Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS)-The controversial Canary Mission-an anonymous campus watchdog group that exposes organizations, academics and activists that demonize Israel on college campuses-recently came under fire when the San Francisco Jewish Federation indicated that it would no longer facilitate private-donor funding of the group. Articles in The Forward blasted the organization as "shadowy" for refusing to identify its leadership and sources of funding. Yet for pro-Israel student activists who are actively...
PITTSBURGH (JTA)-In the middle of the day on Tuesday, above a growing pile of wilting flower bouquets and sympathy cards, five wooden, five-pointed stars hung on a signpost in front of Tree of Life Congregation, where 11 Jews were gunned down three days before. Similar stars hang around the world at sites of other mass shootings known now by the shorthand of the cities where they took place: San Bernardino. Orlando. Newtown. Parkland. Now they hang here, brightly colored and carrying messages...
(JNS)-Despite mixed reactions, U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon in the aftermath of a gunman killing 11 people and injuring six others at the Tree of Life*Or L'Simcha Synagogue. The visit comes as the community buried the first of the victims on Tuesday. The president was accompanied by his wife, Melania; chief of staff John Kelly; press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders; and White House deputy chief of staff for communications Bi...
(JTA)-The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the largest newspaper serving the Pennsylvania city's metropolitan area, printed a part of the Jewish mourner's prayer in Hebrew as its front-page headline. The first four words of the Mourner's Kaddish were printed on Friday's front page as a tribute to the 11 people killed last weekend in a shooting attack at the city's Tree of Life synagogue, allegedly by a far-right extremist. The words mean "may His great name be exalted and sanctified." The same prayer,...
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (JTA)—On Saturday, the front line in the struggle to save and perpetuate Judaism ran through Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I know a little something about that front line. Born in Pittsburgh, raised in her suburbs, an adult living on the North Side and East End of the city, I am—with apologies to my new hometown in this city—a Pittsburgher until I die. As the editor of The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh for 13 years, ground zero for my coverage was Squirrel Hill, the Pittsburgh neighborhood where Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha synagog...
On Wednesday, the National Council of Young Israel addressed criticism of President Donald Trump following a synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh that represents the worst attack on Jews in the U.S. in the nation's history. NCYI counts 25,000 families among its members at 135 branch synagogues across the globe, in the United States, Israel, and Canada. "We were horrified to hear the news about the anti-Semitic murderous rampage against Jews praying at Congregation Etz Chaim in Pittsburgh," said NCYI...
(JNS)—In the aftermath of Saturday’s shooting at the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue in Pittsburgh, where 11 Jewish worshippers were shot dead and six others injured by a lone gunman, have come calls for increased security at Jewish institutions across the United States. Although this funding cannot be used for armed security, synagogues and other Jewish places have relied on a Department of Homeland Security grant to protect themselves. “The primary purpose of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program is to provide funding support for target...
(JTA)—Robert Bowers, the man held in the shooting deaths of 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday, belonged to an online community where he frequently railed against Jews and immigrants. That social media site, Gab, has come under closer scrutiny this week. Created two years ago as a haven for far-rightists who felt they were being targeted on mainstream platforms, Gab quickly rose in popularity. But the site wasn’t just home to ideological discussions. Critics say threats of violence and virulent hatred are a common theme of tho...
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...
(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...
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...
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...
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...
(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...
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...
(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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
(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...
(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...
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...
(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...
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:...
