Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on August 29, 2020

Whether or not it is appropriate for diaspora Jewry to speak out on Israeli policy has been the focal point of much debate within the pro-Israel American-Jewish community for decades, even when it comes to people like me who are Israeli citizens. Its something I encounter a lot at my job at Israel Policy Forum, where we promote a viable two-state solution. Every week, I receive emails calling out our right to have opinions about Israel: You armchair Zionists have no right to critique the policies of the democratically elected government of Israel from far-off America, while Israelis have rockets raining down on them in the Gaza envelope.

But I am not alone among diaspora Jews especially young diaspora Jews, whose right to hold opinions about Israel is constantly questioned by those on the right.

This has been particularly true in recent years, as Israel has moved further away from the two-state solution, which American Jews by and large support and view as an urgent goal. Some of Israels leaders have also embraced increasingly authoritarian and illiberal leaders and politics. This has put much of the diaspora community at odds with recent Likud government policy and the Trump Administration, especially as they both approach the possibility of unilateral West Bank annexation.

Its led to more criticism from diaspora Jews but also, more suspicion around that criticism.

But these silencing attempts are misguided. As diaspora Jews, ensuring a safe and secure Israel is in fact our business. It directly impacts our lives; I am one of the many American Jews who believes that no matter where we live, we are safer because of the existence of a Jewish state. That state, and its destiny, are not separate from us, not someone elses responsibility or mandate.

Indeed, it is silence surrounding policies that we know to endanger the future of the Jewish homeland that would amount to the abandonment of our Israeli brothers and sisters. Both the diaspora and Israel have much to lose if this happens.

Of course, theres a difference between domestic issues that impact the daily lives of Israelis and policy options that alter the basic fabric of Israeli society and its ability to remain a Jewish state. It would perhaps be inappropriate for us to weigh in on domestic issues. But the impact of something like unilateral annexation will reverberate for generations through the geopolitical reality it creates, by eliminating the possibility of Israel separating from the Palestinians and instead creating a de facto one-state reality.

This makes it our business. We not only have a right but arguably an obligation to speak out, lest future generations of Jews accuse us of abandoning the Zionist dream and betraying our ancestors millennia-long yearning for a homeland.

Zionism demands a Jewish state not just for its current inhabitants but for all Jews, wherever they reside, hence why the law of return is non-negotiable for Zionists like myself, whose grandparents were quick to employ it.

Despite this widely accepted definition of Zionism, I often encounter young Jews who are hesitant to make their opposition to current Israeli policies known, despite having accumulated much Zionist credibility through their years of Israel activism. They worry they will be accused of anti-Zionism and of turning their backs on the Jewish state, particularly when it comes to criticizing policies perceived as national security interests for Israel.

These young Zionists are told by their parents, educators, and Israeli peers that since they were not raised under rocket fire, never served in the IDF, nor lost a close friend to a terror attack, that their opinion is not valuable.

To be sure, there are many individuals, including some prominent figures, who would be careless with Israels security. I think of those who view Israel as the Goliath that is worthy of destruction due to its decades-long occupation, and those who are not invested in seeing it flourish. But I am not speaking to or about these people. I am speaking of young diaspora Jews who, like myself, connect deeply to Israel and Zionism, and wouldnt dare support a policy if they believed it could harm the country.

In my role as the deputy director of IPF Atid, a young professionals program that empowers young American Jews to be forthright in both their Zionism and their commitment to Israels security, I urge them to make their voices heard.

Diaspora Jews have stood by Israel at every crucial moment in its history: during the wars of 1948, 1967, and 1973, during threats from the Northern front and Hezbollah, and in ongoing campaigns against terror groups in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Today, an overwhelming majority of the retired security establishment warn us of serious consequences if annexation proceeds: of the diplomatic costs, the security threats, the impending regional instability, and the deep economic impact that annexation can have.

Yet we are at risk of turning a blind eye to them and instead trusting political entities with highly-politicized ulterior motives over the combined experience and expertise of Israels most decorated generals who put their lives on the line to fight time and again for our victory.

If the American Jewish community wants to take Israels security apparatus at its word, as I have, and oppose annexation loudly due to the enormous risks that they anticipate it will bring, then we have an obligation to do so.

It is well past time for Jewish organizations and leaders to dismantle the baseless talking point that it is not our role to question the status quo in Israel. This idea serves only to stifle an important discourse and allow the continuation of dangerous policies.

Israel is our business, too.

Shanie Reichman is IPF Atid Deputy Director at Israel Policy Forum, based in NYC. Previously, Shanie interned for the human rights team at the Permanent Mission of Israel to the UN and at Hillel Internationals Office of Innovation. She also serves on the board of the Center for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Understanding and is a proud member of the Nash Didan community.

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

Stop telling us we dont have a right to criticize Israel. Zionism is about us, too.

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2020

ZION, IL ZEMA is the acronym for the Zion Evangelical Ministries of Africa. Based, somewhat ironically in Zion, Illinois, ZEMA ministers primarily to the Zionists of independent African churches.

This would probably be an appropriate time to explain African Zionism. This requires setting aside any preconceived notions of the popular usage of Zionism related to the nation of Israel. African Zionism is in no discernable way related to the political Zionism that was the driving force for creating a homeland for the Jewish people in 1948.

