Manhattan

2025-06-11

كتبت- سهر عبد الرحيم: انتقلت الاحتجاجات ضد سياسات إدارة الهجرة والجمارك الأمريكية (ICE)، من مدينة لوس أنجلوس بولاية كاليفورنيا، إلى مدن أخرى في جميع أنحاء الولايات المتحدة - بعضها اتسع نطاقه إلى احتجاجات ضد إدارة الرئيس دونالد ترامب. وانتشرت المظاهرات في 19 ولاية أمريكية على الأقل و 35 مدينة منذ يوم الجمعة الماضي، وتصاعدت حدتها يومي الاثنين والثلاثاء، وفق ما أوردته صحيفة "الإندبندنت" البريطانية. Protests against ICE spread beyond Los Angeles, with thousands rallying in New York, clashes erupting in Chicago, and similar demonstrations held in a Hispanic suburb near Atlanta.Follow: نيويورك شهدت مدينة مانهاتن حشود كبيرة، أمس الثلاثاء، في مظاهرات ضد سياسات وكالة الهجرة الأمريكية وبدأت الاحتجاجات بشكل سلمي، لكن الأمور تصاعدت في المساء، مع اندلاع اشتباكات بين الشرطة والمتظاهرين الذين تجمعوا بالقرب من مبنى مكتب إدارة الهجرة والجمارك في نيويورك. وأظهرت مقاطع فيديو تم تداولها على مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي، تدافعًا واشتباكات بين المتظاهرين والشرطة، فيما ألقى البعض زجاجات مياه على رجال الأمن، وفق ما نقلته شبكة CNN. NYPD’s strategic response group declares anti-ICE protesters blocking the road outside of immigration courts in lower Manhattan an unlawful assembly and moves in to arrest masked far leftist agitators شيكاغو بدأت الاحتجاجات في مدينة شيكاغو عندما تجمع العشرات من المتظاهرين في شارع "إيست آدامز" أمام محكمة الهجرة، ثم انضم العديد منهم إلى آخرين في ساحة "فيدرال بلازا" في وقت لاحق من اليوم. واشتبك المتظاهرون مع الشرطة في المدينة الثلاثاء، إذ أظهرت مقاطع فيديو مواجهات متوترة بين الشرطة وحشد من الناس وسط هتافات غاضبة ضد حملات الترحيل. ووفق قناة WBBM التابعة لشبكة CNN، اقتحمت سيارةً الحشد، ودهست بعض المتظاهرين، من بينهم راكب دراجة، قبل أن تلوذ بالفرار. ولم تُعرف بعد دوافع السائق أو ما إذا تم توقيفه. Arrests are being made in Chicago! We aren't even an hour into the protest! ومن المتوقع أن يشارك الآلاف في احتجاجات "لا للملوك" في شيكاغو يوم السبت المقبل، وهي مظاهرة مناهضة للرئيس ترامب مقررة في نفس اليوم الذي سيقيم فيه عرضًا عسكريًا في العاصمة واشنطن بمناسبة عيد ميلاده، وفق شبكة "سي بي إس نيوز". تكساس اندلعت احتجاجات في عدة مدن بولاية تكساس الأمريكية، إذ أعلنت الشرطة في العاصمة أوستن أن أحد التجمعات التي تم تنظيمها أول أمس الاثنين تعتبر "غير قانونية"، ولجأت إلى استخدام الغاز المسيل للدموع واعتقلت 13 شخصًا. وقبل مظاهرات أوستن بيوم، تجمع المئات في مدينة سان أنطونيو أمام مبنى البلدية يوم الأحد في احتجاج سلمي. ولكن قبل المزيد من الاحتجاجات المخطط لها هذا الأسبوع، أعلن الحاكم جريج أبوت، أنه سينشر الحرس الوطني في تكساس في عدة مواقع في الولاية. سان فرانسيسكو أُغلقت محكمتان للهجرة في منطقة خليج سان فرانسيسكو، بعد ظهر الثلاثاء، بسبب الاحتجاجات التي قام بها عشرات الأشخاص في المنطقة، وفقًا لما قاله مصدر مطلع على الوضع لـ CNN. وخلال الاحتجاجات، ردد المتظاهرون هتافات "لا لإدارة الهجرة والجمارك الأمريكية، لا للفاشية الأمريكية". وعلى إثر ذلك، تم تنفيذ عدة اعتقالات، وفقًا لوكالة "أسوشيتد برس"، لكن قالت شرطة المدينة إنها لم تنفذ أي اعتقالات في محيط الموقع. Anti-ICE protest happening now in San Francisco. “No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA.” دنفر تجمع متظاهرون مناهضون لوكالة الهجرة والجمارك في مسيرات في الشوارع الرئيسية بمدينة دنفر، وفي المقابل، أغلقت شرطة المدينة عدة الشوارع. ونفى المتحدث باسم شرطة دنفر لـCNN استخدام قنابل الغاز المسيل للدموع، خلافًا لما أوردته بعض التقارير. Hundreds of anti-ICE protesters making their way through downtown Denver. Riot police, SWAT, & other authorites responded to break up a demonstration. A police drone gives a warning saying all reasonable force will be utilized to deny highway access.More on مدن أخرى: كما شهدت مدن أخرى احتجاجات واسعة منها: سانتا آنا، ولاس فيجاس، وأتلانتا، وفيلادلفيا، وميلووكي، وسياتل، والعاصمة واشنطن. ومساء يوم الجمعة الماضي، شهدت مدينة لوس أنجلوس في ولاية كاليفورنيا احتجاجات واسعة، رفضًا لعمليات الترحيل القسري التي تنفذها السلطات بحق المهاجرين، وذلك بعد أن نفذ ضباط من وكالة إنفاذ قوانين الهجرة والجمارك عمليات في المدينة واعتقلوا ما لا يقل عن 44 شخصًا بتهمة ارتكاب مخالفات لقوانين الهجرة. ومن جانبه، أعلن الرئيس الأمريكي دونالد ترامب، أنه سينشر ما يصل إلى 700 جندي من سلاح مشاة البحرية الأمريكية "المارينز" في لوس أنجلوس، وذلك بعد أن أصدر أمر بنشر 2000 عنصر من قوات الحرس الوطني لمواجهة الاحتجاجات. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2025-02-20

وصف البيت الأبيض الرئيس الأمريكي دونالد ترامب بـ«الملك» بعد أحد القرارات الداخلية التي اتخذها عقب شهر واحد من بداية ولايته الثانية. "CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!" –President Donald J. Trump وذكرت وسائل إعلام أمريكية أن الحساب الرسمي للبيت الأبيض على موقع التغريدات القصيرة «إكس»، نشر صورة «معدلة» عبر الكمبيوتر يظهر فيها ترامب مرتديا تاجا ملكيا، يشبه الإطار غلاف مجلة «تايم» الشهيرة، فيما شبه ترامب نفسه بـ «الملك» في منشور له على منصته الخاصة «تروث سوشيال» بعد قراره بإلغاء تعريفة مرورية تتعلق بالسائقين في مدينة نيويورك وقت الذروة وهو الأمر الذي لاقى استحسانا كبيرا داخل البلاد. وكتب ترامب منشوره على صفحته بعد رسالة صادرة عن وزير النقل، شون دافي، الأربعاء، إلى حاكمة نيويورك، كاثي هوشول، يعلن الاتفاق بشأن التعريفة المرورية في حي مانهاتن الشهير:«لقد انتهى نظام تسعير الازدحام، تم إنقاذ مانهاتن، وكل نيويورك، عاش الملك»، وبعدها دخل البيت الأبيض على الخط ناشرا صورة ترامب كخلفية لمجلة «التايم» مرتديا تاجا ذهبيا وفي الخلف . وتولى الرئيس ترامب مقاليد الحكم في 19 يناير الماضي، ويسعى في الولاية الثانية له على أن يجعل أمريكا عظيمة مرة أخرى متخذا شعار «أمريكا أولا» واحتواء الصعود الصيني وتحقيق أكبر مكسب عبر تعزيز التعريفات الجمركية المختلفة وتقليل نفقات مختلف المؤسسات والوزارات الأمريكية مع العمل على زيادة كفاءة المؤسسات الحكومية. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-05-09

(New York Jewish Week) — A New York rabbi and real estate developer was on Tuesday and charged with assaulting pro-Palestinian protesters. Reuven Kahane, 57, was charged with in the 2nd degree, an NYPD spokesperson told the New York Jewish Week.  Two demonstrators were also arrested in the incident. Maryellen Novak, 55, was charged with criminal mischief and unlawful assembly, and John Rozendaal, 63, with criminal mischief. The altercation is the latest fallout from the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University. About 25 members of a campus pro-Palestinian alliance had gathered at the corner of Park Ave. and 72nd St. on the Upper East Side Tuesday morning to picket a Columbia trustee’s residence. The protest group, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, was a leader of the encampment.Pro-Palestinian demonstrators attend a protest near the Met Gala, an annual fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute with this year's theme 'Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion' in New York City, New York, U.S., May 6, 2024. (credit: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters) According to , Kahane was in his vehicle near the scene, and as demonstrators were leaving, two people began arguing with Kahane and damaged his vehicle. Rozendaal was crossing a street when he “started banging on the front” of the vehicle, a police spokesperson said. Police said Kahane “tapped” one of the demonstrators, who was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. All three arrested individuals are residents of Manhattan. Kahane is a real estate investor and Orthodox rabbi. He is a relative of Meir Kahane, an extremist rabbi from New York who led the Jewish Defense League and was later barred from the Israeli Knesset for racism. Meir Kahane was assassinated in New York in 1990. Reuven Kahane did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but his name and age match those of an individual quoted as Meir Kahane’s cousin in a 1990 article in the Los Angeles Times. His grandfather, Levi Yitzchak Kahane, was Meir Kahane’s uncle. Kahane pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, was released and is set to appear in court again in June, court records showed. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-05-08

