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Thursday, April 21, 2022

04/21 Links Pt2: Mark Regev: Islam has never had a tolerance for the Jewish state; 87 Jewish and Pro-Israel Organizations Urge Education Dept. to Defund Academic Boycotts of Israel

From Ian:

Mark Regev: Islam has never had a tolerance for the Jewish state
Many of today’s anti-Zionists will be surprised to learn that discrimination of Jews under Islamic rule was recorded by none other than Karl Marx. Writing in 1854, some half-century prior to the rise of political Zionism, Marx described the situation of Jerusalem’s Jews under Ottoman rule: “Nothing equals the misery and the suffering of the Jews of Jerusalem, inhabiting the most filthy quarter of the town… [They are] the constant objects of oppression and intolerance…”

In the decades following Marx’s article, the situation of Jews in the Middle East improved with the lessening of historic dhimmi discrimination. But as this process was inspired by liberal European ideas, it brought with it an anti-Jewish backlash, heightening the association of the indigenous Jew with the hated foreigner.

Paradoxically, many Muslims who rejected western influence still eagerly embraced European antisemitic tropes, including the blood libel, most famously in Damascus in 1840, and the global Jewish conspiracy, evident in numerous Arabic editions of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Undoubtedly the birth and development of Zionism contributed to Islamic hostility, building upon long-standing prejudicial attitudes. For while traditional Islam was willing to tolerate Jews whose status was safely inferior, Jewish aspirations for national self-determination and equality among the nations ran counter to centuries of established Islamic teaching.

While serving as Israel’s ambassador in London I experienced my first Ramadan breaking-the-fast iftar meal. Jewish-Muslim coexistence groups promote joint iftar events, but generally the subject of Israel is politely left at the doorstep, it being understood that a discussion of the Jewish state could negatively impact the desired ambiance. Yet, the Israeli embassy also hosted an annual iftar meal, attended by a small group of remarkable Muslims willing to engage.

Recent developments provide some optimism as to the trajectory of Jewish-Muslim relations. The Abraham Accords’ breakthroughs are significant and include a state-to-state interfaith and intercultural dialogue designed to enhance understanding. And in Israel, MK Mansour Abbas is breaking stereotypes, demonstrating that political Islam doesn’t have to be the Muslim Brotherhood’s unbridled hostility.

Genuine Muslim-Jewish coexistence is neither simple nor impossible, requiring the expansion of Islam’s commitment to tolerance to include an appreciation of the Jews’ desire not to revert to their former subservient status.

Ramadan Kareem.
‘Listen to the Names Being Named’: Russian State TV in ‘Straight-Up Antisemitism’ Against Critics of Ukraine War
Russian President Vladimir Putin has falsely depicted Ukrainian leaders — including the country’s Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky — as Nazi sympathizers, as part of a propaganda campaign to justify Russia’s invasion.

Applebaum, a Polish-American journalist who has been a staunch critic of the Putin regime, responded on Twitter to the segment, “I am bothered more by their blatant disregard for their own history and their insistence on lying about it, especially since they are right now repeating it.”

She also re-shared her original post that was later seized upon by Russia-1, noting it was not originally written in the Russian language as displayed on-air. In the Tuesday thread, Applebaum shared observations from the ground in the Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel — Kyiv suburbs whose near-total destruction by Russian forces over the past eight weeks has emerged more clearly with their eastward retreat.

“Other than the airport at Hostomel, none contain military targets. Nevertheless, all are destroyed,” Applebaum wrote. “It will be important, not just now, but 100 years from now, as we try to understand how the Russian army came to act in 2022, just as the Red Army did in 1939 and 1944-45. There is nothing predetermined about this behavior, or inevitable. Nations can and do change.”

“But after WW2, nobody talked about the mass rape, thefts carried out by the Red Army,” Applebaum continued. “After 1991, there was no broad exploration of the crimes of communism either. Instead, the same practices were taught to a new generation of soldiers. We saw them in Chechnya, Syria, now Ukraine.”

