Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on December 3, 2019

Documentary "Hate Among Us" connects the stories of the current victims and survivors of ... [+] anti-Semitism to those of the Holocaust.

In 2017, executive producers David McKenzie, Dean Cain, Montel Williams and Sergey Sarkisov tackled a subject that to this day is not fully acknowledged, the Armenian Genocide (also known as the Armenian Holocaust), in documentary Architects of Denial. Most historians call this event a genocide: a premeditated and systematic campaign to exterminate an entire people.An estimated 1.5 million Christian citizens, most of them Armenian, were impacted from approximately 1914 to 1923. Yet, the Turkish government still does not acknowledge the scope of these events.

Architects of Denial has been adapted into television special Denial.

In October of this year, McKenzie, alongside Cain, Williams and Sarkisov, launched the annual Impact Humanity Television and Film Festival (IHTFF) at the Moscow Cinema in Yerevan, Armenia to raise awareness on the issues related to the global humanitarian crisis. The gathering showcases the key television shows, the feature films and the documentaries that educate, inform and help prevent acts of inhumanity around the world. The goal is to offer this festival in other places to raise awareness of human rights through storytelling.

Now, the quartet McKenzie, Cain, Williams and Sarkisov have executive produced documentary Hate Among Us, which shines the spotlight on anti-Semitism at present worldwide. It opened on Friday, Nov. 29 at two theaters: Cinema Village in New York City and Laemmle Town Center in Encino, California.

All these years after the Holocaust and the anger and the hostility that prevails against the Jewish community is still visible at alarming rates, warned filmmaker David McKenzie in an interview for Forbes.com. We must educate the public about what is happening, and we must, both as a community and as a society, take a stance. We need to necessitate change. And we need to do it now.

Dean Cain and Montel Williams actually have very different political viewpoints, and they are both not even Jewish, he noted. But they are also committed about stopping anti-Semitism. This film is an important step forward. It needs to be seen.

Hate Among Us

Distributed by Associated Television International (ATI), documentary Hate Among Us reflects on the persecution and the ultimate murder of an estimated six million European Jews (as well as millions of others, including Gypsies and homosexuals) by the Nazi regime and its collaborators under the leadership of Adolph Hitler from 1941 to 1945. Exhibiting present day violence against the Jewish faith, Hate Among Us takes us from different neighborhoods in Europe (including a Kosher grocery in Eastern Paris, where four people were killed; and the armed guards needed outside synagogues throughout Germany on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement) to streets in the United States. Featured in the film is news coverage of The Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the victim of a mass shooting in October 2018 that resulted in the death of 11 people.

We really thought we were past this in this country, but here it is again, said Montel Williams, following a scene where students at high schools in Newport Harbor and Costa Mesa, California posted pictures on social media highlighting a drinking game set up with cups designed as a swastika.

I open up my computer to check the news this morning and I see that this is happening 20 miles from my house, noted Dean Cain in the documentary in reference to flyers with Nazi swastikas posted at a school days after Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss shared her firsthand horrors with students who had posted anti-Sematic photographs.

Said Schloss, who is the stepsister of Anne Frank, one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and the author of the book After Auschwitz: When I heard about this incident here I was shocked, that in 2019, in a well-educated town and in a very highly-educated school, that incidents like this are still happening.

More recently, Syracuse University in November 2019 suspended students in connection with a string of racist and anti-Semitic incidents. There were 12 reported occurrences of racist and anti-Semitic graffiti found on or near the universitys campus.

In the 1930s, the world ignored all the early signs of anti-Semitism. Afterwards, we look back in hindsight and wondered why we didnt act before it exploded, said Montel Williams in the film. The signs are there again. Why are these signs repeating themselves?

Thats when we knew we had to make this documentary, he added. When a group gets singled-out and dehumanized, innocent people die.

The Rise of Anti-Semitism

Many people hoped and believed and thought that after the Holocaust anti-Semitism would go away, noted Dr. Robert Rozett, Director of the Yad Vashem Libraries in the film. Given the force of this horrible tragedy, that were perpetrated by human beings on other human beings, perpetrated by people who hated Jews, anti-Semitism was, again, at the heart of it. People thought they would see this and it wouldwellgo away. It was politically incorrect for a long time to express anti-Semitism in a great many places around the world. But that started changing again in the 2000s.

According to Montel Williams, anti-Semitic incidents were up by 86 percent in the United States in 2017. Dean Cain, meanwhile, cites a staggering 48 percent of the 1.4 million Jews currently living in Europe who have considered moving because of anti-Semitism.

"History tells us that anti-Semitism is a form of bigotry that can easily escalate from rhetoric to violence, he said. In showing audiences what this rising tide of anti-Semitism really looks like, I hope we can contribute to an equally dramatic decline in this dangerous ideology of hate."

Laura McKenzie, host of syndicated weekly Laura McKenzies Traveler and another executive producer on Hate Among Us, talks about the advancement of anti-Semitism, in particular, throughout Europe.

Im seeing a steady increase in places like Belgium, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Spain, Scandinaviaeverywhere, she said. I have a lot of Jewish friends in Europe. Now, its reached the point where those who have not already moved are scared. They have to hide any signs they are Jewish when they are in public. Just like they did in the 1930s, people are leaving their homes out of fear.

Some Recent Statistics

In 2017, more than 100 anti-Semitic incidents per month were recorded in the UK. In 2018, a reported 1,646 hate crimes against Jews were committed in Germany. The latter was an increase of 10 percent from one year earlier. In 2019, former vice president Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate, expressed concern on social media. I am deeply disturbed by the news coming out of my law school alma mater, Syracuse University, Biden wrote on Twitter. We are truly in a battle for the soul of this nation, and it requires all of us to stand up together as a country against racism and bigotry.

With footage of writer Andrew Anglin, who pens website The Daily Stormer, which advocates the genocide of Jews; to recollections about the victims of anti-Semitism, as well as the survivors of it, Hate Among Us is truly terrifying to digest because of this documentation of what could be the beginning of a modern day Holocaust. Most importantly, the film raises awareness, in tremendous detail, of something that must be snuffed out now before it escalates any further.

A lot of people have asked me why Im involved in this documentary. They ask, are you Jewish? And I say, no, I am not Jewish, and neither are Dean and Montel. And, that is actually why I am so proud of them, said Laura McKenzie. We believe that now, everyone, whether they are Jewish or not, needs to take a stance against anti-Semitism.

