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  • Sunrise NYC rejects decision

    Julia Gergely|Nov 5, 2021

    (New York Jewish Week via JTA) — Sunrise NYC, the local chapter of a national youth environmental group, rejected a decision by the Washington, D.C. chapter to shun cooperation with “Zionist” groups. “Sunrise NYC rejects antisemitism in all its forms, and condemns the choices made by the DC hub,” Sunrise NYC tweeted Friday, aligning itself with a statement made by the national organization. “We stand with our Jewish members and the Jewish community against prejudice, and we will continue to stand arm in arm together during this urgent mome...

  • Protesters posed as neo-Nazis to target the GOP nominee in Virginia's governor race

    Shira Hanau|Nov 5, 2021

    (JTA) - Demonstrators posed as the antisemitic white supremacists who led a deadly rally in Virginia in 2017 in a stunt protest against the state's Republican candidate for governor, a sign of the increasing role charges of antisemitism are playing in the close race. The protest Friday against Glenn Youngkin, who is running for governor against former governor Terry McAuliffe, was organized by the Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump Republicans. Youngkin and other Republicans condemned the...

  • UMass must act against harassment of 'Zionist' journalist

    Sean Savage|Nov 5, 2021

    (JNS) — A Jewish civil-rights group is calling on the University of Massachusetts Boston to investigate an incident that occurred this summer, where pro-Palestinian activists targeted and accosted a journalist over his views on Israel. The event took place on June 24 in front of the Anti-Defamation League’s New England Regional Office in Boston. Dexter Van Zile, a journalist with the watchdog group CAMERA, was “accosted, spat at, shoved, and called a Nazi and a pig solely based on his perceived identity as a Zionist,” by members of the UMass B...

  • Antisemitism fears caused 4 in 10 American Jews to change their behavior last year, survey finds

    Philissa Cramer|Nov 5, 2021

    (JTA) — Fear of antisemitism spurred 40 percent of American Jews to change their behavior over the past year, according to a new survey about antisemitism in America. The survey, released Monday, is the latest in an annual series commissioned by the American Jewish Committee to understand how Jewish Americans and the general public experience and perceive antisemitism. A survey of American Jews found that over the last year, 17 percent said they “avoided certain places, events, or situations,” 22 percent avoided making themselves visua...

  • Environmental group quits democracy rally because 'Zionist' groups are present

    Ron Kampeas|Oct 29, 2021

    WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Washington D.C. branch of a national climate action group turned down a role at a voting rights rally because a “number of Zionist organizations” will be taking part. “Given our commitment to racial justice, self-governance and indigenous sovereignty, we oppose Zionism and any state that enforces its ideology,” Sunrise DC said in a statement it posted Tuesday on Twitter. The group named the National Council of Jewish Women, the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs as...

  • Summit for student leaders aims to promote more unity between Black, Jewish communities

    Shiryn Ghermezian|Oct 29, 2021

    (JNS) — The pro-Israel student group Maccabee Task Force organized its first three-day conference to help strengthen the relationship between Black and Jewish communities. Roughly 100 people from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) attended the Black Student Leaders Summit, which was held from Oct. 1-3 in Atlanta, where many of the student leaders were based. The goal of the summit was to help re-establish an alliance that has increasingly split in the last decade as a result of politics and various social movements in the U...

  • NYC Council Jefferson statue was a gift from a Jewish military officer

    Shira Hanau|Oct 29, 2021

    (JTA) — The statue of Thomas Jefferson that will be removed from the chambers of the New York City Council at the urging of Black lawmakers was a gift in 1834 from one of the first Jewish officers in the U.S. military. The city’s Public Design Commission decided to remove the statue following complaints from Assemblymen Charles Barron, Councilwoman Inez Barron and others that Jefferson was a slaveholder. The statue, which has stood in the city council’s chambers for over a century, was commissioned by Uriah Phillips Levy, a lifelong fan of Je...

  • Rabbis arrested demanding climate action by Wall Street giant's Jewish CEO

    Julia Gergely|Oct 29, 2021

    NEW YORK (JTA) — Three rabbis and six Jewish teenagers were among those arrested Monday at a climate protest at the Manhattan headquarters of BlackRock, the largest investment management company in New York. The demonstration, organized by the Jewish Youth Climate Movement with support from the interfaith organization GreenFaith, demanded the firm stop its investments in and cut ties with companies that fund the fossil fuel industry, which include Enbridge, Inc., Formosa Plastics and Shell. Rabbis Rachel Timoner and Stephanie Kolin of Congregat...

