Friday, March 29, 2024
Picture of murdered woman's body with Hamas terrorists wins 'prestigious' award, angering Jewish community
A university sparked anger in the Jewish community and on social media by bestowing an award for a photo of the body of German-Israeli dual citizen Shani Louk, who was killed by Hamas terrorists.
Louk was the subject of a photo that helped the Associated Press take home "Team Picture Story of the Year."
The award, which is a program of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism, gave its first place spot to a series of photos by AP photographers. The picture of Louk is featured on the institute's website.
The photo of Louk's body being displayed was taken by freelancer Ali Mahmud and captioned in part: "Heavy Israeli airstrikes on the enclave has killed thousands of Palestinians. Palestinian militants drive back to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen, during their cross-border attack on Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023."
"This premiere category recognizes the collaborative effort of a photography staff covering a single topic or news story," the site about the award states. "It is a narrative picture story that consists of images taken as part of a team effort to cover a single issue or news story."
Some social media influencers criticized the release of the photos, especially of Louk, online.
"Photos showing violence and death can be newsworthy or important when they humanize the dead or galvanize the public," senior fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute, Hen Mazzig, wrote in a post on X Thursday. "The 'winning' photo does neither; it only further dehumanizes Shani, retraumatizes her family, and legitimizes Hamas's actions under the guise of journalistic neutrality."
"There is a dead body of a partially unclothed human being, a young woman who was brutally murdered and probably raped. This cannot be real. Please remove this photo," one user wrote, according to the Jerusalem Post. Another wrote, "She has a name. Shani Louk. Her family specifically requested that we remember her laughing and living. Take this down and show some respect. If you want to post our Shani, find a photo she consented to."
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Thursday, March 28, 2024
Orthodox Judaism Today
When Connecticut senator Joseph Lieberman became the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2000, the public suddenly turned its attention on Orthodox Judaism, with pundits and journalists explaining the dos and don'ts of Shabbat and dietary laws. But Lieberman himself eschewed the label "Orthodox" in favor of the less denominational "observant," and many within the Orthodox community disliked the fact that Lieberman became, in the world's eyes, the example of the Orthodox life.
More recently, President Donald Trump's Jewish daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, also have made "Orthodox" a household word — and drawn some criticism for compromises in their observance.
Lieberman, in many ways, represents an Orthodox Judaism of decades past, one that integrated more seamlessly than today's Orthodoxy with mainstream, secular society. Orthodox Jews since the 1970s have grown greatly in numbers, self-confidence, and public profile; at the same time, they have shifted to the right socially and religiously, refusing to make what they see as the compromises that their parents' and grandparents' generations made to fit into American society.
The outward signs might be subtle but they are not insignificant — the fact that Lieberman doesn't wear a yarmulke and that he sometimes voted in the Senate on Shabbat , even if he did walk home afterward. It is less likely that tomorrow's Orthodox politician will do likewise, a tension that came to the fore when Lieberman was criticized by some Jews for drinking water during the Tisha B'Av fast.
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Wednesday, March 27, 2024
UK Jewish child doxxed for wearing IDF costume on Purim
Angry anti-Israel activists widely shared an unblurred picture of a British Jewish child dressed up as an IDF soldier in Stamford Hill on Purim on Monday, with some social media users comparing the boy to a Nazi and calling for an investigation by counterterrorism police.
The picture of the boy wearing a mock IDF paratrooper uniform equipped with a toy rifle as part of the traditional Purim masquerade and carnival was shared by accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers.
"Jewish child walking around Olinda Road mosque in Stamford Hill, London, dressed as an 'IDF' member carrying an assault rifle," X account War Monitor said to its almost one million followers. "Disgusting and despicable behavior as usual from these people."
Dilly Hussain, deputy editor of the Muslim news blog "5 Pillars UK," shared the child's photo with his almost 100,000 followers.
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Tuesday, March 26, 2024
The rapping rabbi who swapped hardcore partying for Hasidic hip-hop
Unique and weird could certainly sum up the path Moshe Reuven has taken.
The 31-year-old rabbi has swapped a party-hard lifestyle for a music career, seeing him become one of the most popular rap megastars in Israel and worldwide, with nearly 2 million Instagram followers and counting.
The Florida-born Jewish hip-hop star, who spoke to Metro.co.uk via Zoom in a rare gap in his increasingly busy schedule, reflected on his unlikely life trajectory, telling us: 'Ultimately, to be authentic, to be my true self – that's the only option I have, and that's what I'm here to do.'
