Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on December 25, 2019

It has been another busy year in the world of technology, with new innovations arriving during 2019 including 5G, but also political problems such as the ongoing debate around Huawei.

Here is a look at some of the most important stories of the year.

Social media and the focus on online harms

Social media and internet companies entered 2019 already under pressure to improve the policing of harmful content on their platforms.

But the intervention by Ian Russell, who suggested that Instagram had been a contributing factor in his daughter Mollys suicide in 2017, sparked heightened debate, and placed further scrutiny on social media platforms and the need to more robustly regulate them.

Stories of abusive content become more regular and technology firms were forced to respond Instagram has since announced multiple new features designed to clamp down on harmful content, particularly that linked to self-harm as well as cyberbullying.

Then, in April, the Government published a white paper around online harms which proposed an independent regulator for social media companies be introduced, with greater penalties for those which breach a new statutory duty of care to their users should they be exposed to harmful or abusive content.

Politicians and campaigners have remained vocal on the work that platforms still need to do, with NSPCC suggesting Facebook underplayed the scale of online harm when it published content removal figures in November.

That scrutiny and pressure is likely to continue in 2020 Boris Johnsons government has pledged to introduce an Online Harms Bill with the wider debate around misinformation and fake news online only fuelling the demand for tighter rules on social media.

Facebooks continued fall from grace

Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2018, Facebook hoped to use 2019 as a platform to rebuild its reputation by positioning itself at the centre of calls for more privacy online, and as a way of empowering people.

However, the company has instead been hit with a number of new controversies.

The social networking giants plans to launch a cryptocurrency and digital wallet in 2020 were met with scepticism when unveiled in June, with many referring to the firms checkered history with user data as a cause for concern if it entered the financial market.

Several big early backers of the Libra currency, including Visa and Mastercard, subsequently pulled out of the project.

Facebooks approach to freedom of expression has also come under fire during the year, firstly over the time it took to ban figures such as far-right activist Tommy Robinson over hate speech, which eventually happened in February.

But also under scrutiny has been the firms stance on political advertising, which Facebook said it would not factcheck ahead of the December General Election in the UK and with a US presidential election coming in 2020.

Critics argued Facebook was allowing misinformation to remain prominent on the platform as a result, while Facebook argued it was a complex issue and people should be allowed to decide for themselves what they believe when seeing such adverts.

In a speech at an event for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in November, actor and activist Sacha Baron Cohen called social media the greatest propaganda machine in history, and said Facebook founder Mark Zuckerbergs argument that the approach taken by others to removing content was akin to censorship was absurd.

With the US presidential election coming in 2020, next year is unlikely to be any quieter for the social media giant.

The launch of 5G

One of the major technological innovations of the year, the first 5G networks began rolling out in the UK in the summer, offering speeds several times that of 4G.

For now, it is predominately central, urban areas which have 5G coverage, and only in some places and on some networks, driven by the likes of EE, Vodafone and O2.

The new high-speed network is seen by some as the pathway to a technological revolution, with the increased bandwidth of 5G able to carry the vast amounts of data needed for the foundations for advances such as driverless car networks and remote surgery in years to come.

In 2020 5G use is likely to increase drastically as network coverage expands and more 5G-ready devices enter the market.

Huawei, 5G and cybersecurity

Linked to the rollout of 5G has been the ongoing stand-off between the US government and Chinese phone giant Huawei, which has seen the phone maker cut off from Android mobile operating systems amid accusations of being a security risk.

The year began with questions over the company and its links to the Chinese state, with critics arguing that the company could be compelled to carry out surveillance on people in the West by the Chinese government. Huawei has always denied the allegations.

But the story has not gone away arguably fuelled by Chinas trade war with the United States and Huawei has found its trade with US companies heavily restricted.

This has seen the firms new smartphones cut off from the Android operating system upon which they run, which effectively prevented its Mate 30 Series from launching in Europe in the autumn.

And as 5G began to arrive in the UK, the Government has been pressured to decide whether or not Huaweis telecoms equipment should be allowed to be part of 5G infrastructure going forward.

Some UK intelligence allies have restricted the Chinese companys presence, but a Government review is still to publish its verdict on the matter.

The issue even led to a sacking from the Cabinet in May, with Gavin Williamson dismissed as defence secretary after The Daily Telegraph reported that Theresa Mays government would approve Huaweis presence in 5G telecoms.

That information had been leaked from a National Secretary Council meeting.

As 2020 arrives, the future of Huawei in the West remains uncertain.

The shaky start for foldable phones

Huawei was also a part of another major development of 2019, the unveiling of the first mainstream foldable smartphones.

No longer rumoured prototype devices, smartphones with flexible displays that allow a larger screen to be unfolded are now in public hands.

Samsung got there first, releasing their Galaxy Fold in the autumn, but only after a delay following issues with its screen.

Huawei, who delayed their own Mate X and have since only released it in China, now also face competition from Motorola, which has revamped its own Razr clamshell mobile phone to include a foldable display.

Samsung, as well as plenty of others, are expected to continue the foldable trend into 2020.

Streaming continues to grow

Netflix and Amazons seeming dominance of the video streaming market met its first real challenger this year as Apple entered the market for the first time.

The newly launched Apple TV+ comes with a range of original programming, starring the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Jason Momoa.

ITV and BBC-backed BritBox has also appeared on the scene, which pledges to offer a wide range of British TV boxsets as well as films and original shows.

Video game platforms too are embracing the idea, with cloud streaming the ability to play console games remotely on other devices such as smartphones launching as well via Google Stadia and the upcoming Project xCloud from Xbox, both of which are likely to expand during the next year.

See the article here:
Facebook, Huawei and 5G: 2019 in technology stories - The Irish News

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Posted By admin on December 25, 2019

Linda Sarsour. Photo: Festival of Faiths via Wikimedia Commons.

A media watchdog group expressed strong reservations on Sunday after anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour was included on a list published by Elle magazine of 20 Women of Color in Politics to Watch in 2020.

Sarsour, who has in fact referred to herself as white in the past, was included on the list of the women in politics youll need to know next year.

TheCommittee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), which critiques anti-Israel bias in the media, noted an editors note that said, The below list was compiled by She the People, a national non profit network of women of color committed to social justice and voter mobilization. A previous version of this story did not make clear that the list was compiled by She the People and not ELLE magazine.

However, the group noted, It was Elle that made the decision to publish this list on its platform, without considering the past positions and public statements of the women included.

December 24, 2019 2:08 pm

The list claims that Sarsour is guided by a radical love, CAMERA pointed out. It makes no mention of the fact that Sarsour is a vocal proponent of the BDS movement, a movement that is based in hatred, and which seeks to eliminate the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. Shes also been criticized for her association with Louis Farrakhan.

In 2015, Sarsour spoke at a rally organized by Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader who has a long history of antisemitic statements and recently referred to Jews as termites. Sarsour later posted a video of her speech and said, I stand by every word.

Most recently, CAMERA noted, Sarsour came under fire for saying at a conference that Israel is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else.

Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League, criticized this statement as racist, saying, She slanders the founders of Israel as supremacists, invoking a centuries-old antisemitic trope when she describes them as having believed that Jews are supreme to everybody else.

Sarsour also said during an appearance in 2017 that she was honored and privileged to share a stage with convicted Palestinian terrorist Rasmea Odeh.

All of which makes one wonder, what, specifically, does Elle think makes Sarsour a woman to watch? CAMERA stated.

