Thursday, November 04, 2021
How Israel Shaped Ruth Mayer And Her Hope For Her Homeland’s Future
Mayer got married in 1958 to her late husband, Arye, who immigrated to Israel at eight years old from Romania. Pogroms forced Arye's family out of their home.Am I a Jew? Australian? Both? - opinion
"They left their home with only two suitcases, and they were forced to leave on the side roads, and they were walking for days and days without food or water," Mayer said. "And then the Red Cross was taking orphan kids away from the war zone. So his parents declared that they were not their kids; they found them. So the kids went with the Red Cross."
"They never knew if they would ever see their parents again."
The Red Cross put Arye and his brother on a boat to the British Mandate for Palestine. But they were turned away. (In 1939, Britain began limiting immigration to Palestine following the 1936-39 Palestine Revolt against the British Mandate for the increase of Jewish immigration as Hitler rose to power.)
According to Mayer, Arye's ship went to Italy, where he and his brother boarded another boat that went back to Palestine, and this time, they were allowed to enter the region. They were adopted by a man from a Kibbutz (a communal settlement in Israel, typically a farm) near Jerusalem.
Arye and his brother served Israel as soldiers, volunteering for the Haganah, the Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 to 1948. (The Haganah turned into the Israeli Defense Forces or IDF.)
"The first war that he served in, he was 15-years-old, so we are talking 1945 (before Israel's independence). There was an unorganized war, and it was a brutal battle," Mayer said. "He and his brother lied about their age."
"But he served in 73 in the Yom Kippur war and the Sinai war."
Eventually, Mayer, Arye, and their three daughters relocated to the United States after their youngest, who has a disability, was born. And they've remained here since. However, Mayer's brother and family still reside in Israel, in Tel Aviv, close to where missiles are often fired. So when an escalation between Israel and Hamas occurs, like the latest in May, she fears for her family's safety.
Mayer says she loves Israel because it saved her family and many other Jewish families. But she's tired of the bloodshed and fighting between Israelis and Palestinians.
"The Jewish and Israeli people, they love Israel, and they cherish Israel. I know how I feel. I miss it terribly. I feel like I know what it means to be homesick," she said.
"I do hope for peace between Israelis and Palestinians."
There is a gap between the role of the rabbi in Israel and the Diaspora. On the whole, the Israeli rabbi is more of a Talmudist and teacher and less of a mentor and minister. The Diaspora rabbi tends to be a professional, concentrating more on people skills, ministering to a congregation and representing Judaism to the host society.The extinction of Jewish heritage in northern Cyprus
I was an incarnation of the second concept. Forty-five years in Diaspora pulpits molded me into an ecclesiastic and ambassador. Commencing my career in the United Synagogue in London, I spent 32 years in Sydney as chief minister of the Great Synagogue. Early on, I had a meeting with the synagogue’s Board concerning the role of the rabbi. I said I seemed to have two full-time jobs – congregational minister and community ambassador. I felt I was competent to do either and asked the board what they preferred. Rather pragmatically, they said: “Both!”
So “both” it remained. I know I wasn’t the perfect rabbi: nobody was or could be. But somehow the combination of roles evolved over the years by previous rabbis (not always in consultation with the lay leaders) seemed to work, and that’s the way things were and remain. Occasionally I asked myself a philosophical question: when I got involved in matters of national debate was it as a Jew or an Australian? Once again the pragmatic answer was “both!”
The question actually arose constantly. Interviewed on TV in the 1990s (billed as “one of twenty leading Australians”) about the future of the British monarchy in Australia, did I speak as a Jew or an Australian? When I spoke at the national Sea of Hands event at Bondi Beach to advocate reconciliation with (and an apology to) the Aboriginals, was I there as a Jew or an Australian? When I helped the Uniting Church to get its first female military chaplain, was my involvement as a Jew or an Australian? At times I stood up for the Muslim, Chinese and Roman Catholic communities; I addressed conferences of politicians, judges, journalists, nurses, naval chaplains, teachers and child care workers. What was I – a Jew? an Australian? I addressed large audiences on national occasions like Anzac Day and Australia Day – as a Jew? as an Australian? I can’t be sure, but I think the answer was “both!”
Historically, large Jewish population groups lived across coastal towns in Cyprus such as ancient Salamis in the city of Famagusta, which is today under Turkish occupation. Sadly, the invasion campaign has brought widespread destruction to all non-Muslim Cypriot historic sites.
To this day, the occupying forces continue to plunder and destroy the Cypriot cultural heritage, including the Jewish heritage of the occupied area. The Jewish cemetery there, for instance, has been destroyed. According to the 2012 report "The Loss of A Civilization: Destruction of cultural heritage in occupied Cyprus,"
“The historic Margo Jewish Cemetery, a national monument for the Jewish people, southeast of Nicosia, has been desecrated and destroyed in the same way as Christian cemeteries in the area occupied by Turkish troops have been desecrated and destroyed.
“The Margo Jewish Cemetery is home to the graves of Jews of the diaspora of 1885 and of Jewish refugees who came to Cyprus after the Second World War.
