Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 932 - 956 of 2213
Neda Amin, an Iranian journalist who was granted political asylum in Israel Sunday, landed in the country on Thursday after disappearing for a few days. Amin, 32, who had been seeking refuge in Turkey over the past three years, was to be extradited to Iran, where she could face the death penalty due to her columns in the Times of Israel Farsi edition. She was shortly detained and then released by Turkish authorities. Israel’s embassy purchased a ticket for her, and she finally landed at Ben-Gurion Airport. Amin was met at the airport by T... Full story
(JTA)-He has a firm grip on the government, but a mounting political scandal might bring him down. Officials from his own party have begun to distance themselves from him, but he remains defiant. Oh, and his son is in trouble, too. Just one more thing Benjamin Netanyahu has in common with President Donald Trump. Except there's a difference: While Trump faces one sprawling scandal, the Russia affair, Israel's prime minister is embroiled in at least two. Police are conducting two additional corrup... Full story
(JTA)—Yisrael Kristal, a Holocaust survivor from Haifa who was recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest man in the world, has died, a month before his 114th birthday. Haaretz reported that Kristal died Friday. Born on Sept. 15, 1903, in the town of Zarnow, Poland, Kristal moved to Lodz in 1920 to work in his family’s candy business. He continued operating the business after the Nazis forced the city’s Jews into a ghetto, where Kristal’s two children died. In 1944, he was deported to Auschwitz, where his wife, whom he had married... Full story
Trump names KKK, white supremacists, neo-Nazis in condemnation of Charlottesville rally WASHINGTON (JTA)—Amid a furor over his delay in denouncing a white supremacists’ rally in specific terms, President Donald Trump condemned the “racist violence” at the Charlottesville event and declared that “racism is evil.” “Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists, and other hate groups who are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,” Trump said Mond... Full story
NEW YORK (JTA)-If Jared Kushner is the only person who can deliver Middle East peace-as his father-in-law Donald Trump said-he comes off as a reluctant savior. In a speech delivered Monday to a group of congressional interns and leaked to the media, Kushner expounded on the Trump administration's efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace. What emerged was an outlook that at once was resolutely pro-Israel and skeptical of the chances of success. "So what do we offer that's unique? I don't... Full story
Palestinians are vowing to continue their efforts to prevent Jews from living in large parts of Jerusalem’s Old City, despite a July 31 Israeli court ruling permitting a Jewish purchase of several properties there. The ruling by Judge Gila Kanfi-Steinitz, deputy head of the Jerusalem District Court, capped a 13-year legal struggle over the purchase by Jewish investors of two Arab-run hotels and an unidentified third property, all owned by the Greek Orthodox Church and located in the area of the Old City known as the Christian Quarter. The t... Full story
More than 1,000 Jews braved a searing heat wave Tuesday morning to visit the Temple Mount on Tisha b'Av, the saddest date on the Hebrew calendar, while thousands more sat on the floor-a traditional Jewish sign of mourning-at the Western Wall Plaza to commemorate the destruction of ancient Jerusalem by the Roman Empire in the year 70 CE. More visitors were expected throughout the day. One person, a 15-year-old boy, was lightly wounded when a Muslim worshiper threw a chair at him. He was given... Full story
Jordan’s foreign minister blames the “occupation” for the Temple Mount terror, and threatens even more dangerous crises. As recently as the mid-20th century, when Arabs last controlled parts of Jerusalem, they exhibited no respect for the Holy City. In 1948, when Jordan took control of the eastern part of Jerusalem, including the Old City, it divided the city for the first time in its 3,000-year history. Under the 1949 armistice agreement with Israel, Jordan pledged to allow free access to all holy places but failed to honor that commi... Full story
The Trump administration has reportedly reached a new contract with the Israeli defense electronics company Elbit Systems to implement advanced security systems on the U.S. border with Mexico, similar to the security technology utilized along Israel's borders. According to reports that emerged last weekend in Hebrew- and English-language Israeli media, an American delegation recently visited Israel to tour the country's borders with the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Delegation members were pitched on a... Full story
Supreme Court orders Netanyahu to release some details of Sheldon Adelson calls JERUSALEM (JTA)—Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must disclose the dates and lengths of the phone conversations he had with billionaire American Sheldon Adelson, publisher of the pro-Netanyahu daily newspaper Israel Hayom. The Supreme Court ruling on Monday was a response to an appeal filed by a reporter for Israel’s Channel 10 and overturns a Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court decision in 2016. The Magistrate’s Court ruling had overturned a decision calling for the rel... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Campaigning last year for the presidency, Donald Trump said the Iran nuclear agreement was the "worst deal" he had ever seen. It was never exactly clear, however, what he intended to do about it: Appearing at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's policy conference in March 2016, Trump said in the same speech that he planned to "dismantle" and "enforce" it. As president, Trump appears to be edging toward dismantling. His administration recertified Iran's adherence to... Full story
Before an Arab terror attack that killed two Israeli policemen ignited the latest wave of tension over the Temple Mount, much of the Jewish world’s attention had focused on an internal Jewish controversy surrounding prayer rights at the adjacent Western Wall. In June, American Judaism’s Reform and Conservative movements as well as other Jewish organizations reacted with outrage to the Israeli government’s decision to cancel the construction of a new egalitarian prayer pavilion at the Western Wall. Yet a mixed-gender prayer facility calle... Full story
