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Pompeo Warns Iran as Attacks Mount on Iraqi Bases Used by US Troops

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Pompeo made it clear that the U.S. holds Iran responsible for the recent attacks on Iraqi bases. 

By: WIN Staff

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Iran on Friday of a “decisive” response if U.S. interests are harmed in Iraq, after a series of rocket attacks on bases.

“We must… use this opportunity to remind Iran’s leaders that any attacks by them, or their proxies of any identity, that harm Americans, our allies or our interests will be answered with a decisive U.S. response,” Pompeo said in a statement.

“Iran must respect the sovereignty of its neighbors and immediately cease its provision of lethal aid and support to third parties in Iraq and throughout the region,” he said.

There have been a spate of rocket attacks on Iraqi based used by U.S. troops.

Last week saw two such attacks, one on the Al Asad base on Tuesday and the second on the Balad base on Thursday. A total of seven rockets struck the Al Asad base and five rockets the Balad base.

A U.S. official at the time said the attacks were the work of Iran-linked terrorists.

We take these incidents seriously as do our Iraqi Security Forces partners, who are investigating these events,” said Pentagon spokesman Navy Commander Sean Robertson in an email, Bloomberg reports.

The news site reports that, “Multiple credible sources indicate the Al Asad attack was likely conducted by an Iran-aligned Shia militia group. The attack featured the use of longer-range 122mm rockets launched from sophisticated, improvised rail systems, the official said.”

Iraq has been rocked by protests in recent weeks, a major impetus for which is undue foreign influence in Iraqi affairs, particularly from Iran. The demonstrations have forced the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi.

Iraq has taken a strong hand against the protesters. Deliberate killings, abduction and arbitrary detention are among abuses that continue against Iraqi anti-government demonstrators by unknown groups, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday, the Associated Press reported on Dec. 11. (World Israel News)

Read more at: worldisraelnews.com

 

National Jewish Health’s Real Estate Construction Dinner Dance Raises $2.4 Million at Mardi Gras Themed Hyatt Event

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By: TJVnews.com
 
In the midst of the winter and holiday celebrations one of the last highlights of the gala season continues to be National Jewish Health’s (NJH) Real Estate Construction dinner dance. The Denver based NJH was founded in 1899 and with its relatively small $300 million budget continues to be the leading respiratory hospital in the nation devoted to conducting groundbreaking medical research and treatment of patients with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders.  Five years ago they collaborated with Mount Sinai and opened two centers in Harlem and Union Square. Paying homage to this institution has become a pivotal date on the calendar of hundreds of moguls who gather at the Hyatt every second Saturday night in December for one of the premier socialization events. This year dinner chairs Jonathan Mechanic, Stephen Siegel, and Robert Ivanhoe joined fellow luminaries Lloyd Goldman, Larry Silverstein, James Kuhn, Gary Jacob, Matt Lustig and 850 others.
 
Fried Frank’s Jonathan Mechanic is hands-down the top real estate lawyer in the country gaining acclaim for both his intellectual acumen at dealmaking as well as his extraordinary rainmaking capabilities as his clients range from Fortune 500 companies to family dynasties.  Hobnobbing with this illustrious group for $750 was the bargain of the season especially since it contained an elaborate cocktail reception (beginning at 6:30 PM), a meat dinner and dessert table, and over-the-top entertainment.  This year there was thankfully only one honoree, Marty Burger, so the speeches were short and there was no fundraising or auction portion-the most dreaded part of any gala.   Moreover the night’s spectacular decor had even the most jaded New Yorkers oohing and aahing at co- chair, Wendy Siegel’s, much heralded efforts.  Wendy suffers from leukemia and after requiring a bone marrow transplant and being comatose for six days NJH came to the rescue on more than one occasion; consequently she devotes nearly a year towards planning the evening’s entertainment and ornamentation.  This year’s Mardi Gras theme produced the most jaw-dropping results I can remember. Walking into the unassuming Hyatt, one was greeted with dozens of feathered dancers, colored chandeliers, portrait artists, women on stilts and centerpieces depicting streets in New Orleans.  Even the normally stolid Larry Silverstein appeared awed by the lavish display.
 
Those who don’t know Silverstein his name is synonymous with New York Real Estate having built and rebuilt the World Trade Center complex as well as 30 Park Place-one of New York’s tallest residential towers.  The 88-year-old Silverstein was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant and together with his father, more than 70 years ago, began buying up office buildings in Midtown and Lower Manhattan.  During college, Silverstein met his wife Klara in summer camp and they continue their love affair as Larry can often be seen clutching Klara’s arm.  The evening honored the CEO of Silverstein Properties, Marty Burger-whom Larry effusively praised as someone with an impeccable track record. The normally laconic Larry expounded upon the virtues of Burger saying he was looking for a CEO ten years ago and Burger was the perfect fit due to his dedication to community and togetherness.  He described Burger as an energetic phenom whose office proudly displays two speeding tickets-not for the typical driving but for straight line skiing down a steep mountain.  Silverstein was desperately searching for someone outside his family to take over and lauded Burger for taking the organization to stratospheric heights.  Silverstein recalled becoming involved with National Jewish Health 51 years ago after his excruciating asthma led him to their hospital.  NJH gave him a medicine normally prescribed for children which successfully provided immediate relief and resulted in Larry becoming a lifelong devotee to the organization. Donating millions and getting his illistrious group of friends to do the same has changed the fortune of this critical organization.
 
Another inimitable cog in this wheel is the indomitable Wendy Siegel whose husband Stephen, Vice Chairman of CBRE and a legend in the real estate world, praised Wendy for dedicating her time and energy to raising money for the past 26 years.  Wendy joked that she and Silverstein just arrived from Santacon and were ready to party.  Wendy also inaugurated dedicated member Lloyd Goldman as a trustee.  The meal was definitely New Orleans centered with crawfish and spare ribs accompanied by chocolate pecan pie and cheesecake.  At 10 PM, the speeches and dinner portion concluded and guests headed to the dance floor where the more than 20-person band regaled the crowd with pop hits that had the crowd screaming with delight.  At 11:30 PM, after nearly two-and-a-half-million had been raised, guests left with a bag containing New Orleans treats such as a cocktail mix and a book of its history-concluding a meticulous night that raises the expectations for next year to nearly unattainable heights.
Photo credit by Lieba Nesis

NJ Killers’ Real Target: Chassidic School Where 50 Children Studied

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New York City Department of Correction

The couple who burst into a kosher market in New Jersey with assault weapons appear to have been targeting a Torah academy next door, according to Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop.