High-gloss magazines have a history with Sarsour, with Glamour magazine previously picking her as one of its Women of the Year.

See the rest here:
Watchdog Concerned After Elle Magazine List Features Anti-Israel Activist Sarsour as One of Its 'Women of Color in Politics to Watch' - Algemeiner

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Posted By admin on December 25, 2019

Sheryl Sandberg.

Facebooks Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg quietly gave a total of $127 million to two of her charitable vehicles over the course of 2019. For someone whose net worth Forbes pegs at $1.6 billion, parting with 8% of her fortune in one year seems generous. But heres the thing: We dont know the end purpose of most of those funds.

My giving this year helps support and empower women across the globe through LeanIn.Org, helps people experiencing loss build resilience through OptionB.Org, and provides hard working college students with financial support and mentorship through the Dave Goldberg Scholars Program, which honors the legacy of my husband, said Sandberg in a statement to Forbes.

But based on an analysis of public documents, it looks like the majority of her charitable giving since 2015$230 million worth of donated Facebook shareshas gone to donor-advised funds, a controversial giving vehicle that is the equivalent of giving to a black box. Whats more: Very little of her giving to date has actually ended up in LeanIn and OptionB.

LeanIn focuses on female empowerment, which grew out of Sandbergs 2013 book Lean In: Women, Work and The Will To Lead. LeanIn has helped create 45,000 LeanIn Circles in 172 countries around the world, which facilitate women coming together to exchange ideas and encourage one another. Sandberg started OptionB in 2017 after her second book, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, in the wake of the unexpected death of her husband, Dave Goldberg, at age 47 in 2015. OptionB, which focuses on helping people build resilience, also hosts support groups and offers educational information and research for people dealing with personal hardships and loss.

From 2013 through 2017, LeanIn and OptionB received $12 million from Sandberg via The Sheryl Sandberg and Dave Goldberg Family Foundation. This family foundation is an operating foundation, meaning it exists only to fund the operations of LeanIn and OptionB. It does not donate to outside charities.

According to the foundations 2017 tax filings, the most recent year available, $3.3 million went to LeanIn and $3.5 million to OptionB. The foundation also spent another $1.2 million on communications and over $300,000 in consulting fees to Megan Rooney, a former speechwriter to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

It seems like a huge portion of the proceeds are used for essentially public relations, says Alan Cantor, a consultant to nonprofits. I guess I would question whether this whole thing is largely an exercise in positioning [Sheryl].

Beth Parker, chief communications officer for Sandbergs foundation, says that communications is a large part of LeanIns work because its main focus is to educate. Lean In was founded to change attitudes about gender bias, Parker explains. We arent a direct support organization like other nonprofits. We put a heavy emphasis on communication because educating others is central to our mission.

Still, that leaves hundreds of millions of Sandbergs charitable dollars that have gone unaccounted for. According to documents filed with the Securities Exchange Commission, Sandberg has given $230 million worth of Facebook shares to donor-advised funds since 2015. A spokesperson states Sandberg has given more than that in her lifetime and the figure is substantially higher, but Forbes was unable to independently verify. With only $12 million transferred to LeanIn and OptionB, however, that leaves at least another $218 million that we might never learn the details about. This lack of transparency about where the giving ends ups is one of the biggest critiques of donor-advised funds, also called DAFs.

The money can just sit there or it can go to controversial causes that [Sheryl] might not want her name associated with, says Cantor.

DAFs have also come under fire due to their very flexible requirements. There is no rule for when and how much donors have to give away assets in a DAF. But it still allows benefactors to claim a large tax break for what counts as a gift to a charitable foundation. Sandberg has transferred Facebook shares to a DAF every November in four out of the past five years.

Can you imagine if all this money went to organizations that actually did the work? poses Cantor.The people who run nonprofits, like the people who actually feed children, house families, conduct research, put on community theater they hate donor-advised funds. Because now, major donors are jumping into DAFs instead of giving them $10,000 or $100,000 a year.

Its possible that Sandberg is regularly giving money away from her DAFs but its equally possible that she is not. Parker, of Sandbergs foundation, declined to share how much the Facebook executive distributes to nonprofits from her DAF each year. And without more accountability and reporting around these kinds of charitable vehicles, the public will never know how much she gave and where shes given to.

That might change soon for the billionaire executive. In late 2018, Sandberg began diversifying her giving strategy when she announced the creation of the Sandberg Goldberg Charitable Support Fund. It is a grant-making foundationmeaning it is required to file financial information to the government and give away 5% of its assets to charities every year. Its been a little over a year since Sandberg announced the creation of this foundation, and it still doesnt have a website. Further, tax filings detailing the grants by the foundation likely wont be available until 2021.

According to Parker, the new foundation will further support Sheryls philanthropic mission. Her philanthropy has centered around causes related to womens issues/gender equality, poverty alleviation, hunger relief, and education. Sandberg donated $87 million in cash and securities in 2019 to this new foundation a gift which was only revealed after Forbes inquired about another gift of Sandbergs this year found in public filings: a $41 million transfer in Facebook shares to a DAF.

Donations outside of Sandbergs gifts to LeanIn and OptionB have been reported this year as well, including a $1 million gift to Planned Parenthood to support its advocacy work and a $2.5 million pledge to the Anti-Defamation League in October to combat hate and bias in the United States and in Europe.

Only time will tell where the money will ultimately go. But the creation of a new foundation that doesnt exist only to fund her two nonprofits, but other charities as well, will hopefully be a new chapter of giving for Sandberg.

Read more from the original source:
Where Has Facebook Billionaire Sheryl Sandbergs $320 Million In Philanthropic Giving Gone To? - Forbes

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Posted By admin on December 25, 2019

A Republican politician and loyal supporter of Donald Trump who wants to establish a 51st state based on far-right, Christian values, has been accused of taking part in domestic terrorismagainst the US government.

Matt Shea, 45, who represents a district in eastern Washington at the state legislature, was found to have travelled across the state to meet with extremist groups, condoned the intimidation of opponents and promoted training for armed militias, accused of having links to extremists and hate groups.

Representative Shea, as a leader in the Patriot Movement, planned, engaged in and promoted a total of three armed conflicts of political violence against the United States government in three states outside the state of Washington over a three-year period, the report said. In one conflict representative Shea led covert strategic pre-planning in advance of the conflict.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

Following the release of the report, commissionedby the lower chamber of the state legislature, and conducted by outside legal investors Mr Shea declined to speak with, Republicans in the state capital, Olympia, announced he had been suspended from any role he had in the partys activities.

House Republican leadership has suspended representative Matt Shea from the caucus and removed him from his ranking position on the House Environment and Energy Committee, said the GOP leader in the chamber, JT Wilcox. He will also be removed from his House committees.