One way to do that is to watch Hate Among Us, which is a pivotal step. Given the rise of streaming services, an outlet like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon or Apple TV+ would be the ideal platform to showcase it. We all need to see this film.

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Documentary Hate Among Us Sheds Light on the Rise of Anti-Semitism in the World - Forbes

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Posted By admin on December 2, 2019

Moshe Holtzberg, orphaned in the Mumbai Chabad center massacre that took the lives of his parents 11 years ago this week, was called to the Torah for the first time in his home town of Afula, Israel, on Shabbat and celebrated his bar mitzvah Sunday evening at a gala affair in Kfar Chabad, surrounded by friends and family, including the grandparents who raised him and the nanny who saved his life.

During the celebration, Moshe delivered the classic Chassidic discourse recited at Chabad bar mitzvahs, flanked by his grandparents, who were then hoisted onto the shoulders, along with Moshe, of members of the cheering crowd. Later, smiling ear to ear, Moshe danced to the musical performance of Simche Friedman and was serenaded soulfully by entertainers Motty Steinmetz, Ishay Ribo and Avraham Fried.

Later in the evening, a stirring video was played showing Moshe at the gravesites of his parents on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, voicing a pledge to them to walk in their footsteps.

The couple, Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were murdered along with four of their guests at the Nariman (Chabad) House they directed in terrorist attacks that swept through Mumbai beginning Nov. 26, 2008. More than 170 people in all were killed in the widely publicized attacks that spanned several locations in the city. The bullet-ridden and otherwise thoroughly ravaged multi-story Chabad institution was refurbished and then reopened in 2014 by Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries Rabbi Israel and Chaya Kozlovsky in their predecessors memory.

Relatives were keeping the festivities mostly private, but made a public request for pictures and stories of the many children who were named for Gabi and Rivky in the aftermath of their demise, and planned to present a bound volume to Moshe, containing what they receive, as a bar mitzvah gift. The organizers really appreciate participants cooperation and wish nachas [pleasure] and only joy to all, the family said in a statement.

Moshe has grown up with more visibility than most boys his age due to the widely publicized deaths of his parents in the line of duty and the dramatic story of his own rescue. A two-day siege of the center was witnessed via international cable broadcasts and television.

Sandra Samuel was the Indian nanny of the Holtzbergs son, Moshe, who pulled him to safety. Pictured here during a return trip to the Chabad House. Credit: Chabad of Mumbai/Chabad.org.

He was in the limelight again last January when he traveled to Mumbai for the first time since the terrorist attacks, accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to help unveil a memorial exhibit honoring the Holtzbergs.

On the occasion of the milestone, Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a letter of congratulations, saying: As you make this important transition and cross a significant landmark in the journey of life, the courage of [nanny] Sandra [Samuel] and prayers of the people of India will continue to bless you for a long, healthy and successful life.

In addition, he received congratulatory notes from Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald J. Trump.

In other ways, Moshe has led the life of a typical youngster within the Chabad Chassidic movement in Israel. His days are spent learning Torah, Talmud, halacha and Chassidic texts. He diligently immersed himself in preparations for his bar mitzvah over the past year, as is the custom among most boys inside and outside Chabad circles.

His classmates from the Torah school in Migdal HaEmek, where Moshe studies, traveled in a specially hired bus on Sunday to attend the bar mitzvah party, said Rabbi Asi Harel, a father of one of the boys.

It took place in Kfar Chabad in the big banquet hall because everything, rightly so, they do for Moshe is big, he told Chabad.org.

More festivities were planned for Monday afternoon on the plaza of the Western Wall, with more live music, dancing and further celebration.

After the tragedy, Moshe moved to Israel to live with his maternal grandparents, Rabbi Shimon and Yehudit Rosenberg of Afula, who were joined at the celebration by the bar mitzvah boys paternal grandparents, Rabbi Nachman and Freida Holtzberg of New York.

It appears that the bar mitzvah boy, despite his traumatic beginnings, is taking after his father, a two-time elementary-school champion at memorizing sections of the Mishnah and second-place winner of an international Talmudic competition held in Jerusalem during his high school years.

I dont know him that well, but I see in shul that he is a very well-behaved and well-educated child, said Rabbi Eliav Benattar, who co-directs Chabad on Campus in the Jezreel Valley with his wife, Devorah, and lives in Afula. You can see that he inherited a lot from his parents, who should be remembered with a blessing.

This article first appeared on the Chabad.org website.

The post Orphaned in Mumbai, Moshe Holtzberg celebrates his bar mitzvah appeared first on JNS.org.

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Orphaned in Mumbai, Moshe Holtzberg celebrates his bar mitzvah - Cleveland Jewish News

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Posted By admin on December 2, 2019

Photo Credit: Yehonatan Valtser/TPS

By Yehonatan Valtser

Representatives from Assyrian communities around the world gathered in Jerusalem on Sunday evening to attend a conference hosted by the Committee for the Resurrection of the Aramaic Language and the Tikkun Movement highlighting the survival of the ancient language, which was once spoken throughout the Middle East.

Juliana Taimoorazy of Chicago and Hermis Shaheen from Sydney participated in a discussion about the meaning of the Aramaic language to the Jewish people and the Assyrian people.

Taimoorazy, who hails originally from Iran, shared how the Aramaic language and Assyrian culture made her feel close to the Jewish people and recounted that when she was a child, she tried to avoid stepping on American and Israeli flags painted on the floor of the school she attended.

Aside from language, we have so many other similarities. Culturally, and historically And its a blessing that you have this land, and I hope that soon we will make Aliya to Nineveh, she said, relating to the prominent ancient Assyrian city, which is located near Mosul in the north of modern-day Iraq.

The ancient Semitic Aramaic language once dominated the Middle East, and today is spoken by only a few and read by those who study the Talmud, which is written in pseudo-Aramaic.

The conference was also attended by Amir Halul, a representative of the Christian Aramaic community in Israel, who read several verses of Psalms in their Aramaic translation.

The Aramaic community is one of the Christian denominations in the Middle East, and in September 2014, Israel announced that its residents can register as members of the Aramaic nationality if they wish to do so.

According to Israels Ministry of Interior, some 115,000, about 85% of the Arab Christian population in Israel is entitled to change their national registration to that of an Aramaic.

At the conclusion of the conference, Shaheen, originally from Iraq, gave Dr. Jacob Maoz, chairman of the Committee for the Resurrection of the Aramaic Language, a certificate signifying the connection between the Jewish people and the Assyrian people.

