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Posted By richards on February 18, 2017

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The show's production company refused to comply with the warrant and said it would appeal the warrant on Sunday.

Police officers arrived at the set of the Israeli version of "Big Brother" Friday morning and presented the show producers with warrant to hand over all footage in which the contestant Andel Kabada is present. The production company refused to comply and said it would appeal the warrant on Sunday. The police said that the warrant was issued following a complaint that was filed against Kabada, but refused to say what the complaint was concerning or who filed it.

Several weeks ago members of the organization of wives of police officers and prison guards demanded that he be thrown off the show because he called police officers "Nazis." The Production company and Channel 2 refused.

Kabada once again got in trouble this week, after views said that a sexually charged statement he made toward another contestant Maayan Ashkenazi, constituted sexual harassment. Ashkenazi's father said that the production company told him they warned Kabada not to repeat this behavior.

Throughout the show's season, Kabada has been harshly criticizing the police for its alleged mistreatment of Ethiopian-Israelis. Kabada, who is Ethiopian-Israeli, talked about his experiences being beaten by officers for no reason. He claimed that in most cases where Ethiopian-Israelis are charged with assaulting a police officer it is really they who are the victims of assault.

The production company declined to comment.

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Police Demand Footage of 'Big Brother' Contestant Who Called Officers 'Nazis' - Haaretz

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Posted By simmons on February 18, 2017

McGill University student rep Igor Sadikovwas recently censured by the SSMU Board of Directors for his infamous call to inflict violence on Zionists. This also follows his pathetic non-apologyand further antisemitic comments at a SSMU meeting to discuss his original tweet.

Following the censure, Sadikov has offered a new-and-improved apology in which he reveals shock, horror that his own parents are Zionists!

Statement to the SSMU membership

I sincerely apologize for recently publishing a tweet expressing a personal political viewpoint in an insensitive and inappropriate manner by referencing a popular meme. Even though the tweet was published on a personal account, the format I used was unbecoming of my leadership position and the expectations that are associated with it. I deeply regret the harm that was caused as a result.

I regret that members of the McGill community have felt unsafe as a result of the tweet, which, without context, appears to be a genuine call to violence. Many of my constituents and fellow students, and some of my friends, identify as Zionists. I am Jewish myself, and I understand the importance of the state of Israel to many Jews. My parents and a number of our family friends are Zionists as well. I do not wish to enact, and would not condone, violence of any kind toward anyone in my community. I hope that, despite the high level of attention it garnered, my tweet can be understood for what it was: a misguided joke with a political meaning, rather than a credible call for violence.

Over the past few days, I have had opportunities to engage in conversations about Zionism with fellow students who have reached out to me with questions or criticism. I am committed to expanding my knowledge on Zionism by continuing and facilitating such conversations, both within Jewish communities and in dialogue with Palestinian voices, based on a shared commitment to social justice and human rights.

Specifically, I will personally reach out to those who have felt harmed as a result of my tweet, including members of Zionist groups, in order to apologize, and, if desired, engage in dialogue in their preferred format. I am willing to respond to or meet in person with any individuals or groups. I will participate in training and educational activities in order to better engage with a diversity of perspectives on Zionism. I will also seek out collaboration with campus groups and the administration in order to create a space for productive discussion on this topic.

I also want to take this opportunity to address a comment I made at the last meeting of the SSMU Legislative Council. I said: As to your claim that Jewish people are an ethno-religious group indigenous to the Levant, again as someone with a Jewish heritage and Jewish ancestry I want to note that that is a deeply contested claim. I apologize for the lack of clarity in the phrasing of this statement. To clarify, I believe that Jewish peoples around the world constitute many ethno-religious communities with different geographies and histories, including Jews of the Levant, European Jews, North African Jews, Sub-Saharan African Jews, Latin American Jews, South Asian Jews, and East Asian Jews, as well as multiracial Jews of colour and converts to Judaism. I look forward to engaging in further discussion on this topic.

I welcome any further questions, concerns, or other feedback, and reaffirm my commitment to the safety and well-being of all students.

This is definitely a better attempt at an apology than his first one BUT I call BS.

For a start, in apology version 1.0, he never mentioned anything about it being a political jokereferencing a popular meme or his parents and friends being Zionists. He merely expressed regret people felt threatened by it, and said it was not an attack on Jewish students (just on Zionist ones!). Plus theres the matter of his liking this comment.

Which leads me to the conclusion that Sadikov is just trying to save his position in the SSMU.

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Posted By simmons on February 18, 2017

Lets be clear at the outset: I do not believe that President Trump is an anti-Semite. When he talks lovingly about his Jewish daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren; when he refers to his many lifelong Jewish associates and friends and to the Jewish individuals he has appointed, there is no reason to question his sincerity. These facts reflect of a genuine comfortableness with Jews.

That is his why his silence on the issue of anti-Semitism is so stunning.

We have seen this again and again. During the campaign, he derided those who questioned his tweets of anti-Semitic memes or his use of language that evoked age-old stereotypes. And yet, during the campaign a tsunami of anti-Semitic tweets and threats surfaced on social media directed at Jewish journalists. Haters who may have long held anti-Semitic beliefs suddenly seemed to be emboldened and empowered to act on those beliefs.

And that disturbing trend has continued since the election and inauguration.

There have been more than 50 bomb threats called in to synagogues and Jewish institutions across the nation. Vandalism of Jewish institutions has significantly increased. Reports of bullying of Jewish students in schools are surging.

And we have far more to worry about. ADL polls on anti-Semitic attitudes in America report over and over again that despite the remarkable diminution of anti-Semitic attitudes in America over the decades, there still are 30 million to 40 million Americans who harbor anti-Semitism.

In the past, we were not overly worried about such numbers, because inhibitions largely deterred those people from acting out their beliefs. In the current environment, however, there is reason to be much more troubled by those numbers, as some haters are feeling freer to commit anti-Semitic acts of one kind or another. Just this week, a South Carolina man sought to attack a synagogue and emulate his hero, Dylann Roof, who murdered nine parishioners in a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. He was apprehended by the FBI and was arraigned in court on charges.

All of which brings us to the last two days of public appearances by the president: the first in a joint press briefing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the second his press conference to announce a new nominee for secretary of labor.

The subject of anti-Semitism was raised in both sessions, first by an Israeli journalist and in the second instance by a reporter for an ultra-Orthodox media outlet. Both questioners were respectful and hardly accusatory. Indeed, the Hasidic reporter began his question by making it clear that no one thought the president was anti-Semitic.

Both opportunities offered the president a perfect opportunity to state clearly: I am concerned about the rise in anti-Semitism; I think it is abominable and un-American. If, in any way, the language I have used has encouraged such people to act, then I must be clear: Hatred is not what America is about. The anti-Semites and bigots are not good Americans. And I will do everything in my power, by word and action, to fight that hatred and make sure it is unacceptable in the land of the free.

And he could have spelled out specifically what steps he will take to demonstrate that he takes this threat seriously.

But once again, President Trump failed to meet this basic test of presidential leadership. It is long overdue for him to clearly and cogently put the doubts to rest. And at this point, he needs to shift from rhetoric to real action and explain how his administration will combat hate. As the leader of all Americans, he must speak out but also step forward and present a plan to assuage those Americans who are concerned.

The issue is not whether Trump is anti-Semitic. The issue is whether he will stand up to anti-Semitism, let alone other forms of bigotry. And, as president, he will face far more difficult and daunting challenges in the years ahead, but speaking out against intolerance should be a no-brainer.

We urge the president to find an occasion sooner rather than later to use his bully pulpit to reverse the trend and stem the dangerous tide that has seeped into our society over the past year.

Jonathan Greenblatt is CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward.

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Posted By admin on February 18, 2017

For HuffPosts #LoveTakesAction series, were telling stories of how people are standing up to hate and supporting those most threatened now. Tell us what you stand up for, with #LoveTakesAction.

For progressive parents,the 2016 election was devastating, especially for those of us whose kids had gotten involved in the election process. While raising kids under a Trump regime is less than pleasant, the next four years will certainly offer up many opportunities for teaching moments with our kids.

This is how nine real parents plan to teach their kids kindness, acceptance and yes, resistance moving forward.

Gina Sampaio

We are a mixed-race family in a predominately white area.

Im very involved in activism on a local level and my kids have been to meetings, vigils, days of service, cultural events, etc, since they were babies. That has only intensified since the election.

Because of our rather conservative community, its important for my younger kids in particular to see news from around the country and world of other people protesting so they know its not just their nutty Mom thats upset.

Gina Sampaio

I plan on continuing to find ways to tell them what is happening in our country both nationally and locally, trying to temper some good in with the bad so as to not render them hopeless. They will continue to rally, protest, march, hold candles, attend events, donate time and energy alongside their father and me. I will continue to point out marginalized people that are doing GOOD for the community to combat any stereotypes they may hear.

Gina Sampaio, mother to a 16-year-old, 15-year-old, 10-year-old, 8-year-old, and 6-year-old

2. My husband and I vowed the morning after the election that we would raise our daughters to make a difference.

My husband and I vowed the morning after the election that we would raise our daughters to make a difference. We would get involved and help protect the groups that we feel are in the most danger under Trumps administration. We have begun making contributions to the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and the Human Rights Coalition. I have joined a small grass roots group that is active in our area.

After I give birth, I hope to be able to take both of my girls to marches with me, like my mother did for me when I was younger. I learned more about how to be a good person by watching her lead. A lot of that has stayed with me my entire life, and I hope to do the same for my daughters.

Our daughters will grow up watching us work and fight for the most vulnerable among us, and hopefully join alongside of us when they are old enough. I want them to grow up in a world where they not only care about the wellbeing of others, but make a contribution as well. I want them to help create a place where love always trumps hate. Most of all I want them to be uplifted by the good that is in the world and not cowed by the bad. The only way that I know to do that is to show them how to be the good.

Lauren Wellbank, mother of a 2-year-old and pregnant

Corbin Chamberlin

My husband and I are raising our kids in a very conservative area and our girls have already come home with questions regarding our family dynamic because of other students and even sometimes parents of students asking why theyve got two dads.

For us as parents, its vital that we show our kids that our household is first and foremost about love. Were combating negative thinking that our girls will without question face in the world, by instilling values of tolerance and respect. We are quick to answer our kids questions about our same sex marriage, gender roles and other sometimes tricky topics that most folks would tiptoe around. Its never too early to address issues of bigotry and intolerance that your little ones might have been exposed to at school, etc.

Corbin Chamberlin-Randall, father to a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old

One of my goals as a parent is to raise my children with a sense of justice. In order to do that, they have to have a certain level of understanding when it comes to injustice. Whose stories are missing? Who is overrepresented? Who is underrepresented? We read books and enjoy the stories, but also think about them critically, asking questions and thinking about the patterns we see in the underrepresentation of stories.

We also talk about power and privilege. As self-identified boys, they have the privilege of seeing themselves reflected in the world around them. With that power comes the responsibility to speak out for others. Recently we had a conversation about the complexities of gender. To be non-binary, to be feminine, or to be masculine. Through that language they found ways to identify themselves. They also found that they can identify with different words at different times. They can feel masculine and feminine and still identify as boys.

As children of color, they must also speak out for themselves, to define themselves and stand strong in their truth. Cornel West says Justice is what love looks like in public. By fighting for justice, they demonstrate a love for their community, their family and themselves.

Ana, mother to a 5-year-old and an 8-year-old

Mari-Elenia Garcia

I happen to be lucky enough to be raising a child who is thoughtful, kind, introspective, and what other people would call sensitive. Some people would say he is too sensitive, or that he needs to man up. Besides the obvious gender stereotype issues with telling him to man up, I happen to think that his sensitivity is a gift.

With all the hate and negativity and bigotry happening, I try to keep him at a distance from all of it. It is hard for him to understand why people would want to be so mean and non-inclusive. He really can take on the feeling of hurt from other people very easily.

With all that being said, my plan is to teach him about our heritage, show him how we all come from many different countries.I began to show him all the places my ancestors came from, and am beginning to teach him how this country became what it is today. I believe that if he understands that we are all immigrants to a degree, that it is only natural to have compassion for those of all races, nationalities, religions and countries. As for teaching him about women rights.he is being raised by a strong single mom, so he sees it on a daily basis.

Mari-Elaina Garcia, mother to a 6-year-old

As a multiethnic individual (Ecuadorian mother and Jewish-American father), I was raised to question and challenge the status quo and knew from an early age that activism and social change were integral to my very existence. I was raised bilingually and with a strong moral compass. I was taught to be empathic, aware and unafraid to speak my mind.

My husband is also deeply committed to social justice. Our son, also bilingual, but blond, green-eyed and light-skinned, is being taught to exhibit empathy and to understand that his actions tell others who he is. As we enter this new administration, which defies every aspect of our moral fiber, we are even more emphatic about the importance of our sons capacity for empathy, compassion, respect and open-mindedness.

We do not discuss a lot of details about 45 with him, mainly because we fear our own anger and upset could contradict the message we wish to relay, but we do tell him that 45 is unkind, and in no way, shape, or form should he behave as he does.

The above image bears a phrase I grew up hearing El Pueblo Unido Jams Ser Vencido (The People United Will Never Be Defeated) and though my son does not yet know that phrase, he understands its meaning. My son understands that he is part of a human family and that it is his duty to embody the values we are raising him with.

Naomi, mother to a 6-year-old

Ilana Wiles

Its helped me to realize that I shouldnt keep my daughters in the dark just because I want them to believe the world is a perfect place. Its not a perfect place. There is unfairness and inequality and the good guy (person!) does not always win. If they learn about what ails the world early on, they can be the kind of kids who work to change it and not the kind of kids who are in for a rude awakening when they are out on their own. I call it raising the change.

Weve just started reading Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. The concepts are too advanced for my 4-year-old but my 7-year-old loves it. When I first brought it home, I had to explain what a Rebel Girl was and she said, Like Rosa Parks? Exactly. Then she looked through the chapters to make sure Rosa Parks was included. (She was.)

My daughter asks to read more chapters every night and it has started so many new discussions. The biggest one is about how girls werent always allowed to do the same things as boys.Its also brought up discussions about arranged marriage, fighting the ideal beauty standard, what its like to live in a dictatorship and having heroines in movies who save the world instead of princesses who need to be saved.

I also have been thinking about when I will share our family history with her. We are Jewish and my mother was born in a Displaced Persons Camp in Germany right after World War II. I wrote about our familys immigration story on my blog a couple of weeks ago because it is now the grandchildrens responsibility to keep the stories of Holocaust survivors alive. Obviously, in the current the political climate, it is more important than ever for people to understand what atrocities can arise from hatred.

Ilana Wiles, mother to a 4-year-old and a 7-year-old

Julie Kull

We teach tolerance in our house by exposure. Exposure to different ideas and people. Our favorite thing to do together is read. We read books about different cultures, different people, different family units and different ideas. We discuss what is happening in our world. We dont watch the news yet because it is not kid friendly, but we break down the concepts to our childrens level and then discuss how we feel about it. We are currently reading Worm Loves Worm by J. J Austrian, which discusses same sex marriage.

We also travel to gain exposure. We travel to big cities and small cities. We talk about the people we see and differences and similarities. We discuss how to treat others with respect. Specifically we discuss not making fun of others for being different. We teach empathy.

My children have been asked what would it feel like if you came across someone that had less money than you? That was in a wheelchair? That spoke with an accent? My children have been asked to put themselves in the shoes of others. We discuss ways we can help people in the community.

Lastly, we try to lead by example. After all if we are teaching, but not doing none of the above matters.

Julie Kull, mother to a 9-month-old and a 3.5-year-old

For Black History Month this year, we are learning about a freedom fighter every day. In years past Ive used Black History Month to celebrate being black and learn about black people who did amazing things in all kinds of forms. Of course that doesnt start and end in February but I commit extra time in February so we have richer conversations all year.

This year Im focusing on freedom fighters both current and past. And when we talk about freedom fighters, were talking about getting into good trouble like John Lewis encourages us to do. We have been talking about standing up for what is right and stepping up. Again, weve always done this, but this year our focus is much more active. I think its partly due to their age and partly the political climate.

Nancy Landua-Gahres, mother to two 6-year-olds and a 2-year-old

Know a story from your community of people fighting hate and supporting groups who need it? Send news tips to lovetips@huffingtonpost.com.

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Posted By admin on February 18, 2017

Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation Leagues center on extremism, told an audience of 140 people at the ADL Cleveland regions annual meeting at The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Beachwood on Feb. 16 that by not condemning anti-Semitic and hateful incidents in the U.S., extremists feel emboldened by President Donald Trumps administration.

"They feel like they can spread their messages on campus, they are being interviewed in the media all the time, they feel like the president of the United States is talking to them and saying it's ok, even if he's not really saying that," said Segal, who is based in New York City and visited Cleveland for the event. What the administration is signaling to us is they only care about one form of extremism, maybe that's why they're not answering questions about anti-Semites, I'm not sure.

The talk was hours after Trump, at a press conference in Washington, D.C., was asked by an Orthodox Jewish reporter how the government will act to stop the anti-Semitic incidences across the U.S., specifically the more than 60 bomb threats to Jewish community centers in recent weeks. According to The New York Times, the reporter said he was not accusing Trump of being anti-Semitic, however, Trump called the reporters question repulsive and very insulting and did not address the anti-Semitic incidences.

The focus of Segals talk was The Current Landscape of Hate and Extremism in the U.S, and was also on the same day the ADL released a report that 2016 was the second deadliest year since 1970 (the first year for which the ADL has data) in domestic extremism-related deaths. With 69 recorded deaths related to domestic extremism, 2016 was second only to 1995 the year of the Oklahoma City bombing. That result is largely due to Orlandos Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016.

"It is not good news that all these folks feel emboldened in this time and place right now. White supremacists feel like they have a champion in the highest office, Segal said. He added that although the Islamic State is losing territory, they feel emboldened because they have also in the highest office in this country, somebody who is creating propaganda toward them."

Segal, while noting that all types of extremist groups are responsible for killings in the U.S., data shows white supremacists are statistically more violent in the long term.He discussed how the internet makes it easier for all hate groups to harass and harm people, citing white supremacists harassing Jewish journalists on Twitter and ISIS sympathizers becoming emboldened from afar and carrying out attacks in their own communities.

Discussing the alt-right movement, Segal said much of it is a repackaging of white supremacist hatred and discourse.

They want to normalize their message, he said. "Breitbart is as anti-immigrant, racist and anti-Muslim of an online publication as you can imagine. And when you are anti-Muslim, racist and anti-immigrant, guess what you are an anti-Semite whether it's in there or not, said Segal, who has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Israel and added that, (Breitbart was) actually pretty good on Israel, whatever that means."

Anita Gray, regional director of the ADL, also told the Cleveland Jewish News that the president not knowing about bomb threats to Jewish institutions is sad and a little scary.

Anita Gray, regional director of the ADL Cleveland, speaks at the groups annual meeting.

