Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on November 24, 2019

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life

The decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine has prompted endless explorations and policy solutions of varying scopes and efficacy. Despite the surplus of literature pertaining to this conflict, little has been written about the experience of the Mizrahi, the ethnically Arab Jews of the Middle East and Northern Africa.

The horrible mistreatment of the Ashkenazi Jews in Russia and Germany in the 20th century is well-documented. However, since the end of the Second World War, Jewish identity has become increasingly understood as monolithic. This oversimplification of the Jewish experience is problematic, as the experiences of the Ashkenazi varies starkly from other Jewish communities, such as the Mizrahi.

The Arab community, and even the Mizrahi, have criticized this shift in our understanding of history. Scholars like Dr. Ella Shohat argue that the current historical approach is flawed, as it ignores, oversimplifies and sanitizes history. Indeed, the Jews of the Middle East faced different challenges than those of the West, and consequentially have had different experiences.

The Mizrahi of Israel face duality; they are Arabs, but they are also Jews. They have faced ethnocentrism and racism in Israel, yet they themselves are enfranchised and socially accepted compared to the Palestinians. Essentially, the history of Arab Jews must be distinguished by two historical realities: facing social pressures for being both ethnically Arab and religiously Jewish. Secondly, that the experiences they faced in the Middle East were markedly different from those experienced by European Jews.

How Arab Jews Became the Israeli Mizrahi

Originally Arab Jews were accepted and participated in the Pan-Arab context. This changed with the advent of Israel. The Israeli leadership needed to increase Jewish immigration to Israel, so they launched campaigns to divide the Arab Jews and the larger Arab population. The discourse began to frame Zionism and Pan-Arabism as antithetical, leading the Arab people and leadership to see the Arab Jews as outsiders. Shohat, an Arab Jew herself, has argued that the failure of the Arab world to distinguish between Judaism and Zionism was its fatal flaw.

Indeed, the arguments for the removal of Jews from the Arab world played into the anti-Semitic trope of duel-loyalty. That said, Israeli policy itself has exacerbated this divide. Further, Israel engaged in dealings with Arab leaders where they arranged for population exchanges, in which they traded Arab Jews for Palestinians. Therefore, the leaders of the Arab world are not exclusively culpable for the expulsion of the Arab Jews, as the Israeli leadership helped arrange this exchange of people.

The Arab Jews lost their homes and citizenship, forcing them to flee to Israel. In Israel, this ingathering is framed as a joyous return to the homeland. However, for many Arab Jews, they remember the event as a catastrophic loss of home, culture, and identity.

The Arab Jewish Experience in Israel

Upon coming to Israel, the Mizrahi faced marginalization and loss-of-identity. The Israeli leadership sought to sever the Arab Jews connection to their Arabness. The Mizrahi identity was a top-down attempt to disconnect the Arab Jews from their ethnic pasts. Rather than being an Iraqi Jew or a Baghdadi Jew, the Mizrahi were expected to assimilate not only to this new state, but also to the European cultural norms of the ruling class.

Israels founders brought with them not only the culture of the West, but also its orientalist and colonial tropes. Israeli anthropology and sociology at this time referred to the Arab Jews as a primitive, traditional and tribal community antithetical to the modern West. Much was written about how to civilize this eastern community, most sought to assimilate the Arab Jewish communities; others argued that the Mizrahi were racially inferior, advocating against European-Arab interbreeding. The Mizrahi were viewed not as a people with their own culture and histories, but as a problem that needed to be solved.

These problematic attitudes remain in the daily life of the Mizrahi today. Those who wear traditional Arab garb struggle to find work and face persistent racialization in the Israeli media. The most extreme example of European intolerance of Arab Jewish culture occurred in refugee camps during the ingathering. Mizrahi children were separated from their parents, who were told their child had died shortly after birth, and were put up for adoption so the children would grow up in Eurocentric households. The Yemenite Child Affair was only recently recognized by the Israeli government. The figures remain unclear, but most estimate that somewhere between 1,000 to 4,500 children were taken away from their families.

Why Discuss the Mizrahi experience?

Oversimplifying historical suffering by emphasizing one event while ignoring others is always problematic. The Arab Jewish experience in the Middle East was by no means a perfect existence, nor was their experience in Israel marked by constant persecution. The experience of the Jewish people is and will always be complex and multifaceted.

However, highlighting history that many would rather forget has its value. By confronting the past critically, we are forced to rethink what we know about the world.

By confronting uncomfortable patterns, or even aberrations, of behavior we may find new ways of understanding others. Open forums to discuss shared suffering and experiences may provide an opportunity to build relations between not only the Mizrahi and Ashkenazi, but also between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

If you're interested in writing for International Policy Digest - please send us an email via submissions@intpolicydigest.org

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Remembering the Experience of the Mizrahi: Forgetting History Complicates Peacemaking - International Policy Digest

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Posted By admin on November 24, 2019

18 November 2019

The rapid reduction in cost and increased integration of genomic tools into clinical practice, has led to a renewed interest in pre-conceptioncarrier screening as seen in recent Progress Educational Trust events and the annual meeting of ESHRE in June. The UK Jewish population has had experience with pre-conceptioncarrier screening for almost 30 years. Given this, we feel there is a benefit in sharing some of our experiences before the potential expansion to a larger population.

Tay-Sachs disease is a textbook example of how carrier screening can identify couples at risk of having children with an autosomal recessive disorder. Tay-Sachs disease is a rare and devastating inherited disorder that results in progressive neurological degeneration. Infants typically appear healthy until the age of 3-6 months, when they start to show developmental delay, seizures, paralysis and death in early childhood.

Tay-Sachs disease in the general population is very rare, but the prevalence of the disease is much higher in individuals of Ashkenazi (eastern and central European) Jewish descent.

Before the adoption of carrier screening in the 1970s, Tay-Sachs disease had a devastating impact on the Jewish communities of the USA and Canada, with up to 60 new cases diagnosed every year. In 1983, after watching four of his children die in infancy from Tay-Sachs disease, Yosef Ekstein established 'Dor Yeshorim', a not-for-profit organisation based in New York City, aimed at reducing Tay-Sachs disease in the strictly orthodox Jewish community of New York and other areas.

Dor Yeshorim is an innovative, premarital and anonymous carrier screening programme for fatal or debilitating genetic disorders. It provides participating individuals with a unique identification number that can be used to inform a prospective couple of 'genetic compatibility'. If both are carriers of the same disease, they are told that the match is incompatible, advised of the risks and offered genetic counselling. If neither or only one individual is a carrier, they are told they are compatible, and the carrier is not identified.