On Friday night July 21, Maj. Hanan (full name withheld for security reasons) received word of a gruesome development. A knife-wielding Palestinian terrorist had killed three members of an Israeli family in the settlement of Halamish. The terrorist, a 19-year-old Palestinian from a nearby village, was shot and injured by an Oketz K9 unit soldier, who lived next door. By the time Hanan, who heads the Counter-Terrorism Branch in the IDF's Counter-Terrorism School, arrived at the blood-stained... Full story
Palestinians and Arab Members of Knesset declared "victory" as Israel reversed security measures at the Temple Mount, adding that their struggle for control over the compound also extends to the Western Wall. MK Taleb Abu Arar (Joint List) stressed that "Jews have no rights at al-Aqsa Mosque" and that the Muslims' fight against Israel will continue, regardless of the cabinet decision to remove metal detectors from the entrances to the Temple Mount compound. "This is a proven fact, [even if]... Full story
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in discussions with the U.S. administration, has agreed to land swaps with the Palestinian Authority, Channel 2 reported Thursday. The conversations were reportedly held before the current Temple Mount crisis, which began nearly two weeks ago and has led to massive confrontation, violence and deadly terror attacks. Netanyahu's suggestions, made during meetings with Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, senior advisers to President Donald Trump, include... Full story
(JTA)—The White House lauded Israel for dismantling metal detectors near the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem that had spurred violent clashes between Muslims and Israeli police, but Palestinian officials called for sustained protests. “The United States applauds the efforts of Israel to maintain security while reducing tensions in the region,” press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday after Israel’s actions earlier in the day. The metal detectors were removed amid an escalation of violent protests in the West Bank and of anti-Israel rhetoric across... Full story
Jewish camp apologizes for flying Palestinian flag (JTA)—A Jewish camp in Washington state apologized after flying a Palestinian flag “as a sign of friendship and acceptance” to visiting Palestinian Muslim and Christian students. Last week, Camp Solomon Schechter hosted members of Kids 4 Peace, a group that includes Christian and Muslim Palestinian children. In a letter sent to parents and supporters following the visit, the camp wrote: “For the sake of a teachable moment, we did raise the Palestinian flag as a sign of friendship and accepta... Full story
The Israeli government reopened the Temple Mount complex to Muslims and members of other faiths Sunday with strict new security measures, in the wake of last Friday's attack near the flashpoint holy site, in which Arab terrorists killed two Israeli Druze police officers. Israeli defense experts who specialize in understanding radical Islamic culture stress that such attacks are likely to occur again. "For many years, there has been the motivation to create an apocalypse between Islam and... Full story
There is a broad consensus among American Jewish leaders in support of Israel's use of metal detectors to intercept terrorists on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations "supports taking the necessary and appropriate steps to assure security for all and to protect the sanctity of these holy sites," the umbrella group's executive vice chairman and CEO, Malcolm Hoenlein, told JNS.org. Herbert Block, executive director of the American Zionist Movement, said, "If the authorities responsible for... Full story
A Palestinian terrorist fatally stabbed an Israeli father and two of his adult children last Friday night in the Samaria community of Halamish, amid escalating tension over Jerusalem's Temple Mount. The terror attack in Halamish came on the heels of a Palestinian-incited "day of rage," in which riots erupted after Friday prayers in response to the installation of metal detectors at the entrance gates to the Temple Mount. Israel bolstered security following the July 14 Arab terror attack that... Full story
(JNS.org) Anti-Israel demonstrations were held across the Muslim world Thursday and Friday to protest Israel's decision to implement metal detectors at the Temple Mount, following the July 14 terror attack that killed two Israeli police officers near the holy site. In Jordan's capital of Amman Friday, thousands of protesters organized by Islamist groups took to the streets to decry the security measures. "With our soul, with our blood, we will sacrifice ourselves for you, Al-Aqsa," they... Full story
(JNS.org)-Vice President Mike Pence said Monday that relocating the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem is only a matter of time. "I promise you that the day will come when President Donald Trump moves the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It is not a question of if, it is only when," Pence told the 12th annual Christians United for Israel summit in Washington, D.C. Pence said he and Trump "stand without apology for Israel today," and touted the president's trip to Israel in May.... Full story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-When Nedal Sader first heard the crackle of automatic weapon fire Friday morning, he couldn't believe it was coming from the Temple Mount. As a Muslim, he regarded the complex just outside his apartment as a sacred and peaceful place. He prayed there nearly every week. But as a seasoned first responder, he knew what gunshots sounded like echoing off the stones of the Old City. He finished dressing, threw on his medic's jacket and raced to the scene. Sader, a 37-year-old nurse and... Full story
AMSTERDAM (JTA)-In a country where sex toys are displayed in shop windows and television commercials often feature nudity, a picture of a clothed, heterosexual couple kissing may not seem like the stuff of scandal. But precisely such an image-part of a poster campaign celebrating diversity in the Netherlands-has triggered acrimonious debate, charges of racism, acts of vandalism and even threats by those who found it offensive. The reason: The women pictured in a series of posters were wearing... Full story