Is he an anti-Semite? I dont think so. But he puts in Steve Bannon, he doesn't distance himself (from anti-Semitic supporters), he doesn't mention anti-Semitism, he doesn't mention Jews in the Holocaust (speech), and you wonder what's going on."

Earlier in the day, ADL also released a statement condemning Trumps response to the question about anti-Semitic incidents at the press conference, as did the American Jewish Committee.

Also during the event, Jon Wise, chair of ADL Cleveland, during the opening remarks, went off script and voiced his concerns about the immigration ban from seven Muslim majority countries and law enforcement arresting undocumented immigrants in recent days.

Jon Wise, chair of ADL Cleveland, speaks at the annual meeting Feb. 16.

The dreamers that are living here, this is their home, these are our brothers and sisters. They should not live in fear of law enforcement and police," he said.

Wise continued that if there was a Muslim registry in the U.S., he would join it in solidarity as a proud Jew.

"As Jews, we know, we've been there and done that when it came to turning our backs on refugees whose lives were in danger.

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Posted By richards on February 18, 2017

Betsy DeVos

(JTA)-Betsy DeVos was confirmed as secretary of education, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaker in a historic 51-50 vote.

DeVos, a Michigan billionaire whose advocacy for school choice has led to sweeping changes in the educational landscape in her home state, provoked divergent opinions in the Jewish community.

Both the haredi Orthodox Agudath Israel of America and the Orthodox Union issued congratulations within minutes of the vote. It marked the first time a vice president broke a tie for a Cabinet confirmation.

In a letter to the Senate Education Committee last month, Agudath Israel of America expressed its support for DeVos, saying it had worked closely with her for years to change state laws that would make it easier to use vouchers for private schools, including religious schools.

"Mrs. DeVos will be an education secretary who is focused on the needs of each individual student and not on where he or she attends school," the letter said.

In a separate letter to the committee, the Orthodox Union said DeVos "has a long history of advocating for and supporting" reforms favored by the group, though it stopped short of issuing an outright endorsement.

The Reform movement's rabbinical arm, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, was opposed to the nomination, as were the National Council of Jewish Women and Jewish Women International.

DeVos' support for school choice raised concerns among advocates of church-state separation, who oppose the diversion of public funds to religious institutions.

In a statement outlining questions it had for various nominees, the Reform movement asked the senators to ask DeVos about "the use of taxpayer dollars for sectarian education."

"A central principle of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause is that members of particular faiths, and not the government, should fund religious institutions," the statement said. "When vouchers are used towards expenses related to religious school education, they become an indirect government funding of sectarian institutions."

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Posted By richards on February 18, 2017

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Posted By admin on February 17, 2017

The truth, writes Bernard Henri-Levy in his recent book, The Genius of Judaism, is that one can now be anti-Semitic only by being anti-Zionist; anti-Zionism is the required path for any anti-Semitism that wishes to expand its recruiting pool beyond those still nostalgic for the discredited brotherhoods.

Is that true, or has the ancient virus mutated once again? Is it now possible to be Zionist and anti-Semitic?

This is not really a new question. It was already brought into being years ago by right wing Christian Zionists who seem interested in supporting Israel for the sole purpose of bringing about an apocalyptic conflagration which will provoke the second coming, or maybe even earlier when the early Zionists seemed intent on erasing the Yiddish speaking, Talmudic Jew of the Shtetl from Israeli culture. One is also reminded, with black humor, of the bizarro theory floated years ago by novelist Tom Robbins in Skinny Legs and All that the Balfour Declaration was actually anti-Semitic: send all the Jews to a neighborhood where they couldnt possibly survive, the logic goes, and watch the Jewish question resolve itself.

What is new is that a Zionist anti-Semitism has moved from the fringe to, quite literally, the center, and from the realm of the apocalyptic imaginaire to the realm of American nationalist-fascism. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the White Houses toxic rhetorical combination of support for rightwing Zionist aspirations like an immediate move of the American embassy to Jerusalem together, or the abandonment of the two state solution, with issuing a Holocaust statement that doesnt mention Jews.

