax returns show $108 million in assets-and a staff of about 200 works at its New York headquarters and eight regional offices. To build membership, Hadassah is targeting younger women, recognizing that the stay-at-home mothers who made "Hadassah lady" a cliche in the postwar years... Full story
(JNS)-During the upcoming American Political Science Association's annual conference in Washington, D.C., a group of political theorists is expected to discuss a resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions. While the "Academic Boycott Resolution" will only be discussed and not voted on during the Aug. 31 meeting, the Academic Engagement Network nonetheless expressed alarm towards the APSA, which was founded in 1903 and is "the leading professional organization for the study of political... Full story
(JNS)—The California Democratic Party’s executive board passed three pro-Israel resolutions on Aug. 25, condemning hatred towards Jews and the State of Israel. One resolution, which Progressive Zionists of California (PZC) co-founder Susan George said “sailed through,” expresses “how anti-Semitic hate speech harms Jews and other Zionists in the California Democratic Party.” It states that Zionism is “the human right to self-determination of the Jewish people in their homeland of Israel,” and mentions that anti-Semitic rhetoric has been “regular... Full story
(JNS)-The decision by Israel to bar Reps. Rashid Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) due to their support for the anti-Israel BDS movement has generated international headlines while at the same time sparking further partisan divide and debate. The controversy over the congresswomen, however, comes shortly after a visit to Israel by 72 fellow members of the U.S. House of Representatives that seemed to highlight rare public goodwill between Democrats and Republicans, as well as the broad... Full story
(JNS)-Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Saturday called for boycotting Bill Maher's HBO show after the liberal comedian denounced the anti-Israel BDS movement as "a bulls**t purity test." "Maybe folks should boycott his show," tweeted Tlaib, who compared boycotts of Israel to that of apartheid South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. "I am tired of folks discrediting a form of speech that is centered on equality and freedom," the congresswoman continued. "This is exactly how they tried to discredit &... Full story
(JTA)—Students at a Southern California high school made a Nazi salute and sang a Nazi marching song at the start of an awards ceremony. The school district will not say publicly if or how it disciplined the students. The incident, which took place last year, involved 10 members of the boys water polo team at Pacifica High School in Garden Grove, California, the Daily Beast reported. The video was posted to Instagram by one of the athletes, according to the Daily Beast, and widely circulated among students at the high school. A spokesperson f... Full story
(JNS)—U.S. President Donald Trump clarified remarks made about how Jewish voters could support the Democratic Party knowing the anti-Israel bias among certain congressional members, such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). “If you vote for a Democrat, you’re being disloyal to Jewish people, and you’re being very disloyal to Israel,” the president told reporters on Wednesday. In remarks in the Oval Office on Tuesday following his meeting with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, Trump said, “Any Jewish people that... Full story
(CJN via JNS)—A New Middletown Village man was arrested on Aug. 17 after police said he made a threat toward the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown, Ohio. James Reardon, Jr., 20, is being held in Mahoning County Jail in Youngstown on telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing charges, according to two Youngstown television stations. New Middletown Police Chief Vincent D’Egidio said Reardon posted a video July 11 on Instagram of a man shooting a semi-automatic rifle with sirens and screams in the background with the caption: “Po... Full story
(JNS)-A total of 41 Democrats and 31 Republicans are in Israel on overlapping party tours to get a firsthand view of the complex security challenges Israel faces and to express their unconditional, bipartisan support for the Jewish state. The delegations are touring Israel's borders and gaining insight into Israeli advances in areas of defense, agriculture, commercial technology, and water desalination and conservation. In addition, the groups met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,... Full story
Israel has decided to bar two Muslim pro-BDS members of Congress from entering Israel over fears of provocation that they would cause and their unwillingness to coordinate with Israeli authorities, according to multiple reports. Officials had reportedly been examining the official wording of the decision with legal authorities. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri announced the decision late Thursday afternoon. According to a press statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan... Full story
(JTA)—Israel’s decision on Aug. 15 to ban Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from entering the country has quickly prompted a wave of impassioned responses from across the Jewish community. Pro-Israel groups, including AIPAC, and prominent Democratic lawmakers are already objecting to the move. AIPAC’s statement, along with others from establishment Jewish groups, criticized Omar and Tlaib’s support for the movement to boycott Israel. But like others who have their differences with the two House reps, AIPAC said that Israel should nonethe... Full story