African Zionism is a syncretic combination of teachings that originated with the infusion and resultant confusion of some Christian practices within indigenous tribal cultures, customs, and beliefs.

With an estimated 15 to 18 million adherents, African Zionism has become the largest religious movement across Sub-Saharan Africa. It is also likely the largest religious movement of which Western Christians have never heard.

The vast majority of African Zionists live in rural communities.

ZEMAs ministry is based on their observations that a great number of Zionists have a desire to study and follow the Bible. ZEMAs mission is to bring the clarity of the Gospel to those who have been misinformed and misled.

Working primarily in Swaziland and South Africa, ZEMA has succeeded in establishing 87 Bible schools and colleges across the region since 1996.

ZEMA hopes to raise up an entirely new generation of Bible-believers who will not only have a solid Biblical foundation and understanding, but also who are equipped to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, are able to reach and encourage others in the faith once delivered, and to are prepared to assume leadership positions within local churches and Bible school.

The Bible schools and colleges offer a solid curriculum of courses designed to accomplish that purpose, including

Zion Evangelical Ministries of Africa has targeted a highly-specific group of people located in contiguous regions. The need may not be generally well-known, but it is, nonetheless, great.

There are approximately 2,400 students enrolled in ZEMAs Bible schools who desire to know God intimately and to make Him known among the millions of Zionists in Africa.

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The Unusual Mission of Zion Evangelical Ministries of Africa - MissionsBox

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2020

Government policy has changed from annexation to normalization, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi told reporters in Berlin on Thursday. His remarks created an immediate political storm within the fragile coalition.It is very clear and very tangible that Israeli governmental policy moved from annexation to normalization, he said during a joint press conference with his Germany counterpart, Heiko Maas. That is an opening. That is real. That is concrete. His comments were intended to assuage European Union fears about annexation and help ease tensions and repair ties with European countries, including Germany, which had warned against sovereignty moves.Ashkenazis remarks came in the aftermath of the historic announcement of a burgeoning US-brokered agreement to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in exchange for the suspension of plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex West Bank settlements.But within hours after Ashkenazi (Blue and White) said normalization had replaced annexation, Likud sources attempted to weaken his diplomatic power while he was still in Germany. They said he was not authorized to represent the State of Israel on this matter, even though he is the foreign minister.Ashkenazis words were ridiculous, and the government is paralyzed, Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin, one Netanyahus closest confidants, told Channel 13.The government was working to both strengthen its hold in Judea and Samaria and to seek peace, he said. Blue and White was acting as if it was an opposition force from within the government, he added. cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });On Thursday, cabinet ministers received a message that their weekly meeting had been canceled for the fourth week in a row. The reason given was that important diplomatic meetings had been set for Sunday.The cabinet has not met the past three weeks due to disputes that have not been resolved over how the government should function and how to pass the budget.Thursdays battle over Ashkenazis words was just the latest in that crisis.Gabi Ashkenazi knew nothing about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus historic peace agreement with the Emirates, so his remarks are irrelevant, a Likud source said.Prime Minister Netanyahu has worked for many years to bring about this historic peace agreement, and other peace agreements that are on the way, under the principle of peace for peace and not territories for peace, which the Left advocated in the past, the source said.It was ridiculous that Ashkenazi and others in his party were trying to rob Netanyahu of credit for the deal and the unprecedented benefits that Israel has reaped as a result, the source said.In response, a Blue and White source said the Likud should stop being so sour and instead welcome normalization and the manner in which peace and security had replaced irresponsible unilateral measures.The battle underscored the deep philosophical division between the two parties, which earlier this week narrowly averted leading the country to a fourth election.Annexation was still on the agenda, Netanyahu has said, and normalization with Arab countries was based on peace for peace.The United States has reiterated that the UAE deal has suspended annexation and has not given a timeline for when it can be executed.Ashkenazi and Alternative Prime Minister Benny Gantz have long opposed unilateral annexation and would prefer to see settlements become part of Israel through consensus with the Palestinians and the Arab world.Some settlers have feared that normalization means the end to any such hope that settlements would be annexed to Israel and fear that the concept of a two-state solution at the pre-1967 lines has been revived.Upon hearing Ashkenazi say that annexation is out, peace is in, Peace Now said it is embarrassing how hard the Likud works to hide what is clear to everyone that Israel has forsaken annexation for peace.While in Berlin, Ashkenazi appealed to the Palestinians to negotiate.I would like to say we are still keeping the door open for the Palestinians, he said. We hope the Palestinians will join the table to negotiate the process... Now it is up to [them].The UAE-Israel deal is a very strong demonstration that only through dialogue and negotiation can we make progress, Ashkenazi said, adding that he hoped other Arab countries would also normalize ties.In their comments, Ashkenazi and Maas alluded to the fact that Israels suspension of annexation had already opened renewed possibilities for Israel in Europe.During Ashkenazis two-day trip to Germany, his first abroad since becoming foreign minister in May, he attended an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers. It is unusual for a high-level Israeli official to participate in such a meeting.Germany, which holds the rotating six-month European Council presidency through the end of December, extended the invitation.The last time it happened was in 2017, when Netanyahu joined an informal breakfast gathering of EU foreign ministers.Ashkenazis presence marked a break in the otherwise tense relations between Israel and the EU, which are divided on issues relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iran.We have to maintain an open and honest dialogue with Europe, Ashkenazi said, adding that he hoped his trip would be the start of that new conversation.Many things had become easier now that Israel had suspended its annexation plans, Maas said.Both Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were the subject of Ashkenazis conversations with Maas, the EU foreign ministers and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell.The EU and Israel are ready to continue to work together, Borrell tweeted after their meeting. But in their public remarks, both Ashkenazi and Maas glossed over those differences.Regarding Tehran, Ashkenazi said: Iran repeatedly used terror activities and armed regional militias, from Hezbollah in Lebanon to the Houthis in Yemen, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza. It is really undermining the stability in the region.Maas said he shares Israels concerns about Iran, particularly its access to sophisticated weapons.Germany believes Iran is best held in check through the 2015 Iran deal, while Israel maintains that it must be replaced with international sanctions.We do share an intimate, special relationship, Germany and Israel, Ashkenazi said.He thanked Maas for his commitment to preserving both the memory of the Holocaust and to the security of the modern State of Israel.