  • Texas Jewish death row inmate who argued judge was antisemitic wins new trial

    Shira Hanau|Oct 29, 2021

    (JTA) — A Jewish man who asked for a new trial on the grounds that the judge who sentenced him to death was antisemitic will be granted a new trial. Randy Halprin, 44, was originally set to be executed on Oct. 10, 2019 but won a stay from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals after he alleged that the judge who presided over his 2003 murder trial was biased against Jews and referred to him using antisemitic slurs, including “f—in’ Jew” and “k-ke.” The stay sent Halprin’s case back to Dallas County, where Judge Lela Lawrence Mays heard Halprin’s...

  • Alabama Cherokee tribe establishes ties with Israel

    Larry Brook|Oct 22, 2021

    (Israel InSight via JNS) - The Northeast Alabama Cherokee held a ceremony on Sept. 25 in Guntersville, Ala., to establish a relationship with Israel. There, the tribe presented a resolution, unanimously passed by the Tribal Council, recognizing the "sovereign Jewish nation" of Israel, with Jerusalem as its "eternal undivided capital." "We vow our full support in the pursuit of the peace of Jerusalem and the Nation of Israel by whichever means may be necessary," it said. The event, centered...

  • Texas official to teachers: State law requires teaching 'opposing' views on the Holocaust

    Philissa Cramer|Oct 22, 2021

    By (JTA) — Teachers in a Texas school district were told last week that a new state law requiring them to present multiple perspectives about “widely debated and currently controversial” issues meant they needed to make “opposing” views on the Holocaust available to students. NBC News obtained an audio recording of the official, the Carroll Independent School District’s executive director of curriculum and instruction, speaking to the teachers about how to work under the constraints of the new law, known as House Bill 3979. The law was passed...

  • California's ethnic studies requirement is signed into law

    Shira Hanau|Oct 22, 2021

    (JTA) — After months of controversy and tens of thousands of public comments, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed off on legislation that eventually will require students to pass at least one course in ethnic studies in order to graduate from California high schools. Under the law, schools will have to offer at least one class in ethnic studies by 2025, and the graduation requirement will go into effect in 2029. Newsom’s signature on Friday caps an extended debate over the legislation, which was accompanied by a recommended curriculum tha...

  • Federations emphasize Jewish security, physically and identifiably, at virtual GA

    Dmitriy Shapiro|Oct 15, 2021

    (JNS) — For the second year in a row, the Jewish Federations of North America decided to go virtual, condensing its traditional multiple-day General Assembly into a 90-minute online video stream on Sunday due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The conference highlighted the fact that despite an unusual year-and-a-half, JFNA has had more to do than ever in the midst of the COVID crisis and a worldwide rise in anti-Semitism. Multiple speakers noted the goal of strengthening Jewish communities, both in identity and physical security. Despite t...

  • Federations spend $54M on security

    Ron Kampeas|Oct 15, 2021

    WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Jewish Federations of North America is launching a campaign to expand its security program to every federation in the country, an initiative that will cost $54 million. JFNA CEO Eric Fingerhut announced the initiative on Monday at the organization’s General Assembly in Washington. The new funding, to be raised over three years, will assist the 101 communities that have faced fundraising obstacles in establishing the security points in their communities so they too can join LiveSecure, a program launched after a spate of...

  • Ohio Jewish teen gets beer bottle thrown at her, is target of antisemitic rhetoric

    Jake Kaufman|Oct 15, 2021

    (Cleveland Jewish News via JNS) — Someone in a vehicle reportedly threw a beer bottle at a 13-year-old Fuchs Mizrachi School student in an Orthodox neighborhood in University Heights, Ohio, and screamed, “F******g Jews, you’re f*****g idiots, Jews,” and then drove away. Naava Prero had just gotten off a public school bus at the corner of Milton and Groveland roads at about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday when the reported incident took place. As the bus pulled away, another vehicle pulled up to the girl, her mother, Rachel Prero, told the Clevela...

  • Online portal for students to report antisemitic incidents

    Oct 15, 2021

    (JNS) — Hillel International has teamed up with the Anti-Defamation League and the Secure Community Network to launch an online portal where college students can report anti-Semitic incidents on their campus and receive immediate support. The creation of ReportCampusHate.org is in response to the growing threats of anti-Semitism on college campuses. Hillel International recorded 244 anti-Semitic incidents on college and university campuses last year, up from 181 the year before. It also comes after a recent survey found that 74 percent of c...

  • Rand Paul obstructs quick vote on Iron Dome funding

    Ron Kampeas|Oct 15, 2021

    WASHINGTON (JTA) — Republican Sen. Rand Paul blocked an expedited vote to approve $1 billion in funding to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system and received swift criticism from an array of pro-Israel groups. Sen. Robert Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, launched a bid Monday to pass the bill by unanimous consent, a procedure that accelerates passage by minimizing debate. Paul objected, saying he wanted the funding to come out of money earmarked to assist Afghanistan as it recovers from yea...

  • After tweaking rituals during the pandemic, a Jewish burial society in Pittsburgh has made amends

    Adam Reinherz|Oct 15, 2021

    PITTSBURGH (Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle via JTA) - Tahara, the act of washing and purifying the deceased, is paramount to Jewish burial. So when the pandemic descended on the United States in March 2020, members of a Pittsburgh-based Jewish burial society devoted to the practice made a difficult decision. Given fears of COVID-19 transmission, members of the New Community Chevra Kadisha stopped traveling to funeral homes and performing the sacred act of tahara in person. Instead of physically...

  • These Jewish NYC schoolteachers want a religious exemption from the city's vaccine mandate

    Philissa Cramer|Oct 15, 2021

    (JTA) — When Rivka Taub Rivera decided to apply for a religious exemption to New York City’s vaccine mandate for teachers, she didn’t turn to the rabbis of Borough Park, the Orthodox neighborhood in Brooklyn where she lives. Instead, she asked Michoel Green, a Chabad rabbi who has openly opposed vaccination, to submit the required letter from a clergy member. Based in Massachusetts, Green was disaffiliated by a Chabad organization because of his anti-vaccination social media posts and has become a folk hero for some Orthodox Jews who oppos...

  • For NBA's Deni Avdija, year two means easing back from injuries and into game mode

    Howard Blas|Oct 15, 2021

    (JNS) Basketball player Deni Avdija was the talk of the town in Israeli and Jewish circles last season. The 19-year-old Israeli was drafted No. 9 in the first round of the NBA draft by the Washington Wizards and was off to a fairly impressive start until he fractured his right ankle on April 21 during a game against the Golden State Warriors. Avdija, now 20, has been recovering and rehabilitating, and is cleared to return for his second year in the NBA. He will play on the same Wizards team,...

  • SCN tracks threats to Jews

    Faygie Holt|Oct 8, 2021

    (JNS) - A state-of-the-art security command center was unveiled this week by the Secure Community Network to ensure that the Jewish community is prepared in the event of any violence or threats. Dubbed the National Jewish Security Operations Command Center, JSOCC, was built with funding by private donors and gives the SCN - the security arm of the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations - a high-tech, centralized location where...

  • Kamala Harris 'strongly disagrees' with student who said Israel was carrying out ethnic genocide

    Ron Kampeas|Oct 8, 2021

    WASHINGTON (JTA) - Vice President Kamala Harris "strongly disagrees" with a university student who told her that Israel was carrying out "ethnic genocide," her office said, pushing back against claims that she encouraged the student's view. "Throughout her career, the vice president has been unwavering in her commitment to Israel and to Israel's security," Harris's spokeswoman, Symone Sanders, said Friday in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. "While visiting George Mason University...

  • GOP flier in Virginia House race shows Jewish Democrat and a pile of gold coins

    Ron Kampeas|Oct 8, 2021

    WASHINGTON (JTA) — A GOP flier distributed to homes in the Virginia suburbs of Washington depicts the Jewish Democratic candidate for the House of Delegates at a table stacked high with gold coins, a pairing of images of Jewish candidates with money that has proliferated in political attack ads in recent years. “Dan Helmer has raised Virginia’s cost of living to new heights,” the mailer said. It was distributed this week by Helmer’s Republican challenger, Howard Pyon. Helmer, the incumbent in the House of Delegate’s 40th District, which cover...

  • Ocasio-Cortez: 'Yes, I wept'

    Ron Kampeas|Oct 8, 2021

    WASHINGTON (JTA) — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive congresswoman from New York, said she changed her vote from “no” to “present” on a bill for special funding for Israel’s anti-missile Iron Dome defense system because of the “panic and horror” that seized the moment. Ocasio-Cortez could be seen weeping on the floor of Congress Thursday after casting her vote. She was one of 11 representatives, including the other members of “the Squad” of progressives, who did not vote to support the $1 billion in Iron Dome funding; 420 representative...

  • Seattle City Council won't bar police from training with Israeli forces

    Ben Sales|Oct 8, 2021

    (JTA) — In a contentious meeting last week, the Seattle City Council narrowly voted down legislation that would have prohibited the city’s police department from conducting training with Israeli forces. The bill, which was defeated by a vote of 5-4 at the council’s meeting on Sept. 20, was conceived following the May conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Its lead sponsor was a socialist council member, Kshama Sawant, who also led a protest in June seeking to block an Israeli cargo ship from docking at Seattle’s port. The defeat of the bil...

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