Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 29, 2020

Written by Neha Banka, Edited by Explained Desk | Kolkata | Updated: July 29, 2020 6:00:23 pm Yair Netanyahu pushes content on social media that appeals to his fathers right-wing political base, a group of ardent supporters who are called Bibists, a play on the prime ministers nickname Bibi. (Photo: Twitter/ @YairNetanyahu)

Yair Netanyahu, 29, the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has no formal role in Israels government but he is never far from controversy and ensuing headlines. In his latest gaffe, the younger Netanyahu shared a Twitter image of Goddess Durga superimposed with the face of Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit and the tiger superimposed with that of prosecutor Liat Ben Ari, who are both investigating an ongoing corruption case involving his father. Below the photo was a caption in Hebrew that read: Know your place you despicable people. The deitys arms were morphed to show the middle finger.

Following criticism for his tweets, particularly from Indian social media users, Netanyahu deleted the post, writing: Ive tweeted a meme from a satirical page, critizing political figures in Israel. I didnt realize the meme also portrayed an image conected to the majestic Hindu faith. As soon as I realised it from comments of our Indian friends, I have removed the tweet. I apologize to all our Hindu brothers and sisters for this mistake. (sic)

What role does Yair Netanyahu play in furthering the prime ministers agendas?

Yair is considered to be a very influential social media figure (in Israel) and has a large number of followers on different platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. He is considered to be an informal spokesperson of his father on social networks and many times we see that some controversial opinions and messages his father cannot say, he can express freely, says Edan Ring, a lecturer in communications and social change at Ben-Gurion University, in an interview withindianexpress.com. He has boasted that he single-handedly changed public opinion in Israel through social media.

Netanyahu pushes content on social media that appeals to his fathers right-wing political base, a group of ardent supporters who are called Bibists, a play on the prime ministers nickname Bibi. We can see how hundreds of right-wing trolls on social media follow him and share or retweet his messagesThey are willing to share and publish every single lie or smear that can help his father and hurt his enemies, says Ring.

Netanyahus modus operandi on social media is similar to that followed by other leading populist leaders around the world, Ring says, from Trump to Hungarys prime minister Viktor Orbn and Brazils Bolsonaro. He usually uses social media to attack liberal elites and focuses mainly on mainstream media, calling them leftist and fake news, the legal system and the Supreme Court, saying they are deep state trying to overthrow his father, and of course the opposition and the Arab minority.

To an outside observer, Netanyahus iconoclasm doesnt appear to leave any institution or individual untouched if he deems them to be critical of his father. To his fathers supporters and by extension his, some of Netanyahus most serious controversies are at times dismissed as the result of him being brought up in the public gaze, ever since his father first became Israels youngest prime minister in 1996, when Yair was five years old.

Since 2017, following the launch of investigations concerning corruption charges involving his father, Netanyahu had stepped in more prominently into the public sphere, using his social media platforms to tell these investigating authorities and his fathers opponents exactly what he has to say about them. On many occasions, very much like investigations into his parents alleged wrongdoing dominating news cycles in Israel, Yair Netanyahu too finds himself under similar scrutiny.

What are the controversies in which Yair Netanyahu has been involved?

Most lately, Netanyahu has been furiously tweeting against protests in Israel that have been ongoing for weeks, where Israelis have been protesting against the governments mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on the countrys economy.

Also Read | Explained: Why Israel has been witnessing weeks of large-scale protests against PM Netanyahu

He has been very busy with false accusations and fake posts about the massive protest against his fathers government.He even posted a fake photo, not from Israel, trying to blame the protesters for defecating in the streets next to his familys home, says Ring.

Last week, Yair stirred fresh criticism and controversy for responding to a tweet by MK Nitzan, the head of Left wing-party Meretz, featuring a photo of protests in Tel Aviv: I hope the elderly people who die following this protest will be from your (leftist) bloc.

Over the past few years, the younger Netanyahu has angered many, both in Israel and overseas, says Ring. Some (posts) were intentional and some mistakes. Many of his posts and tweets are (deleted) not long after he posts them, but still the damage is done. It is very clear that he doesnt think too much before he pushes the publish button.

In 2017, he was accused of posting anti-Semitic imagery when he published a Facebook post depicting a food chain featuring US billionaire George Soros dangling the world from a stick in front of a reptile and caricature former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, to imply that both individuals were manipulating the world. Both Soros and Barak have been critical of Benjamin Netanyahu. At that time, the Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish non-governmental organisation based in the US, had denounced the cartoon and called it anti-Semitic. Themes that portray Jewish businessmen controlling the world are considered to be anti-Semetic.

Yair Netanyahus support for Trump and right-wing public figures in the US is also well documented. Last year, in an interview with a right-wing U.S. broadcaster BlazeTV, he defended Trump, claiming the US president was a real rock star in Israel. In the same interview he championed Trump as the best friend that Israel aond the Jewish people ever had in the White House and added that Trump will be remembered in Jewish history forever for moving the embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing Jerusalem and recognizing the Golan Heights.

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In 2018, Yair Netanyahu came under fire after recordings surfaced where he and his friend, the son of Israeli tycoon Kobi Maimon, were heard discussing everything from a $20 billion deal that the prime minister had arranged for Maimon, to searching for prostitutes late into the night.

Why Yair Netanyahus rants matter

Observers say Netanyahu has been increasingly trying to promote himself as a leading populist right-wing figure in Israel and even overseas. He has become more visible in the public sphere by delivering public speeches and by accompanying his father on official trips, like his visit last year to the US.

However, it would be an oversimplification of Yair Netanyahus political ideology if he were to be considered a right-wing figure only attacking the left given that that no one seems to escape his wrath. He often attacks and smears right-wing figures if he thinks they are a threat or if they criticize his father. The only thing he is loyal to is his fathers power, says Ring.

He is more extreme than his father not only in rhetoric but also in ideology and many people think that he is planning to follow in the footsteps of his father and become a politician soon. That is something that many people fear because it means more polarisation for society in Israel.

After the latest controversy over the morphed image of Goddess Durga, Yair Netanyhau published a series of tweets to highlight his love for India and perhaps to emphasise diplomatic ties between India and Israel.

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Durga meme row and other reasons why Israeli PMs son Yair Netanyahu is always in news - The Indian Express

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Posted By admin on July 29, 2020

Donald Trump has made warnings about the threat of antifa and far-left fascism a central part of his re-election campaign. But in reality leftwing attacks have left far fewer people dead than violence by rightwing extremists, new research indicates, and antifa activists have not been linked to a single murder in decades.

A new database of nearly 900 politically motivated attacks and plots in the United States since 1994 includes just one attack staged by an anti-fascist that led to fatalities. In that case, the single person killed was the perpetrator.

Over the same time period, American white supremacists and other rightwing extremists have carried out attacks that left at least 329 victims dead, according to the database.

More broadly, the database lists 21 victims killed in leftwing attacks since 2010 , and 117 victims of rightwing attacks in that same period nearly six times as much. Attacks inspired by the Islamic State and similar jihadist groups, in contrast, killed 95 people since 2010, slightly fewer than rightwing extremists, according to the data set. More than half of these victims died in a a single attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016.

The database was assembled by researchers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a centrist thinktank, and reviewed by the Guardian.

Its launch comes as Trump administration officials have echoed the presidents warnings of a violent leftwing revolution. Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate, violent and extremist agenda, the attorney general, William Barr, said amid nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd. A new justice department taskforce on violent anti-government extremists listed antifa as a major threat, while making no mention of white supremacy.

Defining which violent incidents constitute politically motivated acts of terrorism, and trying to sort political violence into leftwing and rightwing categories, is inherently messy and debatable work. This is particularly true in the US, where highly publicized mass shootings are common, and some have no clear political motivation at all.

Stated political motives for violent attacks often overlap with other potential factors, including life crises, anger issues, a history of violent behavior and, in some cases, serious mental health conditions.

While researchers sometimes disagree on how to categorize the ideology of specific attacks, multiple databases that track extremist violence, including data maintained by the Anti-Defamation League, and from journalists at the Center for Investigative Reporting, have found the same trend: Its violent rightwing attacks, not far-left violence, that presents the greater deadly threat to Americans today.

Leftwing violence has not been a major terrorism threat, said Seth Jones, a counter-terrorism expert who led the creation of CSISs dataset. .

Most of the deadly extremist attacks the CSIS researchers categorized as leftwing were killings of police officers by black men, many of them US military veterans, who described acting out of anger or retribution for police killings of black Americans.

