Weekly roundup of world briefs

Yeshiva University can go through appeals process without changing LGBTQ+ club’s status

(JNS) — Putting aside their differences for the time being, Yeshiva University and the YU Pride Alliance have agreed to a stay of judgment in their ongoing court battle, allowing the university to go through the appeals process without making any changes to the status quo on campus.

The move is the latest action in the case that pits the university against students who want to have an officially recognized LGBTQ+ club on campus.

Yeshiva University claims that as a religious corporation, it is exempt from state rules that provide equal status based on sexual orientation. However, opponents say denying the students equal status violates their constitutional rights under the First Amendment.

In June, the New York State Supreme Court ordered YU to immediately recognize the YU Pride Alliance as it does other school clubs. The university sought a stay of that order and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for relief.

After an initial stay was granted by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the full court, in a 5-4 decision, denied Yeshiva University’s request. It ordered the school to take its appeal back to New York state courts, which YU has since done.

The court’s ruling meant that the Pride Alliance club would, at least for now, have had the same rights as other school clubs while the appeals process was ongoing. However, YU suspended all of its school clubs until after this fall’s Jewish holidays, which run until mid-October.

Under the new agreement in place, when clubs do return, YU will not be required to add the YU Pride Alliance until the appeals process has run its course.

Hanan Eisenman, director of communications at YU, said, “Now that Pride Alliance has offered a stay, we have sent their lawyers a signed agreement to stay the trial court order. We look forward to working together to quickly resolve this issue.”

Watchdog group gives 7 US colleges and universities a failing grade in new anti-Semitism report

(JNS) — Seven higher education institutions received a failing grade in the watchdog group StopAntisemitism’s inaugural Antisemitism on College & University Campuses 2022 report, which grades 25 schools across the nation based on their past and current efforts to counteract anti-Semitism on campus and protect their Jewish students.

StopAntisemitism divided the 25 schools into five categories: Ivy League, liberal arts, state schools and public and private schools with the highest population of Jewish students. The watchdog organization then analyzed and graded each school based on five components: protection of students regarding anti-Semitic incidents, policy, allyship with Jewish students and how students identify publicly or feel the need to hide their Jewish identity on campus. 

Using report card-style grading, StopAntisemitism gave seven schools an F and only three schools an A. Brandeis University, Tulane University and the University of Pennsylvania earned the highest grade. The schools that received a failing grade are Yale University, Columbia University, Swarthmore College, City University of New York’s Brooklyn College, New York University, the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley.

“We are seeing pervasive anti-Semitism infecting higher education in America at an alarming rate,” said StopAntisemitism executive director Liora Rez. “Colleges should be a place where students come to grow, learn, and push forward in life, instead campuses are becoming breeding grounds for Jew-hatred.”

“Through the ‘Antisemitism on U.S. College & University Campuses 2022’ report card system, parents of Jewish students have a chance to see which colleges are not doing enough to protect the welfare of Jewish students,” she added. “The results are grim and reflect a trend that desperately needs to change.”

StopAntisemitism also examined how each of the 25 schools has responded to anti-Semitic incidents by surveying the institutions’ administrations and separately posing questions to Jewish students. Only three institutions participated in the survey. Hundreds of students took part in the survey, with 55 percent answering “yes” when asked if they have experienced anti-Semitism at their school. Just 28 percent of students said they believe their school administration takes the matter of anti-Semitism and the protection of Jewish students seriously.

Abbas denounces Israel at UN, ignores Lapid’s concessionary speech

(JNS) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Israel in the strongest terms before the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Friday, dismissing a concessionary speech made by Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid the day before.

Claiming “Israel does not believe in peace” and blaming it for intentionally “destroying the two-state solution,” Abbas accused Israel of a litany of crimes, from killing Palestinians “in broad daylight” to targeting Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem (“our eternal capital”) to preventing Arabs in Jerusalem from voting in Palestinian elections.

He said the P.A. would pursue Israel in international forums, including the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

He added that Israel committed “50 massacres” and had established “Jewish racist terrorist organizations” led by Knesset members, which waged terror against Palestinians.

Abbas also expressed support for “martyrs,” a Palestinian euphemism for terrorists who have carried out attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

“I would like to pay tribute to the martyrs of the Palestinian people who have led the way to freedom and independence with their blood,” he said.

“I would like to pay tribute to the brave prisoners who are living martyrs,” he added.

Abbas singled out one prisoner, Nasser Abu Hamid, a Palestinian prisoner suffering from cancer, which the P.A. has made a cause celebre.

Abu Hamid confessed in December 2002 to the murder of seven Israelis. He was handed three life sentences and 50 years of additional imprisonment.

Describing him as a “hero and a martyr,” Abbas admitted that Abu Hamid had “committed a crime” and then accused Israel of having failed to provide medical treatment for his cancer or of allowing his mother to visit.

It was only toward the end of his speech that Abbas acknowledged remarks by Lapid and U.S. President Joe Biden at the U.N. General Assembly in favor of a two-state solution.

“This is, of course, a positive development,” he said, adding that “the real test” would be if Israel returns to the negotiating table “tomorrow” and stops “expanding the settlements and killing and demolishing.”

‘Hamas must choose between violence and rebuilding Gaza’

(JNS) — Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza, will not be permitted to continue to pursue a double policy of both rebuilding the Strip and orchestrating terrorism in Judea and Samaria, Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Ronen Bar says.

The domestic intelligence chief spoke in an internal agency discussion, Channel 12 reported on Saturday.

His comment appears to be a warning to scale-back Hamas’s extensive efforts to establish terror cells in Judea and Samaria and supply them with funds and instructions on attacks.

On Sept. 19, the Shin Bet announced that it exposed a terror cell active in Nablus and Hebron, which planned attacks against civilians and security personnel under the command of a Hamas operative in the Gaza Strip.

Seven suspects, all Hamas members, were arrested and Israeli forces seized weapons in the counter-terrorism operation.

Nearly half of Israelis agree Iran nuke sites should be attacked even without US support

(JNS) — Forty-nine percent of all Israelis, and 55 percent of those who are Jewish, strongly or somewhat agree that Israel should attack Iranian nuclear sites even without U.S. support, according to a survey by the Israel Democracy Institute.

The study also found that less than a third of Jewish Israelis (31 percent) want the next government in Jerusalem to advance the two-state solution as a means of resolving the conflict with the Palestinians. A full 36 percent of Israelis, including 58 percent of Jews, do not want this paradigm to be promoted following the Jewish state’s Nov. 1 elections (11 percent of Jewish Israelis said they were unsure how the next government should proceed).

Regarding the upcoming Jewish New Year, which begins on Sunday at sundown, 29 percent of Israelis believe that next year will be better than the previous one; 30 percent think it will be about the same; 21 percent believe it will be worse; and 20 percent said that they don’t know.

The survey of 605 men and women interviewed in Hebrew and 149 in Arabic was conducted on the internet and by telephone between Sept. 18 and Sept. 20, 2022, and has a margin of error of 3.59 at a confidence level of 95 percent.

Iranian president calls to ‘deal decisively’ with protests

(JNS) — Iran must “deal decisively” with protests that have engulfed the country for over a week following the death of a woman arrested by Tehran’s “morality police,” President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday.

According to the report, at least 41 people have been killed in a government crackdown on unrest that has erupted throughout the Islamic Republic, with analysts saying the number of deaths is much higher than the official tally.

At least 1,200 people have been arrested, the state-backed Tasmin news agency reported Saturday.

Raisi said that Tehran must “deal decisively with those who oppose the country’s security and tranquillity.”

The president “stressed the necessity to distinguish between protest and disturbing public order and security, and called the events … a riot.”

The demonstrations began in northwestern Iran at the funeral of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died after falling into a coma following her detention by “morality police” who were enforcing rules requiring women to wear a hijab and dress “modestly.”

The protests are the largest in Iran since one over fuel prices in 2019, when an estimated 1,500 people were killed in a crackdown on demonstrators.

Israel-S. Korea trade deal to go into effect in December

(JNS) — South Korea’s National Assembly has ratified a free trade accord with Israel, and it will take effect on December 1.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid welcomed the news on Twitter.

“Great news: the first-ever free trade agreement between Israel and a country in Asia has been ratified,” said Lapid. “This agreement will create new opportunities & help lower the cost of living in both our nations.”

Great news: the first-ever free trade agreement between Israel and a country in Asia has been ratified.

Under the agreement, signed in May 2021, there will be mutual reductions in customs charges on goods and measures to facilitate trade in other areas such as services and investment, and mutually agreed-upon standards, reported the Israeli business daily Globes. Among other things, the 7 percent levy on South Korean automobile imports will be eliminated.

More than 95 percent of Israeli exports to South Korea will be duty free.

Trade between the countries was worth approximately $3.5 billion in 2021, up 35 percent from the previous year.

First flight: Israeli-designed electric plane takes off in US

(JNS) — An all-electric prototype airplane, dubbed Alice, took off from the city of Moses Lake in Washington state on Tuesday.

The plane, designed by Israeli and American engineers, climbed to 3,500 feet after making two wide turns around the airfield, and eight minutes later, the jet successfully landed.

Eviation, an Arlington, Washington-based startup, designed and built the plane, which can transport nine passengers and one or two pilots and is powered by slightly more than 21,500 Tesla-style battery cells that together weigh more than 4 tons.

Lewis Carroll’s fantastical tales of Alice’s travels in Wonderland inspired the name of the aircraft.

“What’s next is actually producing an airplane for the marketplace,” Eviation CEO Greg Davis told The Seattle Times.

Eviation eventually intends to produce three models, all of which will differ significantly from the prototype in terms of design: an executive model with a more opulent cabin, a cargo variant, and a nine-passenger configuration.

US downs Iranian drone

(JNS) — The American military’s Central Command announced on Wednesday that it “brought down” an Iranian drone near Erbil, in Iraq’s Kurdish region, as it threatened U.S. personnel in the area.

“At approximately 2:10 PM local time, U.S. forces brought down an Iranian [Qods] Mohajer-6 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle headed in the direction of Erbil as it appeared as a threat to CENTCOM forces in the area,” said the statement from CENTCOM spokesperson Col. Joe Buccino.

The Iranian drone attack targeting the base of an Iranian-Kurdish resistance group in northern Iraq killed at least nine persons and wounded 32 others, according to the Kurdish Regional Government’s Health Ministry.

No U.S. personnel were injured by the Iranian attack, said Buccino.

“U.S. Central Command condemns the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ unprovoked attack in Iraq’s Erbil Governorate this morning,” said the statement.

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry and the Kurdistan Regional Government condemned the attack.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said: “We strongly condemn Iran’s use of ballistic missiles and drone attacks against the Iraqi Kurdistan Region as an unjustified violation of Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Israel to allow 24-hour access at border crossing with Jordan

(JNS) — Israel will open the Allenby Bridge border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan for 24-hour access beginning Oct. 24, roughly one month after U.S. President Joe Biden set the target date during his visit to Israel in July.

“We welcome news that Allenby/King Hussein Bridge will be open 24/7 for a pilot period beginning Oct. 24,” announced the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs on Wednesday.

“We and [the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem] continue to engage the government of Israel to increase efficiency & accessibility to the bridge for the benefit of Palestinians, as [Biden] said in July,” the statement added.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides praised the opening for a pilot period, saying the move “will make a real difference in people’s lives!”

Separately, Nides reiterated the Biden administration’s objective to limit settlement growth in Judea and Samaria.

“We do not support settlement growth. I made that position quite clear to the government, to all the players…including the prime minister,” Nides said in Jerusalem, according to The Jerusalem Post.

“We will continue working with the Israeli government to limit any settlement growth outside of green line Israel,” he added.

Mexican cops raid Lev Tahor compound, remove children

(JNS) — Mexican police raided the jungle compound of Jewish extremist sect Lev Tahor (“Pure Heart”) and removed minors from the site, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

Two adult members of the group, described by former members as a cult, are under arrest on suspicion of human trafficking and severe sexual offenses, including rape.

Some 80 Mexican law enforcement officials took part in the raid. Twenty-six persons were detained at the compound in Tapachula, in the far southeast state of Chiapas, including citizens of Israel, the United States, Canada and Guatemala. Some will be deported.

A three-year-old boy rescued from the compound arrived in Israel in recent days, where he was reunited with his father, who had previously escaped the sect.

Lev Tahor “is known for extremist practices and imposing a strict regime on members,” the BBC report said, adding, “It advocates child marriage, inflicts harsh punishments for even minor transgressions and requires women and girls as young as three years old to completely cover up with robes.”

Dubbed “the Jewish Taliban” due to a dress code similar to that imposed by the Islamist group ruling Afghanistan, the sect has been the subject of regular media coverage in Israel as well as attempts by former members to draw attention to the suffering of children in the group.

Lev Tahor was founded by anti-Zionist rabbi Shlomo Helbrans in Jerusalem in 1988.