Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1297 - 1321 of 1920
Robert Gregory Bowers, opened fire with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons during worship services inside Tree of Life Synagogue on Saturday, killing eight men and three women before a tactical police team tracked him down and shot him, according to state and federal affidavits. He expressed hatred of Jews during the rampage and later told police that "all these Jews need to die," authorities said. Officials released the names of all 11 of the dead, all of them middle-aged or elderly. The victims... Full story
(JTA)-When a gunman entered The Tree of Life Congregation and killed 11 worshippers on Saturday, he also struck at the heart of Pittsburgh's Jewish community-the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill. Squirrel Hill, in the eastern part of Pittsburgh, has been the center of the city's Jewish life since the turn of the 20th century, when wealthy Jewish families began settling there. While the Jewish communities of other cities have moved neighborhoods or migrated to the suburbs in the ensuing... Full story
By Josefin Dolsten (JTA)—As news spread of the shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Jews—and Americans of all backgrounds—across the country were reeling from the shock. With 11 confirmed casualties, it is the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in U.S. history. The alleged gunman, a 46-year-old white male named Robert Bowers, shouted “All these Jews need to die,” according to reports. JTA took a look at other times that U.S. Jewish institutions were targeted and the attackers’ affiliations. 1999 Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shoo... Full story
By Ben Sales (JTA)—On Saturday, a gunman entered the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh and killed 11 people, wounding six others. It was the worst recorded anti-Semitic act in American history. Here’s how the tragedy happened. (This account has been reconstructed from JTA’s reporting, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The New York Times and the “Today” show. Some of the times are approximate.) Before the shooting Robert Bowers, the alleged gunman, is a truck driver from the Pittsburgh area who lives in a one-bedroom apartment about a half-ho... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Among the 36 Jewish Democrats running for the U.S. House of Representatives in November, 18 are incumbents and an equal number are challengers. Three Jewish Democrats are leaving the House: Sandy Levin of Michigan is retiring, Jacky Rosen of Nevada is running for the Senate and Jared Polis of Colorado is a candidate for governor. Additionally, two House candidates, both Democrats, have Jewish fathers and say that shaped their outlook, but they do not identify as Jewish. At... Full story
(JTA) - The shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue that has left 11 people dead has been described as "horrific," "heinous" and "devastating" by Jewish leaders, politicians and Israeli leaders. "Our hearts are broken," the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh posted on Facebook, saying it was making an exception and using social media on Shabbat. The federation's president, Jeff Finkelstein, in an interview on CNN praised the quick reaction of the police and local government and said of the... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-There are 15 Jewish Republican candidates running in U.S. House of Representatives races this fall. Two are incumbents and 13 are challengers. JTA is breaking down the races, assessing where the candidates stand on the political spectrum, noting their Jewish involvement and reporting what the forecasters say. Last week we covered the five Jewish Senate nominees, all Democrats. You can find a breakdown of the Jewish Democratic House candidates here. These are all of the Republica... Full story
(Israel21c)-Humanitarian organization IsraAID is sending volunteers to northwest Florida; teams already helping in North Carolina, Philippines and Indonesia. Israeli humanitarian NGO IsraAID is preparing to deploy an emergency response team to northwest Florida, which has suffered brutal devastation from Hurricane Michael since it made landfall on Wednesday. Several people have been killed and thousands evacuated from their homes as the category-four hurricane damaged and destroyed houses,... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Sen. Ted Cruz called J Street, the liberal Jewish Middle East policy group, “rabidly anti-Israel” in the Texas Republican’s debate with his Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke. “Congressman O’Rourke is fond of saying he doesn’t take PAC money, but the truth is different,” Cruz said Tuesday after O’Rourke accused the incumbent of accepting big money from political action committees. “For example, the J Street PAC, which is a rabidly anti-Israel PAC, has raised over $160,000 for Congressman O’Rourke because of h... Full story
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley talked about some of the behind-the-scenes dealings with her boss, President Donald Trump, as well as foreign envoys in a closed-door meeting of the politically conservative Council for National Policy, Harper’s Magazine reported. The diplomat revealed details about confrontations she had with some of America’s most notorious adversaries, including North Korea. To pass sanctions in the U.N. Security Council against that Communist state, Haley resorted to the “madman theory,” a political theory from th... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Chelsea Clinton called Louis Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism “dangerous” and said laughter in response to it “made my skin crawl.” Clinton, the daughter of former President Bill Clinton and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, was reacting on Twitter to a Farrakhan tweet in which the leader of the Nation of Islam said “I’m not an anti-Semite. I’m anti-termite.” “Comparing Jews to termites is anti-Semitic, wrong and dangerous,” Clinton tweeted Wednesday, quoting Farrakhan. Twitter, meantime, said it would not suspend... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-There are 56 candidates for Congress who identify as Jewish. Among them are 41 Democrats: five are running for the Senate-three incumbents and two challengers. Among the 36 in the U.S. House of Representatives, 18 are incumbents and 18 are challengers. (Three incumbent Jewish House Democrats are retiring.) The 15 Republican candidates are running for the House. There are two incumbents and 13 challengers. Additionally, two House candidates, both Democrats, have Jewish fathers... Full story
(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... Full story
(JNS)-A University of Michigan professor, citing his support for the BDS movement in denying a student's request in August for a letter of recommendation for a semester-long study-abroad program at Tel Aviv University, was sanctioned on Tuesday by the university. "As you may know, many university departments have pledged an academic boycott against Israel in support of Palestinians living in Palestine," John Cheney-Lippold, an associate professor in the American Culture department, wrote to... Full story
By Ben Sales NEW YORK (JTA)-The organizers of a rally to support pro-Israel students at Columbia University didn't want the Jewish Defense League to show up. And yet there they were, a few demonstrators wearing the extremist right-wing group's insignia, a clenched fist punching into a yellow Jewish star. The leader of the group's New York chapter, Karen Lichtbraun, marched up and down the small police barricade chatting up the other protesters. She said six of her members had come to... Full story
(JNS)-A Jewish Community Center in Fairfax, Va., was vandalized with 19 spray-painted swastikas early Saturday morning. Building staff noticed the building had been vandalized when they arrived to open the facility at 7 a.m. Security camera footage showed a suspect defacing the center at around 4:30 a.m, and local authorities released photos to the public. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine tweeted that an "insidious rise in hateful actions and anti-Semitism" must be met with "fierce condemnation and an... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)-Going to high school for the first time last month, Linda Shamah felt like many other incoming freshmen: really nervous and really excited. The large lecture-style classes seemed daunting. She'd be getting less personal attention from teachers. At the same time, she was looking forward to trying out for volleyball and participating in a program at the Fashion Institute of Technology. But for Shamah, the shift from middle school to high school came along with an added transition:... Full story
(JNS)-Tens of thousands of students returned to the Westwood campus of University of California, Los Angeles, on Sept. 27 for the first day of classes. However, third-year student Justin Feldman, 20, a political science and Middle Eastern studies double major, wasn't there. Instead, he spent the morning addressing the University of California Board of Regents during its board meeting's public comments section regarding the upcoming eighth annual National Students for Justice in Palestine... Full story
(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... Full story
HOLLYWOOD, FL.—The Israeli-American Council announced the opening of four new regional offices throughout the country: Orlando, Florida; Austin, Texas; Orange County, California, and IAC Midwest (based in Columbus, Ohio). Through its 20 chapters across the country, the organization is expecting to be operating in more than 60 communities in 2019. The rapid expansion of the IAC—which has emerged in recent years as one of America’s fastest growing Jewish organizations—comes ahead of the IAC’s Fifth Annual National Conference, to take place fro... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Two-thirds of Democrats in the Senate and a third of the entire body signed a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to reinstate assistance to the Palestinians, saying the cuts risk exacerbating tensions in the region. “Eliminating funds for programs that provide clean water, food, education, and medical services for Palestinians will exacerbate poverty, fuel extremism, further reduce the chance of a future peace agreement and threaten Israel’s security,” said the letter sent Friday and signed by 34 senators who caucus... Full story
(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... Full story
(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... Full story
(JNS)—Students for Justice in Palestine will host its annual national conference in November at the University of California, Los Angeles. Despite the notoriously anti-Semitic rhetoric used by this group, UCLA will be directly facilitating the spreading of SJP’s deplorable and racist ideologies by providing campus grounds for this national summit. There, students under the auspices of “social justice” will be trained how to promote false propaganda about the Arab-Israeli conflict via events and news articles; most importantly, they will be... Full story
SAN FRANCISCO (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA)-A Jewish inmate serving life in prison without parole took a step toward freedom Aug. 21 and credited the local Jewish newspaper for the turn of events. James A. White Jr., was sentenced in 1981 for the murder of his wife's ex-husband. Last week, California's Board of Parole Hearings unanimously voted to recommend commutation of his sentence after 37 years behind bars, in part because of the work he has done in establishing a comm... Full story