(JNS)—The California Board of Education has announced it will scrap its current draft ethnic-studies curriculum and develop a new model curriculum following outrage by California lawmakers, activists and Jewish and pro-Israel groups for its “blatant bias against Israel.” The California State Board of Education stated that “the current draft model curriculum falls short and needs to be substantially redesigned.” “Following the Instructional Quality Commission’s review and response to all public comments, a new draft will be developed for... Full story
(JTA)-One of the most befuddling questions surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein saga is why Leslie Wexner, a billionaire entrepreneur, entrusted all of his money to Epstein, a secretive financier with no college degree. For those immersed in the Jewish world, there's an added question: How did Wexner-a prominent philanthropist seen as a champion of Jewish learning and ethical teaching, whose foundation has trained waves of rabbis, Jewish professionals and volunteer board leaders-end up so enmeshed... Full story
(JNS)-Fifty-eight Jewish organizations gathered in New York City on Wednesday for a "National Consultation on Responses to Antisemitism" to address ever increasing anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, Europe and around the world. Organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish organizations and hosted at the offices of UJA-Federation of New York in Midtown Manhattan, the consultation was attended by Jewish leaders and included two members of the U.S. Administration,... Full story
(JTA)-After three and a half years as editor in chief of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Andrew Silow-Carroll will be the next editor of the New York Jewish Week. The veteran journalist will succeed Gary Rosenblatt, who announced last month he will step down at the end of September after 26 years as editor and publisher of the Jewish Week. Silow-Carroll, 58, has spent over 30 years in Jewish media. He was previously the CEO and editor in chief of the New Jersey Jewish News and managing editor of... Full story
(JTA)—President Donald Trump said “hate has no place in America” in an address to the nation following the mass shootings over the weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. Trump pledged additional resources to the FBI to investigate domestic terrorism. He called for strengthening detection of early warning signs of shooters and for better background checks on gun owners. The president also condemned video games and social media for encouraging violent tendencies. He said “those who commit hate crimes and mass murders should face the death p... Full story
(JNS)—A bipartisan group of 88 U.S. senators signed a letter on Monday to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, asking him to “act boldly and with urgency to help Poland resolve this issue comprehensively” of compensating Holocaust victims whose property was stolen by German Nazis. Crediting Pompeo with raising the issue in a statement in February about the matter, the senators said they were “deeply troubled” with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki responding that the issue has been “resolved.” “Now is the time, while the last Holocaust s... Full story
LANSING, Michigan (JTA)-Tom Dalton could be the poster boy for Elissa Slotkin's path to a second term and, she would argue, to Democrats keeping the U.S. House of Representatives. The 67-year-old Vietnam navy vet routinely votes Republican-but says he would not hesitate to vote for Slotkin, a Democrat, if he had the opportunity. "Seeing what's happening today in the news, all you hear is negative this and negative that, I would love to know if there's a lot more of what I saw today," he said,... Full story
(JTA)—Not long after news that a shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, left at least 22 people dead, reports started swirling that the suspect had posted a manifesto on 8chan, an online forum. Law enforcement officials are investigating a document posted there that is believed to be authored by the suspect, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius. The text contains racist rhetoric, blaming immigrants and Latinos for taking away jobs from Americans. It was uploaded fewer than 20 minutes before the shooting, according to CNN. This isn’t the first tim... Full story
(JTA)—Before he killed at least 22 people at a Walmart on the southern border, the gunman in El Paso posted a white supremacist manifesto on the fringe social network 8chan denouncing a “Hispanic invasion of Texas.” The U.S. Justice Department announced that it would treat the shooting as a “domestic terrorist case.” “It appears to be designed to intimidate a civilian population,” U.S. Attorney John Bash said at a news conference Sunday, referring to the shooter’s motives. “And we’re going to do what we do to terrorists in this country, which i... Full story
(JTA)—The gunman who killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio, showed an ex-girlfriend a video of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting on their first date. A woman who briefly dated Connor Betts, 24, earlier this year wrote about his troubling behavior in an essay posted Tuesday on Medium. Betts opened fire outside a bar early Sunday, killing his sister and eight others before being shot dead by police. Adelia Johnson wrote that the pair had bonded over mental health problems after meeting in a college course in January. Betts said that he suffered f... Full story
