Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 10, 2022

SOUTH BEND South Bend schools won't be moving out of its downtown headquarters this summer.

ButSouth Bend city and school district officials say they both feel close to finalizing a deal after the Indiana attorney general's office cleared the way this week after an investigation ofa local charter school's challenge to the district's plans to move.

This spring, the city offered $2.8 million to buythe administration building on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevardfromthe South Bend district, whose leaders estimate they cansave$400,000 annually in operating expenses by moving out of the six-story office building.

The South Bend Common Council approved a $7.8 million appropriation request in March to support the city's purchase and itsdesired renovations to the school headquarters. City officials said at that time that they hoped to take control of the building this summer, renovate it in the fall and winter, and move offices from the County-City Building by 2023.

Facilities study: South Bend shifts away from school closure talks ... for now

The school corporation, meanwhile, made plans to invest $2.1 million into its former Brown Intermediate School to house new administrative offices.

A finalized purchase agreement, however, stalled after a local charter school attempted to block the district's move, exercising a state law that requires public districts to offer unused buildings to interestedcharter organizations for $1.

Now, with a favorable finding from the attorney general's office, which investigates complaints under the state's "$1 law," city and school district leaders say they feel confident they can move forward quickly with a deal under many of the same terms negotiated earlier this year.

"I don't think that we lost anything too dramatic," City Controller Dan Parker said of the delay. "We are not changing the financial terms or any of the other significant terms other than the timeline."

South Bend deal: City offers $2.8 million for school administration building

The negotiations come as the South Bend district looks to save money and "right size" its footprint amid recently imposed tax caps and years of declining enrollment.The district has already closed or repurposed seven schools buildings since 2018 and is exploring future opportunities for consolidation through an ongoing facilities study.

"In the position we're in now, it didn't happen over night.It happened over a period of time," Assistant Superintendent Kareemah Fowler said. "One of the reasons we've looked at the administration building …it's allowing us to shrink our portfolio and not touch the classroom."

Larry Garatoni, board president for South Bend's Career and Success Academy charter schools, said he lodged two complaints this winter one for the Brown building and another for the district's closed Hamilton Traditional School. The complaints suggested the school district was not using either building and had failed to offer them to charter schools.

In a first for the state, the Indiana attorney general's office agreed with the complaints and allowed the school corporation to share additional information proving the two buildings were actively being used by the district.

Fowler said the corporation compiled years' worth of documentation showing the district's past uses and future plans for the two buildings.

Brown, a former immediate school in South Bend's Keller Park neighborhood, was used for community programs andtemporarily leased to the St. Joseph County Public Library system after the school closed in 2018.Today, the building is used for community outreach, tutoring and food services, Fowler said.

Charter challenge: Career Academy files complaint overBrown buildings

"I was very surprised," Fowler said of the state's initial findings issued in February. "The building was open. There's a bunch of different things going on there."

This week, the attorney general's office came back with an additional response, reversing course on Brown and clearing the way for the district to move its administrative offices.

But, after months of waiting for a response from the state,Fowler said the district was unable to begin its renovations at Brown andis now "regrouping."She said the district feels close to finalizing a deal to sell the building downtown, but timelines will need to be shifted back as the district closes its books on the past fiscal year, prepares for the start of a new school year and continues with its ongoing facility planning.

To finalize a sale, both the South Bend school board and the city's Board of Public Works will need to pass similar resolutions approving ofa potential purchase agreement, which will outline terms for when the building should changehands.

Parker said he expects the city's vote to come "within the next few weeks" or "at the longest, a month." He said he doesn't expect the city to take possession of, or begin renovations at, the current school headquarters until at least 2023.

Though not affecting negotiations over the building downtown, the attorney general's office issued a separate finding for the Hamilton school, saying it didn't believe the building to be in use.

That building was once leased to the South Bend Hebrew Day School, but has been used primarily for storage, its kitchen space and athletic fields since the Hebrew Day School moved into South Bend's recently closed Hay Elementary building, Fowler said.

"The ideal thing would be for us to be able to get through the study," Fowler said, referencing the district's facility planning work. "I wanted to believe that there were some other opportunities for that building."

The district may now have no other option but to list the building, which is worthat least $1.7 millionaccording to the county's assessed valuation. And, Garatoni says, he's interested in exercising the state's $1 law.

Career and Success Academy tried to take the district'sTarkington Elementary after it closed last summer to house the academy's K-5 classes. But, in another precedent-setting process, the state awarded that building to an Indianapolis-based charter network, which expects to open a new, K-8 school in fall 2023.

Garatoni says he now has his sights set on moving middle school studentsto Hamilton should Career Academy be the only charter interested in the school.

"We're just screaming for space," Garatoni said. "We've got both middle school and high school in one building …breakout spaces that we once had, now we've got those divided into classrooms."

New to South Bend: Paramount charter enters area with new tutoring services

If able, the academy would take possession of Hamilton"just as soon as we can," Garatoni said, adding that the academy would likely invest several million dollars in transforming the former elementaryinto a middle school.

Garatoni said taking the Hamilton building would help Career Academy grow its enrollment but, even with the possibility of taking Hamilton, the academy is still looking at other options, such aslocal churches with educational spaces, to expand, considering the Brown building will most likely stay with the South Bend district.

"We're open to looking at any space at all that makes sense," Garatoni said.

Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Carley Lanich at clanich@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @carleylanich.

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South Bend's district headquarters won't move from downtown this summer. Here's why. - South Bend Tribune

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Posted By admin on July 10, 2022

By Walt Shelton| Special to the American-Statesman

I had a vivid, anthropomorphic dream about heaven last night. I died in my sleep and immediately experienced the luminosity of heaven, which is my hope and expectation.

Although beset with imagery of St. Peter at a gate with the key since childhood, instead I immediately found myself in the most glorious forest with beautiful trees, rich green meadows, and numerous paths full of diverse people, many happily walkinghand-in-hand.An enormous snowcapped mountain spanned the horizon.It appeared as if all the varying paths led toward this peaceful, majestic mountain.

The first person I saw, my apparent host, walked toward me as soon as I entered heaven. There appeared to be other hosts nearby as well.My thin, average-height greeter and host approached me with a smile, outstretched arms, and inclusively open palms facing upward and toward me. He was dark-skinned and Jewish with longish hair. He welcomed me with a gentle hug and a whisper: Welcome home, my friend.

Without question, this was Jesus in his early 30s in the human form and context that he lived on Earth centuries before.

People have varying conceptions of an afterlife or not! People often support radically different post-death expectations with varying verses from the Bible, which unsurprisingly differ because they are from different times, contexts and authors. I personally believe the Bible is a collection of inspired works from varying times and contexts. God gave us minds to prayerfully study and reflect on its varying books in search of consistent themes.

Three aspects of my dream immediately and significantly hit home. First, Jesus in time was a Jewish rabbi. Jesus greeting me, a Christian, as a loving, welcoming rabbi was no surprise.

A cursory reading of any of the New Testament Gospels confirms Jesus was Jewish and the church is rooted in and an outgrowth of Judaism. This simple yet fundamental fact is often misunderstood or somehow unknown.

In her thought-provoking book, "The Misunderstood Jew," Amy-Jill Levine strongly advocates mutual respect and interfaith dialogue between Jews and Christians.She correctly asserts that Jesus of Nazareth lived and died a faithful Jew and spoke to Jews from within Judaism.Those are keys to better understanding Jesuss teachings, which requires some elementary knowledge of first century CE Judaism.

In bridging the divide between Christians and Jews, we should appreciate as Levine emphasizes that both church and synagogue have an ultimate focus on peace discovered through a combination of action and belief.For me, faith in action is what unites not only Judaism and Christianity but all authentic faith traditions.What counts is love in action. Loving others is the supreme priority of life and a striking commonality for Jews and Christians (Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:31).

This was the second reality of my dream: Love in action unites people of all legitimate faiths as well as every well-intentioned person.

There are many named paths to God with differing elements of belief, tradition, and customs, but the heart of each calls us toward active expressions of love and care. As Jesus said to his followers centuries ago: Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven (Matthew 7:21).

People of differing religious stripes call upon different names of Lords and Masters, but the active expression of love and care is what counts and brings meaning, fulfilment and salvation.As Jesus expressed in his Parable of the Great Judgment in Matthew 25, we must aspire toward practical daily acts of kindness, such asgiving food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, and clothing to the naked; welcoming strangers and caring for the sick; and visiting prisoners (Matthew 25:35 -36).

Finally, my dream represented salvation as a process that we diligently and progressively live to the extreme that it might be unlimited by our mortality.I recall that take-a-way years ago in reading C.S. Lewis "The Great Divorce." In my Christian tradition, Jesus announced in his earthly life as a rabbi that the kingdom of God was at hand to start his public ministry (Mark 1:15).A few decades later, St. Paul enjoined his readers at Phillippi to work out [their] own salvation because God is at work in you for his own good pleasure (Philippianes 2:12-13).

Paul also unambiguously informed his readers in Ephesus that God created [us] in Christ Jesus for good works to be our way of life (Ephesus 2:10). Similarly, Paul declared to the Galatians that the only thing that counts is faith made effective through love (Galatians 5:6).

No doubt, our salvation starts now in how we live each day.Does it end at death? As C.S. Lewis creatively depicts, we might just enter a next world at the same stage of spiritual progression as we leave this one, with continuing paths to follow and related choices to make to bring us nearer and ultimately fully to the whole experience of Gods peace. This would consistently equate to Gods mercy and love triumphing over judgment, because ultimately God is love (I John 4:16).There is no doubt that we must urgently work to live love-centrically every day of our one God-given mortal lives.

Whatever happens after death or when were asleep, the dream we need to realize in our country and world with immediacy is to wake up and treat everyone with love, care and respect.

Walt Shelton is the author of the Nautilus Award winning book, "The Daily Practice of Life: Practical Reflections Toward Meaningful Living" (CrossLink Publishing 2020), and "Authentic Living in AllSeasons: Focused, Fearless, and Balanced" (CrossLink Publishing 2022). Walt is a long-timeprofessor at Baylor Law School, environmental attorney, frequent speaker on life quality and faith-related matters, and leads discussion groups in association with The Church at Highland Park in Austin.

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Faith: A dream of heaven reminds to live life with love - Austin American-Statesman

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Posted By admin on July 10, 2022

Archeologists working at a dig in the Galilean town of Huqoq have uncovered the earliest known depictions of the biblical heroines Deborah and Yael, in mosaics that are thought to be nearly 1,600 years old.

The find, announced by the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hills Prof. Jodi Magness on Tuesday, joins a growing collection of ancient mosaics discovered over the past decade at the site of a former synagogue in the Lower Galilee.

Magness, a professor of religious studies at the university, has overseen a team of students and archeologists excavating the area for more than 10 years. Excavations at the site restarted earlier this year after they were halted for close to three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The mosaics depict the biblical story in the Book of Judges when the prophetess Deborah told the Israelite military leader Barak to mobilize the troops of Naftali and Zevulun to fight against Canaan, whose forces were led by Sisera. Barak said he would only go to battle if Deborah joined him, and Deborah in turn prophesied that a woman would defeat Siseras army. Sisera, fleeing flooding, sought refuge in the tent of Yael, who drove a tent peg through his head, killing him.

This is the first depiction of this episode and the first time weve seen a depiction of the biblical heroines Deborah and Yael in ancient Jewish art, Magness said in a statement from the university. Looking at the book of Joshua, chapter 19, we can see how the story might have had special resonance for the Jewish community at Huqoq, as it is described as taking place in the same geographical region the territory of the tribes of Naftali and Zevulun.

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According to the university, the three-part mosaic shows Deborah looking at Barak in the first portion; Sisera seated in the middle section, of which only a small portion is preserved; and Sisera lying dead on the ground after Yael killed him in the bottom section. UNC-Chapel Hill only released photos showing Barak depicted in the mosaic; it is unclear how well preserved the images of the two women are.

Mosaic depicting a fox eating grapes in the ancient synagogue at Huqoq in the Lower Galilee. (Jim Haberman)

The team working at the ancient synagogue, which was built in the late fourth-early fifth century CE, also uncovered a mosaic depicting vases holding sprouting vines with four animals eating clusters of grapes: a hare, a fox, a leopard and a wild boar.

All of the newest mosaics have been removed from the site for conservation, the university said.

The latest discovery joins a long line of ancient mosaic depictions uncovered at the Huqoq synagogue site. In 2019, before the project was frozen due to COVID, archeologists uncovered mosaics of the earliest known artistic rendering of the little-known Exodus story of Elim, and a partially preserved depiction of the Book of Daniels grotesque four beasts, which signal the end of time.

In 2018, the mosaics unearthed at the late Roman-era synagogue included images of the biblical story of the Israelite spies in Canaan. A year earlier, the earliest known mosaic of Jonah and the whale was uncovered, and in 2016, mosaic floors showing the iconic scenes of Noahs Ark and the parting of the Red Sea were revealed.

UNC-Chapel Hill participants on the Huqoq dig, including Prof. Jodi Magness (back row, second from left). (Jim Haberman)

Previous Huqoq excavations have led Magness to revise previously held conceptions of the practice of Judaism in the Byzantine era.

The mosaics decorating the floor of the Huqoq synagogue revolutionize our understanding of Judaism in this period, said Magness in a 2018 press release. Ancient Jewish art is often thought to be aniconic, or lacking images. But these mosaics, colorful and filled with figured scenes, attest to a rich visual culture as well as to the dynamism and diversity of Judaism in the Late Roman and Byzantine periods.

In 2011, the relatively untouched and well-preserved Byzantine synagogue was discovered under the rubble of the modern Arab village of Yakuk that stood at the site until intentionally torched in 1948. Magness and her team began work there in 2012, and returned each summer until the COVID pandemic forced them to cancel for 2020 and 2021.

Amanda Borschel-Dan contributed to this report.

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Earliest depictions of biblical Deborah, Yael found at 5th-century Galilee synagogue - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on July 10, 2022

Napa Valley is known as the No. 1 wine region in the United States, but its not exactly famous for its kosher wine.

It used to be that the only game in town was Hagafen, which opened in 1979. That changed in 2005 with the debut of Covenant Wines. At the time, its wines were bottled at Herzog Wine Cellars in Oxnard, using mostly Napa grapes; in 2014, Covenant opened a winery in Berkeley.

Now, a newcomer has entered the Napa kosher market: OneHope Winery, which so far has produced two vintages of kosher cabernet sauvignon.

Hagafen and Covenant are making wonderful kosher wines, but we as a people are never satisfied, said Isaac Yitz Applbaum of Oakland, a primary driver behind the endeavor. Why not have 10 or 20 great kosher wines? Today, thats where were headed. Were going to continue to make new varietals to help expand an already existing market.

Applbaum speaks with the authority of an owner, but he has no official title (he calls himself an informal adviser). He is, however, an investor who admits to having certain privileges, such as tasting from the barrel and offering his input. He was also the person who prodded and convinced CEO Jake Kloberdanz to take a chance on producing kosher wine.

From the first time I met him, he planted the seed of the idea, not knowing if Id ever buy a piece of land or property, let alone create a kosher wine, said Kloberdanz, who described Applbaum as a force of nature and said he serves as one of his strongest connections to Judaism.

While OneHopes kosher wines are new on the scene, the business was founded back in 2007, so its taken a while to get here.

So far it has produced about 1,500 cases of kosher wine (about 18,000 bottles), making up only 1 percent of its total output, but Kloberdanz says the intention is to scale up as the business grows.

I believe its important that theres more of a presence of kosher winemaking in our No. 1 wine region, Kloberdanz told J. While a couple people have led that so far, I think we have a fresh approach to it and can reach a whole new demographic, and Im excited to be part of it.

For wine to be considered kosher, it can be touched only by the Sabbath-observant. OneHopes winemaker is Mari Wells Coyle, but kosher winemaker Dan Levin regularly visits and is the one to remove the kosher wine from the barrels for tasting. He also serves as mashgiach, or kosher certifier, for OneHope and neighboring Marciano Estate, which has a small output of kosher cabernet sauvignon.

Kloberdanz, 39, grew up in Fremont, attending Temple Beth Torahs Gan Sameach preschool, in an interfaith household that he described as mostly agnostic. His maternal grandmother played a huge role in his life, he said, both as the familys first entrepreneur, and as someone who had a strong connection to Judaism. He recalls a profound experience visiting Yad Vashems Avenue of the Righteous as a teen when his grandmother took the family to Israel.

That place forever changed my life, he said. The way I felt there centered me in purpose. Its where I first began thinking about the future and how we can impact the next generation.

OneHope was founded 15 years ago by Kloberdanz and friends wine lovers, all of them who began throwing wine-tasting parties to raise money for charity. It has raised over $8 million to support causes such as fresh water projects in the developing world, breast cancer research and nutrition programs for children and families. Many of the investors are directly involved in choosing which charities receive funding.

OneHope is one of the largest direct-to-consumer sellers of wine in the country, but the winery opened just last year. It isnt open to the public; rather it serves as a place where investors and friends can host dinners, hang out and even spend the night (on the private weekday tour I received, two members were playing pickleball on a court right outside the winery building). Sitting on the St. Helena Highway, between Oakville and Rutherford, its a modernist building with clean lines, flooded with natural light, surrounded by vineyards, with the Mayacamas Mountains visible in the distance.

Its a great place to go hang your hat, its a place you want to be when youre not at home, said Applbaum.

The kosher cabernet sauvignon starts at $100 per bottle; the winerys next release in the fall will be a fum blanc (a variety of sauvignon blanc aged in oak barrels), which Kloberdanz and Applbaum are particularly excited about. The wines can be purchased at onehopewine.com/shop.

Making our fum blanc kosher was a special kind of a statement, said Kloberdanz. These arent just our best kosher wines, theyre some of our best wines, period. Thats our commitment to this. Were starting at the highest level we could.

While Kloberdanz knows the price point is too high for many consumers, he promised this is only the beginning. Kosher consumers can expect more reasonably priced wines from OneHope going forward, he said: Well be working on more that are more approachable and available from a volume perspective in the future.

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Napa Valley's OneHope is latest entry into kosher wine market J. - The Jewish News of Northern California

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Posted By admin on July 10, 2022

Q: A member of my family believes that people that do not believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior will be denied eternal life and final salvation. I do not agree with this way of thinking since I was raised to respect other religions, choosing instead to accept and respect people that do not share my beliefs. We cant judge others for what they choose to believe. How do I construct a respectful answer based in love. Thank you.

From M

A: I have never answered this question before now. The reason for this is that Father Tom Hartman and I never talked about it. We tried to avoid talking about beliefs that could divide us and we focused instead on beliefs that united us. Our motto was: We know enough about how we are different and not enough yet about how we are all the same. But time has passed and Tommy is gone and your question is the most difficult obstacle to interfaith dialogue I know. Still, I would not have taken up your question except for your last line which was so kind and so sincere, How do I construct a respectful answer based in love. Let me try to help you.

The mountain we must climb is John 14:6:

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. We read the same message in Acts 4:12, Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

This is a very clear and very hard text from the Christian Testament. It is a hard text for both Christians and non-Christians. Your tender question shows how it is hard for Christians. You want to affirm your Christian beliefs, but you also want to show respect for followers of other faiths. And obviously the text in John 14 is difficult for non-Christians because it clearly denies heaven and salvation to all those who have other ways, other truths, and other lives.

Particularly difficult is that John 14:6 seems to exclude from heaven and salvation moral and spiritual giants like Gandhi who was a Hindu. It is just not spiritually reasonable to imagine that Gandhi and other non-Christian saints would be barred from heaven while morally flawed professing Christians are let through the pearly gates. It seems foolish and cruel. The John text also contrasts with the specific beliefs of other faiths like Judaism and Hinduism who full and freely believe that, to quote the Jewish text, The righteous of all nations have a share in the World to Come.

There are several approaches to John.

The first is the belief in anonymous Christians. This was developed by Karl Rahner, a German Jesuit theologian, who was influenced by a Catholic doctrine of the second Vatican council called lumen gentium, which teaches that those who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and moved by grace, try in their actions to do His will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience those too may achieve eternal salvation. Rahner called these righteous non-Christians anonymous Christians. Another way to salve the sting of John 14:6 is to quote the first part of the verse, In my Fathers house are many mansions (John 14:2). Many mansions means many ways to God.

The Christian Testament has passages that offer a much more accepting view of the Jewish covenant with God particularly in the writings of Paul. We read in I Corinthians 12: 4-7, Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

Pauls letters affirm that the covenant between God and the Jewish people is still valid and is still unbreakable,

And so all Israel shall be saved: As it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. (Romans 11:26-29)

The main point here in my view is that the God worshipped by Jews, Christians, and Muslims is the same God with the same love and the same salvation. Until we work things out in Heaven that foundational truth ought to be enough for us to make our journey to God together in love and hope.

Send all questions and comments to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including Religion for Dummies, co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available.

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The God Squad: The righteous of all nations have a share in the World to Come - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

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Posted By admin on July 10, 2022

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During Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, we proudly celebrate Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States and pay tribute to the generations who have enriched and strengthened our nation. The U.S. is home to millions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, representing a diverse array of cultures and traditions. Many serve here at the Department of State and throughout the U.S. government. We celebrate their contributions. In January, 2021, the White House issued a memorandum condemning and combating racism against Asian American and Pacific Islanders and in March, 2021, announced additional actions to respond to Anti-Asian violence, xenophobia, and bias. The Department of State strongly supports these actions. We stand with the AAPI community and are grateful for their talent, contributions, and innovation across our nation.

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Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

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Posted By admin on July 10, 2022

In the U.S., May is the month when we shine a particular spotlight on the heritage, history, and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.Of course, theres no reason to limit yourself to only one month when reading books by AAPI writers, and with this list of more than 100 new books all published or upcoming in 2022, you wont run out of great fiction and thought-provoking nonfiction for a very long time. Weve cast a rather broad net this year, including works by authors from the Asian diaspora around the world as well as freshly translated titles. This isn't meant to be a comprehensive list but a sampling of books to discover across genres.As youll see, theres plenty to choose from. Sci-fi fans will want to flag How High We Go in the Dark, the very buzzy debut from author Sequoia Nagamatsu. For a fascinating spin on historical fiction, check out Jamie Fords The Many Daughters of Afong Moy. If you like scary stories, try The Fervor from Alma Katsu, author of The Hunger.Scroll over the covers to learn more about each book, and be sure to add the books that pique your interest to your Want to Read shelf!

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111 New Books to Read for Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

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Posted By admin on July 10, 2022

English[edit]Alternative forms[edit]Etymology[edit]

From Latin Palaestna (Roman province of Palestine), from Ancient Greek (Palaistn, Philistia and the surrounding region), from Hebrew (p'lshet, Philistia, land of the Philistines),[1][2]. The term P-l-s-t or P-r-s-t, found in five Ancient Egyptian inscriptions (beginning with one at Medinet Habu from circa 1170 BCE and ending with Padiiset's Statue inscription from circa 900-850 BCE) as the name of a people near Egypt, is traditionally taken to be cognate.[3][4] Seven Assyrian inscriptions contain the word "Palas(h)tu" or "Pilistu", which is usually also taken to be cognate.[5][6]

Palestine

Most Zionists hoped for a state of their own, but early in the 20th century, writers like Hillel Solotaroff and Chaim Zhitlowsky, both Yiddish-speaking immigrant intellectuals in New York, imagined another alternative: a federation of self-governing anarchist communes in Palestine that would defend Jewish life without relying on state power.

Jews and Israel are not synonymous; nor is support for Palestine synonymous with anti-Semitism; nor is questioning the orthodoxy of the Republican party, which the majority of us do with relish, an insult to Jewry.

West Bank and Gaza Strip collectively

historical: Roman province

historical: former British entity

historical: former British Mandate

Translations to be checked

Palestinef

Palestinef (uncountable)

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Palestine - Wiktionary

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Posted By admin on July 10, 2022

Despite the difficult living conditions, Palestinians in Gaza are celebrating Eid al-Adha. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff

As in numerous other mosques and open spaces, Palestinians performed Eid Al-Adha prayer in Sarada Square, in central Gaza.

Eid Al-Adha, along with Eid Al-Fitr, are the two major holidays celebrated in the Islamic calendar. It honors Prophet Ibrahims willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, as an act of obedience to Allahs will. The sacrifice, however, was not completed, because Allah provided Ibrahim with a lamb to offer to God. Consequently, Eid al-Adha literally means the Holiday of Sacrifice.

In the Islamic Lunar Calendar, Eid Al-Adha falls on the 10th day of the month of Dju al-Hijjah and lasts for four days.

Palestinians celebrate Eid Al-Adha with special meals and spending time with their families and friends. They also visit their family graves to pay respect to their deceased relatives.

Despite the difficult living conditions, due to the 15-year-old Israeli siege and the latest Israeli war in May 2021, Palestinians in Gaza are celebrating Eid Al-Adha , praying for salvation and a better future for their families.

(All Photos: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)

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Posted By admin on July 10, 2022

Last March, senior Palestinian Authority official Hussein Al-Sheikh met with now Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid to stress "the need for a political horizon" based of course upon the two-state politics. Lapid was not receptive at the time, stating that when he would eventually take up the role as prime minister, he would still abide by the agreements reached under the coalition government.

Now that Lapid is prime minister, his disdain for Palestine and the PA has been immediately flaunted. Following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Lapid gave a briefing at the Israeli embassy in Paris stating that no meetings with the PA are imminent. "I do not have meetings for the sake of meetings unless they have a positive result for Israel. At the moment it is not on the agenda, but I do not rule it out," the PM said during a press briefing.

Macron urged Lapid for "a return to political dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis," but the Times of Israel reported that the Israeli prime minister avoided talks about diplomatic engagement completely. The Palestinian issue, Lapid said, "wasn't a large part of the conversation."

It would also seem that Macron was not pressing for Palestine to be a vital part of the diplomatic engagement with Lapid. On the contrary, Macron's rhetoric simply attempted to portray Lapid as a prime minister who could purportedly lead through example by carrying on the faade of the two-state compromise. Between Israel's insistence to ignore the international consensus, and the international community's insistence on promoting the paradigm, the PA is choosing the latter.

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Since Israel has ensured that its implementation would become impossible, the PA is merely helping the international community promote Israel's colonial expansion. Lapid will turn out to be no different, of course, even if over the past months the PA was trying to portray him as an alternative to his predecessor Naftali Bennett.

The bottom line is that Lapid, like Bennett, will continue exploiting the PA's weakness and dependence upon Israel for its survival. There is nothing the PA wants more than to safeguard its position in Ramallah. Of course, in this case, the PA is completely aligned with Israel and the international community none of which want to see a democratically elected Palestinian representation that could dent the new status quo of the two-state compromise against an apartheid reality which Palestinians face daily.

Of course, the PA's next steps will undoubtedly include an extension of the grovelling it already does to prove to its donors that there is no divergence from the two-state compromise. Meanwhile, the PA's donors will keep up the charade of agreeing with Abbas on the need for negotiations while taking no steps to actuate talks. As far as the international community is concerned, there is no need for further action, not when Mahmoud Abbas is content with the repetitive script, as long as the phrase "two-state solution" is included. Lapid will have an easy time with the PA, in parallel to the political atrocities Abbas and his officials keep inflicting upon the Palestinian people.

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The PA is facilitating the exploitation of Palestine - Middle East Monitor

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