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2020

Aug 28, 2020

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with four top officials on Aug. 24 during his quick visit to Israel: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, Defense Minister Benny Gantzand Mossad director Yossi Cohen.

Cohenplayed the most important role in the historic normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Pompeo and Cohen had some loose ends to deal withanda lot of information to exchange before the Israeli delegation leaves for Abu Dhabi on Aug. 31to push ahead with the normalization process. There are also other agreements, most notably with Sudan and Oman, that look like they will be finalized soon.

Ashkenazi may be theminister of foreign affairs, but Cohen is the uncontested architect of the regional peace initiative thatwas revealed this week. The prime minister consults with him on a regular basisand relies on him to get things done. Over the last few years, Cohen made numerous clandestine visits to the Gulf states and workedwith Netanyahu on the tangle of relationships being woven together with pragmatic Arab states. It's allpart of a larger effort to forge an alliance against Iran, especially a nuclear Iran. Cohen accompanied Netanyahu on his historic visit to Oman in November 2018and came under considerable criticism for it from the staff of the Foreign Ministry, whocomplained he was encroaching ontheir territory.

Cohen is not the first Mossad chief to conduct secret missions on behalf of the prime minister. However, hisclandestine and public diplomatic activity has been by far thefarthest-reaching and most important.Cohenis also open about hisambitionto get to the prime minister'soffice after Netanyahu. He plans to do so from within the Likudas leader of the right.

It was Netanyahu himself who first marked Cohen as his heir.According to journalist Tal Shalev on Walla News in 2019, Netanyahu has been saying behind closed doors that there are two peoplehe considers fit to lead the State of Israel: Yossi Cohen and Israeli Ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer. Netanyahu thus dismissed a long line of senior Likud officials, including several veteran ministers likely tocompete for the party leadership as soon as Netanyahu makes his exit.

Dermer is Netanyahus young protg, his confidanteand his closest adviser on diplomatic and political affairs. Cohen, now 59, is a different story. Back in 2015, Netanyahu deliberated long and hard over appointing him asMossad director. It is quite possible that Cohens religious background and right-wing orientation gave Netanyahu the confidenceto deem him trustworthy and loyal. The previous two Mossad chiefs, Meir Dagan and Tamir Pardo, had been too contrarian. In dealing with the Iranian nuclear project, they actually went behind Netanyahu's back.

Netanyahu'schoice of Cohen turned out be a major success. Despite his relativeyouth, Cohen was responsible for several remarkable achievements, chief among them the operation to smuggle Irans nuclear archives to Israel in 2018. The world was shocked bythe audacity of this operation, which Cohen managed personally. He then made the unusual move of giving Netanyahu the green light to go public about it. For it, he was accused at the time of assisting Netanyahu politically.

The Likud would be delighted to add Cohen to its ranks. As one senior official told Al-Monitoron condition of anonymity,if Cohen decides to run to head itafter the Netanyahu era, he will take the party by storm. No one will have a chance against him.

Cohens chances of electionare excellent. His diplomatic and security background give him a real advantage. That he worked alongside Netanyahuand learned politics and statesmanship from him at the highest levels certainly adds to his prestige. Cohen even looks the part. He looks good in his designer suits,earninghim the nickname of the model. He has impressive skills in public speakingand his English is excellent. More importantly, he has natural political skills, a high level of emotional intelligenceand the ability to pick the right people for the job. It was these qualities that helped him recruit a new generation of agents for the Mossad. One senior political official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity,I saw him in a hotel with his family last year. He was at the pooland people came over to congratulate him. He looked them all in the eye and spoke to them. He was absolutely charming. He won them all over.

A year ago, Cohen showed up at the Herzliya Conference to deliver a rare public speech. He revealed that under his leadership, the Mossad had created its own diplomatic-security directorate of sorts toadvance peace in the Middle East. He said, The Mossad has a role in identifying opportunities for peace. In order to boost its influence, we have established a new division, which will work precisely on this.

