Weekly roundup of world briefs

175,000 Israeli children not vaccinated against polio

(JNS) — The New York State Department of Health issued a warning over the weekend for travelers to Israel to ensure they are fully immunized against polio.

It came after Israel’s Health Ministry earlier confirmed four positive cases in children who came into contact with a girl who was infected in Tzfat in the Upper Galilee.

On Monday, Channel 12 news cited a Health Ministry statistic to the effect that at least 175,000 Israeli children are not vaccinated against polio, described by the New York State Health Department as “a highly contagious, life-threatening disease that affects the nervous system and can cause muscle weakness, paralysis and even death.”

The five infected children are asymptomatic. Most unvaccinated children won’t develop symptoms and the majority who do fully recover. However, fewer than 1 percent will develop irreversible paralysis, and some who recover develop “post-polio” syndrome years later that can cause paralysis.

Polio spreads through fecal matter from person to person, so thorough hand-washing is recommended and unvaccinated children should visit a local health center and get vaccinated against the disease.

In addition to Israel, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends taking precautions before visiting other countries with circulating polio, including the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire.

Israel has detected widespread polio contamination in wastewater and in February 2022, seven children tested positive for polio in Jerusalem, with six of them asymptomatic.

In 1988, the country experienced 16 cases of paralysis from the disease.

Saudi Arabia blocks Israeli delegation from attending UN awards ceremony

(JNS) — Saudi Arabia has blocked a group of Israeli Muslims from attending a United Nations event being held in the Gulf Arab state.

The U.N. World Tourism Organization invited villagers from the Circassian town of Kfar Kama in the Lower Galilee region of northern Israel to the event honoring their village, but Saudi authorities denied them visas, according to a report in Bloomberg.

Kfar Kama, home to the descendants of Muslim immigrants from the North Caucasus, was one of 32 places chosen as Best Rural Tourism Destinations of the year. Israel’s Tourism Ministry announced in December that Kfar Kama was included on the U.N. World Tourism Organization’s exclusive Best Tourism Villages 2022 list.

It marks the first time that an Israeli locale has been so recognized by the UNWTO.

Villagers from Kfar Kama and Israeli officials were invited by the UNWTO to the two-day event that started on Sunday in the ancient desert city of Al-’Ula, located in the Medina province of northwestern Saudi Arabia. However, the Israelis never received visas, despite an appeal by the United Nations.

The Old Town district of Al-’Ula is among the locations honored.

According to the Bloomberg report, the Israelis got worried when they hadn’t received their visas at the start of March, with Israel’s Foreign Ministry sending a letter to the UNWTO requesting the entry visa. The UNWTO last Monday sent a letter to the Saudi Ministry of Tourism to issue the visas so Israel could join the 22 other countries in Saudi Arabia for the event.

“In the spirit of assuring equal rights to all members of the organization, UNWTO as the UN specialized agency is seeking the kind support of the Ministry of Tourism of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in facilitating the visa issuance for the Israeli delegation,” Zurab Pololikashvili, the UNWTO secretary-general, wrote to the Saudi tourism ministry.

The snub comes as Jerusalem is attempting to persuade Riyadh to join the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in February said he was actively courting Saudi Arabia in an effort to persuade it to join the Trump administration-brokered agreements, as that would constitute a “quantum leap” towards regional peace.

But Riyadh is reportedly demanding security guarantees from the United States before it enters into any normalization deal with the Jewish state, along with assistance from the U.S. in building its civilian nuclear program.

Also in March, China brokered a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel’s arch-rival Iran.

IFCJ donates security vehicle to Ma’ale Adumim

(JNS) — The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has donated an $80,000 security vehicle to the city of Ma’ale Adumim, located southeast of Jerusalem.

The new Isuzu off-road vehicle will be used by local authorities for patrols and to provide an immediate response throughout the city, as well as in an adjacent industrial area where the security situation is more complex.

“Thank you to the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews for its contribution to the city of Ma’ale Adumim, to its security and its development. Our partnership with the Fellowship is beneficial to the betterment and well-being of the community,” said Ma’ale Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel.

Added IFCJ president Yael Eckstein: “With the generous support of our hundreds of thousands of donors and supporters around the world, I’m proud to have this opportunity on behalf of the Fellowship to contribute to the security and safety of the city and its residents.”

The donated vehicle joins four other armored vehicles recently provided by the IFCJ to security officers operating in Israeli towns near the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

IFCJ has been involved in various programs and providing aid to the Ma’ale Adumim region, with a budget of some $200,000 over the past three years.