The new affection for Israel among populists stems largely from the perception that Israel is 1) an ethnostate which shares capitalist and democratic ideas with the US and 2) an enemy of Islam. Both of these assertions are problematic- despite the general commitment of Israelis to a Jewish democratic state, Israel is, in fact, a deeply multi-ethnic and multi-cultural state which is not fit to be a poster country for ethno-nationalists. Jews themselves are not properly a simple ethnicity- there are European, African, Arabic, Indian, and Chinese Jews- Jews are perhaps better characterized as a multi-ethnic tribe. On top of that, fully 20% of Israelis are non-Jewish Arabs, most of whom are Sunni Muslims. While not as large as the amount of Blacks and Latinos in the US so resented by white nationalists (about 30% of the population) the idea of Israel as ethnically homogenous, or as aspiring to be so, is a myth. Still, Israel was founded as a refuge for Jews and is still deeply committed to that ideal, and so is bound to serve as a perverse inspiration for white people who feel embattled, however delusional their sense of persecution is.

The belief that Israel is an enemy of Islam is likewise based on distortions of the reality. Israel grants religious freedom to its citizens, has a large Muslim population, and is committed to significant compromise and accommodation with its Muslim population- this is the country, we should remember, which allows Islamic control over the Dome of the Rock, a Mosque built by Islamic conquerors over a Church built by Christian conquerors over the holiest site in Judaism, a site Jews have prayed towards for 2,000 years and mention in their prayers dozens of times a day- even though Israel gained control over the site in the war of 1967.

What Israel does well is protect its citizens- Jewish and Arab- against attacks by terrorists, which in recent years has more often meant Islamist terrorists (though the main source of terrorism is not Islamism, but militant Palestinian Arab nationalism and opposition to Zionism). Again the analogy between the terrorist threats to Israel and terrorist threats to Americans is facile. Between 2000 and 2006 alone, Israel suffered 27,905 terror attacks. By contrast, from 1973 until 2016 there have been 38 Islamic extremist terror attacks in the United States.

Behind Zionist anti-Semitism is a bifurcation of the American relationship to Jews, in some minds, into two kinds of Jew. One kind is the Zionist hero, a militant nationalist and enemy of Islam. The other kind of Jew, the enemy, is the diaspora Jew. The diaspora Jew is an internationalist metropolitan who votes democratic and supports pluralism, progressive values, and degrades the integrity of ethnostates by supporting immigration and refugees. The diaspora Jew is the one believed to be in control of Hollywood, the media, the banks, and (until recently) the American government. While for many anti-Semites the sins of the diaspora Jew include Zionism, for the new alt-right the Jewish sin is being hypocritical- supporting a Jewish ethnostate while undermining other peoples ethno-states, all in their own self-interest. Alternatively, the sins of the diaspora Jew include being opposed to militant, rightwing Zionism (or of Zionism altogether) and thus being opposed to nationalist ethnostates.

When Rabbi Matt Rosenberg courageously confronted Richard Spencer, the white nationalist and alt-right pseudo-hipster wunderkind, asking to study a Torah of love with him, of radical inclusion, Spencer cynically and brutally shut him down: Do you really want radical inclusion into the State of Israel? Spencer responded as Rosenberg said nothing. Jews exist precisely because you did not assimilate to the Gentiles I respect that about you. I want my people to have that same sense of themselves.

What I wish Rosenberg, thoroughly a diaspora Jew, had said, was something like this: Israel is a tiny state with a landmass equal more or less to the state of New Jersey which accommodates a multi-ethnic society of Jews as a place of refuge for them from a world which has repeatedly tried to persecute or destroy them. Israel grants religious freedom to its citizens and has a 20% Arab population, as well as a robust Christian and Muslim population, all after only 70 years of existence governed by groups of quarreling refugee Jews speaking different languages who came from all over the world. Israel imperfectly attempts to defend itself from terrorism and conflict, sometimes upholding its best ideals and sometimes failing miserably. I support an Israel which welcomes the stranger and defends the rights of all of its citizens while maintaining its fundamental character as a Jewish homeland. My Israel has nothing in common with your ethnically cleansed white winter wonderland.

