Weekly roundup of world briefs

White House ‘alarmed’ by Iran crackdown, still committed to nuke deal

(JNS) — The Biden administration is “alarmed” by the Iranian regime’s ongoing deadly crackdown on demonstrators across the country but is  still committed to forging a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.

“So, we’re alarmed and appalled by reports of security authorities responding to university students’ peaceful protests with violence and mass arrests,” she said, adding that these “crackdowns are precisely the sort of behavior that drives Iran’s talented young people to leave a country by the thousands to seek the dignity and opportunity elsewhere.”

Jean-Pierre’s comments came after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the United States and Israel of orchestrating the anti-regime protests taking place throughout Iran in recent weeks.

Khamenei strongly backed his security forces, which have killed more than 130 demonstrators, and claimed that the unrest, sparked by the death on Sept. 16 of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, was not being caused by “ordinary Iranians.”

Amini died in custody after being arrested by Iranian morality police in Tehran for failing to wear her hijab correctly.

Despite the Biden administration’s “concern” with Iran, Jean-Pierre made clear that the White House was still committed to reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, saying: “It is the best way for us to address the nuclear problem that—that we see. As long as we believe pursuing [the] talks is in the U.S. national security interest, we will do so.”

At the same time, she qualified, the U.S. will continue to use “other tools” to address “problems” with Iran’s actions.

Jewish gun owners sue New York over firearm ban in places of worship

(JNS) — New York government officials are being sued in the Southern District Court of New York by a group of Jewish gun owners who claim that the state’s new gun control law infringes on their rights by forbidding them to carry a firearm in their place of worship. 

Plaintiffs Steven Goldstein and Meir Ornstein filed the lawsuit on behalf of Congregation Bnei Matisyahu—a small, Modern Orthodox synagogue in Brooklyn’s Midwood neighborhood—to challenge New York’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act. 

The act was passed in July after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s handgun licensing law—which had been in place since 1911—that required applicants who wanted to carry a gun outside of their house to show “proper cause” for the need beyond wanting to protect themselves or their property. 

New York’s new law, which went into effect at the beginning of last month, bans concealed firearms from “sensitive locations” including houses of worship. 

According to the Times of Israel, the plaintiffs argue that the legislation violates their First Amendment right to free exercise of religion and the Second Amendment guarantee to bear arms, stating in the complaint that Jewish congregants cannot freely worship if they are unprotected and fearful. 

New York State’s Democratic Governor Cathy Hochul and New York Attorney General Letitia James, New York City’s Police Department Commissioner Keechant Seewell and several other officials were named as defendants in the case. 

The plaintiffs cited multiple anti-Semitic attacks on observant Jews and Jewish places of worship in recent years and said that the law “perversely renders ‘sensitive locations’ more sensitive.” 

“These are locations where would-be killers may fairly assume, people have been made defenseless,” they wrote. 

The plaintiffs are requesting a jury trial. On Monday, a motion by the plaintiffs for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction was denied without prejudice.

German synagogue reports shattered window during Yom Kippur services

By Philissa Cramer

(JTA) — A broken window interrupted the final moments of Yom Kippur services in Hannover, Germany, unsettling a Jewish community on edge because of prior attacks during the holiday.

It was unclear late Wednesday exactly what had happened at the Orthodox synagogue in the northern German city, officials there said. Police are investigating and had learned that there are no video cameras in the vicinity, according to local media reports. No one was injured in the incident.

The chair of the synagogue said he believed someone had entered the synagogue grounds and thrown an object through the window. The synagogue’s rabbi said he believed that the broken window represented an assault on his community.

“I don’t want to play down what happened, but such criminal acts were often our historical companions,” Rabbi Shlomo Afanasev wrote on Twitter, where he posted videos of the broken window. “We will not be intimidated and will continue to build: our communities, our families, and Judaism in Germany.”

The incident comes three years after an attack on a synagogue in Halle, Germany, during Yom Kippur perpetrated by a neo-Nazi extremist who is now serving a life sentence. Last year, German police said they foiled a Yom Kippur attack on a synagogue in Hagen planned by a family with ties to Islamic terrorism.