It was the kind of political speech that one would expect from a prime ministerand not the head of an espionage organization. As he laid out his vision for regional peace, he said, The Mossad was intended to protect Israel from the risk of war, but I believe it has another role, which is no less important. That is to identify opportunities for peace and even more so, to initiate the processes that could advance peace. He went on to say that the current circumstances present a golden opportunity for peace in the Middle East: There are common interests on one hand, and a struggle against rivals like Iran and jihadist terror on the other. These, along with our close relationship with the White Houseand our channels of communications with the Kremlin, come together to create what could be a unique window of opportunity.Cohen revealed, The Mossad had identified what may be the first opportunity in the history of the Middle East to reach the kind of understandingswhich would lead to a comprehensive peace agreement.

Hisremarksa year ago may have seemed a pipe dream then, but over the last few days, they turned out to be an established diplomatic fact. Ever since the primeminister revealed that Israel was on the verge of reaching a peace agreement with the UAE, Cohen has been just about everywhere. He was the first Israeli senior to pay an official visit to Abu Dhabiand if the reports are true, he met with a senior government official in Sudan just a few days later. Over time, Cohens decisive role in forging these historic regional alliances will be revealed. If he does end up gunning for prime minister, it would be the perfect way for him to present himself: a person on the right who makes peace, a man trusted by Netanyahu himselfand a candidate worthy of continuing Netanyahus legacy.

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Agreement with UAE reveals Mossad chief's ambitions - Al-Monitor

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2020

Germline genetic testing is a key component of prostate cancer treatment, and broader testing criteria combined with reduced barriers to these tests could result in better informed care, including preventive surveillance, according to data from a recent study.1

Results from the retrospective study done in a total of 986 patients with prostate cancer who participated in a sponsored testing program showed that 16% (n = 153) of patients who underwent genetic testing had positive germline result; of these patients, 14% (n = 138) had pathogenic (P)/likely pathogenic (LP) variants and 1.5% (n = 15) had increased risk alleles (IRAs). Moreover, these patients were found to have 167 P/LP variants in 31 genes, as well as 19 IRAs in APC and HOXB13.

A total of 129 patients with P/LP variants had staging data available. This information indicated that 70 patients had very high-risk disease (stage III/IV), 23 had high-risk disease (stage III), and 36 had intermediate- to low-risk disease (stage IIa, IIb, and IIc). Among patients who had P/LP variants or risk alleles, only 36% reported having a family history of prostate, breast, ovarian, or pancreatic cancer.

Our initial findings from this study of [patients with] prostate cancer found an overall positive rate of 16% with 75% of positive patients being eligible for implementation of gene-specific management guidelines, precision therapies and/or clinical treatment trials, the study authors wrote. Of patients with P/LP variants, 64% did not have a close family history of prostate, breast, ovarian, or pancreatic cancer, and therefore would not have been eligible for testing based on National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) criteria.

Current criteria for germline testing in patients who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer may present a barrier to some individuals, especially those who dont have specific features regarding personal or family history, according to the investigators. Previous data have suggested that these testing criteria can exclude patients who actually harbor germline variants, which could potentially lead to suboptimal care.2

To address this, investigators launched a sponsored testing program aimed at increasing access to germline genetic testing for patients with prostate cancer through the utilization of broader criteria and eliminating cost barriers.

The program launched in July 2019 and continued throughout October 2019. Each patient enrolled on the program underwent testing that included an 84-gene, multicancer germline panel. Positive results included P and LP variants as well as IRAs. Of the 986 patients enrolled, the majority, or 70% (n = 692), were Caucasian, 13% were African American (n = 127), 3% were Hispanic (n = 33), 1.7% were Ashkenazi Jewish (n = 17), 1.0% were Asian (n = 10), and the remaining 11% (n = 107) were of unreported, mixed, or other ethnicity.

Additional results showed that when investigators evaluated diagnostic yield by disease stage, the very high-risk subgroup had a positive rate of 16%, the high-risk subgroup had a positive rate of 17%, and the intermediate- to low-risk subgroup had a positive rate of 14%.

Overall, no association of statistical significance was observed between disease stage and germline positive rate. The intermediate-/low-risk patients, who would not be indicated for germline testing based on current guidelines, had a positive rate of 14% (including P/LP variants and IRAs), the study authors wrote. Of the 36 intermediate-/low-risk patients with positive variants, 27(75%) had variants in clinically actionable genes.

Notably, 71% of patients who tested positive had P/LP variants that confers eligibility for gene-specific targeted agents or clinical trials based on variants in homologous repair or mismatch repair genes, the authors added.

These data imply that broader testing criteria could help to better inform care for many patients who might otherwise be overlooked for testing, according to the authors. By reducing barriers to testing, the authors conclude that more patients with prostate cancer would have access to crucial actionable genetic information that could lead to more targeted treatment approaches that could potentially improve outcomes.

New Recommendations Call for Increased Access to Germline Testing

The 2019 Philadelphia Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference, which brought together healthcare experts, stakeholders, and leaders from national organizations, was held to address challenges with germline testing in clinical practice and to map out a framework to increase accessibility to testing in the precision medicine era.

To do this, the panel set 3 goals: to define optimal germline testing approaches that comprise expanded panel testing options and evolving genetic data, to determine consistent germline testing indications and management, and to establish alternative genetic evaluation models in order to compensate for the shortage of genetic counseling services.3

A total of 97 participants attended the conference; these included experts in urology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, clinical genetics, and genetic counseling spaces, among others. In total, 76 participants were included on the final voting panel.