“The cemetery is located in a strictly controlled military area and is guarded by an armed Turkish soldier. Jewish organisations and other groups have persistently petitioned for free access to the cemetery to conduct religious ceremonies, but these requests have not been granted by the occupying power and its puppet regime.”
“We have visited the cemetery several times,” Philippou confirms. “But we haven't been able to hold any religious ceremonies, just a quick visit under supervision. We would like to have it restored, but no permission was given thus far.”
See a video of the destroyed Jewish cemetery in the Turkish-occupied part of Nicosia here.
Cypriot-Dutch author, cultural campaigner and activist Tasoula Hadjitofi became a refugee at age 15 when Turkish troops invaded Famagusta, the city of her birth, in 1974. For several decades, she has collected artefacts and other symbols of cultural heritage that has been looted and stolen to bring them back home to Cyprus. Referring to the liberation of prisoners from Nazi concentration camps in 1945, Hadjitofi said:
"Cypriots fought alongside the allies as British troops during the liberation of the Jews and other prisoners, for Cyprus was then a British colony. There are no poppies for those heroes on Holocaust Memorial Day in the United Kingdom or in Cyprus and little is known anywhere about them. Most of these forgotten heroes died quietly and took with them so many untold stories. Perhaps a handful are still around? Their stories must be told and their courage must be honored."
"The historical ties are strong between Israel and Cyprus," added Hadjitofi. "I do hope that our Jewish brothers and sisters worldwide are watching attentively the Islamisation of northern Cyprus by Turkey, as well as the destruction of the Christian and Jewish sites in the occupied area. And for the sake of our shared heritage, historical and current struggles for freedom, as well as fundamental principles, they must do their best to stop them."
Yoseph Haddad: The time for Israeli hasbara is now
Why didn’t Israel preempt this with a campaign of its own that would have accompanied the declaration? Why wasn’t there a social media campaign ready to roll out that would have been a buffer in face of all the opposition? Are we saying that Israel has good enough intelligence to uncover these terrorist organizations yet not good enough intelligence to know that the world would never accept the declaration in the way it was delivered, without attacking Israel? Even schoolchildren know that when taking an exam and answering questions they have to explain their answer, prove their points and show their work.Arab donors hide $8.5 billion to universities under DoE
The country must learn its lesson from all of this. It is not the first time that we have failed in delivering our message or in advocating for ourselves. We have failed too many times in the realm of hasbara. In May, during Operation Guardian of the Walls, Israel failed to explain why it downed the building housing the Associated Press and other media in Gaza, another incident that went without proper hasbara. For 11 days Israel looked for the ‘winning’ photo and in the end the picture the world remembers is the one on the cover of The New York Times of dead Palestinian children.
In this day and age, the fight for the minds and hearts of people is the most important battle. The failure to act immediately with a social media campaign hurts us. The main area of Israel’s battle these days is not in Gaza, Syria, nor Lebanon but rather on social media. We are not only fighting terrorist operatives; we are very much battling influencers with millions of followers. The State of Israel must establish its might here too against massive anti-Israel activity. It must have a hasbara system that can make its mark and be part of its diplomatic efforts. It must be able to go both on the offensive and defensive immediately and effectively.
Our national resilience is dependent on our hasbara fortitude; in the 21st century even the most powerful army backed by a country with a significant military budget are not enough to win over the hearts and minds of the public. A country that prided itself with victory after the Six Day War cannot allow itself to be defeated in the “Six Organization War.”
Israel needs to create an effective hasbara system now that communicates well the justification of its actions, and shows what truly is happening on the ground backed by facts and data in all languages. It is on this front that Israel has been failing time and again; yet this is the most important battle front today, and this is where Israel needs victories more than ever.
An investigation by the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) in 2020 found that many academic institutions were not abiding by the rules requiring them to report gifts from foreign sources. It was especially interested in contributions from China for both security and political reasons, but also highlighted unreported gifts from Arab governments. The DoE recommended greater transparency because of the concern “that foreign money buys influence or control over teaching and research.” After a small improvement in reporting gifts in the last DoE report by the Trump administration, the latest disclosure by the Biden DoE is even less transparent and allows universities to hide the names of Arab (and non-Arab) sources of nearly $8.5 billion in gifts since 1986.Iranian-Americans protest for dismissal of 'mass murderer' at Oberlin College
The Trump DoE found that some of the foreign sources of funding that are hostile to the United States “are targeting their investments (i.e., “gifts” and “contracts”) to project soft power, steal sensitive and proprietary research, and spread propaganda.” The higher education industry’s solicitation of foreign sources, it disclosed, “has not been appropriately or effectively balanced or checked by the institutional controls needed to meaningfully measure the risk and manage the threat posed by a given relationship, donor or foreign venture.”
“There is very real reason for concern,” the report concluded, “that foreign money buys influence or control over teaching and research.” The department expressed particular unease about reported donations listed as anonymous from China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Russia.
Universities objected to the DoE requirement to provide the donor’s name and address, insisting this would “violate institutions’ commitment to donor confidentiality and would preclude institutions from accepting anonymous gifts from foreign sources.”
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos insisted, however, that if colleges and universities “are accepting foreign money or gifts, their students, donors and taxpayers deserve to know how much and from whom.”
The January 2014 to June 30, 2020, “Foreign Gift and Contracts Report” published by DoE included a category “Giftor Name.” There were no addresses, only the country from which the donation originated, and few individuals were listed; most gifts came from governments or governmental institutions. Some giftors were not listed at all such as the donor (the Munib and Angela Masri Foundation) from the “State of Palestine” to Brown University to create a chair in a professorship in Palestinian Studies. (A separate issue is why the DoE lists this non-existent state that is not recognized by the U.S. government.)
Iranian-Americans turned out in large numbers on Tuesday to demonstrate for the removal of Oberlin College, professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati who, according to Amnesty International, committed crimes against humanity in the Islamic Republic of Iran during the summer of 1988.
“It hurts a lot deep inside,” said Sara Salehi as she looked at the two pictures of her brothers, Hamid and Ali, who were executed along with over 5,000 innocent prisoners by Iran’s regime that year because of their dissident political views.
Hamid was 26 years old and Ali was 30 when the regime killed them. Their photographs, along with other victims of the 1988 massacre, blanketed the lawn across the street from the college’s Cox Administration Building.
“They should fire him; he shouldn’t teach kids,” said Salehi about the college’s controversial religion professor. The common themes among the protest participants, which attracted at least 75 people on the ground and over 100 viewers on a video Zoom call, were demands for justice, accountability, transparency and the swift termination of Mahallati’s employment at the liberal arts college.
"I will never give up until I see justice," said Salehi.
The lead organizer of the demonstration, Lawdan Bazargan, whose brother Bijan was murdered by the regime for his left-wing views, said: “We want Oberlin College to fire him because Amnesty International accused him of crimes against humanity.”
Bazargan and her newly created organization – The Oberlin Committee for Justice for Mahallati’s Victims – electrified the rustic town of Oberlin with a mass mailing of flyers detailing Mahallati’s reported role in the mass murder while serving as the Iranian regime’s former ambassador to the UN.
Another portion of the graffiti invites students to join SJP in a hunger strike Saturday at Amherst Common. pic.twitter.com/tzFkhzaInm
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) November 3, 2021
Former Miss Lebanon Will Judge UAE’s Miss Universe Contest Ahead of Upcoming Pageant in Israel
Lebanese actress and ex-Miss Lebanon Nadine Nassib Njeim will sit on the jury of the Miss Universe UAE competition and help pick the contestant that will move on to compete in the 2021 Miss Universe pageant in Eilat, Israel.New Miss South Africa Caught in Anti-Israel Crossfire
The award-winning actress and former Miss Lebanon 2004 announced the news on Instagram in October. She said the Miss Universe pageant “is not just about the parade of beauty or celebration of intelligence … it is about the heart to serve with purpose and compassion. It is about empowering other women and choosing kindness both in our words and action.”
Israel and Lebanon have no diplomatic relations and former Miss Lebanon beauty queens have faced backlash for appearing to show warm relations with the Jewish state. In September, Njeim herself received criticism for posing with an Israeli make-up artist in the UAE, and later distanced herself from him, claiming she did not know he was Israeli.
In 2015, Miss Lebanon Saly Greige was forced to defend herself after a selfie that she took during the Miss Universe pageant with representatives from Israel, Japan and Slovenia stirred controversy online. In 2017, Miss Lebanon Amanda Hanna was stripped of her title, one week after winning the crown, when it was discovered that she had previously taken a trip to Israel using her Swedish passport.
This year is the first time that the UAE will participate in the Miss Universe pageant. Dubai will host its first ever Miss Universe UAE competition in a live event on Nov. 7, with the contest open to any female UAE resident of any nationality between the ages of 18 and 28. Josh Yugen, president and national director of Miss Universe UAE, told The National that more than 12,000 women have applied — and that the pageant’s website crashed hours after it was announced due to the sheer number of attempted applications.
Newly crowned Miss South Africa, Lalela Mswane, is looking forward to the Miss Universe pageant in Eilat in December, despite calls by Mandla Mandela, the grandson of former president Nelson Mandela, for her to boycott the pageant in Israel.Former Corbyn-supporter who switched parties suspended by Conservatives after revelation of his “Is Zionism racism ” Facebook poll
Former Miss Iraq, Sarah Idan, who is Muslim, criticized Mandela's calls in a video posted on social media. "How dare you, as a man, try to tell an organization for women and women empowerment what to do? This is an opportunity that millions of women dream of having, to go on the world stage and represent their people, their nation, and their culture...not your political agenda."
"To go and experience Israel up close...I'm positive, just like me, she will be shocked to see that the Israeli government consists of Muslims, Jews, Arabs, Christians....They're also part of the Knesset, have political parties, and some of them are even Israeli ambassadors to the world."
Reeva Forman of the South African Zionist Federation said, "Israel is a thriving multicultural democracy, and accusations that it's similar to the former South African government are beyond ridiculous. In fact, one of Israel's recent entrants to Miss Universe is a woman of Ethiopian descent."
A former supporter of Jeremy Corbyn who sought to run as a Conservative candidate in local council elections has reportedly been suspended by the Conservative Party after it emerged that he administrated a Facebook group that asked members: “Is Zionism Racism?”Twitter’s new Mideast, North Africa news curator under fire for anti-Israel tweets
According to a report, Khalid Sharif, who was confirmed as the Redbridge Conservatives for the Clayhall ward in next year’s local elections, has been suspended by the Party.
The poll was featured on Mr Sharif’s IG–Soc: Connecting Muslims in Redbridge Insha’Allah Facebook group. Comments by other members underneath the July poll reportedly included the claim that “just asking the question will be considered antisemitic. The Zionists have great powers hence they’ve made sure no one can say anything against them.”
Mr Sharif, a former member of the pro-Corbyn group, Momentum, apparently joined the Conservatives last year after Mr Corbyn’s election defeat, having described the former Labour leader as a “breath of fresh air” and lamenting that “that era has gone.”
A spokesperson for the Conservative Party reportedly confirmed that Mr Sharif has been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation.
Further digging into Jassem’s Twitter history by Gnasher Jew uncovered more anti-Israel tweets, including one from 2010 and 2011, when Jassem said Israel was “not born” but “dropped like a bomb in the middle of Palestine.” She also tweeted quotes from anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, questioning why tax dollars are spent on foreign aid to Israel and calling him a “great example of faith transcending boundaries.”Top official at Dutch TV station quits over alleged antisemitism
“No TWITTER, a person who erases Israel from the map cannot be Twitter’s Middle East gatekeeper. What’s next? Longtime Twitter user Ayatollah Khamenei on your board? Twitter empowers every anti-Semite by elevating this bigot to censor Middle East news,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in a news release on Tuesday.
Before making her profile private, Jassem apologized for omitting the Israeli flag after receiving outrage from Twitter users, posting another tweet including the flags of Israel, Turkey and Djibouti, and saying that she was unable to find one of Oman.
She also responded to Emanuel Milleredia analyst with HonestReporting.com regarding her anti-Israel tweets.
“I can see that I have been ill-informed with some tweets when younger. I apologize for any offense caused by these particular tweets, and like I said, for forgetting the Israeli flag with reference to MENA as I did others,” she tweeted.
As a curator, Jassem would not create content but select what content Twitter features on its platform.
“What a fascinating day. Thanks for the lovely messages to my news today and support RE the trolling,” Jassem wrote before making her account private. “I’ve been advised to make my profile private, which I’ve done now. Not easy having horrid allegations thrown your way but always better to ignore—however tempting.”
A top official at a new right-wing Dutch public television channel resigned on Wednesday after reports linking him to antisemitic propaganda.German Public Broadcaster Declines to Work With Palestinian Science Journalist Accused of Antisemitism
Taco Dankers, head of the supervisory board at Ongehoord Nederland (Unheard Netherlands), quit after the NRC daily said he runs a think-tank that promotes conspiracies about Jews and has made antisemitic comments in interviews.
The populist channel, described as a Dutch version of Fox News, is due to join the Netherlands’ public TV system in January 2022.
Dankers said he was leaving as “controversy has arisen around my person,” and “my staying on would harm the important mission” of the broadcaster.
“I do not recognize myself in the image that the press paints of me and I distance myself in the strongest terms from antisemitism, racism and statements that lead to polarization, discrimination and hate speech,” he added.
NRC reported on Tuesday that Dankers was the head of Gefira, a radical right-wing group that has claimed that mass migration to Europe is a Jewish plot to “dilute” the West and that the Jews were responsible for much of the Netherlands slave trade.
One of Germany’s leading broadcasters confirmed on Tuesday that it would not proceed with the employment of a journalist with a record of anti-Zionist and antisemitic comments, citing issues around trust as the reason.More tendentious reporting from the BBC Jerusalem bureau’s Knell
In a statement, the West German Broadcasting Corporation (WDR), which is part of a consortium of public broadcasters throughout Germany, said that it would not be working with the German-Palestinian journalist Nemi El-Hassan because “there is no longer any trust for future cooperation.”
El-Hassan had been due to begin presenting a science program, “Quarks,” later this month. However, an expose of her pro-Palestinian activities by the right-wing tabloid Bild revealed that she had attended the annual “Quds (Jerusalem) Day” demonstration in Berlin in 2014.
Organized and promoted by the Iranian regime, the Lebanese Shi’a terrorist group Hezbollah and other Iranian allies in the region, “Quds Day” events around the world traditionally feature virulently antisemitic and anti-Zionist speeches, Hezbollah flags and ceremonial burnings of the Israeli flag. For the last two years, local authorities in Berlin have banned the “Quds Day” demonstration, citing its antisemitic content.
Bild also sifted through El-Hassan’s social media posts, discovering that she had expressed support for the anti-Israel BDS campaign and “liked” posts glorifying terrorism.
The fact that BBC correspondents sometimes produce versions of the same report for different platforms (e.g. radio and television) is useful in that it provides an indication of what were considered the most important points to be communicated about a specific story.
Previously we discussed a filmed report by the BBC Jerusalem bureau’s Yolande Knell which appeared on the BBC News website on October 22nd.
Over a week later, the October 30th edition of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme (presented by Simon Jack and Justin Webb) included a four-minute audio version of the same report.
As in the synopsis to the filmed version, Jack’s introduction framed the story as being about “hard-line Jewish settlers” and “locals” who once again did not apparently warrant adjectives describing their political positions. The term “locals” was also used in the report itself while the “hard-line Jewish settlers” became “extremist Jewish settlers”.
An introductory claim of 70 Palestinians killed this year did not provide any context regarding the circumstances and how many of them were involved in violent activity at the time.
Jack: “The number of Palestinians killed in confrontations with Israelis in the occupied West Bank this year is more than 70; the highest figure in five years. The worst hotspot for violence has been in the Palestine [sic] village of Beita. Eight people have been killed there and many hundreds injured. Locals began organising protests after hard-line Jewish settlers set up a new outpost on land claimed by Palestinian olive farmers. Our Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell reports.”
Knell began by painting a pastoral scene which included some clear signposting.
Knell: “The olive harvest is a joyful time of year for Palestinian villagers, ripe with symbolism about their connection to the land. But this year in Beita, it’s a surreal experience. There are Israeli soldiers holding guns as families teetering on ladders pluck the tiny fruits from their trees. ’We’re so happy to be back on our land’ says Amal Shemuseh [phonetic] who’s been able to come here for the first time in months. ‘It’s a wonderful feeling.’ ‘For me this land is sacred’ adds another farmer, Mohammed Habissa [phonetic]. ‘Its stones, soul, air, the trees are sacred.’ Since last year’s harvest the landscape has changed. Extremist Jewish settlers claiming biblical rights to this rocky hilltop arrived in May, moving their caravans here.”
Source >>> https://t.co/OaLxPQ4Mc3
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 4, 2021
British outlet corrects false claim about US Iron Dome funding
Last week we posted about an op-ed at the British outlet i news , written by their foreign correspondent Michael Day, which grossly mislead readers on the issue of West Bank settlements, and included one straight out factual error, in this sentence:
…Israeli defence minister Benny Gantz arrived in Washington, cap in hand, in search of $1bn in emergency military aid in order to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome defences and restock its bomb supplies.
As we noted in our post, the $1bn in US aid was only for the Iron Dome defence system, not for offensive “bomb supplies”, a fact we demonsrated to to editors by citing the full text of the legislation passed by the US House of Representatives in late September authorising the funding.
Our complaint was upheld, and the following correction was published in the Nov. 3 print edition.
Why is a photo of a plane belonging to Israeli carrier El Al accompanying a piece: "Photos show the lineup of private jets that the world's elite, including Jeff Bezos, took to the UN's climate conference in Scotland."
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 4, 2021
That's a regular 737, @BusinessInsider. Not a "private jet." pic.twitter.com/gq8D3lahkp
Netflix documentary on America's secret Nazis leaves viewers disturbed
A new animated documentary short film on the Netflix streaming service tells the remarkable tale of a group of German Jews who fled Nazi Germany and signed up to serve in the US military. Instead of exacting their revenge, though, they were sent to a secret military base near Washington where they were told to keep Nazi prisoners of war happy.Protesters against COVID-19 measures wear concentration camp uniforms in northern Italy
Arno Mayer thought he was on the side that was going to "beat the s**t out the Germans," he explains in the newly released Netflix documentary Camp Confidential: America's Secret Nazis.
Peter Weiss also expected to do battle but instead was sent to something called PO Box1142. The soldiers realized they would not be sent to Europe, but a military installation near Washington that looked like a club and had tennis courts and a swimming pool. As Weiss described it, "It didn't seem real."
In the 36-minute documentary short, directed by Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy, footage of the men being interviewed is juxtaposed with animated re-enactments. The soldiers learned they would have to obtain information on German rocket systems as part of a top-secret mission.
Rudolph Bins noted the Germans looked like they had just left the battlefield, with no other clothes. He said the Germans has come from every unit, including some SS officers.
"It was not the most comfortable feeling," says Henry Kolm. "Some of them were real Nazis, and they might have killed you on the spot if they could. You know, I'm Jewish, and they knew it, too."
The prisoners included Germany's top scientists. With Germany's V-2 rockets claiming over 50,000 lives in London and elsewhere at the time, there was concern the rockets would soon be able to reach New York or Washington, something that would have changed the course of World War II.
Footage released over the weekend shows protesters against COVID-19 measures wearing concentration camp uniforms and marching through Novara, a city in northern Italy.Sweden aims to reverse rising antisemitism
The protesters can be seen wearing the blue and white uniforms that prisoners in concentration camps were forced to wear. They marched in a line whilst holding a long, knotted piece of string intended to resemble the barbed wire that surrounded concentration camps.
It was also reported that some of the demonstrators from Saturday’s event carried signs that read “We are like prisoners of Auschwitz” and “Stop dictatorship”.
Noemi Di Segni, President of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, said that “In the face of ravings like this one cannot invoke the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution. We have witnessed an abuse and an offense to memory.”
The inflammatory and misleading comparison has been used among anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination networks, which have become known as hotbeds of antisemitic conspiracy theories and tropes.
In January 2020, around fifty royals, prime ministers, presidents and parliamentary leaders came to Jerusalem for the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, where they stood in unity and solidarity with the Jewish people, paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the Shoah and made a solemn and concrete pledge to actively fight antisemitism.Kansas labor leader apologizes for likening vaccine mandates to Holocaust
National leaders and decision-makers around the world instinctively understood that the increasing trends in Jew-hatred needed to be reversed through firm action.
Over the almost two years since that historic occasion, European governments have, overall, acted on this pledge. We witnessed earlier this month the release of the first-ever European Union Strategy on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life, designed to prevent and combat all forms of antisemitism, protect and foster Jewish life, educate, research and commemorate the Holocaust.
This is an unprecedented and vital document that will act as a road map to significantly reduce antisemitism in Europe and beyond. Furthermore, it is a commitment to the Jews of Europe that we belong and are a vital part of the European future. The European Council, a few days ago, reinforced this message, calling on all of its institutions, member states, international organizations, civil society actors and citizens to commit to a future free from antisemitism in the EU and beyond.
A Kansas labor leader apologized Wednesday for remarks he made during a legislative hearing comparing COVID-19 vaccine mandates to the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews.Neo-Nazi group National Action's co-founder like Goebbels, court hears
Cornell Beard said the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has “a long, proud tradition of welcoming everyone into the labor movement.” Beard is president of the union’s Wichita district.
Beard said his remarks were taken out of context but added, “I wholeheartedly apologize to the Jewish community.”
“Although it was not my intent, my comments came off as insensitive regarding one of the most sinister times in world history,” Beard said in an email to The Associated Press.
Beard spoke during a committee hearing Friday against vaccine mandates announced in September by US President Joe Biden. Beard, who is Black, gave the committee a written statement accusing people who won’t work with others who are not vaccinated of “preserving and perpetuating the ideology of a modern-day racist.”
“We’re basically saying you’re the modern-day Jew,” Beard told the committee in person. “You’re gonna wear that star … and we don’t give a damn if you complain about it or not.”
Before and during World War II, Nazi Germany forced Jews to wear yellow stars.
The alleged co-founder of a neo-Nazi terror group has been likened to the Third Reich's propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels, a court has heard.Man to appear in court on public nuisance charge after Nazi flag flown over Brisbane synagogue on Jewish Sabbath
Ben Raymond, 32, is accused of setting up the National Action group to wage a "white jihad" and race war in Britain.
Bristol Crown Court heard the group was established in 2013 and was banned under terror legislation in 2016.
Mr Raymond, of Swindon, is accused of seven offences including membership of a proscribed organisation.
The other six charges relate to possessing a document or record of use to a terrorist contrary to Section 58 of the Act.
Barnaby Jameson QC, prosecuting, said: "It was the defendant who coined the description 'white jihad'. The word 'jihad' is borrowed from Islamic terrorism.
"The word 'white' denotes the stripe of this brand of terror - neo-Nazism - 'white terror' with a direct throwback to Nazi Germany.
"The terror celebrated by adherents of Hitler and the architects of the Holocaust. The terror of violent ethnic cleansing.
"For the defendant and his cohorts, the work of Adolf Hitler was, and remains, unfinished. The Final Solution to the Jewish question - to use Hitler's words - remains to be answered by complete eradication."
The flag was flown on Saturday from the UniLodge student accommodation building on Margaret Street which towers over the synagogue. Police were called to the scene and the flag has since been seized.Israeli Firms Raise $3 Billion in Record-breaking October
A 45-year-old man has been ordered to appear in court on a public nuisance charge.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said on Twitter that Saturday’s incident was “sickening” and “pure evil”, adding that it was “time for this vile flag to be banned in Queensland.”
Currently, Victoria is the only Australian state that has called for a ban on Nazi symbols.
Lord Mayor Schrinner also said that “Under the current inadequate laws”, the incident was “likely to be classified as nothing more than a low-level ‘public nuisance’,” which he deemed “not good enough.”
A survey conducted earlier this year found that 60 percent of Jews in Queensland, Australia have experienced antisemitism.
In October, Israeli companies raised a record $3 billion, a total that includes 10 six-figure investments. We’ve got some new unicorns among them.Business management software firm HoneyBook raises $250m, doubles valuation
Topping the list is Orca Security, which raised $550 million in an extended Series C round led by Temasek, an investment company headquartered in Singapore. The round boosted its valuation 50 percent in just seven months to $1.8 billion.
Based in Tel Aviv and Los Angeles, Orca Security — a 2021 Gartner Cool Vendor — provides cloud security solutions.
Deel closed a $425 million Series D round, led by Coatue, bringing its valuation to $5.5 billion. Deel, based in San Francisco with R&D in Israel, provides a payroll solution for foreign employees, boasting 4,500 customers. Its own workforce spans 45 countries.
Tel Aviv cloud security startup Wiz reached a $6 billion valuation following a $250 million round in October – less than half a year after a $350 million round at a $1.8 billion valuation. The company was founded in January 2020.
Israeli-founded business management software firm HoneyBook announced Wednesday that it raised $250 million in a Series E round, six months after raising a $155 million investment and becoming a tech unicorn, a private company valued at over $1 billion.Colombian president to open innovation office in Jerusalem next week
The current funding round values HoneyBook at over $2 billion. The investment was led by Tiger Global Management with participation from Durable Capital Partners LP, Norwest Venture Partners, Citi Ventures, and OurCrowd, the company said in a statement.
HoneyBook was founded eight years ago in San Francisco by Israeli husband-and-wife team Oz Alon and Naama Alon, alongside Dror Shimoni. The company developed an online business and financial management platform for small businesses, entrepreneurs and freelancers that allows them to manage clients and projects, handle contracts, collect payment, and automate emails and tasks. It serves clients across the US and Canada.
The COVID-19 pandemic has benefited the company, as consumers’ interactions with businesses changed, necessitating the increased adoption of digital tools to support their growth, the company has said in the past.
“The US is in the middle of a workforce revolution that is driving the continued rise of the independent business economy,” the company said in a statement Wednesday, adding that its total bookings on the platform have now surpassed $5 billion, including $1.8 billion in 2021 alone.
Colombia’s President Ivan Duque will open a trade and innovation office in Jerusalem next week during a three-day visit to Israel, Foreign Ministry officials said Thursday.University of Haifa, UAE’s Zayed University Ink Cooperation Deal on Green Issues
Duque will be leading a 95-person delegation that includes the ministers of defense, health, agriculture, trade, environmental protection, and transportation. Colombian officials, businessmen and representatives of the Jewish community will also join the president.
The size and makeup of the Colombian delegation “underscores the importance of the relationship and their desire — and ours of course — to broaden cooperation in a whole range of issues,” said the Foreign Ministry’s Latin America desk deputy director, Yonatan Peled, in a briefing with reporters.
The Jerusalem office of Innpulsa, Bogota’s entrepreneurship and innovation agency, will be Colombia’s first innovation center abroad. Duque plans on opening similar offices in South Korea and San Francisco, Peled said.
Duque announced his intentions to open the office in August 2020, during a videoconference with then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, marking the ratification of a free-trade agreement between the two countries.
The new mission will help Colombia “consolidate the opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” he said then.
Israel’s University of Haifa and Zayed University of the United Arab Emirates have signed an academic cooperation agreement emphasizing environmental issues and encouraging joint research between faculty and students.In First, UAE Soccer Team Set to Compete in Israeli Tournament Next Month
“In the wake of many common challenges facing humanity as we grapple with the climate crisis, this kind of academic cooperation is a way to preserve what all of us call home — the planet,” said University of Haifa President Ron Robin, according to a press statement.
Professor Robin signed the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) in a virtual ceremony on Wednesday with the UAE’s Minister of Culture and Youth Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi.
The MoU will encourage joint research projects across a number of disciplines, including marine sciences and natural resource management. The universities will also conduct exchange programs for student and faculty for seminars, conferences and workshops.
Al Kaabi said the partnership “will create cross-border opportunities for students, faculty and the region as a whole. Together, we can lead innovation with regards to food and water security, marine sciences and environmental sustainability.”
An official national team from the United Arab Emirates will compete in a soccer tournament in Israel for the first time in history, the Israel Football Association (IFA) announced on Sunday.500 Years After the Inquisition, Spain Finally Has a Vibrant Kosher Wine Industry
The UAE national youth team will participate in Israel’s international winter youth tournament, named after former IFA chairman Gavri Levy, set to take place Dec. 12-17. National youth teams from Russia and Germany will also be competing.
The UAE Football Association (UAEFA) confirmed that its team arrived in Israel on Sunday morning. UAEFA President Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi may also visit the Jewish state ahead of the tournament as head of the Emirati delegation, the IFA said.
IFA Chairman Oren Hasson, said, “[Sunday] morning’s good news is unparalleled and is the fruit of a warm and fruitful relationship between the two associations … Many good people on both sides have worked for this moment and for the deepening of cooperation in a variety of fields, believing that football is a wonderful means of bringing the two countries closer together and strengthening them.”
He added, “After quite a few years, the tournament will include four teams this time and beyond football there will be significant other activities in cultural and historical spectacles. We will proudly wave the flags of the United Arab Emirates, Germany and Russia alongside our blue and white flag.”
Located in the Priorat region of Spain, hidden in the steep hills and lush mountains of the Tarragona province, 100 miles southwest of Barcelona, sits the Celler de Capçanes winery.Unpacked: The Massacre of the Jews of Poland | The Jewish Story
The cooperative winery, founded in 1933, has seen its reputation for high-end vintages grow steadily over the decades. And in 1995, it was approached with an unusual request: A Jewish family from Barcelona looking for domestically-sourced wine asked whether the winery would be willing to manufacture one of Spain’s first kosher wines in hundreds of years.
Jews played a significant role in producing wine in Spanish-speaking lands for centuries — until they were expelled under the Inquisition of 1492. Despite the fact that the country, which boasts the world’s largest viticultural area, has tried to cultivate its Jewish community in recent decades, local Jews lacked a vibrant selection of locally produced kosher wine for, well, centuries.
But in recent years, a growing number of Jewish and non-Jewish winemakers have stepped into the Spanish kosher market, revitalizing the country’s long-lost kosher wine lineage, from La Rioja to Catalonia through Ribera del Duero, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia.
Simultaneously, public and private institutions such as the Network of Spanish Jewish Quarters and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain have launched a “Sephardic Vineyards” initiative to encourage the trend.
