Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 6, 2022

It usually takes years to get to the point where you can make a living as a standup comedian. That applies to many other professions in the arts, but its widely known that youre probably not going to be very good for a long time. Accepting that, and knowing you are just going to have to put in the time, the Day Job as it is commonly known is going to be a fact of life. For me, it was being an elementary school teaching assistant. Having gone to Orthodox Jewish day school, I taught Sunday school in college for extra cash and it seemed like a normal progression to keep a roof over my head while I struggled to get better.

I worked mostly with first and second graders in Jewish day schools, and getting up early to get to work became part of my routine over the years. As I got more work doing what I wanted to do, I went from full-time to part-time to eventually taking the plunge and telling the school I would not be coming back. While frightening not knowing where my next check would be coming from, I knew it was time.

Even though I could now sleep in, I still found myself waking up before 7 a.m., since my body clock had been adjusted to it for years. I also found it hard to go to sleep before midnight since I was also accustomed to doing my other job at night performing. That often involved hanging out late, and naps in the afternoon (when I could) to keep me sane.

The one bonus of still getting up early no matter what time I went to sleep was I finally had time to enjoy breakfast and not feel rushed. When I was a teaching assistant it usually consisted of a cup of coffee, and a danish, or oatmeal in a paper cup at my desk. Now that I had time, I was going to enjoy it, and watch whatever crappy reality show I had recorded on my DVR and just relax.

I became a big breakfast guy and thoroughly enjoyed taking my time making, and eating it. While I always had my staples of blueberries, strawberries, and cottage cheese, Id rotate out every other day between a bagel with lox and cream cheese, and an omelet with cheese and salsa, which Ive since added avocado to. I grew up in Texas so the salsa was a must. I had one problem though, I keep the bagels frozen (whole wheat everything in case youre wondering) and on bagel mornings, needed time for them to defrost when I pulled one out of the freezer. Usually about 20 minutes in, I was fine, and a good knife could do the job before I popped it into the toaster.

I would end up bored though and needed to kill time waiting for the defrost. This is where my friend Adam came in and solved, and ruined, it for me at the same time.

Adam is whats known as a Baal Tshuvah, basically the Jewish version of a born again. Adam did not grow up religious but became more traditional later in life. Nine times out of 10, they are more religiously involved than those of us who grew up with it, and generally have a much more spiritual approach. The rest of us were jaded early and dont have as much of an appreciation for what we were given as far as Jewish education, religious practice etc. I like to poke fun at this group on stage when I do Jewish events, but I actually have a profound respect for people who take on a more traditional lifestyle that they arent used to.

I dont remember how it came up, but the topic of my newfound defrosting problem came up in conversation with Adam and he had the perfect solution. Come to minyan in the morning at the synagogue, Avi! Plenty of time for your bagel to defrost. I remember thinking, Is this guy nuts? No way Im getting up at 6 a.m. and doing that. Most guys go early since they need to get to work. When I protested and gave him the Nice Baal Tshuvah try, he told me there was a 7:45 a.m. service he attends. I smiled and said, well see, but I honestly had no intention of going.

After a few days, no matter what I tried and how late I went to sleep, I kept getting up at around 7 a.m. or just before. If it was a bagel morning, Id walk to the grocery store, maybe buy something I didnt need, or procrastinate some other way. I didnt like jumping online since that was sort of the beginning of my new workday and wanted to eat first.

One morning, I woke up early again, and was just lying there and thought, I have nothing else to do and really have no excuse. I live across the street from the synagogue, I know how to navigate the service just fine, put on a tallis and tefillin (traditional prayer shawl and phylacteries as they are called) so I might as well go. While I went on the Sabbath, going during the week was never really in my plans. I would say a few basic prayers in the morning, but never really the whole service. As it was an all important bagel day, I figured Id head over and give it a whirl.

When I walked in, there was Adam, and he gave a big smile and hello. I simply replied, I dont want to hear it! This is your fault! Adam laughed and said, Ill take full blame, and credit! We generally make jokes about having to go to synagogue, getting out early, and all the other usual stuff. Im told by many of my Christian friends the same stereotypical jokes are cracked about church as well. Religion is religion. Needless to say, after a few days it became a pattern even when it was an omelet morning.

There is a question the sages bring up. What is the greatest passage from the Bible? Is it the Shema? Hear O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one! Is it the famous Treat your neighbor like yourself, etc.? Finally it was decided that the greatest line of all is: They brought the sacrifice every day, twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Really? That one? Routine in life is important. The Rabbis felt it was so important that they were willing to say it is the greatest thing we are taught.

I remember being on the road with another comic during my early years of when I first started working at clubs. We were staying at the infamous Comedy Condo, and I asked if he wanted me to wake him up the next morning if I got up first. He replied, No way. Im a comic, I dont get up until noon, as if there was pride in that. I remember thinking to myself, Ya know, Ill bet Drew Carey isnt getting up at noon. or any other successful person for that matter.

Rabbi Muskin, the rabbi at my synagogue, once gave a speech on Yom Kippur and gave examples of how great men valued routine. Beethoven would count out exactly 60 beans of coffee and grind that. It was exactly 60, no more and no less. It was the one thing he was very particular about, but nothing else as far as food or drink. That one routine was important to him. Darwin and Einstein were meticulous about their daily walks. The list goes on and on. There is even the famous speech by Admiral William H. McRaven about making your bed every morning. Routine, and getting something done is important. The admiral knows it, and the Rabbis knew it thousands of years ago. After not having to have a schedule, I know it too. I dont have to get up early in the morning, but I try to anyway. Routine is important.

Its said that, throughout the centuries, its not that the Jews kept the Sabbath, but the Sabbath kept the Jews. Or, more simply put, its not so much that I keep the bagel, but the bagel keeps me or it at least keeps me from oversleeping.

Read the original:

The frozen bagel and the synagogue | Avi Liberman | The Blogs - The Times of Israel

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on The frozen bagel and the synagogue | Avi Liberman | The Blogs – The Times of Israel
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 6, 2022

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, left and Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, center, in a conversation moderated by author Abigail Pogrebin at Manhattan's Central Synagogue on May 3, 2022. Photo by YouTube screenshot

By Lauren MarkoeMay 06, 2022

When Rabbi Angela Buchdahl saw that someone from Texas was trying to call her in January, she let it go to voicemail. She had no idea it was another rabbi who was at that moment being held hostage with three of his congregants.

And although Buchdahl doesnt like to make a habit of using the phone on Shabbat, she was also busy on another call checking in on her parents, who had not been feeling well.

But then she listened to the voicemail, 28 bizarre seconds in which a man claiming to be a rabbi calmly told her about a gunman, saying He wants to talk to you. Buchdahl wasnt sure she should believe anything he said.

That rabbi turned out to be Charlie Cytron-Walker, the spiritual leader of a modest synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, who along with those three congregants survived a nearly 11-hour hostage-taking. At Buchdahs Central Synagogue in Manhattan Tuesday night, nearly four months after the Jan. 15 incident, Cytron-Walker and Buchdal met for the first time to talk about the day, and how in Buchdahls words it feels like the two are now bonded for life. Sitting side by side, they shared what was going through their minds and their strong feelings of responsibility to each other during and after that harrowing day.

The audience which included members of both Central Synagogue and Temple Beth Israel of Colleyville then heard the tape of the shocking voicemail Cytron-Walker left for Buchdahl. She had to listen to it three times, she said, before she decided that she needed to take action.

It went like this: Angela, this is Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. This is not a joke. Im the rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel and Colleyville. We have an actual gunman who is claiming to have bombs and he wants to talk to you. If you can call me back at this number, that would be greatly appreciated. And again, this is not a joke.

Cytron-Walkers voice was astonishingly calm, noted the writer Abigail Pogrebin, who moderated the more than hour-long conversation between the two rabbis.

The gunman, a British man who flew to Texas, targeted Beth Israel as the synagogue closest to a federal prison that held the convicted terrorist Aafia Siddiqui, sometimes known as Lady Al-Qaida. He believed that Buchdahl was powerful enough to free the prisoner, who he called his sister, although she was not his relative. Speaking with Buchdahl, Cytron-Walker explained that to find her cell phone number, he had looked in a directory distributed by the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the umbrella group for rabbis in the Reform movement.

And your cell phone is in the directory? Pogrebin asked Buchdahl.

Not anymore, joked Buchdahl.

After listening to the voicemail several times, Buchdahl said, she gained some confidence in Cytron-Walkers voice. It didnt sound like a teenage who was playing a joke. It sounded like someone was very serious, but I was but it was so surreal that I really actually couldnt believe that it was real. And I didnt know Charlie yet.

So she began Googling: Cytron-Walker, Colleyville, and Beth Israel. They all seemed to fit together. Then Buchdahl began making calls herself to the executive director of Central Synagogue and its head of security. Together, they decided she need to call Cytron-Walker back.

She had to call three times before he picked up. And I said how are you doing? You said not great actually, recalled Buchdal. I just thought okay, he hasnt totally lost his sense of humor.

Cytron-Walker described the scene in his synagogue to her, she recalled. And then you pretty quickly passed the phone to him.

The gunman told Buchdahl there were bombs planted in New York, and he could order them detonated. He told her write down the name of the prisoner he wanted freed. He made her spell the name back to him. And he said, you have an hour to bring her to the synagogue. Shes in prison. Thats only 20 minutes away. And I said, Im not sure I can do that. But Im you know, I was obviously trying to buy time.

Over the next 10 hours, Cytron-Walker, Buchdahl and the FBI outside Beth Israel would try to negotiate with the gunman, who grew more belligerent in the last 90 minutes of the ordeal.

I am running out of patience and you are running out of time, Buchdahl remembers the gunman saying to her at one point, and then hanging up on her. She said she felt completely responsible for Cytron-Walkers life at the point, and for the other congregants who remained with him; the group was able to negotiate for one hostage to be released earlier. She knew she couldnt free the prisoners, but she somehow still felt that she should be able to help more.

Unknown to Cytron-Walker, who was himself considering an escape plan eventually, he threw a chair at the gunman to distract him, and he and the two remaining congregants made a break for it the FBI had decided to storm the building. Both they and he understood that the situation had taken an ominous turn. Seconds after the rabbi and congregants freed themselves, the FBI entered and killed the gunman.