“If the institutions, culture and practices didn’t change, no wonder the behavior didn’t change. When we were shown a mass grave, the sense of deja vu was just as overwhelming as the horror. Nothing was learned.”

In March, Alexei Venediktov, former editor-in-chief of the liberal Echo Moskvy radio station, faced antisemitic intimidation for speaking out against the Kremlin, when he found a severed pig’s head and a sticker bearing Ukraine’s coat of arms along with the slogan “Judensau” (“Jewish pig”) outside the front door of his Moscow apartment.
91-year-old Holocaust survivor dies in freezing Mariupol basement
As she lay dying in a Mariupol basement, freezing and pleading for water, Holocaust survivor Vanda Semyonovna Obiedkova wanted to know only one thing: "Why is this happening"?

Ill and emaciated during the last two weeks of her life, the 91-year-old could not even stand up. She died on April 4, not peacefully of old age in her own bed, but as a victim of the horrific war that has engulfed her hometown.

"Mama didn't deserve such a death," Obiedkova's daughter, Larissa, told Chabad.org through tears, just hours after arriving with her family in a safe location.

She had watched helplessly as her mother's life ebbed away, remaining at her side until the last moment. After her mother passed away, Larissa and her husband risked their lives to bury Obiedkova amid non-stop shelling in a public park less than a kilometer from the Azov Sea.

"The whole Mariupol has turned into a cemetery," said Rabbi Mendel Cohen, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Mariupol and the Ukrainian port city's lone rabbi.

Obiedkova and her family had long been active members of Mariupol's Jewish community, the matriarch regularly receiving medical aid from Cohen's synagogue.

"Vanda Semyonovna lived through unimaginable horrors," the rabbi told Chabad.org. "She was a kind, joyous woman, a special person who will forever remain in our hearts."

Since the war began, Cohen has been working full-time to evacuate community members from the inferno, working the phones even on Shabbat, and most recently, Passover. He was able to evacuate Larissa and her family earlier this week.

Vanda Obiedkova was born in Mariupol on Dec. 8, 1930. She was 10 years old in October of 1941 when the Nazis entered Mariupol and began rounding up the city's Jews. When the SS came to the family home and took away Vanda's mother, Maria, the little girl managed to evade arrest by hiding in a basement.

"She couldn't scream; that's what saved her," says Larissa.


Pro-Israel Princetonians Notch Victory With Appeal Against Election Official on BDS Vote
Princeton University's student government conceded on Monday that its handling of an anti-Israel referendum was "unfair and incorrect," upholding an appeal against the school's chief elections manager, Brian Li, who misled students about how the vote would be tallied.

As a result, the student government said in an official statement on Monday that it would "not make a statement on behalf of the student body in favor or against the referendum," which called on the university to stop contracting with the construction company Caterpillar because it is a supplier of the Israel Defense Forces.

After huddling in a closed-door session, audio of which was reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon, the student government acknowledged that Li erred when he told students that abstentions would count as a part of final vote total before reversing course. The closed-door session came in the wake of an April 14 appeal lodged by four student government officials against Li, who repeatedly told the student group Tigers for Israel that abstentions would count against the referendum. Tigers for Israel organized their campaign strategy around Li's guidance, encouraging students to abstain if they didn't feel comfortable voting no. But after voting closed, Li said abstentions wouldn't count after all, a reversal the appeal called "unfair and incorrect."

The appeal's success marks a victory for pro-Israel students on campus, who have worked to beat back Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions resolutions at elite schools.

Though the student government upheld the appeal, it ruled out a revote. Instead, student government officials drafted a statement, obtained by the Free Beacon, that passed the referendum but declined to comment on it.

"Given the close nature of the vote and the appeal of an action by the Chief Elections Manager," the draft statement reads, "the USG will not make a statement on behalf of the student body in favor or against the position taken by the referendum."

The mealy-mouthed statement will be delivered to the Princeton administration by the end of the week, a member of the student government confirmed.
Incoming NUS President insists it’s “absolutely not true” that “I don’t like Jewish people,” but says “as a black Muslim woman, it is something that I expected”
The incoming President of the National Union of Students (NUS) has again stirred controversy, claiming in an interview published today that, although it is “absolutely not true” that “I don’t like Jewish people,” nevertheless, “as a black Muslim woman, it [the allegation] is something that I expected.”

Shaima Dallali’s comments were reported in The Guardian, which interviewed the union’s already embattled President-elect.

Last week, NUS announced that it was launching an independent investigation into antisemitism, including allegations facing Ms Dallali. Ms Dallali, 27, told the newspaper that “The investigation is the right thing to do,” adding: “I know quite a few Jewish students feel alienated. This is the first step to start bridging the gap and reaching out to Jewish students and ensuring that Jewish students feel like they have a place in NUS, so I do welcome it.”

Ms Dallali, who has a history of inflammatory tweets, including one for which she apologised, reportedly compared herself to a notorious former NUS President, Malia Bouattia. According to the newspaper, Ms Dallali said that “the backlash against her election was part of pattern, seen with previous student leaders including Malia Bouattia, who in 2016 became the first black Muslim woman to become NUS president.”

“Unfortunately, as a black Muslim woman, it is something that I expected because I’ve seen it happen to other black Muslim women when they take up positions in the student union or the NUS, where they are attacked based on their political beliefs or their pro-Palestinian stance,” Ms Dallali said.

She also claimed that she had received a lot of racist and anti-Muslim abuse online: “I’ve had private messages of people calling me a raghead, people telling me to go and kill myself, calling me a Jew hater and an antisemite. That has been difficult to read. And so many threats as well – if I continue to do this then things will happen to me. I just try to delete, to block, I try not to let it get to my head. It’s something I receive every day and I’m continuing to receive. It’s affected me mentally and physically. Sometimes I don’t feel safe.”

Ms Bouattia was also investigated by NUS during her tenure and found to have made antisemitic statements, but no action was taken against her in what was one of many instances of the union appearing to brush racism against Jews under the carpet.


Anti-Semitism Rocks Congressional Race in Tennessee
An anti-Semitic remark made by a Tennessee state lawmaker who successfully campaigned to remove Morgan Ortagus, a Trump-endorsed Jewish candidate, from the primary ballot has the former State Department spokeswoman up in arms.

The Republican state senator who led the charge to get Ortagus booted from the primary ballot said only Jewish people in Trump's orbit—his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner—would care about their campaign to boot her from the ballot.

"I don’t think Trump cares one way or the other," State Senator Frank Niceley said in an interview last month in defense of removing Ortagus from the ballot. "I think Jared Kushner—he’s Jewish, she’s Jewish—I think Jared will be upset. Ivanka will be upset. I don’t think Trump cares."

Ortagus, who served as the State Department spokeswoman during the Trump administration, told the Washington Free Beacon that Niceley invoked one of the "oldest and most vile forms of hatred" in order to discredit her candidacy to represent Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District in Congress.

"Unfortunately, Senator Niceley's offensive and anti-Semitic remarks are not an isolated incident. This is a clear pattern of behavior of an entrenched politician whose disdain for the Jewish people is plain for all to see," Ortagus said. "I'm a proud part of the Jewish people and will always stand up against anti-Semitism, one of the oldest and most vile forms of hatred in the world. Senator Niceley's rhetoric is as disappointing as his character, and I call on my fellow Tennessee Republicans to join me in calling out anti-Semitism in all forms."

Ortagus and two other Republican candidates were removed from the ballot late Tuesday after the state party deemed them ineligible to run, citing bylines mandating that candidates vote in the three of the last four statewide Republican primaries. With Trump’s endorsement and her Republican bonafides, Ortagus was seen as the likely nominee and frontrunner to win the race this November.

Niceley, in a statement to the Free Beacon, said his remarks were taken out of context.
Queen’s Journal Editorial Accuses University’s Student Union of Being Insufficiently Anti-Israel, Promotes BDS - Honest Reporting Canada
An April 8 editorial in the Queen’s Journal by one of the newspaper’s Editors in Chief, Shelby Talbot, “The AMS should be ashamed of its treatment of Palestinian students,” took the university’s student union, the Alma Mater Society (AMS), to task for what it considers its insufficient support for the Palestinian cause.

In attempting to make its case, however, the editorial was rife with half-truths and otherwise egregious disinformation about Israel.

For example, Talbot wrote the following: “Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have deemed Israel’s violent and discriminatory system of governing Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories an apartheid—an assessment recently supported in a ​​UN Special Rapporteur’s report.”

While Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have indeed accused Israel of practicing “apartheid,” the claims of both organizations should be taken with a massive dollop of skepticism, if not outright rejection. Both organizations have long bizarrely focused an inordinate amount of attention on Israel, a vibrant liberal democracy where citizens of all races and religions enjoy equal rights. These reports, rather than reflecting the reality on the ground, rely on a chaotic mix of allegations, distortions and falsehoods denying Israel’s existence as the nation state of the Jewish people.

Importantly, the rights of Israeli Arabs are so comprehensive and protected, that to accuse Israel of apartheid is simply misinformation and libel. Keep in mind, Israel is a country where an Arab Supreme Court judge sent a Jewish president of Israel to jail. Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East where its 20% Arab minority enjoys full equal rights before and under the law. Israeli Arabs consistently affirm they would rather live in Israel as a minority than anywhere else in the Middle East as part of the majority. Israel’s vibrancy, its openness, and tolerance have solidified its credentials as a progressive liberal democracy whose Arab minority not only enjoys the same rights as all other Israeli citizens, they occupy positions at the pinnacle of Israeli society. Arabs have been elected to Israel’s parliament, they fight in the Israel Defense Forces and partake in every facet of Israeli society. Furthermore, Israel has over 400 mosques throughout the country and there are zero synagogues (and Jews) in Gaza and Palestinian Authority controlled-areas.

Just ask Mansour Abbas, the leader of the Arab-Islamist party Ra’am who repudiated AI and HRW’s “apartheid” slur.

Talbot demands that the AMS follow in the footsteps of some other Canadian universities, and adopt the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) resolutions. What she neglects to mention is that these resolutions not only do not serve the interests of Palestinians in any way whatsoever, they have also been increasingly – and rightly – condemned by university administrators as discriminatory, with no place at a Canadian post-secondary institution.


87 Jewish and Pro-Israel Organizations Urge Education Dept. to Bar Funding to Programs Engaging in Academic Boycotts of Israel
Eighty-seven Jewish and pro-Israel organizations signed a letter urging the Department of Education to bar federal funding to university programs that have members engaging in academic boycotts of Israel.

The April 20 letter, which was spearheaded by the AMCHA Initiative and signed by organizations like the Simon Wiesenthal Center, StandWithUs and Zionist Organization of America, stated: “We are deeply concerned that in the wake of the recent Middle East Studies Association (MESA) vote endorsing an academic boycott of Israel, some directors and affiliated faculty in federally-funded Middle East Studies National Resource Centers (NRCs), most of which are institutional MESA members, may feel emboldened to implement the boycott in ways that will substantively hurt [American] students and faculty.” MESA voted in favor of the boycott on March 22 following two-month-long vote among their members.

The letter also noted that NRCs were established under federal law predicating funding on the promotion of “access to research and training overseas, including through linkages with overseas institutions.” “An academic boycott, however, calls for the exact opposite: it seeks to deny access to research, training and education in and about the targeted country, and to break linkages with the targeted country’s educational institutions,” the letter argued.