After the expulsions from Western Europe, Ashkenazi Jews found a new home in Poland. In the 17th century, Poland was home to one third of the world’s Jewish population, and was considered the center of Jewish life. Polish Jews became prosperous economically and religiously, but also faced escalating persecution.
Jews were blamed for the Black Plague and the destruction of church property but the worst was yet to come with the rebellion of the Cossacks, a group of Eastern Europeans made up of runaway serfs, bandits and traders.
The organizer of this rebellion was Bogdan Chmielnicki, or “Chmiel the Wicked,” who banded the Cossacks and peasants of Ukraine into armies that led pogroms, savagely destroying more than 300 Jewish towns and massacring thousands of Jews over nine years. Despite these atrocities, Polish Jewish life was slowly rebuilt, but Chmielnicki will forever be remembered as one of Jewish history’s unforgivable villains.
Abnormal construction material discovered in Babylon - report
Archaeologists have recently discovered bitumen and mortar plastered onto a brick dating back to the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II, according to an Express report on Wednesday.An etrog, a lion and all the secrets of 1,300-year-old mosaic in Jericho
The material has supposed connections to Babylon's Tower of Babel, the myth that supposedly explains why different languages exist. The Tower of Babel is mentioned in the Book of Genesis 11:1-9, which takes place after the story of Noah's Ark.
Last month, the world's oldest drawing of a ghost was discovered on a tablet that was also based back to the Babylonian era that was constructed approximately 3,500 years ago.
The drawing presents a male ghost with his hands tied by a rope, being led by a woman pulling the rope. It is said to be a guide to getting rid of unwanted ghosts by acknowledging what brought them back to the living world.
Two years ago, another discovery of ash layers, Iron Age potsherds, and jewelry reportedly helped prove the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 587/586 BCE.
Why is a citrus fruit – also known in Hebrew as etrog – featured in the magnificent mosaic paving the main hall of a caliphate castle in Jericho?
According to Dr. Lev Arie Kapitaikin, a lecturer in Islamic Art at Tel Aviv University and Shenkar College, the choice to include the fruit in the artwork remains somewhat mysterious but it does show the deep interconnections between the Abrahamic faiths.
“The etrog is considered an enigmatic fruit in Islam,” he said. “Nobody really knows what it means, perhaps it was a symbol of fertility, perhaps even of dynastic succession. Here it is depicted with a knife, near the throne, a location that highlights its importance. It is interesting to see how a Jewish emblem also became important in Islam.”
The mosaic was unveiled by the Palestinian Authority Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Rula Ma‘ay‘a after a long restoration funded by the government of Japan for $12 million. The ceremony was also attended by Japanese Ambassador to Lebanon and former ambassador for Palestinian affairs, Okubo Takeshi. Since then, for the first time the site is open to the public. Ma’ay’a expressed hope that the artifact will boost tourism in the Palestinian Authority.
Hisham’s Palace dates to the first half of the 8th century CE, only about 100 years after the death of Mohammed.
The palace was built under the Umayyad dynasty, the first major Muslim dynasty.
The Ethiopian Jewish holiday Sigd belongs on all Jews’ calendar
When Jews around the world go through the exercise of marking their calendars for the upcoming year’s holidays, it is doubtful that many of them check for the date of Sigd. But they should.
I have celebrated Sigd ever since my childhood in Merevah, a village in northwestern Ethiopia. Taking place 50 days after Yom Kippur, Sigd also includes a day of fasting. The holiday – observed for centuries by Ethiopian Jews and in more recent decades by the sizable population of Ethiopian immigrants living in Israel – centers on the idea of accepting the Torah as well as yearning for Israel and the Temple in Jerusalem.
On Sigd, the community members in Merevah would gather in the middle of the village wearing white clothes and join a procession led by rabbis. They sang Psalms and concluded the procession with the phrase, “Next Year in Jerusalem.”
While I am well-accustomed to celebrating Sigd in Israel, this year I celebrated the holiday in Philadelphia – and over Zoom. On November 3, I moderated a discussion with Ethiopian Israeli scholar Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom as part of a Jewish Agency for Israel event, “Sigd: A Virtual Celebration of Jewish Unity.”
The virtual event, which drew hundreds of participants, raised crucial awareness surrounding Ethiopian Jewish culture and the diversity of the global Jewish people. At a time when it is all too easy to focus on what divides us, Jewish unity can be achieved by focusing on the traditions that bring us together. Along those lines, there is much more to the Hebrew calendar than Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, Hanukkah and other well-known holidays. Jewish communities across the globe can grow closer by learning about each other’s unique customs and cultures, and that education should encompass lesser-known holidays like Sigd.
Happy Sigd! Today is a holiday celebrated by Ethiopian Jews - they would climb to the highest hill in the area, look towards Jerusalem and pray to return to Zion. Here's President @Isaac_Herzog celebrating with Kaisim - Ethiopian rabbis. pic.twitter.com/w8RhwnqbgY
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) November 4, 2021
.@TelAviv municipality lit up in honor of #Sigd.
— Israel ????? (@Israel) November 3, 2021
Sigd Sameach to all who are celebrating! https://t.co/oiNU5WaDvL pic.twitter.com/xRpfI40KPi
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