(JTA) — I grew up in a small Syrian enclave in Brooklyn in the 1960s. It was a wonderful community with many old-world traditions. I missed it when I grew up and moved to Manhattan. In the days before electronic marketing, I received tons of unsolicited mail. I also received mail that most people did not: donation requests from American Palestinian groups. If you were going through a phone book, you would definitely identify my last name as of Arabic origin and put me on the list. Like many Jews who had centuries-long roots in Arabic countries such as my family had also long ago adopted Arabic family names — often by the chosen trade. My last name “Sayegh” means “jewel maker” in Arabic and is spelled to reflect that guttural “gh” sound that even I cannot pronounce correctly.  So, it’s not totally surprising that Palestinian groups thought I was one of them. Over the past years, I have often been frustrated when I find people do not understand the trauma of the 700,000 Jews from all over the who were violently expelled from their countries in 1948 and how it resonates today.  Pro-Palestinian activists who call out Israel as a “European settler colonial project” omit a critical part of the story that calls into question their claim. They ignore the Mizrahi majority in Israel who are descendants of Jews expelled from Arab lands when Israel was declared a state. Group of young Iraqi Jews who fled to Mandatory Palestine following the 1941 Farhud pogrom in Baghdad. (credit: Moshe Baruch/Wikimedia Commons) These “Arab Jews” — an often-contested term that I think is nonetheless fitting — experienced tremendous loss of life, property, family wealth and history that went back hundreds and sometimes thousands of years, and these experiences need to be acknowledged. By including it in the narrative of the current Israeli/Palestinian conflict, it will help balance the conversation by taking into account the actual historical events of 1948 and the impact on all the involved parties. My family had a long history in Syria before my grandparents came to America in the early 1900s. My grandfather was a true Damascene who was ready for an adventure and left his very large family to see what America was all about. My grandmother’s family moved from Aleppo to Palestine where she was born and grew up. Faced by the extreme poverty in Jerusalem, her family decided to follow others to America. My grandparents met in Marseilles waiting for the boat that would take them to America. Even though I have belonged to Jewish communities most of my adult life, my Syrian Jewish heritage continues to define me. It’s in the foods I like, the nasal intonation of the prayers that I often miss and in customs such as naming children after living relatives (a no-no among most Ashkenazim). I was blessed to have spent 30 years of my life knowing my grandmother Lily, aka Leah, after whom I am named. And as a “Syrian Jew,” I know what it means to belong to a minority of a minority in America. The Ashkenazi majority, with origins in Eastern Europe, defines Jewish culture in America.  Many American Jews with roots in Yiddish-speaking lands do not fully acknowledge that Jews come from every corner of the world — Asia, Africa, the Middle East and parts of the Caucasus — all of whom have different languages and customs. Nor do they seem to be fully aware of the experience of Jews in Arabic countries in and after 1948. When I moved to Israel in 1983, I finally met people who knew how to pronounce my last name and understood my Jewish cultural background. I also met my Great Uncle Daniel, who made it to Israel by foot after fleeing the extreme violence in Syria in 1948, and his large family. As a descendant of Syrian Jews, I propose that now is the time to highlight these stories so they can take a prominent place in the conversation on the Middle East by all Americans — including all American Jews. What my family and hundreds of thousands of other Arabic Jews suffered and lost should not be forgotten, or eclipsed by the well-publicized plight of Palestinians. With the founding of the State of Israel, many Arabic Jews  were expelled from their countries or were exposed to such horrific violence they had no choice but to leave. Many went to Israel. Their descendants now represent over 50% of the population of Israel. The legacy of Arabic Jews might also give hope to all sides in a region where hope is in short supply.  There is no side in any war that is unscathed and unimpacted. For Palestinians, this history might allow them to point to people who rebuilt meaningful new lives even after experiencing traumatic events.  By bringing to the forefront the existence and truth of this often overlooked narrative, we can create a better future for all based on the realities of our histories. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-05-08

13 U.S. federal judges have declared their intention to boycott Columbia University graduates due to the institution's handling of pro-Palestinian protests.  The judges, appointed during the Trump administration, sent a letter to University President Minouche Shevek and Columbia Law School Dean Jillian Lester, labeling the Manhattan campus as "ground zero for student unrest, anti-Semitism, and hatred toward diverse viewpoints on campuses across the country." Expressing their loss of confidence in Columbia as an institution of higher education, the judges accused the university of fostering intolerance and thereby disqualifying itself from preparing the nation's future leaders. They further outlined a series of demands, including recommendations for "serious consequences" for students and faculty involved in campus unrest. This post can't be displayed because social networks cookies have been deactivated. You can activate them by clicking manage preferences. The controversy arises amid Columbia University's emergence as a focal point for protests against the conflict in Gaza, a movement that has gained momentum across numerous campuses in the United States.  Last week, tensions reached a boiling point as the New York Police were called in at the university's request to dismantle a protest tent erected by demonstrators on campus grounds, resulting in hundreds of arrests. Additionally, police intervened to remove protesters who had occupied a building on campus. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-05-06

A group of 13 conservative US federal judges said on Monday that they would not hire law students or undergraduates from in response to its handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The judges, all appointees of former US President Donald Trump, called the Manhattan campus an “incubator of bigotry” in a Monday letter to President Minouche Shafik and Law Dean Gillian Lester. "Both professors and administrators are on the front lines of the campus disruptions, encouraging the virulent spread of antisemitism and bigotry," the letter said. Spokespeople for and Columbia Law School did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Columbia on Monday canceled its main graduation ceremony due to the ongoing protests. Federal judges hire law grads annually for year-long clerkships that can lead to prestigious and high-paying legal jobs. The boycott will apply to students who enter Columbia this fall, the judges wrote. An NYPD law enforcement official stands guard after establishing a closed perimeter on campus around student protesters at Columbia University during a comprehensive operation to clear campus of protesters in support of Palestinians (credit: REUTERS/CAITLIN OCHS/FILE PHOTO) The letter called for “serious consequences” for students and faculty who participated in campus disruptions and for the enforcement of free speech rules. Protests against the war in Gaza have spread to dozens of US universities. Demonstrators maintained an encampment on Columbia’s main campus for weeks before some temporarily occupied a campus building last week. New York City police cleared out the building and arrested more than 100 people. The judges who signed Monday's letter were all appointed by Trump, who has praised the New York Police Department's response to the protesters, calling them "raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers." Two-thirds of the signatories are based in Texas, including Matthew Kacsmaryk, who gained national attention last year by suspending approval of the abortion pill mifepristone in a case now before the US Supreme Court. Two of the lead signers, US Circuit Judges James Ho of the 5th Circuit and Elizabeth Branch of the 11th Circuit, had previously announced boycotts of clerks from Yale and Stanford, citing disruptions of conservative speakers on campus. The 13 judges boycotting Columbia represent a small slice of the nation's nearly 900 federal judges.   ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-05-06

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump accused Democratic rival President Joe Biden of running a "Gestapo administration" in a private address to donors in which he also attacked prosecutors involved in his according to a recording heard by US media outlets. Trump, whose own rhetoric has drawn accusations of fascist tendencies from civil rights groups and other critics, made the comparison with the Nazi police in Germany's World War Two regime at a donor retreat Saturday night at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. "These people are running a Gestapo administration," Trump said, according to an audio recording heard by the New York Times and the Washington Post. "And it's the only thing they have. And it's the only way they're going to win, in their opinion, and it's actually killing them. But it doesn't bother me." The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the reported remarks. In a statement, White House spokesman Andrew Bates sought to contrast Biden's conduct in office with Trump's latest remark, accusing the former president of echoing "lunching with neo-Nazis and fanning debunked conspiracy theories that have cost brave police officers their lives."Former US President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom at Manhattan criminal court in New York, US, on Friday, May 3, 2024. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged scheme to silence claims of extramarital sexual encounters during his 2016 presidential campai (credit: JEENAH MOON/POOL VIA REUTERS) "President Biden is bringing the American people together around our shared democratic values and the rule of law - an approach that has delivered the biggest violent crime reduction in 50 years," said Bates. Trump has made a series of inflammatory and racist statements on the campaign trail, using violent imagery to lambaste immigrants and opponents. He has warned of possible violence if he doesn't win the 2024 election and has compared immigrants to animals. In November, Biden attacked Trump for using the word "vermin" to refer to his political enemies, saying it echoed the language of Nazi Germany. Also last year, Trump said immigrants who entered the country illegally were "poisoning the blood of our country." Some historians say such comments mirror that of autocrats who have sought to dehumanize their foes. The Trump campaign has previously rejected comparisons to Nazis, Adolf Hitler and Italy's Benito Mussolini. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs denounced the Nazi comparison on Sunday. "It's always wrong, offensive, and despicable to make comparisons like this — even more so when taken alongside the former president's long history of normalizing antisemitism," said Amy Spitalnick, chief executive of the public policy group. It was "especially heinous to use Nazi comparisons in the service of a bigoted, authoritarian agenda," she said. The Anti-Defamation League added, "There's for a political candidate to draw false comparisons to Nazi Germany." ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-05-06

