Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1190 - 1214 of 1886
(JNS)—For the sixth time since November, anti-Semitic fliers appeared around the University of Montana campus in Missoula, including four times in February. Discovered on Monday, the latest fliers included an image of a disfigured military member with a quotation from the late former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Ovida Yosef that said, “Goyim were born only to serve us.” “There is a line that can be crossed, but as for putting out literature that is hateful or untrue, people get to do that because of the free speech amendment,” David Cox... Full story
(JTA)—Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan blamed “the wicked Jews” for the crisis over anti-Semitism and the Women’s March. “The most beautiful sight that I could lay eyes on [was] when I saw, the day after Trump was elected, women from all over the world were standing in solidarity, and a black woman is the initiator of it,” said Farrakhan, referring to Tamika Mallory, a leader of the Women’s March who has lionized Farrakhan and refused to condemn his pervasive anti-Semitism. “The wicked Jews want to use me to break up the women’s movement,... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-An increase in anti-Semitism, an intensification of anti-Israel activity and decades of neglect have created a crisis in the Jewish community relations field, according to the umbrella group for Jewish public policy organizations, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. In reports published this week at its annual Washington meeting, the group urged a radical shift among its constituent Jewish community relations councils, which advocate for Jewish issues on behalf of the Jewish... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—President Donald Trump called on Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., to resign from Congress for what he said was her anti-Semitism. “It’s terrible what she said and I think she should either resign from Congress, or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “What she said is so deep-seated in her heart that her lame apology, and that’s what it was, it was lame and she didn’t mean a word of it, was just not appropriate. I think she should resign from Congress.” Om... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—AIPAC sounded relieved by the substantive Democratic backing in the Senate this week for a controversial pro-Israel bill initiated by Republicans. The Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act (S.1), which the American Israel Public Affairs Committee said “contains critical pro-Israel provisions,” passed 77-23, earning yeas from every Republican but one, Rand Paul of Kentucky. It codifies $38 billion in defense assistance to Israel and provides legal cover to states that target the boycott Israel movemen... Full story
(JNS)—In response to U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s latest anti-Semitic tweets, some groups have already called for official action against her by the U.S. House of Representatives, similar to that against Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) over his remarks on white nationalism. On Sunday, Omar accused the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the largest pro-Israel lobbying organization, of paying members of Congress to back Israel. “Anti-Semitism in any form is unacceptable, and it’s shocking to hear a Member of Congress invoke the anti-Semitic trope o... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The U.S. Senate approved in a 77-23 vote a bill that codifies $38 billion in defense assistance to Israel and which provides legal cover to states that target the boycott Israel movement. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., had stirred controversy because a number of Democratic senators said that while they oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel, they were also concerned that state laws aimed at BDS impinged on speech freedoms. Among the Democratic d... Full story
(JNS)-After a 21-month-long vacancy awaiting the appointment of the U.S. State Department's Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, the Trump administration has picked Iraq War veteran and attorney Elan Carr to fill the position. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the announcement, and with it said that "promoting human rights and religious freedom, including by combating anti-Semitism everywhere it exists, is a U.S. foreign policy priority that furthers our national interests... Full story
(JNS)—Over the past decade, the Boston suburb of Newton has been beset by controversy over how the conflict in the Middle East is being taught in its public schools. The concern over anti-Israel bias in the school system began in 2011, when a Newton resident complained to school officials regarding the use of a supplemental text called The Arab World Studies Notebook, which contained “false and defamatory” anti-Israel sentiment. While the school board eventually removed the textbook, accusations and further evidence of anti-Israel bias withi... Full story
(JNS)-The decision last week by the Boston Jewish Community Relations Council to pass a resolution declaring that any member organization supporting the BDS movement could be expelled from the council has generated a wider discussion among Jewish leaders as to where to draw red lines when it comes to Israel. The resolution-adopted overwhelmingly by a vote of 62-13 with eight abstentions-resolves that no member of the JCRC "shall partner with-in particular by co-sponsoring events primarily led... Full story
(JNS)—The University of Vermont chapters of J Street U and Students for Justice in Palestine launched a simultaneous attack on the pro-Israel community at the school last week. On Friday, the two groups released corresponding letters blasting the Hillel on campus for accepting funding from the pro-Israel group Maccabee Task Force, which will use some of the monies to organize a trip to Israel for students. In their letters, which closely followed the same message, SJP slammed the UVM pro-Israel community for “a refusal to listen to Pal... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)—When New York State liberalized its abortion law last week, the Catholic Church and Southern Baptist Convention unsurprisingly released statements slamming the action. And they were joined by two large Orthodox Jewish religious organizations: the Rabbinical Council of America and Agudath Israel of America. The RCA is the umbrella group for centrist Orthodox rabbis. Agudah represents haredi Orthodox Jews. “Jewish law opposes abortion, except in cases of danger to the mother,” read the RCA statement issued Tuesday. “Most authori... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—President Donald Trump linked his actions on Iran to the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, pivoting during his State of the Union address from his decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal to a declaration that anti-Semitism must be confronted “anywhere and everywhere it occurs.” Trump also bookended his speech with references to D-Day, including salutes to troops, among them Jewish-American veterans, who helped liberate Europe, and Holocaust survivors who were liberated thanks to the American-led action. The salutes earne... Full story