Panel members conducted a literature review with thematic topics that focused on prostate cancer risk, germline mutations by clinical and molecular characteristics of the disease, clinical multigene testing data, germline mutations in diverse populations, genetic testing capabilities and considerations, genetic counseling implementation, NCCN genetic testing guidelines, genetic testing for precision medicine in the metastatic setting, germline implications for active surveillance of early-stage disease, and germline implications for early disease detection.

Large germline panels and somatic testing were recommended for metastatic prostate cancer. Reflex testing to examine priority genes followed by expanded testing was recommended for several scenarios. Investigators determined these priority genes to be BRCA1/2 and mismatch repair genes with regard to metastatic disease treatment, and ATM in broader testing to help determine clinical trial eligibility. Additionally, BRCA2 was suggested for active surveillance discussions.

Upon completion of their review, the panel established criteria for germline prostate cancer genetic testing. Men with metastatic disease, including those with castration-resistant or castration-sensitive prostate cancer, meet the criteria for testing. In order for patients with nonmetastatic disease to be considered for genetic testing, they must either be of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, have advanced disease, have intraductal or ductal pathology, or be grade group 4 (Gleason sum 8) or above. Patients who have a brother or father, or 2 or more male relatives, who received a prostate cancer diagnosis and were under 60 years of age, who died from prostate cancer, or who had metastatic disease should also be considered for testing.

For those with metastatic disease, priority germline testing was recommended for those with BRCA1/2, DNA MMR genes, and further gene testing based on family history. Somatic next-generation sequencing was recommended for all men with metastatic disease. Additionally, confirmatory germline testing for somatic mutations was recommended for those with BRCA2 genes.

Reflex testing may be optimal for patients with nonmetastatic disease, according to the panel. with a recommendation to test for BRCA2 variants. For patients without a prostate cancer diagnosis but with an applicable family history, priority genes for risk assessment include BRCA2 and HOXB13.

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Increased Access to Germline Testing Needed in Prostate Cancer - OncLive

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2020

Growing up in New Jersey, I remember the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) working with our teachers (and students) to deliver diversity education. They did this when there were incidents of antisemitism at my school. They did this when there were anti-Indian and anti-Black incidents. I watched and participated and benefited from their fulfilling their mission to repair and foster aworld in which no group or individual suffers from bias, discrimination or hate. Their goal was not to serve the Jewish people alone. I understood their goal was to eliminate hate from the world a Herculean labor to say the least. To me, the ADL embodied the sentiments of German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemller famous poem First they came

For these reasons and more I was taken aback to learn that scores of leftwing activist groups have been promoting a campaign to drop the ADL. Their rallying motive: a history and ongoing pattern of attacking social justice movements led by communities of color, queer people, immigrants, Muslims, Arabs, and other marginalized groups, while aligning itself with police, right-wing leaders, perpetrators of state violence. Indeed, shockingly, there were Jewish voices among those groups.

This challenge, unfortunately, carries no water.

The political right and the political left have criticized the ADL over the years which is a welcome indicator, perhaps, that the ADL is balanced and doing its job well. It would seem that the pendulum has again swung to shift to the lefts critique. This is unfortunate, but not surprising and again, it lacks heft.

Most recently, the ADL has regularly and repeatedly criticized Donald Trump both as a candidate and as an elected president. The ADL criticized President TrumpDonald John TrumpThe Memo: Trump reaches for optimism as weapon against Biden Five takeaways on GOP's norm-breaking convention Trump taunts Democrats in White House speech: 'We're here and they're not' MORE's use of antisemitic tropes, divisive and bigoted rhetoric, and his willingness to give voice to extremists (such as white supremacists) for partisan purposes.

When hate crimes affect Muslim, Black, Hispanic, Asian, immigrant and other minority communities and people of color, the ADL is often the first organization to speak out and it does so loudly and definitively. And the world listens and generally responds.

When there was discussion during the 2016 presidential campaigns of creating a Muslim Registry, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt let the world know that: The day they create a Muslim registry is the day I register as a Muslim.

The ADL recently partnered with the NAACP and Georgia Equality, helping to secure the passage of hate crime legislation (in Georgia) in the wake of the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and Rayshard Brooks.

The ADL has helped make the public distinction between Black Lives Matter and the Movement for Black Lives. They vociferously declared that BLM is not antisemitic. They did call out challenges with M4BL foreign policy, in their words, for using incendiary language on Israel, accusing the Jewish state, alone among all the nations in the world, of committing genocide, among other things.

The left has criticized the ADL for aligning itself with police, right-wing leaders, perpetrators of state violence. Working with the police to do diversity education is not aligning with the police. Working with elected officials is not aligning with rightwing leaders those are the elected leaders, irrespective of whether we want to see them removed from or replaced in office. Perpetrators of state violence is likely dysphemism for working with Israel. The ADL stands by Israels right to exist and defend herself, but it also actively pursues peace and a two-state solution not to mention opposing the Israeli governments plans to annex parts of the West Bank.

The ADL calls out bigotry of those whose views they oppose and those with whom they work closely. The key to all of this is they also call out racism and harmful misinformation when it appears in the Jewish community.

We need the ADL. Jews and non-Jews alike need the ADL. They are one of the largest and oldest Jewish organizations in the United States and have been a beacon of hope, defense and unity, in so many ways. They will continue their important social justice work with many prominent civil rights groups, fulfilling their mission and our sore need right now to stop the defamation of the Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.

Rabbi Avi S. Olitzky is a senior rabbi of Beth El Synagogue in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2020

Following Mondays story about swastikas and other graffiti found in an East Cobb neighborhood comes word of an event next week that will launch a new community initiative a local Jewish leader said is designed to build understanding and allyship.

Allison Padilla-Goodman, vice president of the Southern division of the Anti-Defamation League, told East Cobb News that a gathering on Monday at the Temple Kol Emeth synagogue in East Cobb will include a developing list of partners in the interfaith effort.

She said we have several confirmed Cobb County officials and interfaith leaders in the area. Larry Sernovitz, the new rabbi at Kol Emeth, said it is a growing list and we are so blessed to know that so many organizations, including the Cobb County Government and Police Department, will be present.

The event isnt open to the general public due to physical distancing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the event will consist of plans to conduct anti-bias training events in the community over the coming weeks.

Sernovitz sent out a message to his congregation on Monday that multiple swastikas were found in a neighborhood in the area around Holly Springs Road and Post Oak Tritt Road, and that residents of that community worked to remove the graffiti.

Also spray-painted on a decorative slab was MAGA 2020, or Make America Great Again, a slogan for President Donald Trumps re-election campaign.

Every Sunday we round up the weeks top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest.Click hereto sign up, and youre good to go!

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2020

(J. the Jewish News of Northern CaliforniaviaJTA) Goyim TV, an anti-Semitic video-sharing website that was promoted with a banner drop from a Los Angeles freeway overpass on Saturday, has been taken down by its domain host under a flood of complaints.

Jon Minadeo Jr., 37, was behind both the website and the banner drop, J. the Jewish News of Northern California reported earlier this week, as were a handful of Minadeo cronies known as the Goyim Defense League.

However, just days after Goyim TV was taken offline, Minadeo directed his followers to a similar site disseminating the same hateful ideology on BitChute, a U.K.-based companydescribed by a London-based Jewish security firm as a cesspool of racist and anti-Semitic content. It reportedly solicits financial support via cryptocurrency.

The rapid resurfacing of Minadeos videos, on a different but similar channel, reflects the challenge of controlling hate-spewing websites on the internet, and the whack-a-mole-like effort it can take by anti-hate groups and concerned members of the public to confront them.

It is similar to what happened with the Daily Stormer website and other bad actors, said Seth Brysk, the San Francisco-based director of the Anti-Defamation Leagues Central Pacific region.

The neo-Nazi Daily Stormer was rejected by a number of domain registrars after the highly anti-Semitic 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, but ultimately found a new host in the Canadian-based company BitMitigate, whose founder at the time citeda commitment to liberty.

A view of the banner on Los Angeles I-405 highway captured by a Twitter user. (Siamak Kordestani/Twitter)

The norms, rules and laws for online behavior are still evolving, Brysk added. So the public can and should continue to play a role in pushing back against harassment, lies and extremism.

It appears that is exactly what happened with Goyim TV, which had been hosted since December by Epik, a domain registrar with more than 560,000 websites, according to DomainState.

The three hastily painted banners promoting Goyim TV which read Honk if you know the Jews want a race war and were hung above the busy I-405 freeway shocked the Los Angeles Jewish community and captured the attention of organizations such as the American Jewish Committee and the ADL.

The incident was reported in news outlets across the country and in Israel, and a spokesperson for Epik said that the company received a number of anonymous Gmail reports taking issue with their hosting of the site.

The nonprofit StopAntisemitism.org, which monitors the internet for anti-Semitic content, reported that hundreds of complaints were made to the web host.

The Epik spokesperson said that the company had been receiving complaints from both sides those demanding the website be taken down, and those demanding the opposite. Many of the latter came with violent threats, some of which the spokesperson shared.

Unfortunately we do not win ever in these cases, wrote the person, who asked to remain anonymous for their own safety.

A site goes up we get 300 complaints calling us neo-Nazis and harbingers of death, they said. We take it down instantly we get 300 complaints telling [us] we are fascists, threatening to put bullet holes in our head.

The person said Epik removed the website within hours of receiving complaints, and after attempts to get the platform owner to remove the objectionable content failed.

Publicly, on Twitter, Epikrespondedto some of its critics.

Free speech is not coming into our house, declaring war on a mass group of people based on their religion or belief, publishing videos inviting them to be killed by horrific genocide, then celebrating the work that has been done, the tweet read.

Jon Minadeo Jr. in a video on the Goyim TV website. (Screen shot from Goyim TV)

But by Thursday, the BitChute-hosted channel called Handsome Truth GDL (for Goyim Defense League) was publishing the same content from the old Goyim TV site.

That content largely includes wild anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, cell-phone footage of Minadeo and others driving around California and shouting anti-Semitic phrases (often through a megaphone) and other far-right fringe conspiracy theories (about coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci and the Black Lives Matter movement, for example).

BitChute, according to the company, earns $23,485 per month via what it calls community funding sources.

The switch was written about on Twitter, where Minadeos account, Handsome Truth, remains active. It was implied that the takedown was, naturally, a Jewish conspiracy.

The you know whos temporary shut down GTV, Handsome Truth posted. But i got a bitchute channelso please GO & SUB.. and support IRL [in real life] activist like myself and others.

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The anti-Semitic site behind the 'Jews want a race war' highway banner was removed from the internet. But another quickly took its place. - JTA News -...

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2020

(JTA) Israel came up every one of the four nights of the Republican convention. So did elites.

Speakers as diverse as Vice President Mike Pence and a lobsterman from Maine cited moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem as evidence that President Donald Trump is a man of his word.

Just as reliable were the invocations of elites, an amorphous class of people who at best ignored the average Americans needs and at worst sought to control your thinking.

The mention of the Jewish national homeland and a mythical centralized control-wielding power tied together the two strands woven through the fraught story of President Donald Trumps administration and Americas Jewish community: its tight embrace of right-wing pro-Israel orthodoxies and its perceived bigotry.

Trump at times has denounced anti-Semitism and the extreme right. But hes also questioned the loyalties of this countrys Jewish voters, equivocated after a deadly neo-Nazi and white supremacist march in 2017, embraced unfounded conspiracy theories about billionaire philanthropist George Sorosand deployed the term globalist, a word often used to accuse Jews of having no natural loyalties.

It didnt help that one of the scheduled speakers, hours before her appearance, amplified an anti-Semitic screed on Twitter, or that another cheerfully admitted to likening abortion to the Holocaust a comparison that Jewish groups have called a softer form of Holocaust denial. Or that a congressional nominee who has peddled anti-Semitic theories scored an invitation to Trumps speech on Thursday night accepting the nomination.

Asked for comment, the Trump campaign referred the Jewish Telegraphic Agency to an interview given by communications director Tim Murtaugh on Wednesday morning to MSNBC.

Anti-Semitism is foul and repulsive in all of its forms, and we denounce it fully, Murtaugh said.

An MSNBC anchor had asked Murtaugh about a convention speaker, Mary Ann Mendoza, who posted the screed that included references to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious forgery. The convention pulled her speech before it was broadcast.

Yet there were Jewish listeners who inferred similar if less blatant tropes throughout the convention.

At least twice on the first night, elites was modified by adjectives that raised Jewish eyebrows. Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of the presidents son, Donald Jr., referred to cosmopolitan elites and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina coupled Manhattan elites with Hollywood moguls.

Thats one of their solutions for the pandemic, Scott said. They want to take more money from your pocket and give it to Manhattan elites, and Hollywood moguls, so they get a tax break.

Jason Stanley, a Jewish professor of the philosophy of language at Yale University, was among many who criticized Scotts comments.

I am disgusted by the basically open anti-Semitism of Senator Tim Scotts speech, Stanley said on Twitter. He said Biden wanted to enrich Manhattan elites and Hollywood moguls (dog whistles for Jews) and that this was part of a plan for a cultural revolution to bring about socialist utopia.

Scott has close ties with Jewish groups; he was one the authors last year of a bill, the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, that earned plaudits from the Anti-Defamation League. His first years in Washington he made time for bible study with an Orthodox Jewish aide, Nick Muzin.

Guilfoyle, whose decibel level got much more media attention, placed cosmopolitan elites on the wrong side of the battle for the soul of America.

We stand for our flag, she said. This election is a battle for the soul of America. Your choice is clear. Do you support that cancel culture that cosmopolitan elites of Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden, who blame America first? (Schumer, the Senate minority leader, is Jewish; Biden and Pelosi, the House speaker, are not.)

Alexander Nazaryan, a national correspondent for Yahoo! News, who is Jewish and whose family emigrated from the former Soviet Union, heard an unpleasant echo.

Kim Guilfoyle rails against cosmopolitan elites, which is suspiciously close to Soviet rootless cosmopolitans, i.e., Jews, he said on Twitter.

Last year, Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, became embroiled in controversy for invoking cosmopolitan elites. His critics noted the Soviet-era associations, while Hawleys defenders said the term was commonplace. The Anti-Defamation League said the term was not necessarily anti-Semitic but called on Hawley to exercise greater care in the future.

Our president refuses to surrender his beliefs to score points with the big political elite, Ivanka Trump said on Thursday, introducing her father. To my father, you are the elite.

For years, Republicans have derided coastal elites and extolled mythical simple working men and women who occupy the countrys center, to the extent that HBO is set to launch its first pandemic-era production, Coastal Elites. The title appears to be an ironic reference to the Republican insult; the production team and cast are packed with Jews, including Paul Rudnick and Bette Midler, who found herself facing criticism this week after she mocked Melania Trumps accent.

Trump during the 2016 campaign was faulted for using the term, America First, which echoes the anti-Semitic movement led by Charles Lindbergh during World War II. The Anti-Defamation League asked him to drop the term; he ignored them and others and used it again in his acceptance speech Thursday night.

Together, we have ended the rule of the failed political class and they are desperate to get their power back by any means necessary, he said. They are angry at me because instead of putting them first I put America first!

In some cases the speakers themselves were problematic. There was Mendoza, the mother of a hit-and-run victim who on the day of her speech urged Twitter followers to read a thread from an anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist. The convention uninvited her.

There was Abby Johnson, an anti-abortion activist who in 2017 said on Twitter, I have a hard time understanding how people cant see the connection between abortion and the Jewish holocaust.(Yes I am! she said on Twitter on the day of the speech in response to Russel Neiss, a Jewish activist who drew attention to her earlier tweet and said This woman is speaking at the Republican Convention tonight. She blew him an emoji kiss.) Groups combating anti-Semitism call promiscuous Holocaust comparisons soft denial,arguing that they diminish the significance of the Holocaust.

Then there was the invitation to Marjorie Taylor Greene, who won a primary in a heavily Republican Georgia district, to attend Trumps acceptance speech, to be broadcast from the White House. Greene has long subscribed to QAnon, the conspiracy cult that traffics in anti-Semitic tropes, although she insists she has quit the habit.

Murtaugh, pressed on the Greene invitation in the MSNBC interview, seemed to suggest that anti-Semitism needed to be obvious to be called out.

We hear from the media all the time about this QAnon business, and we have a lot of things we work on in the campaign, and chasing down conspiracy theories is not one of them, he said. Anti-Semitism is something that is clear and everyone understands.

He pivoted to the Democrats, noting that the Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour, whom he called an anti-Semite, spoke at a forum for Muslim voters at the Democratic conference last week. (The campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden denounced Sarsour, then appeared to walk back the denunciation before apparently walking back the walk-back.)

They gave her a slot at the DNC, and we reacted in real time during the day, Murtaugh said.

Mendozas anti-Semitism has long been in evidence, and Greenehas trafficked in precisely the same tropesthat have gotten Sarsour into trouble,insinuating that Jews hold toa supremacist worldview.

When it comes to Israel, there was less to parse: The convention clearly made the case that Republicans love Israel with mentions of Trumps moving of the embassy to Jerusalem by Trump and his daughter on Thursday, Pence on Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (with a Jerusalem backdrop) on Tuesday and former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Monday.

Unlike many presidents before me, I kept my promise, recognized Israels true capital, and moved our embassy to Jerusalem, Trump said.

Speakers hailed Trumps decision to pull out of what they view as the deeply flawed Iran nuclear deal, negotiated by the Obama administration and adamantly opposed by Israel.

On Wednesday night, Pence cheered Trumps ordering of the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the leader of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps believed to be behind the killing of hundreds of U.S. troops in Iraq and attacks on Israel and other American allies across the region. Pence contrasted Trumps decision to take out Soleimani with Bidens public skepticism of the move.

The crowd Thursday night gave a standing ovation when White House adviser Ivanka Trump celebrated her fathers success in setting up the launch of a normalization process between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Israel even cropped up as an addendum to Trumps pledges to make Maine lobster great again.

He keeps his word, like eliminating the European tariffs and moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Jason Joyce, lobsterman, told Republicans on Tuesday.

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'Israel' and 'elites': The Republican convention sends mixed messages to Jews - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Posted By admin on August 29, 2020

The United Arab Emirates' US embassy hit back at the critics of its recent deal with Israel, taking to Twitter to slam Iran, Turkey, Qatar, Hamas and Hezbollah, among others, for their negativity. In a series of Tweets posted to the UAE Embassy US account, the Gulf state accused its critics of speaking "nothing but fear and hate," adding "their rants say something about what kind of world they want to see."The Tweets were illustrated with examples of some of the criticism the deal has drawn from states and organizations in the Middle East. Among them was a quote by the Turkish Foreign Ministry which commented that "the consciences of the peoples of the region will never forgive the hypocritical behavior of the UAE, which betrayed the Palestinian cause."Similarly, the Iranian Foreign Ministry had said: "The Islamic Republic of Iran considers Abu Dhabi's shameful move to normalize relations with the fake, illegitimate and anti-humane Zionist regime as a dangerous measure. ... The Emirati government and the other governments siding with it must accept responsibility for all of the consequences of this move."But the UAE pushed back, accusing the critical voices of not being interested in coexistence and regional stability. The UAE's criticism was not limited to governments and paramilitary organizations. Media outlets also came in for rebuke, among them Al Jazeera English, which the UAE described as a "Qatar State-Controlled News Service." cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); }); In another tweet, the UAE commented: "The UAE-Israel peace accord was widely welcomed in the US and around the world. And then there were the critics: Iran, Turkey, Qatar, Hamas, Hezbollah and others. Their rants say something about what kind of world they want to see," before going on to highlight analyses by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), showing that the main critics had been linked to three sources: Iran, the Palestinians, and Qatar. The MEMRI report quoted Saudi journalist Mishari al-Dhaidi praising the agreement between the UAE and Israel, comparing it to article in the Qatari daily Al-Sharq, titled "...This Is How The Palestinian Cause Became A Pawn In The Hands Of Bin Zayed." In that article, the Qataris harshly criticized the UAE for describing Hamas as a terrorist organization, and for accusing Hamas of holding the people of Gaza hostage. "In this context, it is impossible to ignore the UAE's campaigns of maligning and renouncing the Palestinian cause," the article read. Meanwhile, a report for the ADL by David Andrew Weinberg noted: "Peace always has its opponents, and this agreement is no exception. [...] The vast majority of these materials [criticizing the deal] come from media outlets linked to one of three sources: Iran (or its proxies), the Palestinians, and Qatar. Although the subset of these examples linked to Iran tends to be the most extreme, certain materials from all three places seem to be fundamentally hostile to Israel or propagate intolerant stereotypes."

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