Cytron-Walker, who in June will take a new pulpit at Temple Emanuel in Winston-Salem, turned to Buchdahl and apologized to her for what she went through. She protested that it wasnt his fault. But he insisted that he should, because she had felt so responsible and powerless at the same time. Oh my God, when you talk about that sense of responsibility, he said. Thats why I apologized, because I know that I oh my gosh, how helpless right?

Buchdahl said Cytron-Walker, who has been praised for his quick thinking in creating an opportunity to escape, also deserves to be honored for his behavior through the rest of the crisis. Its not just about the heroic act, she said. At the end, it was the way that you continued to treat the gunman as a human being, which enabled him to say, you know, he said to me even on the first phone call, these are good people. I dont want to hurt them.'

Read the original:

'This is not a joke:' Rabbis at the center of Texas synagogue hostage-taking share details of that day - Forward

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on ‘This is not a joke:’ Rabbis at the center of Texas synagogue hostage-taking share details of that day – Forward
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 6, 2022

(JTA) Elisabeth Finch claimed to have survived a rare and fatal form of cancer. She claimed to have had a life-threatening abortion and a kidney transplant from Oscar-winning actress Anna Paquin. She claimed to have been stalked by an abusive, suicidal brother.

Over nearly a decade of writing and producing for the long-running ABC medical drama Greys Anatomy, the Jewish native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, told a lot of outlandish stories about her past. Together, the stories portrayed her as a wounded soul who could survive anything, and would form the basis of multiple Greys episodes. They also helped land her the coveted writing gig in the first place, with her tales of woe reportedly moving series creator Shonda Rhimes.

Following an investigation from parent company Disney and a two-part feature this week in Vanity Fair, Finchs stories now appear to have been almost entirely made up. And some of her most egregious alleged lies involved her own Judaism.

According to Vanity Fair, Finch had entered an Arizona mental health treatment center shortly after the 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. There, under the assumed name of a Greys Anatomy character, she began telling her process group that she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because a friend of hers had been one of the Tree of Life victims.

Whats more, Finch claimed, she had gone to Pittsburgh to help authorities clean up the body from the synagogue floor in accordance with what she said was Jewish tradition.

Finch would continue to repeat her story about her Tree of Life connection for years, and would claim that any mention of guns, loud noises or even a dream catcher with a Tree of Life-inspired design triggered her PTSD. In a tweet following the New Zealand mosque shooting in 2019, she identified herself as someone who stood amidst the Pittsburgh Synagogue carnage.

But her own social media showed her out with friends the night of the shooting and the night after, and the Pittsburgh Jewish burial societiesthat coordinated the cleanup arrangements told Vanity Fair that no one with Finchs name was present for them.

The Tree of Life shooting wasnt the only time Finch claimed to have been directly affected by antisemitism. Following President Donald Trumps election in 2016, she posted a photo of an antisemitic message that had been left outside her Santa Monica door, with the message, Yes, I am the only Jewish person in my building. Although the origins of the message were not revealed in the article, the story said Finch had a history of concocting violent threats against herself and, her then-wife said, once staged a break-in at her apartment.

When Finchs then-wife Jennifer Beyer, whod met her during those initial therapy sessions, confronted Finch about her lies, she tried to push the writer to make a full apology to those whom she had wronged. Beyer believed the most appropriate time to do so would be Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday of repentance.

But the holiday came and went, and Finch resisted making a full apology. Today the couple is in the midst of a contentious divorce; Beyer discovered that Finch had been telling stories of trauma that Beyer says had been lifted from her own life.

Finch, whom Vanity Fair reports had a bat mitzvah and attended a Jewish summer camp, had written for The Vampire Diaries prior to landing on the Greys writing staff in 2014. As a Greys writer, she was outspoken about her own supposed trauma and penned pieces for Elle and The Hollywood Reporter about her personal life.

Finch took a leave of absence last month amid corporate investigations into her statements. Her exit from the show came shortly after Rhimes premiered a different show: Inventing Anna, about a gifted scammer.

See the original post here:

A Greys Anatomy writer falsely claimed to have lost a friend in the Tree of Life synagogue shooting - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on A Greys Anatomy writer falsely claimed to have lost a friend in the Tree of Life synagogue shooting – JTA News – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 6, 2022

Happy Humpday, and welcome to todays roundup of notable news in the worlds of art, architecture, urbanism, and design. Its been a busy week thus far, so lets get caught up, shall we

Shuttered a decade ago, the old St. Laurence Elementary School on the South Side of Chicago is being converted into a multi-faceted space supporting artists and creative entrepreneurs of color. The abandoned building had been slated for demolition until artist and educator Theaster Gates and his nonprofit Rebuild Foundation stepped in and saved it in 2016. Since purchasing the property, Rebuild Foundation has raised more $7.6 million dollars from private funders, partners, and mission-aligned organizations to commence the $10.35 million rehabilitation of the building. Once renovation work is complete, the former school will be home over 40,000 square feet of artist studios, classrooms for creative entrepreneurship courses, co-working floors, a laboratory for archival research, and more, per a press release.

Ground officially broke on the project yesterday, May 3.

As an emerging artist navigating the creative industries and my own curiosity about process and making, access to resources, space and programs in my own neighborhood would have been vital to developing and refining my practice, said Gates. This project strengthens our ability to support artists and artisans with the tools, training and resources that will enable them to experiment and create innovative projects right in their own community. St. Laurence is as much about preserving Black space as it is about giving new life to creative possibilities on the South Side.

Programming is slated to begin at the transformed space in fall 2023.

The 2022 edition of San Franciscobased nonprofit Trust for Public Lands annual ParkScore index is out and, for the second consecutive year, Washington, D.C.s public park system has landed in the top spot, scoring particularly high points for park access and equity. Joining access and equity, the three other core ParkScore ranking factors are park acreage, investment, and amenities. Rounding out the top five cities with the best park systems are St. Paul, Minnesota; Arlington, Virginia; Cincinnati, and Minneapolis. Notably, this is the first time that Cincinnati has appeared in the uppermost reaches of the index, considered the gold standard for park evaluation. (In total, the park systems of the 100 largest cities in the U.S. were evaluated.) Other high-scorers include Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and Irvine, California.

The Trust found that 85 percent of large park systems have enacted at least one major climate change mitigation effort.

Investing in natural solutions like trails, shade, and green spaces can cool temperatures by up to six degrees and help prevent flooding. Thats why Trust for Public Land is working with park advocates and municipal leaders across the United States to close the outdoor equity gap and ensure that quality parks are available to everyone, said Diane Regas, President and CEO of Trust for Public Land. Parks inspire joy and happiness and help cities meet the climate crisis.

Looking at specific park amenities, Boise held on to its distinction as having the best park system for dogs while Las Vegas won big for playgrounds. And Boston, as it turns out, is a splashpad paradise.

After it was announced a year ago that Polish-American architect and artist Daniel Libeskindand hiseponymous New York-based studiohad been selected byPittsburghs Tree of Life/Or LSimcha Congregation to lead an expansive redesign of its synagogue as part of its Remember.Rebuild.Renew campaign, a building design concept has been made public.

As revealed this week, the building in Pittsburghs Squirrel Hill neighborhood will emerge from the redesign as a national institution dedicated to ending antisemitism, and will house an education center, museum, and memorial. The new institution will simply be known as Tree of Life. On the morning of October 27, 2018, the synagogue was the site of a mass shooting that claimed the lives of 11 worshippers. Six people were also wounded in what was the single deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.

My response to the attack on 10/27 is to create a space imbued with Jewish ideals. The design focuses on the key Jewish dimension of bringing light into darkness and creating an open and democratic space within, saidLibeskind in a statement. The Tree of Life will be a place that affirms Jewish life and sees it as a conduit of healing for the community and beyond.

Numerous architectural features of the original building, including its limestone facade and stained glass windows, will be preserved as part of the 45,000-square-foot reimagining. A central new element will be a large skylight dubbed the Path of Light that will run the entire length of the building. Oriented along the path will be a museum, a space for reflection and remembrance called the Space of Memory, and a modernized sanctuary for worship and communal events according to a press announcement detailing the plans. Rabbi Jeffrey Myers will continue to serve as rabbi for the Tree of Life/Or LSimcha Congregation, which was one of the three congregations affected by the attack, and the congregation will continue to worship in the building post-transformation.

Local firm Rothschild Doyno Collaborative is working alongside Studio Libeskind on the project.

Last month saw the launch of A Rising Tide (ART), a landmark new initiative aiming to increase visibility and elevate leadership roles of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) designers. As explained in a press announcement, the core mission of ART is threefold: to showcase API designers and bring visibility to their work; to elevate API designers to leadership roles; and to connect API designers to potential collaborators, clients, and consumers who are increasingly seeking to support diverse voices. The founders of ART include leaders from a number of architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design firms including Neri & Hu, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, Atelier Cho Thompson, Spiegel Aihara Workshop, BIG, and SOM.

We foundedARisingTide to be a resource for all: a platform to build a community of API designers seeking to shape a better world, a springboard for API designers just getting established, and a beacon of hope and inspiration for young people, said Ming Thompson, co-founder of AN awardwinning practice Atelier Cho Thompson, in a statement. Growing up, I didnt have Asian role models to look up to. Meeting Billie Tsien, one of ARTs founding members, in my first architecture studio changed the course of my life; I saw that Asian women could be industry leaders, and that we could lead in a way that was true to ourselves.

Programming planned for ARTs inaugural year includes the launch of a first-of-its-kind public Design Directory of U.S.-based practices operated by API designers. Also in the works is a series of online features focusing on API design issues and a community workshop series set to kick off in August with an intergenerational conversation on API design.

More information about whats in store for ART can be found here.

Fentress Architects has been selected by California State Parks and the California Indian Heritage Center Task Force to design the California Indian Heritage Center (CIHC), a planned cultural destination in Sacramento where visitors from across California, the nation, and the world will be drawn to this center of statewide significance for cultural preservation, learning and exchange, land stewardship based on Native American values, and a place to engage all visitors celebrating the living cultures of California tribal communities, per a press release. The 51-acre CIHC complex will be located in West Sacramento near the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers (and just across the river from this recently profiled project.)

Fentress, which maintains offices in Denver and Sacramento, won out of over 22 other firms that had submitted SOQs for the project. Core partners include Amatoollik Studios for Native American architecture consultation and tribal outreach, Dennis Hendricks from Tuolumne Band of Miwok Indians in the role of the CIHC Tribal Liaison, and James Pepper Henry, vice chairman of Kaw Nation and director of Oklahoma Citys First American Museum for public engagement, outreach and expertise on museum operation and programming.

Next steps include launching the public engagement process, which, as mentioned, will include extensive tribal outreach. The CIHC is slated to open to the public in 2028.

Link:

Daily digest: Theaster Gates' Chicago art incubator breaks ground, design unveiled for Studio Libeskind's Tree of Life project in Pittsburgh, and more...

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Daily digest: Theaster Gates’ Chicago art incubator breaks ground, design unveiled for Studio Libeskind’s Tree of Life project in Pittsburgh, and more…
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 6, 2022

(Beirut) Algerian authorities have imposed arbitrary travel bans on at least three activists from the Algerian diaspora, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. Although one of the three was finally permitted to leave on May 5, 2022, after being blocked for three months, the authorities should immediately lift the bans on the other two.

Between January and April 2022, the authorities have prevented at least three Algerian-Canadian citizens, only one of whom has been charged, from returning to their homes in Canada and interrogated them about their links to the Hirak, a mass protest movement calling for political change. Lazhar Zouaimia, Hadjira Belkacem, and a third person who asked not to be named for security reasons, said that they had not been notified of any legal basis for the travel restrictions, making them difficult to challenge in court. The travel bans are the latest tactic in a crackdown on Algerians suspected of criticizing the government or participating in protests.

It is appalling that the Algerian authorities are preventing activists from going back to their country of residence, without even providing a legal basis for this refusal or a written justification, said Amna Guellali, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International. All arbitrary travel bans should immediately be lifted.

On February 19 and again on April 9, border police prevented Lazhar Zouaimia, 56, a member of Amnesty International in Canada who works as a technician at a public electricity utility in Quebec, from boarding a plane to Montreal.

In his April attempt at Houari Boumediene Airport in Algiers, Zouaimia was accompanied by two representatives from the Canadian embassy and his lawyer. An Algerian law enforcement officer took Zouaimia aside and kept him in an office at the airport for hours, then released him. The authorities also blocked Zouaimia from boarding another flight the same day to Barcelona.

After Zouamias earlier attempt to leave Algeria in February, a court initially charged him with terrorism and later changed the charge to harming the integrity of the national territory, a vague accusation that authorities have used extensively to punish peaceful Hirak activists. He spent five weeks in detention before a court provisionally released him pending his trial.

One of Zouaimias lawyers, Abdel Halim Khairedine, said that a clerk at the Court of Constantine, where Zouaimia is being prosecuted, informed Khairedine that the court had imposed no travel restrictions on his client.

The notification of release for Zouaimia from the General Directorate of the Administration of Prisons and Rehabilitation, reviewed by Amnesty International, does not indicate that he is subjected to a court-ordered travel ban.

Another of Zouaimias lawyers filed a request with the General Prosecutors Office of the Court of Algiers on April 13 to check whether another court had imposed a travel ban on him but had received no reply as of April 29.

When Zouaimia tried to leave in February, law enforcement officers in civilian clothes detained him at Constantine airport. An officer from the judicial police at the airport told Zouaimia to hand over his phone, without showing him an order from the prosecutor. Zouaimia gave the officer his phone, which was not password protected.

Police then transferred Zouaimia to the military barracks in Constantine. They questioned him about his participation in Montreal in the Hirak protest movement and his alleged connections with the Movement for the Self-determination of Kabylie (MAK) and Rachad, an opposition political movement. The authorities have used broadly worded terrorism-related charges to criminalize the activities of these two political organizations by designating them terrorists.

On February 22, a judge in the Court of Constantine ordered Zouaimias pretrial detention on charges of praising and funding a terrorist organization, under article 87 bis of the penal code. Zouaimia was provisionally released on March 30. On April 6, a judge in the same court changed the accusation to harming the integrity of the national territory under article 79 of the penal code. His trial is scheduled for May 31. The authorities have not returned his phone.

Zouaimia was finally able to leave Algeria to return to Canada on May 5.

In another case, Hadjira Belkacem, 52, traveled to Algeria on January 19. On February 25, the border police at the Houari Boumediene Airport prevented her from leaving the country for Montreal. Belkacem told Human Rights Watch that she has not taken part in the Hirak but is known as an activist among Algerians living in Montreal. Law enforcement officers in civilian clothes at the airport interrogated her and held her for several hours.

Belkacem was then transferred to the headquarters of the National Police in Algiers to be questioned again. Police officers there asked about her alleged connections to the Hirak protest movement and to Rachad, and about the Association of Muslim Burial in Quebec (lAssociation de la Spulture musulmane au Qubec), a charity that she founded in Canada. They released her at 2:30 a.m. the following day, she told Human Rights Watch.

Belkacem hired a lawyer, who found no charges pending against her. He contacted the prosecutor of the Dar Beida court in Algiers to ask about the travel ban, but has not received an answer, she said on May 3.

Belkacem has been living in Canada with her family for 16 years and works as a childcare educator.

On February 10, border police at the Algiers airport prevented a third person, who asked not to be identified, from boarding a plane. He was transferred to a police station in Algiers, where he was interrogated in the office of the counterterrorism unit about his family, his personal relationships, and if he had collected money to support the Hirak. The police then released him without telling him that there were any charges against him.

On March 24, in response to a request filed by his lawyer, the first instance tribunal of the eastern city of Setif issued a notice, reviewed by Amnesty International, confirming that no formal ban to leave the national territory had been issued against him. He is awaiting more information from his lawyer before he attempts to leave the country again.

Law enforcement officers in civilian clothes had previously arrested him on January 28 with his brother on a street in Setif. The officers took the men to an unknown location, where security service officers interrogated him for a few hours about the Hirak, his personal finances, and the reasons he was protesting for political change in Algeria. The two men were released later that day, but he was summoned for questioning to the central police station of Setif again on January 29 and 30.

The Algerian authorities are using arbitrary travel bans as a means to pressure diaspora activists in Canada and elsewhere, said Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. These unjustified measures put diaspora Algerians who go home to visit in a precarious situation with no clear legal remedies.

The rest is here:

Algeria: Arbitrary Travel Bans on Diaspora Activists - Human Rights Watch

Category: Diaspora | Comments Off on Algeria: Arbitrary Travel Bans on Diaspora Activists – Human Rights Watch
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 6, 2022

The UOs Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art highlights the photography of Lewis Watts in the new exhibit Likeness or Not: Reflections from the African Diaspora, which is on view through Sept. 4 in the J Focus West Gallery.

On Thursday, May 19, at 4 p.m., the artist will present Faces and Places in the Diaspora, a visiting artist lecture, in Room 177, Lawrence Hall. The talk also will be livestreamed on theUO Media Services YouTube channel.

Likeness or Not: Reflections from the African Diaspora is a collection of photographsthat detail the culture and history derived from the African diaspora. The collection includes portraits of artists, activists, authors and musicians that are important figures in modern African American culture.

The exhibition, organized by associate curator of photography Thom Sempere, also will feature Watts photographs of historical publications.

For more than 50 years, the thrust of my photography practice and research has been grounded by an interest in the culture, history and migration of people of the African diaspora, Watts said. The work has evolved into a variety of related series, two of which are represented in the exhibition: portraits of folks who I have been drawn to photograph because they are not letting outside forces determine how they present themselves to the world and who seem to be comfortable in their own skins, and historical African American book covers and pages as both objects and reflections of the narrative of history and in some cases briefs for White supremacy.

Sempere said the exhibition offers an opportunity to look over the shoulder of a keen observer of both historical and contemporary representations of persons in the African diaspora.

His subjects are usually aware of his presence, and his engagement with them is central to the work, he said. Counterpointing the inherent celebratory nature of the portraits is his series that investigates the history of representations of African Americans in print, the motivations of the authors of those representations, and the narratives they wish to assert. Together, this powerful combination is an important and thoughtful gift to the JSMA collection.

Wattsis a photographer, archivist, curator and Professor Emeritus of art at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His research and artwork centers around the cultural landscape, primarily in communities in the African diaspora in different parts of the world.

He is the co-author of Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era, New Orleans Suite: Music and Culture in Transition, and Portraits.

Excerpt from:

Artist explores the African diaspora in new exhibition - AroundtheO

Category: Diaspora | Comments Off on Artist explores the African diaspora in new exhibition – AroundtheO
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 6, 2022

Jamaica's Global Diaspora Conference was officially launched today.

The conference will be held June 14-16.

In his address at the virtual event, Prime Minister Andrew Holness renewed his call for Jamaicans in the Diaspora to invest more in the country.

This was echoed by Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Kamina Johnson Smith, as well as GraceKennedy CEO and conference chairman Don Wehby.

Holness emphasised that a successful partnership between Jamaica and the Diaspora was important for the country's development.

He said that over the course of this year the opportunity will be used to thank, embrace and acknowledge the Diaspora and its contributions to Jamaica.

Noting that these are challenging times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the prime minister said that Jamaica and Jamaicans must strengthen what has worked during the first 60 years of the country's independence and chart better pathways in the coming years.

Pointing out that an estimated three million Jamaicans live abroad, Holness said that over the past two years, with the attendant issues arising from the pandemic, members of the Diaspora have given great support to the country.

He noted that the areas which benefited the most were remittances, health, education and philanthropy.

However, he noted that in the area of investment, this had fallen short.

He, like Wehby and Johnson Smith, highlighted agriculture and agro-business and technology as areas in which members of the Diaspora can invest in Jamaica.

We want the Diaspora to see Jamaica as a destination to do business. We want the Diaspora to focus on business operations here, he said.

Holness said that his government was committed to strengthening its partnership with the Diaspora.

To this end, we will be expanding outreach and deepening connectivity with the Diaspora, he said.

The theme of the conference is Reimagining A Nation For Greatness.

The conference coincides with the celebration of Jamaica's 60th anniversary of independence and will be held in a hybrid format.

The conference organisers are hoping to get some 5,000 people to participate on social media platforms.

The conference was originally scheduled for last year but, because of the pandemic, it was shifted to this year to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee celebration.

- Lester Hinds

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.

Read more:

Diaspora urged to strengthen investment in Jamaica - Jamaica Gleaner

Category: Diaspora | Comments Off on Diaspora urged to strengthen investment in Jamaica – Jamaica Gleaner
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 6, 2022

(May 4, 2022, Jerusalem, Israel, JNS Wire) Yesterday, on the eve of Yom HaZikaron, a day of remembrance for Israels fallen soldiers and victims of terror, Masa Israel Journey hosted its 14th annual Yom HaZikaron Ceremony in Latrun, Israel. The event was held in person and was live-streamed on Masas Facebook and Instagram pages.

Masas ceremony is the largest English-speaking Yom HaZikaron ceremony broadcast from Israel to a global audience. Hosted annually in Latrun, the program returned to its in-person format this year and featured speeches from prominent Israeli government officials, Jewish leaders, Masa alumni, and individuals with touching personal stories. Hundreds of thousands of viewers tuned in including Masa Fellows and alumni, Jewish community leaders, and members of Jewish communities from the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Morocco, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, India, the former Soviet Union, and more.

The theme of this years ceremony was These Are Our Stories in recognition of Israels fallen soldiers and victims of terror in Israel and in Jewish communities outside of Israel who left behind a legacy of values, identity, and sacrifice. Throughout the ceremony, stories of the fallen were shared alongside video documentaries and other multimedia presentations crafted specifically for the ceremony.

Tonight, we recall the bravery, heroism, and sacrifices of the fallen, said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in a pre-recorded address presented at the ceremony. They serve as a reminder of how fortunate and privileged we are to have the State of Israel, a home that we must never take for granted. We remember them all, we remember their sacrifice, and we salute them. May their memories be a blessing.

Each year, over 12,000 Masa Fellows embark on immersive, long-term programs in Israel to advance their personal and professional journeys. Fellows often describe Masas Yom HaZikaron Ceremony as one of the most significant moments of their experience. This year, thousands of Fellows and alumni gathered in Latrun, in cities throughout Israel, and around the world to watch the ceremony and honor Israels fallen soldiers and victims of terror in Israel and Jewish communities.

Over 5,000 Fellows in Masa programs in Israel were present at the ceremony at the Yad LaShiryon site in Latrun, in the presence of Dr. Nachman Shai, Minister of Diaspora Affairs; Yaakov Hagoel-Chairman, World Zionist Organization, Acting Chairman, Jewish Agency for Israel; Shalom Shlomo, Cabinet Secretary; MK Evgeny, Soba Deputy Speaker of the Knesset; MK Dr. Yuval Steinitz; Ofer Gutman, Masa CEO; IDF representatives, bereaved families, global Jewish leaders; Becky Caspi, Senior Vice President and CEO of JFNA Israel; and Sam Grundwerg, World Chairman Keren Hayesod.

In a speech at the ceremony, Minister of Diaspora Affairs Nachman Shai said: We must sanctify the sacrifice of those who gave up their lives for us by striving towards the vision for which they died; the advancement and flourishing of the Jewish people in its homeland.

Chairman World Zionist Organization & Acting Chairman, Jewish Agency for Israel Yaakov Hagoel said: Those who are no longer with us and those who are, everyone is standing with us here today. And this evening, we come together and unite to remember them and their heroism, salute them, and say thank you.

Bereaved families from global Jewish communities were an integral part of the ceremony. This years ceremony shared the stories of:

The families and friends of the fallen attended and participated in the ceremony, keeping the memories of their loved ones alive. Elijah Kays zl brother Chanan Kay lit a torch in uniform to honor his brother and David Solomonovs zl father Mordechai Solomonov recited kaddish at the ceremony. Against the backdrop of international flags representing Jewish communities around the world, members of Masas global community and global Jewish leaders laid memorial wreaths and lit candles to honor all of Israels fallen soldiers and victims of terror.

Masa CEO Ofer Gutman said: Every story we hear today reminds us that having a safe, sovereign Jewish state does not come without a price. In Israel, and across the entire Jewish world, we wish for nothing more than a peaceful future for our children and communities. The families of the fallenfrom Israel and across the globe long for the day when this dream becomes a reality.

For photos of the event, click here.

For a video of the event, click here.

Continue reading here:

Hundreds of thousands of Diaspora Jews Share in Masa's virtual and in-person Yom HaZikaron ceremony - JNS.org

Category: Diaspora | Comments Off on Hundreds of thousands of Diaspora Jews Share in Masa’s virtual and in-person Yom HaZikaron ceremony – JNS.org
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 6, 2022

(The Conversation) The California State University system, Americas largest public higher education system, recently added caste, a birth-based social hierarchy system, to its anti-discrimination policy, allowing students, staff and faculty across its 23 campuses to report caste bias and discrimination.

CSUs move has drawn a sharp response from some in the Indian diaspora: About 80 faculty members of Indian heritage, as well as the Hindu American Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, have opposed the decision, claiming that it is potentially stigmatizing for persons of Hindu or Indian heritage. They have also threatened a lawsuit against CSU if this decision is not revoked.

The caste system is often conflated in Western media with Hindu religion and India alone. However, as social scientists specializing in South Asian Studies, we know that the caste system is neither exclusive to Hindu religion nor is it endemic to India.

While the caste system originated in Hindu scriptures, it crystallized during British colonial rule and has stratified society in every South Asian religious community. In addition to India, it is present in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bhutan.

Social, economic and political status in this pernicious system is tied to traditional occupations fixed by birth. Brahmins, for example, who are assigned priestly work, are at the top, and Dalits, relegated to the bottom, are forced into occupations that are considered abject in South Asia, such as cleaning streets and toilets, or working in the tanning industry. Caste-based rules of marriage maintain these boundaries firmly.

Caste organizes social life not only among Hindus but also in Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Buddhist communities in the region. It is an intergenerational system based on birth into a caste group. Caste identities stay even generations after someone converts out of Hinduism and into any of these faiths.

Among South Asian Christians, Anglo-Indians are at the top of the hierarchy. This small community includes individuals of mixed descent from Indian and British parents. Those who converted to Christianity, even generations ago, from middle level Hindu castes come next, followed by those from Indigenous backgrounds. Those who converted to Christianity from Dalit castes are placed at the bottom.

Muslims across the region are organized with the minority Ashraf communities at the top. The Ashraf community claims noble status as the original Muslims in South Asia, due to their descent from Central Asian, Iranian and Arab ethnic groups. The middle in this social hierarchy is comprised of Ajlaf, considered to be low-born communities that converted from Hindu artisanal castes. The group at the bottom includes converts from Dalit communities who are identified with the demeaning term Arzal, which means vile or vulgar.

In the Sikh community, the powerful land-owning caste, Jat-Sikhs, are at the top, followed by converts from Hindu trading communities in the middle and converts from lower caste Hindu communities, Mazhabi Sikhs, at the bottom.

While Buddhism in India is close to being casteless, its dominant versions in Sri Lanka and Nepal have caste-based hierarchies.

While many of the so-called lower caste groups converted to escape their persecution in Hinduism, their new religions did not treat them as fully equal.

South Asian Christians, Muslims, Sikhs and Buddhists with Dalit family histories continue to face prejudice from their new co-religionists. They are excluded from or experience segregation at shared places of worship and sites of burial or cremation across all these regions.

Social scientists have shown that strict caste-based rules continue to regulate social organization and everyday interactions. Intercaste marriages are rare: In India alone, they have remained at about 5% of all marriages over the past several decades. When they take place, the couples risk violence.

While urbanization and education have normalized everyday interactions across caste groups in shared urban spaces, entertaining lower caste individuals in upper caste households is still taboo in many families. A 2014 survey found one in every four Indians to be practicing untouchability, a dehumanizing practice in which people from Dalit castes are not to be touched or allowed to come in contact with upper caste individuals. Untouchability was prohibited in India in 1950 when its egalitarian constitution came into force. However, home ownership is segregated by caste, and religion and caste discrimination is pervasive in the rental market where residential associations use flimsy procedural excuses for keeping lower caste individuals out.

Lower castes are expected to defer to the higher status of upper castes, refrain from expressing themselves in shared spaces and avoid displaying material affluence. They risk being punished by socioeconomic boycotts, which could include ostracizing the Dalits or keeping them out of employment. It may even include assault or murder. In Pakistan, anti-blasphemy laws are used as a pretext for caste violence against Dalits, many of whom have converted to Christianity.

Studies show that caste-based identity is a major determinant of overall success in South Asia. Upper caste individuals have better literacy and greater representation in higher education. They are wealthier and dominate private sector employment, as well as entrepreneurship.

While affirmative action programs initiated by the British and continued in independent India have made improvements in the educational levels of lower caste groups, employment opportunities for them have been limited.

Studies also demonstrate how caste identity affects nutrition and health through purchasing power and access to health services.

Most socioeconomic elites in South Asia, regardless of religion, are affiliated with upper caste groups, and the vast majority of the poor come from lower caste groups.

Scholars have documented similar discriminatory practices in the diaspora in the U.K., Australia, Canada and the African continent.

Caste has started getting recognition as a discriminatory category, especially in the U.S., in recent years. A 2016 survey, Caste in the USA, the first formal documentation of caste discrimination within the U.S. diaspora, found that caste discrimination was pervasive across workplaces, educational institutions, places of worship and even in romantic partnerships.

In 2020, the state of California sued Cisco Systems, a technology company in the Silicon Valley, on a complaint against caste-based discrimination. Harvard University, Colby College, UC Davis and Brandeis University have recognized caste as a protected status and have included it in their nondiscrimination policies.

These developments in the U.S. have put the spotlight again on this centuries-old system that denies equality to large populations on the basis of an oppressive and rigid hierarchical system. It is up to the American diaspora how they commit to engage with it, as they themselves strive for equality and fairness in their new multicultural society.

Posted By admin on May 6, 2022

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainians, and those with strong Ukrainian ties all over the world, found themselves asking what they could do to help their families and friends affected by this war. One couple in Des Moines found a way.

On this episode of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe talks to Olya Poputnikova-Santos, a Ukraine native living in Iowa, and Victor Santos, children's author and director of assessment and research for Avant Assessment, about their effort to provide books for Ukrainian children who've had to leave their homes.

Later in the podcast, we know that exercising in nature can have powerful benefits for physical and mental health. So what if your doctor wrote you a prescription for taking a walk in a beautiful natural area? Thats the idea behind Trail Rx at Hartman Reserve Nature Center in Cedar Falls. Dr. Suzanne Bartlett Hackenmiller joins the show to talk about this one of a kind program.

Guests:

See more here:

Watching the Ukrainian diaspora from afar, this Iowa couple and an Oregon language testing company donated 1500 books to Ukrainian refugee children -...

Category: Diaspora | Comments Off on Watching the Ukrainian diaspora from afar, this Iowa couple and an Oregon language testing company donated 1500 books to Ukrainian refugee children -…
Tags: