Tensions between the Hamas and Islamic Jihad factions in Gaza are running high, as Iran, which backs the Islamic Jihad and factions within Hamas, is seeking to push the area into a bloodbath while weakening Egypt’s sway on the ongoing developments in the Strip.
The friction between the factions exists under the surface. A source within Gaza told TPS that the drama between the factions is ongoing and is part of the reasons that pushed the two terror group to attack Israel.
The Islamic Jihad has learned, through leaks from Iran, that Hamas has made no progress in its negotiations with Israel, despite Hamas’ claims otherwise.
The Islamic Jihad has also learned the Hamas is focusing on the release of terrorists held in Israeli prisons, an achievement that would earn Hamas political clout at its expense.
Therefore, the Islamic Jihad attacked Israel in an attempt to thwart the deal.
Iran is not pleased with its rival Egypt’s sway on the region and has told Hamas that it is likewise unhappy the Hamas and Egypt are growing close. Iran has further told Hamas that it is interested in a bloody front with Israel on the Gaza border that will keep Israel busy and its focus away from Iran’s activities in Syria.
The source further said that while both terror groups fired at Israel, Islamic Jihad led the initiative to serve its Iranian masters and to thwart Hamas’ plans for a ceasefire with Israel.
The Islamic Jihad has gained power and independence in recent months, despite Hamas’ attempts to coordinate its actions with it.
In a related development, The Islamic Jihad terror group has admitted that a rocket it fired on Saturday evening killed a baby in the Gaza Strip, despite initial claims she was killed in an Israeli strike.
Gazan sources identified the victims as 14-month-old Saba Mahmoud Abu ‘Arar and her pregnant mother Falastin, although the initial reports of the identity of the woman appear to have been inaccurate, and it was not the baby’s mother – rather another female victim in the household.
TPS has learned that the baby and woman were killed when Islamic Jihad terrorists launched a rocket towards Israel from within a populated area in the east of Gaza City, but the rocket misfired and landed short, exploding in a nearby house and killing the two.
Mahmoud H., a local resident, told TPS about a massive pit he saw inside the house after the rocket’s explosion.
The rocket was locally produced and may have malfunctioned or exploded prematurely because of the low-grade explosives.
The Hamas-controlled Gazan Ministry of Health initially announced that Saba’s mother was killed, but then claimed that another woman named Falastin Abu ‘Arar was killed in the explosion. She may be Saba’s aunt.
A source in Gaza told TPS that Islamic Jihad representatives met with the Abu ‘Arar family on Sunday morning and offered them full compensation and a registry of the baby as a “Shahid” entitled to long-term support in exchange for their silence.
Arab journalists in Gaza are aware of the facts, but have refrained from reporting on them due to the sensitivity of the situation.
TPS was successful in capturing Hamas’ report on the Islamic Jihad’s culpability.
Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) released its traditional statistics report on the citizens of Israel in honor of Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, which is celebrated this year on Wednesday night and Thursday. Photo by Ofra Moshkowitz/TPS on 7 May, 2019
Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) released its traditional statistics report on the citizens of Israel in honor of Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, which is celebrated this year on Wednesday night and Thursday.
Israel has 9,021,000 citizens, more than 10 times its population of 806,000 at the time of the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948.
On Israel’s 100th birthday, in 2048, the CBS estimate that Israel’s population will grow to about 15 million citizens. According to CBS projections, Israel’s population will surpass 10 million sometime between 2025 and 2030.
The Jewish population stands at 6,697,000 million, 75 percent of the entire population. Israel’s Arab citizens constitute 20.9 percent of the total population, numbering approximately 1,890,000. Non-Arab Christians and other religious groups constitute 4.8 percent of the population.
Since last year’s Independence Day, Israel’s population grew by 177,000, constituting a 2 percent growth, including 188,000 newborn babies; 47,000 people have died.
Israel welcomed 31,000 new immigrants. Some 3.2 million people have made Aliyah (immigration to Israel) since 1948, making up 43 percent of the total population.
About 75 percent of Israel’s population is Israeli-born, known as “sabras.” In 1948, only 35 percent were sabras.
48,000 Israelis are older than 90.
At the time of the establishment of the State of Israel, only one city had more than 100,000 residents – Tel Aviv-Yaffo. Today, 14 cities have over 100,000 residents; eight of them have more than 200,000. They are Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Haifa, Rishon Letzion, Petah Tikvah, Ashdod, Netanya and Beer Sheva.
Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, is the most populated city, with some 883,000 residents – almost 10 percent of the population.
In 1949, Israel had merely 500 cities and towns. Today, it has over 1,200.
Israel has 68 institutions of higher education.
In 2019, over 70 years after the Holocaust, the largest Jewish population lives in Israel. This figure represents 43 percent of world Jewry.
This past Sunday night, Israel capitulated once again to the Hamas terrorists who unleashed over 700 rockets into Israel killing 4 Jews and wounding over 100, by pulling back its military and stopping retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza. This latest surrender by the supposedly superior forces of Israel was brokered by Egypt and the U.N, both Israel hating entities. Whenever these Palestinians decide to attack Israel to terrorize and kill civilians, they do so clearly knowing all too well that Israel would quickly agree to a temporary cease fire obediently awaiting the next onslaught. This stupidity has to end. But Netanyahu doesn’t seem to have the guts of his brother, Yonatan, who was a real warrior to act as a warrior to defend his own people.
Bibi had the audacity to state, “the campaign is not over and it requires patience and judgment.” It also requires his attendance at the bedside of the many Israelis wounded and at the funerals of the four killed in this latest mini-war to explain to the grieving families just what is it that they don’t understand. How many more of these surrenders to Islamic terrorists who at will, brazenly attack Israel, must Bibi’s constituents have to endure? Just why can’t Israel see fit to protect its citizens by just using its vaunted military might to preemptively eradicate the terrorists who attack, kill, then raise their hands in feigned surrender, while planning the next assault? This has been going on since 2007 when Israel departed the Gaza strip and turned in over to Palestinian thugs. What did Israel expect when it made that move?
From the coastal city of Ashdod, where a man was killed by an incoming rocket, Jacque Mendel, a resident, raised the point that we have made many times in our editorials, “When we have the upper hand, we need once and for all to finish the terror because this will repeat itself and will not stop.” The plain people of Israel have had enough of treating its enemies with compassion. Jews in Israel no longer have to fear being led obediently to their deaths. They have not only the military might but the basic right to protect its citizens by taking the battle to its enemies and to destroy them, once and for all. Benny Gantz, a political opposition leader to Bibi claimed that ending the current retaliatory action so quickly amounted to “another surrender to the extortion of Hamas and the terror organizations.”
We keep thinking of the strategy called, “Unconditional Surrender” utilized by the Allies to put an end to WWII. We pummeled our enemies relentlessly and without mercy forcing them to surrender, give up their weapons and with that we created a lasting peace in Europe and Asia. Netanyahu, a student of history and an elected leader, must use this blueprint to put a stop to the endless campaigns of the Palestinians to wear down the Israeli people. Crush the enemy now!!
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
An outclassed boxer will bob, weave and scramble around the ring in order to avoid his opponent’s punches. The current Democrat Party should be so lucky. They have been bloodied and bruised since the bookies lost their shirts with the supposedly out of his class, Trump, beating the odds of 100 to one given by the New York Times in his 2016 headlined bout against Hillary. This “loser,” “moron,” “unprofessional” startled the political world with a battering that continues today, with the Democrats resorting to low blows, clinches and taking the eight count in vain efforts to make it to the 2020 tenth round. At this rate, they’ll never make it. But give them credit for trying.
The backroom boys led by the Schumer, Schiff, Pelosi and gang tried to rig the defeat of President Trump well before the election with the now revealed dirty tricks campaign of claiming his “collusion” with Russia. He “committed treason” claimed Congressman Schiff. Senator McCaskell shrieked that Trump was encouraging Russia “to invade us” and apparently all of the well heeled Hollywood crowd was in Hillary’s corner reading from the same script, calling for Trump’s head on a bloodied platter. They brought in a stacked deck investigatory group to uncover Trump’s criminal behavior. All to no avail. The 2 1/2 year ordeal of the Mueller inquiry ended (we thought) with no charges of “collusion” being brought against the sitting president.
But the Far Progressive Left is singing the old Yogi Berra refrain, “It ain’t over ’till it’s over.” This anvil chorus of anti-Trumpers will roll on with their charges of obstruction of justice, mental instability and any other wild accusations leading to further investigations with no end in sight. Forget about any forthcoming legislation from the Democrat controlled House to benefit the country. They will be bound up in continual circus-like impeachment proceedings leading up to the 2020 elections hoping that they will be able to convince enough Americans to give them control of the Senate and the presidency where they can once again crown another Obama-like figure to lead us down the failed path of social justice for all.
We must all sit back and try to go on with our lives while this cast of characters perform their roles in taking jabs and head butts against President Trump. Strangely enough the ringside scorecard shows him ahead on points with a booming economy, a 50 year high in employment, finally including blacks, women and other minorities being hired at record rates, we’re energy independent, we’ve settled into a successful foreign policy with the belligerency of Iran and N. Korea on hold and we’re finally standing side by side with Israel to keep democracy alive in the Middle East. Not bad for a “neophyte, second string, ignorant, vulgar” president. We’re waiting for the tenth and final round in November, 2020.
Queens State Assembly member David Weprin introduced legislation in the State Assembly to permit some prison inmates who committed murder or rape to be eligible for parole once they reach age 55 and have served at least 15 years of their sentence. The same legislation was introduced by Manhattan State Senator Brad Hoylman in the State Senate.
This legislation if passed by both the State Assembly & Senate and signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo would permit the state prison parole board to assess a convicted felon’s potential risk to society as part of its decision on the possible early release of the inmate. Both Weprin and Hoylman reference as justification that allowing these criminals to be eligible for parole could save New York State a billion dollars or more over time.
Never shy around a microphone or photo opportunity, Assembly member Weprin has yet to promote this legislation at one of his standard Sunday press conferences. You will not read about it in one of his periodic newsletters mailed to constituents at taxpayers expense.
This ultra liberal “politically correct” legislation compliments a similar push to allow convicted felons the right to vote while serving time in prison. What’s next, reparations in the form of taxpayers rebates to reimburse ex-felons for lost income due to time served in prison?
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
Is the NYT Complicit in Rise of Anti-Semitism?
(The following letter was sent to Arthur Gregg Sulzberger of the NY Times)
Dear Mr. Sulzberger:
Many thanks for your kind, thoughtful and prompt response to my email, in regards to anti-Zionism attitude that appears in the NYTimes news columns almost on a daily basis alongside your full coverage of Israel.
Since we now all agree that anti-Zionism generally fosters anti-Semitism, it would be a shame to see the NYTimes, through its anti-Zionist news coverage of Israel, being complicit in the growth of anti- Semitism.
Many people I know and organizations I’m familiar with have spoken to NYTimes editors and reporters about this problem. They received lots of pious promises. But, not much has really changed.
Hopefully, this cartoon accident/incident will finally encourage the NYTimes to look inward and realize that the cartoon’s appearance was not an accident but the result of a ‘’production editor’’ thinking they were following the ‘’unspoken’’ NYTimes editorial policy.
I remain a loyal subscriber and reader and continue to look forward to the NYTimes living up to it promises of fair and honest coverage of Zionism and the State of Israel.Thanks again for your statement of policy and concern-
Looking forward
Zach Dicker
Yuge Yankees Fan!!
Dear Editor,
Start spreading the news! I was happy after reading your article “Yankees Ranked Most Valuable Franchise in MLB on Forbes List,” because, well, I am a big Yankees fan. I guess the Yankees won the MVF award, so to speak.
The Yankees Franchise bought back the YES Sports television Network, which broadcasts Forbes’ “SportsMoney” show, for $3.5 billion from Disney in March. The Yankees team is owned by Yankee Global Enterprises, an LLC controlled by the family of the late George Steinbrenner, a Cleveland-based shipbuilder, who bought the team in 1973 for $8.7 million.
It is no surprise that the world’s most successful sports franchises tops the MLB list for value, and it makes me proud to think of that value that is created right up in the Bronx. I think about how my late grandpa grew up in the shadows of Yankee Stadium and was a huge fan, having seen almost all of the greats walk out onto the field. It gives me some joy and comfort to think about how the franchise is still thriving and not going anywhere anytime soon. Here’s to hoping for more championships and more franchise success.
Sincerely,
Winona Muntz
Room Rental Service Spying on Us?
Dear Editor,
I was appalled but not surprised after I read your article. “Could Airbnb Properties Spy On You? For One Family In Ireland, Yes.” To say the least, this is one of the many reasons I always go through more traditional means when I need to stay somewhere while I am away.
A New Zealand family found out about Airbnb’s lack of quality assurance the hard way when the family members discovered a hidden camera that was not only recording them in the Irish residence they were staying in but was also live-streaming the feed, CNN reports. If it weren’t for some handy IT skills, the Barker family may have never found out that what they were doing in that property during their 14-month European trip was being recorded and streamed out to anyone with access.
I think it’s safe to say that nobody when traveling should need to check the internet to make sure it is okay and that no spying activity is going on.
Andrew Barker was in the property with his wife, Nealie, four of their own kids and a niece. He used his security skills to run a scan of the Wi-Fi network in the house. While he was running routine diagnostics and tests to check for things like signal strength and security strength, he made a discovery that he and his wife could not believe when a hidden camera came up.
I always book hotels, even though I disagree with plenty of their labor practices. I would still rather stick with a legit and regulated business than go to some random place. There are times when it makes sense to rent a cabin, like in the mountains, and there are usually better means to seek out these rentals from people who routinely do it all the time.
The fiercely antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer, edited by Julius Streicher, warned of a Jewish program for world domination in this 1934 issue. The article, titled "Who is the Enemy?" blamed Jews for destroying social order and claimed that Jews wanted war, while the rest of the world wanted peace. Photo Credit: USHMM
Imagine if the New York Times cartoon that depicted Israel’s Prime Minister as a dog had, instead, depicted the leader of another ethnic or gender group in a similar manner? If you think that is hard to imagine, you are absolutely right. It would be inconceivable for a Times editor to have allowed the portrayal of a Muslim leader as a dog; or the leader of any other ethnic or gender group in so dehumanizing a manner.
What is it, then, about Jews that allowed such a degrading cartoon about one of their leaders? One would think that in light of the history of the Holocaust, which is being commemorated this week, the last group that a mainstream newspaper would demonize by employing a caricature right out of the Nazi playbook, would be the Jews. But no. Only three-quarters of a century after Der Stürmer incentivized the mass murder of Jews by dehumanizing them, we see a revival of such bigoted caricatures.
The New York Times should be especially sensitive to this issue, because they were on the wrong side of history when it came to reporting the Holocaust. They deliberately buried the story because their Jewish owners wanted to distance themselves from Jewish concerns. They were also on the wrong side of history when it came to the establishment of the nation-state of the Jewish people, following the Holocaust. When it comes to Jews and Israel, the New York Times is still on the wrong side of history.
I am a strong believer in freedom of speech and the New York Times has a right to continue its biased reporting and editorializing. But despite my support for freedom of speech, I am attending a protest in front of the New York Times this afternoon to express my freedom of speech against how the New York Times has chosen to exercise its.
There is no inconsistency in defending the right to express bigotry and at the same time protesting that bigotry. When I defended the rights of Communists and Nazis to express their venomous philosophies, I also insisted on expressing my contempt for their philosophies. I did the same when I defended the rights of Palestinian students to fly the Palestinian flag in commemoration of the death of Yasser Arafat. I went out of my way to defend the right of students to express their support of this mass-murderer. But I also went out of my way to condemn Arafat and those who supported him and praise his memory. I do not believe in free speech for me, but not for thee. But I do believe in condemning those who hide behind the First Amendment to express anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, homophobic, sexist or racist views.
Nor is the publication of this anti-Semitic cartoon a one-off. For years now, the New York Times op-ed pages have been one-sidedly anti-Israel. Its reporting has often been provably false, and all the errors tend to favor Israel’s enemies. Most recently, the New York Times published an op-ed declaring, on Easter Sunday, that the crucified Jesus was probably a Palestinian. How absurd. How preposterous. How predictable.
In recent years, it has become more and more difficult to distinguish between the reporting of the New York Times and their editorializing. Sometimes its editors hide behind the euphemism “news analysis,” when allowing personal opinions to be published on the front page. More recently, they haven’t even bothered to offer any cover. The reporting itself, as repeatedly demonstrated by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), has been filled with anti-Israel errors.
The publishers of the New York Times owe its readers a responsibility to probe deeply into this bias and to assume responsibility for making the Times earn its title as the newspaper of record. Any comparison between the reporting of the New York Times and that of the Wall Street Journal when it comes to the Middle East would give the New York Times a failing grade.
Having said this, I do not support a boycott of the New York Times. Let readers decide for themselves whether they want to read its biased reporting. I, for one, will continue to read the New York Times with a critical eye, because it is important to know what disinformation readers are getting and how to challenge that disinformation in the marketplace of ideas.
So I am off to stand in protest of the New York Times, while defending its right to be wrong. That is what the First Amendment is all about. Finally, there is some good news. One traditional anti-Semitic trope is that “the Jews control the media.” People who peddle this nonsense often point to the New York Times, which is, in fact, published by a prominent Jewish family, the Sulzbergers. Anyone who reads the New York Times will immediately see the lie in this bigoted claim: Yes, the New York Times has long been controlled by a Jewish family. But this Jewish family is far from being supportive of Jewish values, the nation-state of the Jewish people or Jewish sensibilities. If anything, it has used its Jewishness as an excuse to say about Jews and do to Jews what no mainstream newspaper, not owned by Jews, would ever do.
(Gatestone Institute)
Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law Emeritus at Harvard Law School, Distinguished Senior Fellow of Gatestone Institute and author of The Case Against The Democrats Impeaching Trump, Skyhorse Publishing, 2019.
According to Israel’s military spokesperson, Gazan terrorists fired some 700 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel over a two-day period. Approximately two-thirds of these landed in open spaces. Others were intercepted by Israel’s rocket defense system, Iron Dome. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was a test of sorts to determine whether unilateral concessions would be met with reciprocating goodwill gestures. The experiment in unilateral concessions was an abysmal failure, evidenced by three major conflagrations and countless minor flare-ups since.
The latest spasm of violence began on Friday when Hamas snipers fired on an Israeli patrol wounding two soldiers, one moderately and one lightly. Israel responded with accurate fire killing two Hamas operatives. Shortly thereafter, Hamas and its affiliate, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad began bombarding southern Israel with rockets and mortars.
An Egyptian brokered ceasefire went into effect on Monday at 4:30 a.m. but since Saturday, the southern Israeli cities of Sderot, Ashkelon, Beersheba and Ashdod, as well as a number of smaller communities along the Gaza periphery were subjected to unrelenting rocket and mortar bombardment.
According to Israel’s military spokesperson, Gazan terrorists fired some 700 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel over a two-day period. Approximately two-thirds of these landed in open spaces. Others were intercepted by Israel’s rocket defense system, Iron Dome. But a few managed to penetrate Israel’s missile defense shield inflicting death and property damage. According to published reports, four Israeli civilians were killed in this latest round of Hamas-provoked violence.
Of the four, one was identified as 50-year-old Israeli Arab, killed while reporting to work at an Ashkelon factory. Hamas rockets do not discriminate between Jew and Arab. Another casualty was identified as a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen in his early 20s, who was killed in Ashdod while running to a bomb shelter. A third, identified as a 60-year-old man, was killed when the car he was driving on Route 34 near the Gaza border was hit by a Russian Kornet anti-tank missile fired by Gazan terrorists. Shortly thereafter, the Israel Defense Forces temporarily closed that particular stretch of road to civilian traffic deeming it unsafe due to its close proximity to the border. A fourth man, aged 58, was killed in the city of Ashkelon while taking a cigarette break.
Israel limited its retaliatory response to airstrikes against Hamas and PIJ targets. Some 350 targets were hit. Israel also halted fuel shipments to Gaza and closed Gaza’s maritime coastline. Thirty-one Gazans, at least 15 of whom were terrorists, were killed in these strikes. Among those killed was Hamed al-Khoudary, identified as a Hamas financier and the group’s liaison with elements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The IRGC was recently designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the Trump administration.
Khoudary, whose movements were monitored by Israeli intelligence, was killed in a targeted liquidation strike. Financiers and moneychangers like Khoudary represent the life blood for Hamas as they facilitate cash transfers to the terror group. Without these facilitators, Hamas would not be able to pay salaries, construct tunnels or purchase arms. During Operation Protective Edge in 2014, Israel targeted and killed Hamas money man, Mohammed al-Ghoul. He was barbecued in his car after a precision missile strike and the $13 million he was transporting, which was secured from a friendly Muslim country, turned to vapor. A few days later, Hamas cried uncle and agreed to a ceasefire.
Babak Taghvaee, a military commentator who often posts about military developments in the region, stated that Khoudary was killed by a Nimrod air-to-ground missile launched from an Eitan (Heron TP) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry reported that a pregnant woman and her child were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Claims of this nature issued by the health ministry, which takes its marching orders from Hamas, must be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. The more plausible explanation is that they were almost certainly killed due to a Hamas rocket that either misfired or fell short within Gaza. This is not an uncommon occurrence, and has in fact happened with alarming frequency during previous Hamas rocket launches. Unfortunately, international media outlets often accept Hamas health ministry claims without challenge. When the truth finally emerges, the damage to reputation has already been done and is often difficult if not impossible to reverse.
Hamas and the PIJ are attempting to embarrass Israel, which is due to host the Eurovision song contest in Tel Aviv in mid-May. Had the situation escalated to full-scale conflagration, the Eurovision event would have almost certainly been canceled or postponed.
Hamas is also attempting extort Israel by forcing it to allow the unimpeded transfer of Qatari cash into Gaza. The Israeli government had previously permitted such transfers in an effort to placate the terror group and maintain quiet. The most recent cash transfer was delayed for reasons having nothing to do with Israel. Some members of the Netanyahu-led government oppose the Qatari cash transfers, viewing them as nothing but an extortion scheme. That assessment is accurate.
Israel is currently in a quandary. It must respond to the attacks but in doing so, risks escalation, and possible cancelation of the much anticipated Eurovision. More importantly, Israel views the real and far more dangerous threat as emerging from the north. The IRGC’s overseas branch, the Quds Force, is attempting to entrench itself in Syria. They are trying to open up a new front against Israel opposite the Golan Heights. Moreover, Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy group that controls Lebanon is believed to possess 150,000 rockets and missiles including guided missiles capable of leveling city blocks. In terms of both quality and quantity, this stockpile dwarfs the combined arsenals of Hamas and the PIJ. Hezbollah is also believed to possess indigenous missile production capabilities thanks to generous technical and financial assistance from the Islamic Republic.
Israel does not wish to get bogged down in a war in the south when the greater danger is to the north. But Israel may be left with little choice if the ceasefire is breached and the rocket fire continues. A new operation similar to ones undertaken in 2009, 2012 and 2014 may be necessary to impose quiet. But this is only a temporary solution which past experience has taught will only purchase 3 to 4 years of calm until the next round.
If anti-Semitism is thriving among Americans, there’s no sign of it in any of the latest polls. Americans are the least anti-Semitic people in the world. A 2017 poll, taken at the height of a spike in anti-Semitism, showed that 14% of Americans held anti-Semitic attitudes. That was up from 10% in 2015 and 12% in 2013. That’s not a great trend, but it also shows just how narrow the scope of the problem is.
It’s also dramatically different than the numbers from similar polls conducted in Europe.
How then can we explain the rise in anti-Semitic violence? What about the increased harassment of Jews on campuses and in major cities? And why is there a rise in anti-Semitic discourse?
There’s no climate of hatred in America. The rising anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence are the work of small but highly active political groups who have become disproportionately influential in public life.
The rise in anti-Semitism isn’t happening among ordinary Americans, but among a narrow group of influencers. An anti-Semitic cartoon in the New York Times isn’t representative of the country. Neither is Rep. Ilhan Omar. Nor are Richard Spencer or the alt-righters who tweet their own anti-Semitic memes.
Anti-Semitic violence is rising. But the total number of incidents remains small. The perpetrators represent a small segment of the population. The violent doesn’t come from ‘anywhere’. On campuses and in synagogues, it comes from a small radical population of the alt-left and the alt-right. In urban areas, it originates with a slightly larger, but still fairly small population, of neighborhood bigots.
Anti-Semitism is marginal among Americans, but it’s increasingly mainstream in political activism.
Anti-Semitic incidents on campuses have doubled for several years in a row. Growing numbers of Jewish students report feeling intimidated and threatened. But the intimidation is the work of a small minority motivated by political ideology. The number of students engaging in campus harassment through hate groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine remains tiny. The real problem is the complicity of identity politics groups in supporting campus hate groups and administrators in turning a blind eye to it.
The harassment is most intense at a handful of top, but not truly elite schools, in a few states. The situation is not representative of the country or even its average campus. Even in the most problematic schools, only a small politically active minority plays any role in the harassment. But that minority dominates campuses and the campuses provide much of the future leadership of the country.
It’s the same problem nationwide.
Americans don’t have an anti-Semitism problem. American politics has an anti-Semitism problem because, just like on college campuses, small groups are driving an anti-Semitic agenda.
American politics isn’t anti-Semitic. But its leadership is becoming complicit in anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitism is a function of political radicalism. And very few Americans are political radicals. But the radicals are driving national politics by constantly shattering political norms and normalizing extremism. Hatred of Jews is just one of the radical ideas heading from the political margins into the mainstream. The mainstream of politics though is a very different thing than the mainstream of American values.
Polls show that most Americans still view anti-Semitism as disgusting. But that’s no longer the case among political activists and elites as anti-Semitism becomes embedded within political movements.
The anti-Semitic cartoon in the New York Times was not a sign that anti-Semitism had become normalized among Americans, but it had become so normalized in the media that it did not notice when its language of covert anti-Semitism slurred and crossed the red line into overt anti-Semitism.
America’s anti-Semitism problem is worst, not in small rural towns, but in urban media operations.
National politics was radicalized by media operations that took the marginal agendas of fringe groups and mainstreamed them. Anti-Semitism is just another one of those many radical agendas.
The media mainstreamed and normalized radicals like Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour while glossing over their hateful agendas. It celebrates and defends Rep. Omar’s bigotry. Rep. Omar is one of hundreds of members of the House. She’s a freshman with no notable accomplishments. The only reason that everyone in the country knows her name is because the media chose to turn her into a celebrity.
Rep. Omar’s displays of anti-Semitism aren’t surprising. The same ADL poll that found that only 14% of Americans held anti-Semitic beliefs, also found that 34% of Muslims in Americans held those beliefs.
Muslims make up around 1% of the country.
How did a woman who represents 34% of 1% of the country suddenly become the face of a political movement that claims to represent half the country?
And why did Democrats rally behind a bigot who represents a third of a percent of the country?
Most Democrats are not anti-Semitic. Even most of the radicals backing Rep. Omar are not explicitly anti-Semitic. But they’re willing to defend anti-Semitism as part of an alliance with that hateful third.
That’s also how the anti-Semitic cartoon showed up in the New York Times.
American politics isn’t anti-Semitic. But it’s full of politically active people who will defend anti-Semites against charges of anti-Semitism because they agree with them on the rest of their political agenda.
Anti-Semitism in American politics is a symptom of this mainstreaming of political radicals.
The media may not be trying to intentionally mainstream anti-Semitism. As in Omar’s case, it’s collateral damage from mainstreaming radicals. The New York Times editorial staff didn’t wake up one morning and decide on the best way to mainstream anti-Semitism by printing a cartoon of Trump in Jewish religious garb. The anti-Semitic cartoon was collateral damage from mainstreaming radicals like Rep. Omar and Linda Sarsour who blurred the line between hatred of Israel and hatred of Jews.
Once the media mainstreamed anti-Semitic radicals, it defended them against charges of anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitism may not be growing, but tolerance for it is. And that can be just as dangerous. The things that you justify, whitewash and minimize, can become the things that you eventually get on board with.
Racial supremacism and obsessive hatred of Israel are radical views shared by few Americans. But they are the feverish obsessions of small, determined groups of activists who are defining national politics. As their activists gain traction, anti-Semitism leaks from the fringes and into movement organizations.
Radicals make up an even tinier percentage of the country than the campus. But anyone who reads, listens to and watches the media would think that a minority of radicals have become the majority.
This isn’t the Corbynization, but the ‘Campusization’ of American politics.
American politics have come to resemble the college campus with a small group of radicals calling the shot and a media that hardly anyone pays attention to defending them, while the majority doesn’t care.
Campus radicals are no longer just allotting student funds. They’re trying to run the country.
The lessons of the battle against anti-Semitism on campuses will need to be applied to national politics. Jewish groups failed to fight the problem on college campuses. The graduates from many of these institutions went on to bigger and better things. And now the problem has gone nationwide.
Anti-Semitism isn’t an American problem. It’s a radical problem.
The ‘Campusization’ of American politics is the challenge of fighting to prevent a tiny minority of extremists from doing to the country what they have already done to the college campus.
(Front Page Mag)
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.
“Last Letters From the Holocaust: 1944,” an online exhibit from Yad Vashem, has arrived on its website just in time for Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day)
Jews have long been known as the people of the book, but fresh evidence has emerged that they’re also the people of the letter.
Of the millions of Jews who were taken to their deaths during the Holocaust on cattle cars, we will never know how many of them scribbled last words to loved ones, addressed them and tossed them out the train window, hoping against hope that someone would find them and send them on.
The letter that Anna threw from the train window on the way to Auschwitz together with the request, “Please post this letter.” Credit: Yad Vashem.
It’s safe to assume that very few of these desperate attempts to communicate were ever found, and even fewer of them made it to their intended recipients. The miracle is the ones that were discovered alongside the train tracks and, against all odds, reached their destination.
“Last Letters From the Holocaust: 1944,” an online exhibit from Yad Vashem has arrived on its website (www.yadvashem.org.) just in time for Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) on May 2. On this day all around Israel (where Yad Vashem sits atop a hillside in Jerusalem), a siren is sounded, and the entire country screeches to a halt. Cars and trucks pull to the side of the road, their occupants climbing out to stand at silent attention.
There, too, as in Jewish communities elsewhere around the world, for the last seven decades there have been communal gatherings featuring the reading of the names of the dead, as well as prayers, songs and the lighting of memorial candles by survivors.
The postcard that Anna sent just before being deported from Fossoli di Carpi to Auschwitz. Credit: Yad Vashem.
But in recent years as survivors have numbered fewer and fewer, and those who can attend memorials are often wheeled or helped to the stage, their children and grandchildren typically take over candle-lighting duties.
With fewer survivors remaining who can testify to what they witnessed, this makes these final letters all the more precious. So says Orit Noiman, a project director at Yad Vashem.
“This is why it’s so important for us to collect every bit of evidence from the Holocaust; it’s the only testimony we have of someone who cannot be with us.”
That’s the main reason Shaul Ventura decided to donate his mother Anna’s last communication, scribbled in the hours before she arrived in Auschwitz in February of 1944.
Anna and her husband, Luigi, on their honeymoon in 1921. Credit: Yad Vashem.
“It’s a very emotional thing for us,” says Ventura, who was 14 when his mother was killed. “But, as precious as they are to our family (the postcard is one of 14 letters by their mother that the family donated to Yad Vashem), I know now they’ll be preserved now, and people who see them in the future will know what this technically advanced modern civilization did to destroy an entire people.”
Another motivation for Ventura, 89, was to demonstrate the suffering of Italian Jews, something many people are still unaware of.
The last time Ventura saw his mother was in December of 1943, when she ventured from the safety of their hiding place to procure medicine for her ailing mother. After she was captured, she was sent to Fossoli, an Italian work camp. Two months later, she was among the hundreds loaded onto a train bound for Auschwitz, where she was killed. (The horrors of that doomed journey were memorialized by fellow Italian inmate and chemist Primo Levi in his dual-story book If This Is a Manand The Truce.) As Ventura wrote on the train:
“To my very dear ones,
My morale is very high. We will see each other soon. Lots of kisses to everyone. All my thoughts are of you.”
“Anna wrote on the front of the postcard: ‘To the person who finds this, please send it to this address,’ and it was almost like she was pleading with an unknown stranger to help her,” says Noiman. “We will never know who discovered the postcard and decided to mail it.”
“By throwing the letters—and most of them were from the Jews of Belgium, France and Italy—they were hoping that someone would be human enough to send them on to their family,” says Naama Galil, a Yad Vashem project manager who’s researching the written material. “Most Western Europeans assumed they were being transported to work, but they weren’t sure and wanted their loved ones to hear from them. There were also those who clearly didn’t expect to survive this and wanted to collect evidence to tell their experience to generations to come.”
Rabbanit Esther Rivka Wagner with her daughter, Malky. Credit: Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim.
“The hope that my mother included in each letter kept our hopes high that she was alive,” says Ventura. Indeed, the family clung to those hopes even after moving to pre-state Israel in the spring of 1945, only later accepting that she had been murdered in Auschwitz. All made it out alive except their father, Luigi, and the youngest of the four children: 6-year-old Emanuel, who died of diphtheria at war’s end.
What’s amazing is that more than 75 years later, these important bits of evidence are still coming in, says Haim Gertner, director of the Yad Vashem Archives. The world’s largest Holocaust collection, the archives holds more than 200 million documents and artifacts, with another 250,000 projected to arrive in the next few years.
“By donating these, the families know that they are helping preserve the memory of the Holocaust for the Jewish people and the world,” says Gertner. “In today’s digital era, we can tell the full story and connect in ways we never could before.”
Gertner sees the collection as a “real continuation of the efforts of the Jews themselves during the Shoah. Even if they didn’t know exactly where they were going, they knew it was no picnic, and they wanted their story told.” Next up for Yad Vashem is a state-of-the-art underground repository for all this history: the Shoah Heritage Collection Center, projected to open in 2021.
‘Grateful for all they had’
But letters were not the only things thrown from trains. Often, people threw themselves. And though it’s believed that most of those who flung themselves out of moving trains were either killed on impact or by sharpshooter Nazi guards, some lived to tell the tale.
Esther Rivka Willig was one of them. The Polish teen, the daughter of the rabbi of Buczacz, noticed that the cattle car had a small window covered with barbed wire and wooden slats, says her daughter, Malky Weisberg, who’s a tour guide at Yad Vashem.
“My mother asked for her mother’s blessing, saying it was the only way she would attempt to escape.” Three hours of arguing later, after her mother reluctantly gave that blessing, young Willig stood on a barrel, yanked off the slats and, prying off the barbed wire with one of them, squeezed herself out for the jump.
“My grandmother must have understood that if her daughter was going to have a chance of surviving, this was it,” says Weisberg. “She was very lucky to fall into a cornfield, where the high corn hid her. Many others who tried were shot.”
The train’s destination turned out to be Belzec, where more than 600,000 Galician Jews, including Willig’s own mother, were destined to be murdered. The young girl, reunited with her first love Yisroel Wagner, married and moved to Beach Haven in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he would serve as community rabbi for nearly a half-century.
“My parents looked at the glass as half-full and were grateful for all they had,” says Weisberg. “I always felt they were saved for a reason.”
Her mother died three years ago at age 92. A few years earlier, when prepping for hip surgery, she was warned by her doctor of the discomfort she could expect. “She said to the surgeon, ‘I jumped off a train. I think I can handle this.’ ”
Yad Vashem’s “Last Letters From the Holocaust: 1944” online exhibit is now live on www.yadvashem.org.
The Maid of the Mist tour boats that sail near to the bottom of Niagara Falls are changing over to two new all-electric, zero-emission passenger vessels built in the U.S. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
The Maid of the Mist tour boats that sail near to the bottom of Niagara Falls are changing over to two new all-electric, zero-emission passenger vessels built in the U.S.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that Maid of the Mist, which has been navigating the waters of the Lower Niagara River since 1846, is preparing to launch the first two new all-electric, zero-emission passenger vessels constructed in the United States.
Later this year, the catamaran-style vessels will provide more than 1.6 million guests from around the world with an up-close, iconic view of Niagara Falls. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Later this year, the catamaran-style vessels will provide more than 1.6 million guests from around the world with an up-close, iconic view of Niagara Falls. The vessels feature a wide stance, resulting in a smooth, quiet ride, allowing them to better enjoy the roar and majesty of Niagara Falls, according to a press release.
“The Maid of the Mist has offered tours of the world-famous Niagara Falls waterfalls and of the Niagara River Gorge for more than a century, and are a signature tourism attraction of Western New York,” said Governor Cuomo. “The new zero-emission boats will continue that proud tradition while continuing our efforts to make New York State a premier environmentally friendly tourism destination.”
At the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center, Maid of the Mist President Christopher M. Glynn was joined for the unveiling of the new vessels by New York State Lieutenant Governor Kathleen C. Hochul, New York State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid, New York State Senator Rob Ortt, Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster and other local and state tourism officials.
“The Maid of the Mist has offered tours of the world-famous Niagara Falls waterfalls and of the Niagara River Gorge for more than a century, and are a signature tourism attraction of Western New York,” said Governor Cuomo. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
“It makes perfect sense for Maid of the Mist to be a world leader with the implementation of this green technology,” Glynn said. “The new vessels will carry our guests to the base of Niagara Falls, one of the world’s largest sources of clean hydroelectric power.”
Designed by Propulsion Data Services, the new totally integrated vessels are currently under construction by Burger Boat Company in Manitowoc, Wisc. In mid-May, the modules will be transported to Niagara Falls and lowered onto the Maid of the Mist dry dock and maintenance facility for assembly. Following completion of construction, launch and certification, the new vessels will be placed into service in mid-September.
Maid of the Mist VI (1990) and Maid of the Mist VII (1997), will be removed from service when the new vessels begin operating.
ABB, a pioneering technology leader in digital industries, will supply a comprehensive integrated power and propulsion solution for the newbuild vessels, including lithium-ion battery packs and an onshore charging system, enabling sustainable operation with maximum reliability.
The Niagara Gorge Discovery Center. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Powered by ABB’s zero-emission technology, the two fully-electric vessels will take tourists to the heart of the Niagara Falls, undisturbed by engine noise or exhaust fumes. Batteries will be recharged for seven minutes after each trip to 80 percent capacity, allowing for maximum efficiency and battery life.
New York State Parks Acting Commissioner Erik Kulleseid said, “The Maid of the Mist has been a tremendous partner at Niagara Falls State Park. These new vessels delivering a superior visitor experience while expanding the sustainable practices we need to adapt to protect the natural assets that draw visitors to Niagara Falls and parks across the state.”
An Israeli family has a barbecue during the celebration of Israel's 64th Independence Day at Sacher Park in Jerusalem, April 26, 2012. Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
For one day in the spring, the humble falafel is all but forgotten as Israelis fire up their grills for some serious meat-eating. In that way, Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day), which falls on the fifth day of the Hebrew-calendar month Iyar, is not all that different from its American counterpart, the Fourth of July.
Thousand of joyful revelers pour into the streets of Israeli cities and towns to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day)
On this holiday, marking Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s announcement of Israel’s independence at the stroke of midnight on May 14, 1948, you’ll find musical and theatrical performances on street corners; Israeli dancing and sing-alongs, speeches, and classic Israeli movies shown on TV and radio; and Israeli flags fluttering from windows and balconies and car antennae. Sheet cakes are decorated with the blue and white colors of Israel’s flag, and the air is filled with the smoke of barbecue grills.
New olim (immigrants) are celebrating not only Israel’s freedom to exist as an independent Jewish state, but also their own transformation into Israeli citizens, with those from the U.S. trading in their July 4 Hebrew National hot dog for a Fifth of Iyar all-Israeli kabob.
“The first time a new citizen celebrates Yom Ha’atzmaut, they are exhilarated that only a year earlier they were dreaming of making Israel their home and now they are a full part of their Jewish homeland,” says Rachel Berger, who heads up the Post-Aliyah Department of Nefesh B’Nefesh, which brings thousands of new olim to Israel each year.
Not everyone will be lighting a personal grill on the holiday. Business is booming for Israeli restaurants on Yom Ha’atzmaut, with families taking advantage of the return of spring. Many workers use the day off to go on tiyulim, or day trips. In Zichron Yaakov, at the Italian restaurant Adama Bistro, manager Dganit Azolai expects the usually popular pasta specialties to be largely ignored in favor of meats of every kind, especially beef on the grill or other barbecue items.
As a variation on the meat theme, the kosher Chinese restaurant Chon Lee in Ashdod finds its annual Yom Ha’atzmaut favorite to be crispy Chinese duck, says owner Jung Lee, who has now added the Hebrew and English languages to his native Mandarin.
Boaz Fisafasavich, whose Beit HaStek in Haifa attracts an international crowd hailing from France, the U.S., and the former Soviet Union (FSU), says the immigrants demonstrate at least as much enthusiasm for Israel Independence Day—and for the traditional steak—as do his Israeli customers. “They’re new here,” says Fisafasavich. “But, no matter where they come from, they read the newspapers too, so they know what is going on and how lucky we are to be here.”
That is the case for Yehudah Zaragoza, who arrived in Israel last year from Iran with his wife and two small sons. This year is the first time Zaragoza has the chance to celebrate the existence of his new home country. Living in the immigrant absorption center in Ra’anana, he plans to toast the Jewish state with the other newly minted Israelis from Spain, Brazil, India, France, the U.S., and the FSU.
Mati (Matthew) Katz, from New York, happened to be visiting a daughter in Israel last Yom Ha’atzmaut before he made aliyah this winter. “The irony is, I made aliyah this year but this is my second Yom Ha’atzmaut,” says Katz, who is now living in Maaleh Adumim and waiting for his wife to sell the family home and join him there.
“It was wonderful last year with my wife and all three of our daughters here, but I know it will be something very different this year now that I am a citizen,” Katz says. “I had visited here many times, but there was something very powerful about having a one-way ticket to Israel. This year for the first time, I am celebrating as an Israel citizen.”
Israelis are determined to celebrate their hard-earned freedom—even in the country’s south, where alarms go off with frightening frequency. This is Massachusetts native Bracha Vaknin’s fifth year in Israel, and she says she’s still enjoying the “miracle of being surrounded by other Jews.” But living in Netivot, a 10-minute ride from Sderot, she and her family have gotten used to the alarm going off on her iPhone, signaling a siren anywhere in southern Israel. Vaknin and her husband and children spent nearly two weeks in a shelter two years ago, and this March she was waiting for her daughter’s ballet class to end when they were all sent to shelters in Netivot’s community center. “We’re hoping for a quieter year,” she says.
The level of alert doesn’t detract from the celebration of Israel on Yom Ha’atzmaut, says Vaknin, who is looking forward to her father’s kin’s annual “ritual family barbecue,” where she will enjoy the holiday with uncles and aunts and cousins.
Yet not everyone is happy with at least one aspect of Yom Ha’atzmaut. Over at the Village Green Restaurant—located near Ben Yehuda Street and the countless Yom Ha’atzmaut bands, performances, and parties that will color the Fifth of Iyar in that area—the fact that Barry Sibul’s establishment is vegetarian takes the edge off business on Independence Day, he says.
“There is an amazing quantity of meat consumed on that day in Israel,” he says with a sigh. But not to be outdone, Sibul is making sure to stock up on plenty of veggie burgers.
“That way,” he says, “even vegetarians can have something that at least looks a bit like meat.”
Adam Sandler did his Opera Man character on SNL Saturday night, and took shots at both President Trump and Joe Biden. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Adam Sandler did his Opera Man character on SNL Saturday night, and took shots at both President Trump and Joe Biden.
Taking over the NBC late-night sketch show’s “Weekend Update” segment, Sandler – a former cast member of the show – crooned about recent news events, ranging from Game of Thrones to Long Shot (a little-heralded movie starring Charlize Theron) and the Kentucky Derby.
“Dressed in his signature cape and wearing a long black hair wig, Sandler poked fun at various current events during the medley, including Game of Thrones (“We can’t wait for final show-ah / So we can cancel our HBO-ah”), President Donald Trump (“I get to make a wall / And Putin makes me his beech”), the new pool of presidential candidates and Joe Biden’s recent misconduct scandal,” The Hollywood Reporter reported.
The actor/comedian’s humor about Trump and Biden included song lyrics like: “Joe for this you / Won’t go far-o / To win White House / You need to bang porn star-o.” He also took shots at Attorney General William Barr: “Where did Barr go? / He did not show / Check every single Wendy’s!”
“During his song, Sandler also made references to his own movies and to his past self-playing Opera Man with a photo of a younger Sandler appearing over his shoulder. “So glad to be back / Now I get a snack / Operaman bye-bye!!” The Hollywood Reporter added.
“Is Adam Sandler funny?” Forbes magazine asked last November in a feature on the comedian’s career. “It’s never been a yes or no answer. He burst onto the scene on SNL in 1990, and then quickly became a commercial and financial success with his first two starring movie roles in Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore — though most people my age remember his early career most fondly from his 1993 comedy album, They’re All Gonna Laugh At You!
“As the 90s continued, though, his best efforts were surrounded by bombs – some so painfully bad (like 1996’s Bulletproof) that it constantly cast shadows of doubt on his good stuff,” the story continued. “Was Billy Madison as funny as it was when we saw it at a sleepover in eighth grade and literally rolled around on the floor laughing? Or was it, in retrospect, a pretty stupid movie starring an immature guy who won’t stop talking in a baby voice?”
“No, Adam Sandler’s return to “Saturday Night Live” did not result in a blockbuster adults 18-49 rating,” headlineplanet.com reported. “It did, however, help Saturday’s broadcast tie a season high in households. Citing metered market data, NBC says Saturday’s episode drew a 4.8 overnight household rating. It drew a 1.8 adults 18-49 rating in the Top 25 markets. The numbers comfortably top those of the previous episode. Featuring host Emma Stone and musical guest BTS, that broadcast drew a 3.9 in households and a 1.5 in the demo.”
Contestants for the 64th annual Eurovision Song Contest, which is being held in Tel Aviv, are taking things in stride, despite the barrage of rockets targeting the South of Israel. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Contestants for the 64th annual Eurovision Song Contest, which is being held in Tel Aviv, are taking things in stride, despite the barrage of rockets targeting the South of Israel. On Sunday May 5th, some more hopeful competitors arrived, as the second day of rehearsals forged ahead unabated. The participating contestants came with a good attitude and are remaining focused on their task, not the precarious security situation in Israel.
As reported by the Jerusalem Post, throughout the day on Sunday eight more countries took the stage at the Expo Tel Aviv to perform their songs on the Eurovision stage for the first time. Publicity on social media and in press conferences was focused on the contest, not on the violence In Israel. Contestants conveyed their enthusiasm on Instagram. “Morning, shalom, just woke up here in Tel Aviv and look at this weather,” wrote Victor Crone of Estonia on Instagram. “I have my first rehearsal today–I’m starting to get a bit nervous, but mostly excited.” Australia’s Kate Miller-Heidke, likewise shared on Instagram: “Hello from Tel Aviv. So much excitement right now!”
A group of contestants who already had their first rehearsals, spent the day Sunday traveling to and touring the city of Jerusalem. Nevena Bozovic from Serbia posed for a picture overlooking the walls of the Old City, and posting it on Instagram she went on to enjoy a falafel at the Mahane Yehuda market.
Roughly half of the 40 visiting competitors already arrived in Tel Aviv by Sunday night, and the rest will come in throughout the week. Though reporters at the press conferences questioned singers about the security situation, KAN interviewer Sivan Avrahami preempted the contestants’ responses by saying that the country is responsible for their safety. On several occasions, he even dissuaded the competitors from answering. Paul Clarke, head of the Australia delegation, said: “We’re very pleased to be in Israel and to perform, and we feel very confident we’re being looked after well and being secured by the people behind the Eurovision.” The head of the delegation from Georgia told KAN: “We are from Georgia, so we are not afraid of anything,” she said. “We know and we have information that security is at the highest in this country, so I doubt that anyone will be afraid.”
The first official Eurovision event will be the Orange Carpet kickoff, set for Sunday, May 12th. The semi-finals will be held on May 14th and 16th. The grand finale is slated to take place on May 18th.
The contest is organized by the European Broadcasting Union, the world’s “foremost alliance of public service media” representing 117 organizations in 56 countries. Each year, every participating broadcaster choses one performer and song to represent their country. The 26 finalists perform live with no musical instruments. The winner is selected based on one set of votes from the jury of five music industry professionals and another set of votes from viewers at home. To be fair, viewers cannot vote for their own country.
This years the six countries automatically prequalified for the Grand Final include Israel, and the ‘Big Five’, which include France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. The winning country gets the right to host the competition the following year, as Netta won with the song ‘Toy’ in the 2018 Eurovision held in Lisbon, Portugal. The win marked Israel’s fourth victory at the singing competition. Israel also took home the trophy in 1978, 1979, and 1998.
At press conferences on Sunday, officials of the European Broadcasting Union would not address questions about the security situation or the possibility of moving the competition. The EBU said that it “will continue to closely monitor the current situation and rehearsals will continue as normal.”
Roger Waters, Linda Sarsour and Marc Lamont Hill Are Featured Speakers
Eighty organizations that span the political spectrum last week called on University of Massachusetts Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy to rescind all named university sponsorship of an upcoming political event that the groups are concerned will “incite animosity towards supporters of Israel, including Jewish and pro-Israel students on your campus.” They also ask the university to provide assurances that in the future UMass faculty will not be permitted to use the university’s name or resources to promote their own personal political agenda at the expense of academic integrity and the welfare of students.
Eighty organizations that span the political spectrum last week called on University of Massachusetts Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy to rescind all named university sponsorship of an upcoming political event that the groups are concerned will “incite animosity towards supporters of Israel, including Jewish and pro-Israel students on your campus.” Photo Credit: UMass.com
“As described in the [event’s] press release, this is not an educational event but a political rally,” wrote the groups in their letter to Subbaswamy. “Rather than aiming to promote an understanding of a highly contentious and polarizing issue by including speakers with a variety of perspectives, this event includes speakers with only one extremely partisan perspective and clearly aims to promote a political cause and encourage political action. Providing the imprimatur of three academic departments to such a politically motivated and directed event violates the core academic mission of the university, suppresses student expression and impedes the free exchange of ideas so essential for any university.”
The May 4th event, “Not Backing Down: Israel, Free Speech, & the Battle for Palestinian Rights,” is being organized by the NGO Media Education Foundation (MEF), whose director, Sut Jhally, is also a UMass professor and chair of the Department of Communication. It will include a panel and a discussion of “recent attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar and other progressives who have spoken out against Israel’s 50-year military occupation of Palestinian land and criticized pro-Israel pressure groups for conflating legitimate criticism of Israeli government policies with ‘anti-Semitism’.”
Featured speakers include Roger Waters, Linda Sarsour, and Marc Lamont Hill, outspoken anti-Israel activists who have engaged in anti-Semitic expressions including charges that Jewish Americans are more loyal to Israel than America, calls for the elimination of the Jewish state, comparisons of Israelis to Nazis, and other false and defamatory accusations about Israel and Israel’s supporters that draw on classic anti-Semitic tropes, as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. Lamont Hill was dismissed by CNN after recent anti-Semitic statements before the U.N., and many prominent national women’s organizations and local chapters of the Women’s March denounced and distanced themselves from the national organization, Women’s March Inc., after learning of Sarsour’s multiple anti-Semitic remarks.
The event is being sponsored by three UMass departments – the Department of Communication, the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and the Resistance Studies Initiative UMass.
“Although we recognize that the event itself is protected by the First Amendment, we believe that its department sponsorship constitutes an unacceptable violation of the university’s academic mission, will encourage acts of politically motivated aggression and violence on your campus, and is a fundamental breach of the public trust,” wrote the groups. “We call on you to rescind all university sponsorship of this event and to assure us that in the future, UMass faculty will not be permitted to use the university’s name or resources to promote their personal political agendas at the expense of academic integrity and the safety and well-being of UMass students.”
One of the featured speakers at the anti-Israel “political rally” is Pink Floyd frontman, Roger Waters, who has dedicated himself to the promotion of the BDS movement against Israel and has overtly anti-Semitic symbols displayed at his concerts. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
The groups also point out in their letter the professional abuse of Professor Jhally, writing, “As a private citizen and director of an NGO, Jhally has the right to express these views publicly, just as his NGO has the right to rent space from UMass for the purpose of expressing such views. However, we believe that Jhally is engaging in an unacceptable conflict of interest when he exploits his position as a UMass professor and department chair and the university’s name to promote his own personal animosity towards Israel and its supporters.” The groups raise concerns that his actions are in violation of the UMass Amherst Principles of Employee Conduct.
The letter was coordinated by AMCHA Initiative. AMCHA monitors more than 400 college campuses across the U.S. for anti-Semitic activity. It is the only organization that documents incidents in real time on its website for the public. AMCHA recorded 468 known anti-Semitic incidents in 2015, 643 in 2016, 657 in 2017, 694 in 2018, and 198 so far in 2019. Its daily Anti-Semitism Tracker, organized by state and university, can be viewed here.
AMCHA’s research has shown that schools with faculty who support an academic boycott of Israel are five times more likely to have acts of anti-Jewish aggression, including assault, harassment and vandalism.
AMCHA Initiative is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to combating anti-Semitism at colleges and universities in the United States.
Eight colleges in the City University of New York have again been recognized on Forbes’ list of “America’s Best Value Colleges” and one of those schools, Baruch College, was named among the nation’s top 10 in the magazine’s 2019 ranking of the 300 top public and private institutions. Photo Credit: cuny.edu
Eight colleges in the City University of New York have again been recognized on Forbes’ list of “America’s Best Value Colleges” and one of those schools, Baruch College, was named among the nation’s top 10 in the magazine’s 2019 ranking of the 300 top public and private institutions.
Forbes explains that its methodology “highlights schools with the highest quality and best financial outcomes” and notes that those holding degrees from the 300 schools named on the 2019 list will earn an average annual salary of $80,400 by mid-career.
“Consistent with other national rankings, the Forbes list highlights the fact that CUNY’s singular quality and affordability set it apart as perhaps the most potent engine of economic advancement in the United States,” said Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez.
“At CUNY, we take enormous pride in the University’s ability to move students up the ladder from the lowest 20 percent of family income solidly into the middle class. The affordability and quality at our 25 campuses mark a high standard for public higher education in the United States.”
In its 2019 ranking, Forbes placed Baruch College at No. 9; Queens College at No. 34; Brooklyn College at No. 51; Hunter College at No. 74; City College at No. 84; College of Staten Island, No. 102; John Jay at No. 143; and Lehman College at No. 200. Each of those colleges appeared on the list in 2018, but every one of them landed a higher spot this year.
The list, Forbes’ fourth annual ranking, compared data from 645 American colleges and universities, and scored them in six areas: quality; net price; net debt; alumni earnings; timely graduation; and access for low-income students. The focus highlights schools with the highest quality and best financial outcomes.
The City University of New York is the nation’s leading urban public university. Founded in 1847, CUNY counts 13 Nobel Prize and 24 MacArthur (“Genius”) grant winners among its alumni. CUNY students, alumni and faculty have garnered scores of other prestigious honors over the years in recognition of historic contributions to the advancement of the sciences, business, the arts and myriad other fields.
The University comprises 25 institutions: 11 senior colleges, seven community colleges, William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, CUNY Graduate Center, Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, CUNY School of Law, CUNY School of Professional Studies and CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. The University serves more than 275,000 degree-seeking students. CUNY offers online baccalaureate and master’s degrees through the School of Professional Studies. (cuny.edu)
Students from Rutgers University touring Israel with Mosaic United campus partner Olami.
There is a dissonance between the Jewish story and narrative. We are a people who have demonstrated an inverse relationship between numbers and impact for thousands of years and represent an unparalleled catalyst for curiosity and growth. As we celebrate the 71st year since our rebirth, the State of Israel, has achieved mind-boggling feats, against seemingly insurmountable odds and this is just part of the incredible story we have to tell.
Still, with ongoing anti-Semitism at heights unseen in ages, victimization and crisis are deeply ingrained within our national narrative. Too many seem to focus on reactively extinguishing fires rather than proactively sowing seeds and planting trees.
Having grown up in Sydney, Australia, where so many in the community are descendants of “survivors,” the Holocaust has always been a core component of the community’s Jewish identity. The Gen17 Australian Jewish Community Survey found that 95% of participants saw remembering the Holocaust as important to their personal Jewish identity, marking it as the highest factor. Similarly, the 2013 Pew Report revealed that a staggering 73% of U.S. Jews see remembering the Holocaust as essential to their sense of Jewishness, and there are many other studies that reflect the same global trend.
Threats to one’s Jewish identity often provoke an instinctive reaction of protectiveness, but just as the current generation feels less relevance to the destruction of the Temples or the Spanish Inquisition, this approach is becoming less effective as the distance from events such as the Holocaust widens as time marches on.
The establishment of the State of Israel has been coupled with significant general improvements for global Jewry, and many Jews have not been directly exposed to anti-Semitism and the powerfully emotional tribalism it can induce. Instead, as Jewish millennials are welcomed with open arms into Western societies, they have become increasingly disengaged from a heritage with which they struggle to relate.
Desperately attempting to re-establish these stirrings of Jewish pride, I have seen many Jewish educators double down on Jewish victimhood, limiting their educational impact by focusing on instilling a responsibility to lead Jewish lives purely because the victims of prior generations could not. To me this underscores a lack of confidence in our ability to inspire positivity and pride.
When teaching Jewish history, the Holocaust must, of course, be given due attention, but it should not become an emotional crutch alone. The most effective Jewish teachers also focus on the incredible array of Jewish cultures and traditions that emerged over the last 2,000 years, helping young Jews realize that traditions have continued relevance and can be built upon in modern Jewish practice.
While this narrative continues to inspire a sense of Jewishness, it has generally not been strong enough to translate emotion into action in a consistent and pervasive way. As such, this negative narrative is becoming increasingly ineffective and yet crisis remains the dominant narrative for Israel as well.
The Israeli timeline, as taught and discussed, is often dotted with wars. The years 1948, 1967, and 1973 are, in the Jewish psyche, some of the most powerful dates in modern Jewish history and often synonymous with Israel, despite its many other achievements.
As we stand between Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), Yom HaZikaron (Israeli Memorial Day) and Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day), three days that embody the complex duality of tragedy and triumph, we must consider how to shift this balance towards the positive. We must stand tall and say that we are proud to be Jews, not because of terrorism, violence in places like Pittsburgh of Poway, or Israel’s enemies, but in spite of them.
One of my favorite scientific studies shows why this positive approach, in which Judaism’s life-affirming, beneficial value becomes the standard, is more crucial now than ever before.
In the late 1960s, Stanford psychology professor Walter Mischel conducted a series of experiments on delayed gratification known as The Marshmallow Test. Mischel was trying to understand how age and cognitive development affect one’s ability to delay gratification in order to receive a greater reward. Particularly fascinating for psychologists today are the follow-up studies, decades later, which found that childhood ability to delay gratification correlated with higher SAT scores, professional success and better physical health.
Writing for Forbes, Justin Daab, President of Magnani Continuum Marketing, an experience design and strategy firm in Chicago, challenges the notion that delayed gratification results in increased success in life, stating that “Millennials are rationally maximizing their long-term value by sampling a bit of marshmallow today.” As Millennials grow up, they are witnessing the collapse of the long-term security once offered by traditional institutions, older generations losing their entire accumulated wealth, debts rising and job prospects and job security declining. As a result (whether consciously or not), they assign greater social value to experiences – memories that are guaranteed to last.
Hence, when sharing Judaism with young Jewish women and men, positive, transformative experiences are vital and, therefore, serve as a guiding principle of Mosaic United. As Daab explains, “for Millennials, past performance is no guarantee of future performance.”
Judaism, when lived fully, includes enriching, positive substance that can make a far more enduring impact on the individual than the declining sense of obligation to marry Jewish and the uninspired schlep to a synagogue on the High Holidays. On the other hand, exposure to the Shabbat experience, for example, can lead to an appreciation that supposedly disruptive restrictions can grant the freedom and headspace to value the truly important things in life.
Jewish teachings about charity and hospitality allow one to appreciate how an ancient moral compass can enhance quality of life for the most vulnerable members of modern society. And a deeper understanding of the vibrant, nuanced, multi-faceted reality of Israel can allow one to acknowledge its issues while seeing past its falsified reputation and appreciate the truth of its inclusivity and flourishing democracy.
A healthy Jewish communal body cannot thrive on a diet of tragedy alone. It cannot devolve into a skeleton devoid of bone marrow based on external threats, and instead must celebrate the inner beauty of Jewish life. To move from oy to joy, we need a paradigm shift in our pedagogy. The impetus for Jewish living must come from inside the Jewish world, being proactive rather than reactive. We must begin by truly believing that the Jewish story is worth telling and then reconsider how we tell that story.
After all, our children no longer want to hear how not to leave. They need to experience why they must stay.
Rabbi Benji Levy is the CEO of Mosaic United, a partnership between the State of Israel and the global Jewish community dedicated to mapping the broad spectrum of Jewish experiential opportunities and creating seamlessly accessible routes to meaningful Jewish connections for millennials ages 12-35. A recent Oleh from Australia, he previously served as the Dean of one of the largest Jewish schools in the world, Moriah College.
