Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — In 2021, a University of Michigan music professor showed a 1965 film adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Othello,” which featured a white actor in blackface, in class. The professor apologized and stepped down, yet a dean at the university stated that the experience “was hurtful and upsetting to the students in the class,” and the professor’s actions “do not align with our school’s commitment to anti-racist action, diversity, equity and inclusion.” When someone distributed racist fliers on the school’s Ann Arbor campus five years prior, the...
(JNS) — The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear a case involving religious accommodations in the workplace. An appeal in the case of Groff v. Dejoy was filed by Gerald Groff, an Evangelical postal worker who refused to work on Sundays, his sabbath, going so far as to offer to work make-up shifts and to transfer branches in order to maintain his day of rest. The Pennsylvania man says he was forced from his job in 2019 after the burden was placed on him by the U.S. Postal Service to regularly find replacements following the service’s agr...
(JNS) — George Washington University responded to the new antisemitism-related complaint against the university, which the Israel education organization StandWithUs filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. “The George Washington University strongly condemns antisemitism and hatred, discrimination and bias in all forms,” the university’s official Instagram account stated. The university further said it was “committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment where all feel safe and free of harassment,...
(JNS) - In a speech on border security and enforcement Thursday, President Joe Biden compared asylum seekers at America's southern border to Jews fleeing Nazi Germany. The remark came in response to a question about whether Biden viewed migration as a human right. "Well I think it is a human right if your family is being persecuted," Biden said. "I thought it was a human right for, you know, Jews in Germany to be able to go [...] escape and get help where they could." Vice President Kamala...
WASHINGTON (JTA) –Republican Party officials in Rep. George Santos’ Long Island district called on the serial fabricator to quit, citing among other lies his claims to Jewish and Holocaust heritage. The call Wednesday by officials of the Nassau County Republican party was significant because the Republican majority in the U.S. House of representatives is precarious — just five members — and the Republican Santos’ 3rd District could easily swing back to Democrats in a special election. “Today, on behalf of the Nassau County Republican Committee,...
(New York Jewish Week) — Three state lawmakers are asking if Yeshiva University misrepresented itself as a secular institution in order to qualify for more than $230 million in public funds. Their letter demanding a full accounting from the Modern Orthodox flagship is the latest twist in the university’s attempts to block an LGBT student club from getting official campus recognition. In fighting court orders to accept the club, Y.U. has been insisting that, despite a charter that describes it as a secular institution, it has a distinct religiou...
(JNS) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday repeated his promise to block vocal critic of Israel Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In an interview with Punchbowl News, McCarthy said that he would also prevent Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from assuming their assignments in the House Intelligence Committee. “Swalwell can’t get a security clearance in the private sector. I’m not going to give him a government clearance,” McCarthy said. “Schiff has lied too many times...
(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...
