Weekly roundup of world briefs

Hundreds of pilgrims to Uman suspected of forging negative COVID tests

By Shira Hanau

(JTA) — Hundreds of Israelis who traveled to Ukraine for an annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to the grave of a Hasidic rabbi are suspected of using forged negative COVID tests to return to Israel after testing positive for the virus.

Tens of thousands of Israelis travel to Uman, Ukraine each year in a pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Nachman, the leader of the Breslov branch of Hasidism. The pilgrimage was essentially canceled last year when Israelis were barred from traveling to Ukraine due to the pandemic. Some who attempted the trip ended up camped on the Ukrainian border in Belarus for weeks, with the Red Cross even coming to their aid, before returning to Israel. This year, the Israeli government agreed to allow travelers to visit the country in accordance with certain rules, including masking and testing requirements.

But the rules appear to have fallen apart on the ground.

The travelers were required to present a negative COVID test before traveling to Ukraine and before returning to Israel. Some of those who tested positive acquired fake test results to board their flights back to Israel. The travelers are expected to be charged with fraud, forgery and spreading an infectious disease, according to Haaretz, and were taken to their homes to quarantine by ambulances.

“The Israeli government takes a very serious view of patients who fraudulently enter Israel by falsifying documents and deliberately spread disease, which constitutes an irresponsible act of harming public peace,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement.

Apartment building collapses in Israel one day after being evacuated

By Shira Hanau

(JTA) — An apartment building in Israel collapsed last Sunday, destroying the homes of some 36 families but leaving no casualties.

The building collapse, coming just a few months after the collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida killing 98 people, might have become a similarly horrific tragedy had the building not been evacuated the day before.

Residents of the building said they heard a loud noise Saturday, prompting the authorities to evacuate residents of the apartment building and the buildings next to it. Images of the building before it collapsed that were posted to social media showed huge cracks in the walls with peeling paint and, in some areas, chunks of the wall falling off. The structure collapsed on its own last Sunday afternoon, destroying the homes but without any casualties or injuries.

“Professional sources estimate that the quick evacuation of the building carried out yesterday saved 36 families from a terrible disaster,” a spokesperson for the Israel Fire and Rescue Services said, according to the Times of Israel.

Daveed Diggs, Rachel Bloom, Sue Bird and more: The Almas award 5781’s top Jewish pop culture contributors

By Gabe Friedman

(JTA) — It’s not just the High Holidays, the time of year when Jews reflect on their past year and atone for their sins. For the third time now, it’s also time to appreciate the Jewish moments that helped define the year in pop culture — in the form of The Almas.

Alma, which like the Jewish Telegraphic Agency is part of 70 Faces Media, released its annual awards on Thursday. The winners comprise a comprehensive survey of the Jews who made a mark on TV, music, movies, books, sports and more in 5781.

This year, multiple winners filmed short acceptance speeches — most in humorous fashion.

Hannah Einbinder, whom Alma named Breakout TV Actress for her star turn in HBO’s comedy “Hacks” (and also happens to be a big Alma fan), posted hers after a falafel run.

Musician Sasha Spielberg, Alma’s Breakout Jewish Artist (and daughter of Steven), was taken by surprise by the honor.

And English heartthrob Ben Barnes, a star of the Netflix fantasy series “Shadow and Bone” and winner of Alma’s Breakout TV Actor award, shared a message from Toronto, where he’s filming a new project.

Check out the rest of the awards on Alma.

On eve of 9/11, House of Representatives marks 20th anniversary of attacks with rabbi’s prayer for ‘shared holy days’

By Ron Kampeas

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The coincidence of the 9/11 terrorist attacks with the imminent High Holidays has long haunted the Jewish-American imagination.

On Friday, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the attacks, the U.S. House of Representatives acknowledged the coincidence with an opening prayer by a rabbi.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., asked Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff, a retired U.S. Navy chaplain who has become known for his work to sanctify moments of American trauma, to deliver the prayer. Resnicoff likened the trauma of the memory of 9/11 to the introspection that comes with the Jewish High Holidays.

“Twenty years ago, an era ended: pre-9/11 world,” he said in his prayer.

“Twin Towers stood. No deadly Pentagon attack. No civilian airline passengers, crew, had sacrificed their lives to protect the Capitol from attack. Next day, our world forever changed. High Holy Days now challenge Jews worldwide: assess, atone, improve. But regardless of religion, Americans now share holy days, blessed by memories of the righteous who kept faith alive.”

