Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - The Fox TV network will retain Nick Cannon as host of "The Masked Singer" following his apology for making anti-Semitic remarks on a podcast that has since been deleted from YouTube for violating the website's terms of services. "First and foremost I extend my deepest and most sincere apologies to my Jewish sisters and brothers for the hurtful and divisive words that came out of my mouth during my interview with Richard Griffin," said Cannon in a statement released by Fox. "They...
(JTA) — In the wake of a string of high-profile controversies involving the likes of rapper Ice Cube and NFL player DeSean Jackson, two more prominent Black commentators have called out anti-Semitism in the Black community this week: NBA Hall of Famer-turned columnist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and sports journalist Jemele Hill. In his latest column for The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday, Abdul-Jabbar argues that there has been a “shocking lack of massive indignation” over recent statements on social media by various sports and entertainment figures th...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Centrists on the platform-writing committee of the Democratic National Committee overrode progressives who wanted the platform to condemn Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. The 2020 platform only alludes to the occupation, preserves Israel’s defense aid and rejects the movement to boycott Israel. But it does warn against annexation, the move that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering for portions of the West Bank. The platform has not yet been released publicly, but the Jewish Telegraphic Agency obtai...
(JTA) — Just days after the expiration of a federal program meant to preserve jobs during the pandemic, one of the largest JCCs in the country has laid off or furloughed 35 percent of its employees. The Marlene Meyerson Jewish Community Center of Manhattan laid off 32 people and furloughed 40 last week as it faces decreased revenue as a result of the pandemic. The JCC, which operated on a budget of $34 million before the coronavirus hit, expects to cut that in half moving forward. Among the positions eliminated were most of the marketing d...
A college student from Houston, Texas, started a petition against the popular retailer SHEIN for selling what she believed was a Nazi swastika pendant. The Stop Anti-Semitism watchdog group also pressured SHEIN concerning the necklace. In response SHEIN removed the necklace from its website. This article was originally intended to bring attention to the offensive pendant and its removal from the retailer's website through the effective watchdog pressure and petition that shined a light on the...
(JNS) - Anti-Defamation League national director and CEO Jonathan Greenblatt has come under fire from Jewish groups for appearing on the MSNBC show "Politics Nation With Al Sharpton" on Sunday to promote the ADL's call for corporations to boycott Facebook in July over its unwillingness to ban hate speech on the social-media giant's platform. While the message seems on target with ADL's work, the idea of partnering with someone like Sharpton, who has a history of anti-Semitism and other bigotry,...
NEW YORK — Arthur Stark, chairman; William Daroff, CEO; and Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, issued the following statement: “We are outraged by recent instances of blatant anti-Semitism in America, many of which manifest in actions by anti-Israel individuals and organizations seeking to co-opt the national reckoning with racial inequity. By taking advantage of the increased media spotlight on social justice they seek to spread their bigoted messages of hatred toward the Jewish...
(JTA) — New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman invited fellow NFL star DeSean Jackson to have “uncomfortable conversations” about anti-Semitism and hatred against Blacks. Edelman was responding to recent posts by Jackson attributed to Adolf Hitler, which Jackson later removed and apologized for, and the reaction to them, including calls for him to be cut by the Philadelphia Eagles. In an Instagram video, Edelman offered to accompany Jackson to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and then to join Jackson on a tour of the National Museu...
(JTA) - NFL wide receiver DeSean Jackson unleashed an uproar with his tweets over the weekend that featured quotes dubiously attributed to Adolf Hitler - including claims that "white Jews" will work to "blackmail" and "extort" America - and that the Nazi leader "was right." Now his most prominent defender - former NBA player-turned-podcaster and Black Lives Matter activist Stephen Jackson (no relation) - is facing his own wave of high-profile criticism. Stephen Jackson took center stage in the...
(JTA) — Zach Banner of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers wants the Black community to know: Jews “deal with the same amount of hate, similar hardships and hard times.” In a tweet accompanied by a video, Banner said he does not want to “harp” on the controversy surrounding the recent social media posts of fellow NFLer DeSean Jackson in which the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver featured anti-Semitic statements attributed to Adolf Hitler. But, he said, the community can only “progress by educating ourselves. We can’t move forward while allowing...
What once started as an Instagram page, Project Proactive, co-founded by Shoshana Mehler and Rebecca Shapiro, is a recently formed not-for-profit organization that works toward destigmatizing mental health in the Jewish community through creative methods of education. Whether it’s through weekly live interviews with mental health professionals and advocates, frequently updated blog posts on their website, or educational information on a range of topics, Project Proactive has created a community and a network of Jewish people around the world s...
(JTA) – The front page of the June 26 issue of Der Yid, one of the most widely circulated Yiddish newspapers among New York's Hasidic Orthodox communities, made the point loud and clear. "And so it was after the plague." Those words, lifted from a verse in the Torah and printed alongside photos of large gatherings of unmasked Hasidic men, had a clear implication: After months of funerals and fear, the modern-day pandemic had passed and the time had come to gather again. That sentiment appears t...
(JNS) - A federal judge expressed concerns on Friday that New York governmental leaders violated the rights of residents when it sought to limit the number of individuals who could gather for prayer services during the coronavirus pandemic. Judge Gary L. Sharpe of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York, issued a preliminary injunction against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, preventing them from enforcing any limitations on outside gatherings...
(JTA) — For Orthodox Jewish advocacy groups, the last day of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 session brought a big win. On Tuesday, the high court handed school voucher proponents a victory in ruling that a state-run scholarship program funded by tax-deductible gifts could not exclude religious schools. The court split 5-4 in the Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue case, with Chief Justice John Roberts providing the swing vote by joining the conservative justices. “A State need not subsidize private education,” Roberts wrote. “But on...
When Racheli Friedbauer, now 11, was enrolled four years ago in a Jewish special education program, it changed her life. Due to a rare genetic disorder, Racheli has developmental delays and some medical problems, and she is extremely shy. But she thrived within the program, which is run by Sinai Schools, a network of special educational programs that operates within regular Jewish day school settings. "It was an environment where she finally was comfortable, and she felt very loved and accepted...
(JTA) - The University of Cincinnati will remove Marge Schott's name from its baseball stadium because of the late Cincinnati Reds owner's racism and anti-Semitism. The university's Board of Trustees voted Monday to remove Schott's name from the stadium and from a space in the archives library, effective immediately, acting on a recommendation by the university's president, Neville Pinto. "Marge Schott's record of racism and bigotry stands at stark odds with our University's core commitment to...
On Wednesday, July 1, the day Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought to a cabinet vote the extension of Israeli sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria, demonstrations by Pro-Palestinian and BDS groups against the “annexation,” as they call it, were held in Chicago, San Diego, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Among the groups were Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace and American Muslims for Palestine. Another organization, Al-Awda — The Palestinian Right to Return Coalition — accused Israel of “72 years of...
(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — The school board in Oakland, California, has unanimously voted to abolish the district’s police force in the wake of the nationwide protests against police brutality — with some urging by teens at a city synagogue. A large contingent of young people from Temple Beth Abraham, a Conservative congregation, was involved in pushing the board to adopt what was called the George Floyd Resolution, named for the Black man whose death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked the demon...
(JNS) — The Republican Jewish Coalition launched a $50,000 ad buy in battleground states on Sunday, pushing out a video celebrating how the U.S.-Israel relationship has strengthened under U.S. President Donald Trump. The eight-minute documentary, called “Sunrise,” praises Trump for strengthening the U.S.-Israel alliance to “a level never seen before” and for being “the most pro-Israel American president in history.” It touts Trump’s pro-Israel achievements, including moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018; re...
(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — The bad news for Jewish community centers in the wake of the coronavirus crisis continues: One in Palo Alto has laid off about 20 percent of its staff and cut its budget by a third, while one in Foster City, located between Palo Alto and San Francisco, has cut its budget by 45 percent. Sitting on more than 8 acres in Palo Alto, the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life — which includes the Oshman Family JCC and the Moldaw Residences for retirees — has been described as a “modern eco-oas...
(JTA) - A top Justice Department official sent a letter to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio last week that claims the mayor has enforced uneven social distancing rules that "favor certain secular gatherings and disfavor religious gatherings." The letter, which was shared Tuesday by Agudath Israel, an organization representing haredi Orthodox Jews, specifically cited the mayor's focus on dispersing Jewish community gatherings. "During the period in which all gatherings were banned, you...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — In 2015, the Zionist Organization of America gave John Bolton a standing ovation when he said he wanted to be U.S. president. In 2018, the ZOA gave him its Defender of Israel Award. This week, Bolton is about as far away from the presidency as he’s been in his life, and the ZOA doesn’t appear interested in defending him. Nor does the broader centrist and right-wing pro-Israel community, which lobbied for Bolton just 3 1/2 years ago to be secretary of state. Bolton is dominating headlines this week with his new tell-all book,...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - House Democrats have put together a letter that they hope will unite their entire caucus in warning Israel against annexation of part of the West Bank. The letter, now circulating among the party's House caucus and obtained exclusively by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, warns Israel about the dangers annexation would pose to Israelis and to the region. But it does not hint at any danger to the U.S.-Israel relationship and restates the signers' commitment to the relationship....
(JNS) - The Jewish Democratic Council of America has affirmed that it will not support Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in her upcoming primary, but did not provide a endorsement to her chief primary opponent, progressive Antone Melton-Meaux. Omar is set to face Melton-Meaux, who has been critical of Omar's anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements, in an Aug. 11 primary for Minnesota's 5th Congressional District. When asked by JNS about whether JDCA would be taking on Omar, executive director Halie...
(JTA) — The Anti-Defamation League, along with the NAACP and other civil rights groups, is calling on corporations not to advertise on Facebook in July because of the social media platform’s unwillingness to police hate speech. The campaign, which launches Wednesday with a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times, charges that Facebook has not done enough to combat hate and disinformation on its platform. It points to CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s repeated refusal to moderate posts for misinformation, even as extremists have used the platform to incit...