The programme has since expanded its carrier screening to nine disorders that are more prevalent within the Jewish population. The Dor Yeshorim screening system is aimed at the specific circumstances of the strictly orthodox Jewish community, where there is a tendency for parentally-arranged marriages, strong objections to prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy terminations, and a high risk of social stigmatisation of healthy carriers.

While many people would be uneasy with this model of carrier screening, it is clear that Dor Yeshorim has been remarkably successful. By 1993, the incidence of Tay-Sachs disease in the US and Canadian Jewish population had been reduced by more than 90 percent. The programme now screens around 25,000 individuals annually across 11 different countries and estimates that one in 100 prospective couples are both carriers of the same disease.

In the UK, the increased incidence of Tay-Sachs disease in the Ashkenazi Jewish population has meant that carrier testing has been freely available since 1999 through the NHS. A proviso of NHS carrier screening however is that individuals are free to decide for themselves whether to be tested and importantly, what happens with their results.

Carriers can choose to avoid other carriers or, if both partners are carriers, can opt for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), prenatal testing and termination of affected pregnancies. NHS testing provides an opportunity to screen for Tay-Sachs disease in individuals uncomfortable with the Dor Yeshorim screening system as well as for those who would prefer testing for a single gene rather than a larger panel of diseases.

More recently, a new charity called Jnetics was established in the UK. It aims to help prevent, diagnose and manage genetic disorders that disproportionally affect the Jewish population. Jnetics' approach to carrier screening differs significantly in several respects from the Dor Yeshorim screening system.

It is pluralistic and aimed at the whole Jewish community, irrespective of their level of religious observance. It is also available more widely for those with Jewish ancestry. Results of any genetic tests and carrier status are given directly to the patient. Advice, counselling and support are given in the context of the patient's personal beliefs rather than from a religious perspective.

Several options now exist in the UK to help individuals with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry avoid the increased risk of having a child with a genetic disorder. These include specific Tay-Sachs carrier screening available through the NHS, a panel of nine genetic disorders using Jnetics services or opting to participate in the UK branch of Dor Yeshorim.

The choice will likely be a reflection of religious affiliation, religious observance and societal pressures, but also personal belief of what is thought to be an appropriate number of disorders to test for and how important it is to receive carrier status.

There are distinct advantages and disadvantages of each system and people often hold strong opinions. However, it is important to note that together, they have effectively eradicated Tay-Sachs disease from a religiously and geographically diverse Jewish population and significantly reduced the incidence of other Jewish genetic disorders.

As widespread carrier screening becomes technically and economically feasible, several ethical, social and legal challenges have come to light. Deciding whom to offer carrier screening to, how many and what genetic disorders to test for, as well as the most appropriate level of anonymity are all difficult questions. These are concerns that the Jewish community has grappled with and continues to debate. This article highlights some of the strengths and weaknesses of the various methods of carrier screening and we hope it provides a useful starting point for future discussions about carrier screening expansion.

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Carrier screening: The state of play in the UK Jewish population - BioNews

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Posted By admin on November 24, 2019

Photo Credit: Kobi Richter/TPS

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday night assailed the Blue and White party, his arch political rivals, for their apparent willingness to establish a minority government supported by the Arab Members of Knesset (MK), a development he said will be celebrated in Tehran and Ramallah.

Netanyahu addressed an emergency event held by his Likud party in Tel Aviv in a fateful moment for the State of Israel.

Blue and White leaders Benny Gantz, Gabi Ashkenazi, and Boogie Yaalon decided to form a minority government that will rely on the members of the Joint Arab List, he warned.

Knesset Members of the Joint List support the terrorist organizations and call IDF soldiers murderers. They also want to prosecute IDF soldiers as war criminals. Benny Gantz, I tell you they want to prosecute you as a war criminal. The same goes for Ashkenazi and Boogie Yaalon, Netanyahu stated, relating to their roles as IDF chiefs of Staff. What went through your brain?

Netanyahu quoted Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who said over the weekend that he does not want to destroy all the Jews but only the State of Israel, and that the destruction of the Zionist regime meant that the Palestinians would elect their government and remove the Zionist government, in apparent support of a minority government supported by the Arab MKs.

I tell you that such a minority government will be celebrated in Tehran, celebrated in Ramallah, it will be celebrated in Gaza. As they celebrate after every terrorist attack, he stated.

He underscored that was not talking about all Arabs.

Arabs can be Zionists and support the State of Israel, but the Joint List are not Zionists and do not support the State of Israel. Being dependent on them at all times, and especially at this time, is a huge danger to the State of Israel, and it is an unparalleled crisis in the history of the state, he declared.

While the prospects of the establishment of such a government are slim, Netanyahu has launched a public campaign in recent days to counter such an eventuality.

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Netanyahu: Minority Govt Backed by Arab List Will be 'Celebrated in Tehran, Ramallah' - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

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Posted By admin on November 24, 2019

Throughout history, nations have sought to establish a system of common values that would define them as a people. The political philosopher John Rawls called them primary goods that transcend political or ideological controversy. These primary goods are an expression of the identity, historical memory, myths and ethos of each state. The attempt to build them becomes more complicated when a nation is composed of a number of ethnic and religious groups.

In the United States, democracy and capitalism carry a near-religious aura as core values, even if they have eroded significantly under President Donald Trump. In France, too, the principles of liberty, equality and brotherhood, which originated with the French Revolution, are sometimes cited as a national ethos, although the minorities in the country, mainly Muslims from North Africa, have a sense of alienation from the state and the values that it represents.

In Israel the attempt to form a shared ethos, inspired by successive generations of the Labor movement, led over the years to the consolidation of various identities, most of them different from one another. The vision of a homogeneous society encountered many obstacles and, later, also resistance from groups that did not assimilate into the nation-building project.

This set off a struggle over the character of Israeli society between those who sought a uniform identity what Israeli sociologist Baruch Kimmerling called the ahusalim a Hebrew acronym for Ashkenazi, secular, native-born, socialist elites and other groups and forces, including Arabs, Mizrahi Jews and the religious, who promote ideas of diversity and multiculturalism.

In theory, the political elite offered room for cultural diversity, but in practice it supported the melting-pot policy that meant the shedding of all the distinctive characteristics of ethnic traditions and faiths, and the creation of a cultural system that, although it might contain a range of cultural elements is, at base, controlled by a single dominant component.

The melting pot did not manage to forge the multiplicity of groups in Israel into a single dominant culture. The multicultural model failed also as a result of the hostility between Jews and Arabs, Ashkenazim and Mizrahim, religious and secular and right and left.

The person responsible for fanning the hatred between the two political camps, right and left, is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. More than any other politician, Netanyahu undermined the values that were mistakenly perceived as shared ones: nonpartisan governance, collectivism, secularism and socialism.

