Behind the Aegis
Behind the Aegis's JournalBerlin synagogue firebombed, with antisemitism spiking as Gaza war rages
A Berlin synagogue was attacked with Molotov cocktails early Wednesday as antisemitic incidents in the German capital have been rising following the violent escalation in the Middle East.
The Kahal Adass Jisroel community said its synagogue in the city’s Mitte neighborhood was attacked with two incendiary devices. Police confirmed the incident.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz later strongly condemned the attack, saying, “We will never accept when attacks are carried out against Jewish institutions.”
“Unknown persons threw two Molotov cocktails from the street,” the community wrote on X, formerly Twitter. It also posted video footage of police officers investigating the scene in front of the synagogue that was cordoned off.
more...
'There are no words': When what's not said is what hurts the most
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl delivers her sermon on Oct. 13, 2023 at Central Synagogue in Manhattan. Courtesy of Central Synagogue. Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl is senior rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City. She was the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi in North America, and before that the first ordained as a cantor. She is also a member of the Forward Association.
Ein milim, ein milim — there are no words. This is what I hear over and over from Israeli family and friends since the largest, most vicious massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
Ein milim. How can mere words describe the barbarism of hundreds of Hamas terrorists streaming into Israel with no other purpose than to hunt down and murder Jews — in their homes, at bus stops, at a music festival — while gleefully livestreaming their rampage to exultant crowds?
What words can you say to a father witnessing a video of his 20-year-old daughter, petrified, screaming, as Hamas terrorists motor her off into the abyss.
What words can convey the horror of Hamas terrorists storming into “safe rooms,” slaughtering parents before their children’s eyes, and then dragging those children down into the tunnels below the Gaza Strip?
more...
For those who don't recognize her: Texas synagogue gunman spoke twice to Rabbi Angela Buchdahl in New York City
After a Palestinian-American child is stabbed to death, Jewish groups across the spectrum speak out
After a Palestinian-American child is stabbed to death, Jewish groups across the spectrum speak out against anti-Muslim hateIn the wake of the murder of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy in a Chicago suburb, Jewish groups across the religious spectrum are pleading with Americans to not allow anti-Muslim hate to spread because of Israel’s war with Hamas.
Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist umbrella bodies have joined a statement spearheaded by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a national public policy group, and two Orthodox groups have released their own statements.
“This is a moment of deep Jewish pain, mourning the lives taken and praying for the safe release of the hostages in Gaza – and this pain and fear is compounded by a horrific rise in antisemitism here in the United States and around the globe,” said the JCPA statement, which in addition to the religious movements was also signed by the American Jewish Committee, J Street, Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women, among other groups.
“We also know that we are not the only ones being targeted in this moment,” it said. “Our Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian American neighbors are facing bigotry, threats, and violence – including the despicable murder of a six-year-old child this weekend outside Chicago, by a man who reportedly espoused anti-Muslim hate.”
more...
Stanford instructor removed for targeting Jewish students as 'colonizers' after Hamas attack on Isra
An instructor at Stanford University has been suspended for what the president and provost called “identity-based targeting” of students in connection with the Israel-Gaza war.
Rabbi Dov Greenberg, director of the Chabad Stanford Jewish Center, said he was told by three students who were in the room that the instructor asked Jewish and Israeli students to identify themselves during a session for a required undergraduate course called “Civil, Liberal and Global Education.”
The teacher told the Jewish students to take their belongings, stand in a corner, and said, “This is what Israel does to the Palestinians,” Greenberg said, citing the student accounts. The instructor then asked, “How many people died in the Holocaust?” When a student answered, “Six million,” the lecturer said, “Colonizers killed more than 6 million. Israel is a colonizer.”
Stanford President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez sent a letter to the university community on Wednesday that mentioned the removal of the instructor from teaching duties but did not provide the details of the incident.
more...
Justifying Israeli deaths is antisemitic. Yet many of my progressive peers are doing just that
I have been unable to stop crying since Saturday over reports out of Israel: Of the indiscriminate, violent deaths of families including young children; babies murdered; grandmothers taken hostage.
But across my social media networks, and even in email exchanges with acquaintances and friends, I have seen repeated over and over the message that this was a fair price to be paid, and that it does not warrant explicit condemnation because a military response by Israel would be even more devastating.
The idea, in short: Depraved violence is acceptable if it targets the right victims.
The unwillingness of people around the world to see the humanity of Israelis tells me volumes about how they see me, a Jew. If you believe it is not just possible, but necessary, to protest the government of Israel, I agree. If you believe it is not just possible, but necessary, to speak out against the injustices endured by the Palestinian people, including through Israeli policies and actions, I agree.
I also believe it is possible, and necessary, to do both without being antisemitic.
more...
Three dozen Harvard student organizations say Israel 'is the only one to blame'
Three dozen student organizations at Harvard signed a statement published online holding “the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”
It drew rebukes from a wide spectrum of Jews and non-Jews, within and outside the university, who called the statement astonishing for its inattention to the victims of Hamas’ attack on Israel, which began Saturday. The surprise operation included rocket fire on towns and cities, the ambush of a music festival attended by hundreds of young adults, and the kidnapping of more than 100 mostly civilian Israelis, including the elderly and children. About 800 Israelis and at least 560 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting so far.
The statement from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups said that the attacks by Hamas and ongoing retribution by Israel in Gaza “did not occur in a vacuum.”
The groups describe Gaza as an “open-air prison” where “Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years. From systematized land seizures to routine airstrikes, arbitrary detentions to military checkpoints, and enforced family separations to targeted killings, Palestinians have been forced to live in a state of death, both slow and sudden.”
The Harvard College Palestine Solidarity Committee created this installation in March. A letter made public Sunday and signed by three dozen Harvard student organizations blamed Israel for “all unfolding violence” following Hamas’ attacks Saturday. Courtesy of Harvard Crimson (photographer Addison Y. Liu)
more...
Outrage erupts as police allow neo-Nazis to protest outside Georgia synagogue
On Saturday, an appalling incident took place in which neo-Nazis waving swastika flags demonstrated outside a Chabad synagogue in Cobb County, Georgia. The community was shaken on Saturday as worshippers were confronted with a distressing sight of Neo-Nazis staging a protest outside their sacred place of worship, according to a report by the Daily Mail, based on the online media posts of members of the synagogue. In addition, other antisemitic incidents occurred across the state, resulting in the arrest of the leader of a white nationalist hate group.
A group of approximately twelve individuals belonging to the Goyim Defense League (GDL), a hate group notorious for espousing antisemitic conspiracy theories, targeted the Chabad of Cobb County synagogue in East Cobb, situated just north of Atlanta.
In response to this appalling demonstration, law enforcement was alerted and arrived at the scene. However, they opted to allow the protest to proceed, allowing the Jewish members of the congregation to confront the Neo-Nazis directly. Videos circulating on social media capture the intense exchanges, with the Jewish worshippers expressing their outrage and demanding the immediate departure of the hate group members.
Stewart Levy, a member of the targeted, wrote on Facebook that he is overwhelmed. “Antisemitism at my synagogue. The most frightening thing I have seen in my 65 years. It's very hard to believe that this is happening in Cobb County. The police are allowing it because it is 'free speech,'” he wrote.
more...
Neo-Nazi wave swastika flags outside multiple Georgia synagogues © Provided by New York Post
May is Jewish American Heritage Month
From our President:
For centuries, Jewish refugees fleeing oppression and discrimination abroad have sailed to our shores in search of sanctuary. Early on, they fought for religious freedom, helping define one of the bedrock principles upon which America was built. Union soldiers celebrated Passover in the midst of the Civil War. Jewish suffragists fought to expand freedom and justice. And Jewish faith leaders linked arms with giants of the Civil Rights Movement to demand equal rights for all.
Jewish Americans continue to enrich every part of American life as educators and entrepreneurs, athletes and artists, scientists and entertainers, public officials and activists, labor and community leaders, diplomats and military service members, public health heroes, and more. Last year, I was proud to host the White House’s first-ever Jewish New Year reception. During our Hanukkah celebration, I was also proud to unveil the first-ever permanent menorah at the White House — reinforcing the permanency of Jewish culture in America. In my own life, the Jewish community has been a tremendous source of friendship, guidance, and strength through seasons of pain and seasons of joy.
But there is also a dark side to the celebrated history of the Jewish people — a history marked by genocide, pogrom, and persecution — with a through line that continues in the record rise of antisemitism today. We have witnessed violent attacks on synagogues, bricks thrown through windows of Jewish businesses, swastikas defacing cars and cemeteries, Jewish students harassed on college campuses, and Jews wearing religious attire beaten and shot on streets. Antisemitic conspiracy theories are rampant online, and celebrities are spouting antisemitic hate.
These acts are unconscionable and despicable. They carry with them terrifying echoes of the worst chapters in human history. Not only are they a strike against Jews, but they are also a threat to other minority communities and a stain on the soul of our Nation. I decided to run for President after I saw this hatred on display during the rally in Charlottesville, when neo-Nazis marched from the shadows spewing the same antisemitic bile that was heard in Germany in the 1930s. These incidents remind us that hate never truly goes away — it only hides until it is given just a little oxygen. It is our obligation to ensure that hate can have no safe harbor in America and to protect the sacred ideals enshrined in our Constitution: religious freedom, equality, dignity, and respect. That is the promise of America.
I have made clear that I will not remain silent in the face of this antisemitic venom, vitriol, and violence. During my first year in office, I signed the bipartisan COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act to help State and local law enforcement better identify and respond to hate crimes. I appointed Deborah Lipstadt, a historian of the Holocaust, as the first Ambassador-level Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism. And my Administration also secured the largest increase in funding ever for the physical security of nonprofits, including synagogues, Jewish Community Centers, and Jewish day schools.
At my direction, we are also developing the first national strategy to counter antisemitism that outlines comprehensive actions the Federal Government will undertake and that reflects input from over a thousand Jewish community stakeholders, faith and civil rights leaders, State and local officials, and more. This strategy will help combat antisemitism online and offline, including in schools and on campuses; improve security to prevent antisemitic incidents and attacks; and build cross-community solidarity against antisemitism and other forms of hate.
But governance alone cannot root out antisemitism and hate. All Americans — including business and community leaders, educators, students, athletes, entertainers, and influencers — must help confront bigotry in all its forms. We must each do our part to put an end to antisemitism and hatred and create a culture of respect in our workplaces, schools, and homes and across social media.
This Jewish American Heritage Month, let us join hands across faiths, races, and backgrounds to make clear that evil, hate, and antisemitism will not prevail. Let us honor the timeless values, contributions, and culture of Jewish Americans, who carry our Nation forward each and every day. And let us rededicate ourselves to the sacred work of creating a more inclusive tomorrow, protecting the diversity that defines who we are as a Nation, and preserving the dignity of every human being — here at home and around the world.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2023 as Jewish American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to learn more about the heritage and contributions of Jewish Americans and to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of April, in the year two thousand twenty‑three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
What do you know about Jewish American History? (This quiz includes Canada. )
https://reformjudaism.org/reform-jewish-life/arts-culture-travel/quiz-how-well-do-you-know-jewish-american-trivia
https://www.jewishheritagemonth.gov/
"The Jews are responsible!"
https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1643309457265270838Somehow this mental giant forgot the most important of our tribe, and the most devious of the Jews, SOROS!
It never fails, when shit hits the fan, everyone looks for a Jew (and by proxy ALL Jews) to blame.
Shofar blasts, an antisemitic sign and more Jewish angles to Trump’s arraignment
Jews, would-be Jews, antisemites and Jewish conspiracy mongers took part in the spectacle inside and outside former President Donald Trump’s arraignment in Manhattan Tuesday.
Rep. George Santos, who lied about having Jewish heritage on the campaign trail last year, showed up to support Trump on the streets outside the Manhattan Criminal Courts building. So did Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, who has suggested that Jewish “space lasers” started wildfires. Mobbed by reporters, the two Republicans left minutes after their arrival.
Trump, who surrendered to New York authorities in a hush-money payment case involving porn star Stormy Daniels, pleaded not guilty to 34 charges.
Outside the court, dueling crowds of Trump supporters and detractors shouted at each other. Some anti-Trump protesters screamed at this visibly Jewish reporter, calling him a “kapo” — until he explained he was at the rally as a reporter, covering both pro and anti-Trump protests.
more...
A word for those who consider themselves "woke", DO NOT call a Jew a "kapo"! Would you call a Black reporter an "Uncle Tom"? (Looking to those of you who DO NOT belong to the groups in question).
Profile Information
Gender: Do not displayMember since: Sat Aug 7, 2004, 03:58 AM
Number of posts: 53,951