Furthermore, the 87 organizations expressed concern over the fact that “recent studies have shown that Middle East Studies faculty who support an academic boycott of Israel are likely to bring their support for the boycott into academic space.” “While acknowledging that a faculty member’s right to express support for an academic boycott of Israel is protected by academic freedom, it is unacceptable that federal funds could be used to implement an academic boycott that directly contravenes the purposes for which these funds have been granted,” the letter stated. It concluded with a call for the Department of Education to issue a statement warning NRCs that their funding could be impacted by academic boycotts of Israel and that grant applications should “establish safeguards” to ensure that academic boycotts don’t occur.
Several dozen at Pro-Palestinian march on NY consulate call to ‘globalize intifada’
Dozens of protesters gathered near the Consulate General of Israel in Manhattan on Wednesday in what was billed as an emergency rally to support Palestinian resistance and liberation “by any means necessary.”

As around a dozen police officers lined up around the area, the protesters began calling to “globalize the intifada.” Tensions are high in Israel, where Palestinian rioters have clashed with police on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and Israeli security forces have conducted raids in the West Bank.

Multiple activist groups organized the rally, including Within Our Lifetime, Samoudin and the Palestinian Youth Movement. Organizers refused to speak with the New York Jewish Week, calling it part of the “Zionist media.”

On Tuesday, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish advocacy group, called on the city to prevent the rally because organizers used what the center called “the language of incitement.”

There was no violence at Wednesday’s rally. It started with chanting over drums of the pro-Palestinian phrase, “From the River to the Sea.” Other chants included “We don’t want no two state, we want all of it,” and “Israel, go to hell.”

The group then marched to the fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel at 59th Street, blocking traffic and waving Palestinian flags along the way.


PreOccupiedTerritory: New ‘Globalize Intifada!’ Call Makes Man Who Attacked NY Jews For Years Feel His Efforts Ignored (satire)
A Crown Heights resident with experience in more than a dozen spitting, punching, pushing, and kicking incidents against the visibly-Torah-observant in his neighborhood since 2015 voiced his disappointment and frustration this week following an upsurge in pro-Palestinian rhetoric over the last several weeks urging activists to expand the violent struggle for Palestinian liberation beyond the confines of Palestine, observing that such demands indicate that his efforts in that regard, targeting random Hasidim, remain unknown to those doing the urging, and had they known of his efforts, they would not phrase their talk in a way that implies he has not already engaged in such expansion of the violence.

Anthony Jamal, 26, expressed dismay Thursday upon hearing yet another call to “globalize the Intifada,” referring to ongoing Palestinian attacks against Jews under the pretext of opposing Israeli measures to protect Israelis from Palestinian terrorism. “I’ve been doing just that since I was a teenager,” he boasted. “But you wouldn’t know it if you only got your information from those self-important ‘leaders’ over there. If they knew the effort I’ve been putting in all this time, maybe they’d choose a slogan that didn’t dismiss or ignore all that effort. It’s insulting.”

“On one hand, maybe if I tried harder, they’d notice,” he mused. “On the other hand, I’ve been giving this my all for years, and if they refuse to see it, even when it’s been on the news here and there, maybe the problem isn’t with me? I don’t know.” Jamal’s actions have been captured on security or surveillance cameras three times, but in none of the cases did the footage capture enough of his face to identify him. Police arrested him for an unrelated assault charge in 2017, which prosecutors dropped under New York City and State policies that reduced enforcement of violent crime. Nevertheless, upon exiting detention, Jamal took out his frustrations on the nearest visibly-Jewish person, in that case a woman pushing a stroller on Eastern Parkway whom he also called a “murderous slut,” according to the victim’s report to police. She suffered bruises and cuts.
Radical Minnesota Imam Gets a Pass in Media Coverage of ACLU Lawsuit
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) scored a public relations coup last month when it filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government on behalf of three Muslim Americans who complained of being repeatedly interviewed upon returning from trips abroad. The plaintiffs claim that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents single out Muslim travelers and subject them to intrusive interrogations about their religious beliefs.

Numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and ABC News, dutifully repeated the concerns of one plaintiff in particular, describing how Minnesota cleric Abdirahman Kariye endured "religious questioning" at airports and border crossings and was forced to hide his Muslim identity to avoid additional screening. However, Kariye's affiliation with extremist elements, including a mosque that served as a pipeline for terrorist recruitment, explains why authorities may be interested in his foreign travels.

Kariye's affiliation with extremists explains why CBP agents question him about foreign travels.

These one-sided reports failed to consider the reasons why the imam consistently faces questions at American ports of entry. They also betrayed the media's ignorance of extreme vetting techniques, or the use of basic and repeated questions about faith practices and affiliations to assess extremism.

Kariye is not the only suspected extremist to receive glowing press coverage. In the aftermath of 9/11, news stories about counter-terrorism tended to focus on perceived government overreach and civil rights abuses, frequently portraying Muslims living in the U.S. as the victims of broad-based, "suspicionless surveillance." Because these cases often rely on classified evidence, and prosecutors and law enforcement officials typically refuse to discuss pending investigations, journalists often base their reporting solely on the accounts of suspected terrorists and their attorneys.
NJ man charged for car ramming rampage against Orthodox Jews
A man has been charged with federal hate crimes following a spree of violent assaults on members of the Orthodox Jewish community in and around the Lakewood, New Jersey area, officials announced Wednesday.

Dion Marsh, 27, of Manchester, New Jersey, is charged with four counts of violating the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and one count of carjacking.

According to official documents filed in the case and statements made in court, the string of attacks commenced on April 8, 2022, when Marsh reportedly forced a visibly identifiable Orthodox Jewish man out of his car in Lakewood, assaulting and injuring him in the process. Marsh took control of the man’s car and drove away. A surveillance video in the area shows Marsh arriving in the area prior to the carjacking and assault.

Later in the evening, Marsh was in Lakewood driving a different car when he purposefully struck another visibly identifiable Orthodox Jewish man with the vehicle, attempting to kill the victim and causing him to suffer several broken bones.

Only minutes later, Marsh, once again driving the vehicle that he had stolen from the first victim, attempted to kill another visibly identifiable Orthodox Jewish man. Marsh used the stolen vehicle to deliberately strike the man, who was walking in Lakewood. Marsh got out of the vehicle and stabbed the man in the chest with a knife, causing the victim to suffer a stab wound and other injuries.

Almost two hours later, still driving the vehicle that he had stolen from the first victim, the suspect used it to deliberately strike another visibly identifiable Orthodox Jewish man who was walking in nearby Jackson Township, New Jersey, attempting to kill the man and causing him to suffer several broken bones and internal injuries.
Following mental health assessment, man who allegedly punched Jewish men to the ground deemed unfit to give plea
During a court hearing that was held today for a man who was arrested after visibly Jewish men were punched to the ground in January, the defendant was deemed unfit to give his plea due to his mental ill health.

Police in Haringey arrested a man after two visibly Jewish men were viciously punched to the ground in Stamford Hill in January in an assault that was widely publicised. CCTV footage showed a man striking blows to the two Jewish men’s faces and bodies.

The victims, Israel Grossman and Erwin Ginsberg, were promptly treated by Hatzola, a volunteer-run emergency medical service, and were hospitalised. It is understood that one victim sustained severe bruising, a broken nose and a fractured wrist, while the other also suffered bruising and injuries to his wrist and eye.

The incident took place on Cadoxton Avenue and was reported by Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol.

Malaki Thorpe, 18, of Fairview Road N15, appeared in Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court shortly after the incident and was charged with two counts of racially aggravated ABH and one count of possession of an offensive weapon.

He was remanded in custody, and did not attend a hearing at Wood Green Crown Court in March, when the court determined that he was to undergo a mental health assessment to determine his fitness to stand trial.

Today, at the hearing in the same court, Mr Thorpe’s lawyer, David Lyons, stated that the defendant was unfit to plead as he was “suffering from psychotic illness”.


Amazon backs Israeli autonomous robot maker BionicHIVE for warehouse solution
E-commerce giant Amazon has invested in Israeli robotics company BionicHIVE, the developer of an automated warehouse solution based on a fleet of synchronized autonomous robots, the companies announced Thursday.

BionicHIVE makes the SqUID, a robotic device powered by an AI-based algorithmic engine that can sort, select, and put away packages, navigate warehouse floors using in-built cameras and sensors, and move between people and objects. The company says the SqUID robots are deployed in a “wide range of supply chain facilities utilizing existing shelving racks and boxes.”

A video of the robots in action caught the eye last year of business magnate Elon Musk, of SpaceX, Tesla and other companies and interests, who tweeted that “the robot future is coming.”

Based in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, BionicHIVE has been bootstrapped since 2014 when it was founded by entrepreneurs Liran Raizer, Tomer Amit, and Ilan Reingold.

Although the amount was not disclosed, Amazon’s investment marks the company’s first big-name backer.

The multinational tech, commerce, streaming, and cloud computing company made the investment through the newly launched Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, a $1 billion fund announced Thursday that is set to “spur supply chain, fulfillment, and logistics innovation and further improve the customer and employee experience.”
Warm Peace and the Challenge of People-to-People Relations after the Abraham Accords
The Abraham Accords were crafted in a very different spirit than the earlier peace agreements between Israel and Jordan or Egypt, after which actual people-to-people (P2P) relations remained effectively nonexistent. In contrast, a very different energy arose with over 127 memorandums signed since August 2020 that have established new connections, trade, and collaboration in a number of fields. We are able to vouch for the very positive, open, and friendly atmosphere that we have repeatedly encountered at zoom events, visits, and meetings.

At the same time, while Israeli NGOs flocked to Dubai looking for partners, many Israelis may have failed to recognize that their Arab counterparts were still unprepared to move forward given the complexities of the situation domestically, and they lacked the necessary structures to engage in P2P work. Past and current public opinion makes them more cautious.

Some welcome the change, while others are not happy but keep it to themselves, and the rest shout their rejection from the rooftops. There remains a lack of familiarity with the other. Both parties operate differently and are subject to different internal sensitivities. Some caution and wisdom must be applied when building these channels so that they will succeed.
Starting today, I’m leading the first-ever “Abraham Accords Delegation of Evangelical Business & Media Leaders” to Bahrain, the UAE, and Israel – here’s why
For the past 35 years, I have had the wonderful opportunity to travel to and from the Middle East.

I have been deeply blessed to meet Jews, Muslims, and Christians, as I have sought to understand this fascinating and complicated region.

ALL ARAB NEWS was born on September 1, 2020 out of my passion to help the world’s 600 million Evangelical Christians understand this region better and know how to pray more knowledgeably and faithfully for its people and leaders, including for the Church here in the Epicenter of the world.

After all, far too often, the so-called “mainstream media” ignores the most important events and trends in the Middle East and North Africa.

Or they report them with so much extreme bias that many Christians feel they have no media outlet that they can trust.

Rather than rage against such bias, my colleagues and I decided to do something positive.

To create a news outlet that provides fair, balanced, credible and trustworthy coverage and analysis.

To tell you what is happening, and explain why we believe it matters.

Readers of this website – and my recent book, “Enemies and Allies” – know that I have previously led six delegations of Evangelical Christian leaders to meet with Arab kings and crown princes, presidents and prime ministers, religious clerics and business leaders.

I’ve done so, first and foremost, because God has opened extraordinary doors.

But also, because I believe the best way to explain what’s happening in this region is to talk directly the men and women who are shaping this region for better or worse.
Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles Announces Packed Lineup of Premieres
The 35th Israel Film Festival set to take place in Los Angeles next month will feature a number of film premieres among 30 award-winning features, documentaries and short films.

The festival, which is the largest showcase of Israeli films in the US, will be held in theaters and virtually from May 5-26. This year’s festival will include five US film premieres, six West coast premieres and 14 Los Angeles premieres. Opening night will see the Los Angeles premiere of Avi Nesher’s “Image of Victory,” which took home three wins at the 2021 Ophir Awards after 15 nominations. Considered Israel’s biggest-budget film, the film is inspired by the true story of the Egyptian Army’s 1948 raid on the kibbutz Nitzanim.

Also being screened at the festival is “Berenshtein,” based on the true story of Leonid Berenshtein, the last surviving member of the partisans who discovered Adolf Hitler’s V2 missile development facility. Festival goers will also get the chance to see “Here We Are” — the winner of four Ophir Awards, including best director, actor, supporting actor and screenplay — and the documentary “Queen Shoshana,” about the life story of Israeli singing icon Shoshana Damari. Comedies being screened include “Saving Shuli” and “Greener Pastures.”

Israeli filmmakers and actors will take part in select post-screening Q&As, including “Plan A” star Michael Aloni, “Berenshtein” producer Ronen Machlis Balzam and actor Omer Hazan from “Don’t Wait for Me.”

“I’m thrilled that the Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles is fully back for audiences to celebrate and support Israeli movies and their talented filmmakers,” said Meir Fenigstein, founder and executive director of the Israel Film Festival. “We hope that this 35th edition will be a new, exciting beginning towards continuing to bring the very best of Israeli culture to Los Angeles.”
Keira Knightley heads up cast of animated film on Holocaust artist Charlotte Salomon
Just prior to her murder in Auschwitz in October of 1943, artist Charlotte Salomon completed what many consider the world’s first graphic novel. She was 26 years old and six months pregnant when she died.

Her unique, avant-garde work, titled, “Leben? oder Theater?: Ein Singspiel” (Life? or Theater?: A Song-play), seamlessly blends fact and fiction in its 1,325 expressionist-style gouache paintings and overlay transparencies.

Whittled down to over 800 pages, it is an entire play replete with characters (fictionalized versions of people in her life), original text, literary references, and musical cues. It speaks of love, uncertainty, suicide and possibly even a murder committed by the artist.

Entrusted in the care of a non-Jewish family friend ahead of her deportation, since its recovery, the semi-autobiographical, multi-media work has been subjected to censorship, speculation and scholarly research.

Its newest incarnation is as an animated film, titled “Charlotte,” with an all-star cast of voice characters. The film opens in the United States on April 22, and in Israel on April 28. It is also available for viewing via a variety of streaming platforms.

Although the artist’s life and work also have been documented in books, exhibition, and films, this is the first time anyone has approached the narrative using a visual style evocative of the one used by Salomon herself.

“Charlotte” features voice acting by a team of A-listers, including Keira Knightley (as Charlotte), Brenda Blethyn, Jim Broadbent, Sam Claflin, Eddie Marsan, Sophie Okonedo, Mark Strong, and the late Helen McCrory in her final role prior to her death in April 2021.


‘Real-Time’ Testimonials From Survivors to Highlight New Orlando Holocaust Center
The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida, north of Orlando, will expand, relocate and be renamed as its mission shifts to preserving the testimonials and memories of survivors of the Shoah.

The new 43,000-square-foot museum, to be located in downtown Orlando, will be called the Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity. Architectural plans for the $45 million center were revealed on April 13.

A cornerstone of the museum will be the inclusion of the “Dimensions in Testimony” program.

Created in part by the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation, it pairs pre-recorded testimonies of Holocaust survivors with interactive hologram technologies. Visitors to the museum will be able to “ask” a survivor about their families and war-time experiences, and receive answers as if engaging in a real conversation.

The program is currently being utilized at several locales; however, this will be the first time that the Shoah Foundation has partnered with a Holocaust museum to design and implement a permanent, museum-wide exhibition.

“This new space will be more than just a destination; it will be a perfect fit for our community as Orlando continues to send a powerful message to the world that we will always honor history and ignite hope,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.




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