Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — On Jan. 7 after midnight, the 118th Congress was finally sworn in with the election of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to the House speakership. Democrats had managed to gain one Senate seat in November’s midterms, breaking the 50:50 tie in the upper chamber that required Vice President Kamala Harris to break tied votes. For some anti-Israel Democratic lawmakers, the future is uncertain. A House minority leader During the midterm elections, Republicans recaptured the House by a narrow margin. Democrats nominated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N...
(JNS) - The Israel education organization StandWithUs has filed a complaint against George Washington University with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, alleging a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The complaint alleges "a pervasive, hostile, and discriminatory environment for Jewish and Israeli students within the Professional Psychology Program" at the university in the U.S. capital, the NGO announced on Thursday. The complaint says Prof. Lara Shee...
(JNS) — Holocaust denier and white supremacist Nick Fuentes announced Monday on his telegram channel that more than 1,000 students have signed up for a group dubbed “Students for Ye” within two weeks. Fuentes asserted that his efforts on behalf of the embattled hip hop mogul Ye (formerly Kanye West) were “all in service to Christ” and begged for others to “PUSH TO 2,000 WITH US.” The antisemitic activist described these initial followers as “the first believers in our grassroots movement to support a potential YE24 campaign.” To grow his movem...
(JTA) — George Santos’ first Chanukah party with the Republican Jewish Coalition was his last. The group said it will not host Santos at any future events after the congressman-elect lied to RJC officials and to the public about being Jewish and the descendant of people who escaped the Holocaust. Santos participated in an event with the group on the first night of Chanukah, Dec. 18, where he was feted as one of two incoming Jewish Republicans in Congress; he had been elected in New York’s 3rd Congressional District. The next day, the New York...
(JNS) — The U.S. State Department’s point woman on Jew-hatred says there’s a key element to antisemitism differing it from other types of hate. It’s the conspiracy theory. “You can’t really grasp what antisemitism is, even if you care tremendously about it,” unless you understand the element that makes Jew-hatred unique, Deborah Lipstadt, the State Department special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, said in a pre-Shabbat briefing on Friday. “If it’s someone you loathe, you just want to keep them down and keep them out of your life...
(JTA) — In its closing session, Ohio’s legislature passed a law imposing penalties of up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine for “zoom-bombing” religious services, a practice that antisemites have used to intimidate Jews. The law, “Increasing Penalties for Disturbing a Religious Service,” passed last week unanimously in the state Senate. It had previously passed in the state House, 95-1. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sought the law after discovering that disrupting a religious service was only considered a “class four misdemeanor,...
(JNS) - The Dec. 18 New York Times crossword puzzle, published on the eve of Chanukah, disturbed readers and elicited online backlash with a design resembling a swastika. Conservative talk radio host Mark Levin tweeted, "Meanwhile, on the first night of Chanukah the anti-Israel New York Slimes issues a crossword puzzle that looks like a swastika. Of course, when pointed out, they claimed it was a coincidence. What a sick and sad history." Brooke Goldstein, the founder of End Jew Hatred and...
(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — The functional headquarters and nerve center of the nation’s most prolific antisemitic propaganda group have moved from California’s Bay Area to Florida. Jon Minadeo Jr., the leader of Goyim TV, announced the move in videos and social media posts this week, explaining that he had grown increasingly isolated in his hometown of Petaluma and saw Florida as fertile ground for the hate group’s activities. The announcement came in a dramatic, Hollywood-style movie trailer replete with drone shots...
(New York Jewish Week) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a new “hate and bias prevention unit” to combat antisemitism and other forms of hate. The unit will include public education and outreach efforts, a “rapid response team” to assist communities affected by a bias or hate incident, and regional councils where community members can share concerns, host events and conduct training, among other functions. Hochul’s announcement came during a 90-minute conference held by the Orthodox Union at Manhattan’s Lincoln Square Synagogue to discuss...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — An array of Jewish groups, including the activist arm of the Reform movement, blasted the likely incoming Republican House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, for pledging to remove Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee over past comments he has called antisemitic. The tone of the statement released Monday was unusually combative for Jewish nonprofits, insinuating that McCarthy came closer to to expressing antisemitism than Omar did. McCarthy, a California Republican whose party won a bare majority in U...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Top Biden administration officials launched a roundtable on antisemitism on Wednesday by describing a “rising tide of antisemitism” and likening the atmosphere in the United States to that of Europe, where Jewish worship is held under lock and key. “Right now, there is an epidemic of hate facing our country,” said Douglas Emhoff, the Jewish second gentleman, who convened and chaired the 90-minute session. Jewish officials represented at the meeting were impressed by how comprehensive the meeting was, saying it went beyond th...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Lee Zeldin, the Republican Jewish congressman who mounted a stronger-than-expected but failed bid to be New York’s governor, says he has decided not to run to be the chairman of the Republican National Committee. But in a sign that he expects to have continued influence despite exiting Congress, Zeldin, who has been the top-ranked Jewish Republican in the country, this week joined the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition. That means he will play a key role in animating political giving by Republican Jews at a time whe...
(JNS) — Conservative American commentator Ben Shapiro on Sunday tacitly condemned U.S. President Donald Trump for hosting a dinner last week attended by Ye and Holocaust denier and white supremacist Nick Fuentes, sparking a Twitter war-of-words with the artist formerly known as Kanye West. “A good way not to accidentally dine with a vile racist and anti-Semite you don’t know is not to dine with a vile racist and anti-Semite you do know,” tweeted Shapiro. He was referring to Trump’s claim that he had not known anything about Fuentes, whom Ye h...
LAS VEGAS (JTA) - For Republican Jews looking for an alternative to Donald Trump in 2024's presidential race, Ted Cruz presented a tantalizing choice on Saturday - at least for a few minutes. "When I arrived in the Senate 10 years ago, I set a goal to be the leading defender of Israel in the United States," the Texas senator said during his chance to address the Republican Jewish Coalition conference last weekend. The crowd packed into a ballroom deep in the gold lame reaches of the Venetian...
LAS VEGAS (JTA) — Kevin McCarthy, the likely next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said he would remove Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota Democrat, from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in part because of her criticism of Israel. He also hinted that her personal criticism of him last year was a factor. McCarthy, a California Republican whose party just won a narrow majority in the House, was speaking Saturday to the annual Republican Jewish Coalition conference in Las Vegas. “I remember what she said about me,” he said. “I remembe...
(JNS) — Bipartisan members of the Senate’s Black-Jewish Caucus on Thursday introduced a historic resolution recognizing the contributions of the Israeli-American community in the U.S. The measure, which was introduced by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), is the first resolution focused on Israeli-Americans. It stated that the values of the more than 800,000-strong Israeli-American community contribute significantly “to the welfare and diversity of the United States” and help strengthen the bonds between the U.S. and Israel....
When NBA players union president CJ McCollum criticized Kyrie Irving for linking to an antisemitic movie on Twitter last month, he seemed to confirm what many had already guessed. "I don't think he understood the magnitude of the movie," McCollum said, "because he didn't watch it." Irving, who hasn't played since he was suspended Nov. 4, may not have watched the three-and-a-half-hour "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America," but I did, both to see for myself what was in it and to see if it we...
(New York Jewish Week) — A tip from a Jewish security organization helped lead to the arrest of two suspects Saturday in connection with online threats to attack a New York City synagogue. The Community Security Initiative, a group created by UJA-Federation of New York and its affiliated Jewish Community Relations Council, discovered threatening tweets on Friday morning and brought the information to law enforcement, according to a UJA spokesperson. In a news conference at City Hall on Monday, UJA CEO Eric Goldstein said that after they shared...
WALTHAM, Massachusetts (JTA) — The days before Thanksgiving break were supposed to be packed at Brandeis University’s Hillel: There was a talk on Sunday about sexuality in Judaism, a ceremony for students who participated in a study program and a forum for candidates running to help lead the campus Jewish center. Instead, Hillel canceled everything and instead threw open its doors for students and faculty in need of comfort and support after one of their classmates was killed and dozens more injured in an accident involving a shuttle bus man...
(JTA) – The foundation overseeing the rebuilding plans for the site of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh has selected its first director, and her aims are nothing less than the total end of antisemitism. Carole Zawatsky, a longtime veteran in Jewish nonprofit leadership, was announced as the first new Tree of Life CEO Tuesday. Her appointment came as the nonprofit, which includes a planned memorial, museum and education center, revealed its grand plans for what its leadership hop...
(JNS) — Two of the most powerful members of the House of Representatives announced on Thursday that they would not seek positions in leadership during the next Congress. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), 82, the first woman speaker of the House in U.S. history, made the announcement on the House floor, stating that she would not seek reelection to the Democratic party’s leadership in the next Congress, even though she plans to continue serving. The decision was made as the House will flip into the control of Republicans in January. Pelosi cli...
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) blasted the White House Tuesday for authorizing the FBI to investigate the shooting death of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during a clash of Israeli soldiers with Palestinian terrorists in Jenin in May. “Joe Biden and his administration view Israel and Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu as political enemies, and so they are responding to them the way they respond to all their political enemies: by unleashing the FBI,” the Texan Republican said in a statement. “This outrage underscores how corrupt and blata...
(JTA) — The Orthodox Union has endorsed federal legislation that would enshrine the right to same-sex marriage, marking a reversal of its previous positions. When more than 100 Jewish groups endorsed the Respect for Marriage Act this summer, the OU, an umbrella group representing Modern Orthodox synagogues, was not among them. The group had previously sat on the sidelines as well when the U.S. Supreme Court weighed Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015, in which the court ruled that same-sex marriage was protected under the Constitution. But things c...
(JNS) — Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced his intention to run for president in 2024, vowing to renew American exceptionalism if he is once again elected to the White House. “In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump told a crowd of supporters gathered at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “Two years ago, we were a great nation, and soon we will be a great nation again,” he said, adding, “This is not just a campaign, this is a quest to...
(JTA) — Five days after Nancy Pelosi made history in 2007 as the first woman elected to be speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, she held an event at her alma mater, the private Roman Catholic university, Trinity Washington. She asked a rabbi, the Reform movement’s David Saperstein, to headline the event because she saw the movement as taking the lead on a crisis that deeply concerned her, in Darfur. “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor,” Saperstein said, quoting Leviticus. Pelosi was so pleased with Saperstein’s remarks t...
