Saturday, September 10, 2022

09/10 Links: Australian Lawmakers Call For Holocaust Education; Sotomayor Rules Yeshiva U Can Disregard NYS Court Ruling on LGBTQ Student Club

From Ian:

Australian Lawmakers Call For Holocaust Education
An Australian parliamentarian has proposed a motion to require students throughout the commonwealth to be educated about the Holocaust.

Labor Party MP Josh Burns proposed the measure on September 5. According to The Australian Jewish News, it was co-sponsored by MPs from several parties.

The motion denounces antisemitism, including Holocaust denial and equating covid restrictions with anti-Jewish legislation in Nazi Germany, and implores “all states and territories to follow the lead of Victoria and New South Wales and make Holocaust education a mandatory aspect of their school curriculum.”

Holocaust education became mandatory in Victoria in 2020 after the state’s education minister James Merlino set out to address bigotry in its schools.

During a speech on the motion, its co-sponsor Labor MP Mark Dreyfus noted that the Holocaust “is only recent history.”

“I acknowledge that there are other members in this place, on both sides of the chamber, who, like me, owe their lives to the fact that one or more of their family members managed to escape the Nazis and find refuge in Australia,” he said.
Mark Regev: Flying from Israel to Australia: The geopolitics of visiting family
Abraham Accords opens Arab skies to Israeli flights
Unprecedentedly, in March 2018, an international carrier, Air India, received permission to transit the air space of Saudi Arabia and Oman on all its flights to and from Ben-Gurion Airport.

This breakthrough gave Air India a distinct competitive advantage over the Israeli carriers. For while El Al’s pre-COVID Tel Aviv-Delhi flight (involving the Gulf of Aden detour) took close to eight hours, Air India flew it in under six.

In 2020, the signing of the Abraham Accords with the UAE and Bahrain revolutionized Asian travel for Israelis. Dubai International Airport is a major hub for destinations across Asia and beyond, and the Gulf airlines, Emirates and Etihad, enjoy a strong global presence. Not only was it possible to fly directly over Arab airspace, but the traveling public was given multiple choices of carriers and routes.

US PRESIDENT Joe Biden’s July 2022 visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia brought further progress. Riyadh announced a policy change that enables Israeli airliners to fly over Saudi airspace to destinations in Asia. If Oman follows suit, as many now expect, El Al will be able to utilize the direct flight paths that had hitherto been reserved for international carriers.

For Israelis visiting Australia, this was especially welcome news. El Al revealed that the opening of Arab airspace made feasible a direct 15-hour Tel Aviv-Melbourne route. If there were once two prerequisite stops, and more recently a single transit point, flying to Melbourne may soon involve a zero-stopover journey.

I first visited Israel from Australia as a teenager in the 1970s. Back then, my three-leg journey had me flying from Melbourne to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Tehran, and Tehran to Tel Aviv. The last section of the trip had me departing the Iranian capital for Israel on El Al’s regular LY112 flight (the 1979 Islamic Revolution shut that route down).

El Al will not be starting flights to the Imam Khomeini International Airport anytime soon, but the geopolitical changes have progressively made visiting Australia easier. And given the pace of Arab-Israel normalization, who knows how I will fly next year to Melbourne for my mother’s 90th birthday?


Sotomayor Rules Yeshiva U Can Disregard NYS Court Ruling on LGBTQ Student Club
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor ruled Friday (Sept. 9) that Yeshiva University can continue to live out its religious mission without threat of government interference.

Sotomayor, who has jurisdiction over the lower court, wrote in her order that “the injunction of the New York trial court, case No. 154010/2021, is hereby stayed pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court.”

Unless Sotomayor rules otherwise in a future order – or the Supreme Court decides to take up the case – her ruling means that Yeshiva University can disregard a state court ruling ordering the school to recognize an LGBTQ student club.

Yeshiva is the country’s most prominent Modern Orthodox Jewish institution of higher learning.

This past June, the lower court found the university was incorporated as an educational institution, rather than as a religious institution – and thus required to comply with New York City’s human rights law barring discrimination based on sexual preference.

After a struggle more than a year long, the university had asked the court in an appeal of the lower court ruling to vindicate its religious identity and First Amendment rights through an emergency application.

“We are pleased with Justice Sotomayor’s ruling which protects our religious liberty and identity as a leading faith-based academic institution,” said Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University.

“But make no mistake, we will continue to strive to create an environment that welcomes all students, including those of our LGBTQ community.

“We remain committed to engaging in meaningful dialogue with our students, Rabbis and faculty about how best to ensure an inclusive campus for all students in accordance with our Torah values.”




German Police Fine Jewish Activist For Staging Pro-Israel Counter-Demonstration at Palestinian Rally
A Jewish communal official in the German city of Hanover has accused the local authorities of “criminalizing” the fight against antisemitism after she was fined for organizing a counter-demonstration at a pro-Palestinian rally where her father-in-law was assaulted for carrying an Israeli flag.

“The fight against antisemitism is being criminalized,” Rebecca Seidler — the director of the Liberal Jewish Community in Hanover — told the Welt news outlet during an extensive interview this week. “We are being made into perpetrators.”

Seidler recalled that on Apr. 23, she and her father-in-law, Michael Höntsch, arrived at the pro-Palestinian rally in downtown Hanover to register their protest and observe the proceedings alongside six other colleagues. When the 67-year-old Höntsch — a former member of parliament in the state of Lower Saxony for the center-left SPD Party — silently waved an Israeli flag, he was violently pushed to the ground by a demonstrator. Police later arrested the 55-year-old assailant and have initiated a criminal prosecution.

Seidler said that after the attack on her father-in-law, who walks with the aid of a cane, she spoke with the local police commander, urging him to de-escalate the increasingly heated situation. Because the official claimed that Seidler had organized her counter-protest without giving advance notice, she “was then informed that there would be a lawsuit against me, which irritated me a lot,” she said.

“I would have liked the police to have protected my father-in-law from attack, instead of underestimating the situation,” Seidler added. “And I wanted the pro-Palestinian rally to have been shut down after the attack.”


Knifeman shouting 'Allahu Akbar' stabs two people before being shot dead by police in Germany
A knife-wielding man shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ wounded two people in a southern German town on Thursday before being fatally shot by police.

The 30-year-old man attacked several passers-by 'with at least one knife', near the train station in Ansbach, a Bavarian town close to Nuremberg, local police said.

Two people were injured but their lives were not in danger, the statement said.

When security forces intervened, the assailant 'attacked the police' who opened fire and fatally wounded him, the statement added.

Investigators said they were investigating a possible 'Islamist or terrorist context'.

'The man shouted 'Allahu Akbar' several times during the commission of the crime,' police said, adding that they were investigating 'whether the crime had a link with an Islamist or terrorist context'.

Footage purportedly showed the knifeman chasing people across a car park.
Are Palestinian Authority ministers receiving full salaries despite financial crisis?
The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Finance said over the weekend that Palestinian cabinet ministers receive only 80% of their salaries like the rest of the PA’s civil servants.

The announcement came in response to reports in a number of media outlets according to which the ministers The announcement came in response to reports in a number of media outlets claiming that the ministers have been receiving full salaries, in addition to bonuses and other financial benefits, at a time when the PA government says it is suffering from a severe financial crisis.

The ministry said the ministers’ salaries are paid in accordance with a 2004 law at a rate of $3,000 per month. The payments are not linked to the cost of living, and there has been no increase in their salaries since 1994.

It also revealed that ministers are also entitled upon their appointment to a one-time payment of $15,000 to improve their living conditions. This payment, however, has not been disbursed to any of the ministers in the current government.