(New York Jewish Week) - Authorities are investigating a series of bomb threats at New York City synagogues and cultural institutions on Saturday. At least four synagogues and one museum received the emailed threats, which were deemed not credible by the . The Upper West Side’s Reform Congregation Rodeph Sholom was targeted, along with the LGBTQ-oriented Congregation Beit Simchat Torah on West 30th Street, Chabad of Midtown on Fifth Avenue and Brooklyn Heights Synagogue on Remsen Street. Police told CBS News that the threatened locations “all received emails stating that explosives were present in the buildings or nearby.” At least one of the ; in a message posted to its Facebook page, Congregation Rodeph Shalom wrote: “The NYPD 20th Precinct asked us to evacuate the building as a precaution. Following a thorough search, the building was deemed clear. We are grateful for the response from the NYPD, who, in partnership with our professional security team, completed a thorough investigation of the situation.” CBS News also reports that that the Brooklyn Museum received an email threatening to blow up the nearby Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum subway station. The MTA said an “unusual package” was found outside the station, but subway service was not affected. On Twitter, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine called the threats “a clear effort to sow fear in the Jewish community,” as well as a hate crime that’s “part of a growing trend of ‘swatting’ incidents .” The ''Neighbors'' ad depicts a church welcoming in a nearby synagogue after a bar mitzvah service was interrupted by a bomb threat. (credit: screenshot) Gov. Kathy Hocul also took to Twitter about the incidents, saying that New York “will not tolerate individuals sowing fear & antisemitism,” and “those responsible must be held accountable for their despicable actions.” We are actively monitoring a number of bomb threats at synagogues in New York. Threats have been determined not to be credible, but we will not tolerate individuals sowing fear & antisemitism. Those responsible must be held accountable for their despicable actions. Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, begins Sunday evening. “This is not isolated from the bigger, hostile climate right now against Jewish people,” Treyger, who is the grandson of Holocaust survivors, added. Antisemitic incidents across NYC have spiked dramatically since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7, 2023. According to the most recent figures released by the NYPD, since the start of October through March 2024, 253 antisemitic incidents have been reported to police - an increase of 85 % over the 137 anti-Jewish crimes reported during the same period last year. There were 43 antisemitic incidents in the five boroughs reported to police last month. The NYPD are continuing to investigate Saturday’s false threats. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-05-06

(JTA) - Although once deployed by the alt-right as a disparaging term for the unenlightened, “normie” has come to suggest a sort of consensual political everyperson. Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo, for example, has called the “apotheosis of Normie-dom” - that is, a “median Democrat” who is “pretty much where the center of gravity of his party is.” Pollster Natalie Jackson describes “normie” conservatives as classic Reagan Republicans who don’t buy into ’s election denial. It’s the rare political movement that doesn’t consider itself or aspire to be the norm. But “normie” has come to mean a moderate member of a party or movement that is being yanked hard to the left or right.  On Thursday, a panel discussion on Israel held in the heart of Manhattan’s liberal Jewish Upper West Side had what Marshall calls “big normie energy.” And by the time it ended with a rebuke by the youngest panelist, you could almost sense that a generation that once defined mainstream Jewish liberalism was getting a glimpse of a future without them.  “What’s Left for Progressive Jews” was sponsored by Minyan M’at, a lay-led egalitarian congregation that tends to attract Jewish communal Brahmins: academics, journalists, Jewish professionals, rabbis without pulpits.  The speakers included three women on the pro-Israel left: Nancy Kaufman, former CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women and current board chair of the ; Nomi Colton-Max, executive board chair of Ameinu, the progressive Zionist movement; and Ruth Messinger, the former Manhattan borough president and former CEO of American Jewish World Service. Jerusalem Marathon participants move along the race course, waving a signed Israel flag, March 8, 2024 (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST) All three had done time in the trenches when liberal, pro-peace Zionists were considered suspect by parts of the Jewish mainstream, and to this day they remain to the left of the majority of Israelis.  But the ground has shifted since October 7. The pro-Palestinian demonstrators tend to reject Zionists of all stripes. That leaves pro-Israel progressives in a lonely place: deeply critical of Israel’s right-wing government, but also appalled by a protest movement that challenges the very legitimacy of Israel, and hesitant to join a Jewish right that wants to clamp down on free speech and attack higher education. “I think most of the progressive Jewish world we are talking about probably fits somewhere in the middle of these extremes,” said Colton-Max. “As a parent of college kids, what terrifies me is that there is no safe space for them at all.”  When the panel’s moderator, the longtime Jewish journalist Larry Cohler-Esses, asked for their reactions to the student protests - including the upheavals at Columbia University just a few blocks away - Kaufman invoked her own activist bona fides.  “I’m a child of the ’60s. I went to college in those wonderful years between 1968 and 1972,” she said. “I took over buildings and protested against ROTC and we closed down Brandeis University in 1970. So I believe in protests. In those days we felt we had a righteous cause, which was the Vietnam War. But we weren’t protesting people. So I think we need to dig into this deeper and I would say that anti-Zionism doesn’t equal antisemitism except when it does.” Kaufman’s group, New York Jewish Agenda, has been trying hard since October 7 to articulate the normie progressive Zionist position on Israel: the return of the hostages, an end to the fighting, humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and, after the war, a push for shared society and a two-state solution. “We need to support democratic Israel and support our friends and families in Israel, the majority of which are asking for elections and asking for new leadership,” Kaufman said at Thursday’s event. “And I think the sooner the better.” That last line earned strong applause from an audience of people who appeared to have largely come of age, like Kaufman, in the 1960s and ’70s. (Messinger is 83; Colton-Max is 68.) That made the fourth panelist, Arielle Angel, an outlier in more ways than one. She is a millennial, and she is editor in chief of Jewish Currents. The recently revived leftist magazine is deeply critical of Israel and Zionism and strongly supportive of the student protests. A recent article disparaged normie pro-Israel Democratic moderates who think replacing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will bring an end to “Israel’s ongoing genocidal assault on Gaza.” Many in the crowd murmured uncomfortably when Angel defended the protesters and criticized the police who have been breaking up their encampments. “I just want to say that only one side is promoting state violence,” she said. “Only one side is bringing the whole weight of the NYPD and the administration down on them.” Angel also suggested that most of the protesters do not consider the slogan “from the river to the sea” a call for genocide of the Israelis, as many Jewish groups insist, but a plea for justice for Palestinians living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, whatever form a resolution takes.  The older activists on the panel seemed reluctant to challenge Angel directly, although there was a heated discussion about “single-issue voters” and fears that young people sympathetic to the Palestinian cause will sit out the next election and hand the presidency to Trump. “Your job,” Messinger, a former New York City mayoral candidate, told the audience, “is to find 10 people the age of your grandchildren and figure out what you need to do, short of cash bribery, to convince them to vote” for Biden.  On this, too, Angel pushed back against the normie liberal consensus that young people should vote for Biden despite their anger over his literal embrace of Netanyahu after October 7. She noted how the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, representing the pro-Israel mainstream, has consistently alienated young voters by opposing progressive candidates who don’t toe their line on Israel. “Young people see what’s going on,” she said. “They don’t see a lot of change, and they don’t feel like Biden actually cares about the things that they care about now. I think people should vote, but I do think there’s a limit to how many times you can use this argument to ‘vote for the lesser evil.’”  Cohler-Esses, hoping to end the evening on a positive note, asked the panelists to describe concrete actions the audience might take to support a progressive pro-Israel agenda.  Kaufman and Colton-Max spoke of organizations working on shared society in Israel, interfaith coalitions in the United States and various protests to free the hostages and support democracy in Israel.  Messinger urged the audience to vote, and even to make their second homes in upstate New York their primary residences so they can vote in swing districts come November.  Angel ended by challenging one of the origin stories of the ’60s generation, noting that only a minority of Jews marched for civil rights, and that “75% of the community thought they were nuts.” And she suggested that concerns that the normie left was “betrayed” by other progressives after October 7 were misplaced.  “Instead of thinking about what other people can do for you,” she said, “start thinking about how you are showing up in a real concrete way for other people in your community.” The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media, or The Jerusalem Post. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-05-05