Members of the ShieldWall Network, a white nationalist group, burn a swastika and cross during a party outside Atkins, Arkansas, U.S on March 9, 2019

Reuters

Members of the ShieldWall Network hold up balloons decorated as the face of Adolf Hitler and give a white-power hand signal as they celebrate the German fascist's birthday outside Atkins, Arkansas

REUTERS

Billy Roper of the ShieldWall Network attends a party at a home outside Atkins. The group primarily operates in Arkansas and includes three other members who were recently charged with assault in connection with the beating of a gay man, according to police reports

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network march to a rally opposing legal abortion and supporting gun rights at the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas

REUTERS

Jeff Schoep, former chairman of the National Socialist Movement, speaks during a rally at the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas on November 10, 2018

Reuters

Crosses lit by members of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan burn outside Yanceyville, North Carolina, U.S., November 4, 2017. The Loyal White Knights is one of the largest Klan groups in the United States, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks extremist groups

REUTERS

Members of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan prepare for a cross-burning outside Yanceyville, North Carolina, U.S., November 4, 2017

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network perform a Nazi salute as a swastika and cross burn during a party outside Atkins, Arkansas, March 9, 2019

REUTERS

High chairs are seen in a building owned by The Knights Party, a white nationalist group formerly named the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, outside Harrison, Arkansas, March 10, 2019. The organisation is opening an education center for the children of white nationalists

REUTERS

Chris Barker of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan addresses an audience before a cross-burning outside Yanceyville

REUTERS

A figurine of a black man being lynched inside the home of Chris Barker of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Yanceyville

REUTERS

John Carollo, a member of the ShieldWall Network, holds up a photo montage of (clockwise from top left) Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, Adolf Hitler, founder of the American Nazi Party George Lincoln Rockwell, Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof and Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess, while attending a party at a home outside Atkins

REUTERS

Symbols of white nationalism are displayed on the jacket of a member of the National Socialist Movement as they gather in a parking lot before attending a rally at the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network prepare a swastika for burning to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Atkins

REUTERS

A new member of the ShieldWall Network, Nicholas Holloway, and other members of the white nationalist group go boating to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Russellville, Arkansas

REUTERS

Courtney Calfy, wife of Julian Calfy, helps to prepare a meal as members of the ShieldWall Network gather to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Atkins, Arkansas

REUTERS

John Carollo, a member of the ShieldWall Network, on the phone during a celebration of Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Atkins, Arkansas

REUTERS

A plaque on top of a flagpole with the number 1488 is carried by members of the National Socialist Movement as they attend a rally at the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas, November 10, 2018

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network John Carollo, Julian Calfy and Nicholas Holloway gather at a member's home before departing to disrupt a Jewish Holocaust memorial event in Russellville, Arkansas

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network burn a swastika to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Atkins, Arkansas

REUTERS

Chris Barker of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is seen inside what the group calls its church, next to his home in Yanceyville

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network go boating to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Russellville, Arkansas

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network, a white nationalist group, prepare to burn a swastika and cross during a party at a home outside Atkins, Arkansas

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network, a white nationalist group, burn a swastika and cross during a party outside Atkins, Arkansas, U.S on March 9, 2019

Reuters

Members of the ShieldWall Network hold up balloons decorated as the face of Adolf Hitler and give a white-power hand signal as they celebrate the German fascist's birthday outside Atkins, Arkansas

REUTERS

Billy Roper of the ShieldWall Network attends a party at a home outside Atkins. The group primarily operates in Arkansas and includes three other members who were recently charged with assault in connection with the beating of a gay man, according to police reports

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network march to a rally opposing legal abortion and supporting gun rights at the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas

REUTERS

Jeff Schoep, former chairman of the National Socialist Movement, speaks during a rally at the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas on November 10, 2018

Reuters

Crosses lit by members of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan burn outside Yanceyville, North Carolina, U.S., November 4, 2017. The Loyal White Knights is one of the largest Klan groups in the United States, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks extremist groups

REUTERS

Members of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan prepare for a cross-burning outside Yanceyville, North Carolina, U.S., November 4, 2017

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network perform a Nazi salute as a swastika and cross burn during a party outside Atkins, Arkansas, March 9, 2019

REUTERS

High chairs are seen in a building owned by The Knights Party, a white nationalist group formerly named the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, outside Harrison, Arkansas, March 10, 2019. The organisation is opening an education center for the children of white nationalists

REUTERS

Chris Barker of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan addresses an audience before a cross-burning outside Yanceyville

REUTERS

A figurine of a black man being lynched inside the home of Chris Barker of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Yanceyville

REUTERS

John Carollo, a member of the ShieldWall Network, holds up a photo montage of (clockwise from top left) Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, Adolf Hitler, founder of the American Nazi Party George Lincoln Rockwell, Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof and Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess, while attending a party at a home outside Atkins

REUTERS

Symbols of white nationalism are displayed on the jacket of a member of the National Socialist Movement as they gather in a parking lot before attending a rally at the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network prepare a swastika for burning to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Atkins

REUTERS

A new member of the ShieldWall Network, Nicholas Holloway, and other members of the white nationalist group go boating to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Russellville, Arkansas

REUTERS

Courtney Calfy, wife of Julian Calfy, helps to prepare a meal as members of the ShieldWall Network gather to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Atkins, Arkansas

REUTERS

John Carollo, a member of the ShieldWall Network, on the phone during a celebration of Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Atkins, Arkansas

REUTERS

A plaque on top of a flagpole with the number 1488 is carried by members of the National Socialist Movement as they attend a rally at the state capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas, November 10, 2018

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network John Carollo, Julian Calfy and Nicholas Holloway gather at a member's home before departing to disrupt a Jewish Holocaust memorial event in Russellville, Arkansas

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network burn a swastika to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Atkins, Arkansas

REUTERS

Chris Barker of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is seen inside what the group calls its church, next to his home in Yanceyville

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network go boating to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday outside Russellville, Arkansas

REUTERS

Members of the ShieldWall Network, a white nationalist group, prepare to burn a swastika and cross during a party at a home outside Atkins, Arkansas

REUTERS

Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, said on Twitter: There is no place in WA for hate or violence, especially from those who have been elected by the people. This report is disturbing and these actions should be unacceptable to Washingtonians of all political parties.

The notoriety of Mr Shea, who celebrated the presidents 2016 election victory as a repudiation of the policies of tyranny [and a] refounding of America, shifted from the far east of the state, to lodge in the national consciousness with the production this year of a series of podcasts, titled Bundyville: The Remnant, which examined the circumstances of two stand offs with federal agents involving members of the Bundy family, a ranching clan based in Nevada.

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Trump loyalist who wants to set up 51st state based on far-right Christian values accused of domestic terrorism - The Independent

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Posted By admin on December 25, 2019

In case youve forgotten all the major news events this year in La Jolla due to too much eggnog, heres a month-by-month recap!

A vote for safety: La Jolla Community Planning Association asks the City of San Diego to fund the installation of a handrail on a wall alongside a beach access south of The Marine Room restaurant to improve safety, at its Jan. 3 meeting.

Amanda Hale exonerated: After a yearlong investigation, former Bird Rock Elementary School principal Amanda Hale is exonerated of charges filed against her by parents. Charges include questionable leadership choices and attempting to generate positive surveys from parents and staff by being in the room while the surveys were taking place and offering gift cards.

Police Chief Nisleit reports: San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit tells the Kiwanis Club of La Jolla that the three biggest issues the department faces are use of the street drug fentanyl, human trafficking and computer crimes.

Seuss-ian art: UC San Diego opens a special collection of original drawings by the late Theodor Dr. Seuss Geisel at its Geisel Library.

Shores gates still open: Although funding was available Jan. 1 to lock the gates to the Kellogg Park parking lot in La Jolla Shores, at the Jan. 9 La Jolla Shores Association meeting, trustees report seeing the gates wide open after hours.

Dan Simonelli to the rescue: La Jolla Cove Swim Club president Dan Simonelli rescues a man from The Cove the morning of Jan. 10. The swimmer assumed he could traverse the choppy waters, and got stuck in an area known as The Hole. Simonelli, a lifelong swimmer, gets the man out in a dramatic save.