In addition to security support, IFCJ works in coordination with the Israeli Ministry of Welfare and the municipality’s Social Services Department to provide food and emergency support to the elderly and needy.

Chabad rabbi in Cape Coral, Fla., reports congregation resolute after building attack

By Faygie Holt

(JNS) — Rabbi Yossi Labkowski, director of Chabad of Cape Coral, Fla., wants to make it clear that he and his congregation “will not cower,” despite an attack on their synagogue following Shabbat-morning services on March 11.

It was a little before 1:30 p.m., and “most people had already left,” said Labkowski. “I was just putting a few things away when we heard a sound. At first, we thought maybe the wind blew something. It was an unusual sound. Then we heard an even stronger sound.”

Those initial noises were believed to be of the attacker toppling a 4-foot-by-8-foot plywood menorah that was outside the building. Then, said the rabbi, “the noise got louder and louder, and there were vibrations from the bricks being thrown” at the synagogue’s glass doors.

Labkowski recounted that he approached the glass doors thinking that if the attacker saw him coming, the person would leave. That didn’t happen. Instead, a man continued to throw bricks.

Those inside the Chabad center at the time, including the rabbi’s son, put the synagogue’s emergency plans into action, as their neighbors began to come to their aid.

“When the neighbors came out, that’s when he took off,” said Labkowski, but not before damaging the rabbi’s car, which was the only one in the lot at the time.

Labkowski and his family have lived in Cape Coral for more than 18 years and said that nothing like this has ever happened before. “This is a very nice neighborhood; people are kind and respectful, and I always get good vibes.”

“We are not going to be scared and will not cower,” he said. “We had a minyan yesterday and this morning. People are coming but being more cautious. Thank G-d, no one is holding themselves back. On the contrary, people want to show their Jewishness—that this will not scare us.”

Former Arafat aide and oldest Palestinian prisoner released from Israeli jail

(JNS) — A former aide to Yasser Arafat and the oldest Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail was released on Monday after serving 17 years for arms smuggling, according to local media reports.

Fuad Shubaki, 83, was released from Ashkelon prison and was being transferred to Palestinian Authority-controlled Ramallah beyond the Green Line, said the reports.

Shubaki, a senior member of P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction, was sentenced for his role in attempting to smuggle weapons from Iran to the Gaza Strip aboard the Karine A.

The ship, seized by Israeli forces in 2002, was carrying 50 tons of weapons, including Katyusha rockets and anti-tank missiles, supplied by Iran and its Lebanon-based terror proxy Hezbollah.

Shubaki dealt with financial affairs for then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and was convicted of purchasing the weapons through a foreign agent.

He was first detained by Palestinian security forces in 2002 and held in Jericho under U.S. and British supervision.

In 2006, the prison was raided by Israeli forces and Shubaki was taken to Israel, where he was tried in a military court and sentenced to two decades in jail.

His sentence was later reduced to 17 years.

Morocco condemns Islamist party’s comments on Israel

(JNS) — Morocco’s royal court on Monday condemned comments by a leading Islamist opposition party that accused the authorities of defending Israel.

“The general secretariat of the PJD [the Justice and Development Party] recently published a declaration containing irresponsible excesses and dangerous approximations regarding relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the State of Israel,” the royal court said in a statement, AFP reported. “Morocco’s position towards the Palestinian question is irreversible,” the royal court continued.“The kingdom’s international relations cannot be the subject of blackmail by anyone or for any consideration whatsoever, particularly in the current complex global context. The instrumentalization of the kingdom’s foreign policy in a domestic partisan agenda thus constitutes a dangerous, unacceptable precedent,” it added.

The PJD, an Islamist party led by former Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane, issued a statement last week in which it “deplored…recent positions taken by the foreign minister [Nasser Bourita] in which he appeared to defend the Zionist entity [Israel] in African and European meetings.”

It claimed this came as Israeli forces were committing “criminal aggression against our Palestinian brothers.”

Morocco normalized relations with Israel in December 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords, a series of U.S.-brokered deals between Muslim countries and the Jewish state.

Those agreements broke with decades of Arab consensus that formal ties should only be established with Israel in the event of a peace agreement that gives the Palestinians their own state.

Bill repealing Disengagement Law in northern Samaria passes first reading

(JNS) — The Knesset approved on Monday night in first reading a bill repealing sections of the 2005 Disengagement Law that prevent Israelis from entering or living in parts of northern Samaria.

The 2005 Gaza disengagement led to the destruction and evacuation of the Israeli communities of Sa-Nur, Homesh, Ganim and Kadim in northern Samaria, as well as 21 communities in Gaza.

The bill, sponsored by Likud Knesset member Yuli Edelstein, seeks to restore freedom of movement to Israelis in the four Samaria communities. It passed by 40-17.

“There is no longer any justification to prevent Israelis from entering and staying in the evacuated territory in northern Samaria, and therefore it is proposed to state that these sections [of the disengagement law] will no longer apply to the evacuated territory,” reads the introductory text to the bill.

Knesset member Yuli Edelstein and National Missions Minister Orit Strook sponsored the measure at the request of Samaria Regional Council chairman Yossi Dagan, who was himself among those expelled from the Samaria communities.

The proposed legislation will now return to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to be prepared for the second and third readings required to pass into law, including a discussion on whether to change the bill’s name to reflect that it does not apply to Hamas-ruled Gaza.

All Jews were forcibly removed from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

Hebrew University bars use of educational platform to encourage students to protest

(JNS) — Administrators at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem have barred staff from using the Moodle educational platform to encourage students to protest against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan.

The move came in response to a campaign by the Zionist NGO Im Tirtzu, which noted that school staff were violating the Council for Higher Education’s bylaws, which explicitly state that the open-source learning management system cannot be used for political content.

“Considering the political use of university resources, many students turned to the Im Tirtzu Movement on the subject,” the organization said in a statement.

“Following this, Im Tirtzu led a campaign with the participation of thousands of students and many citizens, who sent emails to the lecturers and the university administration, demanding to stop the political coercion. The letters were sent to corporate addresses in accordance with the law,” added the group.

In response to the campaign, the university rector informed staff that Moodle can only be used for pedagogical content and not for “other purposes.”

 “This is the start of … correcting a historical injustice. I expect the law to be completely repealed. This is a struggle we have been waging for 18 years and we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Dagan last month as the bill was making its way through Knesset committees.

“The deportees of [northern Samaria]—heroes who are standing with us as the tip of the spear in this struggle—will yet see recompense for their actions. The residents of the communities of Ganim, Kadim, Homesh and Sa-Nur will return within their borders,” he added, referencing Jeremiah 31:15-16.

A game of cat and mouse has taken place between the IDF and former residents and supporters since the disengagement, particularly at Homesh, where a yeshiva has operated out of caravans and tents. Troops have dismantled the yeshiva several times over the years.

The coalition agreement between Likud and the Religious Zionism Party, led by Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, requires the government to reverse parts of the disengagement and allow for the Homesh Yeshiva to remain as a first step towards rebuilding the four communities.

(An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the bill passed its first Knesset reading in February.)

Schwarzenegger’s message to Jew-haters: ‘Choose strength. Conquer your mind’

(JNS) — In a new 12-minute YouTube video, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger offers “a powerful message for those who have gone down a path of hate.” It includes a warning about the “Terminator” star’s father, who supported the Nazis.

Schwarzenegger posted a photograph of his father, Gustav, and noted the member of the Austrian police grew up around “broken” men who numbed their pain with alcohol. Not only did they regret losing the war and nurse injuries, but “they felt like losers,” he said. “They fell for a horrible loser ideology.”

The bodybuilder and actor said, “It’s the path of the weak,” he said. “It breaks you.”

A month ago, Schwarzenegger revealed, he toured Auschwitz-Birkenau.

“How do we stop this from ever happening again?” he asked. “I want to talk to you if you’ve heard some conspiracies about Jewish people or people of any race or gender orientation and thought ‘that makes sense to me.’”

To those who told him that addressing antisemites is a lost cause, he disagreed. And to the latter, he said: “I care about you. I think you’re worth it.”

He emphasized to Jew-haters that blaming another people for their problems conspiratorially removes their own responsibility and diminishes their agency in life.

“You steal your own strength,” he told them. “I want you to know that you still have the chance to choose a life of strength.”

On brand, Schwarzenegger also told viewers that identifying and responding to problematic and painful beliefs is not all that different from developing the necessary strength to build muscles.

“I don’t care how many hateful things you may have written online. I don’t care how often you’ve marched carrying that hateful flag or what hateful things you may have said in anger. There is still hope for you,” he said. “There is still time for you. Choose strength. Choose life. Conquer your mind. You can do it.”