The ministry clarified that any other benefits received by ministers, governors or heads of security services are paid in accordance with the provisions of the applicable financial system.


Hamas leader Haniyeh in Moscow for talks with Russia's Lavrov
The chief political leader of Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas Ismail Haniyeh landed in Moscow on Saturday ahead of a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Gaza-based terror group said.

Haniyeh leads a senior Hamas delegation that includes military chief Saleh al-Arouri and other members of Hamas' politburo.

Discussions in Russia will revolve around "mutual ties" and "other issues relating to the situation in Palestine," Hamas noted.

A Hamas delegation previously visited the Kremlin in May, amid increased violence and tensions surrounding al-Aqsa Mosque and the Temple Mount.

The meeting also comes amid heightened tensions between Russia and Israel due to Israel's support of Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion and other security conflicts, namely airstrikes over Syria which Russia has attributed to Israel.

Lavrov also caused Israeli ire by claiming in May that Hitler was part Jewish, adding that "the biggest antisemites are the Jews themselves." A day after Israeli officials condemned his comments, the Russian foreign ministry claimed "Israel supports neo-Nazis in Ukraine."


E3 doubts Iran wants to sign nuclear deal, as Lapid heads to Germany
France, Britain and Germany said they doubted Iran wanted to revive the 2015 nuclear deal as Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid was set to depart for Germany on Sunday in hopes of swaying Berlin to abandon the agreement altogether.

"Iran continues to escalate its nuclear program way beyond any plausible civilian justification," the E3 said in a joint statement.

Their statement came after hope had been raised that the European Union, which has held indirect talks between the United States and Tehran for the last year-and-a-half, was on the edge of reviving the deal.

One of the main sticking points has been Iran's insistence that the International Atomic Energy Agency must close its probe into traces of uranium found in undeclared nuclear sites.

"While we're edging closer to an agreement, Iran reopened separate issues that relate to its legally binding international obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its NPT safeguards agreement concluded with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," the E3 said.
Iran: European criticism of nuclear demands ‘unconstructive,’ takes ‘Zionist path’
Iran’s foreign ministry on Saturday described as “unconstructive” and “regrettable” a joint statement issued by Germany, France and Britain about negotiations aimed at reviving a 2015 nuclear deal.

“It is surprising and regrettable that, in a situation where diplomatic interactions and exchanges of messages are continuing… to finalize the negotiations,” the three European parties would issue such an “unconstructive” statement, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said.

The remarks came after the trio of nations raised “serious doubts” about Iran’s sincerity in seeking a revived nuclear agreement and warned that the Islamic Republic’s position was jeopardizing the prospects of reaching a deal. The so-called E3 also warned that Iran “continues to escalate its nuclear program way beyond any plausible civilian justification.”

“The three European countries are advised to play a more active role to provide a solution to end the few remaining disagreements instead of entering the phase of destroying the diplomatic process,” Kanani said.

The three European parties to the deal said Saturday that Tehran “has chosen not to seize this critical diplomatic opportunity,” adding that “instead, Iran continues to escalate its nuclear program way beyond any plausible civilian justification.”

Tehran has also reopened issues related to its legally binding obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty that was concluded with the UN atomic energy watchdog IAEA, they added.

Iran has demanded that the International Atomic Energy Agency close its investigation into several undeclared nuclear sites, a non-starter for Western powers.

Kanani said it was “regrettable that the three European countries have taken a step in the path of the Zionist regime to defeat the negotiations with this ill-considered statement,” referring to Israel, a staunch opponent of the deal.
Canadians want answers after anti-Semite given government contracts to combat racism
Canadian government officials and Jewish community members are speaking out after the revelation that more than $500,000 (CAD) in federal contracts were awarded to an organization whose spokesman made anti-Semitic comments.

Since 2016, Laith Marouf, who also serves as the top consultant for the Community Media Advocacy Center (CMAC), has made multiple anti-Semitic posts on Twitter, such as referring to Jews as “bags of human feces” worthy only of a “bullet to the head.”

In the past six years, CMAC has received $500 million in contracts for cost support, research and advocacy from the Canadian government’s broadcasting regulatory agency. The latest $133,000 contract from Heritage Canada’s Anti-Racism Action Program was suspended after Marouf’s comments came to light.

Mark Goldberg, a telecom consultant and independent blogger, has been sounding the alarm on Marouf’s anti-Semitic comments for a year and brought the recent grants to public attention.

According to Liberal Member of Parliament Anthony Housefather, Minister of Canadian Heritage Hon. Ahmed Hussen had dismissed Marouf’s comments in early July after Housefather flagged. Housefather has since called on all 338 MPs to condemn Marouf and declare that CMAC should not receive any government funding.
Anti-Semitism on college campuses on the rise, report finds
A new report reveals an increase in anti-Semitic incidents on U.S. college campuses, with hundreds of current and former students noting that antisemitism is a problem.

Alums for Campus Fairness (ACF), an alumni network trying to combat campus anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias, conducted the survey between March 25 and June 14 and noted that the report included first-hand accounts from students who said they experienced Holocaust comparisons, Jewish stereotyping and common anti-Semitic tropes on their college campuses. The students also cited administrative negligence in the report titled “A Growing Threat: Anti-Semitism on College Campuses.”

ACF released the results of the survey of Jewish college students and recent alums last week and found 95% of those who participated said anti-Semitism is an issue, with three out of four describing it as a “very serious problem.”

The survey found that nearly half of current students said anti-Semitism is getting worse on their college campuses.

One anonymous student noted that a professor made “a horribly offensive analogy about the Holocaust.”

“When I told her it was offensive, she gaslit me and said if I was so sensitive, I should find another career,” that student continued, adding that “there has been rising anti-Israel activity on-campus” and that “we have found swastikas and hate-speech from alt-right groups on campus.”

Another student said that “UConn [The University of Connecticut] has experienced seven anti-Semitic incidents in the year and three during Passover alone.”

“Each act has gotten bigger and bolder, and the students have become frightened,” the student continued.


Orthodox Leaders Warn NY Times Against Publishing ‘False and Defamatory’ Article About Yeshivas
A lawyer for an Orthodox Jewish organization is warning The New York Times against publishing a “false and defamatory” investigative report critical of Hasidic yeshivas, set to hit newsstands days before the state Board of Regents will vote on new regulations on secular-studies curricula in private schools.

“There appears to be a high likelihood that your story will contain defamatory statements and implications about the Hasidic schools, including … statements that single out and stereotype the Hasidic community without providing proper contextual data, and implications that the Hasidic schools are engaged in illegal activities,” writes attorney Erik Connolly of the Benesch law firm in Chicago, in a letter to the Times dated Thursday, written on behalf of the Tzedek Association and obtained by Hamodia. “In addition, we understand from emails you have sent to individual schools, that the article will also include statements of fact that are simply not true. The publication of such an article would not only be defamatory, it would also cause irreparable harm to the Hasidic community and further stigmatize its members.”

The Times article, by reporters Eliza Shapiro and Brian Rosenthal, will focus on Hasidic yeshivas in Brooklyn and the Lower Hudson Valley, serving about 50,000 students.

According to a summary of the article emailed by the Times reporters to the yeshivas and obtained by Hamodia, the article will allege that “students in these schools are deprived of [secular] education unlike students anywhere else in New York,” that students are these yeshivas perform poorly on standardized tests, the schools receive “enormous sums of public money,” and that “many religion teachers use severe corporal punishment.”

The article will also discuss “the Hasidic community’s political power … and how the schools play a central role, including by sending sample ballots home and giving students prizes for bringing back ‘I Voted’ stickers into school.”

But in the letter Thursday, Conolly warns the Times against publishing an article with “false and defamatory statements and implications.” The letter, published below in full, disputes the Times’ allegations, arguing that “Hasidic schools teach a variety of secular subjects,” that “all teachers are qualified, background checked, and vetted,” and that “there is an unequivocal policy in these schools that corporal punishment will not be tolerated and any teachers who use corporal punishment will be fired.”
PBS Offers Free Lesson Plans, Teaching Course for Educators Related to Upcoming Ken Burns Holocaust Documentary
PBS LearningMedia, the educational arm of the PBS network, announced the release of free lesson plans for middle and high school teachers to help educate students about topics explored in an upcoming documentary that focuses on how the United States government and American people responded to the Holocaust as it unfolded in Europe.

The three-part film “The US and the Holocaust,” co-directed by award-winning American documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, will air on PBS from Sept. 18-20. It examines America’s actions, or lack thereof, concerning the Holocaust as well as the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazi ideology in Germany within the framework of global antisemitism and racism, including in the United States.

PBS will provide eight lesson plans for educators that address clips from the film and cover various topics, including the impact of Nazism; US immigration policy from 1924-1941; US media coverage of the Holocaust; and how public opinion in the United States influenced the American government’s response to the Holocaust and the refugee crises.

Some of the free lesson plans have already been released but the full collection of educational materials will be available on Sept. 18 on the “Ken Burns in the Classroom” hub on PBS LearningMedia’s website. The lesson plans were developed with historical and archival help from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, whose exhibit, “Americans and the Holocaust,” partially inspired Burns’ documentary.

Lori Brittain, vice president of PBS LearningMedia, said the educational resources related to the documentary “has been thoughtfully designed to help broaden students’ perspective, knowledge and understanding of this critical time in our history.”
How did a proud Sephardi Jew build a global financial empire?
Financial journalist Daniel Gross is of proud Syrian-Jewish stock on his mother’s side. Yet the historian and author of nine books knew about the very private billionaire Edmond J. Safra in only the vaguest terms.

“I knew him as a rich guy and a banker who lived in different places,” Gross laughs. “I thought I had some privileged insight because firstly, I’ve been a financial journalist for 30 years, and I’ve interviewed a lot of the major figures in global finance at a very high level. Secondly, Safra is the biggest name in the Syrian Jewish community.”

Gross, the author of the newly released A Banker’s Journey: How Edmond Safra Built a Global Financial Empire, spoke to the Magazine to get to the heart of the man who made monumental contributions to the State of Israel, while never actually claiming citizenship or owning a home here.

Edmond J. Safra has been dead for nearly 23 years. When Gross received the request of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation to write this biography, it came with the express cooperation of Safra’s widow, Lily, who sadly passed away just weeks before the release of this book.

Gross was granted access to a trove of private archives and more than 300 interviews that traced the story of Safra’s life, from his childhood in Beirut as the son of Banque de Crédit National owner Jacob Safra, to his shocking demise in a fire at his home in Monaco in 1999.
Shira Haas to join next ‘Captain America’ film as Israeli heroine Sabra
Israeli actress Shira Haas, who gained international fame through her starring role in the hit Netflix series “Unorthodox,” will play an Israeli superhero in the next “Captain America” film, set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, according to multiple reports.

According to Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and others, Haas will play Sabra, a little-known character who first appeared in Marvel comics in 1980.

In the comics, Sabra, aka Ruth Bat-Seraph, is a former superhuman agent for the Mossad spy agency who sometimes knocks up against other superhuman characters such as the Hulk and the X-Men.

Her powers include super strength and stamina, and her costume often incorporates the Israel flag and the Star of David.

Sabra, in Hebrew “tsabar,” is the local term for the fruit of the cactus (commonly known as a prickly pear). It has long been a term for Israeli-born Jews.

Further details on Haas’s role in the upcoming 2024 film “Captain America: New World Order” are currently unknown. The movie will also star Anthony Mackie and Tim Blake Nelson.




Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon!

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