Tuesday, August 11, 2020
The IHRA Definition Explained
The adoption of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism and its implementation as a legal tool, are critical steps in the fight against anti-Semitism. While more and more governments, institutions and organizations have begun to adopt the IHRA definition globally, the definition also serves as an important and powerful educational tool for teaching about, and ultimately preventing the hatred of Jewish people.Ignorance on Zionism leads to antisemitism
Speaking on the merits of the IHRA definition, the Federal Republic of Germany’s Anti-Semitism Commissioner Felix Klein said, “In order to address the problem of anti-Semitism, it is very important to define it first, and this working definition can provide guidance on how anti-Semitism can manifest itself.”
The adoption of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism is an important first step in defining, recognizing and ultimately combating anti-Semitism. Comprehensive adoption of the IHRA definition in local, national, international jurisdictions, as well as in public and private institutions and settings will enable the world to more effectively confront anti-Semitic behavior wherever it may be found. Ultimately, for the IHRA definition to succeed as a tool in combating anti-Semitism, the definition must be formally incorporated into policy initiatives and legislative proposals as a mechanism to prosecute against and deter future anti-Semitic acts.
A full list of entities that has adopted the IHRA definition can be found here.
Campuses have long been a breeding ground for radical, even completely illogical, anti-Israel bigotry. But as an alumna of the University of Southern California (USC), I always took solace in the fact that my alma mater had my back as a Jewish student and as a leader in the pro-Israel activities on campus. Unlike the University of California schools, USC was a stalwart for Jewish students. Not so anymore. The dramatic change in campuses like USC that were previously beacons of hope for Jewish students demonstrates how severe the situation is with rise in antisemitism. The toxic campus culture has become so radical it is targeting even people who are fighting for equality and social justice.
Last week, Rose Ritch, the (former) vice president of the university’s undergraduate student government, resigned from her position in a poignant letter after enduring a months-long online bullying and harassment campaign against her to “impeach” her. Ritch’s crime was nothing more that being a Jew and a Zionist – two things that have apparently become unsafe to be on USC’s campus today.
At the core of this harassment campaign was none other than the campus hate group Students for Justice in Palestine, which demanded Ritch resign for being a Zionist. While it’s unsurprising the bigots in SJP made such absurd demands, it is appalling that others listened, and unacceptable that the administration did nothing during this smear campaign. Even during my time as USC, SJP was problematic, but the university had a zero tolerance approach to their harassment. I distinctly remember that when they protested our Independence Day celebration on campus, the head of student affairs left his office and demanded they leave the premises so as not to harass Jewish students with their hateful propaganda. Where is the accountability from the administration on this issue? Where is the education and promotion of tolerance for different ideas?
In Ritch’s letter, she explained, “I’ve been told that my support of Israel has made me complicit in racism and that, by association, I’m racist... Students launched an aggressive social media campaign to ‘impeach my Zionist a**...’ My Jewish and Zionist identity has helped shape every part of who I am, and they cannot be separated.” The targeted harassment of Ritch is nothing more than pure unadulterated antisemitism, and here is why: no other student would be canceled, harassed, bullied and pushed out of office for supporting any other country in the world. Even horrendous human rights abusing regimes like Syria, Iran, or China. There are no campus groups focused solely on combating human rights violations in Iran, on boycotting China or on holding Syria accountable. Only the Jewish state.
Botched EU Research Falsely Claims Israeli Textbooks Promoting Tolerance Were Published by Palestinian Authority, NGO Says
A long-awaited report by the European Union (EU) into the problem of incitement in school textbooks published by the Palestinian Authority (PA) has been plagued by faulty research that falsely claimed Israeli textbooks promoting tolerance were published by the PA, an Israeli NGO that is closely involved with the issue revealed on Tuesday.Spreading the truth about the Palestinian Arab death ethos
A statement from Impact-se — a Jerusalem-based educational institute that monitors and analyzes textbooks in schools around the Middle East — described the EU’s review process as a “comedy of errors.”
Initiated by the UK government in April 2018 at a cost of 220,000 euros, the report’s interim findings have still not been published more than two years later. Despite assurances across several months that the interim findings would be made public, the most recent statement from an European Commission official, on July 1, said that publication “is not foreseen.”
A copy of the report was obtained using freedom of information legislation, however. Once examined by Impact-se’s team, it was revealed to be strewn with factual errors and mistranslations, and based upon field research that was faulty beyond repair.
“The researchers have reviewed the wrong textbooks, taking textbooks for Israel’s Arab schools in Jerusalem, earnestly praising them and presenting them as coming from the Palestinian Authority’s curriculum,” Marcus Sheff — Impact-se’s chief executive — said in a statement.
The basic methodology of the introductory report was suspect, with several key words and phrases — among them “Nakba,” “Hamas,” “Al Haram Al-Sharif,” “martyrdom” and more — omitted from its quantitative analysis.
“The researchers’ introduction contains embarrassing mistranslations of basic Arabic, a lack of familiarity with Palestinian culture and, bizarrely, the citing of non-existent research,” Sheff said. “This is not a particularly complex project. It is hard to fathom how it went so wrong.”
Probably never before has an enemy maligned a country without the attacked nation in return widely spreading the truth about that enemy. Yet that is the case in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Palestinians have accused Israel of many evils of which it is not guilty, most recently of spreading the Coronavirus.What about the 17 million slaves in the Islamic world?
Israel is however far from continuously mentioning in its public diplomacy that the Palestinians have a death culture and are glorifiers of genocide and murder. Our enemy’s policy is partly theological and partly nationalist based. This is in line with similar attitudes in other parts of the Muslim world.
A major change in Israeli policy is required. Much emphasis should be given to the Palestinian death culture. This would also necessitate domestic policy changes. People who carry Palestinian Arab flags – the symbol of the enemy – to demonstrations or elsewhere should be fined. If they are repeat perpetrators they should be jailed.
Nor should the Israeli authorities any longer close their eyes toward extreme mischief by some MKs of the Joint Arab list. Its leader, for example, MK Ayman Odeh, attended a press conference in Ramallah held by Fatah and Hamas about Palestinian unity at the beginning of July. Such actions should at least lead to expulsion from the Knesset.
One of the hardest domestic nuts to crack is the far too liberal – and out of touch with Israel’s mainstream -- activist majority of the Israeli Supreme Court. It has never prevented any members of the most extreme Arab party, Balad, to participate in Knesset elections. If the Knesset were to legislate to de facto force the Court to do so, it would be an important step forward.
A coherent stream of publicity about Palestinian Arab atrocities, death promotion statements and actions would help make it clearer to the Western world that Palestinian Arab society is permeated by death wishes and glorification of genocide and murder. New statements and developments in line with this should be used to keep illustrating the dominating criminal Palestinian attitude.
History is knowledge, they continue. “We have to talk about slavery, but we have to talk about it in all its dimensions. Of course, the slave trade is a crime against humanity. But slavery existed in Africa, Africans participated in the tracts. While there were eleven million deportees under the European treaties, there were seventeen million under the Eastern slave trade, slaves of the Muslim world.”Atoning for anti-Semitic remarks, Cannon says he’s okay being ‘sacrificial lamb’
While all cultures are tainted with crime, they write,"only Western culture knows the pain of guilt". In addition, France was the first country in the world to abolish slavery in 1794, it is the country of the declaration of the rights of man and citizen, the first to emancipate the Jews (how ironic - today Jews in France must flee antisemitism).
The French historian Sylvain Gouguenheim, a medievalist at the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon, in the book "Aristotle at Mont-Saint-Michel" wrote that the Greek heritage in the Middle Ages was transmitted to Western Europe from Constantinople, not from the Islamic world. "Greek culture did not return to the West only thanks to Islam: to save the ancient philosophers from oblivion would have been above all the work of Eastern Christians, who fell under Muslim domination, and therefore Arabized." It was in the scriptorium of the ancient abbey that gives the book its title, in the twelfth century, that Aristotle's works were translated directly from Greek by the copyist monks.
Serial petitions against Gouguenheim followed.
Meanwhile, another French historian, Olivier Pétré-Grenouilleau, got into trouble with the book "La Traite des Noirs", in which he explains: "The number of Christian slaves pillaged by Muslims exceeds that of Africans deported to the Americas."
There is no more fruitful time to erect historical taboos than during the war on history. A new order is arising from disorder. The New York Times just asked: "Should we cancel Aristotle?"
Media icon Nick Cannon said Monday that he accepted being a “sacrificial lamb” for the the entertainment world, as he reflected on the process of atoning in the wake of the fallout for remarks he made during a podcast that were widely criticized as anti-Semitic.
During an online conversation hosted by the American Jewish Committee, Cannon recalled how colleagues and friends had reached out with offers to publicly defend him, which he rebuffed as he came under fire last month.
“What I did tell them [was]… ‘let’s clear the air and let’s atone first, and then through our influence, with the right words and the correct terminology, let’s talk about… how we can operate as one,” Cannon said.
The comedian, rapper, and TV host recognized that he “set off quite a few hurtful alarms” with his comments on the “Cannon’s Class” podcast.
In that June episode — which prompted his firing from ViacomCBS — Cannon contended that Black people are the true Hebrews and Jews have usurped that identity, claiming that anti-Jewish speech could not be considered anti-Semitic or even hate.
Cannon also discussed anti-Semitic conspiracy theories involving “the Rothschilds, centralized banking, the 13 families, the bloodlines that control everything even outside of America,” and praised anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Cannon apologized in a series of posts on Twitter days later, saying his words “reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naïve place that these words came from.”
Petition to Remove Farrakhan From Twitter Gains 1,400 Signatures and Counting
Nearly 1,400 people have so far signed a petition launched on Aug. 2 to have the account of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan removed from Twitter.Congress’s Omar faces high-stakes primary as Minnesotans head to poll
The appeal on Change.org includes an open letter addressed to Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey by the petition’s creator, New York City resident Sabina K.
“When social media is weaponized, I ask you, Jack, do not let Twitter be an accomplice,” she said.
Farrakhan has an estimated 350,000 followers on Twitter. Sabina said allowing him to remain on the platform “is negligent in times when hate crimes against Jews are on the rise.”
The Nation of Islam leader has a history of making antisemitic remarks, previously describing Adolf Hitler as “a great man,” and calling Jews “termites” and “Satan.”
More recently, in his Fourth of July sermon that was broadcast on television, he promoted an antisemitic conspiracy theory and said Jews should have their brains knocked out by the “stone of truth.”
Recent celebrities who have promoted Farrakhan on social media include actor/rapper Ice Cube, NFL wide receiver DeSean Jackson, actor/rapper Nick Cannon, comedian Chelsea Hander and pop-music icon Madonna.
Rep. Ilhan Omar is about to learn whether voters in her Minneapolis-area congressional district support the mix of confrontational, anti-Trump progressivism and celebrity that she brings to the job.Woman behind Corbyn legal fundraiser failed to mention role in administering £330k in donations
Omar, the first Somali American and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, is facing a surprisingly well-funded challenger in Minnesota’s Democratic primaries on Tuesday. Antone Melton-Meaux, a Black lawyer and mediator, raised millions of anti-Omar dollars to fill mailboxes and flood airwaves. His “Focused on the Fifth” message has portrayed Omar, a member of “The Squad” of four progressive female lawmakers, as out of touch with the 5th District.
Omar rejected Melton-Meaux’s attacks, saying they were funded by interests that wanted to get her out of Congress because she’s effective. She also downplayed Melton-Meaux’s money and played up her ground game before the vote, saying, “Organized people will always beat organized money.”
The outcome may not be known Tuesday night if the results are close. Absentee voting in Minnesota was heavy, and officials must count mail-in ballots that arrive as late as Thursday under safety rules imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The organiser of crowdfunding project that has raised over £330, 000 to defend Jeremy Corbyn against possible legal action has failed to mention her link to a newly formed company set up to administer the funds.German antisemitism commissioner praises verdict against BDS activist
Companies House records show that Carole Morgan – who launched ‘Jeremy’s Legal Fund’ last month - founded Truth Defence Ltd just one week later with a leading supporter of the Jewish Voice For Labour group to “end the politicisation of Jewish suffering”.
But last week she neglected to mention her link to the company when she wrote to donors to tell them she had “been in touch with the organisers" of Truth Defence “to maintain our connection moving forwards in the future”.
Ms Morgan had launched her appeal on the Go Fund Me website on July 22 after the BBC journalist John Ware said he was considering suing the former Labour leader for libel in relation to comments he made about the party’s decision to settle a case over a Panorama expose of antisemitism.
She was inundated with donations from supporters of Mr Corbyn, some of who openly attacked Mr Ware and others who claimed the antisemitism issue amounted to smears against the former Labour leader.
In a message to donors on August 3, Ms Morgan wrote: “I wanted to find a way that we could maintain our connection to one another moving forward into the future.
“To that aim, I have been in touch with the organisers of an initiative called Truth Defence which started around the same time as the crowdfund, and clearly shares our aims and hopes for a better world: www.truthdefence.org.
“It is dedicated to promoting a culture of honesty and integrity in politics and public life, which is exactly the principles that Jeremy stands for.
The Hesse commissioner to combat antisemitism lauded a Berlin court decision convicting a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement activist for assault.Ramallah protesters demand release of Palestinian BDS activist
“Monday’s court decision against an activist of the antisemitic BDS movement for assaulting people during a presentation by an Israeli survivor of the Holocaust at Humboldt University in Berlin is an important success against the violent character of BDS and its supporters,” Uwe Becker told The Jerusalem Post.
On Monday Stavit Sinai was found guilty of inflicting violence on people at the talk. According to reports, she hit the door of the hall “wildly” from the outside, injuring two people. She is required to pay either €450, or face a prison term of 30 days.
“In two ways, this decision is an important milestone in the fight against Israel-related antisemitism in Germany,” Becker said. “It unmasks the violent character of the BDS movement, because it shows that even Holocaust survivors are attacked by BDS when they speak out for the Jewish state. So it makes clear that the aim of BDS is not about peaceful protest against political decisions in Israel but the aim is the destruction and delegitimization of the Jewish state by all means.
“Secondly, this act of violence shows that BDS is not defending freedom of speech but BDS is trying to suppress any other opinion that is not compatible with the political agenda of BDS.
Palestinians rallied in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday, urging EU pressure on Israel to free a local leader of the global campaign to boycott the Jewish state.
Mahmoud Nawajaa, coordinator of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in the Palestinian territories, was arrested at his home in Ramallah on July 30.
Several rights groups, including Amnesty International, have called for his release.
“He has been detained solely for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and association and is therefore a prisoner of conscience,” Amnesty said in an August 7 press release.
More than 100 protesters gathered outside the German delegation office in Ramallah urging the country, which currently holds the European body’s rotating presidency, to lobby Israel.
“Our main message to the European Union and to Germany is that you need to intervene with the Israelis, force them to uphold human rights and those who defend them,” said Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of BDS.
The movement calls for a wide-ranging embargo of Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians.
Israeli sources familiar with Nawajaa’s case who requested anonymity told AFP that he was arrested for “security offenses,” not over his role in BDS.
For Canadians parroting these dog whistles, let me decipher them for you:
— Ohad Nakash Kaynar (@KaynarOhad) August 11, 2020
0:34 - "Intifada Intifada, viva Intifada" - A call for violence. Over 1200 Israelis were killed in the 2 Intifadas.
0:51 - "from the river to the sea Palestine will be free" - a call to eradicate Israel. pic.twitter.com/IgTLecX9sb
PreOccupiedTerritory: Man Sure You Can’t Tell He’s Antisemitic Because He Only Talks About ‘Zios’ (satire)
A Twitter personality who spends more than nine tenths of his time on the platform finding the least charitable angle on anything resembling Jewish sovereignty believes he appears credible in denying animus toward Jews as a result of never making a direct derogatory or hateful reference to members of that heritage, instead reserving his venom only for those who see Jews reestablishing themselves as a political entity in their ancestral homeland as positive.
Mohammad Saddegh, 22, employs a clever ruse to disguise his antisemitism, a rhetorical device so advanced, he thinks, that no one suspects he harbors animosity toward Jews as a group, or ascribes to them negative stereotypes or characteristics that would make Josef Goebbels proud. In taking care to speak ill only of “Zionists” or, his favorite epithet, “Zios,” the student and part-time volunteer for Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) reelection campaign considers his antisemitism well and truly hidden.
“It wouldn’t do to let on what I really think of a (((certain ethnicity))),” he confided to a close friend. “It’s not politic at the moment, especially considering how closely the Congresswoman’s words, and the words of those associated with her, get dissected by the ‘Zionist’-controlled media, no matter how justified my judgments of that group, collectively. That’s the price one pays for functioning politically in a multicultural society; you have to make compromises here and there, and I think I’ve handled that compromise with some dexterity.”
Italian court: Asserting Jerusalem is Israel's capital is 'propagating misinformation'
Asserting that Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish state amounts to "dissemination of incorrect information," an Italian court ruled Monday.BBC’s longstanding Hizballah whitewashing continues in Beirut blast coverage
According to Middle East Monitor, the ruling followed a lawsuit filed against popular Italian TV game show L'Eradita.
In an episode that aired in May, L'Eradita's host Flavio Insinna asked one of the show's participants to name Israel's capital – but did not accept "Tel Aviv" as an answer, saying the correct response was "Jerusalem."
This drew the ire of the Palestinian Association in Italy and the Association of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, and both sued RAI, the network that airs the show.
In early June, Insinna said that there were different viewpoints on the matter and apologized for raising the issue as part of the show.
On Aug. 5, however, Court of Rome Judge Cecilia Pratesi ruled that this was not enough, and Italy's official policy was to not recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.
Outlining the rationale for the decision, the judge pointed at Italy's vote for a UN General Assembly resolution that slammed the US for recognizing the city as the official seat of the Israeli government.
"The Italian State does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital," she wrote in her ruling. "It is well known that on Dec. 21, 2017, Italy voted in favor of a UN General Assembly Resolution rejecting the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
However BBC audiences were not provided with any details concerning that “political elite”, including the make-up of the current cabinet which was described on the same website in January as being “composed primarily of advisers and appointees representing the main political oligarchs and parties allied with Hezbollah”.
As explained by Dr Jonathan Spyer shortly before the Beirut explosion:
“Hizballah is today the dominant force in Lebanese public life. The bloc of which it is a part holds a majority in the 128 member parliament, and a majority in the Cabinet. Prime Minister Hassan Diab is its obedient servant.
This means that the profound economic crisis currently gripping the country falls squarely in Hizballah’s lap. It is required to operate and to make decisions as a governing force, responsible for the avoidance of general socio-economic collapse which is now a real possibility in Lebanon. […]
The problem is that Lebanese Hizballah is not only or primarily a successful local political actor. Rather, it is a franchise of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Indeed, its local political predominance is a direct function of the outsize strength and capacity afforded it in the Lebanese context by Iranian support.”
Nevertheless, the few references to Hizballah which have appeared throughout the first six days of BBC coverage of the disaster in Beirut downplay its role and – notably – uniformly exclude the words terror, terrorism or terrorist.
Why is @ArwaM attempting to sanitize the true aims of BDS in the @Guardian?
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 11, 2020
It's not a mere attempt to get "Israel to comply with international law" but a hate campaign designed to chip away at Israel's legitimacy. pic.twitter.com/R14sNhhcqj
French Jewish Man Verbally Abused, Badly Beaten Up in Paris Elevator in Antisemitic Assault
An antisemitism monitoring organization in Paris has disclosed that a young Jewish man was badly beaten up last Thursday in the building where his parents lived.Police Investigate Swastika Vandalism of Pennsylvania Synagogue
In a statement on Tuesday, the National Bureau for Vigilance and Countering Antisemitism (BNVCA) — a group that advocates for victims of antisemitic violence — said that it “denounces and condemns” the assault, which occurred in an apartment building in the 19th arrondissement district of the French capital where a sizable Jewish community lives.
According to the BNVCA, the man — identified only as David S. — had arrived the building to visit his parents when he was followed by two men, described as being of “African origin,” into the elevator.
During the ride, one of the men told the victim, “Dirty Jew, dirty Jewish son of a whore, you’re a dead man, dirty Jew.” The pair then attacked David with heavy blows that left him unconscious for several minutes. He was reported to be recovering from his ordeal.
A survey of antisemitism in France published by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in January found that nearly one quarter of the country’s 500,000 Jews had been subjected to at least one violent antisemitic assault in their lifetimes.
“23 percent have been targets of physical violence on at least one occasion, with 10 percent saying they were attacked several times,” the AJC survey noted, calling the statistics “stunning.”
Police in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, are investigating the vandalism of a local synagogue with swastikas.Man admits baseball bat threats toward Orthodox Jewish community over coronavirus rules
Swastikas were stenciled onto the entrance of the Kesher Israel Synagogue on North Third Street in the Pennsylvanian capital. The Nazi symbols were removed shortly after being discovered on Monday morning.
Rabbi Elisha Friedman told local broadcaster WGAL that police had reassured him that there was no imminent danger to the community.
“I do believe law enforcement believes this was done using a stencil, but I don’t think they see it as a wave of antisemitic graffiti. There is a rise in antisemitic incidents in general, but I don’t think law enforcement believes we are in imminent danger,” Rabbi Friedman said.
Pennsylvania State Rep. Patty Kim strongly condemned the incident.
“Graffiti and vandalism will not be tolerated and I reject the hatred these symbols represent. While this may be an isolated incident, we cannot allow this behavior to become routine,” Kim said in a statement.
A Howell resident pleaded guilty to threatening to physically harm members of the Lakewood Jewish community in Facebook messages referencing the coronavirus lockdown rules, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said Monday.Elderly patient hit by UK hospital worker after being identified as Jewish
Anthony Lodespoto, 43, admitted to sending threatening Facebook direct messages on March 26 stating he was going to travel to Lakewood to assault members of the Jewish community with a baseball bat, the prosecutor’s office said. The following day, Lodespoto sent a similar message to the Facebook account of Gov. Phil Murphy.
Lakewood police previously said Lodespoto targeted the Jewish community over violations of the state’s ban on gatherings amid the coronavirus outbreak.
He pleaded guilty to bias intimidation on Friday and will be sentenced Sept. 25.
The prosecutor’s office said it will be seeking a sentence of 180 days in the Ocean County Jail as a condition of probation. Lodespoto remains lodged in the Ocean County Jail until his sentencing.
An elderly patient at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, UK, was allegedly assaulted by a healthcare worker after being identified as Jewish, a recent patient at the hospital told the Jewish Chronicle.Helped by coronavirus crisis, Wix becomes Israel’s second-highest valued company
Speaking under the condition of anonymity, the witness explained the healthcare worker hit one of the patients on the knee and shook him when he complained about being in pain.
In addition, the worker is alleged to have identified the ward's two Jewish patients to the rest of the ward before hitting the other Jewish patient's kneecap, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
“We can confirm that we recently received a complaint about an alleged assault that is said to have occurred a few weeks ago on one of our wards," a spokesperson for North West London University NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, told the Jewish Chronicle.
“We have acknowledged the complaint and are referring it to the Metropolitan police for investigation as we normally would in these circumstances.”
The coronavirus crisis has helped make Wix, the popular website creator platform, the second-highest valued Israeli company.Tel Aviv Municipality Presents: Israel’s First Floating Cinema
Its share price has increased more than threefold in the past five months from about $81 in March to trading as high as about $319 on the Nasdaq exchange last week before dropping to $277.94 on Monday.
Wix allows users to easily create websites with templates and drag and drop tools in a way similar to competitors such as WordPress and Squarespace.
A Motely Fool analysis published Monday on the Nasdaq website attributed the rise, also enjoyed by other digital solution providers, to the coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown measures which has forced many businesses to increasingly use the internet to reach customers. In addition, many education institutes were forced to close up and move to online learning, creating another demand for web-building capabilities.
“We’ve made a leap from being a consumer product for a particular group to a necessity for many more people,” said Nir Zohar, the company’s president and chief operating officer. “It’s the way many people today are making a living, by selling online.”
Fresh off the successful return of Tel Aviv’s legendary drive-in theater, the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality is delighted to announce the launch of Israel’s first “sail-in” floating cinema on HaYarkon Park’s boating lake.Amar’e Stoudemire is sparking joy for Haredi Jews like me
The coronavirus outbreak has proven particularly challenging for the cultural sector worldwide, with outdoor initiatives representing almost the sole solution for cultural events. Following Health Ministry approval for open-air drive-in events, the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality will now launch a floating cinema under the clear night sky from August 22-28, in partnership with the Tel Aviv Cinematheque.
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A total of 70 socially distanced boats will be available to moviegoers, adults and children alike, seeking to enjoy a night of cinematic entertainment under the stars. Boats will be distanced two meters apart at all times opposite a large screen, ensuring a safe and fun experience, and allowing all ticket holders to float away and unwind from the daily grind for a few hours.
Tickets for eight screenings – four suitable for families and four for adults – will be available exclusively to DigiTel Resident Card holders. Details regarding ticket sales and movie times will be published later this week.
Tel Aviv-Yafo Mayor Ron Huldai said: “The coronavirus crisis poses new challenges for Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, including bringing cultural life to a halt in the city. During recent months, we have been constantly examining ways of providing assistance. The initiative to screen movies at HaYarkon Park’s boating lake is another creative way to spend the hot August days, in accordance with Health Ministry guidelines.”
The launch of the “sail-in” floating cinema joins a long list of municipal initiatives launched in recent months to support cultural activity in the city, which included intimate outdoor performances in restaurants and cafes; online and open-air cultural events in accordance with Health Ministry guidelines; outdoor guided tours across the city; fitness classes on the roof of the municipality building; and musical performances on the roof of the Eretz Israel Museum.
In a world that continues to produce social media celebrities and superstars at a dizzying pace, it’s hard for me to bring myself to get excited about anyone’s social media posts. Increasingly, social media has become a toxic sphere, filled with self-centered shallowness and one-upmanship, with extraordinarily little else. I can always pass on that.
But there is always an exception which proves the rule.
I am not on Instagram, but I have friends who excitedly text me whenever former New York Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire posts something on his social media. Similarly, whenever he speaks to the press about his life, I inevitably get the article forwarded to me by several different of my friends.
Watching Stoudemire, who left the NBA in 2016 and went to play basketball in Israel, share his journey of what seems to be a Haredi transition on social media brings me and my friends an inexplicable joy.
Whether it is the visual of a black hat-bedecked Stoudemire sitting at a table with a pile of Seforim next to him, or taking a stroll through Mamilla in Jerusalem with his shirt untucked and a cigar in his hand (we’ve all been there), or whether it’s his visits to a Haredi Bais Din in Bnei Brak, or his description of how Torah learning and praying three times daily has changed his life, I find myself captivated by his story like none other I can remember.
It’s hard to explain why this is the case. I did not understand it at first. Why should it make a difference to me? After thinking about it a lot, I’ve come to believe that it’s because Amar’e’s journey to Judaism is more personal than I thought.
Mull this: Born in Israel to Soviet immigrants. Moved to 🇨🇦 as a kid. Returns to captain @IsraelHockey team. Just signed to play in pro league in Poland. For town of Oswiecim. Aka Auschwitz. Yup. That Auschwitz. https://t.co/i7vcUe6JCf
— Vivian Bercovici (@VivianBercovici) August 10, 2020
The World's Vegan Capital!
