Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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JERUSALEM (JTA)-NASA released a photo of what it says is the crash site of Israel's Beresheet lunar lander. The image taken some 56 miles from the surface of the moon by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on April 22, 11 days after the crash, shows a dark smudge that indicates the point of impact. A light halo around the smudge could have formed from gas associated with the impact or from fine soil particles blown outward during Beresheet's descent, which smoothed out the soil around the...
(JTA)-Jessica Meir has been preparing to go into space since the age of 5. She attended her first space camp after finishing middle school and a training program at the Kennedy Space Center following her sophomore year at Brown University. It took Meir three tries to be chosen for NASA's highly selective astronaut training program, which she started in 2013 and from which she graduated two years later. Last month, NASA announced that Meir will be participating in her first mission. It still...
(JNS)—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on Wednesday that the creation of the State of Israel was “one of the greatest accomplishments of the 20th century.” “My view of the establishment of the State of Israel is one of the greatest accomplishments of the 20th century; it was a political, official establishment of a country,” she told The Washington Post. “It was so exciting.” “Israel, we have shared values. Our friend in the Middle East for a long time—our only friend, our most serious partner in the Middle East, let me put it tha...
Hundreds attend funeral of American killed by Hamas rocket By Sam Sokol JERUSALEM (JTA)—An American citizen killed while running for cover from a Hamas rocket was laid to rest in Jerusalem on Sunday evening. Hundreds turned out to bury Pinchas Menachem Prezuazman, a 21-year-old American Israeli from Ashdod. Prezuazman, a member of the Ger Hasidic sect, leaves behind a wife and baby. He was the fourth Israeli to be killed before the conflict eased with a cease-fire early Monday morning. He was in the stairwell of an apartment building when it w...
(JNS)-More than 10,000 Jewish and non-Jewish youth from 40 countries and dozens of Holocaust survivors and dignitaries from around the globe participated in the 31st annual International March of the Living, which began on Thursday, May 2. The nearly two-mile march from Auschwitz to Birkenau is a tribute to all victims of the Holocaust and a call for an end to anti-Semitism. For the first time, the event's main ceremony recalled Greek Jewry, which was almost completely annihilated by the Nazis a...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Despite Monday morning’s cease-fire, which ended two days of intense fighting between Israel and Hamas, the “campaign is not over,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “Over the last two days we struck Hamas and Islamic Jihad with great force,” Netanyahu said. “We hit over 350 targets. We struck at terrorist leaders and operatives and we destroyed terrorist buildings. The campaign is not over and it demands patience and sagacity. We are prepared to continue. The goal has been—and remains—ensurin...
(JNS)-As they do every year on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israelis across the country stood at silent attention on Thursday morning as sirens wailed. On Wednesday evening, as Holocaust Remembrance Day began, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin were on hand at the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem to lay a wreath in memory of the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis during the course of World War II. At Yad Vashem, six torches were lit by...
(JNS)-On Holocaust Memorial Day (Yom Hashoah) on May 2, under the theme "Say No to Anti-Semitism," more than 10,000 Jewish and non-Jewish youth from 40 different countries, together with dozens of Holocaust survivors and dignitaries from around the world, participated in the 31st annual International March of the Living to pay tribute to all victims of the Holocaust and call for an end to anti-Semitism. A delegation of U.S. ambassadors and White House representatives, headed by U.S. Ambassador...
KRAKOW, Poland (JTA)-At the age of 93, Holocaust survivor Ed Mosberg is saying his goodbyes to the city of his birth. Flanked by two physicians who accompanied him all the way from New Jersey, Mosberg, who made his fortune in construction after surviving several Nazi concentration camps, traveled here Tuesday as he has done for at least 20 years to participate in the commemorative March of the Living through the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz near Krakow. But suffering from recently diagnosed...
(JTA)—For most of his adult life, Sammy Ghozlan has worked with French authorities fighting crime. Ghozlan, 75, started as a police officer, ascending through the ranks to become a police commissioner in the Paris area. And since 2002 he has headed one of French Jewry’s most prominent watchdog groups. The National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA, specializes in documenting hate crimes against Jews and helping victims bring offenders to justice. Ghozlan, who moved to Israel in 2015, “generally had confidence in the Frenc...
(JTA)—One night years ago, when a Jewish man was driving to his parents’ house in Caracas, Venezuela, two cars blocked off the street he was on and held him up at gunpoint. He got into their car and began answering questions: who he was, where he lived, how much money he could give them for his release. After three hours of this interrogation, the kidnappers drove to his house, got $10,000 from his wife through the front door, and let him go. Although he was wearing a kippah, he doesn’t recall the kidnappers being anti-Semitic. Such “expr...
FBI got tip about Poway shooter 5 minutes before synagogue attack By Marcy Oster (JTA)—The FBI was tipped off to a threat about five minutes before the deadly shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue, but it was too late to stop the attack. The agency said in a statement first provided to The Associated Press that information came through its tip website and phone line about the threatening message posted by the alleged shooter to social media. The tip included a link to the message, but no specific information about the post’s author or whe...
(JNS)—Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said during a special session of the U.N. Security Council that the Bible does “prove the case for Jewish ownership of the Land of Israel.” Danon, who addressed the global forum on a debate regarding the Palestinian question, wore a black kipah and quoted from the book of Genesis as evidence of the Jewish people’s connection to the land of Israel. “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant....