At least four in both Manhattan and Brooklyn received bomb threats on Saturday, but none were deemed credible by the New York Police Department, a city official said. Of , three were targeted at Congregation Rodeph Sholom on W. 83rd, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah on West 30th Street, and Chabad of Midtown on 5th Av & 43rd. A police spokesperson said there was also an emailed bomb threat to and one to a Brooklyn Heights Synagogue on Remsen Street., with no evidence of any explosive device detected. The email sent to the Brooklyn Museum included threats to blow up the Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum subway station. According to a CBS report, the MTA said an unusual package was reported outside the station, but service was not affected. Manhattan Borough President Mark D. Levine said on X the bomb threats were "a clear hate crime, and part of a growing trend of 'swatting' incidents targeting Jewish institutions." Looking south across West 68th Street at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue. (May 2011) (credit: Wikimedia Commons) "This is a clear effort to sow fear in the Jewish community. Cannot be accepted," he said. Update: Now at least 4 synagogues in Manhattan have received bomb threats. None thankfully deemed to be credible. But this is a clear effort to sow fear in the Jewish community. Cannot be accepted. The New York Post reported the threats prompted the evacuations of at least two Manhattan synagogues. All incidents continue to be investigated by the New York Police Department.  In a post to X, New York Governor Kathy Hochul stated, "We are actively monitoring a number of bomb threats at synagogues in New York. Threats have been determined not to be credible, but we will not tolerate individuals sowing fear & antisemitism. Those responsible must be held accountable for their despicable actions." We are actively monitoring a number of bomb threats at synagogues in New York. Threats have been determined not to be credible, but we will not tolerate individuals sowing fear & antisemitism. Those responsible must be held accountable for their despicable actions. In November, an inert grenade was found at Holocaust Memorial Park in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, and a false bomb threat was called into Central Synagogue in Midtown Manhattan, disrupting Shabbat services. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-05-02

An Israeli private investigator wanted by the was arrested in London over allegations that he carried out a cyberespionage campaign on behalf of an unidentified American PR firm, a London court heard on Thursday. An initial attempt to extradite Amit Forlit to the United Sates was thrown out by a judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday on a legal technicality. Amy Labram, a lawyer representing the United States, had told the court that Forlit "is accused of engaging in a hack for hire scheme." Labram said that the US allegations include that an unnamed Washington-based PR and lobbying firm paid one of Forlit's companies 16 million pounds ($20 million) "to gather intelligence relating to the Argentinian debt crisis." Forlit was arrested under an Interpol red notice at London's Heathrow Airport as he was trying to board a flight to Israel, according to the US authorities. Forlit is wanted in the US on three charges: one count of conspiracy to commit computer hacking, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. British Airways passenger plane prepares to land at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London (credit: REUTERS) A judge ruled that the attempt to extradite Forlit by the United States could not continue as he was not produced at court within the timeframe required under British extradition law. "He was not produced at court as soon as practicable and the consequences of that ... he must – I have no discretion – he must be discharged," Judge Michael Snow ruled. Forlit and his lawyer did not immediately return messages seeking comment. The did not immediately return a message. Forlit has separately been accused of computer hacking in New York by aviation executive Farhad Azima. Azima, whose emails were stolen and used against him in a 2020 trial in London, is suing Forlit and others in federal court in Manhattan. Forlit has previously acknowledged retrieving Azima's emails but has denied hacking, telling Reuters he innocently stumbled across the messages "on the web." ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-05-01

The anti-Israel protests on major US campuses are spiraling out of control and the authorities must put a lid on them now before it is too late. On the Manhattan campus of , where protesters established a pro-Palestinian tent encampment almost two weeks ago, dozens of students occupied Hamilton Hall – one of the buildings occupied during the 1968 student protests against the Vietnam War – smashing windows with hammers and unfurling an “Intifada” banner. Hours earlier, the university announced it was suspending students who refused to leave the encampment before a 2 p.m. Monday deadline. Universities have struggled to contain the protests at campuses across the United States for more than a week, claiming that they seek to balance free speech rights while limiting disruptions to studies.  In reality, however, legitimate protests calling for a halt to have morphed into “Free Palestine” hate fests against Israel’s existence. The measures taken by university administrators, including the suspension of protesters, seem to fan the flames further. The University of Texas at Austin, however, proved that a tough approach can work. Its handling of the protests should be a model for others. On Friday, it placed its Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) chapter on interim suspension, citing its involvement in the anti-Israel protest that caused chaos on campus. A man passes by as demonstrators attend a protest outside Columbia University, as the protest encampment continues in support of Palestinians, amid ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York City, U.S., April 23, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
 TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) The group organized a demonstration last Wednesday where more than 500 students walked out of class, ostensibly to demand that UT-Austin divest from manufacturers supplying Israel with weapons used in Gaza. This was immediately met with a forceful police response as scores of riot police deployed to the campus. They cleared the protest and made more than 55 arrests. In a post on Instagram, the PSC claimed that its suspension was “an attack on free speech to distract from and enable Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people” and slammed UT Austin President Jay Hartzell and Republican Governor Greg Abbott for authorizing the action against the protest. “No encampments will be allowed,” Abbott posted on X, sharing a video of riot police with batons moving toward the protesting students. “Instead, arrests are being made.” Hartzell defended the use of force in an e-mail on Thursday, noting that most of those arrested were not even affiliated with the university. “The university’s decision to not allow yesterday’s event to go as planned was made because we had credible indications that the event’s organizers, whether national or local, were trying to follow the pattern we see elsewhere, using the apparatus of free speech and expression to severely disrupt a campus for a long period,” he wrote. University spokesman Brian Davis told The New York Times that activists had physically and verbally assaulted  staff who sought to confiscate tents, and that “baseball-sized rocks” were found at the encampment. Anti-Israel protests and encampments, organized by pro-Palestinian groups funded by Qatar, PSC and others, have sprung up at several Ivy League campuses. Unless there is a tough policy, the protesters are not deterred. While Harvard suspended its PSC chapter last Monday for the rest of the spring semester, for example, it allowed students to build a tent encampment two days later Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was right to speak out about the campus protests last week, appealing to Jews and non-Jews alike who are concerned about our common future to “stand up, speak up, be counted. Stop antisemitism now!” He declared: “What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific. have taken over leading universities. They call for the annihilation of Israel. They attack Jewish students. They attack Jewish faculty.” University authorities in the US must heed the call to halt these well-funded, well-organized campus protests, but for the sake of the students trying to study, those who will be the leaders of tomorrow, it is also vital that Israel, American Jewish organizations, Israel supporters, and individual donors of all faiths join to help the universities stop the spread of the protests. Only a show of strength and unity can combat the wall of hate being hoisted in front of Jewish students across the US. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-04-19

A person set themselves on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where 's historic hush-money trial was taking place, according to CNN. CNN reporters said they saw a man engulfed in flames for more than three minutes. "I see a totally charred human being," one of them said on air. The shocking development came shortly after for the trial was completed, clearing the way for prosecutors and defense attorneys to make opening statements next week in a case stemming from hush money paid to a porn star. The 12 jurors, along with six alternates, will consider evidence in a first-ever trial to determine whether a former U.S. president is guilty of breaking the law. The jury consists of seven men and five wo Adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, arrives with her attorney Michael Avenatti (L) at ABC studios to appear on The View talk show in New York City, New York, U.S. (credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR)men, mostly employed in white-collar professions: two corporate lawyers, a software engineer, a speech therapist and an English teacher. Most are not native New Yorkers, hailing from across the United States and countries like Ireland and Lebanon. Trump is accused of covering up a $130,000 payment his former lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she says they had a decade earlier. Trump has pleaded to 34 counts of falsifying business records brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and denies any such encounter with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Trump has pleaded not guilty in three other criminal cases as well, but this is the only one certain to go to trial ahead of the Nov. 5 election, when the Republican politician aims to again take on Democratic President Joe Biden. A conviction would not bar him from office. This is a developing story. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-04-17

(New York Jewish Week) — When downtown steakhouse Delmonico’s opened in 1827, it was the first fine dining restaurant in. Famous for its eponymous ribeye steak and Lobster Newburg, Delmonico’s high-profile customers included Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain. Among them, however, were few Jews. Though was home to some 40,000 Jews by the eve of the Civil War, most of them were Spanish, Portuguese or German-speaking immigrants — or their descendants — who strictly adhered to Jewish law. These Jewish New Yorkers kept kosher and therefore primarily ate at home, or at the homes of fellow Jews. Even those who had prospered by the mid-1800s and established themselves in American society couldn’t, in good conscience, enjoy high-end restaurant fare. That is, until an enterprising Jewish Frenchman named Felix Marx arrived on these shores. Born in Alsace, France, in 1825, Marx landed in New York in 1858. Having worked as a kosher butcher before immigrating, Marx set out to create a Delmonico’s-style offering for well-to-do, observant Jews. Within two years, he opened his first establishment opposite City Hall Park. was called Felix’s Dining Saloon — though, colloquially, it was often referred to as “The Kosher Delmonico,” serving kosher haute cuisine to an elite clientele. Today’s kosher diners have all manner of choices about where to eat in New York City, from hole-in-the-wall pizza shops to upscale vegan Mexican restaurants. But it wasn’t always that way — when Felix’s Dining Saloon opened, it was the first kosher restaurant in New York. There, Marx served as chef and his French-born wife, Julia Lisette, worked as cashier. By the mid-1860s, the restaurant moved nearby to a large, well-appointed space at 256 Broadway, between Warren and Murray Streets. The Manhattan skyline is pictured from the Summit at One Vanderbilt observatory in Manhattan in New York City, U.S., April 14, 2023. (credit: MIKE SEGAR / REUTERS) In addition to serving kosher food on the premises — in what he pretentiously deemed “the Felix style” — Marx announced in a June 1865 advertisement in The Jewish Messenger that his establishment was prepared to cater weddings and other parties at private residences, noting that he was also happy to furnish suppers “for the approaching ball season.” During the Civil War, the restaurant did its patriotic part: When government-issued coins became scarce due to hoarding, Marx, like many thousands of business proprietors, stepped up to fill the void. In 1863, he arranged with a private mint to produce one-cent coins — widely accepted as substitutes for pennies — that advertised his restaurant. Unusually, however, Marx’s tokens bore a Hebrew word, “kosher,” as professor and historian Jonathan D. Sarna notes in “Jews and the Civil War.” Two years later, in 1864, Marx added a second branch of Felix’s Dining Saloon up the street, at 418-422 Broadway. An advertisement in The Israelite that year proudly proclaimed — also in Hebrew — that it served only kosher fare. Felix’s Dining Saloon was a fleishig, or meat, restaurant, which meant that, in accordance with Jewish law, there were no dairy products on the menu. That is, if Felix’s actually had a menu, or at least an à la carte one. The prix fixe restaurant served only lunch — from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. — and a multicourse meal could be had for fifty cents (approximately $17 in today’s currency). “It consists of several courses, barley or chicken soup, boiled beef or hamburger steak, with fried potatoes and sauerkraut, veal cutlet, roast duck or broiled chicken, with salad, and a compote of prunes and raisins or some delicate pastry,” the New York Sun wrote about the “German style” meal served by the restaurant. “A dish of the choicest fruit and a jar of celery stands always on the table. A cup of black coffee completes the meal.” Before long, “the Felix,” as the place was affectionately known, ceased to be the only kosher game in town — and Marx, a hard-nosed businessman ever alert to competition, sometimes resorted to shenanigans to preserve his premier position. In 1873, a German Jew named Lazarus Blaut leased a space two blocks from the Felix for $300 a month with the intent of opening a rival kosher eatery there. In a lawsuit, however, Blaut alleged that Marx warned all the carpenters, masons and plumbers he had hired that he was a swindler who would not pay them for their work. (Ultimately, as the New York Herald reported, Marx succeeded only in postponing the opening of Blaut’s establishment by a few weeks.) Some competitors, like Blaut, aspired to run restaurants on a par with the Felix, but most kosher restaurants were in another league entirely. “They are mostly small rooms in the cellars or upon the ground floors of tenements, furnished with a few wooden tables and chairs, with a bill of fare printed in Hebrew characters hanging outside the door,” the Buffalo Times reported in 1887. “In the windows the shrunken carcasses of geese are allowed to hang until blackened with exposure.” Those eateries, where “the service is filthy and the food is scarcely fit to eat,” were generally run by poor Russian and Eastern European Jews, who began to arrive in large numbers in the early 1880s. A New York Sun reporter who ventured into one such basement eatery on a Jewish holiday found 15 men, all in shirtsleeves and many wearing their hats, seated at a long table. “The gutturals of the jargon” — by which he meant Yiddish — “were almost as noisy as the clatter of dishes and the rattle of knives and forks.” The fifteen-cent meal (just over $5 in today’s currency) consisted of soup, boiled meat, stew, boiled potatoes and coffee. He noted the presence of a “fairly clean” tablecloth, but speculated that had it not been a holiday, the tabletop would likely have been bare. Compare that to the clientele and the atmosphere of the Felix. There, a selection of “Havana seegars” was always on hand, and “The men are well-dressed and almost without exception well-groomed,” the Sun reported. Among the regulars were Joseph Wechsler, one of the co-founders of what became the department store Abraham & Strauss. Politician and philanthropist Randolph Guggenheimer — attorney, school commissioner and the inaugural President of the Council of the City of Greater New York —was another, as was French-born Ferdinand Levy, first coroner and later city register of the local government. Even the great Jacob Schiff, the international banker and philanthropist famous for his role in financing the expansion of America’s railroads, was often seen at the Felix. The clientele was not entirely Jewish. “The excellence of the cooking and the peculiar features of the place” attracted many non-Jews, too. As The Sun reported in 1891, “it has become quite a resort for merchants of every class whose business is in the vicinity of the restaurant.” These patrons didn’t just come for the cooking; there was also a perception of quality. Since kosher meat was slaughtered locally, many non-Jews believed it was fresher and more nutritious than meat from cattle killed in the Midwest days earlier and brought to New York by train. At the turn of the century, The Sun estimated that somewhere between an eighth and a quarter of the Felix’s diners were non-Jews. As the years passed, Marx opened and shut branches, partners came and went, and Marx gave up the business, only to resume it later. In 1874, two years after his naturalization, he announced his intention to retire and return to Europe and put his business up for sale. In the advertisement, he offered the purchaser an opportunity to learn the business along with a pledge that he’d never open a competing dining establishment in New York. He soon reversed course: In 1876 came an announcement published in The Messenger that “the original Felix” was back and would be re-opening at 185 Church Street. Exactly how kosher was the Felix? The 1880s were a time of rampant corruption in the local kosher meat industry. Because profits were considerably higher if one passed off non-kosher meat as kosher, there were strong incentives for supervisors, slaughterers and butchers to play fast and loose with the rules. But it’s hard to imagine that Marx would knowingly have dealt with dishonest dealers; it would have been folly to risk his reputation on counterfeit meat for a few pennies. Ironically, the one recorded criticism of the restaurant’s fidelity to the dietary laws came in 1893 after Felix had sold the business to his son Ernst and retired for good. The source was one Yudel Mannecker, a man skilled in plucking forbidden fats and veins from meat — an important step in the process of rendering food kosher. Ernst had brought Mannecker to New York from Kiev to work in the kitchen and paid him a whopping $40 per week, roughly four times the wage of a typical Lower East Side laborer. When Mannecker was let go for incompetence, however, he sued the restaurant and complained he had been forced to work on the sabbath. A New York Sun piece from early 1893 quoted Ernst as insisting that there was no need for his services because the restaurant’s customers didn’t know kosher from unkosher food. Before long there was bad blood between father and son. Business declined, and Ernst Marx couldn’t make the payments. Felix Marx secured a judgment against him for just over $14,000. He later disinherited the young man, castigating Ernst in his will for “unfilial conduct.” In 1897, after the death of his wife, Marx moved to Washington Square. He continued to dine at the Felix, however, often with a lifelong friend, an Alsace-born butcher named David Metzger. Both had amassed fortunes in the neighborhood of a million dollars. On Sept. 21, 1903, the two had agreed to meet at the restaurant, but Marx never arrived; he had died early that morning. Metzger himself collapsed the same day, and a few days later the friends were buried side by side at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn. Felix’s Dining Saloon’s fame spread far and wide and was “not confined to this tight little island,” as the Jewish Exponent reported in 1903. “For fifty years it has been frequented by large numbers who found the dietary laws under such conditions no barrier to their appetite.” In its last location, at 193 Mercer Street, it appeared in the New York City directory until 1912 — marking a half-century run that’s impressive for any New York eatery. Scott D. Seligman is a national award-winning author whose newest book, “The Chief Rabbi’s Funeral: The Untold Story of America’s Largest Antisemitic Riot,” is due out in November. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-04-12

When I studied journalism in college, I had a professor who was supposed to be teaching us . But everyone in the class heard the rumors that he was having an affair with a student, which made it hard to take what he was teaching us too seriously. A quarter century later, I am the executive director and executive editor of an organization that highlights egregious violations of journalistic ethics and basic human decency, for the world to see and judge. On November 8, when we at HonestReporting started asking questions about the photographers who covered the Oct. 7 massacre from very early that day, I could not have imagined that the worst offenders would win the top international awards in their field. I sincerely believed that these people were going to be shunned by the civilized world for preferring their loyalty to the Hamas terrorist organization and the money they would receive from top media outlets over preventing the loss of life. I was wrong. A PICTURE OF Shani Nicole Louk, who was missing following the Supernova massacre on October 7, is displayed during a demonstration last month by family members and supporters of hostages who are being held in Gaza after they were kidnapped from Israel by Hamas. Louk’s death was later confirmed by I (credit: AMMAR AWAD/REUTERS) On April 12, two Gazan photographers will receive the prestigious George Polk Award for photojournalism at a luncheon sponsored by CBS in Manhattan. It was unclear whether Samar Abu Elouf and Yousef Masoud of The New York Times would be able to travel from Gaza to New York to receive the award from Long Island University. Not to be outdone, the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri School of Journalism awarded the Associated Press (AP) photography staff its Team Picture Story of the Year, highlighting freelance photographer Ali Mahmud’s disturbing photo of Israeli-German artist Shani Louk’s raped and murdered body being taken from the Supernova music festival to Gaza by terrorists. While it justifiably caused an international uproar, this was not the only problematic photo to win an award from the institute. Its Judges’ Special Recognition award was given to a picture titled The Woman in the Black Dress taken by Amnon Gutman of a woman raped and murdered in front of her husband, who was also murdered after her.  “The spreadeagled, burned and heavily mutilated body of Israeli citizen, Gal Abdoush, 34, who Israeli police officials said they believe was raped, tortured, burned alive and then murdered by Hamas gunmen on Oct. 7, 2023, is pictured on Oct. 8 by her car on road 232, near Kibbutz Mefalsim, southern Israel,” the caption on the Pictures of the Year site says. “Abdoush’s husband Nagi, 35, was also murdered by Hamas militants on that day, leaving their two kids aged 7 and 10 orphaned.” The necrophiliac preferences of the judges for pictures of raped and murdered women notwithstanding, the contrast between the two pictures is important to highlight. Mahmud crossed the border from Gaza and did not stop the terrorists on their murdering, raping, and kidnapping spree. Gutman came later and documented atrocities and did not display problematic journalistic ethics. If these pictures were used to raise awareness about the hostages and bring them home, or the prize money was used to support those affected by Oct. 7, then there would be no problem with them winning awards. That these pictures – taken with the explicit or implicit support of a terrorist organization – are being recognized for the glorification of the photographers is a stain on the memory of those murdered. That day, there were journalists who put their humanity first and saved lives, and they deserve to be honored – but don’t hold your breath. It may get worse.  Six months after HonestReporting raised an uproar by asking questions about the photographers, the 2024 Pulitzer Prize winners and nominated finalists in journalism will be announced on May 6. The world’s top prizes for journalism will probably go to photographers who crossed both physical and ethical borders that day. If that happens, it will be an indictment of the ethics of international journalism as a whole, which unwittingly – and in some cases wittingly – played along with Hamas in this war.  THIS COLUMN that top journalist Ilana Dayan revealed how Hamas intended to use Gazan journalists as part of their plan – dubbed “Wall of Jericho” –  to invade southern Israel, knowledge of which the IDF’s elite Intelligence Corps Unit 8200 obtained in the spring of 2022. “The document is Hamas’s big plan for infiltrating Israel, point by point, exactly as it was later carried out,” Dayan reported on her top-rated TV show, Uvda.  “The plan includes everything in great detail, from how many Nukhba brigades would come, to how they would break through the barrier, and even those so-called reporters, who would join the brigades and broadcast the operation in real time.” This week, the IDF published an English translation of the chilling interrogation of an Islamic Jihad spokesman, , revealing details of how terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip manipulated the Arabic and international media, creating false narratives and lies. He admitted that the October 17 explosion in the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City was caused by a PIJ rocket and that the organization chose to knowingly lie and blame Israel. “[My] organization lied and fabricated a story about an Israeli rocket hitting a hospital at the start of the war,” Otha Abu Shlouf told Intelligence Unit 504. The English transcript was given to the international media by the IDF, and it was – as one IDF spokesman put it – “aggressively ignored.” Two days after receipt of the transcript, Otha Abu Shlouf had not even been mentioned by Reuters or AP. When Hamas released videos of Israeli hostages, the wire services shockingly said that they “couldn’t determine whether they were recorded under duress,” but they spread them around the world and parroted Hamas’s claims against Israel as gospel. Here, they did not even give their readers a chance to decide for themselves what to believe.  The media’s many mistakes and questionable ethics in covering this war have been making it harder for the usual pressure to emerge on world leaders to get Israel to end the war before its goals are achieved. In other Gaza wars, that pressure already started on day three.  In this one, it only really intensified six months in, when Israel made a genuine mistake. The airstrikes that killed seven humanitarian workers from (WCK) also struck a blow to Israel’s already tarnished reputation. Unlike many blood libels proven false by HonestReporting during the current war, this time the reporting was not incorrect, at least until it turned out that Hamas drew Israel’s fire to the aid workers. When the bad news is true, it’s important to accept responsibility but remember that these tragic deaths are the exception that proves the rule: Israel minimizes and its enemies maximize harm to civilians. Israel needs to show empathy but contrast its genuine remorse with Hamas’s joy when any innocents are killed, no matter who they are. And it must remind the world media that while this was an accident, the 1,200 Israelis were killed on purpose. No other country’s image is under such constant scrutiny. Applying different standards to Israel not demanded from other democracies is part of the IHRA definition of antisemitism. When times are tough for Israel and its image is suffering, insisting on journalistic ethics is more essential than ever. The writer is the executive director and executive editor of the pro-Israel media watchdog HonestReporting. He served as chief political correspondent and analyst of The Jerusalem Post for 24 years. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-04-10

Hamas’s murderous October 7 attack wasn’t only about hurting and killing people – it was part of a larger, more ambitious plan: to remove all from Israel. This is why victory won’t be gained merely by destroying Hamas but by making it clear to Israel’s enemies that we Jews aren’t going anywhere, that more Jews plan to move to Israel (“make aliyah”) and help to improve the country’s society and economy. October 7 was, without doubt, one of the hardest days in Israel’s history. However, it also reminded us of the amazing people around us. reservists arrived at their bases hours before they were officially summoned, with some units reporting that 130% of their manpower had arrived. Families opened their homes and hearts to people they had never met or spoken to. The days following the Hamas attack were a national emotional rollercoaster in which despair constantly mixed with love and hope. But Israelis weren’t the only ones who stepped up to the plate. Around the world, Jews found ways to help Israelis they had never met. Duffel bags of clothing and military equipment were purchased and flown to Israel; some 300,000 people rallied in Washington DC in what was described as the largest in American history, and children wrote to Israeli soldiers in English, French, and Spanish with one message: In the face of evil, “Am Yisrael Chai” (“The People of Israel live”). This support is amazing, and not taken for granted.  However, in the bigger picture, this help is tactical. If Jews want to be part of the strategic battle, they need to come to Israel. This war with Hamas isn’t only on the battlefield. It is a long, ongoing war of ideas and ideals. Our enemies’ desired outcome is not that our soldiers surrender – they wish [to kill us or] that we relocate from Israel to other countries; “From the River to the Sea...” They want “Palestine” to be Jew-free. Protestors, calling for ceasefire in Gaza, attend a demonstration near Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, in New York City, U.S., March 28, 2024. (credit: ANDREW KELLY / REUTERS) When I look at my enemy’s wishes, I know we must do the exact opposite. If Hamas and others’ desire is to kill us, we must live. If they want to destroy our homes and kibbutzim, we must rebuild them. If they do not want Jews living in our ancestral homeland, we must encourage Jews to come and live here. It is simple, yet sometimes the obvious needs to be stated: Winning the war means rebuilding Israel and living here. And this is why Jews around the world can play a key role in the war effort. We want to see more Jews living in Israel or taking practical steps toward that goal; visiting Israel; more students electing to study in Israel; more young professionals interning in Israel – more Jews eventually making aliyah and turning Israel into their home.  This is why we established Belong, a social enterprise aimed at encouraging aliyah and improving the experience, by customizing the journey and supporting those who decide to join us in building the Jewish nation-state. Jews should view Israel as a magnet to run towards, not as a refuge they seek when fleeing hardships. At the same time, the Israeli public needs to start viewing those who choose to immigrate to Israel as cultural and economic assets who should be welcomed and invested in. This is our job. To make sure Jews know, and feel, that they belong in Israel.  For too long, aliyah and the Israel-Diaspora relationship have been viewed as purely ideological, fields for nonprofit organizations and do-gooders. But as in other fields of life, it is time to change this paradigm.  The difficulties for those seeking aliyah should be resolved with business tools and experience; with the outlook not only of people who care, but people who believe their work needs a positive return on investment (ROI). My belief in Israel, and in the Jewish People, isn’t new. But my decision to establish a social enterprise in this field is.  October 7 started what will be a seismic shift in Israeli society, and all the Jews should be part of these changes. After all, Israel isn’t only my home - it’s our home, and to win the war we must all be part of it. The writer is the founder and chairman of Belong, a new Israeli social enterprise that aims to encourage immigration to Israel and to improve the experience of moving here. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-04-08

(JTA) — In May 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed legislation, known as the Johnson-Reed Act, that severely restricted the by putting quotas on their country of origin, and completely excluded immigrants from Asia. Among other things, the act brought to an end a historic migration of Jews to the United States, and set in place restrictions that would keep Jewish refugees out when the Nazis rose to power a decade later. Jews weren’t the only targets of nativists who pressed for quotas — the law drastically cut the number of Italians, Greeks and Eastern Europeans who could enter the country. Nor was the act unprecedented — in 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act banning Chinese laborers, and in 1921 imposed an Emergency Quota Act putting a cap on European immigration. But Johnson-Reed cemented a change in how, from a policy of largely open borders to a new emphasis on “desirables” and “undesirables.” Its Senate sponsor, David Reed of Pennsylvania, wrote in the New York Times that the law’s goal was to make the United States a more “homogenous” country.  It set the terms for a debate that if anything has become more intense exactly 100 years later. From Left: Mark Hetfield, Hasia Diner, Deborah Dash Moore and Beth Wenger. (credit: Courtesy) Daniel Okrent, author of the 2020 book “The Guarded Gate,” a history of the Johnson-Reed era, has characterized anti-immigrant sentiments of the last century that sound familiar today. “‘We can’t let this happen to us. We can’t let this happen to our cities. We can’t let this happen to our school systems,’” is how he described them to an interviewer. “There was an openly prejudicial view that they wanted to save themselves by keeping out ‘the other.’” The anniversary of Johnson-Reed is an occasion to remember America’s fraught relationship with immigration, and how Jewish history was shaped by migration and restrictions. On Sunday, April 7, the Center of Jewish History in Manhattan is hosting a symposium, “Reconsidering Jewish Migration to the United States: A Century of Controversy.”  I spoke to a few of the scholars and activists who will be speaking at the symposium, asking about the historical context of Johnson-Reed and its legacy. I edited our conversations into a virtual roundtable on immigration and its discontents, then and now.  The participants:  Hasia Diner, professor emerita at New York University and co-editor of “Immigration: An American History.” Mark Hetfield, president and CEO of HIAS, the Jewish community’s international refugee agency. Deborah Dash Moore, Frederick G. L. Huetwell Professor of History and Professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan.  Beth S. Wenger, the Moritz and Josephine Berg Professor of History and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.  Our conversations were edited for length and clarity.  The anti-immigrant fervor after World War I climaxes with the passage of the Immigration Act of 1924, known as Johnson-Reed after its Congressional sponsors. What were the factors that brought it about? Deborah Dash Moore: Johnson-Reed happens at the time of the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and notions of white supremacy, and the new Klan is anti-Catholic as well as anti-Jewish. Many of the tensions in our society, especially notions of white supremacy and Christian nationalism, find their roots and support in this era of restrictive immigration. In Europe, people used to not just come, they also used to go back; there was movement back and forth. That’s why we talk about transnational identities, and they could have multiple allegiances as a result — which led many to vilify immigrants, which I think was part of what produced Johnson-Reed.  Hasia Diner: There are multiple forces at work. First, I think “Americans” — the white, Protestant, Anglo-Saxon — were really disturbed by World War I. Ethnic groups were lining up with their home countries, so everybody wants their voice to be heard, based on what they thought was good for their ancestral home. And just as the Austro-Hungarian empire was breaking up, many “Americans” really feared that the United States was becoming balkanized in the same way. I think of the 1924 act as an effort to end that process of balkanization. In terms of the economy, right after World War I, there was brief panic, and a lot of labor agitation. Unions were seen in the white imagination as wrong, violent and illegal. This upsurge in union activity in the aftermath of the war was maybe icing on the cake. But in the lead up to restriction, it was way less significant than racism, international politics and a kind of understanding which grows out of both of them that there is such a thing as too much diversity. Theodore Roosevelt ran around in the early 20th century, telling white American women that it was their job to have more babies to offset the immigrants. He in fact called it “race suicide.” Let’s talk about that racism. Journalist Daniel Okrent has written about how elites would bring eugenics — the idea of genetically superior and inferior races — “into wide public consciousness, introduce it into the nation’s political debate, and elevate it into the realm of scientific respectability.”  HD: The year 1894 is for immigration historians almost as important as 1924. That’s when the Immigration Restriction League was founded by three Harvard University alumni pressing for the exclusion of the lesser races. The rise of “scientific racism” really came to dominate intellectual and political discourse. It said that peoples of the world can be arrayed along a spectrum from civilization, with white Europeans at the top, and, at the bottom, Asians and Blacks. There are books and dictionaries and learned articles saying, “Well, should the Italians be ranked higher or lower than the Greeks? Where do the Jews fit in this?” Beth Wenger: There was such massive Jewish immigration in this period and Jews were one of the key groups who were among the “undesirables.” In the United States there’s a vacillation in some Jewish organizations between wanting to defend open immigration against quotas, and also a fear of being associated with the “undesirable.”   HD: It was 1922 when Harvard instituted its quota on Jews, and there was talk about Jews as revolutionaries, but also as unscrupulous businessmen. There was some talk about them being dirty and tubercular and loud, noisy, always talking with their hands. But I’m going to say something that probably many of my fellow American Jewish historians would not agree with, that it wasn’t the Jews but the Italians who were the real focus of xenophobic hysteria. And earlier it was the Irish. It’s a really interesting comparison between the United States and Great Britain, where the discussion around the 1905 Aliens Act denying entry to “undesirable immigrants” was all about Jews.  DDM: It changes how the United States understands immigration. Prior to Johnson-Reed, although you had the Chinese Exclusion Act, and you had various tests for whether somebody is mentally ill or physically sick, or impoverished, you always had the assumption that immigration was open. And now the assumption is the reverse, that immigration is something to be controlled, something to be restricted. And that’s a real fundamental switch in thinking about the United States.  And, of course, immigration drops by 80%, which has a really big impact on immigrant groups in the U.S., because suddenly, there are no newcomers, or hardly any newcomers. And that means that these immigrant groups are going to be made up of the second generation and then third generation. Mark Hetfield: In the 1920s, ’30s and, ’40s, as a result of the Johnson-Reed Act, HIAS became an international agency. Prior to 1921, we could stay on Ellis Island and make sure they got into the system. That was our job. Immigrants had to prove that they wouldn’t be a public charge, that they weren’t radical, but they didn’t have to do any advance work. It was all done at Ellis. And then we made sure they got kosher food on Ellis Island while they were waiting and got the legal help that they needed. And then once they got off, we either gave them shelter, mostly in what is now the Public Theater on Lafayette Street or we would get them train tickets to some other places in the United States where they would sometimes join relatives. That was the way we functioned for our first 20 years.  When Congress slammed the door shut in 1921 and 1924, we had to become an international organization because Jews couldn’t come here anymore for the most part. So we had to find other places for them to go. We had to operate in Europe and Asia and South America, to try to find some places that would accept them.  BW: Let me give you another specific example: It creates the Border Patrol, and the whole idea that the U.S. as a nation gate-keeps who comes in. This legislation firmly implanted that notion and changed some sweeping ideas about national identity about citizenship, who’s a good American. The rhetoric you see around immigration today, while obviously influenced by contemporary political and other developments, is very much a consequence of the long history of the way the U.S. came to think about immigration in the 20th century.  Another major consequence is that as the Nazis came to power in the ’30s, most Jews in Europe had a very slim chance of being able to immigrate to the United States. And we know the tragic consequences.  MH: HIAS had to operate in places like Shanghai, Tokyo, South America. We couldn’t get them here. We couldn’t get them to Canada. We couldn’t get them to South Africa. We couldn’t get into Australia anymore. HD: Antisemitism certainly ratchets up in the 1920s and the 1930s, when you have Henry Ford and America First. But again, every opinion poll done after 1935 shows that the American public does not want immigration, period.  BW: An issue that’s really so painfully with us as a nation is this idea of who is a deserving and worthy American and the things that determine that. Anti-immigrant proponents used pseudoscience to determine who is unassimilable not only culturally but supposedly scientifically, and that immigrants would corrupt the pure western heritage of America. That notion has been, unfortunately, quite durable.  Politicians and individuals will say, “We’re a country of immigrants” and someone else will say, “No, it was different then. All those people really wanted to adapt and change and now they don’t.” It’s another version of who belongs here, and who doesn’t. It’s also a false notion that there was a simpler America, and it mostly began before the 1880s. It was not true then and it is not true now.  DDM: The Hart-Celler Act [the 1965 legislation that abolished the quota system] doesn’t change the assumption that the United States is going to control who enters and is not going to. But it does allow for family reunification. It opens up opportunities for people in eastern and southern Europe who had been left out. It gets rid of the Asian exclusion.  But the fundamental thinking isn’t changed. The law creates different kinds of classification schemes to distinguish between desirable and undesirable immigrants. We’re in the midst of a lousy immigration policy.  MH: Maybe 10 years ago I would say we were in a totally different era. And now I would have to say that if history doesn’t repeat itself, it certainly rhymes. I might have said that under President Obama we finally had different attitudes towards race and the other in this country, but now we’re clearly pretty much back to where we were in the 1920s, unfortunately. MH: Well, xenophobic. “America First” was a slogan in 1920 in the days leading up to the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 [which limited immigration “scientifically” by imposing quotas based on immigrants’ country of birth]. The otherization of people. None of this is new to America. In November 2015, after the terrorist attacks in Paris, the response in this country was to call for a total shutdown of letting Syrian Muslim refugees into this country, notwithstanding that there were no Syrian Muslim refugees, or Syrian Muslims involved in that Paris attack. It was pure scapegoating. And that’s exactly the attitude that led to Johnson-Reed in 1924.  DDM: One criticism of immigration in the United States is that most people who are trying to come are trying to come under the asylum category, which is not a standard immigration category intended to create pathways for a reliable workforce. Asylum has its own separate rules: You have to be fearful of what will happen to you if you go back to your home country, etc. And you have to prove that you need it. Are these really the kinds of ways in which we want to think about people moving from one place to another? We all tell stories about Jewish immigrants who get off the boat and the next day, they take you to the garment shop, and sign you up for shifts. Now we have people who are seeking asylum in New York and other places, and they want to work, and they’re not allowed to work. What kind of a dopey system is that? One legacy of Jewish immigration and the era of restrictions is that Jewish groups on the main became leading advocates for immigrants, both their own and other people. At the same time, even some liberals say this country can’t absorb all the world’s poor and others “yearning to be free” — or even if we could, it’s a perilous political issue. Can the Jewish support for immigration be sustained? Should it? MH: It’s a good question. We have a responsibility to immigrants and refugees, and we have a responsibility to ourselves to meet the security and economic needs of this country. Part of that is border management. And part of border management and part of promoting a good economy and a strong country is to make sure that we have the labor that we need to fuel the economy and we don’t have that right now. There’s a massive labor shortage, and Congress has totally abdicated its responsibility on regulating immigration. They haven’t updated the immigration laws since 1986.  BW: I keep going back to this transformation of the nation in many ways. There’s one story we tell about American history, and then there’s this other story, and they don’t fit very comfortably together. We have to understand where nativism comes from, and there’s no question nativism motivated this legislation and all the things that are connected to it, including pseudoscience. MH: We are living almost exactly what they were living in the 1920s when it comes to attitudes toward refugees, and immigrants, and the other, and it’s really dangerous and unsettling. And we saw what came after the 1920s in the rest of the world, with the rise in xenophobia, the rise of populism. All of these things that were happening in the 1920s are with us right now, all around us. And we saw where that took us in the ’30s and ’40s. Immigration is just one piece of that puzzle, but it’s a very telling one because the way that you treat refugees really is the canary in the coal mine. And that’s why we believe that the commandment to welcome the stranger is repeated 36 times in the Torah — because it’s so easily forgotten. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-04-07