Bye, Nicole: La Jolla Rec Center Nicole Otjens leaves the 615 Prospect St. center after more than six years as director.

In January 2019, demolition begins and gas tanks are removed from the Unocal 76 gas station that closed in September 2018.

(Photo by Corey Levitan)

76 station 86-ed: Demolition begins on the 76 Unocal gas station at 801 Pearl St. Construction of a mixed-use building with retail and 12 condos was approved for the lot in 2015.

Three decades of culture: Athenaeum Music & Arts Library executive director Erika Torri celebrates 30 years at the helm.

MCASD tear-down: To accommodate its upcoming renovation, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego La Jolla campus tears down an adjacent house it owns, which was built by Thomas Shepherd.

Rotary Club tree project: The La Jolla Sunrise Rotary Club announces it would like to replace the La Jolla Rec Centers so-called leaning tree with another tree that could be more easily maintained. The board would work with the La Jolla Recreation Advisory Group to facilitate the replacement.

Start time pilot program: La Jolla High Schools Site Governance Team submits a pilot program to move its start time from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. The La Jolla Cluster Association and Site Governance Team had been seeking a later start time for more than a decade.

$840K to charity: La Jolla-based womens philanthropy group Las Patronas doles out $847,545 to 11 major beneficiaries at a luncheon. The amount was raised at the 2018 Jewel Ball, themed Viva La Vida.

Brys priorities: San Diego City Council member Barbara Bry holds her State of the District address Jan. 30, announcing she would focus on dockless bikes, homelessness, short-term rentals, meeting the terms of the Citys Climate Action Plan and promoting the innovation economy in the coming year.

Scooter injury report: UC San Diego and Scripps Health release data pertaining to emergency-room visits resulting from motorized scooter injuries, finding 215 visits from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, 2018.

Bird Rock park problems: Parents report problems with divots and dog waste at Bird Rock Elementary Schools joint-use field, and injuries to students such as twisted ankles.

Stanchions to stay: San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer announces the stanchions that line Playa del Norte would remain in its configuration with no changes, after about a year of debate. Residents would continue to advocate for crosswalks and other changes at local advisory groups this month.

New youth librarian: New La Jolla Youth Services Librarian Dana Sanchez sits down with La Jolla Light to discuss her priorities at her new post, which include reaching more teens and tweens.

Flagpole collaboration: La Jolla Historical Society, La Jolla Parks & Beaches advisory group, local contractors and Park Row residents announce a group collaboration to repair and replace the Union Circle Park flagpole. Installed in the 1940s, the flagpole was deteriorated due to termites, weather and time. The City agreed to replace the pole for $16,000, but the local groups banded together to do so at a reduced cost.

World-famous oceanographer and La Jollan Walter Munk died in February 2019 at age 101. His research about the nature of winds, waves and currents at Scripps Institution of Oceanography earned him the nickname the Einstein of the Oceans.

(Photo by Eduardo Contreras / The/San Diego Union-Tribune)

RIP Walter: Famed oceanographer and La Jolla resident Walter Munk dies Feb. 8 at age 101. Prior to his passing, the La Jolla Shores boardwalk is renamed Walter Munk Way and the Walter Munk Foundations for the Oceans is established.

Map project on hold: With Walter Munks passing, Friends of La Jolla Shores announces The Map project would expand to add more features, and its installation delayed. Previously, the hope was to have a less-elaborate Map installed so Munk could see it in his lifetime. However, without a sense of urgency, the mosaic display (with different shades of blue to show ocean depths and different colored tiles to depict marine life) would be expanded to include fencing, a plaza and interpretive panels.

Start time stumble: While the San Diego Unified School District rejected the pilot program to start La Jolla High School at 8:30 a.m., other possible and later start times are still considered on the table.

Enjoya La Jolla coming: La Jolla Merchants Association renames its La Jolla Nights program Enjoya La Jolla the first of which would be held in May.

LJES renovation plans presented: San Diego Unified School District representatives present plans for a Whole Site Modernization of La Jolla Elementary School. Construction will begin in 2020 and be complete in 2022. As part of the work, new classrooms and administration buildings will be constructed, current classrooms renovated and portable classrooms removed.

Historical changes: La Jolla Historical Society archivist Michael Mishler retires after 10 years, and is succeeded by Dana Hicks.

New LJMS director: Ted DeDee is named the La Jolla Music Societys artistic director five weeks before the new $82 million Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center is set to open. He was selected Feb. 28 by a unanimous vote of the La Jolla Music Society board of directors.

Stand-up downhill champ: La Jolla High School sophomore Nick Broms is named a world titleholder in stand-up downhill skateboarding.

Dennis Wills hosts his 40th and last St. Patricks Day reading of Irish Poetry and Prose at D.G. Wills Bookstore in March. The event had been drawing standing-room only crowds for decades.

(Photo by Corey Levitan)

Irish eyes are weeping: About 200 people attend D.G. Wills Books 40th and last St. Patricks Day Open Reading of Poetry and Prose, which concludes with plenty of reminiscing.

LJCPA against Childrens Pool closure: Ahead of a June California Coastal Commission hearing to decide whether to continue to close Childrens Pool during harbor seal pupping season (Dec. 15 to May 15 annually) for the next decade, the La Jolla Community Planning Association votes to recommend against the continued closure.

At the Bird Rock Community Council meeting on March 5, a resident questioned whether cannabis billboards like this one, on Turquoise Street near the southern end of Bird Rock, violate current laws.

(Photo by Corey Levitan)

Up in spoke: Residents speak out at the Bird Rock Community Council meeting with concerns about marijuana billboards that have sprung up near the southern end of Bird Rock, with some arguing they are too close to area schools.

LJCPA bylaw change: La Jolla Community Planning Association general members vote to approve a change in bylaws that addresses its recusal policy (applicants that are also board members must leave the table at which other trustees sit, but no longer have to leave the room).

Historicity overturned: The San Diego City Council overturns the historic designation of the Edgar and Carrie Coleman property at 7510 Draper Ave. The San Diego Historical Resources Board designated the house historic in 2016, citing homeowner Edger Colemans efforts as a black pioneer and entrepreneur in La Jolla in the 1940s and 1950s.

Science success: Three All Hallows Academy students each win first place in their categories at the Greater San Diego County Science and Engineering Fair, and proceed to State Championships with their projects. They are Sholeh Mozaffari, Summer Stys and Julia DeAndrade.

MAD in City budget: In preparation for San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconers 2020 budget release, a City spokesperson announces funds for the La Jolla Maintenance Assessment District (MAD) will be on it. Between City contributions and approximately $87-per-year assessments, the MAD would generate about half a million dollars a year to enhance existing City services such as trash pick-up, and implement capital improvement projects.

La Jolla Country Day Schools boys basketball team wins the CIF state Division III state championship.

(Courtesy of Jeff Hutzler)

State champs: La Jolla Country Day Schools boys basketball team wins the CIF Division III state championship March 8, after defeating San Francisco University 67-39.

Bye, Briley: La Jolla Library branch manager Shaun Briley announces he is leaving the 7555 Draper Ave. library to become the City of Coronados library director. In March, the Library also elects a new board and president, Linda Dowley.

Woman of Distinction: La Jolla resident Linda Tu is named a Woman of Distinction by Assembly member Todd Gloria for her civic activism, and involvement with the San Diego Alliance for Asian Pacific Islander Americans.

New alter-ation: St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church dedicates a James Hubbell-designed altar frontage at its 724 Prospect St. church on March 24.

Senate Bill talks: La Jollans are introduced to Senate Bills 330 and 50, when presentations are made at local community planning groups. The fear was originally that these bills could suspend the 30-foot coastal height limit on new development, in an effort to increase housing availability.

Parking plan nixed: A discounted parking plan for Village employees is discontinued by the Coastal Access and Parking Board.

Overlook inventory submitted: An inventory of La Jollas coastal overlooks, including improvements that could be made to them, is submitted to the La Jolla Parks & Beaches advisory group for its blessing before being submitted to the City. While some praised the work, others called the suggested repairs a private property rights issue. The board reviewed the inventory in March, but did not vote on it.

The $82 million, 49,200-square-foot Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center opens in April 2019 on Fay Avenue in the Village of La Jolla as a special-events facility and new home for La Jolla Music Society. It also received an Orchid Award that honors the best in San Diego architecture.

(Photo by Darren Bradley for The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Grand opening: The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center opens at 7600 Fay Ave. on April 5, to house the La Jolla Music Society. It contains a 500-seat concert hall, a 2,000 square foot flexible performance space, a generous meeting/reception room, a large central courtyard and new home for La Jolla Music Society.

New pedestrian island planned: Bird Rock Community Council hears that a refuge island for pedestrians is coming to La Jolla Boulevard at Mira Monte immediately fronting the La Jolla United Methodist Church.

New LJCPA chair: Tony Crisafi is appointed chair of the La Jolla Community Planning Association.

Rec Center director: San Diego native Jesse DeLille takes the reigns as the new La Jolla Recreation Center director. The lifelong sports nut says he would like to increase athletic programming for children and teens.

Concours car show: The La Jolla Concours dElegance car show draws hundreds of classic-car enthusiasts to Scripps Park April 12-14. Best in Show goes to a 1935 Duesenberg Gurney Nutting, owned by a family in Newport Beach.

Van life forum: La Jolla Town Council holds a forum on homelessness and the process of van-living, in which people sleep in their cars, following the City of San Diego recent repeal of a ban on van-living. Calling it a public-safety issue, the Town Council votes to protest the Citys recent decision.

Vehicles including a school bus descend down Nautilus Street toward Muirlands Middle School at 8:15 a.m. in September 2019. While the new time has reportedly been well received by students who live in La Jolla, the students who are bused in face a different start to their days. The later departure time puts the buses in more commuter traffic than when school started at 7:25 and 7:15 a.m., and some have been arriving close to the bell.

(Photo by Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

Pilot program progress: La Jolla High School and Muirlands Middle School are granted a scheduling change to start the 2019-2020 school year at 8:35, following years of attempts to have the schools start later. The later start time is part of a pilot program, but should it prove successful, could become permanent.

Back to the drawing board: La Jolla Coastal Access and Parking Board reconvenes after more than a year of not meeting. The board is tasked with finding short-term parking solutions in The Village, and creating a shuttle program to move people around The Village. The latter is per the terms of a memorandum of understanding that was written in the 1970s.

Renderings presented during the Feb. 27, 2019 La Jolla Parks & Beaches meeting, show the look planned for the La Jolla Cove Pavilion (restrooms and showers).

(Courtesy Photo)

Comfort station funding: San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer issues his 2020 draft budget, and includes funding for the Scripps Park Pavilion (restroom facility) project, the La Jolla View reservoir replacement project, the new UC San Diego fire station construction, and other smaller and continuing projects.

Cove stench returns: The infamous Cove Stench returns, with the City of San Diego reporting the smell is emanating from Alligator Point, where sea lions gather. The smell is from the waste of birds and sea lions, and combated only with a microbial agent the City applies three times monthly.

Dockless scooter regulations: The San Diego City Council passes new regulations for dockless scooters and bikes, after hours of public testimony. Among the new regulations, the ordinance calls for companies to limit speeds, have the vehicles staged in corrals on the street, pay a permit fee and more.

New LJES principal: Stephanie Hasselbrink is named the new La Jolla Elementary School principal. She served as interim principal following the departure of Donna Tripi, and is formally appointed April 26.

5,000 runners: The Kiwanis Club of La Jollas half marathon from Del Mar to La Jolla has 5,000 participants on April 28. Adam Dailey of La Jolla wins the race.

Flagpole work begins: The 1940s Union Circle Park flagpole is taken down, so refurbishing work can begin, in a community effort that brought together several local groups in February.

Vendor in the grass: La Jolla Parks & Beaches advisory group decides to take up Senate Bill 946, which legalizes sidewalk vending, and draft local regulations to address the proliferation of T-shirt and other vendors in La Jollas parks.

Beachgoers standing behind a barrier rope observe seals at Childrens Pool in La Jolla.

(Photo by Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

National landmark? La Jolla resident Diane Kane submits a nomination form to list La Jollas Childrens Pool on the National Register of Historic Places, after two laborious years of research and work. Should the 1931 landmark be listed, any changes or repairs to the seawall would need to meet the Secretary of Interior standards, rather than the City standards, and keep that property looking like we all enjoy it, Kane says.

Senate Bill updates: It comes to light that under Senate Bill 330, the San Diego City Council would have the authority to overturn the 30-foot coastal height limit in La Jolla on a project-by-project basis.

Village shuttle? During a public forum on transportation held at the La Jolla Town Council meeting May 9, residents and board members asks that when the Blue Line Trolley extension is complete and service begins in 2021 a shuttle to The Village be implemented.

Results are in: A La Jolla Merchants Association-commissioned study asking what brings tourists to La Jolla finds that the top two reasons are scenic beauty/nature and its dining. The shocking discovery is that zero percent said they considered La Jolla to be a cultural destination.

Retaining wall thumbs-down: At its May 21 meeting, La Jollas Development Permit Review committee voted against a City-requested Substantial Conformance Review for a short wall built at Childrens Pool. Permitters disagree with the Citys assertion that the wall is necessary and that the project conforms to the terms of a permit issued in 2012.

Tree hazard: Although the City is hesitant to remove trees from the La Jolla Rec Center grounds, an arborist tells the La Jolla Recreation Advisory Group some of the trees are at risk of breaking or falling, posing a hazard.

The City reviews and attempts to mediate the proliferation of stuck trucks on Torrey Pines Road turning onto Hillside Drive by adding several warning no trucks signs with flashing lights.

(Photo by Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

Stuck trucks re-emerge: As La Jollans investigate the persistence of stuck trucks turning onto the steep-inclined Hillside Drive at Torrey Pines Road , the La Jolla Community Planning Association ad hoc committee on Hillside Drive finds that a GPS app directs truck drivers to use Hillside, and that many are unaware that they will get stuck. Further, a recent street repair changed the angle of the base of the street, which increases the chances of a truck getting stuck.

Yet Another Stuck Truck La Jolla Light reader Carl Doughty supplies this photo and writes: Despite flashing warnings and signs along both lanes of Torrey Pines Road advising truck drivers not to attempt turning onto Hillside Drive, this truck was spotted the morning of Nov. 11, 2019 doing just that.

(Photo by Carl Doughty)

Idea Lab opens: La Jolla Library opens a first-of-its-kind Idea Lab on May 25 in what was once its computer lab. The new Idea Lab includes an open-to-the-public bio lab, 3D printing lab, computers and meeting space for workshops.