The Trump administration, and its alt-right homeboys, combine seemingly authentic sympathy for militant ethnic nationalism with sincere hostility to Muslims (perceived by them as the common enemy that makes Israel a friend) together with an antipathy to non-white, non-Christian minorities at home and to progressive elites, a double identification that potentially renders diaspora Jews twice damned. That is their Zionist anti-Semitism: affection for a cartoon understanding of Zionist Israel paired with hostility to a cartoon understanding of the diaspora Jew.

Now to our horror, we have an Israeli Prime Minister who seems to be siding with the Zionist Jew against the Diaspora Jew, choosing to advance the strong-arm answer to Israeli problems pushed by the Israeli right wing while dismissing the fears and ethical concerns of the diaspora Jew (as he does to the Israeli left wing at home). Choosing might and security over Jewish values- choosing Zionist strength over the Jewish soul- Bibi too appears to be joining the ranks of the Zionist anti-Semites, a deal with the devil which may haunt us for years to come.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward.

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The Latest Trend In Zionism? Anti-Semitism. - Forward

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Posted By simmons on February 17, 2017

Last years mass shooting inside Pulse nightclub in Orlando propelled the annual number of deaths linked to domestic extremist-related attacks to their highest level since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and also marked the first time in 30 years that right-wing extremists were not responsible for the bulk of the deaths, according to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League.

A preliminary tally of extremist-related deaths in the United States shows that 69 people, including the 49 slain in Orlando, died in extremist-related attacks last year.

Orlando gunman Omar Mateens pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda leaders during the massacre led to classification of the attack as domestic Islamic extremism setting 2016s extremism figures far afield from prior years. In the recent past, extremism-related deaths were more likely to be linked to right-wing extremism, the report states.

Of the 372 people killed in the United States over the 10 years, 74 percent of those who died were killed by right-wing extremists. About 24 percent were killed by domestic Islamic extremists and the remaining 2 percent killed by left-wing extremists, according to the report released Thursday.

Anti-government extremists and white supremacists were responsible for only a minority of extremist related deaths in 2016, though they did commit two triple homicides, states the ADL report Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2016. These low figures also occurred during a year in which non-violent right-wing extremist activity was high, in large part due to agitation and propaganda by the so-called alt-right and other extremists in connection with the 2016 presidential election.

The ADL has not included the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in similar past analysis because the attacks were not carried out by domestic extremists.

ADL experts caution in this years report that the high number of deaths in the Orlando massacre can distort statistics and perceptions of the extremist landscape in the country, and were it not for that single attack that 2016 might have been considered a mild year for extremist-related deaths.

Including the Orlando attack, the ADL report counts 11 lethal incidents that were connected to extremism in 2016 compared to 29 incidents that resulted 65 deaths in 2015. Experts say additional analysis may result in an increase in the number of deaths associated with domestic extremism, as has been the case in prior years.

Among the other lethal incidents highlighted by the ADL was the targeting of police officers by black nationalists. In July, two separate attacks on law enforcement by men with black nationalist ties left eight police officers dead.

The attacks, in Dallas, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, represent the worst spate of black nationalist-related murders of police officers since the late 1960s and early 1970s, when more than two dozen police officers, and several more corrections officers, were killed by black nationalists, particularly from the Black Liberation Army and the Black Panther Party, the ADL report states.

Since 1965, the ADL reports that 104 police officers have been killed by domestic extremists including 57 by right-wing affiliated individuals, 44 by left-wing affiliated individuals including anarchists and black nationalists, and three have been killed by domestic Islamic extremists.

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Posted By simmons on February 17, 2017

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Home - B'nai B'rith Retirement Villages Limited

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