By: WIN Staff

The real target of the couple who committed last week’s anti-Semitic shooting in Jersey City “was the 50 children at the yeshiva” attached to the kosher market, tweeted Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop on Friday.

“We will never know 100 percent but the doorway to the yeshiva was three feet away and it seems he goes in that direction first, Fulop added.

The couple that perpetrated the attack, David Anderson, 47, and Francine Graham, 50, burst into a kosher market in Jersey City with assault weapons. Following the shooting, they were linked to a fringe group called the Black Hebrew Israelites that promotes anti-Semitism and advocates violence.

Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said the attack was driven by hatred of Jews and law enforcement and is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism.

The two killers were armed with a variety of weapons, including an AR-15-style rifle and a shotgun that they were wielding when they stormed into the store in an attack that left the scene littered with several hundred shell casings, broken glass and a community in mourning. A pipe bomb was also found in a stolen U-Haul van.

“The outcome would have been far, far worse” if not for the Jersey City Police, Grewal said Thursday.

The attackers killed three people in the store, in addition to a police officer at a cemetery about a mile away, before dying in an hours-long gun battle with police Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

The victims killed in the store were: Mindel Ferencz, 31, who with her husband owned the grocery; 24-year-old Moshe Deutsch, a rabbinical student from Brooklyn who was shopping there; and store employee Douglas Miguel Rodriguez, 49. A fourth person in the store was shot and wounded but managed to escape, authorities said.

Members of New York’s Orthodox Jewish community gathered Wednesday night for funerals for Ferencz and Deutsch. Thousands of people followed Ferencz’s casket through the streets of Brooklyn, hugging and crying.

The bloodshed in the city of 270,000 people across the Hudson River from New York City spread fear through the Jewish community and weighed heavily on the minds of more than 300 people who attended a vigil Wednesday night at a synagogue about a mile from where the shootings took place.

“The evidence points toward acts of hate. I can confirm that we’re investigating this matter as potential acts of domestic terrorism fueled both by anti-Semitism and anti-law enforcement beliefs,” the attorney general said. He said social media posts, witness interviews and other evidence reflected the couple’s hatred of Jews and police.

Grewal noted that after killing three people in the store, the couple concentrated their fire on police and did not shoot at others who happened to be on the streets.

Grewal said the attackers, Anderson and Graham, had expressed interest in the Black Hebrew Israelites but were believed to have acted alone.

The pair brought their cache of weapons in a U-Haul van they drove from Bay View Cemetery, where they shot and killed Jersey City Detective Joseph Seals, according to the attorney general.

The Tunnel2Towers organization, formed after Sept. 11 to support police officers killed in the line of duty, said Friday it would pay the mortgage of Seals, who left behind a wife and five children. The Jewish community raised around $50,000 for the detective’s bereaved family.

Director of Public Safety James Shea called Seals “the ultimate detective or officer we would point to to tell young officers, ‘This is how you should behave.’” He said Friday that he doubted Seals would have been ambushed by the pair. Authorities haven’t disclosed why Seals was in the cemetery or details of the confrontation that led to his death.

Anderson fired away with the AR-15-style rifle as he entered the kosher market, while Graham brought a 12-gauge shotgun into the shop. They also had handguns with a homemade silencer and a device to catch shell casings. In all, they had five guns — four recovered in the store, one in the van — in what Grewal called a “tremendous amount of firepower.”

Serial numbers from two of the weapons showed that Graham purchased them in Ohio in 2018, the attorney general said. (World Israel News)

Read more at: worldisraelnews.com 

 

 

 

Israel Welcomes Anti-Semitic Belgian Parade’s Removal From UNESCO List

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Israel on Saturday welcomed a decision by UNESCO to drop a famous Belgian carnival off its heritage list due to grotesquely anti-Semitic displays.

Edited by TJVNews.com

Israel expressed rare appreciation for the U.N.’s educational, scientific and cultural agency (UNESCO) a day after the organization removed the Aalst carnival from its Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
In the past, the festivity included a parade featuring bulbous-nosed Jewish puppets standing on money bags, marchers dressed in Klu Klux Klan costumes, and young Europeans donning blackface makeup. Last year, a float called “Shabbat Year” included two giant puppets in traditional Hasidic fur hats and long side-locks, surrounded by coins and several rats.
“The removal of the carnival sends a strong message that such anti-Semitic expressions have no place in the organization and in the world,” Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz also praised the decision to exclude the festival and called on the Belgian government “to come out clearly and concisely against the inclusion of anti-Semitic displays in the carnival.” He added that “the scourge of anti-Semitism threatens not only the Jewish people, but every society and country in which it exists.”

The festival was expelled during an annual meeting of a 24-nation committee in Bogota, Columbia, to review nominations. The Belgian delegates declined to react to the decision, but it was the Belgian government which requested the move.
The ministry said this year’s edition of the parade included “numerous vitriolic displays of antisemitism,” prompting it to lobby for the removal.

Israel and the United States quit UNESCO at the start of 2019, saying the organization was fostering anti-Israel bias.
Last week, the Jewish Voice reported that according to a NY Times report, the city’s mayor, Christoph D’Haese sent UNESCO a letter renouncing Aalst’s place on the list before it could be removed.
D’Haese said last Sunday that city officials “have had it a bit with the grotesque complaints and Aalst will renounce its UNESCO recognition.” On a Belgian television talk show last Monday night, D’Haese added, “We don’t want to be the stage for a racist or anti-Semitic debate about a folk festival that connects people.”

The Times reported that the mayor’s office does not have the authority to leave the agency’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list of its own accord, and such a request would have to come from Belgium’s UNESCO delegation, a spokeswoman for the international group said.

The town said that it is “sick of widespread complaints that this spring’s edition contained blatant anti-Semitism,” as was reported by the AP.

The controversy was nothing new for Aalst, as was reported in the New York Times. In 2013, a group of people took part in the Carnival parade wearing Nazi SS uniforms, marching alongside a float evoking the infamous cattle cars that transported Jews to their deaths in such notorious concentration camps as Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland and carried what appeared to be cans of the also infamous Zyklon B poison gas that was used by the Nazis to exterminate Jews in death camps.

AP reported that Aalst is one of Europe’s most famous Carnivals and it is a celebration of unbridled, no-holds-barred humor and satire. Politicians, religious leaders and the rich and famous are relentlessly ridiculed during the three-day festival ahead of Roman Catholic Lent.

UNESCO, Jewish groups and the European Union have condemned the float as anti-Semitic, with the EU saying it conjured up visions of pre-Nazi Europe in the 1930s. (WIN, AP)

Former London Mayor Blames Jews for Corbyn/Labour Crushing Defeat

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“The Jewish vote wasn’t very helpful,” said former London Mayor Ken Livingstone shortly after the British election results came in late Thursday. “Jeremy should have tackled that issue far earlier than he did,” he said. Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Former London mayor sparks “fresh anti-Semitism row” with comments about Jewish vote.

Edited by: TJVNews.com

“The Jewish vote wasn’t very helpful,” said former London Mayor Ken Livingstone shortly after the British election results came in late Thursday. “Jeremy should have tackled that issue far earlier than he did,” he said.

The Daily Mail reported that Livingstone’s comments have sparked “a fresh anti-Semitism row.”

‘It looks like the end for Jeremy, which is disappointing for me since I’m a close ally. I’m sure he’ll have to resign tomorrow,” Livingstone said. Corbyn has since announced he won’t run again as opposition leader.

Livingston attempted to defend Corbyn during the campaign, calling the accusations of anti-Semitism “lies and smears” and blaming it on the old Labour guard led by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who he said wanted to get rid of Corbyn because they feared he would lead the party to a “wipeout.”

Corbyn did, in fact, lead Labour to a wipeout. The Boris Johnson-led Conservative party won 364 seats to Labour’s 203. It is the worst result for Labour since 1935.

Livingston had little moral authority to draw on in his efforts to defend Corbyn as he himself was forced to quit Labour in 2016 after he said that Hitler “was supporting Zionism before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews.”

He also said “it’s not anti-Semitic to hate the Jews of Israel.”

The Daily Mail reports that more moderate factions within the party immediately began to attack Corbyn for the disastrous showing.

Ruth Smeeth, the parliamentary chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, told Sky News that Corbyn should have resigned “many, many, many months ago.”

“We are the racist party because of the actions of our leader and the lack of actions of our leader… we need to detoxify and move on,” she said.

“Jeremy Corbyn should announce he is resigning has leader of the Labour Party from his count today,” she said.

Jews have responded with relief to the defeat of Corbyn, under whose leadership the Labour party had seen an unprecedented rise in anti-Semitic behavior among its rank and file.

The AP reported that the pound surged when an exit poll forecast a Tory win in United Kingdom elections on Thursday, jumping over two cents against the dollar, to $1.3445, the highest in more than a year and a half.

Many investors hope the Conservative win will speed up the Brexit process and ease, at least in the short term, some of the uncertainty that has corroded business confidence since the 2016 vote.

Voters casting ballots on Thursday hoped the election might finally find a way out of the Brexit stalemate in this deeply divided nation. Three and a half years after the U.K. voted by 52%-48% to leave the EU, Britons remain split over whether to leave the 28-nation bloc, and lawmakers have proved incapable of agreeing on departure terms.

Opinion polls had given the Conservatives a steady lead, but the result was considered hard to predict, because the issue of Brexit cuts across traditional party loyalties. The Labour party and its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, contended with rampant anti-Semitism in the party, which most members of the Jewish community believe hasn’t been confronted in a meaningful or effective manner.

Largest Persian Synagogue in Beverly Hills Vandalized; Police Investigating as Hate Crime

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Beverly Hills police described the suspect in Saturday’s vandalism as a white man, 20 to 25 years old with curly hair and a thin build. (Beverly Hills Police Department)

By: Fern Sidman

Police in Beverly Hills are investigating a break-in and vandalism overnight at one of the city’s largest Iranian-Jewish synagogues as a hate crime. The attack occurred at around 2:00 am on Shabbos morning at the Nessah synagogue on Rexford Drive. Several rooms inside the building were ransacked and Sifrei Torah and Seforim were damaged. The suspect is described as a white man in his early 20s with short dark curly hair. Surveillance video shows the suspect carrying a backpack and pulling a rolling suitcase.

According to a JPost report, local police responded to the call at the Nessah Synagogue “shortly after 7 a.m.” local time on Saturday, after an employee notified security when he “found an open door and items ransacked inside the synagogue,” the police said in a release to the media.

The suspect overturned furniture in the building as well as “damaged several Jewish relics,” according to the statement. Fortunately the synagogue’s “main scrolls remained unscathed,” and disruption was “primarily to the synagogue’s interior contents,” with “very limited structural damage.”  

“This cowardly attack hits at the heart of who we are as a community,” Beverly Hills Mayor John Mirisch said in the release. “It’s not just an attack on the Jewish Community of Beverly Hills; it’s an attack on all of us. The entire city stands in solidarity behind Nessah, its members and congregants. We are committed to catching the criminal who desecrated a holy place on Shabbat of all days and bringing him to justice.”

Contrary to earlier reports, the synagogue, one of the largest Iranian Jewish synagogues in Los Angeles, suffered less damage than originally believed.

The LA Times reported that police are investigating the incident as a hate crime but report that there is no evidence to suggest that the attack was anti-Semitic in nature. The synagogue’s main scrolls were locked up and undamaged.

Damage inside the synagogue was “ugly,” according to one witness who had conversations with people who saw the damage first hand, and will require extensive cleanup, as was reported by the LA Times.

The synagogue was founded by David Shofet, who immigrated to the United States in 1980 from Tehran in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution, according to the LA Times report.

“In the aftermath of the terrible tragedy in Jersey City earlier this week, the American Jewish community is understandably anxious,” said Richard Hirschhaut, director of the American Jewish Committee in Los Angeles. “Reports of vandalism and damage to a synagogue are deeply troubling and cause further sense of discomfort amid the presumption of anti-Semitic intent.”

On Twitter, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also expressed his concern.

“Shocked and outraged by the vandalism at Nessah Synagogue in the city of Beverly Hills,” he said. “We will stand together and speak out strongly against any act of hate and intolerance in our community. We’re keeping our friends and neighbors in our thoughts as police investigate.”

Bal Harbour Shops in N. Miami Beach to be Expanded After Securing $500M Construction Loan

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Rendering of the Barneys New York store that will be part of the $500 million expansion of Bal Harbour Shops. WHITMAN FAMILY DEVELOPMENT

For those snow birds who relish the idea of escaping the biting cold of New York every year by migrating down to sunny Florida, the exciting news is that upscale shopping is now being expanded. 

Edited by: TJVNews.com    

A July 2019 report in Miami Herald said that the luxury Bal Harbour shopping center that attracts people from across the globe will now be significantly expanded. The mall which is located at  9700 Collins Avenue in North Miami Beach has secured a $550 million construction loan for its long-awaited expansion, which will add 300,000 square feet of retail space to its existing 463,000 square feet, according to the Miami Herald report.

The South Florida paper reported that the loan was secured from MetLife Investment Management on behalf of the Miami-based Whitman Family Development, which owns and operates Bal Harbour Shops. The real estate firm Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P were the ones who deftly secured the formidable loan, which is one of the largest in Miami-Dade history. 

Forbes reported that Chris Drew, a senior managing director with HFF’s capital markets team, said Bal Harbour Shops has maintained its position as one of Florida’s most successful shopping destinations at a time traditional retail centers across the U.S. are losing retailers and big box tenants.

“The loan marks the official launch of the Bal Harbour Shops expansion and represents the growth and strength of Miami’s retail real estate market,” Drew said. “The Shops continues to experience intense demand from both existing tenants and retailers that have been waiting years to join its roster.”

For those who enjoy luxury brands, it was reported that among the new shops to call the Bal Harbour mall home will be Barneys New York, who will be leasing out a 57,414 square foot space. This will mark the first flagship store of the luxury department brand in the southeastern U.S, according to the Miami Herald. 

Barneys first announced that it was coming to Florida in 2017. 

The Neiman Marcus chain will expand by an additional 20,000 square feet. The Miami Herald reported that a new grand entrance on the northeast corner of the property will also be added. Other new tenants will be announced at a later date. Construction on the expansion is scheduled to be completed by early 2025.

Bal Harbour Shops is owned by the Whitman family and is one of the few remaining family-owned malls in the nation. It opened in 1965. There is a waiting list at the shopping center which has operated at 100% occupancy for several decades. Demand for additional space by many existing retailers continues to grow. The mall is currently home to more than 100 global brands, including Chanel, Gucci and Tiffany & Co.

In January 2013, Bal Harbour Shops announced an equity partnership with Swire Properties to jointly develop the 500,000-square-foot retail component of Brickell City Centre in downtown Miami. Bal Harbour will contribute equity, brand recognition and its luxury retail expertise to the project.

 

Did the Family of George Soros Fund a Deal to Buy Taylor Swift’s Music?

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Pop superstar Taylor Swift is quite upset these days. Breitbart reported that on Thursday, the internationally renowned singer excoriated music industry manager Scooter Braun after it was revealed that he allegedly purchased the legal rights to her music with what she claims was money from the family of far left-wing billionaire George Soros. Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Pop superstar Taylor Swift is quite upset these days. Breitbart reported that on Thursday, the internationally renowned singer excoriated music industry manager Scooter Braun after it was revealed that he allegedly purchased  the legal rights to her music with what she claims was money from the family of far left-wing billionaire George Soros.

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Soros has funded the likes of Hillary Clinton and has sponsored many anti-Israel non-governmental organizations,

On Thursday evening, while delivering her acceptance speech for Billboard’s Woman of the Decade award, Swift called out the “unregulated world of private equity coming in and buying our music as if it’s real estate — as if it’s an app or a shoe line.”

Swift said that Braun’s purchase of the independent record label Big Machine and the master rights to her  first six albums, was funded by the Soros family.

Breitbart reported that Swift said, “This just happened to me without my approval, consultation, or consent. After I was denied the chance to purchase my music outright, my entire catalog was sold to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in a deal that I’m told was funded by the Soros family, 23 Capital, and that Carlyle Group.”

Swift, who has earned Grammy awards also spoke of her progressive worldview while on the podium accepting her award, She took to task the “toxic male privilege” in the music industry:

“And of course, Scooter never contacted me or my team to discuss it prior to the sale or even when it was announced. I’m fairly certain he knew exactly how I would feel about it, though, and let me just say that the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry is people saying “but he’s always been nice to me” when I’m raising valid concerns about artists and their right to own their music. And of course he’s nice to you—if you’re in this room, you have something he needs, ” Swift intoned.

Breitbart reported that Swift added: “The fact is that private equity enabled this man to think, according to his own social media post, that he could “buy me.” But I’m obviously not going willingly. Yet the most amazing thing was to discover that it would be the women in our industry who would have my back and show me the most vocal support at one of the most difficult times, and I will never, ever forget it. Like, ever.”

Breitbart reported that the tension between Swift and Braun became public last month when Swift claimed that Braun was blocking her plans to perform songs from her first six albums at the 2019 AMAs, although she ended up singing them anyway.

Braun responded at the time in an open letter via Instagram, demanding that she speak “directly and respectfully,” while also complaining that his family had begun receiving death threats as a result, according to the Breitbart report. (Breitbart.com)

 

Netanyahu Trails Gantz by 6 Seats in New Poll

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President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, shake hands, Sept. 19, 2019. (Flash90/Yonatan Sindel)

it is unlikely that either Gantz or Netanyahu will be able to form a ruling government without Liberman’s Israel Beiteinu party.

By: WIN Staff

A new poll published by Channel 12 news on Friday showed that if Israeli elections were held today, Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party would win six more Knesset seats than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.

Blue and White won 33 seats and Likud picked up 32 in Israel’s second election in September.

According to the poll, Israel Beiteinu would match the eight seats it won in the last election, the Sephardic Ultra-Orthodox Shas party would drop from nine to eight seats, United Torah Judaism would match its current seven seats and the New Right would net five seats.

The left-wing parties of Labor-Gesher would match its current six seats and the Democratic Camp would drop from five to four seats. The Arab Joint List, which refuses to join any coalition, would gain one seat more than the 13 they received in the last election.

As with the last two elections, it would be unlikely based on these predictions that either Gantz nor Netanyahu will be able to form a ruling government without Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party.

On Dec. 24, 2018, Netanyahu called for early elections after Liberman dropped out over a spite with the Orthodox parties regarding the IDF draft law. In doing so the 20th Knesset’s term ended, which contributed to the early collapse of the 21st and 22nd Knesset because no ruling coalitions were formed after the two elections.

According to the poll, 43% of the respondents placed the blame for third elections on Netanyahu and 30% blamed Liberman, while 6% blamed Blue and White No. 2 Yair Lapid, 5% blamed Gantz, and 2% blamed the Orthodox parties. (World Israel News)

Read more at: worldisraelnews.com

 

Boris Johnson Sails to Victory in Most Consequential Election in Modern UK History

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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson wearing Yeshivishe hat. (YWN)

 Exit polls predict 368 seats for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Labour projected to win just 191 seats

By: Elad Benari

Exit polls published on Thursday night following the election in Britain predict a solid majority for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative party, as was reported by INN. 

The Conservatives are set to win an overall majority of 86 in the general election, according to an exit poll for the BBC, ITV and Sky News.

INN reported that the exit poll found that Johnson is projected to win 368 seats. The Labour party led by Jeremy Corbyn wins just 191 seats in parliament.

The Lib Dems win 13 seats in the poll, the Brexit Party none and the SNP 55.

The Green Party will still have one MP and Plaid Cymru will lose one seat for a total of three, the survey suggests.

While the first election results came in about an hour after the polls closed in the UK, some of the most rural and remote areas — including the Scottish Islands where votes have to be brought to the mainland by boat — could take until Friday morning, according to a Breitbart report.

The Conservative MP for the town Marcus Jones has dramatically increased his majority to over 13,000 tonight — up from 4,700 in 2017. This is an absolutely major swing for the Conservatives in a swing seat that had been Labour for decades before Jones won the seat for the Tories in 2010.

Exit polls have proved to be very accurate in recent years, noted the BBC. In 2017 it correctly predicted a hung Parliament, with no overall winner, and in 2015 it predicted the Conservatives would be the largest party.

If the exit polls are accurate, it would be the worst performance by Labour in any general election since World War II, Professor Michael Thrasher from the University of Plymouth told Sky News.

The election was dominated by Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union.

Johnson focused relentlessly on a single message: “Get Brexit done”, promising to take the UK out of the EU by January 31, 2020 if he got a majority.

Corbyn promised voters another referendum with a choice between a renegotiated Leave deal and remaining in the bloc.

Corbyn has faced ongoing accusations of anti-Semitism, both over his history of hostility towards Israel and support for anti-Israel terrorist groups, as well as the rise in anti-Jewish rhetoric within the party.

Dozens of Labour members have been suspended over their anti-Semitic statements in recent years, while the party has been criticized for its failure to deal with the anti-Semitism within it.

Before the election, the Chief Rabbi of Britain, Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, published an article in which he criticized Corbyn and the party’s “utterly inadequate” response to anti-Semitism within its ranks.

In a subsequent interview with the BBC, Corbyn was asked four times whether he would like to apologize over the party’s failure to clamp down on the anti-Semitism within their ranks and he adamantly refused to do so.

Corbyn later gave an interview to ITV’s Philip Schofield in which the interviewer pressed the Labour leader to apologize to the Jewish community.

“Obviously I’m very sorry for what has happened, but I want to make this clear, I am dealing with it. I have dealt with it,” Corbyn said. “Other parties are also affected by anti-Semitism. Candidates have been withdrawn by the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives and by us because we do not accept it in any form whatsoever.” (INN)

Senate Passes Resolution Recognizing Armenian Genocide

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A memorial in Istanbul this year commemorating the Armenian genocide. Photo Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution that recognizes as genocide the mass killings of Armenians a century ago, a historic move that infuriated Turkey and dealt a blow to the already problematic ties between Ankara and Washington, as was reported by Reuters. 

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Turkey condemned the measure, which passed a month after an official visit to the White House by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who enjoys a special rapport with President Donald Trump, amid mounting issues that have soured the relationship between the two NATO allies, according to the Reuters report. 

Trump had cast his November 13 meeting with Erdogan as “wonderful” despite no concrete breakthrough on deep disagreements about issues such as Ankara’s purchase of Russian weapons systems and diverging views on Syria policy. 

The Democrat-led House of Representatives passed the resolution by an overwhelming majority in October. But Republican senators had blocked a vote in the Senate since the Erdogan meeting. 

“This is a tribute to the memory of 1.5 million victims of the first #Genocide of the 20th century and bold step in promotion of the prevention agenda. #NeverAgain,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan tweeted. 

The resolution, which is nonbinding, asserts that it is U.S. policy to commemorate as genocide the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. The Ottoman Empire was centered in present-day Turkey. 

Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War I, but contests the figures and denies that the killings were systematically orchestrated and constituted genocide. 

Reuters reported that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the decision a “political show,” while presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Ankara strongly condemned and rejected the measure. 

“History will note these resolutions as irresponsible and irrational actions by some members of the U.S. Congress against Turkey,” Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications director, said on Twitter. 

Congressional aides said the White House did not want the legislation to move ahead while it was negotiating with Ankara on sensitive issues. However, since the visit, Erdogan repeatedly said Turkey had no intention of dropping the Russian S-400 air defense missile systems it bought, crushing any hopes for progress, according to the Reuters report. 

For decades, measures recognizing the Armenian genocide have stalled in Congress, stymied by concerns about relations with Turkey and intense lobbying by Ankara. 

“I’ve invested, like, decades of my life,” said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America. “So it was a sense of relief and a bit of a vindication that … [the United] States recognized the history of the Armenians, but also put up a firewall against foreign countries coming into our democracy and dictating to us.” 

Congress has been united in its opposition to Turkey’s recent policy actions. Republican senators have been incensed with Turkey’s purchase of the S-400, which the United States says poses a threat to its F-35 fighter jets and cannot be integrated into NATO defenses. 

They have also moved to punish Turkey for its October 9 incursion into Syria. A U.S. Senate committee backed legislation on Wednesday to impose sanctions on Turkey, pushing Trump to take a harder line on the issue. Many lawmakers blame Trump for giving a green light to Ankara for its military offensive. 

To become law, that legislation would have to pass the House of Representatives — which passed its own Turkish sanctions bill 403-16 in October — and be signed by 
Trump. 

 

Krispy Kreme Owner Donates Millions to Atone for Nazi Past

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Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (iStock)

Reimann family announces donation to Holocaust survivors after investigation finds their Nazi ancestors used slave labor during WWII

By: A7 Staff

The Reimann family, which owns well-known food brands such as Krispy Kreme and Panera Bread, on Thursday announced a multi-million dollar charity donation after an investigation revealed that their Nazi ancestors used slave labor during World War II, CNN reported.

The family, which owns a controlling stake in JAB Holdings, announced it would be donating more than $5.5 million to Claims Conference, an organization that provides compensation payments to Holocaust survivors.

The donation will be administrated through the Reimann family’s new Alfred Landecker Foundation over the next three years. The organization said the money is a “significant step” for them as it begins to provide financial and humanitarian assistance for Holocaust survivors.

The Reimann family said they discovered in March that family members had strong anti-Semitic ties following a three-year investigation. A family spokesperson said Albert Reimann Sr., who died in 1954, and Albert Reimann Jr., who died in 1984, used Russian civilian prisoners and French prisoners of war as forced labor in their factories during World War II and that they were anti-Semites and avowed supporters of Adolf Hitler.

A plant run by Reimann Jr. used 200 civilians as forced laborers in 1942, the investigation found.

The investigation also found that Reimann Sr. donated to Hitler’s paramilitary SS force as early as 1931. Investigators also found a letter from Reimann Jr. to a local mayor complaining that the French prisoners of war weren’t working hard enough and should be in prison.

The family previously said the crimes were “disgusting” and are “nothing to gloss over.”

Thursday’s donation, according to CNN, is part of a larger $11 million commitment the family plans to donate to Holocaust survivors. Landecker was killed by Nazis and was linked to the Reimann family, it said in a press release. (INN)

Israel’s Rivlin Appeals: Don’t Lose Faith in the Democratic System’

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As Israel prepares for its third elections within a year, President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday appealed to the public not to lose faith in Israel’s democratic system, despite its apparent flaws. Photo Credit: Esty Dziubov/TPS on 22 August, 2019

As Israel prepares for its third elections within a year, President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday appealed to the public not to lose faith in Israel’s democratic system, despite its apparent flaws.

By: Arye Green

“After two rounds of elections and as a third election campaign begins, I believe this is also a critical moment for the Israeli public, which will decide on who its leaders are. Israeli democracy was and still is a source of pride, and we know that the democratic system comes at a cost,” Rivlin told Israel’s citizens in a statement.

The president said that despite the growing divisive rhetoric and partisanship, he prays that people can look for common ground and focus on what connects them as citizens.

“I pray that the depth of the current political crisis and the divisions it exposes amongst us will lead us as a society and as a country to fight not only for the right to disagree with each other – but also to the duty to find what we can agree about,” he said.

After the second election round in September, Rivlin invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to establish a government, and after Netanyahu was unable to form a coalition, the mandate was given to Member of Knesset (MK) Benny Gantz, who failed to do so as well.

The mandate to form a government was then passed on to all 120 MKs, who could have nominated a candidate to form a government, but did not recommend any MK to the president. This caused the Knesset to be dissolved automatically and has now led to a third round of elections.

Rivlin expressed hope that the Israeli political system will return to its routine of elections every four years, and that Israelis will overcome the damage the current political crisis has caused.

“I hope that this is the last election campaign for the next four years, and that we will be able to grow as a people and a society from the division and disagreement that separates us to agreement and action that benefits us all. We must not allow ourselves to sink into despair or grievance, which does no good. We must not lose faith in the democratic system or in its ability to create the reality we live in with our own hands,” he said.

“When the time comes, we will all exercise our democratic right and do it in the hope of a better future, as soon as possible, for us all,” he concluded. (TPS)

Legendary Actor Kirk Douglas Turns 103; Found Meaning in Judaism After ’91 Crash

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On Monday, legendary Jewish actor Kirk Douglas celebrated his 103rd birthday.

After a helicopter crash in 1991, Douglas set out to search for spiritual meaning and seek to understand what it meant to be a Jew.

By: WIN Staff

On Monday, legendary Jewish actor Kirk Douglas celebrated his 103rd birthday.

Kirk Douglas was born on December 9, 1916, in Amsterdam, New York., beginning life as Issur Danielovich. His parents were illiterate immigrants from Belorussia. Because the mills and factories of Amsterdam excluded Jews, his father earned his living as the town’s junk dealer.

Dirt poor, Douglas moved to New York City as a teenager, initially having to depend on his friend — a young model named Lauren Bacall — for her uncle’s winter coat. After playing supporting roles as villains, everything changed when young Douglas starred and received an Academy Award nomination for his role as the heroic boxer in the 1949 movie Champion.

Douglas left his mark on Hollywood for his iconic performances in movies like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954), Paths of Glory (1957), Spartacus (1960), and Lonely Are The Brave (1962)

In 1996, Douglas was given an honorary Oscar to mark his 50 years in the movie business.

In his 1988 autobiography Climbing the Mountain: My Search for Meaning, Douglas shares his quest for spirituality and Jewish identity.

He said that it all began after a helicopter crash in 1991 that left him severely injured and two others dead. While in his hospital bed, the actor couldn’t shake a question that kept haunting him: Why had two young men, who haven’t lived out their lives, died, while he at age 74 survived?

Rather than dismiss it as a stroke of luck, Douglas set out to search for spiritual meaning and seek to understand what it meant to be a Jew.

Douglas hired a rabbi to teach him the Bible and found the Jewish faith deeply satisfying. He also said that it enriched his relationship with his children and taught him to listen to others. (World Israel News)

Read more: worldisraelnews.com

 

What Kind of Iron Dome Can We Deploy Against the Hate in Jersey City?

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What kind of Iron Dome can we create against hate in Jersey City? Against real bullets in Pittsburgh? In London? In Paris? Against hard and cowardly hearts the world over? Photo credit: Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images

It’s happening again, not in the same way. Not yet. But this is surely the prelude to the “fire next time.” And it is happening anywhere, anywhere at all.

By: Professor Phyllis Chesler

This article originally appeared on the Arutz Sheva (Israel National News) website (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/24865) and is republished here with the express permission of the Arutz Sheva staff and editors

I remember getting out of a sick bed and taking a taxi to a corner in Crown Heights where for days, African-Americans perpetrated a pogrom in New York City.

The mayor did not stop them—not for three days. I watched and tried to remember what a late 20th century pogrom is America was like.

Well, it’s happening again, right before my eyes. Not in the same way. Not yet. But this is surely the prelude to the “fire next time.”

The video captured by Dov Hikind yesterday (see below) is shocking, awful. In it, a few barely comprehensible African-American civilians who live in Jersey City are on record saying that they don’t like the Jewish presence—no, not at all. In fact, they blamed the Jews, calling them Sh-T. One woman exclaimed that had the victims been Black, the police might not have come at all (this might be true but it’s not the fault of the Jews).

Someone else said the Jews were to blame for being there in the first place; their presence alone caused resentment—because they were …Jewish.

I was reeling from this video when The New Yorker jumped right in with a piece by Zach Helfand. He tells the story very much from the point of view of the African-Americans who feel left behind, invisible, and who envy the Jews because their sorrows seems to command media and police attention. Locals also fear the “gentrification” that might take place once another kind of citizen moves in.

Helfand describes hostility towards the “Hasidic influence” and their “insularity.” Their shul may have been violating zoning laws. (I bet everyone is up in arms about that!).

Helfand did not interview a single Jersey City Hasid—but was careful to interview a local, probably an African-American woman, who spent much of her “childhood on Stegman Street.” He closes with this: “(She) wondered how to balance her own feeling of neglect with the increasing possibility that a different kind of hate had visited the neighborhood…People died. That’s the sad part. I don’t care where you’re from…this is horrible.”

All day yesterday and part of today, no announcement was made as to who the killers were. Usually, that means that the politically correct narrative did not apply, that the Bad Guys were Muslims, or African-Americans or Black Muslims. In this case, they are Black Hebrew Israelites who believe that they are the original Jews. Even the Southern Poverty Law Center has condemned them as a hate group. Also, one of the killers posted Jew-hating material online and both killers drove slowly and purposefully to the kosher market.

Is what I’ve written anti-Black? How, dear God, are we going to talk about (indoctrinated) Jew hatred among people of color? Among Muslims of color? Among faux-Jews of color? Jew hatred on both the left and the right? Jew hatred among Muslims in the Islamic world?

Is this too forbidden a subject?

Not as forbidden as the subject about how so many Jewish leaders, both in America and Israel have failed the historical moment.

Not as forbidden as discussing how many American Jews blame Israel for being attacked and refuse to bear the burden of understanding and fighting for the right of our only Jewish state to exist.

The rockets that recently fell again—again! on Sderot were barely reported in the world media. Oh, there is a connection.

What kind of Iron Dome can we create against hate in Jersey City? Against real bullets in Pittsburgh? In London? In Paris? Against hard and cowardly hearts the world over?

Addendum:

From the desk of Dov Hikind

Rep. of Americans Against Antisemitism Captures Antisemitic Tirade By Locals Outside Kosher Store Targeted By Terrorists

WATCH SHOCKING VIDEO

“While the Jewish blood of terror victims was still warm, local residents gathered outside not to show support, not to offer help, but to condemn Jews, blame Jews for their own deaths, and cheer it on,” said Hikind on the shocking footage. “The big story here is that not only was there a horrible terror attack motivated by antisemitism that occurred, but it happened in a context in which wishing death on Jews seems totally normal.”

Hours after reports of a Jewish-owned grocery store in Jersey City was involved in a shootout with heavily armed criminals, a representative of Americans Against Antisemitism took his camera and went to the scene. What he recorded and encountered when he got there shocked all of us. While it was becoming clear that a terror attack had unfolded, and that Jews had been murdered, local residents gathered outside to blame Jews for all sorts of problems including their own deaths, while others cheered them on.

Not only was there a terror attack to absorb at the scene, which would be enough for anyone to deal with, our representative had to deal with vile antisemitic vitriol from local residents who wished the Jews were dead and gone. Let that sink in.

What this clearly shows is that antisemitism is a MUCH BIGGER problem than anyone has hitherto imagined! It’s time for people of all persuasions to wake up, now! We’ve been warning for a while that antisemitic terrorism was coming, and here it is. And it’s worse than the attacks alone, now they add insult to injury, throwing salt on the freshly opened wounds, and surround those sites with antisemitic hate.

(Below the shocking video is one of the Jewish storekeeper whose wife was murdered in the attack handing out candies to black children for Halloween although it is certainly not a Jewish holiday). (Israel National News)

The writer is a Ginsburg-Ingerman Fellow at the Middle East Forum, received the 2013 National Jewish Book Award, authored 18 books, including Women and Madness and The New Anti-Semitism, and 4 studies about honor killing, Her latest books are An American Bride in Kabul, A Family Conspiracy: Honor Killing and A Politically Incorrect Feminist.

Anti-Semitic Hate Spewed by Locals After Jersey City Attack

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Moshe Deutsch, 24, left, was killed in the Jersey City attack. Photo Credit: Chabad.org

In the wake of a deadly anti-Semitic attack, video emerged of Jersey City residents at the crime scene railing against Jews and expressing delight at the carnage.

Edited by: Fern Sidman

Less than 24 hours after assailants killed multiple victims in a kosher grocery in Jersey City, New Jersey, former NYS Assemblyman and former Jewish Defense League activist Dov Hikind posted online chilling footage captured in the hours subsequent to the bloody attack.

World Israel News reported that in one of the clips, a young man asks a Jewish first responder, “Four [Jews] are dead, right? If they’re dead and they got shot, that’s great.”

Another bystander comments, “I blame the Jews! We never had a shooting like this until they came here.”

“We can’t do it to them?” she added, referring to the attack as “Jew shenanigans.”

WIN also reported that another person can be heard yelling, “Get the damn Jews the f**k out of here! Get the Jews out of Jersey City.”

Hikind commented on the footage, “As Jewish bodies were still laying in cold blood after being murdered by terrorists in Jersey City, a representative of Americans Against Anti-Semitism captured spontaneous anti-Semitic tirades blaming Jews for their own murder and people cheering it on.”

Two of the victims at the store were identified by members of the Orthodox Jewish community as Mindel Ferencz, who with her husband owned the grocery, and 24-year-old Moshe Deutsch, a rabbinical student from Brooklyn who was shopping there. The Ferencz family had moved to Jersey City from Brooklyn.

The funerals for the two Orthodox Jewish victims in the Jersey City shooting attack were held on Wednesday night. Thousands turned out for the two funerals.

Also murdered was Jersey City police officer Detective Joe Seals, a law enforcement veteran and father of five.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop on Wednesday announced that the kosher grocery had been specifically targeted.

In the aftermath of the shooting, the New York Times reported that one of the perpetrators, who was identified as David Anderson, posted anti-Semitic and anti-police content online and was affiliated with the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, a hate group that, despite its name, promotes virulently anti-Semitic conspiracies and advocates violence, as was reported on the World Israel News web site.

The Black Hebrew Israelites are in no way affiliated with any stream of Judaism or the mainstream Jewish community.

For decades, adherents of the sect have stood in New York’s Times Square accosting Jews and other passersby. The group made the news in January when a video surfaced of members in Washington, D.C. calling high school students “crackers” and “faggots.” Hate group watchdogs have warned about the dangers of the Black Hebrew Israelites since at least 2008.

Investigators also are scouring social media postings of at least one of the gunmen in search of a motive, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still going on.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled the Hebrew Israelites a black supremacist group.

Yeshivah World News reported that the shooting began near a cemetery, where Detective Joseph Seals was killed while trying to stop “bad guys,” Police Chief Michael Kelly said without elaborating.

The killers then drove a stolen rental van over a mile to the kosher market, where they waged a drawn-out battle with police that filled the streets with the sound of high-powered rifle fire and turned the city into what looked like a war zone, with SWAT officers in full tactical gear swarming the neighborhood.

A first responder from a Jewish organization who was present of the deadly shooting attack in Jersey City told Arutz Sheva on Wednesday that authorities found 300 rounds of ammunition and three pipe bombs in the U-Haul van the shooters were driving.

“I came here about an hour after the shootout finished. I was one of the first to respond to the command,” said Isaac Wollner, a member of the local Chesed Shel Emes organization.

“A U-Haul van found nearby contained some 300 rounds of ammunition and three pipe bombs,” he said.

According to the AP, when the standoff ended, the police entered the grocery store and found the bodies of those they believed were the two gunmen and three other people who apparently happened to be there when the assailants rushed in. Police said they were confident the bystanders were shot by the gunmen and not by police.

Offering her sagacious insights into the tragic murders in Jersey City, Professor Phyllis Chesler told the Jewish Voice, “What else can people expect after so many years of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel propaganda; after so many years of Islamic funded hate. It is now totally out of control and I am not sure that legislation so late in the day can put this diabolical genie back in the proverbial jar.” 

Dr. Chesler speaks from decades of rigorous personal research on the subject of burgeoning anti-Semitism in the Western world. She is the author of the critically acclaimed monograph titled, “The New Anti-Semitism” which was originally published in 2003. 

In this intensely passionate and compelling book, Dr Chesler demonstrates how old-fashioned anti-Semitism — now often seen in the form of anti-Zionism — has become fashionable and even politically correct, and how this plague threatens Jews in Israel, America, and throughout Western civilization.

Last night, Rabbi Moshe Schapiro, who directs Chabad of Hoboken and Jersey City with his wife Shaindel, was at the Jersey City Medical Center, visiting Chaim Deutsch, who was injured in the attack, and consoling community members gathered there. Deutsch had witnessed the murder of his cousin, Moshe Deutsch, and was struck multiple times before slipping out the back door of the store, according to an article on the Chabad.org web site. Together they reflected on the resilience of Jewish faith in the face of even the worst adversity, and belief in the world’s Creator.

Schapiro, who moved to Hoboken a week after the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001, told Chabad.org: “If we are to uproot this scourge of evil and transform our world into a place of goodness and kindness, then we must nurture in our society an appreciation, from the youngest age, that we are each personally accountable for our moral conduct to our all-knowing and benevolent Creator, who also created every one of our fellow human beings in His image.”

In a related development, Yeshiva World News reported on Wednesday that in just three hours, the Orthodox Jewish community raised a whopping $25,000 for the family of Jersey City Police Detective Joseph Seals.

Around 820 generous Orthodox Jews opened their pockets and donated – to a fund on The Chesed Fund platform – to show their support to law enforcement – and Detective Seals in particular.

Seals was a beloved police officer and was the department’s leading officer in removing guns from Jersey City’s streets. He  frequently worked in plain-clothes.

The veteran officer joined the Jersey City police force in 2006, according to department officials.

This fund was administered by prominent Jewish community activists Mr. Chaskel Bennett, Mr. Leon Goldenberg and Mr. Moshe Wulliger in partnership with Yeshiva World News (YWN).

Shooting victim Mrs Leah Mindel Ferencz HY”D, 33-years-old, was one of the victims of the Jersey City shooting attack.

Rabbi David Niederman of the UJO in Williamsburg gave Yeshiva World News the following statement:

Mindel Ferencz HY”D, was a pioneer. She and her husband were of the very first to relocate from Williamsburg, due to the sky-rocketing prices of housing, to settle in Jersey City.

They did not do it for themselves, but to pave the way for a new community that lives harmoniously with their neighbors.

She was a caring and nurturing mother for her three children, and at the same time helped her husband who ran the first kosher grocery in the area, to ensure that the community’s families have were to shop and feed their children.

A life of selflessness, and dedication to others, full of love, was cut short by vicious hate-filled murders.”

Shooting victim Moshe Hersh Deutsch HY”D. 24-years-old, was one of the victims of the Jersey City shooting attack. He lived in Williamsburg.

Chai Lifeline gave YWN the following statement:

We are heartbroken to inform you that one of the victims of yesterday’s horrific attack in Jersey City was our own dedicated volunteer, Moshe Hersh Deutch HY”D. Our thoughts and tefilos are with all those impacted by this senseless act of violence.”

Rabbi David Niederman of the UJO in Williamsburg gave Yeshiva World News the following statement:

Moshe HY”D was learning in a Yeshiva he was instrumental in establishing and getting off the ground. He was extremely kind and generous and was the go-to person when his peers needed help. Moshe is also the son of our devoted and energetic board member, Abe Deutsch, who is a pillar of the UJO and is the main force behind the largest food distribution for Pesach, feedings thousands upon thousands. Abe’s kindness knows no bounds and even though he is occupied with managing a business, individuals needing assistance knock on his door regularly for help. Moshe followed in his father’s footsteps and devoted his spare time and energy to help organize the UJO Passover food distribution and many other acts of kindness.

The community lost a promising-upcoming charitable person who was spreading love and kindness. He was butchered by people filled with poisonous animosity. Our heart goes out to both families and to our board member, Abe.”

Jewish leaders and the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks anti-Semitic attacks, expressed concern about the deaths.

“The report from the Jersey City mayor saying it was a targeted attack makes us incredibly concerned in the Jewish community,” said ADL regional director Evan Bernstein. “They want answers. They demand answers. If this was truly a targeted killing of Jews, then we need to know that right away, and there needs to be the pushing back on this at the highest levels possible.”

YWN reported that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on MSNBC that the attack was “clearly a hate crime,” while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pronounced it a “deliberate attack on the Jewish community.” They announced tighter police protection of synagogues and other Jewish establishments in New York as a precaution.

In the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history, 11 people were killed in an October 2018 shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Last April, a gunman opened fire at a synagogue north of San Diego, killing a woman and wounding a rabbi and two others.

The kosher grocery is a central fixture in a growing community of Orthodox Jews who have been moving to Jersey City in recent years and settling in what was a mostly black section of Jersey City, causing some resentment.

Mordechai Rubin, a member of the local Jewish emergency medical services, said the small Jewish community has grown over the past three or four years, made up mostly of people from Brooklyn seeking a “nicer, quieter” and more affordable place to live. Next to the store is a synagogue with a school and day care center where 40 students were present at the time of the shooting, he said. (WIN, YWN, Chabad, INN)