Dream Team at Stella Maris: Father Patrick Mulcahy is appointed to lead Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church and Francie Moss is named principal of the churchs sister-school Stella Maris Academy, in what is called a dream team.

Mary, Star of the Sea pastor Patrick Mulcahy and Stella Maris Academy principal Francie Moss

(Photo by Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

Overlooks inventory adopted: La Jolla Parks & Beaches, after months of debate, votes to adopt the heavily edited coastal overlooks inventory submitted earlier in the year. It was submitted to the City, so it could make suggested repairs as funding becomes available.

So close, Sarah! Season 10 of FOX-TVs show MasterChef premieres with La Jolla real estate agent Sarah Faherty as contestant. She makes it all the way to the top, finishing as the runner-up.

Sarah Faherty waves to the crowd as she begins the Season 10 finale of MasterChef in which she is one of three finalists competing for the $250,000 grand prize.

(Courtesy of MasterChef)

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La Jolla's 2019 in Review: A year of new leaders, venues, solutions - La Jolla Light

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Posted By admin on December 23, 2019

Genie Milgrom, pictured in 2013, stands in the entryway of her Miami home wrapped in a long family tree, filled with the names of 22 generations of grandmothers. Raised Catholic, Milgrom traced her family's hidden Jewish roots with the help of a trove of ancient family recipes written down by the women of her family over generations. Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images hide caption

Genie Milgrom, pictured in 2013, stands in the entryway of her Miami home wrapped in a long family tree, filled with the names of 22 generations of grandmothers. Raised Catholic, Milgrom traced her family's hidden Jewish roots with the help of a trove of ancient family recipes written down by the women of her family over generations.

With the holidays approaching, it's the time of year for families to come together and share their traditions. But which traditions?

In a trove of old family recipes, Genie Milgrom found clues that led her to Inquisition-era Spain and her family's hidden Jewish heritage. Milgrom is a Cuban-American, now 65, who was raised a devout Catholic. Several years ago, when her Mom became ill, Milgrom went through her things and found a collection of recipes that had been recorded and handed down by generations of aunts and grandmothers. Some of the recipes traced all the way back to Inquisition-era Spain and Portugal.

At her home in Miami, Milgrom pulls some of the recipes from a shelf. Many are written on yellowed paper in faded ink. "You can see old handwriting and little snippets of paper," she says. "So this was just pages and pages and hundreds of these. ... Some are just crumbling."

As a girl, Milgrom says her maternal grandmother taught her some of the family's food customs. Many years later, she realized they revealed their secret Jewish roots.

"In the Jewish dietary laws, we're not allowed to consume any blood," she says. "So she taught me how to check for blood in the eggs. You never pour them directly into a recipe."

Milgrom says her grandmother also insisted she learn another family custom that involved burning a small bit of bread dough in the oven. She says, "Jewish women, when they make the bread for Friday nights, they take a little bit of the dough and they burn it like an offering and say a blessing in the oven. And you always have to have five pounds of flour to do this." Her grandmother, she says, didn't teach her to say a blessing. "But she taught me to always bake with five pounds and to always take a little bit and burn it in the back of the oven."

Milgrom has a big personality, short black hair, a permanent smile, and she's constantly in motion. On this day, she has prepared one of the most unusual recipes she uncovered, a sugary dessert called "chuletas," the Spanish word for pork chops.

"It's designed to look like a pork chop," Milgrom explains, "but it's really made from bread and milk." Basically, it's French toast that's fried in the shape of a pork chop and dressed up with tomato jam and pimentos.

Among the family recipes handed down to Milgrom is chuletas, the Spanish word for pork chops. Made from bread and milk, the dish is basically French toast that's been fried in the shape of a pork chop and dressed up with tomato jam and pimentos. Crypto-Jews would have eaten it so that their Catholic neighbors and employees would not suspect they still kept their faith in secret. Greg Allen/NPR hide caption

Among the family recipes handed down to Milgrom is chuletas, the Spanish word for pork chops. Made from bread and milk, the dish is basically French toast that's been fried in the shape of a pork chop and dressed up with tomato jam and pimentos. Crypto-Jews would have eaten it so that their Catholic neighbors and employees would not suspect they still kept their faith in secret.

Jewish dietary laws forbid the consumption of pork, so these chuletas were eaten as a sort of cover, she explains. "It was the kind of thing that the crypto-Jews had to be eating to disguise to their neighbors and to the people who worked for them that they were [not, in fact,] eating pork." In 15th century Portugal and Spain and later, Milgrom says Jews would burn a pork chop in the fire so that their homes smelled like pork while they ate these chuletas.

Those recipes helped confirm something she'd long suspected that she was descended from Jews who were forced to convert to Catholicism more than 500 years ago during the Inquisition. Some of these converts, called crypto-Jews, secretly continued to adhere to Judaism.

From the time she was very young, Milgrom says she never felt like she fit in. She attended Catholic schools and a Catholic university and married young. But throughout her life, she always felt drawn to the Jewish faith. When her marriage ended after 20 years, she decided to convert to Judaism. "I have always felt Jewish," she says. "Whether its epigenetics, it's in my head, it's in my brain, it's in my soul not getting religious about this, whatever it is, I am where I belong right now."

Milgrom says her mother and others in her family weren't happy when she decided to convert. But a turning point came when her grandmother died. Her mother insisted on burying her the very next day. It was a family custom she said, consistent with Jewish tradition but unusual for Catholics.

After the burial, Milgrom says her mother gave her a box that her grandmother had wanted her to have. "I opened the box and it was an earring with a Star of David in it and a hamsa, which is an artifact that we wear that is like the Hand of God," Milgrom says, "That is what started me deep into searching my genealogy because in death, she sent me the message, we were Jews."

Milgrom has written several books about her journey. Her latest is a cookbook, Recipes of My 15 Grandmothers. Her research took her to her family's ancestral village, Fermoselle, on the border between Spain and Portugal. Working with local historians there, she found evidence that until the Inquisition, the town had been Jewish.

But it was in the Inquisition records housed in Lisbon that she found what she was looking for. In the 16th and 17th generations on her mother's side, the records showed her grandmothers were Jewish. "I finally succeeded in going back 22 generations," Milgrom says. Through her research, she's traced her Jewish roots back to 1405 on her maternal lineage and back even further, to 1110, on her father's side.

She says the records show 45 of her relatives were actually burned at the stake for being Jews. It's a reminder of why her family hid their Jewish customs and centuries later, were still reluctant to talk about them. Milgrom, however, does talk about her heritage and travels around the world speaking about what it means to be a crypto-Jew.

At the launch of her new cookbook at the Jewish Museum of Florida in Miami Beach, she was introduced by Tudor Parfitt, a professor of Jewish studies at Florida International University. Parfitt says especially in Latin America, there's a growing number of people who believe they have Jewish ancestry.

"Genie's a very good example of the phenomenon," he says. "But the phenomenon is very widespread and involves perhaps hundreds of thousands or millions of people."

There are communities with crypto-Judaic roots throughout Latin America. Milgrom, who's active on social media, says she receives between 200 and 400 emails every month from people around the world who are investigating their Jewish roots. Not everyone wants to convert to Judaism, she says; many just want to know their family's history.

"To me, this is not really too much about changing the religion." She says it's more about "righting a historical wrong and being able to say, 'OK, my ancestors were Jewish.' And a lot of people are proud of that."

Finding your Jewish roots is difficult, Milgrom says, because so much of crypto-Jewish history was deliberately erased, often by the families themselves. That's why the recipes are so special, she says. "When I saw them, I said, 'If these grandmothers carried these around for centuries, then it's my duty to honor the fact that they found that it was a treasure to save."

In addition to her new cookbook, Genie Milgrom is part of a group working to digitize the records of Inquisition tribunals in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Peru and other countries. She hopes making those records available on the Internet will help others trace their family roots and uncover five centuries of suppressed Jewish history.

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Trove Of Recipes Dating Back To Inquisition Reveals A Family's Secret Jewish Roots - NPR

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Posted By admin on December 23, 2019

President Trumps executive order on Dec. 11 does not mention Zionism or anti-Zionism, Israel or Palestine. Yet it has produced a heated debate about all four issues, in particular the relationship between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. Much of this debate is taking place as if we have an agreed-upon understanding of these terms and how they are interrelated. It would be worthwhile to reflect on these issues in order to clarify the questions facing us today.

At its core, Zionism the ideology, political movement, and settlement project born in late 19th century Central Eastern Europe regarded Jews as a national group in need of an independent homeland or state of their own in which they would be secure from persecution. That homeland was to be their old-new ancestral territory: the historic land of Israel, which was then the Arab-inhabited land of Palestine.

Understanding Zionism, as well as global attitudes toward it, requires looking at the historical context in which it emerged, with three crucial dimensions. The first was the emergence of ethno-nationalism in the declining land-based empires where most Jews lived at the time the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman empires that saw minority groups seeking independence from their imperial overlords. The second was the final stages of colonial expansion of the maritime empires Britain and France in particular which saw large parts of Asia and Africa fall under foreign domination. The third, which developed later, was the decolonization of the old empires domains and the rise of new forms of imperial rule, leading to the Cold War and its aftermath.

In its early decades, Zionism failed to capture the allegiance of most Jews. Some of them publicly adopted anti-Zionist positions and rejected the call for a territorial concentration of Jews in their own state. These positions were variously motivated by religious, leftist, and liberal world views.

The majority of Jews were not actively opposed to Zionism but did not follow it either ideologically or practically. Instead they favored other options: integration as equals in their countries of residence (on an individual or group basis); assimilation into the dominant cultures; or immigration to greener pastures where Jews could live free of old European prejudices against them, such as in North America, South America, and South Africa.

In contrast to these courses of action, Zionism called on Jews worldwide to settle in Palestine. Some did so during the first stages of the Zionist movement, but not necessarily due to ideological commitment. In fact, many Jewish immigrants moved and settled there under duress and lack of better options most notably Polish Jews in the 1920s and German Jews in the 1930s, whose route to the West was blocked by restrictive legislation.

Kibbutz members march in a 1951 ceremony. ( /CC BY 2.5)

Still, hundreds of thousands of Jews moved to Palestine, increasing the local Jewish population from 50,000 at the end of World War I in 1918, to 450,000 on the eve of World War II in 1939. It was not only the growing numbers that mattered: during that period, Jews bought large swathes of land, established dozens of new urban and rural settlements, and built extensive economic and institutional infrastructure under the leadership of Zionist agencies.

Naturally, Palestinian Arabs opposed the Zionist-led immigration, land acquisition, and political development in their land from the movements inception. However, they had little interest in Zionism as an ideology of Jewish nationhood and identity: the focus of the Palestinian national movement has always been on the practical consequences of Zionist settlement as it affected them directly. That it was carried out by Jews specifically was of very limited concern, and that remains the case today. Some negative attitudes toward Jews may have emerged as a result of confrontation with Zionism, but these were an outcome, not a cause, of resistance to a political project seen as aiming to displace and replace them.

In the 1940s, following World War II and the Holocaust, the founding principle of Zionism the need for a safe homeland or state for Jews gained widespread international support and became a majority position among Jews. Even then, most of those who migrated to the new State of Israel continued to do so for lack of better options, particularly due to physical displacement and difficult political conditions in post-war Eastern Europe, and a growing sense of insecurity and political exclusion in the Middle East and North Africa. Ideological commitment still played a minor role in this process. The perception of Zionism as providing a refuge for Jews in desperate circumstances, and doing whatever it took to ensure their survival, eventually became cemented in the minds of Jews themselves and the wider world.

Nevertheless, this form of Jewish survival exacted a heavy price. Israel was built on the ruins of Palestinian Arab society, and its creation resulted in their large-scale ethnic cleansing, fragmentation, and exile. Opposition to Israel thus became widespread in the Arab and Islamic worlds. Some of that opposition was occasionally expressed in anti-Semitic discourse and actions, but was almost invariably an outcome of the outrage over the dispossession of Palestinians, not its cause. This largely remains the case to this day.

Globally, Zionism has simultaneously been viewed as a form of national self-determination and as a form of colonial rule over the lands indigenous people. For Palestinians, Zionism means dispossession and disenfranchisement; for most Jews, it means supporting the notion of a Jewish state. The precise implications of the states Jewish character, its relation to Judaism as a religion, its practical consequences for Jewish and non-Jewish citizens alike, and its boundaries and policies, are all internally contested. There is no unified Zionist position on these matters, and there never has been.

Palmach troops overseeing the displacement of Palestinians from the central city of Ramlah in July, 1948. (Palmach Archive)

Against this backdrop, for most solidarity activists today, anti-Zionism means rejecting the notion of Israel as an exclusive Jewish state in which Palestinians are subjected to an inferior position or are excluded altogether. In practice, anti-Zionism means support for equality, justice, and redress for Palestinians living as second-class citizens, occupied subjects, or stateless refugees. It means supporting the right of Jews to live as equals in Israel-Palestine, and any other place of residence, without special privileges or liabilities. This goes beyond opposition to specific policies, such as the 1967 occupation or the siege on Gaza, which does not require an anti-Zionist position.

The key contestations in the internal Jewish debate over Zionism in the pre-1948 period are of much interest to academics. However, they have become marginalized in the public discourse due to many activists focus on Israeli policies alone. Those questions remain pertinent today: are Jews a nation, ethnicity, religion, or a combination of all? Do they need a state of their own? Is the diaspora an anomaly or a permanent, perhaps desirable, feature of Jewish existence?

In this context of solidarity and struggle, the division between liberal and radical perspectives hinges on the question of the Jewish state, which tends to separate Zionists from anti-Zionists. But that should not be an obstacle to mobilizing around shared practical concerns: opposition to the 1967 occupation and settlement policies, equality for Palestinian citizens, and so on. The rule of thumb here is to build a broad front based on what we have in common, while campaigning separately to different audiences on issues that divide us. The question of Zionism, as vital as it is, must not become a purity test that weakens solidarity where it can be built.

One way of ensuring this is the adoption of plain strategic language. The forces that implement the siege on Gaza, dispossess people of their land on both sides of the Green Line, and maintain Palestinians under occupation, are the State of Israel and its military and civilian agencies. They are aided and abetted by apologists (Jews and non-Jews alike) who act as hasbara agents overseas. It is not the broadly-labeled Zionists (let alone the Zios) who do all that. Rather, it is a concrete set of forces affiliated in various ways to the Israeli state apparatus.

The more we target concrete individuals, institutions, and policies, and avoid using vague and obfuscating terms, the better we can focus solidarity and resistance efforts, and effectively counter accusations of anti-Semitism as weapons used against the movement to end Israeli apartheid, and to achieve justice and equality for all.

