December 18, 2017

Netanyahu Thanks Nikki Haley for Vetoing Anti-Israel Resolution

Leave a Comment / Israel / Aaron Bandler

Israeli Prime Minister Benjaim Netanyahu put forward a video thanking Nikki Haley, the United States’ Ambassador to the United Nations, for vetoing an anti-Israel U.N. resolution.

The resolution, put forward by Egypt, would have rendered President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and his plan to eventually move the U.S. embassy there as “null and void” and prevented “the establishment of diplomatic missions” in Jerusalem.

But Haley prevented it from going into effect by wielding the U.S.’s veto power, and Netanyahu expressed his gratitude to her.

“On Hanukkah, you spoke like a Maccabi,” Netanyahu said in a video. “You lit a candle of truth. You dispel the darkness. One defeated the many. Truth defeated lies.”

Thank you, Ambassador Haley. On Hanukkah, you spoke like a Maccabi. You lit a candle of truth. You dispel the darkness. One defeated the many. Truth defeated lies. Thank you, President Trump. Thank you, Nikki Haley. pic.twitter.com/zFIiStoait

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) December 18, 2017

When Haley issued the veto, she declared, “The United States will not be told by any country where we can put our embassy,” adding that “it’s scandalous to say we are putting back peace efforts.”

“The fact that this veto is being done in defense of American sovereignty and in defense of America’s role in the Middle East peace process is not a source of embarrassment for us,” said Haley. “It should be an embarrassment to the remainder of the Security Council.”

Danny Danon, the Israeli U.N. ambassador, also criticized the resolution.

“While the Jewish people celebrate the holiday of Hanukkah that symbolizes the eternal connection to Jerusalem, there are people who think that they can rewrite history,” said Danon. “It’s time for all countries to recognize that Jerusalem always was and always will be the capital of the Jewish people and the capital of Israel.”

Before the U.S. used its veto power, 14 countries voted in favor of the resolution, including Britain and France.

Netanyahu Thanks Nikki Haley for Vetoing Anti-Israel Resolution Read More »

Multiple Dead, Injured in Amtrak Derailment

Leave a Comment / United States / Aaron Bandler

Multiple people have died and were injured in an accident involving an Amtrak train being derailed in Washington state.

At around 7:40 a.m. on Monday, the Amtrak Cascades train that was headed from Seattle to Portland, OR derailed nearby the city of DuPont. One of the cars fell onto Interstate 5 and another swayed over the road from the track. Thirteen out of 14 total train cars were derailed.

The Associated Press is reporting that there are at least six dead, although officials have stated that there is no official death toll as of yet. An estimated 77 people have been taken to the hospital for injuries; at least four of them are considered to be serious.

A number of the injuries came from the fallen train car hitting five vehicles.

“The people that were in all the vehicles, even though when you see the pictures, it’s pretty horrific, at this point nobody in any of the vehicles is a fatal,” Detective Ed Troy told NBC News. “The fatals are all contained to the train.”

A total of 83 people were on the train, five of whom were crew members and 78 were passengers.

President Trump issued a couple of tweets about it:

The train accident that just occurred in DuPont, WA shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly. Seven trillion dollars spent in the Middle East while our roads, bridges, tunnels, railways (and more) crumble! Not for long!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2017

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in the train accident in DuPont, Washington. Thank you to all of our wonderful First Responders who are on the scene. We are currently monitoring here at the White House.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2017

Gov. Jay Inslee has declared a state of emergency in response to the accident.

The derailment occurred on a route that became operational on Monday as part of a project to install a quicker route. The train was going at around 70-80 miles per hour on a curve in which the train was supposed to be going only 30 miles per hour, although it’s not clear if that was the reason for the derailment.

I-5 is expected to be closed through at least Monday night.

Multiple Dead, Injured in Amtrak Derailment Read More »

German Court Verdict Allowing Kuwait Airways to Discriminate Against Israelis to Be Appealed

Leave a Comment / Worldwide / Aaron Bandler

A German court’s verdict allowing Kuwait Airways to discriminate against Israelis is going to be appealed.

The case at hand involves an Israeli who is claiming that Kuwait Airways prevented from purchasing a ticket simply because he is Israeli. In November, a court in Frankfurt sided with the airline on the grounds that they were “merely respecting the laws of Kuwait,” referencing the Kuwait government’s policy of refusing businesses to provide services to Israelis.

According to a press release from The Lawfare Project, the appeal “aided and abetted Kuwait in imposing its antisemitic, anti-Israeli laws even though such discrimination is illegal in Germany.”

“We thought we had consigned antisemitism to our history books,” Nathan Gelbart, the The Lawfare Project’s German counsel, said in the press release. “The Frankfurt District Court’s verdict has allowed antisemitic discrimination to be imported into our country and helped whitewash and sanitize it. We cannot allow our laws to be subverted by the state-sponsored racism of other nations.”

Prominent German officials condemned the court’s ruling.

“An airline that practices discrimination and anti-Semitism by refusing to fly Israeli passengers should not be allowed to take off or land in Frankfurt,” Frankfurt Mayor Uwe Becker told Reuters.

Foreign Ministry Secretary Michael Roth also called the ruling “incomprehensible.”

The Lawfare Project is optimistic about the appeal.

“We are very confident in the merits of this case, which seeks to address a flagrant violation of human rights in Germany,” Brooke Goldstein, executive director of The Lawfare Project, told the Journal in an emailed statement. “This has been echoed in a multitude of statements from Germany’s political leaders condemning Kuwait Airways’ discriminatory and anti-Semitic policy. There should be no place for this kind of hateful and discriminatory policy in Germany, and we are hopeful that country’s political and legal system will act to end it immediately.”

The Journal reported in October that Germany had opened an investigation into Kuwait Airways’ practice of banning Israelis from their flights. The United States government concluded in 2015 that it was illegal for Kuwait Airlines to ban an Israeli from flying from New York to London, resulting in the airline to put an end to such flights.

German Court Verdict Allowing Kuwait Airways to Discriminate Against Israelis to Be Appealed Read More »

“The Greatest Showman” an uplifting end-of-year musical

Episode 68 – Viral in the Valley

Leave a Comment / Two Nice Jewish Boys / Naor Meningher and Eytan Weinstein

If you have kids, you probably know that television is dead, or at least, dying. Nowadays young adults and kids alike spend the vast majority of their free time on YouTube, binging endless hours of free content, tailored specifically to their tastes and desires.

This revolution has afforded talented people from all around the world not only the opportunity to reach huge audiences without having to go through producers and networks – but also the chance to make a living from their art.

Leigh Lahav, an Israeli-American who moved from Israel to L.A 3 years ago, is probably the most successful Israeli YouTuber out there. Her short animations, usually mash ups of shows and movies from pop culture, have accumulated millions and millions of views. She has a huge community of fans and followers, and now she’s on a journey to make it big in America.

Leigh joins us today to talk about her art, career and future endeavors.

Leigh’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitter

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Another war coming? Four questions on Gaza

Leave a Comment / Israel, News, Rosner's Domain / Shmuel Rosner

After another night of rocket fire from Gaza, including a near miss of a residential home and the inevitable Israeli response of striking Hamas targets, here are four questions that could determine the way forward in Gaza.

The ‘long memory’ question:

Hamas “remembers” what happened three years ago in Gaza. That’s the view of one of the IDF’s top commanders. Three years ago, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge — a long and bloody affair, at the end of which a relatively stable ceasefire was established.

Israel believes that Hamas remembers the heavy price paid by the organization, and by the residents of Gaza, when Israel was forced to act against a growing barrage of rocket missiles fired on Israeli towns. Or maybe it doesn’t believe that Hamas remembers as much as it hopes that Hamas remembers.

If their memory is long enough — so we assume — they will hesitate to prompt another round of fighting. So the first question about Gaza ought to be “is it long enough?”

The ‘what do they want?’ question:

Hamas, the IDF believes, in not interested in another round of fighting in Gaza. Why not? Well, because they have a long memory, because there is little they can gain from another round and because, so we assume, the IDF has intelligence from which it learns that there is no sign of such a desire.

Maybe that’s true. Maybe it was also true before the beginning of Protective Edge. Whether Hamas has interest in another war is an important question, but hardly the determinative factor in an unstable situation. Hamas might not want another war, but it might also not want to restrain the people who fire rockets into Israel. So the question now changes: Which one of the two does it want less?

For the time being, what we see is a Hamas willing to risk war for the benefit of not having to restrain the fire squads. It doesn’t want war, it wants Israel to suffer without having to go to war. And, for now, this is exactly what it is getting.

The ‘when does Israel lose patience?’ question:

Ideally, Israel would lose patience with the firing of rockets right after the first rocket is fired. A sovereign country ought not to tolerate any such acts.

In real life, wars in Gaza start gradually. Responses to rocket fire become more severe, and if Hamas doesn’t get the hint, they become even more severe.

Israel is nearing this losing-of-patience moment. It is nearing the moment of having to intensify its response, lest its own citizens start showing their frustration with the government. If someone is killed as a result of rocket fire, if the drizzle of rockets feels like rain is coming, Israel will have no choice but to respond with harshness.

The ‘is it about Jerusalem?’ question:

All this is happening following the official U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. And, of course, this is not a coincidence. The result of the recognition is that there are now more people in Gaza motivated to demonstrate their anger. The result of the recognition is that there is no government in Gaza with motivation to rein in this anger.

So Jerusalem provided a pretext for these recent events. But it is not the reason for them. The reason for them is Hamas betting on its ability to up the ante without paying an unbearable price for it. Is this a miscalculation? Will it be wise enough to stop before it becomes a miscalculation? Will it (and Israel) be lucky enough not to see one of these rockets hit a significant target in a way that would make it impossible for Israel not to go to war?

Some questions can only be answered in retrospect.

Another war coming? Four questions on Gaza Read More »

What to Give Jewish Friends for Hanukkah

It’s not Jewish Christmas

The biggest misconception about Hanukkah is that it is just like Jewish Christmas, when in fact the two have very little in common. When you sit down at your computer to find a good gift deal on the web, there are some specific unspoken rules for buying Hanukkah gifts you should be aware of. It is not your typical Christmas shopping. First of all, Hanukkah is a relatively minor Jewish holiday, far less religiously important than Christmas is to Christians. Secondly, gift giving was never an integral part of the holiday, as the only religious observance attributed to this holiday was lighting candles. It is only in the last century or so that kids started getting small presents on each day of Hanukkah.

Traditional gifts

If you are uncertain of what would be appropriate for a Hanukkah gift, you can always rely on the age-old traditional gifts. The Jewish equivalent to stocking-stuffers for kids are dreidels and little bags of chocolate coins wrapped in golden foil. The cradle is a four-sided spin top has with one letter of the Hebrew alphabet on each side that spell “Nes Gadol Hayah Sham” which translates to “a great miracle happened here”. The chocolate coins are also known as Hanukkah geld. The coin is significant as a national minted coin was a great celebration of freedom for the ancient Hasmoneans, the ruling dynasty of Judea during classical antiquity. When shopping for adults, stylish menorah candles, a Jewish cookbook or a fine kosher wine or cooking oil are all sure bets for a traditional gift.

No Christmas wrapping

Whatever you decide on buying, do not be color blind. Christmas themed wrapping paper may be auspiciously abundant in all of the stores, but avoid it at all costs. Note that Christmas colors are red and green, while Hanukkah colors are blue and white, so color coordinate accordingly. If you do wrap your present, go for a plain generic pattern or splurge on some special Hanukkah wrapping paper. The same applies to gift cards, stay well away from anything Christmas themed. You can buy or even make a custom Hanukkah card with a gift card inside.

Observe tradition

Hanukkah lasts for eight days, so there really is no excuse to give your gift late. Show respect for tradition by giving your Hanukkah gifts on time. Also be aware of dietary restrictions and steer clear of gift baskets that contain Canadian bacon, fancy dried shrimp, Italian blood sausage or Christmas fruitcake. Splurging on gifts may be ok for some holidays, but it really misses the point of Hanukkah. Stick with small gifts that have some special meaning. A large part of Hanukkah is Tikkun Olam, translated as “repair the world”, through altruistic actions and honest communication. You can be a part of this by speaking to your friends about their beliefs and learning about the significance of Hanukkah traditions.

Although there is far less hype around Hanukkah than Christmas, giving a small Hanukkah gift is a nice gesture. That being said, the best gift you can give is love and friendship. Gifts are great, but spending time with family and feasting on oil fried food with loved ones is a much more important part of Hanukkah. It truly is an occasion where the expression “it’s the thought that counts” rings particularly true.

What to Give Jewish Friends for Hanukkah Read More »

Photo Essay: L.A.’s Iranian Jews protest anti-Semitic Singer Yeganeh

Leave a Comment / Blogs / Karmel Melamed

When news spread light wildfire in Southern California’s Iranian Jewish community late last week that Mohsen Yeganeh, an anti-Semitic Iranian Muslim singer from Iran was going to perform a concert at downtown L.A.’s Microsoft Theater, the community’s activists quickly mobilized using e-mails and social media to calls for a boycott the concert. Hundreds of community members unaware of Yeganeh’s anti-Israel and anti-Semitic song “Flock of Vultures”, cancelled their plans to attend the concert or demanded refunds from the theater. The Farsi language song’s lyrics call Jews vultures, blamed Israeli soldiers for killing Palestinian children and demand violence against Jews. (More information about this controversy can be read here).

Yet the Iranian Jewish community in Los Angeles which is very firmly pro-Israel and vocal against Iranian Muslim anti-Semitism, did not stop with a mere call to boycott Yeganeh. No… 150 vocal and very proud Iranian Jewish activists peacefully protested, held signs and marched against Yeganeh on December 16^th outside the theater. Here is some short footage of their protest outside the theater…

As a reporter I was there to witness the protest on hand and here are some of my reflections of the evening…

The Iranian Jewish protestors who were both young and old encouraged some concert-goers to avoid the concert, they educated American visitors to the nearby venues about Yeganeh vile hatred for Jews and handed flyers to passers by. One Iranian Muslim concert-goer shouting at the Iranian Jewish protestors in Farsi language “F— you Jews! You messed up Iran and now you are messing up America!” Another anti-Semitic Iran concert goer shouting at them in Farsi saying “Yeganeh is right, you Jews kill Palestinians every day!”. Still other potential concert-goers upon learning about Yeganeh’s anti-Semitic song, turned away from attending the concert and some concert goers showed sympathy to the protestors. Cars passing by the venue honked their horns in support of the protestors and even Rabbi Hertzel Peer of the Pico-Robertson Chabad Persian Youth and his son Mendy stopped by to show support for the protestors and lite this giant Hanukkah menorah on the sidewalk. Here is footage of that special moment…

The following are just some interesting snap-shots of the peaceful and passion-filled night from the perspective of this reporter who was surprised to see his community turn out in such a large number to speak out against hate and violence against Jews and Israel…