Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JTA)—A United Nations affiliate removed a report accusing Israel of apartheid from the Internet following a request from the secretary-general of the international body. Antonio Guterres asked the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, or EWCWA, to remove the report, which was published Wednesday and says it “establishes, on the basis of scholarly inquiry and overwhelming evidence, that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid,” Reuters reported Friday. Rima Khalaf, the commission’s chief, resigned because of Guttere...
Just one drop of blood can tell within minutes if a patient has had a heart attack thanks to a revolutionary kit developed in Israel that is already saving hospitals time and money. More important, it can save lives. A health professional needs only one drop of blood to let a patient know if a heart attack has occurred. If two stripes appear on the kit, the result is positive and the patient must immediately receive additional care. The test is easy, noninvasive and takes less than 15 minutes to perform. One in three Israelis appears in...
Ohio State Hillel drops Jewish LGBT group for co-sponsoring event by pro-BDS group (JTA)—Ohio State University’s Hillel cut ties with a Jewish LGBTQ student group for co-sponsoring an event organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization that supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The divorce is the latest flare-up in an ongoing dispute among campus Jewish groups over Hillel International guidelines rejecting partnerships with groups deemed hostile toward Israel. Ohio State Hillel ended its affiliation with the LGBTQ gro...
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has significantly stepped up the scope and frequency of its combat training, as sub-state jihadist enemies around the Jewish state build up their power. In the event of any future large-scale conflict-whether it be against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and possibly in Syria, where Hezbollah has a heavy presence; against Hamas in Gaza; or against other foes in other arenas-Israeli military planners believe they will need a ground offensive involving maneuvering...
Israel's Knesset last week passed landmark legislation against the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, representing just one of several setbacks this month for BDS around the world. The Israeli bill, which passed its third and final reading with a 46-28 vote, grants the interior minister authority to deny entry visas to non-Israeli citizens who actively support boycotts of the Jewish state. Conveying the rationale for the anti-BDS measure, Member of Knesset David...
(JNS.org) The Israeli government voted in favor of decriminalizing recreational marijuana use, joining several other European countries and U.S. states that have adopted similar measures. At Israel's weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a team of experts had studied the issue and that "this obviously needs to be done in a careful and controlled manner." "On one hand, we are opening ourselves up to the future. On the other hand, we understand the dangers and...
At least 7 JCCs receive bomb threats on Purim (JTA)—At least seven Jewish community centers in the United States and Canada received bomb threats while they were hosting Purim events. The threats, either called in or emailed, were reported Sunday at JCCs in Rochester, New York; Chicago; Indianapolis; Milwaukee; Cleveland; Houston, and Vancouver, British Columbia. Most of the JCCs were evacuated and searched. None of the threats turned out to be credible. For some of the centers it was their second threat in the past week. The threats are p...
The most recent round of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations failed because the Palestinian Authority (PA) responded to each Israeli concession with new demands and the Obama administration kept taking the Palestinians’ side, according to a veteran Israeli negotiator. Brigadier-General (ret.) Michael Herzog, a member of Israel’s negotiating teams since 1993, disclosed previously unknown details about the U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian talks that took place in 2013-2014, in an essay for The American Interest Feb. 27. Herzog disputed claims by for...
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Every week, thousands of women across Israel gather to play a sport almost no one outside the country has heard of. For that matter, few Israelis knew about catchball, or "cadur-reshet" in Hebrew, a decade ago. But in recent years it has become the most popular sport among adult women in the country, with nearly all the players over 30 years old. "It's like a disease among middle-aged women here," said Naor Galili, the director-general of the Maccabi sports association in Israel....
Palestinian man alleged to be part of terror cell killed in shootout with Israeli troops JERUSALEM (JTA)—A Palestinian man who allegedly was part of a terror cell planning attack on Israeli targets was killed in a gunfight with Israeli troops in the West Bank. Basel al-A’araj was killed overnight Monday during an IDF arrest raid in Ramallah in the northern West Bank. Al-A’araj, 31, was shot and killed by Israeli troops after they surrounded the house where he was holed up in order to arrest him. He opened fire on the troops, according to the I...
Jewish journalist sticks up for Trump after being called a ‘liar’ (JTA)—The Jewish reporter whom President Donald Trump interrupted and accused of lying at a news conference defended Trump’s actions as owing to a misunderstanding. Jake Turx, a reporter for Ami Magazine, told Fox News that he believed Trump acted defensively to his question about rising anti-Semitism in America because of the “unfair” treatment the president was receiving in the media and allegations connected to anti-Semitism. “It’s very unfair what’s been done to him and I...
(JNS.org) A senior Iranian official warned Saturday that if the U.S. launches an attack on Iran, his country could hit the Israeli metropolis of Tel Aviv in a matter of minutes. “If the enemy chooses to shoot a missile in Iran’s direction, Tel Aviv will go up in flames from an Iranian missile before the [enemy’s] missile hits its target. This is not just a slogan, as only seven minutes are needed for an Iranian missile to hit Tel Aviv,” boasted Mojtaba Zonour, a member of Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission. Zonour was also...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Settlement expansion “may not be helpful” in achieving peace, the Trump administration said in its first pronouncement on an issue that has confounded U.S.-Israel relations for decades. The White House announcement Thursday evening comes a week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced major settlement building initiatives in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. “While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump have been talking each other up plenty since the latter’s election upset in November. But those expecting Trump to turn his kind words and pledges on Israel into fast action may have to be patient. The starkest example of Trump walking back concrete promises is his retreat from what he had indicated during the transition period would be an accelerated push to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. Asked Thursday on the Fox News Channel about whether he would mov...
Large swastika painted on car in Florida Jewish neighborhood (JTA)—A large swastika was spray-painted on the side of a car in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Boca Raton, Florida. The incident occurred early Sunday morning, according to local report. The white swastika took up the entire driver’s-side door of the black Ford Mustang. The owner of the car is a teenager who is visiting Israel, the Miami Herald reported. It is not know if the teen’s visit to Israel made him the intended target. “This is a direct hate message,” Yona Lunger, a...
(JTA)-With old favorites knocked out of France's presidential race and the far-right National Front party making worrisome gains, many Jews are joining fellow voters in supporting Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year-old independent politician and surprising front-runner. A banker who is 18 years younger than the average age of past presidents in France, Macron was widely regarded as doomed only two weeks ago, as no president from outside one of the country's main parties has ever been elected. But...
A year and a half after it was signed, the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers has held up, but the agreement’s future is now in doubt. Before being elected last November, President Donald Trump described the agreement with Iran as “the worst deal ever negotiated” and said he would act to dismantle it. This position echoes the frequent comments on the deal by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following Trump’s election, Netanyahu expressed hope that he could work with Trump to undo the arrangement. Yet it remains far from clear...
Aside from its centrality to Jewish peoplehood as the home of the ancient Jewish Temples and now the modern state of Israel's capital, Jerusalem is also synonymous with Judaism for many Bible-reading Christians. As such, prominent pro-Israel Christian organizations are lining up to express their support for President Donald Trump's promise to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and to hold the president accountable for his words. Susan Michael, U.S. director for the...
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner reportedly worked to stop anti-LGBT executive order (JTA)—Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner reportedly helped push President Donald Trump to uphold a 2014 executive order protecting LGBT people from workplace discrimination. The president’s daughter and her husband, who serves as a White House senior adviser, worked to nix a draft executive order outlining how to roll back some of the protections granted by former President Barack Obama’s 2014 executive order, Politico reported Friday, citing “multiple sources...
(JTA)-Birthright trips, the 10-day Israel tours offered free to young Jews, are so much part of mainstream culture that they have been copied by other religions, parodied on television shows like "Broad City" and "Transparent," and debated by academics and activists But if your idea of Birthright is outdoor hikes, camel rides, visits to the Western Wall and flirty bus trips up and down the spine of Israel, think again. The third-party vendors that work with the Taglit-Birthright Israel...
"You are living in a paradise in comparison to the Syrian people. Shame on you. We are being killed," said Issam Zeitoun, who lives in the Syrian portion of the Golan Heights, in response to Arab-Israeli students who accused him of being a traitor because he was speaking in Israel. Zeitoun was one of two Syrian opposition figures who addressed Israelis Jan. 17 at Hebrew University's Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace in Jerusalem. The Syrians shared their plight and...
Netanyahu and Trump to meet Feb. 15 WASHINGTON (JTA)—President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel will meet in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 15. Trump “looks forward to discussing strategic technological military and intelligence cooperation with the prime minister,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday at the daily briefing for reporters. ”Our relationship with the only democracy in the Middle East is crucial to the security of both our nations,” Spicer said. Netanyahu confirmed and welcomed the invitatio...
(JNS.org) Sunday's Mideast conference in Paris, attended by officials from some 70 countries, concluded that the "two-state solution" is the only way forward to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and warned against unilateral steps by either side. In their final communique, conference participants said they "call on each side... to refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of negotiations on final-status issues, including, inter alia, on Jerusalem, borders, security,...
WASHINGTON-American victims of Palestinian terrorism are applauding Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson's criticism of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and are urging him to press the PA to take specific anti-terror steps. During his Senate confirmation hearing Jan. 11, Tillerson said that while the PA has renounced terrorism, "it's one thing to renounce it and another thing to take serious actions to prevent it." He also said Palestinian leaders have to do "something to at least interrupt...