The Committee for the Resurrection of the Aramaic Language was founded by Maoz, a member of a family that immigrated from the Aram Naharayim area in Iraq. The Committee promotes the study and teaching of the Aramaic language in Israel and works to make it available to the public. The Committee also formulated a strategic plan based on collaborations with other international bodies.

The Tikkun Movement defines itself as a movement for the revitalization of Israeli society and culture and promotes a cultural discourse based on traditional Israeli-Judaism. It was founded in 2012 and is currently headed by Meir Buzaglo.

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Assyrians from Around the World Gather in Jerusalem to Discuss the Future of Aramaic - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

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Posted By admin on December 2, 2019

The Question:

A Jew is at the doors of the next world, wavering between trust in Gd that he will somehow recover, and acceptance of the inevitability of his passing. He feels that if he continues with optimism, the faith of his children will be shaken when he succumbs, and he writes for my advice.

Forget the doctors prognosis. Hold onto unwavering bitachon (trust)the certainty that it will all be revealed goodand at the same time embrace whatever may come with love. Your children will be inspired and proud of such a father. With the help of the One Above, they will lead their lives in the same way.

I know that seems paradoxical, but it is the formula by which our people has survived for ages. As Jews, bound up with the divine, we are expected to live, even to thrive, on the razors edge of paradox.

Now allow me to back up a bit:

This is how the human being becomes old: He may start his life as an optimist, and he may achieve much success due to his optimism. But then, there are always failures.

Failures are painful. The human organism stores that pain in memory. Instinctively, it does whatever it can to avoid revisiting that pain. And one easy way to do that is by preparing for failure. Simply because, that way, you can always say, I figured this would happen! and the failure hurts somewhat less.

But its a cheap, losers strategy. That trepidation accumulates until it becomes a thick, entangling carpet under your wheels, thwarting any impetus forward. Eventually, you find yourself locked to the ground by your own fears. And then comes the ultimate surrender.

A better strategy is to always move forward with confidence. If things dont work out as you hoped and expected, then embrace your new situation as an even better outcomeso much better that the good it contains stands beyond your limited vision.

With such an attitude, you succeed far more often and remain forever young, all the way until the very last breath.

Heres a story, told in the Talmud, to recall whenever ominous clouds stand overhead:

When King Chizkiah (Ezekiah) fell ill, Isaiah the prophet came to visit him. But rather than console him, he announced a heavenly decree: He was to die in this world and he would not receive a share in the World to Come.

Isaiah, countered the king. Cease your prophecy and leave! So have I received from my ancestor David: Even as a sharp sword rests upon your neck, do not refrain from pleading for divine mercy.

Then he turned to the wall and began to pray from the innermost of his heartand he lived another 15 glorious years.

True prayer requires faith. And a faithful prayer must conclude with confidence and trust that the One to whom the prayer was addressed will answer in the very best way. Even when the decree is signed and sealed and the cold blade of a sharp sword lies over your neck, time can be turned back and the entire universe can be reordered through the power of one sincere prayer.

Really, its beyond faith. Faith is when, despite all that you know and see, you hold tight to the conviction that Gd is good and all He does is good, even if for the moment you cant fathom how it is goodbecause it comes from such a high place that it is impossible for you to fathom.

But trustbitachonis an emotional response. To trust in Gd is to stay calm and confident, just as if you could see the good clearly and enjoy it with all your senses.

Even if you cant achieve such calm, you can imagine someone who really does live in such a way. You can say to yourself, I know that this is so and it makes sense to me that I should feel calm and confident, just like Zusia of Anipoli or some other great tzadik. Imagine that calmness, embrace the moment, and it will become much easier to attain it.

Attain that emotional confidence and you are connected to the hidden good that lies beyond your intellectual grasp. Now it can shed its disguise and come into the open as obvious, revealed good.

King David prayed with these words: I lift my eyes to the mountains, from whence will come my help?

The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson of righteous memory, once explained: The words from whence can also be translated as from nothingnessmeaning that there is nothing in existence that could help.

But then, David continues, My help is from Gd, maker of heaven and earth. Beyond existence.

You see people believe that only fools are optimists. But the opposite is true. Precisely because we understand how desperate the situation really is, how helpless we are and how impossible the challenge, that itself tells us how great a Gd we havea Gd who can lift us high beyond the natural order and transform the most ominous darkness to brilliant good.

The greater a realist you are, the greater your joy.

May you and all your loved ones live together to see very soon the light of Moshiach and, with the reviving of the dead, eternal life.

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Optimism No Matter What - "Even as a sharp sword lies upon your neck" - Chabad.org

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Posted By admin on December 2, 2019

Generosity is a natural instinct. It usually begins close to home, or for the benefit of those the givers can see with their own eyes.

But amazing things happen when individuals turn challenges before their eyes into opportunities that take them far beyond the horizon.

Clara Barton, who had been a teacher in her native Massachusetts, was working in the U.S. Patent Office in Washington when the Civil War began. When wounded soldiers from a Massachusetts regiment including some men she had grown up with and others she had taught arrived in the nations capital, she rushed to their side, and then to the side of others. Through her nursing, compassion, moral support, collection and organization of medical supplies, she was ultimately put in charge of all army field hospitals in Virginia and North Carolina. After the war, the Angel of the Battlefield founded the American Red Cross.

The organization to which I have devoted much of my life began in similar fashion. Visiting Jerusalem in 1909, Henrietta Szold was stunned by the many sick children she saw and the overall dismal state of public health. Back home in New York, she transformed her study circle into Hadassah, the Womens Zionist Organization of America. The first nursing mission the group dispatched to Jerusalem was the seed of the Hadassah Medical Organization today the flagship of Israeli medical care, a pioneering research center renowned throughout the Middle East as an oasis where Arab and Jewish medical professionals, patients and families interact in peace 365 days a year.

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Henrietta Szold eventually moved to Jerusalem to direct Hadassahs projects and in the 1930s accepted responsibility for Youth Aliyah, a program to house and educate refugee children fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe. Today, Youth Aliyah educates at-risk Jewish and Arab Israeli students, immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union and refugees from African countries.

One of the philanthropists I am privileged to know is Jay Feinberg; he was a 22-year-old foreign exchange analyst in 1991 when he was diagnosed with leukemia and told that his survival depended on a bone marrow transplant. When no close matches were found among relatives, his family and friends and Hadassah launched a drive to register potential donors, identifying dozens of matches for other patients before they finally found one for Jay. After a successful transplant in 1995, Feinberg transformed the effort started on his behalf into Gift of Life, a bone marrow and stem cell registry which to date has tested more than 350,000 people worldwide as prospective donors and identified more than 16,000 matches.

