Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1488 - 1512 of 2213
(JTA)-This time, Israel and its supporters came prepared. Anticipating what they believed would be an unfair U.N. report on last summer's Gaza War, the Israeli government and friendly groups in the United States were ready with at least three reports they say better reflects the reality of the five-week engagement between Israel and Hamas. The U.N. report, released last week, said Israel's military and Palestinian armed groups committed "serious violations" of international human rights law duri... Full story
By Abigail Klein Leichman ISRAEL21c-Ingesting an indigenous Israeli aromatic shrub called Chiliadenus iphionoides (more commonly, "sharp varthemia" or "Goldilocks") could improve insulin secretion and glucose absorption in people with diabetes, according to plant biologist Jonathan Gorelick, scientific director of the Judea Regional Research and Development Center in Israel. The center's efforts to isolate the plant's active compounds-and to assure these compounds are present when the plant is... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA)-For months, France has considered taking a more active role in advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Israel wants no part of it. The French peace proposal reportedly would have three components: a return to direct Israeli-Palestinian talks, a committee of representatives from world and regional powers to facilitate the negotiations, and a United Nations Security Council resolution that would set a timetable for the process. "We don't want to replace the role of the sides,"... Full story
UMM EL-KHEIR, West Bank (JTA)-They dig their fingers into the dirt, their knees bearing into the ground as they embed sprigs of thyme in identical rows. The sun beats down on the small plot, and the work can be tedious, but these volunteers-most of them American, most of them Jewish-plant with a purpose. They had met early Friday morning in Jerusalem and set off on an hour long bus ride through the terraced, rocky hills south of the city. Upon arriving at their destination, a Palestinian... Full story
UMM EL-KHEIR, West Bank (JTA)-They dig their fingers into the dirt, their knees bearing into the ground as they embed sprigs of thyme in identical rows. The sun beats down on the small plot, and the work can be tedious, but these volunteers-most of them American, most of them Jewish-plant with a purpose. They had met early Friday morning in Jerusalem and set off on an hour long bus ride through the terraced, rocky hills south of the city. Upon arriving at their destination, a Palestinian... Full story
Israel intercepts flotilla vessel attempting to break blockade of Gaza JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Israeli Navy intercepted an activist ship in the waters off the coast of the Gaza Strip. Commandos from the Shayetet 13 naval special forces unit boarded the Marianne of Gothenburg early Monday morning and began sailing the ship, which was trying to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza, to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The takeover of the vessel and its approximately 20 passengers was short and there were no casualties, the Israel Defense Forces sai... Full story
WASHINGTON (JTA)-Israel's former ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, caused a stir this week by publicly accusing President Barack Obama of abandoning the two core principles that undergird the U.S.-Israel relationship: no public disagreements and no surprises. But should there be no public disagreements-"no daylight," in diplomatic parlance-between the United States and Israel, and is that kind of shoulder-to-shoulder closeness even possible between allies? Oren, the American-born diplomat... Full story
Hate crimes charge added in case of Barclays Center assault (JTA)—A New York man charged with assaulting the head of the Brooklyn Jewish Y at a borough arena has been hit with a hate crimes charge. The new charge against Shawn Schraeder, 25, of Queens, on June 18 followed eight months of investigation by a grand jury, CBS New York reported. Schraeder had been charged with assault following the incident at the Barclays Center amid sparring between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel fans. He is accused of punching Leonard Petlakh, the executive d... Full story
The battle for control of Ammunition Hill was one of the most decisive of the Six-Day War. After fierce and bloody fighting against Jordanian forces in the early morning hours of June 6, 1967, Israeli victory there led directly to the capture of the Old City and the reunification of Jerusalem after almost 2,000 years. A national memorial to the battle that took place there, Ammunition Hill is located in the present-day neighborhood of Ma'alot Dafna, just feet from the 1948 border with Jordan... Full story
Although Israel has been providing free medical treatment to Syrian refugees as well as Palestinians from the disputed territories and even from Gaza, the U.N. World Health Organization singled out Israel as the one country in the world to be condemned for violating human health rights. Saudi Arabia, which sits as a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council, sponsored the exercise in the absurd. If hypocrisy needed a poster child, the despotic and brutal regime of Saudi Arabia, which is currently... Full story
HERZLIYA, Israel (JTA)-When Israel's coalition government formed last month, its constituent parties all but ruled out establishing a Palestinian state in the near future. But that doesn't mean they can agree on what to do instead. Speaking at the Herzliya Conference this week, Israel's premier diplomatic and security policy gathering, senior Israeli government officials struck different and sometimes conflicting tones on what Israel's policy should be toward the Palestinians. Even within the... Full story
As the Middle East grapples with the fallout of the so-called “Arab Spring” revolutions and the rise of terror groups like Islamic State, Arab states have sought increased cooperation with Israel in areas such as military and intelligence in order to confront ongoing threats. But will this cooperation, particularly when it comes to Egypt, lead to deeper Arab normalization of bilateral relations with the Jewish state? On May 28, prominent Egyptian historian Maged Farag drew headlines when he called for his country to normalize relations wit... Full story
U. of Illinois censured for canceling prof’s job over anti-Israel tweets (JTA)—A national professors’ organization voted to censure the University of Illinois for rescinding a job offer to a professor over his anti-Israel tweets. The vote by the American Association of University Professors took place on Saturday at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C. In April, the association released a report that found the university violated the principles of academic freedom and tenure in the case of Steven Salaita. Also in Saturday’s voting, Yeshiva... Full story
This piece was written by Iris and Ori Ifrach, Rachelli and Avi Fraenkel, and Bat-Galim and Ofer Shaer, the parents of Eyal Ifrach, Gil-ad Shaer and Naftali Fraenkel. (JTA)-One year ago, our families were thrust into a nightmare beyond anything we could have ever imagined. Our sons, Eyal Ifrach, Gil-ad Shaer and Naftali Fraenkel, had been kidnapped while making their way home from school. For 18 (chai) days, we hovered somewhere between despair and hope while we prayed for their safe return... Full story
(ISRAEL21c)-Nepalese villagers now faced with massive rebuilding projects following the April 25 earthquake could benefit from the lessons learned by eco-minded builders in Israel's Arava desert. In preparation for future anticipated tremors, the Israelis are taking a unique approach to safe and environmentally sound construction rather than the more common, but expensive and less effective, reinforced concrete method often relied on to withstand earthquakes. Sitting a top the seismically... Full story
ISTANBUL (JTA)-In the backyard of the Etz Ahayim synagogue in Turkey's largest city, congregant Yusuf Arslan hollers pleasantries as he mingles with other members of the small congregation. He needs to shout to be heard over the deafening sound of a sudden downpour hitting the blast-proof glass ceiling that stretches over the synagogue's spacious yard. Installed after Istanbul's deadly 2003 synagogue bombings, the shield is meant to prevent grenades from exploding in the complex should anyone hu... Full story
Latin gospel singer Ingrid Rosario, accompanied by a four-piece band, belts out impassioned ballads before a captive audience, hands clasped or in the air, eyes transfixed on the stage or closed in a meditative state. Is this scene from church? A Christian rock concert? Hardly. It's a prayer session at a staunchly pro-Israel event. The Jewish state was front and center at the April 28-30 annual convention of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC)/CONEL in Houston. On the... Full story
Burial set for elderly Jewish couple who died in Houston flooding (JTA)—Funeral services were set for an elderly Jewish couple who drowned in the floods that swept through Houston last week. Shirley and Jack Alter, who died when their rescue boat capsized in the rushing floodwaters, were scheduled to be buried Sunday at the Congregation Beth Yeshurun Cemetery in Houston. The boat suffered engine failure before capsizing on May 26, the Houston-based Jewish Herald-Voice reported. The couple—Shirley Alter was 85 and Jack Alter was 87—were weari... Full story
As Islamic terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East sink to new levels of brutality, the Palestinian terror group Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis and launched thousands of rockets at the Jewish state, finds itself facing a threat to its rule in Gaza. Over the last month, Islamic State-inspired jihadist groups in Gaza, who ironically argue that Hamas has been too lenient toward Israel and has failed to implement Islamic Sharia Law, have launched a campaign entailing both pr... Full story
Controversy is swirling over conflicting reports as to whether or not the Pope Francis called Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas an "angel of peace" during a meeting at the Vatican. Pope Francis, who canonized two 19th-century nuns from what was then Ottoman-ruled Palestine, met with Abbas at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, where he presented the PA leader with a bronze medallion and explained that it represented the "angel of peace destroying the bad spirit of war," purportedly... Full story
Whooping cough warning issued in Brooklyn’s Orthodox communities NEW YORK (JTA)—The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has issued a warning about an increase in cases of pertussis, or the “whooping cough,” in the Orthodox communities of Williamsburg and Borough Park, Brooklyn. The city’s department of health issued a statement on Friday, May 22 about 21 confirmed cases of pertussis – 18 children and three adults – in those communities between October 2014 and April 2015. Of the 10 afflicted children who were under 10 mont... Full story
(JNS.org) Palestinian Authority security forces have rounded up more than two-dozen Hamas supporters on West Bank college campuses for interrogation in recent weeks. A Hamas-aligned student group won an April 22 student council election at Birzeit University, which is located near the PA’s de facto capital of Ramallah. “Everyone knew that this was going to happen,” Nagham Yassin, a Palestinian student at Birzeit, told Al Jazeera. “It happened last time the Islamic bloc won in 2007. Everyone assumed it would happen this time. Anyone who goes in... Full story
TEL AVIV (JTA) – Seven weeks after he won reelection, Benjamin Netanyahu finally secured a fourth term as prime minister. With 90 minutes to go until a Wednesday night deadline to form a governing coalition, Netanyahu concluded an agreement with the religious, pro-settler Jewish Home party that gives him the narrowest of parliamentary majorities – 61 of the Knesset's 120 seats. Along with three other right-wing and religious factions - United Torah Judaism, Kulanu and Shas - the five-party Lik... Full story
BERLIN (JTA)-This month marks 50 years since Israel and West Germany established diplomatic ties. It has been an understandably complex relationship, launched two decades after the Holocaust ended and 14 years after West Germany committed to reparations "both moral and material" for the genocide committed by the Nazis. (The decision to accept German money and goods was contentious among Israelis, some of whom referred to the payouts as "blood money.") Normalized relations between Israel and... Full story
(JTA)-Ayelet Shaked (pronounced ShahKED), Israel's newly appointed justice minister and a member of the right-wing Jewish Home party, has quickly risen to prominence having served just two years in the Knesset. Here's what you need to know about the 39-year-old political celebrity. She's seen as a poster child for Jewish Home's efforts to reach beyond its Orthodox base. A secular Jew from north Tel Aviv, Shaked is often described as a symbol of the Jewish Home and larger settler movement's... Full story