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Netanyahu, like the historic Labor movement, adhered to his own consolidated set of values. He, like the other camp, tried and tries, in an aggressive and undemocratic manner, to impose on Israel a uniform identity that is more religious, more ultranationalist and capitalistic.

The two remaining fundamental components that still unite most Jewish (but not Arab) Israelis and foster a sense of belonging are a Jewish state and the security ethos. The idea of Israel as a Jewish state (not necessarily in the religious sense) scores high in every public opinion poll, while there is little support for the state of all its citizens model.

The national security ethos has developed over the course of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a social-psychological underpinning of beliefs and opinions about the conflict that has gained wide traction in the minds of Israelis and their leaders. This mindset regarding security is disseminated through the media and through books and school curricula.

The effort to establish a single Israeli nation based on a dominant system of core values failed in the past and is doomed to failure today as well. The multitude of groups that draw their faiths and outlooks from different, often opposing, forces is not a recipe for the creation of a cohesive nation. The bleak reality shows that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the only thing enabling the existence of the (Jewish but not Israeli) one-nation idea, given the broad public support for the principle of the Jewish state and the security ethos.

Sagi Elbaz teaches in the International Graduate Program in Political Science and Political Communication at Tel Aviv University..

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The Israeli nation is a fiction - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on November 24, 2019

Last time I wrote about my family and the differences in our DNA. My wife and I were tested, and then our four children also joined in, so we all have our results from Ancestry DNA. There were some differences, and I am still trying to find out why some of them happened. I can explain most of the differences because when we passed our DNA down to the children, they each inherited slightly different pieces of our DNA.

It is like shuffling a deck of cards and then picking half of them to go on to the next generation. For each child you would have to re-shuffle the deck, so, even though they get their DNA from each parent, the parts they get are slightly different. The question Im still trying to figure out is how a child could get a higher percentage of one area than the parents have. For example, one of them has 9 percent Germanic Europe, while I only have 5 percent and my wife doesnt have any. Im trying to get an answer for that.

Actually, Ive been tested by four companies, each with slightly different results. These differences can be explained because each company tests areas of the DNA structure that are different from what other companies test, and it can also be explained because each company has different reference populationsthe groups of people they use to determine what makes "Ireland" or "Ghana" or "Native American."

My results, although different, are similar. For example, Ancestry DNA has me at 93 percent British Isles (Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales), while 23&Me has only 68 percent, but with overlapping areas it becomes 95 percent. Family Tree DNA shows 85 percent, and MyHeritage DNA shows 97 percent. Sprinkled in among these figures are various percentages of Germanic Europe, Sweden, Spanish Europe, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Native American, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Ashkenazi Jew. These variations come from the areas of DNA tested by the companies, and their reference groups.

One thing about genealogy in general, and DNA testing in particular, that I always mention to my students is to be cautious. If you dont like surprises, stop immediately. There are ALWAYS surprisesfrom unexpected adoptions to parents who arent really biological parents at all, or sometimes an explanation of ethnicity that has been passed on for generations, but is proven incorrect by DNA testing (like the story of the Indian princess). All families have secrets somewhere. Our job as genealogists is to find them and solve the mystery. DNA can really help.

For example, in my own family, my parentage and my grandparents back several generations are definitely what I expected, but somewhere in the past few hundred years there may have been what is sometimes called a "non-paternity event." I dont like that term because, of course, there was paternity it just might not have been the paternity recorded on a birth certificate or in the family Bible. Anyway, my "Y" DNA test (son to father to his father, on back in the direct male line for generations) shows that in the past I might be related to the Cahoon/Calhoun family (and there are several variant spellings, including those from Scotland). Im still trying to figure this out. I claim descent from John Moses, who came to Massachusetts in 1632. Someone out east also claims this, but our DNA is so different that we cant even be related. This means that his family had one of those non-paternity events, or mine did, or both did. Ill write more about what I am doing to solve this problem later.

Jim Moses welcomes comments at jmosesgen@gmail.com.

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Jim Moses: The muddy waters of DNA testing - Sentinel-Standard

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Posted By admin on November 24, 2019

On October 10, 2019, during a memorial service in Jerusalem for the fallen soldiers of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke bluntly about the conclusions to be drawn from that war: "Few hours before the outbreak of the war," Netanyahu stated, "when it was already clear that the confrontation was inevitable, Israel did not undertake the necessary measures to neutralize the imminent threat. Israel's reluctance to carry out a preventive strike against Egypt enabled our enemies to take the initiative and inflict on us heavy casualties. I by no means underestimate the difficulties embedded in the decision to undertake a preventive strike. This is a severe dilemma for every Israeli government. Certainly, because its implications are not clear. However, Israel faces sometimes existential threats in which it cannot, and should not, rule out the option of a preventive strike. In fact, under such circumstances a preventive strike is a must."

To those who might have thought that Netanyahu was engaged in historical debate, Netanyahu made it clear that his message relates to present day, and the existential threat Iran poses to Israel: "Iran," Netanyahu said, "threatens to wipe us off the map The IDF is prepared to preempt any threat, defensively and offensively, with crushing strength, in weaponry and in spirit. This is the tremendous spirit that was instilled in us by the generation of the Yom Kippur War."

This is not the first time that the Israeli prime minister had mentioned the possibility of taking preemptive military action against Iran. The period between 20102011 was perhaps the closest Israel had ever been to launching a preemptive strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, with strong support for the initiative coming from both Prime Minister Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak. What motivated Netanyahu and Barak to consider a preemptive strike on Iranian nuclear facilities? These were the following main premises:

First, if left unimpeded, Iranian nuclear facilities will enter into "zone of immunity." That is, they will become either so well protected or so well developed that an attack on them would be a short-term solution at best, and at worstcompletely futile. Netanyahu believed Iran was quickly approaching this threshold and sought to strike while such an operation could still yield the desired result of thwarting Iranian nuclear ambitions in its infancy.

Second, the United States under the Obama administration would not be ready to carry out such an operation. The United States opposed the Iranian nuclear project and President Barack Obama repeatedly stressed that "all options are on the table" and that U.S. is "prevention not containment." In reality however, the United States under President Obama was not ready to risk getting involved in yet another major military confrontation in the Middle East with potentially great costs for the United States.

Third, covert operations, including cyber-attacks on the Iranian nuclear program and operations against nuclear scientists might postpone the project, but not eliminate it entirely.

Fourth, Israel is aware of its limited ability to destroy the Iranian facilities in one strike. These facilities, unlike the Iraqi or the Syrian nuclear facilities which Israel managed to demolish in one strike, are located deep underground and are spread throughout the country. However, Israel does not necessarily need to destroy every nuclear facility in Iran for it to cripple or dissuade Iran from its nuclear ambitions; it could be enough for Israel to cause significant damage to these facilities. Such damage could lead the Iranian regime to the rational conclusion that it is not worthwhile to try to renew its nuclear project simply because this would require vast amounts of resources and will put Iran further into international isolation. There would also be the possibility of another Israeli strike.

In 2010-2011, Israel came very close to launching such an operation. The plan was eventually sidelined due to opposition from Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief Gabi Ashkenazi, the head of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, and multiple ministers who believed that the IDF was not ready to carry out this action.

The concept of a preemptive strike or preventive war was not new to Israeli strategic doctrine but was rather a key element of it since nearly the inception of the state itself. This is largely due to Israels lack of strategic geographical depth, in addition to its small population and standing army in relation to its Arab neighbors. Furthermore, Israel believed that since its enemies repeatedly call for its destruction, it has full moral justification to carry out a preemptive strike even during periods of calm and without any direct provocations by its enemies.

Israel has notably employed this tactic numerous times during its seventy-one-year history with great success. The Sinai War in 1956 was one of the earliest instances of this. Later on, during the beginning of the Six-Day War in 1967, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) destroyed much of the Egyptian, Jordanian, and Syrian air forces before their planes could even get off the ground. The establishment of complete air supremacy was a crucial factor in the overwhelming success of the IDF during this conflict. Furthermore, in 1981, the IAF successfully destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor, and in 2007, the IAF destroyed a Syrian nuclear site.

Now, faced with the increasing likelihood of war, Israel seems to be heading again towards the conclusion that a preventive strike against Iran is inevitable, as Israels operations against the Iranian nuclear project and its sporadic attacks on Iranian proxies in Syria and Iraq, while operationally successful, have not succeeded in deterring Iran from: (1) expanding "proliferation-sensitive activities [which] raises concerns that Iran is positioning itself to have the option of a rapid nuclear breakout"; (2) continuing its incursion into Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Thus, "undermining the sovereignty of its neighbors"; (3) developing and transporting precision missile technology, principally to its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah. These missiles pose an extremely grave strategic threat to Israel and other United States allies.

The Trump administration has been sympathetic with regard to Israeli security concerns. However, it is essentially carrying out a policy of containment towards Iran as it is reluctant to effectively retaliate against Irans aggressive foreign policy. Israel is certainly aware that the situation in Washington could change as a result of the different political and legal pressures mounting on the current president of the United States. Another American administration may be less supportive, if not outright opposed to this sort of military action taken by Israel vis--vis Iran.

Over the past decade, there has been a drastic realignment in the Middle East largely due to the growing Iranian threat, which has pushed many of the Arab Gulf states closer to Israel as they battle a common enemy. While relations are still not particularly open or formally diplomatic, there is now more potential for reconciliation than there ever has been between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors. If Israel wants to look like a reliable ally and to enhance its position in the eyes of the Gulf States, it needs to show power and resilience, and that it can be depended on in the event of a conflict with Iran. No other state is able or willing to undertake this role.

Under these circumstances, there are certainly compelling factors pushing Israel towards preemptive action against Iran. However, at the same time, Israel is well aware that the legitimacy of any military operation against Iran will undoubtedly face harsh questioning in the international arena, especially since Iran is a signatory to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (though its compliance with said treaties is frequently debated). Furthermore, the current weak political position of Prime Minister Netanyahu due to his impending corruption inquiry in addition to the absence of a functioning Israeli government gravely impedes Israel's ability to undertake major critical decisions at this point in time.

Professor Zaki Shalom is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, Israel. He has published extensively on various facets of Israel's defense policy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the role of the superpowers in the Middle East, and Israel's struggle against Islamic terror. His work has also focused on the study of Israel's nuclear option, both in historical and contemporary perspectives.

Jacob Aaron Collier is a research intern at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, Israel, and an MA candidate in security and diplomacy studies at Tel Aviv University. He is a graduate of Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs where he earned a BA in Political Science and Global Security Studies.

Image: Reuters.

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Is Israel Heading Towards a 'Preventive War' Against Iran? - The National Interest Online

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Posted By admin on November 24, 2019

Helena Bonham Carter has praised her extraordinary family, after learning her grandfather helped thousands of French Jews escape the Holocaust.

Bonham Carter, 53, who is currently starring as Princess Margaret in The Crown, is one of four actors and actresses exploring their grandparents wartime stories in a new series for Channel 4, starting next week.

Sir Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas and Carey Mulligan also appear in their own episodes of My Grandparents War, which airs from next Wednesday.

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Bonham Carter who is of Jewish descent on her mothers side said she had become evangelical about digging into her past since appearing on the show, which commemorates the 80th anniversary of the start of the Second World War.

Her maternal grandfather Eduardo Propper de Callejon was a Spanish diplomat who defied his governments orders and helped Jews escape the Holocaust during the Nazi invasion of France.

She also learned that her English paternal grandmother Lady Violet Bonham Carter, a mother-of-four and liberal politician, also fought anti-Semitism as a volunteer air raid warden.

Helena Bonham Carters grandfather Eduardo Propper De Callejn

Bonham Carter said: Its a great family. And Im proud now to be able to share it.

Part of me feels like this was just the beginning, because this whole thing was a gift for me.

We were given a chance to go and explore and ask the questions and hear what really happened, and then have extraordinary surprises.

The level of research, and the people that did the research, they were extraordinary in what they managed to dig up.

For me, my family is extraordinary. I was born too late and they died too soon, so for me it was like I met them properly, and had a conversation with them, and I also want to carry on conversing with my mum.

The conversations that Ive started, I feel like theres a lot more.

Im almost evangelical in saying that its one of the most important things Ive done.

I feel like every young person should go and interview their grandparents.

Helena Bonham Carter and Social Historian Lucy Noakes discussing Helenas grandmother, who was an air raid warden in London during the Blitz

The programme also sees Bonham Carter interview her grandmother, called Bubbles, at length.

She said: I did, years ago, interview my mothers mother for hours.

All the women in our family never really do stop talking, and Ive got hours of Bubbles, and she is actually in the documentary, but I do feel it should be part of the national curriculum.

We should have all our children and grandchildren talk to [our] parents and there should be this handing down.

What also struck me is that there is all this silence around trauma, so it needs time for people to make sense of it.

Its the time for people to speak and for us to find out.

My Grandparents War starts on Channel 4 on Wednesday November 27.

TOWIE star and presenter Mark Wright discovered he has a long Spanish-Jewish lineage and that his nine-times great-grandfather was arrested and tortured during the Spanish Inquisition. Another of his relatives was burnt at the stake for being Jewish.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has described himself as a one man melting pot, after finding out he has Jewish roots thanks to his maternal great-grandfather, Elias Avery Lowe, a paleographer, who was a Russian-Jewish immigrant to the United States.