Al-Qaida terrorists who hijacked four planes killed nearly 3,000 people in attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City and on the Pentagon. Passengers and crew thwarted a planned attack by overcoming the terrorists and crashing the plane in Pennsylvania. The plane was believed to be headed for the U.S. Capitol.

This year, the 9/11 anniversary falls during the Days of Awe, the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In 2001, Rosh Hashanah began on the evening of Sept. 17, six days after the attacks. Then-President George W. Bush noted the coincidence in his holiday message.

Resnicoff, a Vietnam War veteran, was instrumental in the establishment of the memorial for that war and has delivered invocations in Congress marking other traumatic events.

Ryan Braun, former MVP and the all-time Jewish home run hitter, retires from Major League Baseball

By Jacob Gurvis

(JTA) — Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder who slugged more home runs than any Jewish player in baseball history and won a Most Valuable Player award, announced his retirement on Tuesday, ending a 14-year career that was not without controversy.  

“While it’s impossible to summarize my emotions right now, what I feel most is one, simple thing: gratitude,” Braun said in his video announcement, which was shared on the Brewers’ social media. 

The 37-year-old California native was drafted fifth overall by Milwaukee in the 2005 Major League Baseball draft, making his debut two years later. He would go on to win National League Rookie of the Year in 2007 and the league’s MVP in 2011.

Braun, a six-time All-Star who played his entire career in Milwaukee, finished as a .296 hitter with 352 home runs, the most by a Jewish player, and 1,154 runs batted in. He has not played in 2021.

His accolades do, however, come with an asterisk. Following his 2011 MVP performance, Braun tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, reportedly lied about it and served a 65-game suspension in 2013. The slugger’s reputation was tarnished, especially among Jewish fans.

Occasionally known as the “Hebrew Hammer,” Braun is the son of an Israeli father, and has said he is proud of his Jewish heritage, though he does not observe the faith.

“I do consider myself definitely Jewish,” Braun told USA Today in 2010. “And I’m extremely proud to be a role model for young Jewish kids.”

The Brewers will honor Braun with a pregame ceremony on Sept. 26 prior to a game against the New York Mets. 

At Dutch COVID protest, men dressed as Nazis make mock arrest of participant wearing yellow star

By Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA) — Several men dressed like Nazis were seen pretending to arrest a man wearing a yellow star as part of a rally against COVID-19 measures in the Netherlands.

Saturday’s incident in Urk, near Amsterdam, was the latest among the hundreds of rallies worldwide in which protesters have drawn what they regard as parallels between the persecution of Jews by Nazis to rules meant to curb the spread of the virus.

But the protest in Urk was unusual because of its theatrics and the fact that it happened where the Nazis actually rounded up Jews at gunpoint.

The 10 men involved in the incident apologized for their actions in writing in a statement obtained by the “Hart van Nederland” television program.

“We wish to express out sincere apologies,” the statement read, adding that the protest “crossed a line that it should have not crossed.” The protesters said they did not mean to offend Jews.

The young men played out a scene in which SS officers at gunpoint led a man wearing a striped uniform and a yellow star like the one that Nazis made Jews wear during the Holocaust, the NOS broadcaster reported.

The Urk municipality, which is considered one of the most pro-Israeli communities in the Netherlands, condemned the display in a statement.

“This behavior is not only objectionable, but also extremely inappropriate and offensive for many groups in the population,” the statement read.

Urk has flown the Israeli flag on various occasions, including in May to show its solidarity with Israel during its exchange of fire with Hamas.

22 percent of adult Jewish gamers faced antisemitic harassment while playing, survey finds

By Ben Sales

(JTA) — More than one in five Jewish adults who play online multiplayer games faced antisemitism while playing, according to a new survey from the Anti-Defamation League.

The survey, published Wednesday, found that harassment and bigotry are common across the 97 million Americans who play multiplayer games. Among adult gamers surveyed, 83 percent said they have been harassed while playing. Sixty percent of gamers aged 13-17 who were surveyed said the same.

Among adults, nearly half of women said they were harassed, as did 42 percent of Black gamers and more than one-in-three Asian and LGBTQ+ gamers. A quarter of Muslim gamers also said they were harassed. More than seven-in-10 adults reported what the ADL calls “severe abuse, including physical threats, stalking, and sustained harassment.”

Among teems, Black, female and Asian gamers also reported the highest rates of harassment in their age group, though harassment is less common across the board among teens.

Only 7 percent of Jewish teen gamers said they were harassed for their identity. But 10 percent of teen gamers, and 8 percent of adult gamers, said they’ve been exposed to white supremacist extremism online. Among teens, 17 percent said they didn’t feel like talking to family or friends after being harassed, and 10 percent said they did worse in school because they were harassed.

Among both teens and adults, two-thirds said they sometimes or always hide their identity as a result of being targeted by hate.

The survey was conducted in June in collaboration with Nowzoo, a gaming and esports analytics firm. It includes 1,664 adult respondents and 542 teen respondents. Depending on the group, it has a margin of error of between 2 percent to 3 percent.

Human remains found in former Warsaw Ghetto buried in Jewish cemetery

By Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA) — Members of the Jewish community of Warsaw buried the bones of a person who may have died 80 years ago in the city’s ghetto during the Holocaust.

The identity of the person whose bones were buried is not known, The Associated Press wrote Tuesday. They had been discovered in the basement of a residential building by someone looking for the source of a water leak, AP reported.

In 1943, the Nazis crushed the former Warsaw Ghetto, killing as many of the residents as possible following an uprising.

The person who found the bones, Marek Slusarz, who is not Jewish, said he was glad to have been able to help bring the remains to a proper burial.

“After nearly 80 years this unknown person got his dignity back,” Leslaw Piszewski, chairman of the Jewish Community in Warsaw, said at the ceremony at a Jewish cemetery. “This is very important. This is the only thing that we can do for the unknown victim.”

Among the approximate 450,000 Jews locked up by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto, the largest in Europe, at least 80,000 died due to the horrific conditions, disease or starvation. Another 10,000 at least were killed during the uprising, according to the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Israel.

Jewish man assaulted in France after confronting men who called him ‘dirty Jew’

By Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA) — Police in France have arrested one suspect in connection with the gang beating of a Jewish man on a Lyon street.

Five men ganged up on the victim after calling him a “dirty Jew,” the Actu 17 news site reported. The Jewish man, who was wearing a kippah while walking down the street, suffered minor injuries.

The alleged assailants had ordered the Jewish man to leave the Gabriel-Peri square in the city’s 7th District. He confronted them verbally and challenged them to make it physical, according to an account that police believe reflects the occurrences on the incident on Sept. 8 at approximately 8 p.m., Actu 17 reported.

The suspect is a teenager under the age of 18.

Report: US to freeze $130 million of Egyptian military aid over human-rights abuses

(JNS) — The United States is withholding $130 million worth of military aid to Egypt in order to pressure it to improve human rights, said two sources, including a U.S. official, according to Reuters.

The Biden administration decision would stop the transfer of the aid until Egypt improves its human-rights record, said an official quoted in the Reutersreport. Sources said an official announcement would occur later this week.

Abdel Fattah El-Sisi came to power after toppling the Muslim Brotherhood government in 2013. The previous U.S. administration’s policy maintained the aid flow to Egypt.

The report comes a day after Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Bennett thanked El-Sisi for a warm reception at the coastal Egyptian city on the Sinai Peninsula, where the two agreed to continue broadening cooperation and dialogue on a range of issues.

Lee Zeldin announces that he is in remission from cancer, says it will not affect NY governor run

By Ron Kampeas

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Lee Zeldin, the prominent Jewish Republican congressman who is running for New York governor, announced that he is in remission from leukemia but will continue his campaign.

“Through early detection, last November, I was diagnosed with early-stage chronic myeloid leukemia (CML),” Zeldin’s congressional office said in a statement Saturday. “I then began treatment with an immediately positive response and no side effects. Over the last 9 months, I have achieved complete remission, am expected to live a normal life, and my doctor says I currently have no evidence of this disease in my system.”

Zeldin made his illness and remission public on Friday night at a country GOP dinner, as Maggie Haberman, the New York Times reporter, first reported in a tweet. Zeldin subsequently told Haberman that leukemia had no effect on his campaign for next year’s gubernatorial election.

His congressional office’s statement, which included an affirmation from Zeldin’s hematologist, said that Zeldin had not abated in his work as a congressman and that he had not missed assignments as a U.S. Army reservist.

Zeldin, who has garnered county GOP endorsements up and down the state, appears to be the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Winning the governorship, however, would be a long shot in the overwhelmingly Democratic state.

Zeldin, 41, represents New York’s 1st District, covering Long Island’s eastern stretch. He is one one two Jewish Republicans in Congress and emerged during the Trump presidency as one of the former president’s most robust defenders.