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Anti-Zionism is about correcting historical wrongs, not encouraging anti-Semitism - +972 Magazine

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Posted By admin on December 23, 2019

One of the main reasons Labour lost the election in the UK was a well-orchestrated campaign of character assassination against Jeremy Corbyn, who was ratedTop Anti-Semite of 2019 by the Wiesenthal Center(ahead ofactual terrorists!). There is nothing new in this. It is a small part of the worldwide offensive whose victims include many Jews critical of Israeli politics such as the propagandist for Hamas Gideon Levy, who wrote inHaaretzon December 8:

Laws labeling anti-Zionism as anti-Semitism and the anti-occupation movement as anti-Semitic, are passed with overwhelming majorities. Now they are playing into the hands of Israel and the Jewish establishment, but they are liable to ignite anti-Semitism when questions arise about the extent of their meddling.

Levy predicts that the precipitous conflation of the critique of Israeli politics with anti-Semitismwill give rise to a new wave of anti-Semitism. How? In order to ground its Zionist politics, the state of Israel is making a catastrophic mistake: it decided todownplay the so-called old anti-Semitism, focusing instead on the new and allegedly progressive anti-Semitism masked as the critique of the Zionist politics of the state of Israel.

Along these lines, Bernard Henri-Lvy (in hisThe Left in Dark Times) recently claimed that the anti-Semitism of the 21st century will be progressive or there will be none. Brought to the end, this thesis compels us to turn around the old Marxist interpretation of anti-Semitism as a displaced anti-capitalism (instead of blaming the capitalist system, the rage is focused on a specific ethnic group accused of corrupting the system): for Henri-Lvy and his partisans, todays anti-capitalism is a disguised form of anti-Semitism.

Donald Trump recently used anti-Semitic stereotypes to characterize Jews as driven by money and insufficiently loyal to Israel. The title of theVanity Fairreport says it all: Trump Goes Full Anti-Semite In Room Full Of Jewish People and the enigma is: why do many Zionists nonetheless respond positively to Trumps message?There is only one consistent answer: because Zionism itself in some sense became anti-Semitic.Here is the gist of what Trump said, according toVanity Fair:

Speaking at the Israeli American Council in Hollywood, Florida, on Saturday night, Trump hit all of his favorite anti-Semitic tropes before a room full of Jewish people. He started off by once again invoking the age-old clich about dual loyalty, saying there are Jews who dont love Israel enough. After that warm-up he dove right into the stereotype about Jews and money, telling the group: A lot of you are in the real estate business, because I know you very well. Youre brutal killers, not nice people at all, he said. But you have to vote for me you have no choice. Youre not gonna vote for Pocahontas, I can tell you that. Youre not gonna vote for the wealth tax. Yeah, lets take 100 percent of your wealth away! He continued: Some of you dont like me. Some of you I dont like at all, actually. And youre going to be my biggest supporters because youre going to be out of business in about 15 minutes if they get it. So I dont have to spend a lot of time on that.

The line of thought cannot be clearer: you are Jews and, as such, you only care about money, and you care about your money more than about your country, so you dont like me and I dont like you, but you will have to vote for me so that you will not lose your money.

When, at this years Hanukkah party, Trump signed the controversial executive order on anti-Semitism, John Hagee was there, the founder and national chairman of the Christian-Zionist organization Christians United for Israel. Hagee sees the Kyoto Protocol as a conspiracy aimed at manipulating the US economy; in his bestselling novelJerusalem Countdown, the antichrist is the head of the European Union, Hagee has made statements that definitely sound anti-Semitic: he has blamed the Holocaust on Jews themselves; he has stated that Hitlers persecution was a divine plan to lead Jews to form the modern state of Israel; he calls liberal Jews poisoned and spiritually blind; he admits that that the preemptive nuclear attack on Iran that he favors will lead to the deaths of most Jews in Israel. (As a curiosity, he claims inJerusalem CountdownHitler was born from a lineage of accursed, genocidally murderous half-breed Jews. With friends like these, Israel really doesnt need enemies.

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The thin line between Zionism and anti-Semitism - The Spectator USA

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Posted By admin on December 23, 2019

The American Zionist Movement (AZM), today launched a video explaining how American Jews can help influence the deepening connection between Israel the Diaspora.The video explains the impact of the upcoming US election for the 38th World Zionist Congress, the parliament of the Jewish people, which will convene in Jerusalem in October 2020.

From January 21 through March 11, 2020, American residents who are Jewish and 18 or older will be eligible to vote for United States delegates to the World Zionist Congress who will join delegates from Israel and around the world , to make decisions regarding the priorities of the World Zionist Organization, Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Agency for Israel, and the allocation of nearly $1 billion annually in support for Israel and world Jewry.

More than a dozen slates, comprised of over 1,800 candidates, will vie for 152 American seats for the 38thWorld Zionist Congress in an election to be conducted in early 2020 organized and facilitated by AZM. The election will be primarily online, with an option for mail-in ballots.

This video narrates the message that AZM is trying to portray of how powerful each voice can be in this historic election, said Herbert Block, Executive Director of the American Zionist Movement. Every American Jew over 18 has the opportunity to vote for their voice in Israel, and in turn, strengthen Zionism and world Jewry.

Since the 2015 election, interest has grown, and a record number of groups expressed interest in participating in the 2020 elections. The 13 slates running in the 2020 World Zionist Congress elections are, in ballot order:

To be eligible to vote in the US Elections to the 38th World Zionist Congress, you must:

Registration and voting will open on January 21, 2020. The fee to register and vote is $7.50, or $5 for those 18-25, which goes to cover the operating costs of the election.

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Vote in the World Zionist Congress Election - Arutz Sheva

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Posted By admin on December 23, 2019

The Herzl School of Excellence in Chicago, Illinois, was founded by Jews in 1914, and named after the founding father of Zionism, Theodor Herzl. Since then, the Jews have mostly moved north, and the school is largely attended by African-American students.However, the school's connection to Herzl is still present, including the motto "Visionary of the Jewish State" that appears on school sweatshirts and sports team uniforms. In addition, students take a course dealing with Herzl, and members of the city's Jewish community regularly give students Christmas gifts.This connection was the reason why Gusti Yehoshua-Braverman, head of the Department of Diaspora Affairs at the World Zionist Organization (WZO), came to the school on an official visit.Coming to the school, Yehoshua-Braverman gave a pin to school principal Tamara Davis a replica of the original pin worn by the delegates to the First Zionist Congress in Basel.Davis openly began to tear up upon receiving the pin, and proceeded to praise the school's namesake."Herzl is an inspirational entrepreneur," she said. "Every meeting with Israelis and every Zionist education session illustrates to the students how change can be achieved in the world. I'm proud that even my own name has a link with Zionism and Judaism, and it is a privilege to be named after the palm tree (tamar), which is the only tree that can survive in the desert." Yehoshua-Braverman spoke about the connection and similarities between Herzl and a later ideological leader that fought for the dream of equality between all races Martin Luther King Jr.During the visit, the WZO representatives were moved by how knowledgeable the student body was about Israel."It is moving and amazing to see that even outside the Jewish communities, there is admiration and respect for Herzl, including the recognition that he was an inspirational leader of international stature," Yehoshua-Braverman said.

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The legacy of Theodor Herzl lives on in Chicago school - The Jerusalem Post

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