Actress Jessica Biel discovered her great-great-grandparents were Hungarian Jews who immigrated to Chicago in 1888, while a DNA test proved she was 8 per cent Jewish.

Game of Thrones creator George R R Martin found out he was nearly a quarter Jewish or 22.4 per cent Ashkenazi Jew according to his DNA results which was a surprise given that he thought he only had Irish and Italian roots. Experts have speculated his grandmother might have had an affair with a Jewish man.

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Helena Bonham Carter: 'My extraordinary grandfather saved thousands of Jews' - Jewish News

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Posted By admin on November 24, 2019

Jeremy Fall and Henry Costa, the LA-based hospitality duo best known for their modern iterations of classic American eateries, have finally brought their new age dining concepts to the South.

Mcflys Bird Shoppe (an 80s-inspired chicken tender joint) and Unplugged (a 90s-inspired cocktail bar) opened on Nov. 14 in Five Points South.

Currently open in Five Points Lane until 11 p.m., with possible plans to extend later, the new restaurant and bar are part of Orchestra Partners plan to attract young people back to Five Points South. For the past two years, the redevelopment firm has been on a mission to revive one of Birminghams first nightlife destinations after years of being overlooked for hot spots like Avondale and Lakeview.

After doubling down in Birmingham, Orchestra Partners opened the entertainment venue The Woolworth Recreation and Refreshment in 2018. If testing new concepts to fit into the evolving scene of Five Points South is the goal, bringing in two restaurateurs well-known for taking risks on creative dining experiences is a move in the right direction.

For the last five years, the duo have been some of the busiest men in the Los Angeles restaurant scene. Costa is a former Wall Street investment banker who cut his teeth in the culinary scene as an apprentice chef in Atlanta. In 2014, he opened Link, a West Hollywood restaurant focusing on artistinal sausages, where he met Fall as a customer.

Jeremy Fall (left) and Henry Costa at Unplugged in Five Points South.

Fall was quickly building his own reputation in the Los Angeles hospitality industry. In 2014, he opened a series of intimate bars based on his experience as a marketer and promoter in the Hollywood nightlife industry. Genesis, his first project, started out as a five-week a pop-up bar in a vintage Hollywood attic and later opened into a permanent location on Hollywood Boulevard. His second concept, Golden Box, was based on the iconic 1980s grunge scenes at Area, Studio 54, and the Limelight. Later that year, Fall reopened the legendary Los Angeles dive bar King Eddy Salon, restoring it to its former glory.

In 2016, Fall made his first foray into the restaurant industry with Nighthawk: Breakfast Bar, a breakfast restaurant specializing in elevated fare such as drunken french toast, Benedict fries and breakfast-themed drinks such as the spiked cereal milk and cold-brew cocktails. The concept would land him on Food Networks Diners, Drive-ins and Dives."

A spiked Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal milk cocktail (Courtesy: Nighthawk Breakfast Bar/ J. Fall Group)

Costa would eventually close Link, but the pair kept in touch, and Costa would come to Fall with the idea to open Tinfoil Liquor & Grocery, a liquor store with a speakeasy-style deli. Inspired by New York City bodegas, the concept was a combination of Costas Link and Falls Nighthawk. Out front, patrons could pick up beer, liquor and snacks. A passphrase to the cashier or a press on a buzzer granted access to the back -- a hidden sandwich shop boasting house-cured meats, served all day until close. In keeping with his pattern of restoring architecture and preserving city culture, Fall renovated a Highland Park corner store long known for advertising the coldest beer in town.

In 2016, Costa and Fall partnered to create the J. Fall Group. With Costa running the operations and finance and Fall handling the marketing, branding and creative design (including the interiors, logos and uniforms), the pair would go on to open more iterations of the Nighthawk brand, including Nighthawk: AM, the breakfast bars fast-casual sister concept, Paperboy -- a partnership with United Talent Agency and a take on the classic pizza joint, boasting shitake mushrooms pizzas and potato chip crusted mozzarella sticks -- and the new-age diner, Easys.

In addition to partnering with brands for limited-edition dishes, Fall has also expanded his creative projects outside of restaurants and bars -- creating a spiked cereal milk doughnut for American Express and curating a dinner party playlist for Spotify. His collaboration with the mens streetwear subscription box service Threadbeast was filled with 90s-inspired items including aviator shades and Falls custom-designed food porn View-Master filled with images from his restaurants.

While 90s nostalgia runs through his creative concepts, Fall,who has also cooked for James Beard Foundation dinners, said the theme is unintentional.

Everything seems to be cohesive accidentally, said Fall. Everything is always inspired by my upbringing. So I think being a 90s kid is the reason why.

For Fall, integrating music culture (particularly rock and hip-hop) with nostalgia has fueled a running theme for his projects: experimental dining concepts that are interpretations of classic Americana -- diners, restaurants, and bars that merge food, art and pop culture.

And as the restaurant industry has shifted to becoming more entertainment-centric, Fall said his ventures have found a captive audience.

It allows us to be a little bit more creative and have more fun. Creating a 90s concept is something that,10 years ago, may not have been possible because people would have thought it was weird, he said. Now people embrace something more experiential.

Falls penchant for merging entertainment, dining, and nightlife attracted the attention of Jay Zs Roc Nation, and in 2018, Fall became the first restaurateur and chef to sign to the rapper and business moguls entertainment group.

K2 Restaurants acquired all of the restaurants under the J. Fall Group umbrella in April, but Fall and Costa had no plans to slow down.

In August, Fall opened Mixtape, his first restaurant under Roc Nation. Fall once again created a fusion of music, food and visual art, commissioning pieces from musicians including Quincy Jones, Vic Mensa, Jaden Smith, Robin Thicke and Incubus Brandon Boyd.

Mixtape is basically my version of a mixtape in the food form. So I got a bunch of really cool artists that, in my eyes, are reflective of culture today, said Fall. So paintings, sculptures, sketches, collages. Basically all of that is my version of what a mixtape would be as a restaurant.

Inspired by his French Tunisian, Caribbean, Jewish American heritage, the menu is a melting pot of cultures, with smoked salmon and latkes, jerk fried chicken sandwiches, and steak tartare tostadas.The drinks are organized into a mood-themed cocktail menu, from spicy with tequila, ginger beer, and Chinese five-spice bitters to relaxed, a coconut-washed bourbon blend with toasted pecan bitters and Demerara sugar.

The Smoked Salmon n' Latkes at Mixtape (Credit/Courtesy: Mixtape)

'Birmingham is on its way up'

Fall said the duo set its sights on Birmingham as the destination for their next project due to the citys burgeoning-yet-approachable dining and bar scene of elevated and James Beard award-winning restaurants and cocktail bars.

We love emerging markets and emerging scenes, said Fall. Obviously Birmingham is on its way up pretty quickly. You know, similar to what Nashville looked like five years ago. Those are the kinds of markets we look for.

The pair spent months back and forth from Los Angeles to Birmingham, studying the city with the help of their developers, Orchestra Partners, who have made a significant investment in bringing new entertainment-centric projects to Five Points South. Fall and Costa immersed themselves in Birminghams bar culture, visiting night spots and talking to residents to get a sense of the type of concepts that would complement a rebirth of the area.

The result is McFlys and Unplugged at 1024 20th Street South in Five Points Lane, Fall and Costas seventh and eighth restaurants, and their first collaborations together since J.Fall Group was acquired.

Opening day at McFly's Bird Shoppe (Credit: BCJ Creative)

We saw a lot. We loved the nostalgic element, which I thought would really fit well for a while in the city. Both concepts are basically us coming to Alabama and doing what you guys are already doing, but adding our touch to it, said Fall. "Our inspiration has some of that California feel, but it capitalizes on the open mindedness that the city has.

Again, not the types to erase original architecture, Fall and Costa restored a lot of the brick of the original Five Points Lane building, which houses McFlys. The two spaces share a wall, so to create Unplugged, the team built the exterior walls of the bar from recycled storage containers.

I like being able to do that, Fall said. One of my favorite parts is building something that was complementary to [a location], not trying to seal it or hide it away.

BCJ Creative

The Kitchen for McFly's Bird Shoppe and Unplugged (Credit: BCJ Creative)

In keeping with their themes of revamped Americana, Fall and Costa tapped Noel Rosario, a longtime chef at their LA projects, to move to Birmingham to helm the McFlys and Unplugged kitchen, developing menus for the restaurants that contain nostalgia in every bite.

The design

A nod to both the Back to the Future franchise and bird flight, McFlys Bird Shoppe is a modern, 80s-inspired chicken tenders joint.

Graffiti on the walls of McFly's Bird Shoppe (Credit: BCJ Creative)

Outside, Fall marked the the grab-and-go concept with a neon sign, leaving the interior design simple -- awash in electric blue and pink, with a rusted tin ceiling, preserved brick, and graffiti-covered walls. For seating, a wooden counter with electric blue metal chairs lines the inside of the shop. Fall also designed the uniforms.

The biggest tribute to the 80s is the floor, which is covered in a collage of vintage ads from the decade.

The interior at McFly's Bird Shoppe. Fall and Costa restored the majority of the building's original brick. (Credit: BCJ Creative)

The floor at McFly's Bird Shoppe is a collage of vintage ads from 80s. (Credit: BCJ Creative)

The menu

The cheffed-up, elevated McFlys concept offers combos of original or spicy chicken, turkey, or vegan tenders, or a sandwich on potato roll with sides including fries, tater tots, slaw, mac-and-cheese or garlic toast.

A chicken tenders basket at McFly's (Credit: BCJ Creative)

The menu at McFly's Bird Shoppe includes 16 house made sauces (Credit: BCJ Creative)

The joints signature: an assortment of 16 house-made sauces, including Bloody Mary ketchup, Nashville hot mayo, black garlic, and McFlys sauce (Fall declined to give the recipe, but likened it to a special spicy aioli).

For an additional cost, customers can also add cheese, bacon or extra pickles.

Chicken tenders sandwich at McFly's Bird Shoppe (Credit: BCJ Creative)

The design

A nod to MTV's long-running live music show of the same name, Unplugged is in the alleyway behind McFlys.

Fall wanted exposed brick to be the focal point of the restaurants design. The create that look, Falls team constructed the building by placing recycled shipping containers around a brick wall, designing the concept from the outside.

Frozen Cocktails are on the menu at Unplugged in Five Points South (Credit: BCJ Creative)

While Unplugged is 90s-inspired, Fall didnt want the design to be gimmicky. Instead of plastering the interior with posters, Fall tapped the artist who painted the walls in McFlys to create a concept of graffiti and doodles to fit with Unpluggeds nightlife aesthetic.

The menu

On brand with Costa and Falls previous concepts of elevated Americana, Unplugged boasts a menu of grown-up takes on classic 90s delights.

A take on Lunchables, the Munchables are a rotating selection of thick-cut charcuterie, cheese, fruit preserves and beer mustard, served with assorted crackers.

The Munchables, Unplugged's take on Lunchables with thick cut charcuterie and assorted crackers ( Credit: BCJ Creative)

For the Patty Mayonnaise Melt (true children of the 90s will recognize the Doug reference), Rosario developed a recipe to duplicate the signature flavor McDonalds burgers, creating a thick patty of grass-fed beef topped with Tillamook cheddar, chopped onions and pickles, and a secret Unplugged sauce, served on toasted white bread.

The Patty Mayonnaise Melt at Unplugged (Credit: BCJ Creative)

The Hamburglar Helper is a cheffed-up version of the one-pot dinner: shell pasta topped with grass fed beef, queso, avocado, and a sunny-side up egg.

Remember Dunkaroos? Unpluggeds adult version is a homemade chocolate chip cookie served with bourbon Funfetti icing dip.

And for patrons who want tenders, theres good news: the menu at Mcflys is also available at Unplugged.

The Hamburglar Helper at Unplugged (Credit: BCJ Creative)

Funkaroos at Unplugged (Credit: BCJ Creative)

The cocktails

To develop Unpluggeds beverage program Fall and general manager Ryan Mims (who was previously behind the bar at Black Market Bar + Grill) took definitive drinks of the 90s -- think Mountain Dew (remember Busta Rhymes iconic Do the Dew commercials?), Tang, and Kool Aid -- and turned them into elevated cocktails.

The cocktail program at Unplugged is based on classic 90's drinks (Credit: BCJ Creative)

In terms of the beverage menu, we really thought back to the things that brought out nostalgic moments and give you that really warm feeling down in your in the pit of your stomach, said Mims. So weve got things like the Hi-C mimosa, taking concepts from that sweet juice box flavor that everybody had in their lunch box coming up. The Tang spritzer is always going to be for that generation who came up as 80s and 90s kids.

The Tang Spritzer at Unplugged (Credit: BCJ Creative)

The Hi-C mimosa is a mix of blood orange vodka, peach liqueur, and sparkling rose with orange and lemon juices and simple syrup. The take on Mountain Dew is the Mountain Mule, crafted with the soda, ginger beer and lime juice.

For those looking to take the purist craft cocktail route, the Thats My Jam blends coconut rum, raspberry and elderflower liqueur, strawberry jam, and a citrus juice blend.

Also on the menu: two frozen drinks -- the Creamsicle delight (whipped vodka, Sunkist, vanilla syrup, and half & half) and the Frozen Gushers (tequila, pineapple and orange juices and banana).