That's not to say it's been an easy road.
Moshe, who goes by the Hebrew name he was given at birth, was known as Marc growing up, and he got his passion for music from his family, with seemingly everyone from aunties to parents and his brother having some kind of musical skill.
Inspired by the likes of Kid Cudi and Kanye West (more on that later), he wrote songs from a young age, finding his way in the world of music as he grew and found new experiences.
In high school, he was one of the popular kids, going out for nights at a time, getting engrossed in the party lifestyle before a bad experience after getting spiked at a party gave him an awakening.
'If you saw those scenes in high school movies, we were really crazy in that regard,' he admitted.
'From that to then start praying to God every day and trying to stop drinking, changing my values to be focused on living a good life and having a good impact on the world around me.'
The rabbi, ordained in 2021, added: 'I was sacrificing the whole fun life to try to do what God wants me to do. And that was really difficult for me.'
While friends – some he's still in touch with, others drifted away – were going in one direction in college, Moshe was going the other, which was a 'real conflict' and a blessing at the same time.
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Friday, March 22, 2024
Hasidim enjoy life – Is that allowed at this time?
Sometimes we see Hasidic Jews doing strange things and wonder about them. They seem to live on another planet, or are stuck in a time long past. However, if you turn your perspective around and look at the modern world with its grinning politicians, teenagers who can't take their eyes off their phones and many other "achievements" of our time, you might understand why these groups choose isolation and concentrate fully on religious life.
At the moment this contrast is particularly clear in Israel, because on the one hand we are in a war that was triggered by a terrible massacre and in which our holy soldiers die almost every day. On the other hand, we are in the Jewish month of Adar, in which the wise men urged us to be especially full of joy. This joy culminates on Purim, which is celebrated on Sunday.
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Thursday, March 21, 2024
Jewish visitors shocked PLO flag hung at gravesite of Mordechai and Esther
Iran's Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Yehuda Gerami, visited the graves of the heroes from the Purim story, Mordecai and Esther, in the Iranian city of Hamdan on Thursday together with members of the local Jewish community.
The members of the Iranian Jewish community visit the grave site to pray every year on the Fast of Esther, a day believed to have special merits.
In recent months, the site has suffered attacks, including a fire, by protesters who were enraged that the authorities protect the site. The rabbi and his entourage were surprised to see a Palestinian flag flying outside the gravesite complex.
It should be noted that the local authorities protect the site and have not given in to calls by extremists to nationalize the site.
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Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Jewish film festival in Canada latest event to be canceled over ‘security concerns’
Concerts, book talks and other cultural events are increasingly being canceled because of security concerns about protests over Israel's war in Gaza.
The Playhouse Cinema in Hamilton, Ontario, about 40 miles from Toronto, became the latest venue to call off a Jewish-themed event when it announced Tuesday that the annual Hamilton Jewish Film Festival would not be held in the theater as scheduled in April.
The festival is sponsored by the local Jewish federation. "After receiving numerous security and safety related emails, phone calls, and social media messages, the Playhouse Cinema reached a difficult decision to postpone the Hamilton Jewish Federation's venue rental," the theater said on X. Owners of the theater did not respond to emailed requests for comment but said online that the theater's mission is "to be a welcome home to a variety of cultural groups."
The federation said in a statement it was "outraged" that the event was canceled due to a "small number of complaints and threatening emails objecting to the fact that Israeli films are included in this year's line-up." The festival program included a thriller about Holocaust denial, The Man in the Basement, and The Boy, about life on the Israel-Gaza border, made by an Israeli filmmaker who was murdered in Hamas' attacks in Israel on Oct. 7. The federation promised to stage the festival later this year in its own newly renovated facility.
The federation said complaints received by the theater included "claims by a few individuals that any film produced in Israel is a form of 'Zionist propaganda.'" Canceling the festival in response to such charges, the federation said, is "prioritizing the will of antisemites over an apolitical cultural festival that stands for artistic excellence and integrity."
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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Over 450 Jewish Hollywood creatives denounce Jonathan Glazer’s ‘Zone of Interest’ Oscars speech in open letter
More than 450 Jewish creatives and professionals in Hollywood are denouncing "Zone of Interest" director Jonathan Glazer's speech from the 2024 Oscars.
In his speech, Glazer, 58, drew parallels between Nazi Germany and the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
"We refute our Jewishness being hijacked for the purpose of drawing a moral equivalence between a Nazi regime that sought to exterminate a race of people, and an Israeli nation that seeks to avert its own extermination," the open letter, which was obtained by The Post, read.
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Monday, March 18, 2024
So far, 56% of reported hate crimes in 2024 have targeted Jewish people, Toronto police say
Toronto has seen a 93 per cent increase in the number of reported hate crimes since the Israel-Hamas war began compared to the same time period a year earlier, the city's police chief says.
Chief Myron Demkiw told the Toronto Police Services Board on Monday that there have been 989 calls for service related to hate crimes in the 163 days since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a surprised attack on Israel that subsequently saw Israel invade Gaza.
Over that period, Demkiw said officers have responded to an average of about 157 hate crime-related calls every month.
Police have confirmed 203 hate crimes in that timeframe, resulting in 69 arrests and 173 charges, most commonly for mischief, uttering threats and assault, he said.
"The impact of geopolitical unrest abroad continues to affect people worldwide, including in Canada and right here in Toronto," Demkiw said.
While December and January saw a relative lull in hate-related calls, incidents ballooned in February, according to Demkiw. That month saw a 67 per cent jump over January, he explained.
A total of 84 hate crimes have been reported in 2024 thus far, with 56 per cent of those classified as antisemitic in nature, Demkiw said. February saw the highest number of reported antisemitic hate crimes of any month in the last three years, he told the board.
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Friday, March 15, 2024
'It's got much worse': Jewish people in Belgium say friends have packed bags ready to flee amid spike in antisemitism
A Holocaust survivor in Belgium says she knows Jewish people who have packed their bags ready to flee amid a spike in antisemitism.
Regina Sluszny, 84, from Antwerp, says incidents have rocketed since the outbreak of the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Authorities in the city, which has the largest Hasidic Jewish population in Europe, say they received 90 reports of antisemitism in the first six weeks following the 7 October Hamas attacks last year.
"In Antwerp, the Jews are much more visible with these black coats and big hats, and bunches of boys go by, and they just try to throw the hat on the floor, or when they drive with the bicycle, they try to push them from the bicycle," Ms Sluszny says.
"We really feel it - that it's much, much worse than it was before."
Ms Sluszny says some people are so scared, they've packed bags in case they have to flee.
"People who had family who didn't come back from Auschwitz, they are very scared. They think it's going to start again."
Rabbi Chaim Parnas supports 700 families at his synagogue in Antwerp - but in the last five months he says life in the Jewish community has changed.
"Since 7 October, there is a heightened police presence in this whole neighbourhood," he says.
"It's something you feel as you walk around the streets. You actually see the police much more often."
Belgium, like much of Europe, has seen a spike in antisemitism linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict, leaving many Jews feeling afraid.
The rabbi says some people have asked if they can remove the traditional mezuzah from their doors so that people walking past can't identify Jewish homes.
He understands the fear. He says slurs and intimidation are increasingly common.
"I don't know why I have to be afraid to walk down the university corridor and someone's going to shout 'Dirty Jew'.
"But for some reason that's legitimate as long as I'm Jewish. I became part of the conflict, and I am a target for those who are anti-Israel," he says.
The attacks aren't just verbal, dozens of Jewish graves were desecrated in Charleroi cemetery in southern Belgium in November.
Beatings, assaults and Holocaust denial have also been reported, according to human rights group the Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism (UNIA).
One teenager, Daniel, says he was chased because he is Jewish.
"A couple of months ago, I went out with a friend, and we were chased and kids were screaming, 'You want to die? We'll kill you'," he says.
The teenager says kids from different backgrounds used to happily hang out together in the park, but now Jewish children risk being attacked.
He's been threatened and chased with a razor.
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Thursday, March 14, 2024
Sarasota man sentenced for threatening Jewish organizations in New York
A Sarasota man was sentenced in Federal Court for threatening Jewish Organizations in New York. Deep Alpesh Kumar Patel (21, Sarasota) was sentenced to six months in federal prison for transmitting an interstate threat to injure.
Patel pleaded guilty on December 15, 2023.
According to the plea agreement, on October 21, 2023, Patel left a threatening voicemail at a Jewish organization in New York City identifying himself by name and screaming, among other expletives, "If I had a chance, I would kill every single one of you Israelis. Every single one of you! Cause mass genocide of every single Israeli." Patel also admitted that he had called a synagogue in Temple Terrace, Florida the same day, and left a voicemail threatening voicemail laced with expletives. As part of a hate crimes penalty enhancement, Patel agreed that he intentionally selected Jewish and/or Israeli individuals as the objects of his threat based on their actual or perceived race, religion, national origin, or ethnicity.
"No one should live under the threat of violence or intimidation because of their religion, race, ethnicity or beliefs," stated U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Roger Handberg. "We will continue working with our law enforcement partners at every level to investigate and prosecute those who threaten harm to any citizen as we stand united against hate."
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Sarasota Police Department.
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Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Three Breslov hasidim named as victims of fatal accident
Three teenagers from the "Shuvu Banim" community of Breslov hasidim were killed Wednesday morning in a deadly traffic accident on Route 60, near the town of Givat Assaf in the Binyamin Region.
The three were trapped in the vehicle. Rescue teams that arrived at the scene extracted them from the vehicle, and they were pronounced dead at the scene.
The teens have been identified as Matityahu Bezanson, Meir Fisher, and Nachman Wozne. Fisher's parents are currently in the US, and have received notification of their son's death.
Bezanson is the grandson of Rabbi Yisrael Yitzhak Bezanson, a prominent Breslov hasid and the rabbi of the Shir Hadash congregation in Tel Aviv, where the three studied in yeshiva.
The teens were making their way home from praying at graves of righteous individuals in the area. For a reason which is yet unknown, the driver lost control of the vehicle, hit the guardrail, and the vehicle overturned in the wadi.
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Tuesday, March 12, 2024
NYPD: Investigation ‘Ongoing’ in Alleged Assault of Jewish Girl in Brooklyn
Surveillance camera footage that circulated on social media appeared to capture an antisemitic attack on March 8 in Brooklyn, N.Y.
A spokesperson for the New York City Police Department told JNS that a 15-year-old girl "states she was waiting for the bus when an unknown suspect struck the victim in the left ear with a closed fist, causing pain and swelling."
"The suspect fled on foot," the police spokesperson added. "There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing."
Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, who works in communications for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, shared video footage from the Crown Heights Shomrim community watch group on social media and wrote that the girl is Jewish.
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Friday, March 08, 2024
Adviser warns London a 'no-go zone for Jews every weekend'
Robin Simcox also urged ministers to "be willing to accept higher legal risk" when tackling extremism.
Rishi Sunak's spokesman said the PM took concerns of extremism "extremely seriously" and noted a rise in both antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred.
March organisers said Jewish people did not need to be scared of the events.
Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Simcox said Mr Sunak had been right to point to an increase in extremist disruption.
He said he now needed the "policies to meet the scale of the challenge".
He also said the government already had "more power to tackle extremism than it sometimes thinks".
"We have not betrayed democracy if extremists are no longer able to operate television channels," he said.
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Thursday, March 07, 2024
Terrified Jewish students flee campus after abuse from 100-strong mob
Terrified Jewish students are fleeing Exeter University campus after being surrounded and abused by a mob of 100 students while manning an Israel stall.
The Jewish students said they were were left feeling "broken" by the experience, during which one members of the crowd shouted that they had "killed" her brother.
Third-year International Relations student, Rojin-Sena Cantay, who helped put the information stall together in the university forum on Wednesday, said: "It was our first stall since October 7, we wanted to put the other side to students who have been protesting for Palestine every week.
"Instead, we were harassed and abused.
"Fruit squash was aimed at the Israeli flag on the stall, and it went all over my coat. It was red Robinson's squash, I think they wanted to make it look like the flag had blood on it, but it didn't work, it went all over us instead."
Shortly after the stall went up between 2 and 3.30 pm a crowd started gathering to harass the Jewish students.
"Pictures were being taken that would have been sent all over student WhatsApp groups," Cantay alleged, and more and more anti-Israel students arrived to surround the stall.
The group felt trapped, "we didn't know if we could leave, we were surrounded".
On the table were several fliers that provided information on the conflict, but Cantay said that students "ripped them up and threw them in our face."
Cantay went on, "They referred to us as 'you' while referring to the actions of Israel, blaming us for the actions of a state thousands of miles away.
"I had a woman come into my face and scream that I killed her brother. I told her, 'I haven't killed your brother, Hamas killed your brother'."
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Wednesday, March 06, 2024
Ashdod rabbi orders religious certification of wigs
The rabbi of the Gur hasidic community in Ashdod, Rabbi Shmuel David Gross, has stated that members of the community must be careful not to purchase wigs originating from idol worship.
For that reason, the rabbi also instructed his community to buy wigs only from manufacturers certified by a specific religious inspection authority which he claims ensures that the wigs in question are free from any such concerns.
The announcement caused considerable consternation in the city, as the rabbi had until now refrained from issuing a ruling on this matter. Similar controversy has occurred in previous years regarding rulings on wigs, but the rabbi had refrained from issuing such instructions at the time.
Rabbi Gross' retinue has explained that he has now conducted a new review of the matter, leading to his decision.
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Tuesday, March 05, 2024
Bill providing security funding to Jewish day schools, preschools heads to governor’s desk
A bill that would provide recurring security funding to full time Jewish day schools and preschools passed through the Senate floor and will now head to the governor's desk.
Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, carried HB 1109, which passed through the Senate Tuesday with a 39-0 vote. Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, sponsored the Senate version of the bill.
The bill would require the Florida Department of Education to establish a program to provide security funding to the Jewish day schools.
Gruters said that since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the Jewish community institutions nationwide have reported an increase of 290% related incidents since last year.
He said the incidents include several Florida Jewish day schools who have received swatting, or threatening, emails and phone calls.
The senator pointed to Jewish day schools' enrollment increase being up 50% over the past five years as the numbers of schools have doubled.
He said between the increasing enrollment and the "rising antisemitism," security costs have risen on average 47%.
Florida lawmakers ended a November special session where multiple pieces of legislation related to Israel became law. One new law bolstered funding for security at institutions such as Jewish day schools.
Gruters said the bill allows that process of recurring funding for Jewish day schools to continue at each regular legislative session, "if deemed necessary" through the General Appropriations Act process.
The bill is now headed to the governor's desk for final approval.
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Monday, March 04, 2024
Teen suspect in stabbing of Jewish man in Zurich expressed solidarity with Islamic State group
Swiss police say the 15-year-old suspect in the stabbing of an Orthodox Jewish man in Zurich over the weekend had appeared in a video expressing solidarity with the banned Islamic State group, and called himself a "soldier" in its self-described caliphate.
Zurich cantonal police security chief Mario Fehr told reporters Monday that authorities were investigating whether the teen, who was not identified, had acted alone or as part of a group. Officials said the suspect was a Swiss national.
"He refers to the IS (Islamic State), describes himself as a soldier of the caliphate," Fehr said of the video that authorities had authenticated. He denounced the stabbing Saturday as a "terrorist" and "antisemitic" attack. The suspect was arrested at the scene.
In one video, the suspect referred to the attack in Arabic and called for a "battle against the Jews," Fehr said.
Authorities said the 50-year-old victim was critically injured but his life was no longer in danger. Swiss police have stepped up security around certain sites with a Jewish connection as a precaution.
Switzerland was largely spared the extremist attacks across Western Europe and beyond in the mid-2010s, when the Islamic State group held large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria and was drawing radical fighters and others to join its self-described caliphate.
Jewish leaders, rights groups, authorities and others in Switzerland and beyond have decried a surge of antisemitism since the deadly Oct. 7 attacks and hostage-takings by Palestinian militants in Israel.
In response, the Israeli government has led a ferocious military campaign in Gaza, where the attacks were launched, that has killed at least 30,000 people, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
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Friday, March 01, 2024
Amid War in Israel, NYC hosts Memorial to Mark 30 Years Since Antisemitic “Brooklyn Bridge Shooting” Terror Attack
A memorial event marking the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Brooklyn Bridge terror attack will take place on Friday, March 1st at 12 PM. The memorial ceremony will honor the memory of Ari Halberstam, a 16 year old hasidic Yeshiva student, who was murdered on the Brooklyn Bridge by an Islamic terrorist in the attack.
On March 1, 1994, a van carrying 15 Hasidic Jewish teenagers was ruthlessly gunned down by an Islamic terrorist on the Brooklyn Bridge, in one of New York City's worst pre-9/11 terror incidents. Among the victims, and the sole fatality, was 16-year-old Ari Halberstam, whose mother Devorah became one of the nation's leading anti-terror activists and educators.
The memorial ceremony will feature NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Devorah Halberstam, Ari's mother, who has become a counter terrorism expert. Ms. Halberstam campaigned to have the investigation of her son's murder classified as a terrorist incident, not a road rage incident as initially classified, by the Department of Justice and FBI.
Recognizing that at the time that law enforcement did not understand the threat and nature of terrorism, in 2001 Ms. Halberstam helped author New York State's first laws to counter terrorism. Through her tireless advocacy efforts, Ms. Halberstam has played a pivotal role in promoting antiterrorism legislation to prevent future tragedies. The ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge, where Friday's event will be held, was renamed the Ari Halberstam Memorial Ramp in her son's memory.
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