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has stirred controversy yet again, declaring that he would consider it a "great honor" to be incarcerated for flouting a gag order imposed by the judge overseeing his forthcoming trial on hush-money charges.  The statement comes amidst mounting legal challenges as Trump gears up for the 2024 U.S. presidential election. In a provocative post on his Truth Social platform, Trump defiantly proclaimed, "If this Partisan Hack wants to put me in the 'clink' for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH, I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela - It will be my GREAT HONOR."  The reference was aimed at Justice Juan Merchan, who is slated to preside over Trump's trial in New York state court in Manhattan. The trial, scheduled to commence on April 15, revolves around allegations of concealing a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to prevent her from divulging details of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump. The former president, a Republican candidate challenging Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden in the upcoming election, maintains his innocence, denying any wrongdoing in the matter. The contentious legal proceedings took a dramatic turn recently when Justice Merchan expanded a pre-existing gag order, which previously prohibited Trump from discussing witnesses and court personnel, to also encompass his family members. This decision came after Trump made disparaging remarks about Merchan's daughter, further escalating tensions surrounding the high-profile case. The impending trial represents one of several legal battles confronting Trump as he embarks on his electoral campaign. Facing a total of four criminal cases, Trump has consistently dismissed the charges as politically motivated and has pleaded not guilty to all allegations.  However, the hush-money trial looms as a critical test for the former president, potentially shaping the trajectory of his political future amidst mounting legal scrutiny. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-04-05

New York City agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle a lawsuit by two Muslim-American women who said the police violated their rights after arresting them by forcing them to remove their before being photographed. The preliminary class action settlement covers men and women required to remove before being photographed. It was filed on Friday in Manhattan federal court, and requires approval by US District Judge Analisa Torres. Payouts will total about $13.1 million after legal fees and costs are deducted, and could increase if enough of the more than 3,600 eligible class members submit claims. Each recipient will be paid between $7,824 and $13,125. The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed in 2018 by Jamilla Clark and Arwa Aziz, who said they felt shame and trauma when police forced them to for their mugshots the prior year in Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively. Both had been arrested for violating orders of protection that they called bogus. Their lawyers likened removing the hijabs to being strip-searched. A woman wearing a niqab enters a beauty salon where the ads of women have been defaced by a shopkeeper in Kabul, Afghanistan October 6, 2021. (credit: REUTERS/JORGE SILVA/FILE PHOTO) "When they forced me to take off my hijab, I felt as if I were naked," Clark said in a statement provided by her lawyers. "I'm not sure if words can capture how exposed and violated I felt." In response to the lawsuit, New York's police department agreed in 2020 to let men and women wear head coverings during mugshots, so long as their faces could be seen. "This settlement resulted in a positive reform for the NYPD," said Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesman for the city's law department. "The agreement carefully balances the department's respect for firmly held religious beliefs with the important law enforcement need to take arrest photos." The new policy extended to other religious headwear, including wigs and yarmulkes worn by Jews and turbans worn by Sikhs. Police can temporarily remove head coverings to search for weapons or contraband, but in private settings by officers of the same gender. Albert Fox Cahn, a lawyer for Clark and Aziz, said the accord "sends a powerful message that the NYPD can't violate New Yorkers' First Amendment rights without paying a price." People forced to remove head coverings between March 16, 2014 and Aug. 23, 2021 are eligible for the settlement ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال:

2024-04-05

‘No one is going to tune in to two nights of Armageddon,” predicted director Nicholas Meyer before creating The Day After, a landmark TV film about a nuclear war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Meyer’s pessimism about a miniseries was never tested – the film was aired in one installment on November 20, 1983 – but there is no arguing that everyone tuned in: more than 100 million Americans in nearly 40 million homes. This is the ominous origin of the suddenly popular phrase “Gaza’s day after.” The bad news is that the cinematic “day after” was about the irreparable destruction in which a gloveless exchange of atomic blows would surely result: sterilized farmlands, incinerated people, and irradiated survivors inhabiting a scorched Earth. The good news is that the warring in Gaza is not Armageddon. Yes, it’s part of a regional war with fronts from Iraq to Yemen, and a global war between jihadism and the rest of mankind. Still, this mayhem’s Gazan segment is confined to a patch of land the size of Manhattan, and a population smaller than Kuwait’s. Gaza’s catastrophe can be brought to an end if all the governments Hamas threatens by its very existence launch the following plan. PALESTINIANS ENJOY the beach in Gaza City, on Sunday, after a ceasefire went into effect. With a little imagination, ingenuity and investment, Gaza could be turned into an enormously requested vacation spot. (credit: ATIA MOHAMMED/FLASH90) should be based on three understandings. The first is that jihadism is bad; not only for Gaza, and not only for the non-Muslim world, but also for the rule of every Arab government that believes in tolerance. The second consensus should be that Gaza’s schools must be overhauled; that Gaza would not have become a heap of rubble but for a bigoted educational system and hateful propaganda drive that would have made Joseph Goebbels happy. The third consensus must be that Gaza needs a life, an engine of livelihood that will render its current system of handouts irrelevant – and its two sponsors, and Qatar, obsolete. The prospective parties to the new Gaza consensus are well known: all the Arab governments, from Morocco to Bahrain, which are threatened by religious fanaticism. Underpinning this religious attitude will be a geopolitical understanding that the Middle East’s key troublemaker is Iran, whose leaders inspire and supply irredentism in multiple lands. Having agreed on all these, the question will be who should do what in order to reboot the Gaza Strip. And the answer is that everyone will be in charge of something, according to this outline: THE GULF kingdoms, the US, and Israel will give money; Egypt will give economic space; Jordan will create a police force; and a pan-Arab board headed by Egypt and joined by the Palestinian Authority will build a local government. Once built, and after running for an agreed period of time to everyone’s satisfaction, this government will be gradually transferred to the Palestinian Authority. The economy will be built in four different directions: construction, industry, farming, and tourism. Reconstruction will follow a master plan that will span everything – from neighborhoods, roads, sewage, industrial zones, and commercial quarters to power stations, water treatment, coastal development, transportation projects, and parks. The massive reconstruction that will comprise all of this will itself generate thousands of jobs. Obviously, all construction will have to be conducted under close, American-led international supervision, to ensure that no tunnel, armory, missile launcher or any other military tool is built.  Meanwhile, industrial development will involve Egyptian leadership and gain. The coastal strip along the northern Sinai from Rafah westward is nearly empty, a splendid shoreline that can be turned into a Riviera of hotels, resorts, and factories. That land can shoulder thousands of businesses in both tourism and industry, without one Gazan actually residing there. Thousands of Gazans can commute daily to work in northern Sinai. In due course, a railway can be built between Gaza and Port Said, at the Suez Canal’s mouth. Egypt will thus not become the home of even one . It will, however, make billions of dollars in corporate taxes and commuter tolls. The project should be led by Egypt because it’s the biggest Arab country, and also the one closest to Gaza. Having said this, the project’s managing board should include other Arab governments, as well as the Palestinian Authority. Israel cannot be a formal part of this body, both in terms of its purpose – it must win Gazans’ trust – and in terms of Israel’s interest, which is to avoid governing Palestinians. Even so, Israel can, and should, be a significant contributor to Gaza’s rehabilitation, which it can do by leading the construction of a Gaza seaport, in both planning and financing. This is what should happen economically and politically. Finally, the most challenging project, the reinvention of Gaza’s schools, should be led by the United Arab Emirates, which in recent years has emerged as a Middle Eastern paragon of religious tolerance and political prudence. With Emirati leadership, Gazan children whose older siblings were indoctrinated to hate, kill, and die may in upcoming years be taught to dialogue, enterprise, and appreciate life. Yes, Gaza is devastated, but it’s not a nuclear wasteland. One of the oldest, continuously inhabited towns in the world, it has been leveled in the past, most memorably by Alexander the Great, who razed Gaza after its Persian governor, Batis, chose to resist the Macedonian march from Europe to Africa through Asia’s coast. Gaza was leveled, but it was later rebuilt and became a peaceful, prosperous, cosmopolitan, and tolerant town featuring a seaport that shipped cinnamon, ginger, pepper, and cloves from the Arabian Desert to European shores. That legacy, the inversion of today’s Gaza of death, is what Gaza’s day after should be all about: a Gaza of life. www.MiddleIsrael.netThe writer, a Hartman Institute fellow, is the author of the bestselling Mitzad Ha’ivelet Ha’yehudi (The Jewish March of Folly, Yediot Sefarim, 2019), a revisionist history of the Jewish people’s political leadership. ...قراءة المزيد

الكلمات المفتاحية المذكورة في المقال: