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Wednesday, July 07, 2021

07/07 Links Pt2: The Media in the 2021 Gaza War: The New York Times’ Journalistic Malpractice; Diagnosing Ilhan Omar’s Antisemitic Disease; Stabbing of in Boston Is Not ‘Fit To Print’ in NYTs

From Ian:

JCPA: The Media in the 2021 Gaza War: The New York Times’ Journalistic Malpractice
During the 2021 Gaza War, the New York Times published ten articles and features from Gaza written and photographed by local Gazan stringers, photographers, and “fixers.” Since Gaza is controlled by Hamas, no one can report on or photograph Hamas rocket launchers located in civilian neighborhoods or the extensive and expensive Hamas tunnels with weaponry stored inside.

A respected Arab reporter, who reported on Gaza for decades, explained, “They will report what Hamas wants them to write; photograph the pictures Hamas seeks. They cannot write or film anything that will hurt Hamas’ image….I blame the news producers sitting in London or New York assigning stories when they know the fixers’ restrictions.” Thus, they have the main, direct responsibility for the misrepresentation of the war.

On June 24, 2021, the New York Times released a 14-minute investigative video entitled “Gaza’s Deadly Night.” Any Gaza war narrative must deal with Hamas’ underground tunnels – used to move weaponry and personnel – which were the target of Israel’s precision bombing of the Wahda Street area in Gaza City. Yet the video only included a 10-second clip of armed men moving through a narrow tunnel, from a clip filmed by Reuters in 2014.

On June 5, Qatar’s Al Jazeera and Iran’s Mehr News broadcast a video showing Hamas’ elaborate tunnels filled with rockets, guns, missiles, artillery shells, storage areas, and even a command center. But there was no hint of these in the New York Times’ mega-production.

The Times’ video and articles build the case that the collapse of the Gaza apartments on Wahda Street “was a possible war crime.” But it ignores the statement of survivor Azzam Al-Kollek, who described the collapse of his three-story building to the Wall Street Journal. He said engineers who visited the site told him the building dropped some 40 feet below street level as it fell into an underground void – a Hamas tunnel.

With its coverage of the May 2021 Gaza War, the New York Times has honestly earned its reputation as the most prejudiced and biased critic of Israel in mainstream North American media.
Andrew Bolt: Jewish community have 'really had enough' of ABC's 'anti-Israel' stance
Sky News host Andrew Bolt says the Jewish community in Australia have "considerable anger" about the ABC lining up "four critics of Israel" on a recent QandA show – with only one individual to defend it.

"Why does the ABC hate Israel so much," Mr Bolt said.

"You'd think from the absolutely constant hammering Israel was the worst country in the world, rather than the only true democracy in the Middle East – with terrorist neighbours like fascist Iran, Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon all threatening to destroy it.

"The Jewish community here has really had enough now, there's considerable anger about the ABC lining up four critics of Israel, no fewer than four, including a Muslim radical on a recent QandA show.

"And only one Liberal MP Dave Sharma, Indian descent – to defend it."

Mr Bolt spoke with the head of the Australia Israel & Jewish Affairs Council Dr Colin Rubenstein on the matter.


Hollywood and the Jews An Urgent Insider Briefing with Noa Tishby
Noa Tishby is on the front lines in the battle of ideas on social media. Regarded as one of the leading voices combating rising online hatred targeting Israelis and Jews, Tishby is the author of the best-selling book Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth and is viewed as Israel’s unofficial ambassador.

An Israeli household name, top television actress, and great-granddaughter of Zionist pioneers, Tishby will help you navigate the world of Israel activism online —and the Jew-hatred festering on the web—educating and empowering you to become Israel’s social media iron dome.

Join several thousand pro-Israel activists from around the world on on Monday July 19, 2021 at 7:30 pm ET for this urgent briefing exploring the dangerous relationship between social media and celebrity influence.
Dozens of Jewish Groups Plan Washington Rally to Raise Awareness of Antisemitism
Dozens of national and local Jewish organizations are banning together for “No Fear: A Rally in Solidarity With the Jewish People,” to be held on July 11 in Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about growing antisemitism in person and online.

The rally will feature Israeli actress and author Noa Tishby; Elisha Wiesel, son of the late Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel; and Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Groups from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and other major metropolitan areas plan to attend the 1 p.m. event on the west side of Capitol Hill. Free busing is being provided from several East Coast cities.

“As antisemitic attacks have become more frequent without commensurate responses from elected officials or other leaders, concern in the Jewish community and among our allies has reached a fever pitch,” said Melissa Landa, director of Alliance for Israel, which is spearheading the rally. “In my role as the director of a grassroots organization, I am contacted by people all over the country sharing their experiences with antisemitism and their frustrations that not enough is being done. So I decided to do something about it and call for a rally.”

She added that the Sunday gathering “represents a broad coalition of organizations that oppose antisemitism—crossing religious, racial, political and denominational boundaries, bringing together all who want their voices to be heard in the nation’s capital.”

Among the co-sponsors are the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, B’nai Brith International, Jewish National Fund, Hadassah, Israel Forever Foundation, the Jewish Federation of North America, StandWithUs, World Jewish Congress of North America, Birthright Israel and the Combat Antisemitism Movement.


Diagnosing Ilhan Omar’s Antisemitic Disease
British historian Paul Johnson has argued that antisemitism is a “disease of the mind,” a hatred so peculiar that it deserves a category of its own. It’s a disease of contradiction and irrationality. Simultaneously, Jews are covetous capitalists and conniving communists; Christ-killing religious fanatics and godless atheists; superhuman rulers of the world, and subhuman leeches of society. Currently, as the disease spreads in America, one of antisemitism’s most infectious carriers is a Democratic Congresswoman from Minnesota.

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s obsession with Jews and Israel doesn’t have any definite beginning, but it can be conjectured that she may have been acquainted with antisemitism having been raised in Somalia.

Human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, also a native of Somalia, explains how she grew up in similar circumstances as Omar, a product of a militant Islamist and unapologetic antisemitic society. Ultimately, Hirsi Ali managed to unlearn her antisemitism, becoming a champion for Jews upon immigrating, while Omar only diverted further from that path, becoming a public enemy of the Jews upon her Congressional election.

On CNN’s The Lead, host Jake Tapper gave Omar the opportunity to clarify her past statements about Israel that have garnered so much controversy and debate.

He specifically referenced her 2019 tweet in which she claimed that the American-Israeli alliance is “all about the Benjamins,” as well as her 2012 claim that Israel had “hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel,” asking if she understood why so many Jews, as well as some of her fellow House Democrats, felt her comments were antisemitic.

“I’ve welcomed, you know, anytime my colleagues have asked to have a conversation, to learn from them, for them to learn from me,” Omar responded. “I think it’s really important for these members to realize that they haven’t been partners in justice. They haven’t been, you know, equally engaging in seeking justice around the world.”

“And I think, you know, I will continue to do that,” she added. “It is important for me, as someone who knows what it feels like to experience injustice in ways that many of my colleagues don’t, to be a voice in finding accountability, asking for mechanisms for justice for those who are maligned, oppressed, and who have had injustice done to them.”

According to Omar and many other antisemites on the left, “they” — assuming she meant Jews — haven’t sufficiently contributed to fighting injustice.

As writer Bari Weiss notes about the methodology behind this type of claim, “Jews are transformed into whatever a given society hates the most” — and for contemporary progressives, that would be racism and whiteness.

If Omar’s aim is to delegitimize Israel as no longer the necessary and indigenous safe haven for persecuted world Jewry, but rather the final stand of colonialism that must be destroyed, then one must delegitimize Jewish victimhood altogether.
Bassem Eid: It’s Time Ilhan Omar and ‘the Squad’ Learned the Truth About Israel and Hamas
I’m a Palestinian who grew up in a UNWRA refugee camp outside of Jerusalem, and been a human rights activist all my life. Let me say this as directly as I can: Rep. Omar does not know what she is talking about. Worse, for years, Rep. Omar has been engaged in not arguing any facts, but simply throwing out dirty anti-Semitic epithets, a mirror image of the anti-Semitism by “white supremacists” she claims to decry.

Politicians like Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spend a considerable amount of time attacking Israel for the supposed harm it inflicts on Palestinians. If they truly care about the wellbeing of Palestinians, they ought to focus their attention elsewhere. These days, the vast majority of suffering Palestinians experience is the direct result of the corruption of the Palestinian Authority and the influence of the terrorist group Hamas.

Corruption affects every aspect of life for Palestinians. It cripples our economy, which in turn makes government jobs among the most highly prized. However, those jobs are awarded based on connections rather than qualifications, which perpetuates the cycle of corruption. No announcements are posted for new government jobs. This lack of transparency is pervasive throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

The vaccine distribution process is one recent example of this corruption. A number of Palestinian human rights and civil society groups recently alleged that wealthy government officials were taking vaccines intended for medical workers. The Palestinian Health Ministry eventually admitted that many of the doses it received were administered to government ministers. Until this corruption is addressed, Palestinians will continue to suffer.


US Jewish Group ‘Outraged’ by Activists Accusing IDF of Exploiting Surfside Disaster
Anti-Israel activists took to social media to accuse the Israel Defense Forces of exploiting the collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla.

Rafael Shimunov, a political activist from Queens, NY, questioned the motives of involvement by the Israeli military.

He tweeted: “I really don’t understand the IDF’s involvement in rescue attempts of people tragically crushed under buildings in Miami. Their expertise is crushing buildings with people in them, not rescuing them.”

He added: “As if we don’t have any expertise or technology here in the US. Using these tragic deaths for pro-Israel propaganda is just quite something. These forces are literally stepping over buildings they crushed with children in them to go to Miami and do a PR stunt.”

Pro-Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour replied to Shimunov’s tweet with fingers pointing downwards in agreement.

A rescue delegation from the IDF’s Home Front Command was sent to Surfside to assist in the search and recovery mission. The delegation arrived within 72 hours of the building’s collapse, helping first responders using 3D mapping and conducting a humanitarian effort to support the families of the missing.

B’nai B’rith International was “outraged and disgusted” by the tweet and retweet from Shimunov and Sarsour.
Linda Sarsour leaves Twitter over backlash from IDF tweet
After her tweet drew strong criticism, Sarsour deleted it but did not apologize for her comments, and instead announced that she would be taking a short break from social media.

"I’ll be back in a few days. This site is a place where those with no morals or values can take someone’s tweet & claim higher ground with no reflection or retrospection on the atrocities and injustice they support on a daily basis," she tweeted, in an apparent deflection of the offensive nature of her tweet.

Social media users were less than impressed however.

"I believe what you meant to write was 'I'm sorry'," responded Julia Jassey, CEO of Jewish on Campus.

"Maybe publicly making fun of the tragedy in surfside wasn't such a good idea after all," another responded.

Many also pointed out the hypocritical nature of Sarsour's tweet, and others like it, and how they appear to be more upset by the presence of the IDF search and rescue delegation at the disaster site than they were about the disaster itself.

Besides for her tweet agreeing with Shimunov's sentiment, Sarsour has only commented once on the Surfside collapse, the day after it happened, when she simply tweeted "This is devastating."

Stand With Us Executive Director Michael Dickson expressed his anger at Sarsour's apparent apathy towards the tragedy in comparison to her displeasure over the presence of Israeli forces, saying: "Shame on Linda Sarsour for this evil, heartless tweet, compounding the victims pain at a time when many Jewish people are still buried under rubble in Surfside, and while Israeli & American first responders work side by side to help them and their neighbors from all backgrounds."
HonestReporting Videos: Linda Sarsour Slanders Israel as IDF Continues Life-saving Work After Florida Disaster
Linda Sarsour, co-founder of the Women's March, retweeted what some have deemed an antisemitic post. According to Sarsour, the Israel Defense Forces has no business assisting in the rescue mission in Surfside, Florida because its real expertise is "crushing buildings with people in them."

The tragic collapse of a 12-story tower on June 24 left at least 36 people dead, with over 100 still reported missing. At the request of families holding out hope to find their loved ones, IDF rescue forces were deployed to the site on June 26. Some 50 Jews are either unaccounted for or have been confirmed killed.

Since the establishment of Israel in 1948, the IDF has on more than two dozen occasions provided critical support and humanitarian aid in the wake of disasters around the world. Following backlash, Sarsour said her critics lacked "morals or values" for pointing out the obvious. She subsequently deleted the original tweet and shut down her profile. Sarsour's anti-Israel libels will return to the platform "in a few days."




Conservatives Must Reject Nick Fuentes
However, it is important to note that keeping Fuentes and his supporters out of the conservative movement is not an enactment of “cancel culture.” In fact, to believe that this is a prime example of cancel culture in action would be to have a fundamental misunderstanding about what cancel culture actually is.

Every movement and society has certain limits to what speech we consider socially acceptable. The real question is about where those lines should be drawn. Conservative critics of cancel culture are correct that the window of acceptable speech—the Overton Window—has become far too narrow in our political culture and national institutions, to the point that it is excluding mainstream conservative voices and even left-leaning heterodox voices. But the answer to an overly restricted Overton Window is not to get rid of it completely. The truth is that in the same way that it is dangerous to compress the window of acceptable speech too far, it would be equally foolish to believe that there should be no limit whatsoever.

In today’s society, it should not be supremely controversial to suggest that white nationalism should fall outside of our limits of socially acceptable ideas. U.S. history since the 1960s has been, in part, characterized by a country-wide reckoning with our discriminatory and racist past. To believe that voices who advocate a retrogression to those backward times should be given just as much legitimacy as any other view is absurd.

Moreover, those views are an affront to our most deeply held beliefs as Americans. In our Declaration of Independence, Jefferson writes that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” Nothing being pushed by Fuentes or his “groypers” lives up to this founding ideal.

Conservatives have the ability to shape a bright future for our country. But if we discredit ourselves with outdated and immoral ideologies and people, then nobody should be surprised when we find ourselves on the losing side of the battle for America’s soul.
Marjorie Taylor Greene back to comparing COVID regulations to holocaust
Three weeks after touring the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and apologizing for repeatedly likening coronavirus protections to the Holocaust, Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has gone back to inaccurately comparing COVID-19 regulations to the Nazi German regime.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Greene said that people have a choice to get vaccinated and don’t need “medical brown shirts” knocking on doors to urge them to do so.

“Biden pushing a vaccine that is NOT FDA approved shows covid is a political tool used to control people,” Greene tweeted, neglecting to mention the fact that the FDA has granted emergency approval for several coronavirus vaccines.

“People have a choice, they don’t need your medical brown shirts showing up at their door ordering vaccinations. You can’t force people to be part of the human experiment,” she said, responding to remarks which Biden made on Tuesday about potentially sending health professionals into communities to go door-to-door to provide more accurate information for people about the vaccine.

The “brownshirts” – also known as the SA, or Sturmabteilung – were the paramilitary group that facilitated Adolf Hitler’s initial rise to power in the lead up to the Nazis' rise to power.

When asked about Greene's remarks, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told CNN on Wednesday that "We don't take any of our health and medical advice from Marjorie Taylor Greene.”
Labour Party investigates former councillor after “some Jewish people didn’t learn the lessons of the Holocaust” remark
The Labour Party have begun an investigation after a Party member and former councillor allegedly claimed that “some Jewish people” didn’t learn the lessons of the Holocaust.

It was reported that the comment was made at a Hornsey and Wood Green local party meeting last Wednesday by former councillor Lucy Craig, after a motion was moved in which she condemned the recent actions of the Israeli Government during its conflict with Hamas.

It was allegedly at this point when Ms Craig made a comment blaming Jewish people for the perceived actions of the Israeli Government and claimed that “some Jewish people” had not learnt the lessons of the Holocaust.

An attendee at the local party meeting said: “The mover of the motion Lucy Craig began talking about Israel’s ‘power and wealth’ and then went on to condemn ‘some Jewish people’ who despite the Holocaust were now attacking Palestinians.

“The member who seconded the motion then went on to claim Israel had in fact ‘created Hamas’…both of the speeches caused a lot of anger amongst many members…several people, including myself raised concerns about antisemitism in the speech.”

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the State of Israel” and “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” are both examples of antisemitism.
Amid spike in antisemitism, Ontario allocates funds to 'eradicate scourge'
"Bullying, vandalism and hateful discourse targeting Jewish youth create an unsafe learning environment and compels children to mask their Jewish identity. This is a reality no Canadian should accept," said Noah Shack of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

The government of Ontario, which includes the city of Toronto, is allocating $327,000 for teacher training and student support to combat antisemitism in the Canadian province.

"Antisemitism is a scourge and historic evil that must be eradicated from our schools and communities," Ontario's Education Minister Stephen Lecce said. "We will fight antisemitism with every tool available to us to ensure that Jewish students feel safe and supported in Ontario schools."

The decision to allocate funding to combat antisemitism in schools comes after Canada has seen record-high incidents and attacks.

In May alone, B'nai Brith Canada recorded more than 250 incidents of anti-Jewish harassment, vandalism and assaults. It also follows the district's investigation of a Toronto educator, Javier DaVila, a member of the board's "gender-based violence unit," who distributed a 51-page anti-Israel manual to teachers who requested it. The booklet discusses "Palestine" and "colonization" by Israel, includes suggested reading materials, and promotes BDS.

Noah Shack, vice president of the Greater Toronto division of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said, "antisemitism is an enormous challenge for schools across the province. Over the past several years, young Jewish children have witnessed rising levels of hate, both virtually and in person. Bullying, vandalism and hateful discourse targeting Jewish youth create an unsafe learning environment and compel children to mask their Jewish identity. This is a reality that no Canadian should accept."
Jewish students “disgusted” after Warwick University academics pass motion to challenge International Definition of Antisemitism
Jewish students have been left feeling “disgusted” after academic staff at the University of Warwick passed a motion to challenge the International Definition of Antisemitism.

More than 200 members of the University of Warwick Assembly – the representative body of the University’s academic staff – voted to “overwhelmingly” pass the motion on 21st June.

Members of staff also called upon the university to create a working group designed to handle matters relating to all allegations of antisemitism and other forms of racism that might be made against staff and students.

As a result, an amendment that called for the application of the Definition to be suspended in disciplinary matters was also passed until the findings from the working group could be reported back at the end of the year.

Speaking in support of the motion, Professor Maureen Freely of the Warwick Writing Programme, School of Creative Arts, Performance, and Visual Cultures said: “We are thrilled that this motion passed…the [D]efinition is not fit for purpose.”

She added: “The working party will give us the chance to develop an integrated set of policies that will balance academic freedom with our statutory and moral duty to protect all members of our community.”


Stabbing of Chabad Rabbi in Boston Is Not ‘Fit To Print’ in New York Times
Rabbi Shlomo Noginski was stabbed repeatedly on July 1 outside a Jewish school building in Boston. A rally the next day organized by Boston Jewish community groups drew Boston’s acting mayor, the district attorney, and a member of Congress. An individual, Khaled Awad, was arrested in connection with the attack and pleaded not guilty to assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a police officer. People who knew Awad in Florida described him as violent and “antisemitic.”

A national, even international news story? Plenty of news organization thought so. The Daily Mail, a British newspaper, has published three articles about the attack. Fox News covered it. The Washington Post website carries an Associated Press article about the attack and an article from the Religion News Service. CNN covered it.

But for the New York Times, the news wasn’t fit to print. A search of the Times website for “Noginski” turns up no results. “Noginsky,” an alternative spelling that turns up in some news articles, turns up no relevant results either. “Khaled Awad”? No relevant results on the Times search engine. I’m a careful daily reader of the print Times and saw nothing about the stabbing, the rally, or the arrest.

The New York Times New England bureau chief, Ellen Barry, didn’t immediately reply to an email from the Algemeiner asking her to explain why the Times had failed to cover the story. It can’t have been that the Times had no staff available to cover events in Massachusetts over the holiday weekend; the newspaper scrambled two reporters to cover a roadside standoff in the Bay State that, unlike the attack on Noginsky, featured no injuries. And the New York Times certainly has plenty of resources to muster on stories it decides it does care about— a recent 15-minute Times video headlined “How Israeli Airstrikes Killed 44 People,” carries the bylines of a staggering ten Times journalists and noted, “The Times spent more than a month investigating these attacks.”
Guardian report on antisemitic incident omits 'I'll slit your throat for Palestine' threat
However, the Guardian journalist failed to report that the perpetrator shouted “Free Palestine” whilst hurling antisemitic abuse.

As you can hear from this audio of the encounter, he also threatened to slit the Jewish passenger’s throat “for Palestine”.

These facts regarding the Palestine-related element of the incident were reported by multiple British media outlets, including BBC, The Times, The Metro UK, Daily Mail, My London, The Mirror and The Sun.

What makes the Guardian omission even more egregious is that the reporter did add some context by citing the following information from the CST:
CNN's Stelter Promotes Annual Fossil-Fuel 'Holocaust' in Climate Panic Segment
Wallace-Wells -- who is also editor of The New Yorker -- advised that the media project more apocalypse, more "alarmism" in response to current events:
We can't shy away from scary projections about the future or the scary facts as we're living them today. I think we also need to start thinking a little harder, be a little clearer in our story-telling, that learning to live in this new future, which will continue to get worse -- probably considerably worse from here...

He soon added:
Estimates suggest the burning of fossil fuels kills about 10 million people every year, which is dying on the scale of the Holocaust -- in fact, larger than the Holocaust -- every single year. And yet we don't see many public health stories, we don't see many moral crises stories addressed to that issue. (h/t MtTB)
French Court Orders Twitter to Provide Details on Efforts to Tackle Hate Speech
A French court has ordered Twitter to provide clear details on what it is doing to tackle hate speech, according to a court judgment obtained by Reuters, after several French lobby groups had asked Twitter to clamp down more on hateful content.

The court ruling, which was presided over by magistrate Fabrice Vert, said Twitter had to show within the next two months steps it was taking to tackle hate speech.

An official for Twitter in France declined any immediate comment on the matter, when asked about the verdict, which followed pressure from lobby groups including the UEJF French Jewish students association, SOS Racisme and SOS Homophobie.

Tech firms have been accused of doing far too little to address online abuse.

In May, Britain said a planned new law would see social media companies fined up to 10% of turnover or $25 million if they failed to stamp out online abuses such as racist hate crimes, while senior managers could also face criminal action.


Jonathan S. Tobin: Will the War on Kashrut Merge With the War on Meat?
Many Americans spent their Fourth of July holiday at barbecues with family and friends. For observant Jews, that meant that plenty of kosher hot dogs and hamburgers were grilled and consumed as the country’s 245th birthday was celebrated in traditional style. But those who have been following the news from Europe know that the ability to obtain kosher meat is something that no one should take for granted.

Last December, the European Court of Justice, the highest court in the European Union, upheld Belgium’s ban on kosher slaughter. The decision was the latest episode in an ongoing war on kashrut in Europe as Belgium joined Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Slovenia and Iceland in outlawing the production of kosher meat. These countries agree that the Jewish ritual for slaughtering animals, as well as similar Muslim traditions for making meat halal, is cruel despite the fact that it was conceived specifically to ensure that cruelty against animals is prevented.

That ruling runs contrary to the protections for religious freedom in the European Union constitution. But the court in Luxembourg decided that when faced with the choice between protecting the rights of Jews and Muslims to observe their faith and upholding the animal-rights movement’s ideas about the welfare of livestock, the latter was allowed to prevail.

It’s hard not to view this decision in light of the rising tide of antisemitism that is sweeping across the globe, especially in Europe. This has created a perfect storm of events in which both left and right have come together to outlaw a practice that is integral to Jewish life.
Fireworks thrown at hassidic yeshiva students in upstate New York - report
A pack of fireworks was thrown at a group of yeshiva students in the small hamlet of Round Top in upstate New York on Sunday by unidentified individuals in a car, according to video shared online.

The video, shared on Twitter by the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC), shows a black pickup truck driving by some Orthodox Jews, who OJPAC identifies as hassidic, with fireworks being thrown out its window at them.

According to OJPAC, one of the people in the vehicle allegedly shouted expletives at children.

The yeshiva was identified as the Yeshiva Meor Hatalmud, not affiliated with any particular hassidic sect. OJPAC claims that a representative had informed them that a report was filed to the Greene County Sheriff's Office.

“Hopefully, law enforcement will determine the motive behind this attack," OJPAC executive director Yossi Gestetner said in a statement to The Jerusalem Post.
Far-right Bulgarian candidate condemned after praising Hitler and denying the Holocaust in TV interview
A far-right Bulgarian politician has been condemned after he reportedly praised Adolf Hitler and denied the Holocaust in a television interview.

Ultranationalist Bulgarian politician Miroslav Ivanov, a representative of the Bulgarian National Union – New Democracy (BNU-ND) Party who is running for a position in the National Assembly, made the comments in a television interview for Bulgarian broadcaster Nova Televizia ahead of Bulgaria’s upcoming elections.

The BNU-ND is a far-right party that professes to believe in “Bulgarian values,” although it has been stated that many consider them to be neo-Nazis.

Mr Ivanov reportedly made several antisemitic and false claims, which included saying that Nazism wasn’t fascist but was national socialism, arguing that Jews lived happily under Hitler’s regime because they could work freely, and that the gas chambers which were operated by the Nazis were actually used for deworming.

Mr Ivanov also defended a photograph of himself performing a Nazi salute by claiming that it was actually a “Roman salute.”


"David Geffen Gifts 480-Seat Auditorium to National Library of Israel"
The National Library of Israel (NLI) has announced that a generous gift from legendary entertainment figure and philanthropist David Geffen will establish the David Geffen Auditorium on the new National Library campus, on schedule to open its doors next year adjacent to the Knesset in Jerusalem.

The 480-seat, 5,000 sq. ft. space will present a best-in-class performance venue, filling a much-needed niche for a multi-purpose hall of this size and caliber in Israel’s capital. The rear of the stage will feature a distinctive 24 ft. (7.5 m.) high glass curtain wall, which will provide a visual connection to the campus’s Idan and Batia Ofer Park featuring a public outdoor amphitheater, plaza, and pedestrian area.

David Geffen was born in Borough Park, Brooklyn, to Jewish immigrants who met in British Mandatory Palestine and then moved to the United States. Geffen’s mother owned a clothing store in Borough Park called Chic Corsets by Geffen. Geffen graduated from Brooklyn’s New Utrecht High School in 1960 with a “barely passing 66 average.” He attended the University of Texas at Austin for a semester, and then Brooklyn College, before again dropping out. He then moved to Los Angeles, attended Santa Monica College but soon left. Geffen attributed his challenges in school to dyslexia.

For more than half a century, David Geffen has been a leading force in the entertainment industry, defining popular culture and becoming a prominent philanthropist by providing major support to countless causes, particularly in the fields of health and the arts. His support to UCLA established the Geffen School of Medicine and the Geffen Academy. He has been a leader in the fight against AIDS since the early years of the epidemic. As a patron of the arts, Geffen has made substantial gifts to the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Geffen Playhouse, and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. In 2015, the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center was named in his honor, the David Geffen Hall.

The David Geffen Auditorium is the most prominent philanthropic support for an Israeli cultural institution from Geffen.
Israelis Fly to Philippines to Aid Vaccination Campaign
An Israeli Ministry of Health medical team went to the Philippines to support the country’s Anti-Covid Response and Vaccination Program headed by its vaccine “czar,” Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr.

“On behalf of the Philippine government, I wish to thank the Israeli government for sending this mission and the members of the medical team for their generosity in taking part in this mission to share their expertise in ensuring the success in combatting coronavirus and the vaccination program in the Philippines,” said Ambassador Macairog S. Alberto.

“Truly, Israel is a dear friend, ready to always lend a helping hand,” Alberto said at a send-off for Dr. Avraham Ben-Zaken, Dr. Adam Segal and Dr. Dafna Segol at Ben-Gurion International Airport on June 19.

They spent five days visiting vaccination centers and helping to help fine-tune the vaccination rollout based on Israel’s successful experience. They also shared some of Israel’s best practices in fighting Covid-19, according to the Philippine News Agency.

The medical mission was made possible through the efforts of the Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv, the Israeli Ministry of Health and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Philippines National Task Force against Covid-19.
Winning Israel’s battle for hearts and minds, literally
Over the past year, mentions of Israel in the international media have almost exclusively centered on our whirlwind political system, world-leading COVID vaccine roll-out, and recent military operation in Gaza. But for more than 340 families from eleven different countries, the State of Israel has represented something entirely different. To them, Israel is the nation which provided their children with life-saving surgery during 2020, allowing them to lead a healthy life.

At Save a Child’s Heart, our mission is simple - to provide life-saving procedures for children suffering from congenital and rheumatic heart disease who have little access to care in their own countries. For 25 years, our organization has brought over 5,900 children to Israel, from all corners of the world, to receive cutting edge medical treatment, free of charge.

Despite COVID-induced travel challenges, which have made connecting to our patients in the developing world more difficult, shutting down our operations was never an option. Our world class team of medical professionals understood that when dealing with children who require open-heart surgery or life-saving catheterization, each day is precious. Despite the increased challenges, we kept going.

Our patients and their families speak different languages, practice different faiths, and comprise different ethnicities. What unites them is that they are all benefiting from treatment from the Save a Child’s Heart team in Israel. Nearly half of the children we have treated are from the Middle East, including Gaza, Syria, and Iraq. Though their governments may be in open conflict with Israel, we treat these children with compassion, dignity and care. In this regard, not only do we save lives, but we also change the way Israel is seen in the region, one treatment at a time.
Israeli archeologists could win prestigious award over 2nd Temple-era find
Israel is among the five candidate countries for the prestigious annual International Archaeological Discovery Award "Khaled al-Asaad" for an excavation conducted in the Western Wall Tunnels in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday.

A dig headed by Israeli archeologists Barak Monnickendam-Givon and Tehila Sadiel discovered a hidden underground complex that experts think was used by the Jews to prepare for religious services during the Second Temple period before it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

"We are convinced that everything that now includes the square of the Western Wall was supported by a colonnade," Monnickendam-Givon said. "We will dig further to prove it."

Sadiel added that various subjects were also discovered in the rooms. "We found terracotta crockery, some bases of an oil lamp used to make light, a stone cup exceptional for the period and a fragment of qalal, [which is] a large stone container used for water, perhaps linked to the Jewish practices of the purification ritual".
Renovated Manchester Jewish Museum celebrates the community’s roots
Even before its $8.35 million renovation, the Manchester Jewish Museum was a remarkably eye-catching institution.

Housed in a former synagogue on a busy road in an industrial part of northern England’s largest city, it stood out from the car washes, supermarkets and hardware stores of Cheetham Hill Road thanks to its red-brick facade. The look marries Victorian architecture and the Moorish style favored by the members of the Portuguese-Spanish Sephardic Jewish community that built it in 1874.

As it expanded and gentrified, the Jewish community of Manchester — a diverse group with many blue-collar laborers from across the United Kingdom and Eastern Europe who converged because of the city’s steel production and other industries — moved to leafy suburbs north of the bustling center.

But the synagogue building, the oldest surviving in Manchester, remained a communal symbol long after its congregation disintegrated in the 1980s. It became a museum, the only one in the country housed inside a synagogue.

Now, thanks to a substantial grant from the UK National Lottery and other contributors, the museum has been modernized and reopened, with a large extension boasting a massive exterior with Moorish-style decorations on rust-colored metal. The renovations celebrate the passage of time and the Jewish communities’ industrial credentials while complementing the building’s trademark color.

“It’s a big moment for us,” Max Dunbar, the museum’s chief executive, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency ahead of the reopening on July 2, which follows two years of renovations.







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