German officials say they want a full explanation of the incident in Hannover. “If it is confirmed that the window was smashed, this is not mere property damage,” Boris Pistorius, the interior minister of Lower Saxony, Hannover’s region, said in a statement. “Any form of violence against Jewish life is an attack on our free, open and solidary society.”

Israeli AG flip-flopped on how to OK maritime border deal

(JNS) — Israeli Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara told Prime Minister Yair Lapid that the proposed maritime border agreement with Lebanon could be approved by the security cabinet, but then changed her mind and said it would need to be voted on by the full cabinet and then brought before the Knesset.

According to the report, Baharav-Miara stated her initial position orally to Prime Minister Yair Lapid, but then changed her stance which was not aligned with that of the Justice Ministry.

The maneuvering came to light as five of Israel’s seven deputy attorneys general were working to formulate a formal position; however, while they were doing so they discovered via the press that Baharav-Miara had already conveyed her original decision to the government.

In any case, the American mediator’s “final” draft agreement is unlikely to be submitted for approval anytime soon, after Beirut nixed the proposal and demanded amendments to the text.

Lapid on Sunday rejected the proposed changes.

The development follows revelations that Jerusalem’s lead negotiator in the U.S.-mediated talks with Beirut quit last week due to disagreements with the Prime Minister’s Office over how the process was being handled.

Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Lapid of caving in to Hezbollah’s demands with regard to the potential agreement.

Pro-Israel organizations: UC Berkeley law school student groups should rescind ‘Jew-free zones’

(JNS) — More than 30 Jewish and pro-Israel organizations signed a letter this week asking nine student organizations at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law to rescind their recent move to create “Jew-free zones” that seek to prevent the invitation of pro-Israel speakers to campus.

The student groups passed a bylaw stating that they would refuse to invite speakers supporting “Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel, and the occupation of Palestine.”

“The bylaw is a vicious attempt to marginalize and stigmatize the Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel community and to normalize the requirement that Zionist Jews hide or alter a fundamental aspect of their identity in order to be fully accepted in certain arenas,” the pro-Israel organizations wrote in a letter published by the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles on Oct. 3. “This is unabashed anti-Semitism. The fact that nine student organizations at Berkeley Law have already adopted this view raises a very real concern that they will work to persuade others to do the same. Indeed, such a requirement by even one club is too many.”

They added, “As a first step, the nine student organizations should rescind the new, discriminatory provisions from their bylaws or face appropriate sanctions for their failure to do so.”

Liora Rez — executive director of StopAntisemitism, one the organizations that signed the letter — said that “the audacity of these groups to think they are being progressive by excluding Jews is abhorrent.”

“California taxpayers, Berkeley alumni and university donors should not be contributing one penny to any Berkeley law school linked group that has signed on to such pernicious censorship. Those involved with this campaign should be sanctioned by the Law School and barred from any honors or law reviews,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, leaders of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, another group that signed the letter.

PA security forces rescue Israeli family from Nablus, Jewish tourists from Hebron

(JNS) — Palestinian police extracted three Jewish tourists from Hebron on Wednesday, after their vehicle was stopped and surrounded by a mob, according to Israeli media reports.

The tourists, whose identity has not yet been made public, entered the city by accident, according to Channel 12.

On Tuesday, Palestinian security forces extracted an Israeli and three of her children, residents of Elad, from Nablus after they were surrounded by dozens of local residents, according to Kan News.

According to initial investigations, the woman entered Nablus, known in Israel as Shechem, accompanied by a Palestinian she knew, apparently from the Qalqilya region.

When they reached Nablus’s Kasbah area, they were pulled out of their vehicle by armed Palestinians, according to Kan. Palestinian security forces arrived on the scene and extracted them, according to the report. The Palestinian who had accompanied her was shot in the leg during the incident, according to Kan.

An Israeli security source was cited by Kan as stating that “without the P.A. security forces, this incident could have ended in tragedy.”

Bank of Israel Governor says interest rates will increase further

(JNS) — The Bank of Israel, headed by Governor Prof. Amir Yaron, said interest rates in Israel would continue to increase from the current 2.75% to around 4.5 — 5 percent by the end of the year.

“Inflation is affecting a wide range of items, and over time more and more of these items are being identified with high demand. That is why we are continuing the process of raising the interest rate,” Yaron told the Israeli business publication Globes on Tuesday.

“Our estimates are that inflation will be between 4.5 percent and 5 percent until the end of the year and then a slow process of decline will begin,” he said, adding, “If everything goes according to plan, and all plans are subject to uncertainty, we predict that inflation will enter the target range by the middle of next summer and may be more in retreat towards the end of the summer.”

The rising interest rates affect many businesses and families, mainly due to an increase in mortgage rates, Yaron acknowledged.

Over 2,000 Christians heading to Jerusalem for ‘Feast of Tabernacles’

(JNS) — More than 2,000 Christians from over 70 nations will arrive in Jerusalem in the coming days to participate in the 43rd annual Feast of Tabernacles celebration, sponsored by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.

The week-long festivities, from Oct. 9-16, coinciding with the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, will constitute the largest Christian gathering and solidarity mission to the Jewish state of 2022.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Christians made up 55 percent of the 4.5 million tourists to Israel in 2019—the year prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Of these, 28 percent were evangelicals, who constituted 13 percent of all tourists to the country that year.

The ICEJ’s Feast will kick off for the first time ever on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, with two nights (Oct. 9-10) of worship concerts at the Capernaum National Park. The festival then moves to Jerusalem for five days of events, including the “Roll Call of the Nations” at the Jerusalem Pais Arena on Tuesday, and the popular Jerusalem March next Thursday afternoon.

The Feast will conclude with 1,000 Christian pilgrims visiting the western Negev for a special solidarity rally and tree-planting ceremony with Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael and leaders of Israeli communities along the Gaza border.

Pro-Israel group wins double victory against BDS in Spain

(JNS) — Action and Communication on the Middle East (ACOM), a pro-Israel group combating anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activities in Spain, has scored two victories against the BDS Movement, most recently on Wednesday.

First, on Oct. 3, Spain’s Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that BDS is discriminatory and it is illegal for public institutions to support organizations or events associated with it.

ACOM brought the case against the BDS-supporting group Interpueblos.

Then, on Oct. 5, the Spanish Parliament adopted a bill passed by the Madrid Assembly regional legislature. The bill would stop public financing of any BDS group or activity in Spain.

“We are delighted with the decision by the Spanish Parliament to take a strong stand against BDS and declare its activities as anti-Semitic,” said President of ACOM Angel Mas.

“Moreover, together with the Supreme Court decision, a strong message has been delivered that BDS is discriminatory and anti-Semitic. I am not sure there has been a more forceful legislative and judicial pushback against BDS anywhere in the world where this anti-Semitic movement exists,” he added.

While ACOM has previously won 85 decisions in municipal and regional courts against BDS, this is the first time one of these decisions was upheld by Spain’s highest court.

The anti-Israel boycott movement has strong support in Spain. BDS-linked organizations have received “millions of euros in grants by government or government-affiliated NGOs,” according to ACOM.

Sharansky to head board for Combat Antisemitism Movement

(JNS) — Natan Sharansky accepted the position of chairman of the Combat Antisemitism Movement Board of Advisors, the group announced on Thursday.

“It is a very tenuous time for Jews around the world because of rising hate emanating from multiple directions and ideologies,” Sharansky said.

“We are at a tipping point where anti-Semitism has become respectable and acceptable and many of its perpetrators do not even realize they are being anti-Semitic. That is why the struggle for international recognition of the IHRA definition is very important.”

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) Working Definition of Anti-Semitism, which has been adopted by more than 35 nations, provides a way to identify modern manifestations of anti-Semitism and develop strategies to fight them.

“It has become worryingly comfortable and even praiseworthy to hold positions on Jews or Jewish collectivity that would not be acceptable against any other people or minority. This is anti-Semitism and we need to combat it together with allies and friends, and that is what CAM is doing so effectively,” Sharansky added.

Sharansky, who previously served as deputy prime minister of Israel and chairman of the Jewish Agency, is possibly best known as a former Prisoner of Zion and leader in the struggle for the right of Soviet Jews to immigrate to Israel.

CAM is a global coalition engaging more than 600 partner organizations and 1.7 million people from an array of religious, political and cultural backgrounds in the fight against the world’s oldest hatred.