Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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Jews around the world were inspired last month when Arab-Israeli teenager Mohammad Zoabi cloaked himself in an Israeli flag and spoke into a bedroom video camera, "I am an Israeli and will remain an Israeli. Israel will remain a Jewish and a democratic country." What few realized is that within days after the video went viral, Israeli police arrested three men in his own family for plotting to cause him harm in retaliation for the piece. His cousin, Arab Knesset member Hanin Zoabi, called her...
AMSTERDAM (JTA)-A few hours before he departed Amsterdam for Australia on July 17, Ithamar Avnon was praying for peace with his parents at their home in the Netherlands. That evening, pro-Russian separatists shot down Avnon's flight, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew. Avnon, 26, was the sole Israeli national on board. The son of a Dutchwoman and an Israeli who became a Christian evangelist, Avnon loved peace because of how well he and his...
Washington Jewish Week A new Pew Research Center poll showing Republicans as more sympathetic to Israel than Democrats has left Jewish Democratic leaders searching for an explanation of the partisan gap. Conducted from July 8-14, the week Israel began its air operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip but before its ground invasion, the poll asked 1,805 respondents, “In the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, which side do you sympathize with more—Israel or the Palestinians?” Possible answers were: Israel, Palestinians, both, neith...
RAMLE, Israel (JTA)-In her living room in the Israeli town of Ramle, Sarah says she wants a peaceful life. At 79, she deserves one. A Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor, Sarah was sent to a Nazi concentration camp in Serbia as a child, arriving in Israel at age 17. Her entire family perished in the Holocaust. Now she watches from her armchair as her family is threatened once again. Sarah-not her real name-is now a Muslim, and her daughter lives in Gaza City. "The whole city is in ruins," Sarah...
WASHINGTON, DC-With the conflict in Israel in their hearts and on their minds, thousands of evangelical Christians converged on Washington, DC, from July 21-22 to flex their collective muscles for the Jewish state as part of the annual Christians United for Israel (CUFI) summit. "Our joy is consistently interrupted by news from Israel. But it is good to be together with loved ones at a sad time. I see the energy more than ever, that we have to speak out and be a voice for Israel," David Brog,...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The dramatic developments in the war between Hamas and Israel have been accompanied by sharp ups and downs in U.S.-Israel relations. On Monday, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, made nice with the U.S. national security adviser, Susan Rice, before an audience of anxious U.S. Jewish leaders. But right before, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly vowed to continue Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, notwithstanding President Obama’s unequivocal demand for a cease-fire. And within a day o...
Shelling of U.N. Gaza school kills at least 10 Palestinians JERUSALEM (JTA)—At least 10 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in the shelling of a United Nations school in southern Gaza. Palestinian and United Nations officials blamed the Israel Defense Forces for Sunday morning’s shelling in Rafah. The school is serving as a shelter for some 3,000 displaced Palestinians. The IDF said it was investigating reports on the attack. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a statement called the shelling a “gross violation of international human...
(JTA)-Until this latest war, if you asked most Israelis about the threat from Gaza, they would probably start talking about Hamas rockets. But that has changed over the last few days of fighting, for two reasons. One, the much-heralded success of the Iron Dome missile defense system has all but neutralized Hamas' rocket threat. Two, and far more troubling for Israelis, they have woken up to the true extent of the subterranean threat from Gaza: the tunnels that snake underneath the densely...
BALTIMORE (JTA)-Sean Carmeli, a sergeant in the Israeli army, was stationed in Israel's South awaiting possible orders to enter Gaza. He was exchanging Facebook messages with his friend Ian Benisti, a U.S. Marine reservist who was visiting Israel from California. The two had planned to get together, maybe go to the beach. But Israel was in the midst of an escalating conflict with Hamas. "Bro', hope this'll be over soon, so we can meet up," the Texas-born Carmeli wrote to Benisti in their last...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-The soldiers walk past us, two single-file lines between the gravestones, their blank, sunken faces barely visible in the darkness. The coffin appears, hoisted on their arms and wrapped in an Israeli flag. We follow in its wake. Within minutes, some 20,000 people have massed around the final resting place of Sean Carmeli, Texas native, IDF soldier, soon to be declared a Hero of Israel. We stand silent as the rabbi chants verses of psalms begging for mercy. We shrug off official...
NEW YORK (JTA)-When the siren sounded, the Rolling Stones' tortured 1969 track "Gimme Shelter" popped into my head, oddly enough. That haunting song offered a stunning reminder of the endless horrors of war, reawakening a sleepy world with a vivid musical picture of human pain in times of combat. Merry Clayton's evocative vocalization of disturbing lyrics over a harsh musical background focused global attention on the awful realities of the Vietnam War. Nowadays, though, one hardly requires a so...
Roi Kais of Ynetnews.com reported "Hamas Interior Ministry tells Gaza locals to stay in their homes despite Israeli phone calls, leaflets, and the 'knock on the roof' procedure urging them to evacuate." The "knock on the roof procedure" is when the Israeli Air Force fires a small round at the roof of a targeted structure signaling residents to evacuate before the real strike. Hamas Interior Ministry, on the other hand, issued commands for the residents of Gaza to remain in their homes despite Is...
WARSAW, Poland-The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR) recognized 40 non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during WWII in one of the largest-ever gatherings of Holocaust rescuers at the Warsaw Marriott Hotel recently. These righteous gentiles, all of whom are well into their 80s including one who just turned 97, are dwindling in number, such that the JFR luncheon is likely to be among the last of commemorations of its kind. The event was attended by government officials, foreign...