Clara Barton, Henrietta Szold and Jay Feinberg demonstrated that we never know in advance when giving locally will ultimately have a global impact. But every local act of kindness has the potential to help repair the world. Often all they need is reinforcement.

One of the most recent and welcome additions to an already crowded holiday-season calendar is Giving Tuesday, five days after Thanksgiving. Started in 2012 by New Yorks 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation, Giving Tuesday fills a void created by the commercialization and consumerism of the shopping season. At this time of year, sometimes the best opportunity for giving is the collection box virtual or physical.

The genius of Giving Tuesday, which this year falls on December 3, enables charitable organizations and corporations to use technology to channel small donations. Though large contributions make an enormous difference in many philanthropic endeavors, a wide base of volunteers and small donations often have a greater impact on the cumulative generosity of a society. The person who gives $10 may be making a greater personal sacrifice than the million-dollar donor. And bear in mind that most large givers started small.

Shutting ones eye to charity, says the Talmud, is like worshipping idols. Giving Tuesday, an antidote to materialism, is also a day for turning small gifts into huge opportunities.

Ellen Hershkin is National President of Hadassah, The Womens Zionist Organization of America.

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Giving Tuesday Asks That We Look Beyond Our Own Horizons - Jewish Week

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Posted By admin on December 2, 2019

The question came from the audience about 45 minutes into Dr. Perry Brickman's talk.

"You allude to the fact that you believe you could learn lessons from your experience about the rampant anti-Semitism that continues on college campuses today. Can you talk about that for a moment?"

Brickman, a retired oral surgeon and author of "Extracted: Unmasking Rampant Antisemitism in America's Higher Education," had spent the previous hour at the Jewish Federation on Nov. 18 detailing his own struggle against religious persecution at the former Emory University dental school in the mid-20th century. His work, documented in his book, exposed a coordinated effort by university leadership to fail the Jewish students out of the program.

With the failing grades, many could not get into other dentistry programs, Brickman said. There was anger and shame among the students. They did not talk about it. One killed himself, he said.

"We were so humiliated that we just turned our backs on each other and didn't speak for over 50 years," he said.

Brickman's work has received numerous awards and brought a formal apology from Emory University in 2012.

Some 67 years after Brickman was pushed out of Emory, after the Jewish quota system in higher education was abolished, Brickman was asked if he thought anti-Semitism was worse on campuses today than when he was a student.

"I think it's much worse today," Brickman said. "There's no question about it. It's terrible. Students are having to face [anti-Semitism] from other students, from faculty, from the universities who won't back them up."

By the accounts of professors and religious freedom advocates, Brickman is correct. And the prejudice is not just coming from students but from institutions.

The previous two years were among the highest annual numbers of anti-Semitic incidents in the Anti-Defamation League's 40 years of doing audits. There were 10 incidents in Tennessee in 2018 and 30 in Georgia. Acts of anti-Semitism on college campuses spiked after the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in October 2018. In September, the Rock at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville was covered with a message stating Jews were responsible for 9/11.

David Hoffman, ADL southeast associate regional director, said the normalization of hate speech in the country has led to people feeling more comfortable in acting out on hatred.

"The fact that there were more incidents of assaults and harassment and less of vandalism show that people feel more emboldened to take direct action against victims as opposed to doing something that they can do undercover," Hoffman said.

Pro-Israel groups point to a number of recent shifts in higher education to move away from supporting Israel as a sign of bias against the nation. Some professors said voicing support for the country, especially in Middle East studies programs, is no longer tolerated and doing so can result in academic and social ostracization.

In its critique of anti-Semitism on campus, the ADL wrote colleges are so focused on maintaining the appearance of free speech that "many students and sadly, school administrators as well in their idealism and naivet, fail to distinguish adequately between debate that enriches and elevates the mind and speech that lowers the level of discourse to name-calling and lies."

The ADL is one of several organizations preparing students to face anti-Israel bias on campus. People need to recognize the dangerous link between being anti-Israel and being anti-Semitic, Hoffman said. There is a difference between a legitimate critique of the country and questioning its legitimacy or demonizing the nation, he said.

Much of the campus-led support of Palestine centers on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which advocates removing economic and social support for Israel until people living in the West Bank and Gaza are recognized as full citizens and Israel complies with several international laws. Groups, such as Students for Justice in Palestine, argue the Israeli-occupied lands in the country amount to colonialism and mirrors apartheid in South Africa.

Groups supporting BDS regularly emphasize criticisms of Israel are not automatically anti-Semitic. For example, the advocacy group Palestine Legal states in its materials that the Jewish people are not the same as the nation of Israel and the Israeli government does not represent the Jewish people since the government is made up of people of multiple religions and the majority of Jews live outside the country.

In July 2018, more than 40 Jewish groups from around the world signed a letter against equating criticism with anti-Semitism. The letter said, in part, "This conflation undermines both the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality and the global struggle against antisemitism. It also serves to shield Israel from being held accountable to universal standards of human rights and international law."

Critics of the BDS movement say supporters demonize Jewish students who support Israel and deny Jewish connection to the area. BDS is often less about helping Palestinians and more about hating Jews, said Victor Styrsky, national outreach director for Christians United For Israel. CUFI lobbies in Washington, D.C., such as blocking any legislative support for the BDS movement. One of the arms of the group focuses on organizing pro-Israel support on campuses, where Israel is a "white-hot" issue, Styrsky said.

Appealing to young people requires presenting what is happening in Israel less than providing a number of biblical scriptures about the importance of Israel to the Christian faith, Styrsky said. There is a lot of misinformation about life in Israel, especially involving Palestine, he said.

Any acts of anti-Semtism affect more than just the Jewish community, Hoffman said. Like racism, entire communities are affected and hurt by acts of hatred. All sides need to join the fight, he said.

I became a journalist to help people see people as people. But highlighting the human side of every policy decision, and how it is affecting your community, takes time as well as support from readers. If you believe in telling the stories of people in your community, please subscribe to the Times Free Press today. Contact me at wmassey@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249. Find me on Twitter at @News4Mass.

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With anti-Semitism on college campuses on the rise, advocacy groups are talking about how to fight back - Chattanooga Times Free Press

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Posted By admin on December 2, 2019

(November 27, 2019 / JNS) For many of the attendees at last weeks Never Is Now conference in New York sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League, the global and geopolitical impacts of the uptick in anti-Semitism were front and center of the discussions.

And for a significant number, the concern was also about anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism on college campuses, as well as its creep into the middle- and high school spheresa fact that was acknowledged by the presence of 300 high school students who attended the conference.

As Jonathan Greenblatt, ADLs CEO and national director, noted in his opening remarks, troubling reports have included high-schoolers who think its amusing to sling Heil Hitler salutes at one another.

In 2018, the ADL recorded 344 incidents of anti-Semitism at kindergarten through 12th grade non-Jewish schools. Among this years reported incidents were swastikas at schools in Connecticut, California and a number of other states; a Kill the Jews page on social media created by middle-school students in Massachusetts; and a threatening note left on the desk of the daughter of Las Vegas rabbi.

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High school students were a significant part of the audience in two morning panels: Anti-Israel vs. Anti-Semitism: An Interactive Workshop Examining Their Distinctions and Where They Overlap, which highlighted various scenarios and asked participants to vote via an app on their feelings of whether the act was anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist, both or neither; and Voices From Campus: Exploring Anti-Semitism and Its Impact on College University Communities.

For high school senior Thomas Bocian, 17, attending the ADL program was important as a Jew, a student leader and as someone who is currently applying to colleges.

The level of awareness about anti-Semitism is a lot lower than it should be, and to be able to come here and learn how to handle these situations is very important for me as a student leader, said Bocian, who attended the conference on behalf of his high school, Princeton Day School, a private school in New Jersey. He added that he is proud of his heritage and religion, and has already ruled out attending at least one top-tier college because he was disappointed by the way the administration handled an incident regarding the BDS movement.

Bocian, who spoke to JNS as he was getting ready to enter the Voices From Campus panel, was accompanied by teacher David Freedholm and guidance counselor Alex Portale, who were there to gain tips for an upcoming school workshop on anti-Semitism.

Audience at the general session of the Anti-Defamation Leagues Never Is Now conference in New York, November 2019. Source: Facebook.

Judaic-studies teacher Yael Weil brought a group of 10 seniors from the Maayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls in Teaneck, N.J., to offer them a sense of what to expect when they go on to college and beyond.

I think its an important issue that kids are aware of, she said. Our group of seniors will be graduating and going outside of their bubble, and need to see whats out there and how to deal with it. They are seeing how the larger Jewish community outside of the Orthodox community is addressing the issue.

Attendees at the conference included people of different races and faith. Several speakers noted that if the Jewish community is to succeed in battling anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, it will need support from other groups and people who willing to denounce hate in all its forms.

Anti-Semitism is often sidelined

Perhaps in an odd bit of irony, however, some public discussions centered on diversity in books and media tend to exclude Jewish groups from minority concerns.

That may be why several people interviewed at the conference suggested that anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism arent acknowledged in the discussions on hate and racism going on at high school and middle-school campuses. One educator even suggested that she was glad that she came with students so they could understand what anti-Semitism is and why its so dangerous.

That doesnt surprise Miriam F. Elman, executive director of the Academic Engagement Network, who has researched anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism on campus, though was not at the conference.

In an interview with JNS several days later, she said, I have found that anti-Semitism is often sidelined in discussions of diversity, equity, tolerance and inclusion. In such discussions, the emphasis is typically on racism.

She continued, saying when anti-Semitism is included in these conversations, the tendency tends to be on hatred coming from far-right white supremacy. As you know, left[-leaning] anti-Semitism typically gets a pass because the people engaging in it are often minority groups and individuals who are themselves championing social justice and anti-racism platforms. The connection between anti-Israel expression, anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is not addressed in these venues.

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At ADL conference, a focus on schools, reactions by students and teachers to anti-Semitism - JNS.org

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Posted By admin on December 2, 2019

The Anti-Defamation Leagues recent study on anti-Semitism wont help the already strained relations between the Polish and Jewish community.

Conducting regular polls on anti-Semitism in the United States for over 50 years, the ADL has, since 2013, gone global with its research, polling people in over 100 countries to determine the levels of anti-Jewish sentiment around the world.

Its known as the ADL Global 100: An index of anti-Semitism, and itsmost recent survey was carried out across 18 nations, which included 14 from Europe and four others with significant Jewish populations. The study revealed Poland as the place where most people, almost half the country (48%), harbor anti-Semitic attitudes.

Unsurprisingly the results from the survey, highlighted as deeply concerningand a powerful wake up call by ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt , havent been greeted well by Poles. But its not because theyre ashamed of their country being outed as the most anti-Semitic of the 18, but because whole thing seems a little too contrived.

The ADL, which commissioned the First International Resourcescompany to undertake the surveys, had a range of 11 statements read to participants in phone or face to face interviews. Participants then had to determine whether they thought each of the statements was probably true or probably false. If they answered probably true to at least six of the 11 declarations, they were marked as an individual harboring anti-Semitic attitudes.

In 2016, 31 member states of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)adapted a non-legally binding definition of anti-Semitism in Bucharest, which states:

Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

One example given by the IHRA of contemporary anti-semitism in public life, is making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or how Jews control the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.

In that regard, some of the ADLs survey statements, such as Jews have too much control over glocal media, Jews have too much power in the business world or Jews have too much control over the United States government are directly derived from the IHRA guidelines. That isnt to say people dont have a right to disagree with the IHRAs blueprint for defining anti-Semitism. It could for instance be highly contested whether the belief, however misguided, that Jews are more loyal to Israel than the nations they live in, is anti-Semitic.

Lets assume most people agree with the IHRA. Another of their examples illustrating what might constitute as anti-Semitism includesaccusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.

Answering probably yes to a statement about Jews talking too much about the Holocaust might be heartless or out of place, but anti-Semitic? Not necessarily. It also isnt an accusation that Jews invented or exaggerated the Holocaust.

Then we come to more time sensitive questions, likely to get a probably yes answer now, when perhaps they wouldnt have done so before. Over the last couple of years Poles and their nation have been subjected to some highly controversial statements and accusations from parts of the Israeli media and politicians. One example is Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, saying Poles suckle anti-Semitism with their mothers milk, a statement ignited further by opinion piecesin the Israeli media supporting his comments.

Of course comments like this by a handful of people are no excuse for Poles to tar the Jewish community as a whole with one brush, but it might at the present time, as unacceptable as it may seem, cause Poles to answer probably yes to the statement people hate Jews because of the way Jews behave.

Pawe Jdrzejewski of the Forum of Polish Jews, suggests in his recently published piecethat this most recent accusation of anti-Semitism against Poland and Poles is linked to an already ongoing debate in Poland about the prospect of Jewish American organisations demanding money for Jewish heirless property absorbed by the state after the Second World War. As he puts it, claims for compensation for heirless property will use it for propaganda. The slogan will be simple: Jewish property cannot remain in the hands of anti-Semites. In his eyes, branding Poland as ananti-Semitic country is a means to an end.

The fact that German automaker Volkswagen officially supportsand financesthe ADLs Global 100 Index, is also seen by some Poles as a crafty way of deflecting attention away from some of the anti-Semitic violence occurring in Germany, to focus on anti-Semitic attitudes in their neighbours backyard.

It would be disingenuous to claim there is no anti-Semitism in Poland. Some people in Poland (and around the world) just dont like Jews because theyre Jewish, but lets remember Poland is also the country where Jews settled and have lived for hundreds of years, while they werent as welcome in other nations.

Sadly, the Holocaust took place on Polish soil. While some Poles did collaborate and turn Jewish people in to the Nazis, others were being murdered along with their families, trying to protect them. There is a vibrant Jewish community in Poland and anti-Semitic attacks are scarce. To claim there isnt any anti-Semitic feeling in Poland would be a falsehood, but to suggest half the country is anti-Semitic, is an absurdity.

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The ADL survey on anti-Semitism in Poland is highly questionable - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on December 2, 2019

Recently released data by the FBI shows that an upward trend in the number of hate crimes committed in the state had a slight decline in 2018.

Last year, there were 506 total hate crimes reported by law enforcement in the state. Thats down from 2017, during which 513 offenses were reported.

Despite the slight decline in 2018, Washington still managed to land at the fourth-highest number of hate crimes nationwide.

In Bellevue there were eight hate crimes reported in 2018 Down from 16 hate crimes reported in 2017, and 18 crimes in 2016.

Every year, the FBI publishes the hate crime statistics as part of the annual Hate Crime Statistics Act. On top of this, Washington law mandates that law enforcement agencies report their crimes to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.

State trends

The trend of hate crimes targeting people based on their sexual orientation has risen again. The FBI classifies these crimes as being anti-bisexual, anti-gay, anti-heterosexual, anti-lesbian or committed against a mixed group of LGBTQ+ people.

In Washington in 2018, there were 106 crimes committed against someone because of their sexual orientation an increase of more than 30 percent from 79 crimes reported in 2017. That number has trended upward since at least 2013, FBI numbers show.

Its staggering. These numbers just keep going up, said Drew Griffin, Pacific Northwest regional director for PFLAG, the first and largest organization for LGBTQ+ people, their parents, families and allies. This is really unacceptable there are too many facing the uncertainty of brutality.

PFLAG, with 400 chapters across the country, including on the Eastside, plays a vital role in trying to prevent this, Griffin said. He added that education is key.

We have to make sure were talking about what is going on in our community and that visibility is happening, he said. When people see a visible LGBTQ person or ally, all of the sudden one of those people is your friend, your coworkerYou dont want to be negative, nasty or violent toward those people.

And when you know someone, your attitude changes, Griffin said. In turn, violence goes down and acceptance goes up.

Its up to us to work hard for our communities, he said.

Its why all of the PFLAG chapter networks were mobilized to push the Equality Act forward one that would create protections against LGBTQ+ discrimination when it comes to housing, employment and public services.

While it has passed the U.S. House of Representatives, the bill sits in Congress, awaiting action.

Lack of reporting

Not all hate crimes are being documented. And advocates preach that a continued pattern of under reporting makes it difficult to get the full and accurate picture.

Some agencies do report affirmatively, but sometimes report zero but if you dig deeper there are probably crimes not being reported, said Miri Cypers, the Pacific Northwest regional director of the Anti-Defamation League. I think there are some unfortunate discrepancies and a lot of work to have a stronger reporting system.

The Muslim Advocates Special Counsel for Anti-Muslim Bigotry points to two crimes that werent included in the nationwide report. In 2018, an armed man drove a truck into a convenience store in Denham Springs, Louisiana. The driver suspected the owners were Muslims, the counsel said. And last March, a Muslim family was targeted in a parking lot in Carmel, California.

Some jurisdictions arent required to report their numbers. Hindrance can also come from a lack of officer training, making it difficult for police to discern a bias-fueled crime, and under reporting from immigrants who fear deportation.

State Attorney General Bob Ferguson launched a Multidisciplinary Hate Crime Advisory Working Group in September. It was formed during the 2019 legislative session to help create strategies to not only raise public awareness of hate crimes, but also improve law enforcement and public response.

Cypers, who is also a member of the group, said law enforcement should have ongoing training to refresh and ensure new trends and behaviors are addressed. And that community outreach is needed to ensure all hate crimes are categorized the right way.

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FBI: Eight hate crimes reported in Bellevue in 2018 - Bellevue Reporter

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Posted By admin on December 2, 2019

Welcome back to our discussion about platforms and democracy! I had a great time meeting Interface readers last week at the Techonomy conference in Half Moon Bay and the Conference on New Media and Democracy at Tufts University. I also made great progress on a special report I plan to have for you here before the end of the year. But enough prelude on with todays update.

Im one of the last people youd expect to hear warning about the danger of conspiracies and lies, the actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen said today in an op-ed in the Washington Post, adapted from last weeks viral speech about the dangers of social networks at an Anti-Defamation League conference.

In fact, Baron Cohen is exactly the sort of person Id expect to be warning us about social networks. As a rich celebrity who has no need for the free communication tools they provide, and who can thrive without relying on the promotional benefits that come with active use of the platforms, blasting Big Tech costs Baron Cohen nothing.

Meanwhile, few people would have ever even heard of Baron Cohens speech had it not thrived on social media first on Twitter, then on YouTube where social media critiques, particularly of Facebook, have grown increasingly popular. In coming to bury the big platforms, Baron Cohen inadvertently proved their benefit: providing a wide lane for an outsider in this case, a comedian with no previous experience as a tech pundit to come in and start a worthwhile discussion.

To be sure, Baron Cohen raises some valuable points and he does so with more nuance and detail than the average Zuck sucks Twitter egg in my mentions. (Note the way he cites academic research in his links a welcome touch.) Baron Cohen is right, for example, about the unique danger of algorithmic recommendations on social platforms the way they give fringe viewpoints unearned reach, and recruit followers for violent ideologies, most prominently on the far right:

The algorithms these platforms depend on deliberately amplify content that keeps users engaged stories that appeal to our baser instincts and trigger outrage and fear. Thats why fake news outperforms real news on social media; studies show lies spread faster than truth.

On the Internet, everything can appear equally legitimate. Breitbart resembles the BBC, and the rantings of a lunatic seem as credible as the findings of a Nobel Prize winner. We have lost a shared sense of the basic facts upon which democracy depends.

Baron Cohen also picks up on issue we have discussed here quite often in recent months: the fact that large technology companies, thanks to a combination of ignorance and inattention from our elected officials, are essentially accountable to no one, even as their products have unleashed dangerous, rippling butterfly effects the world over:

These super-rich Silicon Six care more about boosting their share price than about protecting democracy. This is ideological imperialism six unelected individuals in Silicon Valley imposing their vision on the rest of the world, unaccountable to any government and acting like theyre above the reach of law. Surely, instead of letting the Silicon Six decide the fate of the world order, our democratically elected representatives should have at least some say.

Amen.

Unfortunately, Baron Cohens proposed solution for making tech platforms accountable is to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to make Facebook and other sites legally liable for what their users post. He approvingly cites the passage last year of FOSTA-SESTA, an act nominally intended to reduce sex trafficking that was really about scrubbing sexual content off the internet. By all accounts, it has done almost nothing to reduce sex trafficking. Instead, it has forced sex workers to once again rely on abusive pimps and put themselves into unnecessary danger.

Websites reacted to the passage of FOSTA-SESTA by overreacting. Once Craigslist could be found legally liable for unwittingly hosting an ad that enabled sex trafficking, it removed all personals from its service altogether. Reddit removed several communities associated with sex work. Several sites that allowed sex workers to vet potential clients shut down entirely.

It seems likely that amending Section 230 to introduce what scholars call intermediary liability for Facebook et al would play out in much the same way: by over-moderating and censoring speech. In an environment in which democracy is in retreat around the world, and the internet is increasingly controlled by far-right authoritarian governments, the prospect of surging censorship in our communications tools sends a chill down my spine. How will Baron Cohen feel when a government orders the takedown of one of his satires across the entire internet? If 230 disappears, and other countries adopt similar measures, I cant imagine a likelier target.

Moreover, its Section 230 that enables platforms to be more aggressive in pulling down hate speech and abusive content the outcome that Baron Cohen argues for most passionately in his speech. His argument to eliminate Section 230 protections glosses right over this point, likely because Baron Cohen misunderstands what Section 230 actually does. (See also Mike Masnick on this point.)

Those qualms aside, what has stayed with me most about Baron Cohens speech is the way it captures the new conventional wisdom among left-leaning critics: that Facebook disproportionately benefits the right wing. (Plenty of conservatives believe the exact opposite, of course.)

The thought that Facebook empowers the far right is not exactly new. Anxiety that Facebook had become a handmaiden to the conservative movement lay at the root of Cambridge Analytica blowing up into a global scandal in 2018, two years after we knew most of the details. (We knew that Facebook was sharing our data with third parties. What most of us didnt know was that third parties were using that data as part of sophisticated, micro-targeted political influence campaigns.)

But there is new evidence of Facebooks material support of the right wing. In the Wall Street Journal this weekend, Deepa Seetharaman profiled James Barnes, who Facebook once embedded in the Trump campaign to help officials there use the companys advertising platform. Barnes, who like a growing number of former Facebook employees experienced a crisis of conscience over the work he did there, revealed that the company had made unusual arrangements to ensure Trump could buy the maximum amount of ads.

The profile lays out the extraordinary amount of assistance that Facebook lent Trump. In theory, the same amount of assistance was available to Hillary Clinton, but she declined. Barnes hand-coded custom advertising tools for Trump, ran split tests on advertising copy to see which would be most effective, and offered troubleshooting help whenever asked during what he describes as 12-hour days working on the campaign. He also ensured the company could access a larger line of credit using a credit card:

The Trump campaign needed a large credit line from Facebook, according to Mr. Barnes and others familiar with the situation. This issue posed special challenges. Facebook sometimes extends credit to a select group of digital agencies, but Mr. Parscales outfit didnt qualify for a large line because it didnt have a track record with Facebook, according to people familiar with the matter. The Trump team also wanted to pay for ads with a credit card, but Facebooks transactions system wasnt set up to handle payments of as much as $300,000 to $400,000 a day on a credit card, according to Mr. Barnes and others familiar with the matter.

As employees looked for ways to address the problem, Mr. Parscale texted Mr. Barnes to say Mr. Trump would go on TV and say Facebook was being unfair to him if the issue wasnt resolved quickly, Mr. Barnes said. Eventually, Facebook came up with a fix.

Of course, its possible that Facebook bent over backwards for Trump for simple reasons of self-preservation. In an environment where regulation seems increasingly likely, a corporation will naturally seek to make nice with any potential nemesis.

Still, the scope of Facebooks aid to the Trump campaign is surprising. And it gives credence to one of the arguments made forcefully by Baron Cohen: that social networks have been far more successful at empowering dangerous reactionaries than they have more progressive forces.

In most ways, 2019 was a stellar year for Facebooks business. (Alex Heath has a nice [paywalled!] overview here.) But it was a bad year for Facebooks reputation. And until the company is held accountable for the misuses of its products in some meaningful way, its hard to see how that will improve. I only hope that when regulation comes, policymakers come up with better solutions than Baron Cohen did.

Correction, 1:34 p.m.: This article originally said Facebook had extended its largest-ever line of credit to Trump. In fact it was not.

Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms.

Trending up: Google changed its political ad policy last week to limit the ways in which politicians can target potential voters. The move puts more pressure on Facebook, which has yet to budge on its policy to allow misinformation in political ads.

Trending down: White nationalists are openly operating on Facebook, and the company hasnt yet removed their accounts. Facebook promised to ban white nationalists in March 2019, but several groups remain active today, as this report illustrates.

Trending down: Facebook and Twitter say hundreds of users may have had their data improperly accessed after using their accounts to log into apps like Giant Square and Photofy.

Trending down: YouTube has a policy of flagging state-sponsored media channels, but enforcement has been lax. The company allowed at least 57 channels funded by governments in Iran, Russia, China, Turkey and Qatar to operate without the required labels.

Singapore invoked its fake news law for the first time Monday, forcing a citizen to amend his Facebook post, which the government said used false and misleading statements to smear reputations. Adam Taylor from The Washington Post explains:

The move is likely to cause consternation among rights groups, which have already argued that anti-misinformation laws run the risk of hindering freedom of speech.

