Scene Around

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)...

I read this in a letter from the American Jewish Congress (AJC) and pass it along to you. Warning! This is aggravating to read:

"Iran subjects children to the death penalty, including public hangings from cranes.

North Korea maintains vast gulags where political prisoners, including the descendants and distant relatives of alleged political offenders, endure arbitrary executions, starvation, and forced marriages for the purpose of breeding slaves.

Russia has enacted sweeping homophobic legislation that criminalizes the sharing of information about gay, lesbian, and other 'non-traditional' relationships.

So when a global network of self-proclaimed human rights activists decided to target a country for boycott, divestment, and sanctions... a country whose record they claimed was so profoundly warped it should be excluded from the community of nations... which nation did they select?

Democratic Israel, of course!

(Welcome to the pernicious logic of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The BDS movement calls on academic groups, from the United States to Britain to South Africa, to vote to boycott Israeli scholars and universities, isolating them from grants, journals, conferences, and more. BDS activists have urged musicians, authors and other cultural figures to cancel appearances in Israel. They pursue boycotts of Israeli goods and companies that do business in Israel, press campuses across the U.S. and the world to divest from Israel, and call for governments to sanction the Jewish State for phantom breaches of international law. Every day the BDS movement's absurd allegations are in the headlines. Israel stands accused of crimes against humanity, accusations that plant seeds of doubt, even when they are not proved. Every time the BDS movement holds a demonstration on campus, or harasses a Jewish student group, it makes the situation for our youth at colleges and universities all the more hostile. Every time Israel is outrageously likened to outlaw regimes like apartheid-era South Africa, her very right to exist is called into question.

These are the classic tactics of insinuation and intimidation and there is only one way to respond: STAND UP AND FIGHT BACK!"

"A Marvelous Party!"...

That is the name of the show opening at the Winter Park Playhouse on Nov. 11. It will run through Nov. 20 and then again on Dec. 1 to the 11th, with previews on Nov. 10 and 11.

The actual name is "A Marvelous Party! The Noel Coward Celebration."

The advance is as follows: "You're invited to a party as sparkling as a newly-popped bottle of champagne, a dazzling evening of ravishing melody and witty repartee!

This effervescent musical revue is a lighthearted romp featuring thirty-three tunes and a bevy of sketches, anecdotes, writings and musing of the incomparable Noel Coward."

For further information, directions and ticket prices, you can contact the Playhouse at either 407-645-0145 or .

And speaking of music, a reminder...

The Congregation Ohev Shalom Seniors shows are a highlight in my life. I look forward to each and every one.

This Sunday, November 6th at 2 p.m., the fabulous musical group Eastside, with JOE LUPIS, JIMMY and ROBIN VENTURA, will entertain, followed by refreshments.

The cost is only $5 for COS Senior members; $8 for all others. For further details or directions, phone President, BERNY RAFF at 407-767-6763.

Shout out...

I want to thank the entire staff of Panera Bread on Aloma Avenue in Winter Park, for being kind, fast, and very pleasant. They even gave me a baseball cap! The food is good too!

One for the road...

Saul Epstein was taking an oral exam, applying for his citizenship papers. He was asked to spell "cultivate," and he spelled it correctly.

He was then asked to use the word in a sentence, and, with a big smile, responded: "Last vinter on a very cold day, I was vaiting for a bus, but it was too cultivate, so I took the subvay home."