(JNS.org) A number of anti-Israel protests have continued throughout Europe, with several of them turning violent, drawing condemnation and shock from European Jewish leaders. In Germany, several anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents have been escalating, with protests occurring daily throughout the country. At some protests, anti-Semitic slogans such as "gas the Jews" have been reported. According to reports, the protesters are largely composed of Muslim immigrants to Germany and neo-Nazi...
Boxer reintroduces enhanced Israel ally bill with broad support WASHINGTON (JTA)—Citing the Gaza war as a catalyst, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) re-introduced with broad bipartisan support a bill that would enhance U.S.-Israel strategic ties. “While we work toward a just peace in the Middle East and an end to the tragedy of war, it is critical that we reaffirm our enduring commitment to Israel’s security and the historic ties between our two nations,” Boxer said in a statement Monday reintroducing the bill with its lead GOP co-spon...
By Viva Sara Press Israel 21c Israel's anti-missile defense system has a 90 percent success rate. Bet you didn't know there are toy car parts behind its features. The Iron Dome anti-missile defense system is without a doubt the champion of Israel's current conflict with Gaza. Without it, the hundreds of missiles fired by Hamas into Israel day after day would have likely caused many deaths, and severe damage. Regular people and security experts alike all want to know more about this box-like cont...
Washington Jewish Week Hours after tahe Israel Defense Forces began its ground operation in the Gaza Strip on July 17, U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) spoke on the Senate floor to express their support of Israel and its operation, while denouncing the Palestinian Authority's unity government and the moral equivalency drawn by those critical of Israel's actions. Graham noted that moments before his speech, the Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution (S....
Washington Jewish Week Facing a constant barrage of rockets from Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Israel’s economy is proving just as dependable during the current crisis as the much-acclaimed Iron Dome missile defense system, helped in part by capital investments made internationally through the work of organizations like Israel Bonds. A product of the Development Corporation for Israel, an American-run brokerage and retail firm, Israel Bonds has long been a financial boon for the Jewish state’s economy. Now, the bonds are increasingly seen by bot...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-When the siren rang out in Jerusalem last week, the 41 teenage participants in a five-week summer Israel trip were already asleep, exhausted from a day that had begun with a flight from New York. Within minutes, they were awake, out of their rooms and in a fortified room. From their shelter, they could hear rockets explode overhead. It was July 8, the first day in Israel for participants in a trip organized by NCSY, the youth arm of the New York-based Orthodox Union and formerly...
"I feel so vulnerable when I am driving my car," said Ehud Zion Waldoks of Beersheba. "I am constantly preparing to stop abruptly, to leap out and grab my daughter and run for cover. I am calculating my speed to be a little faster than usual, but not reckless. I am checking where the nearest wall is at every traffic light." Waldoks's story is similar to that of all southern Israelis-and now most of the state of Israel, as rockets penetrate deeper than ever into the Jewish state. But as a residen...
WASHINGTON, D.C.—B’nai B’rith International condemns in the harshest possible terms the outrageous anti-Semitic attacks on Jews in Paris and elsewhere in France last weekend. A mob of about 100 people descended on a Paris synagogue wearing the colors of Hamas and shouted “Death to Jews,” according to local witnesses. Hundreds of Jews were trapped inside as the rioters threw bricks at the building. Worshippers were only able to leave when police arrived. Demonstrators in other parts of the city also attacked Jewish-owned stores. At one locat...
Be’er Sheva, Southern Israel—More than two dozen American Jewish communal leaders are currently touring communities in Southern Israel in an emergency solidarity mission of the Jewish Federations across North America (JFNA). The mission is an effort to visit locales directly affected by rocket attack and to demonstrate that the North American Jewish community stands alongside the people of Israel at this time. Meanwhile, JFNA has also launched an emergency fund aimed at providing urgent and immediate assistance to Israeli communities under the...
Marina Delfos is on a mission. Working with a group of people who come to Jamaica each year through Caribbean Volunteer Expeditions and a handful of local volunteers, she is helping to take inventory of the area's Jewish gravestones, trying to make sense of the 360-year-old and oft-forgotten Jamaican Jewish past. This past March, Delfos struck stone while she was on the Way Back When (Black River Heritage Tour) trip with Allison Morris. "I knew there had to be a cemetery in [the town of] Black...
SDEROT, Israel (JTA)—In the past week, Israel has endured a thousand rockets. Yet the only Israeli death so far from Hamas’ attacks was a civilian killed Tuesday by mortar fire while visiting soldiers near the Erez border crossing into Gaza.In many ways, Israel’s Operation Protective Edge—its third Gaza operation in six years—is much like previous Israeli campaigns in the territory. Israel has used airstrikes to exact a toll on Hamas and has massed troops on the Gaza border, threatening a ground invasion. So far, Israel has conducted nearly 1,...
Australia's Sydney Harbor is up in flames. Large letters superimposed on the scene ask, "How would they react?" That image and many others like it have been distributed by an Israeli student initiative called "Israel Under Fire," which now boasts more than 57,000 followers on its Facebook page. While rocket attacks continue from Gaza after Palestinian terrorists' rejection of a cease-fire brokered by Egypt and accepted by Israel, more than 400 student volunteers are working together from a compu...
