fbpx

GET HOME DELIVERY! CLICK HERE »

ADVERTISE
pick up locations
HOME DELIVERY
donate

Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

March 2, 2011

Sony, Japanese band apologize for Nazi costumes

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Music, Worldwide /

Sony Music apologized after the popular Japanese rock group Kishidan appeared on MTV Japan wearing SS-like uniforms.

The apology Wednesday came after The Simon Wiesenthal Center called on the band, Sony and MTV to apologize.

In a message posted on the band’s website, Sony said it was sorry for the costume worn by the band during the MTV interview.

“Although it was not meant to carry any ideological meaning whatsoever we deeply regret and apologize for the distress it has caused Simon Wiesenthal Center and all concerned,” the letter read. “Members of Kishidan also deeply regret and apologize to you in this matter.

“We have duly received the words of advice from Simon Wiesenthal Center and take them very seriously. Kishidan will never again use this costume and it will be disposed of immediately. We will not broadcast, transmit, or distribute the video recording of Kishidan’s performance with the said costume and the recording will be disposed of immediately.”

The center had offered to bring a Holocaust survivor to Japan to be interviewed on MTV Japan.

The six male members of Kishidan are known for wearing Japanese school uniforms. The uniforms they wore for their Feb. 23 interview included an insignia used by the SS, according to reports.

‘‘As someone who has visited Japan over 30 times, I am fully aware that many young Japanese are woefully uneducated about the crimes against humanity committed during World War II by Imperial Japan in occupied Asia, let alone about Nazi Germany’s genocidal ‘Final Solution’ against the Jews in Europe,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center, said in a statement. “But global entities like MTV and Sony Music should know better.”

“Such garb like the uniform worn by Kishidan is never tolerated in the mainstream of any civilized country outside of Japan. In spite of all the efforts made by democracies to combat bigotry, racism and hate crimes, there are young people who are attracted to a racist ideology and the symbols of Nazism like those that inspired the uniforms worn by Kishidan. It is wrong for anyone, including people in Japan, to dismiss such marketing as mere ‘faux-rebellion.’ ”

Cooper called on the band to apologize to its fans and to the victims of Nazism.

Sony, Japanese band apologize for Nazi costumes Read More »

Pass the Costume- The Purim Experience

Leave a Comment / Blogs /

This year I am contemplating my Purim costume. Purim is the time to pretend you are someone else, and hope that no one recognizes you as you scarf down your fourteen hundredth serving of candy corn.  This year I am slightly traumatized. Why you ask? Because every single year my family takes the Purim costume experience to an epic level. We have known to be pretty much the coolest family on Purim.  Our costumes are always interesting, elaborate and really funny.  I once came as Marilyn Monroe while my husband sported a Love Guru get up.  See what I mean? Epic. 

However, last year, Purim was on a Saturday night. Apparently, Jews don’t party on Saturday night. After eating and praying all day on the sabbath, suddenly Jews get lazy. Well of course we went all out. I wore some Pirate of the Penzance get up, my kids were AWESOME- I had my mini pirate played by Meir, Mordy went as Batman, and Yehudis went as the Jonny Depp character in Alice and Wonderland.  And for the piece le resistance- Robbie was a full on GLADIATOR.  He even bought a six pack.

We were epic.

Then came the reveal. We got out of our car, like a slow motion character scene from “Purim, the Movie” and entered the Synagogue. you know that bad dream we all have as teens where you walk into school and everyone is staring at you because you are the only one who has walked in naked? We walked in, and we could have been naked, because we were the only losers who dressed up. At first we walked through the room and strutted our stuff, you know, cause we were epic. But then we began to notice that no one hardly cared. They sort of stared at us like we had just landed the moon. Suddenly my thumbs up to everyone turned upside down, and I was staring at a hand gesture that now looked like an L, pointing out that I was one big fat LOSER. 

I didn’t have fun, we didn’t get to party after. There was no music. I didn’t even bother placing our pictures on Facebook, for fear that I’d have to relive yet another night of total embarrassment- thinking we were probably the only loons who had decided to put on a wig and sport leather. 

What were we thinking? 

What were we thinking? I’ll tell you what we were thinking- we were thinking that Purim is a time for a little fun. People get with the program- plan your costumes this year and pass the freakin candy corn!

Here are a few ideas my friends have recommended we go as this year:

The judges from American Idol- because folks have said I resemble JLO and Robbie resembles Randy Jackson when he says the word “Dog”.

Lady Gaga and her band (in which case I will be handing out omelettes in everyone’s purim baskets.)

Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter from the King’s Speech. We do not stutter, but we can start to.

or

Maybe we’ll just do what normal people do and dress up like modern day Super hero rock stars- such as Charlie Sheen and his several Goddesses.  I have already ordered the Adonis plasma to be Fedex’d by Esther’s party. If you want your Purim basket, please don’t hesitate to mention our epic Tiger blood.

 

Pass the Costume- The Purim Experience Read More »

Obama to Jewish leaders: U.S. supports Israel’s security

Leave a Comment / Israel /

America opposes efforts to de-legitimize Israel, President Obama told a 50-member delegation of Jewish leaders during a White House meeting.

Obama met Tuesday with members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

A statement issued by the White House called the one-hour discussion “productive.” The statement said that Obama “reiterated America’s unshakeable support for Israel’s security, opposition to any effort to de-legitimize it or single it out for criticism, and commitment to achieve a peace that will secure the future for Arabs and Israelis alike.”

Obama, according to the statement, “praised the core Jewish values of freedom and democracy, human rights, and tikkun olam (to repair the world).”

The president thanked the Jewish community leaders for their support “to ensure that America continues to out-educate, out-innovate, and out-build the competition in order to win the future.”

The delegation also met with Dan Shapiro, senior director for the Middle East and North Africa at the National Security Council; Dennis Ross, special assistant to the President; and David S. Cohen, the Department of Treasury’s acting under secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, according to Haaretz.

Obama to Jewish leaders: U.S. supports Israel’s security Read More »

Farrakhan spews anti-Jewish rhetoric at meeting

Leave a Comment / Worldwide /

Minister Louis Farrakhan at the Nation of Islam’s annual meeting accused the Jewish community of pushing the United States into war with Libya and Iran.

“President Obama, if you allow the Zionists to push you, to mount a military offensive against Gadhafi, and you go in and kill him and his sons as you did with Saddam Hussein and his sons, I’m warning you this is a Libyan problem, let the Libyans solve their problem among themselves,” Farrakhan said Feb. 27 during an address to the Nation of Islam’s 2011 Saviours’ Day convention in Rosemont, Ill., near Chicago.

Farrakhan, who has a long history of anti-Semitic and racist statements, also said that “Zionists dominate the government of the United States of America and her banking system.”

“Some of you think that I’m just somebody who’s got something out for the Jewish people. You’re stupid. Do you think I would waste my time if I did not think it was important for you to know Satan?  My job is to pull the cover off of Satan so that he will never deceive you and the people of the world again,” he continued.

The Anti-Defamation League condemned Farrakhan’s statements. “Anti-Semitism has suffused the Nation of Islam’s message, and Farrakhan is the standard bearer and bigot-in-chief,” said Abraham Foxman, ADL national director in a statement. “For the past two years he has put anti-Semitism front and center on the agenda, so that it is now a drumbeat heard across the organization. And perhaps what’s more disturbing is that despite his anti-Semitic rants, he has not been made a pariah in his own community.  What does it take for him to stop being a pied piper of hatred?”

During the convention, other speakers accused Jews of controlling the media and called for the Nation of Islam’s anti-Semitic books to be taught in schools nationwide. The convention’s opening plenary session, titled “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews,” tried to demonstrate disproportionate Jewish involvement in the slave trade and to blame Jews for black suffering ever since.

Farrakhan spews anti-Jewish rhetoric at meeting Read More »

Netanyahu mulling interim peace deal

Leave a Comment / Israel /

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly is considering seeking a long-term interim peace deal with the Palestinians that would include the establishment of a Palestinian state with temporary borders.

The impetus for an interim deal comes as peace talks between the two sides have broken down. The possibility of working out an interim deal was published Wednesday in several Israeli newspapers citing unnamed sources in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Haaretz reported that the plan would include a Palestinian state. During the interim peace, Israel and the Palestinians could continue to negotiate a final status deal, according to the reports.

“Of course, Israel would prefer a final status peace agreement, but that has become all but impossible because of the Palestinian refusal to negotiate,” an unnamed government official told CNN. “We are looking at options for steps forward that will help lead to a two-state solution and move the process forward.”

The Quartet on the Middle East—the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States—met Wednesday in Brussels to discuss how to advance the peace process. Netanyahu did not send a representative to the meeting after being told there would be no meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian representatives.

Saeb Erekat, who recently resigned as a Palestinian negotiator, represented the Palestinian Authority at the meeting. Representatives of the Quartet will be in Israel next week to update Israeli negotiators on the process.

The Palestinians have said they will not resume talks with Israel until all settlement construction is frozen in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.

Netanyahu mulling interim peace deal Read More »

Jesse Jackson appeals to Cuba to free Gross

Leave a Comment / Worldwide /

The Rev. Jesse Jackson has called on Cuba to release Jewish U.S. citizen Alan Gross from prison and reunite him with his family.

Jackson, who has been to Cuba several times and met with former President Fidel Castro and current President Raul Castro, offered to go to Cuba to negotiate the release of American contractor Alan Gross, according to a statement issued Tuesday from his Rainbow PUSH coalition.

“My appeal is solely a humanitarian one with deep respect of the national sovereignty of your beloved country,” the statement read. “I know that you have the moral courage and authority to free Mr. Gross and I hope and pray that you will accept my appeal. I am ready to travel to Cuba at any moment to meet with you and also visit Mr. Gross. I hope you will allow Mr. Gross to be reunited with his family.”

Jackson told The Associated Press that he was making the appeal as a private U.S. citizen and not on behalf of the Obama administration.

Gross, whom the U.S. State Department says was in Cuba to assist Cuban Jews, is scheduled to go on trial Friday after being charged in Cuba on Feb. 4 with “acts against the independence and territorial integrity of the state.” The charge carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence.