(JNS)-At the sixth BDS National Conference on March 16 in Ramallah, the BDS National Committee presented a comprehensive 2019-2020 strategic plan for the movement, focusing on expanding boycott practices, implementing a strict "anti-normalization" policy with Israel and seeking to lobby key international organizations such as the European Union against Israel. Conference workshops were focused on BDS policies, labor sectors and trade unions, normalization standards and BDS efforts in the...
(JNS)—Several international funding platforms are severing ties with the BDS organization Samidoun after its purported ties to a Palestinian terrorist group. According to an email obtained by JNS from the International Legal Forum, PayPal said it would “thoroughly review” Samidoun’s account, and that it will “take further action as appropriate in this case.” Following similar complaints, Samidoun’s accounts with both Donorbox and Plaid have been removed. Yifa Segal, director of the International Legal Forum, told JNS that Samidoun is clearly af...
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (JTA)-I believe in the Jewish people's right to live in our homeland. That profound belief has no bearing on the rights of others to live here as well. There are Palestinians who live and work in the land of Israel, and while I may seldom agree with the positions of their elected officials, the Palestinians are certainly entitled to live their own lives with the same dignity as anyone else. I also believe in peace, and I deeply wish for peace for all of the Jews and Arabs...
Florida Passover guests left in the lurch when program organizer fails to pay resort or vendors By Josefin Dolsten (JTA)—Guests at a Passover program in Florida faced eviction after it emerged the organizer owed at least $75,000 to the resort, vendors and staff. The A Different Pesach program had promised guests would stay in private villas in Orlando with shared communal spaces, including a synagogue tent, and kosher food for the eight days of Passover. But after hundreds of guests arrived, it emerged that program owner Ben Atkin had not paid...
(JTA)-Two Jewish billionaires have pledged a total of $122 million toward the restoration of Paris' Notre Dame cathedral, which was ravaged in a fire. Lily Safra, a Brazilian philanthropist, said she would give $22 million to fund the restoration efforts of the iconic church, which was badly damaged Monday, Correio 24 Horas reported. And Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the French owner of L'Oreal, pledged another $100 million, according to CBS. The donations account for about 17 percent of the...
By Ariel Ben Solomon (JNS)—The Mideast peace plan soon to be presented by the U.S. administration is likely not going to get very far upon its initial presentation, but it could provide Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump with an opportunity to alter the dynamics of the conflict. Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch, told JNS in an exclusive interview that the Palestinian Authority “will definitely reject” the upcoming U.S. backed peace plan, and that past Palestinian behavior does...
(JTA)—Just days before Israel was to hold national elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to annex parts of the West Bank as Israeli territory. “I’m going to extend sovereignty,” he said in an interview with Israeli Channel 12 on Saturday night, adding that “I don’t differentiate between the settlement blocs and isolated settlements.” The campaign promise is a last-minute bid to draw right-wing votes in a tight election race. But what does annexing West Bank settlements mean? How would it affect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks,...
Official US maps now show Golan Heights as part of Israel By Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA)—Official U.S. maps now include the Golan Heights as part of Israel. Jason Greenblatt, the top White House Middle East peace negotiator, posted a map Tuesday on his Twitter feed. “Welcome to the newest addition of our international maps system after @POTUS issued a proclamation recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights,” Greenblatt said. President Donald Trump in March recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the strategic plateau. Israel capture...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel’s election on Tuesday was contentious, historic, crazy—and somewhat predictable. Benjamin Netanyahu seems poised to become the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, with the help of his strengthened right-wing parliamentary bloc. But that didn’t mean the results didn’t bring some surprises. Here are the big takeaways. 1. Two winners? No Israeli party had ever garnered more than a million votes in an election, but two did on Tuesday: Netanyahu’s Likud Party, and former Israeli military chief of staff Benny G...
(JTA)-Benjamin Netanyahu appears likely to win a fifth term as Israel's prime minister as right-wing parties apparently have maintained their majority in the nationwide elections held Tuesday. With more than 95 percent of the vote counted, Netanyahu's Likud party and the opposition Blue and White party are virtually tied with more than 1 million votes apiece. According to Israeli news websites, each party is likely to win 35 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament. Despite the tie, Netanyah...
The Israeli SpaceIL spacecraft Beresheet-Hebrew for Genesis-is on the moon, but not in the way that was hoped. Beresheet snapped its first "selfie," with the help of NASA, as it was landing, 22 kilometers (13.67 miles) from the surface. Then it was over. Apparently it crashed on the moon's surface after traveling 47 days and 6.5 million kilometers (4,038,912.75 miles) through space. In the last few moments before it was to land, communication was lost, then recovered. Then the main engine failed...
(JTA)—In a reversal of a 2018 policy announcement, Airbnb will not remove West Bank settlement listings from its website. The policy change came after two federal court settlements Monday between the vacation rental company and two groups of American Jewish plaintiffs who had sued the company. One was organized by Shurat Hadin-Israel Law Center, a pro-Israel law organization, and the other was represented by lawyers Marc Zell and David Schultz. A copy of the Shurat Hadin settlement obtained by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency says that Airbnb w...