Singapores fake news law, officially the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), is one of the worlds most far-reaching of anti-misinformation laws over the past few years, and it has sparked imitators.

On Monday, British-born Brad Bowyer, a member of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), was asked to retract statements he had made that implied the Singaporean government influenced investments made by GIC and Temasek, two state investors that he said had made poor financial moves.

Facebook has scrapped its 2016 pitch to political advertisers, which emphasized its ability to reach and persuade voters with targeted messaging. Now, the company is emphasizing its ability to prevent voter suppression and stop fake accounts from being created. (Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed)

Facebooks former chief marketing officer will oversee what could be an enormous ad campaign on Facebook for Michael Bloomberg, the latest Democratic presidential candidate. (Theodore Schleifer / Recode)

Facebook said a network of anonymous pages that spread misinformation and pro-Trump content dont violate its rules. The pages represent themselves as grassroots Trump supporters based in different states but theyre working in coordination, according to this report. (Craig Silverman and Jane Lytvynenko / BuzzFeed)

Joel Kaplan, Facebooks head of public policy, helped quarterback Brett Kavanaughs nomination for the Supreme Court, a new book reveals. Kaplans friendship with Kavanaugh has been known for some time, but the book documents the lengths the executive went to to get Kavanaughs nomination approved. (Maxwell Tani and Andrew Kirell / The Daily Beast)

Authorities have arrested an individual who is allegedly part of The Chuckling Squad, a hacker group that compromised Jack Dorseys Twitter account in August. The individuals identity is being kept under wraps because theyre a minor. (Joseph Cox / Vice)

National security officials expressed wonderment that Rudy Giuliani, Trumps personal attorney and the former mayor of New York, was running an irregular channel of diplomacy with Ukraine over open cell lines and messaging apps penetrated by the Russians. (David E. Sanger / The New York Times)

A leaked excerpt of TikToks content moderation policies shows moderators suppress political content. While they arent told to take political and protest videos down, they are told to stop them from going viral. The company has vehemently denied censoring political content outside of China. (Angela Chen / MIT Technology Review)

WeChat banned Chinese Americans for talking about the Hong Kong protests. The company, owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent, often censors people in China, but its strict content policies appear to be spreading overseas. (Zoe Schiffer / The Verge)

The Chinese tech giant Huawei filed three defamation suits in France over claims that its controlled by the Chinese government. The comments were made on TV by a French researcher, a broadcast journalist and a telecommunications sector expert. (Helene Fouquet / Bloomberg)

Protests in Hong Kong, Lebanon and Iran have been complicating the idea that cryptocurrencies are resistant to censorship. Many people say they arent able to transact once their internet connections are disrupted an increasingly frequent occurrence. (Leigh Cuen / Coindesk)

Google wants to do business with the military, but many of its employees dont. Theyre saying the company has drifting from its old dont be evil ethos, according to this deep dive. (Joshua Brustein and Mark Bergen / Bloomberg)

Google employees gathered outside the companys San Francisco office on Friday to protest the companys decision to put two staff members on leave. Employees are mad that the company hasnt acted enough when it comes to executives accused of sexual misconduct, but are quick to silence employees who speak out. The company fired four people connected to the protests today, citing violations of internal data security practices. (Mark Bergen / Bloomberg)

Apple CEO Tim Cook said Congress should pass a federal privacy bill. I think we can all admit that when youve tried to do something and companies havent self policed, that its time to have rigorous regulation, he said. (Zoe Schiffer / The Verge)

Tim Berners-Lee, one of the inventors of the World Wide Web, says the internet is broken. Lee is advocating for a new Contract for the Web that would, among other things, give people more control over their data. Most of the big tech platforms have signed on as supporters. (Tim Berners-Lee / The New York Times)

A new investigation from The Verge shows freelancers working for the audio transcription platform Rev are often exposed to graphic content with no warning. The company has been in the news lately for slashing minimum pay for its transcribers but many say that disturbing content is of equal or greater concern, Dani Deahl reports:

Nearly every Revver who spoke with The Verge said they were exposed to graphic or troubling material on multiple occasions with no warning. This includes recordings of physical and verbal abuse between intimate partners, graphic descriptions of sexual assault, amateur porn, violent footage from police body cameras, a transphobic rant, and, in one instance, a breast augmentation filmed by a physicians cell phone, being performed on a patient who was under sedation.

It doesnt bother everyone, but for some, it can be overwhelming. Ive finished more than one file in tears because listening to someone talk about being abused or assaulted is emotionally taxing, and frankly I have no training or expertise that really helps me cope with it, one Revver tells The Verge.

Facebook once built a facial-recognition app that lets employees identify people by pointing a phone at them. The app was not released publicly it was used on company employees and their friends who opted in to the facial-recognition system. I am (1) disturbed by the privacy implications and (2) always wishing that something like this existed when I walk into a room and see a familiar face that I cant place. Which happens about twice a week. (Rob Price / Business Insider)

Facebook launched a new market research app called Viewpoints. The move comes just a few months after the company introduced a controversial Android data collection app called Study, designed to monitor how long users are accessing other software. (Jay Peters / The Verge)

Facebook is building its own version of Instagrams Close Friends. The feature will let users designate friends as Favorites, and then instantly send them their Facebook Stories or photos from Messenger. More evidence that public sharing in the Big Blue app is on the decline. (Josh Constine / TechCrunch)

Doctors are turning to YouTube to learn how to do surgical procedures, but there are no quality controls to ensure that instructions are legitimate or safe. Some experts are calling for better vetting and curation. (Christina Farr / CNBC)

A marketing campaign promoting tourism to the fictional island of Eroda is running sponsored ads on Twitter. Its managed by the same people who run Harry Styles official homepage, though no one is saying why theyre pushing people to visit a place that doesnt exist. (Andy Baio / Waxy)

Cameo is a platform that lets people pay celebrities to record short video messages custom birthday greetings, anniversary wishes, and that sort of thing. Well anyway, someone hired Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath to break up with their partner, and while this is easily among the worst ways to break up with someone, it makes for undeniably incredible viewing.

Katie Notopoulos offers some good reasons why the video might not be 100 percent above board, but still I expect well be seeing more of these.

Send us tips, comments, questions, and your best Borat impressions: casey@theverge.com and zoe@theverge.com.

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Sacha Baron Cohen is the latest powerful voice to misunderstand Section 230 - The Verge

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