And for those whose palettes lean toward more savory than sweet, the BBQ spice Bloody Mary is a boozy nod to Lays barbecue chips: Vodka and smoked homemade Bloody Mary mix with a BBQ spice rim.

The BBQ Spice Bloody Mary from Unplugged (Credit: BCJ Creative)

The things that your mom brought for you as snacks when you were coming up. We took those concepts and turned them into adult-themed beverages, said Mims. We're really hitting on those key notes of this is where you were, maybe 20 years ago. We brought it right back for you.

Since Birmingham is a beer city, Costa made sure to have a nearly exclusive assortment of Alabama beers in a self-serve fridge, as well as on tap.

The self-serve beer fridge at Unplugged (Credit: BCJ Creative)

Theres a very burgeoning beer scene here. And I saw an opportunity, said Costa. Were going to do a lot of local, primarily Alabama beers, but well also do some Southeast beers as well. Also on the draft list -- the Untapped Lager, specially crafted for the restaurant by Stevens Point brewery out of Wisconsin.

An anchor bar for a niche audience

As work on the Five Points South Entertainment District progresses, Orchestra Partners has more goals for phrase two as they continue to focus on neighborhoods and create centers of gravity for entertainment and life downtown.

We bought a few buildings, and we've been working on them ever since. So everything thats happening in Five Points right now is really exciting, said John Boone, Orchestra Partners principle and co-founder.

Graffiti lines the walls at Unplugged in Five Points South. Jeremy Fall spearheads the interior design at all of his restaurants. (Credit BCJ Creative)

Boone, who also sits on Five Points Alliance, the districts merchants association comprised of business owners and residents, said Unplugged will serve as an anchor bar for the developments next project, a music venue at Five Points Lane.

Were actually going to city council I think this coming month, so we'll have an open container district here eventually. So [Five Points South] will be one of three. Uptown has one. Pepper Place has one, and then we'll be the third one.

And as a fan of testing concepts for emerging scenes, Fall and Costa both think their restaurants, particularly Unplugged, cater to a good niche audience for the citys young future.

Preview night at Unplugged Bar (Credit: BCJ Creative)

What I like about Birmingham is that its unpretentious, said Fall. Its very much about community, you know, locals. Its welcoming. And I think thats what this bar is.

Details:

McFlys: Monday - CLOSED| Tuesday - 11am -1030pm|Wednesday - 11am -1030pm| Thursday - 11am -1030pm| Friday - 11am -1230am| Saturday - 11am -1230am|Sunday - 11am -1030pm

https://www.mcflysbs.com/

Unplugged: Monday - CLOSED| Tuesday - 4pm -11pm| Wednesday - 4pm -11pm| Thursday - 4pm -11pm| Friday - 4pm -1am| Saturday - 11am - 1am| Sunday - 11am -11pm

https://www.barunplugged.com/

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McFlys and Unplugged are ready to serve up 80s/90s nostalgia in Five Points South - AL.com

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Posted By admin on November 24, 2019

WHAT WE CANT WAIT TO WATCH

The Witcher

As the world searches for the next Game Of Thrones, Netflix throws down this lavish sword-and-sorcery series based on the work of Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski starring Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, a golden-eyed, white-haired monster hunter who travels the mystical kingdom of The Continent slaying beasts while also starting to wonder whose will he truly serves. The streaming service is so committed to the show that it has already ordered a second season, and its rolling out the episodes of season one weekly, for that extra prestige feel. December 20

Tiffany Haddish: Black Mitzvah

Typically, Jewish girls and boys have their bat mitzvahs and bar mitzvahs when they turn 13. But Tiffany Haddish is celebrating her coming of age on her 40th birthday. The comedian recently learned about her Jewish heritage her dad was an Eritrean Jew and wanted to get in touch with her roots. In this stand-up special, Haddish reflects on her life, from being homeless and raising herself, to the time Beyonc gave her a jumpsuit. No doubt, Haddishs got chutzpah. December 3

6 Underground

What happens when self-aware action hero Ryan Reynolds teams up with decidedly un-self-aware action director Michael Bay? Were about to find out in 6 Underground, which appears to be an international explosions-and-shooting picture revolving around an elite team of super-awesome crime fighters who operate with impunity because theyre all dead. We assume its just a technical thing, like that theyve been declared dead to keep their families safe, but if it turns out theyre ghosts or zombies fighting crime, that could be even cooler. December 13

John Mulaney And The Sack Lunch Bunch

Not content with being one of the best regarded stand-ups in America, a delightful voice actor (in Big Mouth and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse) and the wild card that makes his episodes of Documentary Now! really pop, John Mulaney decided he wanted to make a contemporary version of those empowering TV specials he watched as a kid, like Free To Be... You And Me. So Netflix let him, and now its here: a sketches-and-songs variety show with Mulaney, children and celebrity guest stars like David Byrne, Natasha Lyonne, Annaleigh Ashford, Richard Kind, Andr De Shields, Shereen Pimentel and Mysterio himself, Jake Gyllenhaal. Were listening. December 24

Lost In Space (season 2)

You may recall that the first season of Netflixs expensive upgrade of the fondly remembered 60s sci-fi series ended with our heroes finally getting lost in space drawn into a wormhole, specifically, to meet the alien species that created that mysterious Robot. What happens now? More thrilling interstellar adventures, which our codependent family (Toby Stephens, Molly Parker, Taylor Russell, Mina Sundwall and Maxwell Jenkins) will presumably survive by the skin of their collective teeth, while Ignacio Serricchios ace pilot Don West tries to help and Parker Poseys Dr. Smith does her chaotic-neutral thing. Its what the people want. Read our season 1 review here. December 24

You (season 2)

Just in time for prime bingeing time i.e. the days before and after Christmas when everyone is permanently in pajamas and robes the second season of psychological thriller You is back. In the second season, Joe is laying low in California, dealing with his past and searching for love. Although high-brow TV watchers might write this series off as romanticizing stalking, as our reviewer said of the first season, its actually a smart satire that skewers modern culture. Read our season 1 review here. December 26

Marriage Story

After ripping peoples hearts out during its all-too-brief theatrical release at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Noah Baumbachs devastating study of a dissolving couple may not be as powerful when viewers are able to pause it and go for a walk to shake off the emotional weight. But Adam Driver and Scarlett Johanssons fully committed performances will pull you along just the same, and the streaming format allows us to immediately revisit key scenes, and marvel at the incredible work Julie Hagerty, Merritt Wever, Ray Liotta, Alan Alda and a never-better Laura Dern are doing in the margins. Read our review here. December 6

The Shape Of Water

Guillermo del Toros lyrical Cold War monster movie plays like a cross between Amlie and Creature From The Black Lagoon, as a mute cleaner (Sally Hawkins) working in a secret government facility befriends an amphibious biped (Doug Jones) and decides to spring him from captivity. There arent many filmmakers operating at this scale who put as much trust in their audience as del Toro does and this time, that trust was rewarded with four Oscars, including best picture and best director. And even though its playing Baltimore, Torontos never looked so good. Read our review here. December 1

Titanic

If the last time you watched Titanic was on VHS, when it was split over two tapes, youre in luck: its finally coming to Netflix. During your re-watch, gush over young Leo and Kate, giggle at the nude drawing scene (Draw me like one of your French girls), get overly angry that Rose didnt move over a couple inches on that damn floating door and then sing along to My Heart Will Go On. December 1

List of new titles available in December by date:

December 1

Eastsiders (season 4)

December 2

Miraculous: Tales Of Ladybug & Cat Noir (season 3, part 1)

Team Kaylie (part 2)

December 3

Tiffany Haddish: Black Mitzvah

December 4

The Blacklist (season 6)

Los Briceo

Magic For Humans (season 2)

December 5

Apache: La vida de Carlos Tevez

Greenleaf (season 4)

Home For Christmas

December 6

Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show

The Chosen One (season 2)

The Confession Killer

Fuller House (season 5 )

Glow Up

Spirit Riding Free: The Spirit Of Christmas

Teasing Master Takagi-san (season 2)

Three Days Of Christmas

Triad Princess

Virgin River

December 8

RuPauls Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular

December 9

A Family Reunion Christmas

Shameless (U.S.) (season 9)

December 10

Michelle Wolf: Joke Show

December 12

Jack Whitehall: Christmas With My Father

December 14

RuPauls Drag Race: All Stars (season 4)

December 15

Northern Rescue (season 1)

Star Trek

December 17

Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America!

December 18

Dont F**k With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer

Soundtrack

December 19

Ultraviolet (season 2)

Twice Upon A Time

December 20

The Witcher

December 24

Carole & Tuesday (part 2)

Crash Landing On You

John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch

Lost In Space (season 2)

Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020 (part 2)

December 26

Le Bazar de la Charit

Fast & Furious Spy Racers

You (season 2)

December 27

The Gift

Kevin Hart: Dont F**k This Up

December 30

The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K.: Reawakened

December 31

The Degenerates (season 2)

The Neighbor

Suits (season 9)

Yanxi Palace: Princess Adventures

December 1

American Made

A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish

Crocodile Dundee

Dead Kids

Dinner For Schmucks

The Duchess

Gladiator

The Greatest Showman

Look Whos Talking Too

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What to watch on Netflix Canada in December 2019 - NOW Magazine

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Posted By admin on November 24, 2019

When I have to leave my synagogue because its progressive agenda includes distancing from Israel, I fear feelingsomething I thought I was done with once I got to the United States.

Unlike my parents I never knew what it felt to belong to a country, to have a native language, a national anthem, a passport. Until her Iraq and his Egypt took their passports away. Jew became our nationality. I never had any other.

Born in India but not Indian, Japan was home for twenty years until immigration to the USA. No, it was not possible to be naturalized by Japan.

Dad tried to soften our statelessness by claiming we belonged to a respectable tribe of Wandering Jews, but without a passport we couldnt even wander, we were stuck. And when Man Without A Country was recited in my international missionary school, it was one of those times I wanted to disappear under my desk in shame.

Like the time Japanese authorities came to our home asking, When do you plan to leave?Ask Nasser my father finally snapped. They didnt understand how a person could have a passport one day and not the next. What happened werent you born there?

My father was not only born in Egypt, so were his ancestors as far back as his Egyptian family on his fathers side could go. The Wahbas were fellahin from Mitghram, not Sephardic newcomers from the Spanish Inquisition who found their way to Alexandria via Turkey and Syria and Morocco, like the Sabans on his mothers side. He was a proud Egyptian Jew till the day he died. Despite being kicked out, Nasser could not erase our history.

Same for my mother, Jews in Iraq went back 3,000 years. By the rivers of Babylon where we sat down and there we wept as we remembered Zion She had to flee her native land after Baghdad became too dangerous for Jews.

Like Egypt, Iraq is Jew-Free today. And the exodus was harsh for the close to a million Jews who had to flee in the 1950s. No one just leaves deeply rooted lands with nothing. Unless you call one suitcase of clothes something.

Our wait for America was long there was no quota for Egyptians (which we were classified as despite Egypts rejection), those 20 years in Japan.

People always ask why didnt we just go to Israel instead of remaining Stateless?Why did we wait twenty years for the United States instead of making Aliyah?

We could have joined our large recently completely pauperized relatives, almost our entire extended families, from both Egypt and Iraq, struggling to survive in the maabarot.

I often think we should have made Aliyah. But there were reasons. Not only was the adrenaline fueled terror of the Farhud with the screams and the fear haunt my mother, she had her pragmatic reasons. Money, we had no money, and Israel had no money. What would your father do there (for work)? Dad was a spiritual man, he felt differently, God would provide. Mom would have none of that. If her husband couldnt provide, and Israel couldnt provide, she was not definitely going to live in that part of the world ever again. She knew too much.

In Japan I wore my Magain Davide like a flag and waited for America, the other Promised Land the one in a much better neighborhood.

I studied American. Everything American, the accent, the styles, the music. I was ready when we got our visas. Not only would be an American citizen, I would never feel stateless again.

I didnt expect the dont -ask- dont -tell Anti-Semitism sometimes actually articulated, why do you have to wear a Jewish star? I didnt expect Zionism to turn into a dirty word. I never expected to see Jews in kippot and Hasidic garb beaten up in the streets of New York. And I never expected the Islamic Jew/Israel-hatred my family fled sound sane to too many.

Today, Anti-Zionism has spread to where it has become normalized in the Left and growing in universities. I cant march in womens marches infiltrated by anti-Israel organizers. I am progressive Jew who had to leave her Reform synagogue. Its a drag.

Even if the streets remain safe enough for assimilated Jews who dont look Jewish, how much longer will it feel/be safe for those of us Zionists who identify with Israel to thrive in the USA?

For liberated Jews there can be no difference between fighting anti- Semitism and fighting Anti-Zionism. Without the strongest link between the United States and our Zionist dream come true Israel, we American Jews may have US passports but we will be deeply diminished. We will be fighting feeling stateless and wondering, what happened?

Rachel Wahba is a San Francisco Bay Area based writer, psychotherapist and the co-founder of Olivia Travel. An Egyptian-Iraqi Jew, Rachel was born in India and grew up stateless in Japan. The many dimensions of her exile and displacement are a constant theme in her professional work as well as her activism as an advisory board member for JIMENA (Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa).

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As a Jew... | Rachel Wahba - The Times of Israel

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