(JTA)-Wide receiver Julian Edelman was named Most Valuable Player as the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. The Patriots' Jewish owner, Robert Kraft, also earned a kiss on the lips from quarterback Tom Brady as their team celebrated its 13-3 victory-New England's sixth Super Bowl triumph. After the game, an interviewer asked Edelman how he felt about earning the MVP award. "It sounds crazy, it sounds crazy. 2018. L'Chaim!" he said. Edelman provided... Full story
The Center for Israel Education and Emory's Institute for the Study of Modern Israel will hold the 18th annual CIE/ISMI Educator Enrichment Workshop on Modern Israel from June 23 to 27 in Atlanta. The highly acclaimed workshop, underwritten by the AVI CHAI Foundation, will bring together dozens of educators to deepen their understanding of Israel's history, politics, economy and culture and enhance their classroom skills. Special emphasis will be placed on sharing best practices for engaging... Full story
(JTA)-For most of her adult life, Rachel Riley was only vaguely aware of her Jewish ancestry. A moderately famous daytime game show television host, Riley, 33, is one of countless unaffiliated Jews in the United Kingdom-a country with 250,000 Jewish citizens and where synagogue attendance is at a historic low. "When I was a kid my mum would give us pepperoni pizza," she told The Times of London in an interview published Saturday, pointing out that she didn't keep kosher. On Chanukah, she added,... Full story
(JNS)—Despite anti-Semitic and anti-Israel rhetoric that includes support for the BDS movement from freshmen Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), House Democratic leadership has come to their defense. “Clearly, I condemn anti-Semitism,” said House Majority leader Steny Hoyer on Tuesday. “I don’t know that I draw the conclusion, however, that those attacking those two members are correct that they are anti-Semitic. I don’t accept that premise.” Unlike Hoyer, House Democratic Caucus chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) side... Full story
(JNS)—It didn’t take long for Jewish and Israel-related groups to react to the appointment of anti-Israel Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Along with several other new members of Congress, Omar has gained considerable attention as part of a new generation of leadership. Yet the Jewish community has grown concerned over her stances, particularly on Israel. Omar has tweeted that “Israel has hypnotized the world,” and has posted that Israel is an “aparth... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)-A decade ago, the publisher of the Jewish Daily Forward asked his board to believe in miracles. "We are supposed to believe in miracles; we are forbidden to rely on them, " Sam Norich wrote in an email to the board of the Forward Association on Dec. 25, 2008. "That means that miracles only happen if we do our part to help them along." And according to the attached minutes of a November 2008 board meeting, the venerable Jewish newspaper could have used a little divine intervention... Full story
(JTA)—Linda Sarsour defended the legality of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel during her speech on stage in Washington D.C. at the third Women’s March. Her critique of anti-BDS laws came hours after rejecting the anti-Semitic statements of Louis Farrakhan. Sarsour, a leader of the Women’s March movement, called herself “a proud Palestinian-American woman” and said that “there are no perfect leaders” in her remarks in Saturday. She said that “the media can talk about any controversy they want”—a reference to claims o... Full story
(JTA)-Only days after being sworn into the Illinois House of Representatives on Sunday, Rabbi Yehiel Kalish paid a visit to Israel. The father of six said he needed guidance from rabbis in the Jewish state to serve in his new role. "The immediate reaction of the Chicago political world was 'Orthodox rabbi chosen for seat in state legislature,'" he told JTA on Wednesday in a phone interview from Jerusalem. "So that immediately put a microscope on me, and I felt pressure taking the position to... Full story
(JNS)-U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to become attorney general has elicited mixed reviews from Jewish groups. William Barr, who served in the same role under the late President George H.W. Bush, is scheduled to face the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and Wednesday. "We endorse his nomination for attorney general. We know that he has exhibited sensitivity to protecting religious rights in the workplace," National Council of Young Israel president Farley Weiss told JNS. "He is clearly... Full story
(JTA)—The Southern Poverty Law Center and a major Reform synagogue in New York have disassociated themselves from this year’s Women’s March. Top leaders of the main organization have been accused of engaging in or condoning anti-Semitism, of not cutting ties with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and of failing to heed the concerns of its thousands of Jewish backers. Jen Fuson, a spokeswoman for the Alabama-based SPLC, told the Daily Beast that “other projects were a priority.” She said the organization would be involved in local mar... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Kamala Harris, the junior senator from California, is reportedly set to announce her bid for the Democratic presidential nod. Harris, 54, is a progressive on most issues who draws some ire from the left for her tough-on-crime posture when she was California's attorney general. She pleased Democratic hearts, meanwhile, with her tough treatment of President Donald Trump's second Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, during his Senate confirmation last year. The daughter of a... Full story
(JNS)-Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) met with Abbas Hamideh, a Palestinian activist who has said that Israel is a "terrorist entity," over the weekend. "I was honored to be at Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib swearing in ceremony in #Detroit and private dinner afterward with the entire family, friends and activists across the country. #Palestine #TweetYourThobe #RashidaTlaib," Hamideh tweeted. Hamideh, executive director of the U.S.-based Palestine Right to Return Coalition, has equated Zionis... Full story