U.S. officials will attend the trial, which likely will be in front of a panel of judges, Reuters reported. The trial is expected to last a couple of days.

Cuban authorities detained Gross in late 2009 on his way out of the country, saying he was a spy. Gross’ family and State Department officials say he was in the country on a U.S. Agency for International Development contract to help the country’s 1,500 Jews communicate with other Jewish communities using the Internet. The main Jewish groups in Cuba have denied any contact with or knowledge of Gross or the program.

Jesse Jackson appeals to Cuba to free Gross Read More »

Defense system protects Israeli tanks

Leave a Comment / Israel /

An armor defense system for Israeli tanks successfully thwarted a missile attack on Israel’s border with Gaza, Israel’s military said.

The Windbreaker system on Tuesday identified, alerted and intercepted an anti-tank missile fired from southern Gaza on an Israeli army patrol in the western Negev near the Gaza border, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The soldiers returned fire shortly after the attack, according to the IDF.

The system, placed in tanks on the Gaza border two months ago, uses sensors and radar to identify incoming missiles, and fires its own missiles to intercept and neutralize the attacking missile.

Several terrorist groups in Gaza reportedly possess anti-tank missiles.

Defense system protects Israeli tanks Read More »

Ex-Rep. Lee Hamilton appeals to Obama for Pollard

Leave a Comment / United States /

Former Indiana congressman Lee Hamilton appealed to President Obama to release Jonathan Pollard, calling it “a matter of basic compassion and justice.”

Hamilton, a Democrat who was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee when Pollard was sentenced, has intervened in the case before, looking into inhumane treatment against Pollard when he first entered prison.

His letter is the latest in a surge of pleas to free Pollard, a U.S. Navy analyst who spied for Israel and who has been in prison since 1985.

“I join many other distinguished Americans to request that you exercise your power of clemency and commute Jonathan Pollard’s prison sentence to time served,” Hamilton’s Feb. 25 letter to Obama reads.

“I do not underestimate the gravity of Mr. Pollard’s crime, but I do believe that he has served a disproportionately severe sentence and that he should be promptly released. He has already spent over 25 years in prison, several of which were spent in solitary confinement.”

In recent weeks, letters on behalf of Pollard have been received at the White House from former Vice President Dan Quayle, former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter and Chicago Rabbi Capers Funnye, a cousin of first lady Michelle Obama. In addition, 39 House Democrats sent a letter to Obama seeking a pardon.

In January, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a formal request for Pollard’s clemency to Obama. Also that month, more than 500 religious and community leaders asked Obama in a letter to commute Pollard’s sentence to time served.

Ex-Rep. Lee Hamilton appeals to Obama for Pollard Read More »

Obama: Israelis should soul-search about seriousness on peace

Leave a Comment / Israel, United States /

President Obama reportedly urged Jewish communal leaders to speak to their friends and colleagues in Israel and to “search your souls” over Israel’s seriousness about making peace.

In an hourlong meeting Tuesday with about 50 representatives from the Jewish community’s chief foreign policy umbrella group, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Obama reiterated the U.S. commitment to Israel, according to statements from both the White House and Conference of Presidents.

But several participants at the meeting told JTA that the president also implied that Israel bears primary responsibility for moving the peace process ahead. They interpreted the president’s comments either as hostile, naïve or unsurprising.

Obama said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is eager to secure his legacy by establishing a Palestinian state and would accept a decent offer if it was on the table, according to participants.

“The Palestinians don’t feel confident that the Netanyahu government is serious about territorial concessions,” the president reportedly said.

Obama reportedly said that the Jewish sections of Jerusalem would remain in Israeli hands as part of any peace deal, but that the Arab sections would not.

Participants uniformly declined to speak on the record about the meeting, in keeping with admonitions from Conference of Presidents leaders that specifics should not be discussed publicly. While there was general consistency in the reports about Obama’s comments, interpretation of them varied widely.

“Many people felt that their worst fears about Obama were confirmed with respect to Israel,” one participant said. “They felt an enormous hostility towards Israel.”

Other participants disagreed, calling such views ridiculous. They said the meeting was a positive one, described the president as “thoughtful” and “forthcoming” in his remarks, and said no new ground was broken.

“The people who loved Obama probably still love him, the people who had big reservations about Obama probably have more reservations than they had before,” one longtime Jewish organizational official told JTA.

The atmosphere, most agreed, was cordial and gracious.

“I thought he reaffirmed his support of Israel, and I thought he did it quite well,” said one participant. “Nothing that he said would I interpret in any way as being anti Israel or opposed to Israel.”

Others suggested that the president wasn’t hostile so much as naïve about Palestinian intentions and his belief about Israel’s supposed lack of commitment to peacemaking. Still others suggested both interpretations were flawed.

“I think the president showed a deep understanding, in great depth, of the issues that have arisen in the Middle East, including the Palestinian-Israeli peace process as well as the broader regional issues,” a participant told JTA. “I would be very surprised for anybody in the room who listened to the detailed and thoughtful way in which he responded to questions to characterize them as naïve or unknowledgeable.”

Obama: Israelis should soul-search about seriousness on peace Read More »