These shooting attacks include the murder of two police officers in New York City in 2014, after Michael Brown and Eric Garners killings; and the murders of five officers in Dallas, Texas, and three officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2016.

Some of the gunmen who killed police had connections to black nationalist groups, which extremism researchers at CSIS and elsewhere said they typically categorize as leftwing, largely because in the 1960s, influential black nationalist groups like the Black Panther party were anti-capitalist and considered part of the New Left.

Making that categorization is less straightforward today, some researchers acknowledge, since some prominent black nationalist organizations express homophobic, misogynistic and antisemitic views, values that set them in opposition to the current American left.

Mark Pitcavage, a senior fellow at the ADLs Center on Extremism, noted that Gavin Eugene Long, who staged an attack on police in Baton Rouge, had ties to black nationalism and was also part of an offshoot of the sovereign citizens movement, an anti-government ideology that is typically categorized as rightwing.

In several of the high-profile leftwing attacks included in the CSIS list the only fatality was the perpetrator. A mass shooting attack on a group of congressional Republicans during a baseball practice outside of Washington DC, in 2017 left the Republican congressman Steve Scalise seriously injured, and three other people shot.

The gunman, James Hodgkinson, 66, was the only one killed in the attack. Hodgkinson had deliberately targeted Republicans and had expressed disgust with Trump.

Many of the other leftwing attacks or plots in the CSIS database, including by anarchists, environmental groups and others, resulted in no deaths at all. Often, leftwing plots, particularly by animal rights activists, have targeted businesses or buildings, and their primary weapons have been incendiaries designed to create fires or destroy infrastructure not kill people, said Jones, the researcher who led the creation of the data set.

The one deadly anti-fascist attack listed in the database occurred in July 2019, when Willem von Spronsen, a 69-year-old white man, was shot dead by police outside an Ice detention center in Tacoma, Washington. Authorities said von Spronsen had been throwing molotov cocktails, setting flares, that he set a car on fire and that he had a rifle. Local activists told media outlets they believed he had been trying to destroy buses parked outside the facility that were used to transport people who were being deported.

Von Spronsen, who had previously been arrested at a protest outside the detention center, was involved in a contentious divorce, and both a friend and his ex-wife had described him as suicidal. In a letter he wrote to friends before his death, Von Spronsen called detention centers concentration camps and said he wanted to take action against evil, BuzzFeed News reported. I am antifa, he reportedly wrote.

No one was harmed in the attack except Von Spronsen, according to media reports.

Researchers who monitor extremist groups at the Anti-Defamation League and the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism said they, too, were not aware of a single murder linked to an American anti-fascist in the last 20 to 25 years.

Heidi Beirich, a co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said some leftwing groups were known for more radical and violent tactics in the 1960s, adding: Its just not the case today.

Mark Pitcavage said he knew of only one killing, 27 years ago, that might potentially be classified as connected to anti-fascist activism: the shooting of a racist skinhead, Eric Banks, by an anti-racist skinhead, John Bair, in Portland, Oregon, in 1993.

Given the discrepancies between the deadly toll of leftwing and rightwing violence, American law enforcement agencies have long faced criticism for failing to take the threat of white supremacist violence seriously, while at the same time overstating the risks posed by leftwing protesters. After a violent rally in California in 2016, law enforcement officers worked with neo-Nazis to build criminal cases against anti-fascist protesters, while not recommending charges against neo-Nazis for stabbing the anti-fascists.

Antifa activists have been the targets of domestic terror attacks by white supremacists, including in a terror plot early this year, in which law enforcement officials alleged that members of the neo-Nazi group the Base had planned to murder a married couple in Georgia they believed were anti-fascist organizers.

Antifa is not going around murdering people like rightwing extremists are. Its a false equivalence, said Beirich.

Ive at times been critical of antifa for getting into fights with Nazis at rallies and that kind of violence, but I cant think of one case in which an antifa person was accused of murder, she added.

The new CSIS database only includes attacks through early May 2020, and does not yet list incidents connected with the massive national protests against police violence after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, including the killings of two California law enforcement officers by a man authorities say was linked to the rightwing boogaloo movement.

Today, Jones said, the most significant domestic terrorism threat comes from white supremacists, anti-government militias and a handful of individuals associated with the boogaloo movement that are attempting to create a civil war in the United States.

Daily interpersonal violence and state violence pose a much greater threat to Americans than any kind of extremist terror attack. More than 100,000 people have been killed in gun homicides in the United States in the past decade, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. US police officers shoot nearly 1,000 Americans to death each year. Black Americans are more than twice as likely to be shot by the police as white Americans, according to analysis by the Washington Post and the Guardian.

But the presidents rhetoric about antifa violence has dangerous consequences, not just for anti-fascists, but for any Americans who decide to protest, some activists said.

Yvette Felarca, a California-based organizer and anti-fascist activist, said she saw Trumps claims about antifa violence, particularly during the George Floyd protests, as a message to his hardcore supporters that it was appropriate to attack people who came out to protest.

Its his way of saying to his supporters: Yeah, go after them. Beat them or kill them to the point where they go back home and stay home afraid, Felarca said.

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Anti-fascists linked to zero murders in the US in 25 years - The Guardian

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Posted By admin on July 27, 2020

Jayne Cohen started her Zoom lecture on Latin American Jewish cuisine by offering the viewing audience virtual snacks: How about matzo balls with cilantro and jalapeo? Or empanadas with pastrami asado? Or matzo with a shmeer of cream cheese and guava jam?

Cohen suggested these foods may sound like the inventions of a chef on the Lower East Side, or maybe mashups from a trendy L.A. food truck. But theyre neither. She said they originated in Latin American Jewish kitchens and are still being eaten today.

Titled From the Inquisition to Mishiguene Restaurant: The Latin American Jewish Food Story, Cohens July 22 one-hour live presentation was produced by the Center for Jewish History, a New York organization that brings together five Jewish institutions.

Cohens lecture briefly touched on the early centuries, when the few Jews and secret Jews living in Latin America, which was colonized by Portugal and Spain, hid their food practices from the Inquisition, which had migrated along with colonizers, determined to root out any vestige of non-Christian heresy in the New World.

By the mid-19th century, most of Latin America had gained independence, Jews were free to practice their religion and many (mostly Ashkenazi but also Sephardim) had immigrated to the New World and settled in countries from Mexico to Argentina and everywhere in between.

Much of Cohens lecture focused on a Buenos Aires restaurant called Mishiguene (pronounced mee-SHEE-ge-neh.) Thats right, like meshuggeneh, Yiddish for crazy. Its become extremely popular, and not just among Jews. It has won awards as one of the best restaurants, of any type, in Latin America.

Cohen said there are about 400,000 to 500,000 Jews now living in Latin America. The countries with the largest Jewish population are Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, in that order. Many Latin American Jews have migrated out of Latin America and Cohen said there are about 60,000 to 150,000 Latin American Jews now living in the United States. (Full disclosure: My wife and I fall into that category.)

Cohen said that the Sephardic Jews who immigrated to Latin America tended to adapt quickly because most knew Judeo-Spanish, similar to Spanish and Portuguese. Moreover, those who had lived in North Africa and the Middle East were used to spicy foods, making it easier for them to adopt the cuisines of Mexico and Brazil. As a result, jalapeos as well as native herbs and spices found their way into traditional Sephardic foods like chreime, a long-simmered spicy fish stew with tomato sauce, a Shabbat specialty.

Much of Cohens lecture focused on a Buenos Aires restaurant called Mishiguene (pronounced mee-SHEE-ge-neh.) Thats right, like meshuggeneh, Yiddish for crazy. Its become extremely popular, and not just among Jews. It has won awards as one of the best restaurants, of any type, in Latin America.

Daniel Altszyler, who lives in Buenos Aires, told me that Mishiguene is like cutting-edge restaurants in Israel. Little plates as starters, like baba ghanoush and hummus, then family-style plates for sharing: latkes, tzatziki, borekas. Everything we ate there was delicious and prepared with a great deal of sophistication. Id call it futuristic Jewish food.

Mishiguenes menu features dishes and products from the Balkans, North Africa, Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, Arab countries, the former Soviet state of Georgia, Israel, the U.S. and Argentina. The menu also includes house-made corned beef on pletzel (bialy), as well as bagels and lox. Mishiguenes menu, which seems a mishmash, is actually a well-thought-out amalgam of foods from places where Jews have lived and/or are living now.

In the last minute of Cohens lecture, she posed a number of interesting questions but provided no answers. These questions are fascinating and important, and they deserve to be answered, which Ive done, based on my experience.

Jayne Cohen: What might the food choices of Latin American Jews say about their identity as both Latin Americans and as Jews?

Roberto Loiederman: Both of my parents were born in Argentina, and my mother made typical Argentine dishes like empanadas and flan. But she also made Jewish foods shed learned from her mother, like chicken soup. Shed skim shmaltz from the soup and mix it into matzo ball dough, as well as into the flaky crust for knishes, which were filled with mashed potato and sauted onions.

If you are what you eat, then what were my parents Argentine or Jewish? Clearly, both. My mother made traditional foods from the old country, while adopting the dishes, produce and culinary techniques of Argentina, the country where they lived.

JC: Does the decision to adopt ingredients and recipes from a new homeland indicate how safe and comfortable people feel there? Or how long they intend to stay? Or is it a matter of how distinctive and overwhelming the indigenous food culture is?

RL: Definitely the latter. Over the last 50 years, Argentinas Jewish population has been reduced by half, due to emigration during economic downturns and the Dirty War (1976-1983). Jews have periodically not felt safe in Argentina, yet we have always relished local foods and continue to prepare and eat those same foods. For my wife and me, one of the sustaining desserts during the pandemic has been Argentine-style flan and dulce de leche.

JC: In some countries, do the food choices reflect generational changes, with more fusion cuisine developing in second and third generations?

RL: Certainly. Jews raised in Mexico, for example, became accustomed to piquant foods early on. Luis Shein, who was born and grew up in Mexico City, has memories from the 1950s, when his Polish grandparents made holiday wine and kishke just as they had done in Europe. But he also said that with the years, those customs were replaced by kosher foods that were Mexicanized with spicy condiments.

JC: Jewish cuisine has often been considered a marginalized ethnic cuisine, foods that, with few exceptions, would only appeal, mostly, to Jews. Why might this be changing now, even in such traditional communities like Buenos Aires?

RL: If youve been to Israel in the last 20 years, you know how drastically Israeli food has changed and how its popularity has spread, due in part to the international status of Israeli superstar chefs like Yotam Ottolenghi. Just as Israeli food has changed adopting dishes from all over so too what is thought of as Jewish food has changed, which is why one can go to a Spanish-speaking country, the southernmost in this continent, and eat Arab-style baba ghanoush and Turkish borekas in a restaurant whose name comes from Yiddish.

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Adapt and Adopt: The Evolution of Latin American Jewish Cuisine - Jewish Journal

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Posted By admin on July 27, 2020

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PARADISE AND DIASPORABefore Hugo Chvezs arrival to the Presidency of the Republic in 1998, 23,000 Jews lived in Venezuela. Today, in July 2020, approximately 5,000 still live here, and the number continues to drop.

They left Sepharad due to the expulsion decree of the Catholic Monarchs in 1492 CE, the same year Columbus arrived to this hemisphere. Many crossed in horse carts or walking to Portugal, and even there the Spanish Crown went to chase them. They had to flee to Holland, the fierce naval and commercial competitor of the Iberians. They crossed the Atlantic, and settled on the Dutch islands, such as Curaao, a few miles off the coast of Coro, Europes first continental enclave in America.

The first Jewish cemetery in America is located in Coro (although one in northern Brazil that competes in antiquity was recently discovered), and Sephardic family names such as Curiel, Lpez-Fonseca, Henrquez, Capriles and Levy-Maduro are inscribed on the tombstones.

The Jews who came to Venezuela before World War II, as well as the subsequent survivors of the concentration camps, remember that when they stepped on these warm lands and were received by their smiling inhabitants with fruits, gifts, jobs and lodging, they felt that they had arrived to Paradise, and that this, and not Europe, was going to be their home forever. Until Chvez arrived

Conspiracy theorists constantly point out that, after cursing the Jewish people in public, Hugo Chvez Fras became ill with cancer and died.

I remember a press conference in January 2012, live on television, attended by Chvezs then chancellor, Nicols Maduro, when he received Mahmud Ahmadineyad with honors in Caracas, and pointed out I know that the family name Maduro is Sephardic But I deny those Jewish origins

On a geopolitical level, the Chvez government and later the Maduro one, being aligned first with Cuba, then with Russia and China, and finally with Iran, has always deployed a fierce speech against the United States and the state of Israel.

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Certainly, there was a desecration to the Tifret Israel synagogue, the oldest in Caracas, on the night of Shabbat on January 31st, 2009, during the conflict in the Gaza Strip of 2008-2009, after Venezuela cut diplomatic relations with Israel and Israel expelled Venezuelan officials from Tel Aviv.

For this robbery, 3 former police officers, a former synagogue guard, and three other citizens were arrested. A woman, a former police officer, Yadira Soledad Torres Muoz, was sentenced to 8 years in prison after confessing herself guilty during the trial.

The Chvez government took care of the manners. Supporting the Palestinians and confronting the USA and Israel at the diplomatic level is not the same as a Caracas Kristallnacht or a state policy against Venezuelan Jewish citizens.

But that 18,000 Venezuelan Jews are gone (more than 70% of its population here), is the indicator that perhaps we live in the most silent Jewish diaspora so far in the 21st century.

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WHY ARE THEY ESCAPINGThey leave the country not because they are persecuted as in Nazi Germany or in the Arab countries. They do it as a precaution.

Every Jew from Caracas always has at hand:1.- The valid passport2.- Dollars in cash3.- A suitcase with his basic belongings4.- They try to keep in shape, they exercise, they run, they trekking up El vila mountain, which are very useful disciplines when running away from a place.

It seems that they have learned something.But of course economic migration is the core factor.It is a highly organized community with a high educational level. So its members have a very high percentage of university graduates.

As in any other time and other places, Venezuelan Jews are medical doctors, economists, businessmen. Seeing dramatically diminish their opportunities for professional development in Venezuela, their children have emigrated and consolidated their families in the USA, Spain, and many others made aliyah.

Are they remaining in Venezuela mostly a population of elderly Jews, while all of their youth are gone?

It is very possible, but I do not have statistical data about it.

WHAT ABOUT POLITICS?Venezuelan Jews are discreet. I do not remember to have seeing them speaking out in public, as an organized community, on matters of political interest, neither supporting certain candidates or parties. Thats the way in the USA and Europe. In Venezuela, they attend their yeshivot and synagogues, take care of their businesses, and gather to commemorate events like Kristallnacht or Yom Shoa. Only to these public events do they invite their non Jewish friends, or the cultural activities of the AIV (Israelite Association of Venezuela), or to those of the Center for Sephardic Studies and the Hebraica Club, such as gallery exhibitions, concerts, conferences.Paradise and the diaspora have been silent.

Paradoxically, in the presidential elections of 2013, two candidates of Jewish origin competed in Venezuela: Henrique Capriles Radonsky (double Sephardic and Azkenazy last name) and Nicols Maduro, without forgetting what he said about it when receiving Ahmadinejad in Caracas the previous year.

Something different is the way in which Venezuelan political actors have interacted or have attempted to interact with the Jewish community.

As the government attacks the State of Israel and defends the so-called Palestinian cause, obviously government officials take great care and avoid to appear in photos together with members of the Jewish community (and vice versa).

But it does not seem that an anti-Semitic sentiment has been sown in the population. Venezuela is a mostly Catholic country, but very relaxed in its inter-religious relations.Catholics, evangelicals, Jews, Muslims and Santeros do not attack or stab each other with knives as in France. Here the fight is to survive day by day.

In Venezuelan Jewish citizens continue to attend patients at their medical clinics, continue with their shops and stores, although thousands of their children have left the country.Before Juan Guaids arrival on the national and international political scene, the Venezuelan Jewish community was unattractive to opposition political courtiers.

But once Donald Trump recognized Guaid as interim President on January 23, 2019, and after more than 50 countries seconded him, things changed.

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Seeking American and European recognition as an importantVenezuelan opposition factor can become real access to international financial resources. And maybe an army

It is not surprising that in Miami (in Little Venezuela) numerous opinion groups and lobbies have emerged and try to discredit and weaken Guaid by attacking and catching that franchise, regardless of whether it involves what in Kabbalah is called shooting at the hull of the boat where oneself travel, where everyone travel.

Nowadays courting and flattering Israel seems like a way to ingratiate yourself with Americas most conservative Jewish and Republican lobbies, and even with their peers internationally.

Guaid designated rabbi Pinchas Brenner- the ex-chief rabbi of Caracas, who was just in charge of the Tifret Israel synagogue when it was vandalized in 2009 as his ambassador to Jerusalem.

A letter of support and redress for the Jewish people and the State of Israel, circulates on the social networks of Guaids party, Voluntad Popular, signed by its most notable leaders and congressmen.

But at least Guaid can argue that he is still the President of the National Assembly, and that his investiture at the Congress House of Representatives comes from the original power, from the citizens who voted for him.

The curriculum exhibited by Mara Corina Machado, another well-known Maduros opponent, is quite different.

In 2005, when she chaired the NGO Smate, she was one of the crucial opinion factors that pressed the most for the opposition not to attend the parliamentary elections due to the lack of guarantees and fair democratic political conditions The result was that with a parliament totally controlled by the red deputies of the PSUV, Chvez was able to change laws, appoint magistrates of the electoral council (CNE), magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), and make himself a political suit tailored to his needs and his leftist project.

Curiously, five years later, in 2010, after the previous political hecatomb accelerated by the clumsiness of the opposition itself, Machado declared that finally there were new and enough favourable political conditions to participate in the parliamentary elections. Of course, that time she was running as a candidate for congresswoman

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Losing last year and nowadays the political competition against Voluntad Popular and Guaid in the USA and on the international arena after Trump and more than 50 countries recognized him as intermim President, Machado rejected any electoral or negotiated solution for the Venezuelan crisis, and launched a call for an international intervention to liberate Venezuela (Operation for Peace and Stabilization in Venezuela, OPE) as a matter of vital interest to Western civilization. Of course, if that initiative occurs, she should be named President.

My old friend Miguel Ron, while we were drinking a beer in the torrid sunset at his terrace in Chacao, Caracas, said to me:-Mara Corina is so bold, that she is asking for a double coup detat: one against Maduro, and the other against Guaid. Cheers!

The surprising fact is that the Israeli Likud signed an international cooperation pact with Vente Venezuela, Machados party.

Image credits: http://www.ventevenezuela.org / Public domain document

The Jews in Venezuela, with the discretion that characterizes them, are very upset by this agreement, because Machado is not Jewish, nor does she represent the interests of Venezuelan Jews at all.

On the contrary, she exposes them to open or covered persecution at a momentum when radical, non-Jewish and suicide factors (usually acting from their shelters in Miami) accuse Maduro of having opened Venezuela as a sanctuary for Hezbollah terrorists, of converting the country in a kind of spy movie entitled The Venezuelan Connection, supposedly making a very dangerous alliance with enemies of the State of Israel and Jews worldwide, such as Iran and the Islamic State.

They call that inter-party agreement a Likuds huge mistake and an act of irresponsibility.What was Eli Vered Hazan, Likuds International Affairs Officer, thinking when he signed that document? The tribe does not know, but they are sure that he was not thinking of them, the 5,000 Jews who still live in this country.

SO?What is going to happen to the Jews in Venezuela? Where is this country going?

Every time someone asks me for an analysis of the situation in Venezuela, I remember the words of my friend, the political scientist Nora Fischbach (descendant of survivors of Auschwitz and Birkenau), who points out that many of the assumptions of political theory (it is not about laws as in physics), are verified and work in almost all the countries of the world, except in Venezuela.

With Nora Fischbach (left) and Arausi Armand (right) during the commemoration of the Kristallnacht 81st Anniversary, at the Bnei Brit Association in Caracas, November 2019. Photo credit: scar Reyes-Matutes personal archive.

As we always see each other at public events, we have not been able to develop such an interesting topic in depth. But I could tell you that one of the reasons because I abandoned the academy and the traditional political analysis is because I noticed that, precisely, its categories did not work in Venezuela, and by extension, neither in many countries and events in the rest of the world.

As I already advanced a bit in my previous article, most of these assumptions come from the inheritance of Greek logic and politics (Aristotle) or from the authors of Modernity, Machiavelli, Hobbes, until reaching the 20th century after the II World War.

I could not find, except in quantum theory, string theory and Kabbalah, a frame of reference that allows me to face this apparently chaotic semantic space of politics, economy, philosophy and the life itself in my country and our planet, in these times of pandemic.

I abandoned Athens and went to dwell spiritually in Jerusalem. And its the best thing that ever happened to me.

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The Venezuelan Connection and the most Silent Diaspora - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on July 27, 2020

Postmodernist ideas are the new craze within the Western world. In a time where income inequality and racism are growing at unprecedented historical rates, everyone is increasingly looking for someone or some group to castigate blame upon, or a(n) historical injustice to correct. But to paraphrase the brilliant Jewish Economist, Milton Friedman, we should seek to judge policies and theories on their respective accomplishments, not intentions. However, Friedmans entire premise would be deemed systematically oppressive under the theory of Postmodernism, which contends that we must place a greater influence on ones subjective, anecdotal experiences instead of empirical evidence that may suggest that ones experience is not an indication of any abstract and vague Postmodernist concepts, such as systemic racism or institutional biases. Unfortunately, such ideas have become increasingly mainstream within cultural institutions and academia within the West, particularly in America. As we will see, such ideas and theories are not only dangerous, incoherent, ahistorical, and divisive but also antithetical, in practice, to its very proponents supposed goals.

When Kimberle Crenshaw, a prominent Legal Scholar at Columbia, first introduced the now well-known social science theory of Intersectionality, it was obviously crafted with the noble purpose of granting minorities of an atypical experience or upbringing a platform to share their experiences. Crenshaw argues that, in the West, people tend to see individuals in the binary of race, whether Black, White, Asian, etc. Crenshaws entire theory contends that by simply focusing on one immutable feature of a person, we cannot possibly fathom their comprehensive experience within society. To understand the full picture of ones truth, Crenshaw concludes that we, as a collective society, must craft a hierarchy of historically disadvantaged and victimized groups, which includes ones sexual orientation, nationality, racial grouping, sex, ethnicity, religion, financial security, etc. Through the creation of the hierarchical grouping of identities, Crenshaw, and others seek to grant those of a certain experience more power and say within society, all in the hopes of addressing what Postmodernists within American academia perceive as social injustice and institutional biases designed to benefit groups, such as white, European males and a select few others in particular at the expense of all other historically disadvantaged groups within Crenshaws hierarchy.

However, because Intersectionality creates this hierarchy based upon the severity of ones present and historical injustices, Crenshaw and others within academia realized and acknowledged that they would have to accept their own distorted logic that meritocracy and individual differences exist within their own respective theories of Intersectionality and Postmodernism but not within society at large, which does illustrate a great deal of circular reasoning and intellectual dishonesty. To solve this supposed problem, Crenshaws theory of Intersectionality discards with the classically liberal concepts of individual experiences, natural law, and meritocracy in favor of collectivism and moral relativism, which are both incorporated within the larger framework of Postmodernism. As a result, people are no longer considered people, rather seen as members of various subgroups that are compounded into one collective.

At this point, one may find themselves confused, mentally exhausted, and simultaneously wondering, what does any of this have to do with the Jewish people? Sadly, a lot. Under the prescribed doctrines of Intersectionality and Postmodernism is the need to incorporate Neo-Marxist thought, which enables both the Postmodernist emphasis on moral relativism and Intersectionalitys emphasis on collectivism to become a reality through the inevitable utilization of Neo-Marxist theories, specifically concerning the makeup of societal power structures and its hyper materialistic views in describing the role of the state. Not only have these theories historically been debunked time and time again by academics and policymakers alike, but it has also led to the tragic loss of thousands or even millions of innocent lives in nearly every single instance, whether under the Maoist regime in China, the Third Reich in Germany, Che Guevarras Cuban revolution, Stalins USSR, Castros Cuba, or, most recently, Maduros Venezuela.

While these ideas are much more mainstream and socially acceptable on what we would refer to today as the so-called political left, which, as noted earlier, remains fundamentally distinct from Liberalism, there are certain strands of thought that remain consistent within both the postmodernist right and postmodernist left. One can easily notice that both the Postmodernist left and Postmodernist right have starkly different beliefs concerning the victimized groups within each respective perception of Intersectionality, but they always seem to converge in their acknowledgment and agreement that the victimizers, which, again, is not seen under the classically liberal notion of individualism and individual experiences within a collective group, but which groups have the most material wealth or control the so-called levers of power within society. In this instance, both the postmodernist left and postmodernist right reach an agreement, more generally, on who is ultimately to blame: Jews and Israel.

However, one must acknowledge that this agreement is reached on a more general level. For the Postmodernist left to deem or argue that Jews are the oppressors, this requires a more sophisticated approach than the Postmodernist right, as their worldview has become, and will remain, far more mainstream than Nazism. This entails the utilization of both Neo-Marxist power theory and Intersectionality. However, in doing so, this inevitably leads to disdain towards both Israels right to exist and Ashkenazic Jews. Under the dictates of intersectionality, Ashkenazic Jews are no longer perceived as a Semitic people indigenous to the Southern Levant of Israel, but simply a religion co-opted by White European Colonizers. Why? Because of their perceived whiteness. Therefore, it must be the case that the Ashkenazim are oppressive, foreign invaders committing apartheid against the truly indigenous minorities: Arabs. The notion that Ashkenazic Jews are white because some are supposed white-passing is not only asinine but ahistorical and demonstrates full-scale ignorance of how ethnically and culturally diverse the Middle East is. It is a given that our root culture and our diaspora culture will be different from Arab culture, and that is because were not Arabs. But in the castigation of the Ashkenazim as White European Colonizers and Israels founding as a byproduct of such, the Postmodernist left will claim, under the guise of Neo-Marxism, that we, Jews, are actually part of the Hyper-White, which is a special status only obtained through collective material success and the procuration of power within the perceived, larger white superstructure. In addition to said requirements, one may only achieve membership within the Hyper-White if a collective groups Whiteness is deemed sufficiently white by, well, you guessed it, the other members of the Hyper-White. Not only is this blatantly anti-Semitic, stupid, and racist but ultimately demonstrative of historical ignorance.

The historical realities of the Jewish Diaspora have been well documented by scientists and religious scholars alike. But under movements and nonprofits that emphasize Postmodernism, Intersectionality, or Neo-Marxism, none of this will even remotely matter. It does not matter whatsoever to these groups and individuals that all three subsets of Diasporic Jewry (Ashkenazim, Sephardim, and Mizrahi) are mere geographic terms denoting where a certain group of Jews settled at some time between their dispersion from Israel and the present. They are diaspora subgroupings and are ultimately the same people, indigenous to the same place. So when The Y Chromosome, which is inherited patrilineally, of nearly all Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewry contains mutations that are common among Middle Eastern peoples, but highly uncommon in the general European population, according to a study of haplotypes of the Y chromosome by Michael Hammer, and others. Many other articles support and expand upon this scientific finding, but the main goal here is to explain and explore the fallacies of Postmodernism, as well as its various philosophical counterparts. Such evidence runs counter to the Postmodernist Lefts theories concerning the Jewish community. The Postmodernist Left will utilize intersectionality and, once again, Neo-Marxist power theories to formulate their beliefs. They see and will continue to see, Ashkenazic Jews as foreigners, A.K.A. European colonizers. And thus, they are not truly of color, but Sephardic, Ethiopian, and Mizrahi Jews will be considered Jews of color, and therefore be accepted into the so-called resistance and revolt against the Hyper-White, assuming that said subsets of Jews vacate their ancestral homeland Of course, all of this is sheer and utter nonsense and also requires the conflation of race with ethnicity, which as noted earlier, is required to root out the Hyper-White within the supposed white superstructure of oppression that is allegedly foundational to Western Civilization. And, as a result, we end up with the Postmodernist Left routinely defending and/or ignoring the actions and doctrines of Hamas, the PLO, Hezbollah, anti-Semites, Sharia Law, the Nation of Islam, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, and an Iranian regime that just so happens to harbor and finance terrorism that is devoted to the destruction of the State of Israel.

The Postmodernist Right, while similar to the Postmodernist Left in its prognosis of Jewish domination and societal control, ultimately diverges from its counterparts in its adoption of a different hierarchical victim than that of Intersectionality. In this reconstructed hierarchy of oppression, Neo-Nazis, and White Nationalists craft and establish a nonsensical narrative that the Jewish race is overtly plotting to displace those of Aryan blood, thereby allowing the Semites to effectively dismantle what they perceive as Americas roots as a White, Christian nation. Those under the spell of this misguided ideological doctrine tend not to even practice Christianity. In fact, according to the Homeland Security Office of New Jersey, there is evidence to suggest that Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists frequently embrace radicalized forms of Islam, which the Postmodernist Left routinely ignores. That said, Theologians and Ethicists within the Christian community continue to denounce the obvious evils of White Nationalism and Neo-Nazism. As we have seen throughout history, some of the most profoundly effective and famous advocates of addressing social injustices, such as Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr, Sojourner Truth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Nelson Mandela, and Rosa Parks, were all devout practitioners of Christianity and believers in the Judeo-Christian concept of Natural Law, not Intersectionality. Let us all, regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion, follow their exemplary examples and seek to root out injustices and instances of bigotry that exist without demonizing one another. After all, we are all made in g-ds image.

In contrast to the Postmodernist Left, the Postmodernist Right is a lot less intellectualized but much more transparent about their beliefs and values, which is both good and bad in some respects. Following the horrific tragedies that occurred as a result of the Holocaust, the blatant bluntness of the Postmodernist Right is obviously going to draw far greater scrutiny within mainstream circles. However, as individuals and Jews, we have a duty and responsibility to hold the Postmodernist Left, the clearly more mainstream sect, accountable for their actions and distortions of reality just as much as the Postmodernist Right. If we refuse or choose not to do so, there will simply come a time when there is no objective reality that exists for Jews or other sane individuals to fight these narratives from within. As George Orwell once brilliantly stated in the masterful classic, 1984, Dont you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end, we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible because there will be no words in which to express it.

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Postmodernist ideals always lead to the demise of the Jewish People. Here's why. - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on July 27, 2020

On Monday, Jews will be walking away from Twitter for 48 hours. This isnt because of a Jewish holiday but in response to the rise and normalization of antisemitism on Twitter, and the social media giants indifference to violators of its own rules and regulations. Celebrities, Farrakhan supporters, and antisemitic conspiracy peddlers have tweeted with no shame or challenge, and The Great Jewish Twitter Walkout is the response. Its worthwhile to explore the path to the Walkout, starting with the unhindered propogation of antisemitic conspiracies surrounding major current events, followed by the celebrity obsession with Louis Farrakhan and their blue check immunity to Twitters rules and regulations.

Jews are no strangers to harrassment and disparagement on social media. Every possible form of antisemitism can be found on the Internet. When society moved online, so too did those ideologically obsessed with blaming all Jews for all the ills of all societies. The IHRA definition, a international standard for what is antisemitism, could be used as a scavenger hunt checklist when scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, and of course, Twitter. Unfortunately, it would be a very short game. Recently, however, there has been a notable increase in antisemitism on social media, with Twitter in particular. The rise of modern Judenhaus coincides with two major international events, the COVID19 pandemic and unrest in the West regarding police brutality and African-American grievances. As with all things, Jews are ever accused to be the font of evils that afflict society, and these were no different.

It seems that the only thing as virulent as antisemitism this year was COIVD19, and as soon as it infected countries, tweets and posts about how Jews created or intentionally spread the virus began to multiply. According to The Oxford Coronavirus Explanations, Attitudes, and Narratives Survey in early May, one in five Brits suspected Jews as the culprits for the virus creation. As always, Jews is often replaced with the Zionists when it comes to the narratives and rhetoric of Jew haters. Theories about how Israel was responsible for COVID19 were popular with anti-Israel activists and Palestinian leaders, but it was a troubling sign of things to come when celebrities like Rosanna Arquette began to suggest the same. Blaming Jews for plauges is not new, and has been going on since the Black Death. While such tweets are easlily understood as comparable to that old manifestation of antisemitism, they were ignored by Twitter. As were other conspiracies. While not quite as old, the conspiracies about Jews being behind police brutality in the US and the ills that the American black community suffer also enjoyed a renaissance.

JVP and other BDS organizations have long sought to hijack American issues to make them about their pet cause. The Deadly Exchange campaign, which contends that US police brutality is caused by Israeli training, is one of the most successful. The libel was regurgitated by antizionist zealots following the killing of George Floyd, hoping to capatalize on the renewed focus on police brutality. Despite there being police exchanges between the US and many countries, the focus of Israeli exchanges being counter-terrorism strategies rather than tactical traning, and that only hundreds of American officers from a force of hundreds of thousands have taken part in this exchange, the libel was eagerly spread on social media to a receptive crowd. Twitter has been engorged with articles and tweets explaining that Israel and the Jews have a hand in the Minneapolis tragedy, and must be held accountable. Twitter supposedly takes action against fake news and hate, but it didnt against these tweets. These lies also jived with similar ideas expressed by the notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan.

Farrakhan is well known for his antisemitism and general bigotry to caucasians, women, and those in the LGBTQ community. Famously, he once claimed he was not antisemite, but anti-termite. Rivaling David Duke in his bigotry, Fararkhan is perhaps the most open and mainstream antisemitic voice in the US, with the ears of the wealthy and politically powerful. Farrakhan has long contested that Jews were the chief orchestrators of not just African-American poverty, but the original sin of slavery itself. According to proponents of Farrakhan, Jews had enslaved and used Black Americans up until modern times as well and recently this message has been sent to every corner of Twitter. Concurrently, the Black Hebrew Israelite idea that Jews were fake Jews and had stolen the identity and heritage from Africans has also become popularized. Jews on Twitter and other social media platforms have been shocked with how these ideas have proliferated of late. To be openly Jewish on Twitter these days is to have ones identity attacked, blamed for police brutality, slavery, and black poverty. Jews, Hebrews, Semitic, and Jewish Privilege have trended on Twitter in the last few weeks. What is even more troubling is not only that these attacks have been ignored by Twitter, but also that these ideas have been mainstreamed and amplified by celebrities.

It seems that not a day goes by without some celebrity or influencer posting Farrakhan materials or other antisemitic content. Ice Cube went on a Farrakhan Twitter tirade, before it was cool, and Chelsea Handler posted Farrakhan on her Instagram, with big names like Busta Ryhmes, Jennifer Aniston, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jennifer Garner liking and extolling the content. More recently Madonna also posted materials on Farrakhan. Diddy hosted Farrakhans 4th of July address on RevoltTV. Larry Johnson attacked several high profile Israeli and Jewish figures and influencers for being fake Jews. DeSean Jackson posted a fake Adolf Hitler quote that blamed Jews for slavery and stealing the heritage of the real Jewish people, and was supported by Stephen Jackson and many others. The list above is not even close to being exhaustive. The outcry against these actions was almost exclusively limited to the Jewish community, recieving little media backlash in a time when someone can be canceled for just about anything. It wasnt until Nick Cannon reposted a podcast featuring himself and Professor Griff engaging in anti-Jewish and anti-white rants that news outlets began to pay attention. Heroes like Zach Banner, Kareem Abdul-Jabba, Jamele Hill, andCharles Barkley spoke up against the wave of antisemitism, encouraging and inspiring many to unite in solidarity and sow empathy between the Jewish and black communities. Twitter, however, did nothing in response the pandemic of antisemitism and harrassment on its platform. Worse than nothing, the only thing it managed in that time frame was banning accounts with Stars of David in their profile picture. This has further infuriated JTwitter. To Jewish and Israeli social media users, Twitter has been selective in enfocring their regulations and who they apply to.

Blaming Jews for COVID19, police brutality, slavery, stealing identities, and much more should be in violation of Twitters regulations. It could be that Twitter doesnt understand what antisemitism is, and needs to seriously consider adoption of IHRA to better understand and enforce its own regulation commitments, as has been suggested by groups like Honest Reporting. What is clear is that Twitter has a different standard for violations when it comes to celebrities and those sporting blue checkmarks on their profiles. The list of celebritities above recieved no slaps from Twitter for their violations. However, the double standard became painfully obvious when Wiley, a rapper with hundreds of thousands of followers, began to post tweets that were explicitly antisemitic. Wileys hours long antisemitic tirade linked Jews to the KKK, attacked Jewish identity, referred to Jews controlling the world, among countless of other tropes and canards. For even Twitter, even without adoption of IHRA, there can be no denial of the rappers antisemitism. However, while any other account would have been deleted, Wileys was only suspended. This is the proverbial straw that broke the camels back.

Jewish social media users are fighting back. This is the same fight that led Jews to the streets in a march following a wave of a violent attacks on Jews across the world. The lesson was not learned, drowned out by the coverage of the assassination of Qassam Soleimani. Now that the attacks have continued by another means on Twitter, Jews are once again protesting their plight. Led by Hen Mazzig they conquered the hashtag #Jewishprivilege, which had formerly been used to disparage Jews and share negative viewpoints on the Jewish community at large. Jewish students have begun to share their stories of antisemitic experiences on campus with online initiatives like Antisemitism Stories. They aimed to showcase how antisemitism is indeed a problem, and a growing one. When Twitter began to ban accounts with Stars of David, Jewish Twitter users changed their profile pictures to one of the banned users in protest. Now, a coalition of Jewish organizations, celebrities, influencers, and their friends and allies are taking their protest against Twitters double standards on antisemitism and celebrity to a whole new level with a 48 hour walkout.

A Graphic advertising the Walkout.

The 48 hour walkout begins on Monday July 27th, at 09:00 GMT. While the organizers decided to take action following Wileys ongoing attacks on the Jewish community, they have made it clear that this incident is just one of a many high profile Twiter users inciting hatred and violence against Jews with little to no response from the social media platform. The coaltion spokesman said:

The walkout we are announcing today is to show that the Jewish community and its allies have had enough of platforms like Twitter acting as loudspeakers for antisemitism, amplifying the hatred of Jews to millions of other social media users.

As soon as Wiley began posting his antisemitic tweets on Friday Twitter was flooded with requests to have his account taken down. In response Twitter deleted a copuple of tweets and gave the grime state a brief suspension. It was a completely inadequate response.

Unless there is an immediate change in how Twitter operates then there will be further action, including legal action, against the organization.

Jews are making themselves heard on Twitter, even with their silence. They will no longer stand for double standards. Twitter must address the concerns of the Jewish community, and either enforce its rules equally for everyone or not at all. The path to this point has been several month long, and did not begin with Wiley. It began with the slow creep of normalcy, of pandemic and police training conspiracies, of false histories and libels, of harrassment and threats. It began with Twitters inaction, and hopefully, it will end with it taking action.

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The Path to the Great Jewish Twitter Walkout - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on July 27, 2020

Mel Gibson spent a week in a Los Angeles hospital earlier this year after contracting coronavirus, representatives for the actor have confirmed.

He tested positive in April and spent a week in the hospital, a spokesperson told the Daily Telegraph Australia. He was treated with the drug Remdesivir while in the hospital, and has tested negative numerous times since then as well as positive for the antibodies.

Gibson is one of many Hollywood actors who have tested positive for the virus. Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were two of the first celebrities to reveal a positive diagnosis for COVID-19, which they contracted while they were in Australia.

Other stars who have had the virus include Idris Elba,Game Of Thrones actor Kristofer Hivjuand The Dark Knight Rises actor Jay Benedict, who died from the virus in April.

Mel Gibson alongside Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell and John Lithgow at the UK Premiere of Daddys Home 2 in 2017 (PictureL Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

News of Gibsons diagnosis comes a month after the actor denied allegations of anti-semitism and homophobia made by Winona Ryder.

Ryder said in an interview withThe Times that Gibson called her an oven dodger when he learned of her Jewish heritage, and asked a friend of hers who is gay: Oh, wait, am I gonna get AIDS?

In response, Gibsons representatives toldThe New York Post in a statement:This is 100% untrue. She lied about it over a decade ago, when she talked to the press, and shes lying about it now.

Meanwhile,Gibson and Danny Glover have agreed to make a final Lethal Weapon movie.

According to producer Dan Lin, the long awaited action movie would focus on Detective Martin Riggs and his partner Detective Roger Murtaugh, 22 years after the release of Lethal Weapon 4. He also confirmed original director Richard Donner was returning.

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Mel Gibson was hospitalised after being diagnosed with coronavirus in April - NME.com

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Posted By admin on July 27, 2020

Maurice Podro, the last surviving member of the 43 Group, died in June. He was 91. The group fought against the postwar fascism of Oswald Mosleys Blackshirts using many of the tactics still favoured by anti-fascist organisations today. Like many Jews returning from the war, Podro was devastated to find fascism thriving in the UK. Mosley had reappeared with a new party, the Union Movement, which, like the British Union of Fascists in the interwar years, sought to stir up resentment against Jews in working-class neighbourhoods by holding rallies at such places as Ridley Road Market, home to East Londons largest Jewish community. In April 1946, the final report of the government committee on fascism concluded it would be neither desirable nor in the best interests of the Jews themselves to introduce any special measures against anti-Semitic propaganda.

In We Fight Fascists,one of the few histories of the 43 Group, Daniel Sonabend describes the way it emerged to defend East London communities and gradually expanded into a city-wide organisation. Its members would turn up at fascist meetings and rallies, throw stones at speakers and, in many cases, physically assault fascist activists. The press denounced them as communist, but the 43 Group wasnt a revolutionary organisation; it acted only because the Labour government was failing to deal with fascism on Britains streets.

Telling the story of the 43 Group means acknowledging the UKs fascist past, both before and after the Second World War, as well as the failures of the postwar Labour government. It also involves reimagining a history that has mostly sought to confine Jews to the role of passive victims.

Today, as in the 1940s, inaction on anti-Semitism is posing as action. Keir Starmer has decided to settle the Panorama libel case by apologising unreservedly and agreeing to pay substantial damages to former staffers and the journalist John Ware, admitting Labour had defamed them after an investigation into anti-Semitism in the party. I want to draw a line under anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, Starmer said.

Last month he sacked Rebecca Long-Bailey as shadow education secretary for retweeting a link to an interview with the actress Maxine Peake, who had falsely asserted that the US police learned the knee-on-neck tactic that killed George Floyd from Israeli secret services. Commentators applauded Starmers effort to convince the public that his party will be very different to the one they rejected by such a crushing margin back in December. But this is precisely the problem: Starmers sacking of Long-Bailey was a virtue signal to the British electorate (and a convenient way to marginalise the partys left) rather than an overture to a wider strategy for tackling anti-Semitism. With his muscular response, Starmer cast himself as a strongman protecting a weak minority, but achieved little for British Jews.

Two weeks later, the new leadership turned out to have slightly more than zero tolerance for anti-Semitism. The shadow local government secretary, Steve Reed, a close ally of Starmers, tweeted about the ongoing cash-for-favours scandal involving the Jewish businessman Richard Desmond and the housing minister, Robert Jenrick: Is billionaire former porn-baron Desmond the puppet master for the entire Tory cabinet? Considering Starmers previous no-nonsense stance, you might think that a tweet containing the puppet master trope among the most pernicious and long-standing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories would warrant disciplinary action, but Reed went unpunished. (Like Long-Bailey, he deleted the offending tweet and apologised.)

Earlier this month, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, a shadow environment minister on the Labour left, apologised for an allegedly anti-Semitic Facebook message from 2009 (before he became an MP), after coming under pressure from the party. He resigned from the cabinet on 16 July, citing abuse that he and his team had received. In the Facebook post, Russell-Moyle had asserted that the idea of inheriting a land that you may have never visited or seen but have a heritage claim for is not progressive in its very nature. He also described Zionism as a dangerous nationalist idea. His comments dont contravene either the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism or Labours support for a two-state solution. The inconsistency of the Labour leaderships responses to Long-Bailey, Reed and Russell-Moyle implies that they are motivated as much by factional interest and concessions to the worst form of Israeli ethno-nationalism as by any genuine wish to stamp out anti-Semitism.

Im not trying to excuse Maxine Peakes interview, which plainly included an anti-Semitic dogwhistle, or to say that Long-Bailey wasnt wrong to retweet a link to the piece, or to deny that anti-Semitic conspiracy theories circulate on the crank left. But it should be possible to recognise and fight anti-Semitism, and at the same time to allow MPs to criticise Israeli atrocities. That isnt achieved by sacking one member of the shadow cabinet and forcing another to resign over an old Facebook post, while effectively overlooking yet anothers tweeting of an anti-Semitic trope.

The problem is by no means exclusive to Labour. A few days before Long-Bailey was sacked, a piece in the Telegraph made the somewhat staggering claim that Black Lives Matter protests are a catalyst for anti-Semitism. The article floats towards the conspiratorial mood it claims to find in the BLM movement, insinuating a link it cannot prove. It places Jews in opposition to a movement with explicitly anti-fascist aims and, by default, on the side of those who are, in Donald Trumps term, against antifa. As accusations of anti-Semitism are increasingly used to disgrace political adversaries in the BLM movement or on the Labour left the very real threat to Jews from the far right is wilfully forgotten.

Our failure to tell a national story that allows Jews anything more than the part of victim has left a minority vulnerable to this politics of protection, where anyone can step in and claim to be safeguarding Jewish interests. History provides little evidence of the British establishment actually protecting Jews. Most of the refugees from Nazi Germany who sought asylum in the UK were refused. Those who were allowed in were met by Mosleys Blackshirts, terrorising the East End with anti-Semitic graffiti, loudspeakers blaring attacks on refugees, and physical assaults by uniformed thugs. In the background was an ambient fear of refugees taking British jobs. Anti-Semitism was in the air, Malcolm Muggeridge later wrote, an unmistakable tang. After two British soldiers were killed by the Irgun in Palestine in 1947, there were anti-Semitic riots in Manchesters Jewish community of Cheetham Hill, which subsequently spread across the country.

As the 43 Group demonstrate, Jews were not simply victims; they took to the streets and fought back, because the British establishment failed to take seriously the far-right threat to Jewish communities. With the death of the last member of the 43 Group, politicians and pundits would do well to remember this failure, and the lengths Jewish communities had to go to in the postwar period to protect themselves. Yet its difficult to imagine the groups role in defeating postwar fascism ever being properly acknowledged, because its harder to make Jews into passive vessels for other peoples political interests if theyre seen as active participants in British history.

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Phil Jones | Remember the 43 Group LRB 23 July 2020 - London Review of Books

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Posted By admin on July 27, 2020

Australian actor Mel Gibson was admitted to hospital in April after contracting coronavirus, it has emerged.

A representative for the 64-year-old Braveheart star confirmed to The Daily Telegraph Australia that Gibson had been in private hospital care for at least one week. He has since tested negative for the virus several times.

He tested positive in April and spent a week in the hospital, said Gibsons rep, who also revealed that Gibson had been treated with the drug Remdesivir while in hospital.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

[He] has tested negative numerous times since then as well as positive for the antibodies, they continued.

Gibson is the latest celebrity to have been reported as contracting the virus, which can be deadly.

Tom Hanks, Idris Elba, Quantum of Solace star Olga Kurylenko, Plcido Domingo, Jackson Browne, and P!nk are among the many well-known faces to have caught Covid-19.

Several stars, including legendary songwriter John Prine, broadway actor Nick Cordero, playwright Terrance McNally and Fountains of Wayne musician Adam Schlesinger, have died as a result of complications caused by coronavirus.

Gibson was at the centre of a controversy last month, when actor Winona Ryder alleged that Gibson referred to her as an oven dodger, in an anti-semitic reference to her Jewish heritage.

A representative for Gibson denied the allegations, stating that they were 100 per cent untrue and accused Ryder of continuously lying about the encounter.

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Mel Gibson was in hospital with coronavirus in April - The Independent

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Posted By admin on July 27, 2020

Though social distancing is in effect and bars and restaurants are closed for in-house services, the ever-strong Houston food community continues to truck on. This week, you can get off-the-menu wing specials, help support bars across Houston and eat for charity with Houston Restaurant Weeks.

Here's a look at this week's hottest culinary happenings:

All week long

Central Market, 3815 Westheimer, continues its Food-cation series, featuring specialty foods from various vacation locations, with the foods of a Tropical Paradise (July 15 July 28), followed by Charc Week (July 29 August 4). Shop for tropical fruits, Hawaiian seafood and jerk-style rotisserie chicken, and all things charcuterie.

Monday through Friday

First Responders and Military Special at Peli Peli South African Kitchen (Galleria and Woodlands)

In honor of Nelson Mandela's July birthday and his 67 years of service to the people of South Africa and beyond, Peli Peli would like to honor those who have dedicated their lives to serving others. All first responders and active duty/veterans in the military will receive any one food item on its menu for 67 cents, valid now through Friday, July 31 at the Galleria and Woodlands locations only. Badges and/or ID required for verification. Available only at our Galleria and Woodlands locations To redeem, guest must make a reservation (through pelipeli.com or by calling 281-257-9500) and include MANDELABIRTHDAY in the reservation notes. The offer is also available for takeout.

Tuesday, July 28

, 1440 Lamar, and

, 1101-11 Uptown Park, have both created National Hamburger Day specials, with a little French twist from chef-owner Philippe Verpiand. At Etoile, the burger of the day features Akaushi beef with truffle tartare sauce, caramelized onions, gruyere cheese and a slab of seared pork belly on a brioche bun. Get it with a side of French fries for $16 at lunch or dinner. Downtown at Brasserie du Parc, Verpiand is offering a half-pound angus beef burger on a brioche bun for $6 with a side of fries or a salad. One can add a beer to that and pay just $10. As seating is limited, reservations are required. All guests must wear masks on entering, leaving or moving about the restaurants.

Wednesday, July 29

Roost, 1972 Fairview, will offer its Sticky Gochujang Glazed Chicken Wings for $14 as an off-menu special in honor of National Chicken Wing Day. The wings feature pickled vegetables, micro cilantro and sesame and are available for dine-in and takeout.

Stickys Chicken, 2311 Edwards, will give takeout and delivery orders two free wings with every entree order at on Wednesday, July 29. Flavors include Original Sticky's, Smoke Shallot Glazed, Asian Tingz Dry Rub and its new S.L.A.B. (Sweet, Loud and Bangin') flavor with honey and sriracha.

Tacos A Go Go will be featured on Cooking Channel's nationally televised show Food Paradise in the episode "Secret Menus" at 8 p.m. CST. To commemorate the occasion, the local taco shop will offer a discount on its Family Packs all day on Wednesday, with tacos, fresh tortillas, chips and salsa, rice and beans and house-made sopapillas for four people along with a half-gallon of margaritas for $59.99. The restaurant has also created a virtual event on Facebook to encourage guests to watch along from home:

Thursday, July 30

Guests are invited to a Summer Wine Dinner at Ouisies Table, 3939 San Felipe. The four-course dinner ($55++ per person) will feature five paired ros wines from around the world, with dishes including grilled prosciutto figs and watermelon salad, seafood bastille crisp, braised short ribs with bourbon reduction and an artisanal cheese plate. Unlike wine dinners held in the past, this one can be served at any time that evening reserved by the guests (parties no larger than six allowed). Masks are required going to and from tables and when moving about in the restaurant. Call 713-528-2264.

With bars across Houston temporarily closed again due to COVID-19, Lucilles, 5512 La Branch, has launched a Thursday Patio Pop-Up series (6 to 10 p.m.) that will allow local bar teams to take over the restaurants patio for a full evening of service; with the featured staff collecting 100 percent of the sales and tips generated by their curated cocktails. Check out the future schedule every Tuesday on restaurants social media pages IG: @lucilleshouston; Facebook: Lucilles Houston). Reservations are required and can be made via Resy or by calling the restaurant at 713-568-2505. Lucilles is also following a strict no mask, no service policy.

Friday, July 31

Chefs Dawn Burrell (Kulture) and Dominick Lee (who recently closed Poitn) are teaming up for the last part of their three-part dinner series, the Sweet Tea Supper Club, paying careful attention to current social distancing and safety concerns. Held in a seated outdoor space at a private farm in Pearland, the Seafood and Beer Dinner pays homage to the Gulf Coast ($95, 4 to 9 p.m.) Dine on Gulf seafood dip, deep fried frog legs, whole roasted fish with shisho verde, a new qge Creole crawfish and shrimp boil and more.

All August long

The Houston Restaurant Weeks website is now live, with menus and new restaurants being added for the month-long, charitable event will run from the beginning of August through Labor Day. Raising funds for the Houston Food Bank and honoring founder Cleverley Stones incredibly legacy which has raised over $16.6 million to date, local restaurants will be serving specially priced multi-course prix fixe menus for brunch, lunch and dinner, many of which will include takeout. This years lineup already includes a mix of both new and classic spots, including Eugenes Gulf Coast Cuisine, Fungs Kitchen, Guard and Grace, Kin Dee Thai Cuisine, Mastrantos, Peli Peli South African Kitchen, The Tasting Room, Rainbow Lodge and many more.

Throughout August, Kenny & Ziggys, 2327 Post Oak, will once again join Jewish delis across the nation in National Deli Month, a month-long effort to recognize the great American heritage of New York-style delicatessens. The deli will be raising funds for Holocaust Museum Houston, offering a multi-choice, three-course menu during lunch and dinner for $38 plus tax and gratuity, with 10-percent of each meal sold going to the HMH. The special menu is available for both curbside pick-up or dine-in at the Post Oak location only (the West U location off Buffalo Speedway location will remain closed until a later date).

The Tasting Room's new Supper Club meal program brings chef-created meals to your home.

Photo by Shawn Chippendale

New and ongoing specials

The Tasting Room, 818 Town and Country, invites guests to try its new Supper Club program, a monthly meal subscription offering chef-created meals and wine pairings to enjoy from home. The program includes a dinner for two every Wednesday, with two entrees, two desserts and a paired bottle of wine at a cost of $240 for four weeks and four meals total (meals can be rescheduled if you need to skip a week). Non-members can place an order for $75 a dinner.

Every Wednesday, Moxie's, 5000 Westheimer, offers half-price bottles of wine all day and night.

Caracol, 2200 Post Oak, has introduced a Saturday Night Date Night Package, featuring a three-course dinner for two. Cost is $68 plus tax, and can be ordered online or by calling 713-622-9996.

Rosie Cannonball, 1620 Westheimer, invites guests can fully embrace the Italian art of aperitivo without having to ever leave Montrose with a trip to its new Summer pop-up, the Spritz Patio. The menu features cocktails, frozen treats and a Mediterranean-inspired food menua collaboration between the Rosie Cannonball and MARCH teams. The patio will be open Wednesday-Friday from 3 to 10 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday from 1 to 10 p.m., and no reservations are required. The patio is also open at sibling establishment Montrose Cheese & Wine, 1618 Westheimer, offering wines by the glass, cheese and charcuterie boards, pastries, espresso and the revival of Sandwich of the Day. MCW patio hours are the same as the shop's curbside retail hours: Wednesday-Saturday from noon to 8 p.m.

Brennans of Houston, 3300 Smith, wine director Marcus Gausepohl has pulled together three special wine packs to keep patrons well-quenched at home this month, each available for curbside takeaway. Visit the virtual wine cellar and then select Wine Guy Picks (located above the search bar) to find the featured trios, including the Burgundy Summer Survival Pack (a white burgundy trio for $89) Sonoma is for Lovers Pinot Noir Trio ($132); and Just Add Sunshine Ros Trio ($69).

On Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays, Fish City Grill at Sugar Land Town Square, 15980 City Walk Sugar Land, will be offering a shrimp boil with corn, potato and sausage tossed in Cajun butter ($20, one pound), one dozen peel and eat shrimp ($12) and frozen margaritas to cool off with ($6, now available to-go).

Sixty Vines, 2540 University, has several new Curbside Kits for guests to wine and dine at home. On Monday, Tuesday and Sunday, guests can order a kit with hummus, kale Caesar, fettucine with roasted chicken, butcher pizza and a bottle of wine (feeds two for $45 or four for $85). On Wednesday and Thursday, try wood-fire roasted cauliflower, house salad, fennel crusted pork chops and a bottle of wine (feeds two for $50 or four for $95). Fridays kit features brussels sprouts, roasted beet and herbed goat cheese salad, filet mignon and a bottle of select wine (feeds two for $50 or four for $100); while Saturdays offers the same starters with an entre of grilled salmon skewers (feeds two for $50 or four for $100). Sixty Vines Brunch Kit is available on Saturday and Sunday (feeds two for $30 or four for $60), featuring ricotta chiffon French toast, egg white and goat cheese frittata, brown sugar-rubbed cherrywood bacon, fruit and one mimosa bottle.

Kicking off last weekend, sweetgreen is offering $0 delivery on weekends now through Labor Day, automatically applied to all weekend orders made online and through the sweetgreen app.

Now through the end of September, Dickeys Barbecue Pit is commemorating those who protect and serve communities across the nation with the launch of its new First Responder Tribute Cups. Guests can purchase a 32-ounce limited-edition collectible Big Yellow Cup and a portion of the proceeds from every cup sold will be donated to The Dickey Foundation, which provides safety equipment such as helmets, shields, respiratory masks and overall support for local first responders. In addition to offering First Responder Tribute Cups, from August 1 through September 8, the barbecue brand will host the Dickeys Community Heroes Campaign. To enter, participants can post a photo of a difference maker from their community on their personal Facebook or Instagram profile, say why they nominated them, use hashtags #MyHero and #DickeysBarbecuePit and follow and tag Dickeys Facebook or Instagram page and the nominee. One grand prize winner will receive free barbecue for a year; and four additional winners will have $500 donated to the charity of their choice.

From $1 Dog Nights to a Bregman Burger Special, check out our Astros Game Day guide for a list of eateries offering specials this baseball season (note: some specials were for Opening Day only, which was Friday, July 24).

Brooke Viggiano is a contributing writer who is always looking to share Houston's coolest and tastiest happenings with the Houston Press readers.

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Things to Do: Upcoming Food and Drink Events in Houston This Week - Houston Press

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