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November 2, 2018

Petition Calls on UCLA to Cancel NSJP Conference

A recent petition started by Stop Anti-Semitism website is calling on UCLA to cancel the upcoming National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) on Nov. 16-18 and already has tens of thousands of signatures.

The petition, titled “Help prevent the next Pittsburgh – tell UCLA to cancel SJP’s annual hate conference!”, notes that SJP founder Hatem Bazian has uttered “horrific anti-Semitic and violence-inciting statements,” such as calling for an “intifada” in the United States and that “there are large number of Zionists who were engaged with Nazi Germany.”

The petition also highlighted various anti-Semitic statements from SJP members:

https://twitter.com/AdamMilstein/status/1057769149600956417

Additionally, the petition points out that SJP has heaped praise upon convicted terrorists Rasmea Odeh and Leila Khaled and has ties to terror groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.

“Because of SJP’s closed-door policy of not allowing any non-SJP students to attend the Conference, UCLA is essentially allowing SJP to continue spewing their messages of violence, Anti-Semitism, and support of known terrorists,” the petition states.

The petition proceeds to call on UCLA to cancel the conference.

“If not canceled, we call to hold UCLA accountable by investigating it for violation of anti-discrimination laws, its own policies against discrimination as were adopted by the UC Regents, and violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin (including Anti-Semitism) for federally assisted programs and activities!” the petition concludes.

As of publication time, there were more than 16,000 signatures to the petition.

UCLA issued a cease-and-desist letter to NSJP on Wednesday evening to stop using the UCLA Bruin Bear in their logo by Monday, or else the university could shut down the conference.

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‘There Are No Words’: Pittsburgh Paper Puts Hebrew Words of Mourning On Front Page

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette posted the first four words to the Mourner’s Kaddish in Hebrew on the front page of their Friday newspaper and on the top of their website.

Here is a picture of it:

David M. Shribman, the executive editor of the Post-Gazette, wrote that he decided to put those words in Hebrew when he realized that when “there are no words to express a community’s feelings, then maybe you are thinking in the wrong language.”

Shribman felt that by doing so, it brought “our readers to the heart of the incident that has marked our community, and displaying the heart of this community, including of course the Post-Gazette community” on the first Shabbat since the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue.

“This week, each entire congregation — indeed all of Pittsburgh — may well stand, in spirit if not in fact, for if Pittsburgh’s passage in the past several days has shown anything, it is that these losses are all of ours, and that the solidarity of Pittsburgh’s grief is the face we have shown to those beyond the three rivers to the four corners of the earth,” Shribman wrote.

Members of the Jewish community praised the Post-Gazette:

The last of the 11 victims of the shooting was buried on Friday.

‘There Are No Words’: Pittsburgh Paper Puts Hebrew Words of Mourning On Front Page Read More »

Facebook Removes Rabbi’s Post Detailing Harassment From Farrakhan Supporters

Photo from Flickr.

New York Rabbi Avram Mlotek, who claimed in a Facebook post that he was harassed by supporters of Louis Farrakhan on his commute home Thursday evening, is now saying that Facebook has removed his post.

Mlotek wrote in a subsequent Facebook post on Friday that Facebook told him they had taken down the post because it “violates community standards.”

“I’ve asked for their decision to be reviewed but for the time being the post does not appear when you search for it on my wall,” Mlotek wrote. “Hopefully this will be sorted and it will be returned shortly but let’s just say there’s something wrong with the algorithm, Mark Zuckerberg, if Facebook can’t differentiate between hate speech and reporting hate speech.”

As of publication time, the post does not appear on Mlotek’s feed.

Here is a screenshot of the post:

Facebook did not immediately respond to the Journal’s request for comment.

UPDATE 1: A spokesperson for Facebook told the Journal in an email, “We mistakenly removed the post and have restored it.” The post still does not appear on Mlotek’s Facebook page.

UPDATE 2: The Facebook spokesperson told the Journal in a follow-up email that she could confirm that the post has been restored but it likely can’t be seen by the Journal due to privacy settings.

“Our team processes millions of reports each week, and sometimes we get things wrong,” the spokesperson said. “The post was mistakenly removed by a member of our review team after we received reports that content on the page violated our Community Standards. As soon as we were notified of the problem, we investigated and restored the post upon determining that they did not violate our Standards.”

UPDATE 3: Mlotek’s original post is now back to being visible on Facebook.

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Last Pittsburgh Shooting Victim Laid to Rest Friday

Rose Mallinger, 97, was the last of the 11 Pittsburgh shooting victims to be laid to rest on Friday.

Mallinger was described as a youthful 97-year-old, being full of life and energy and a regular at Tree of Life synagogue, where the shooting occurred.

“Her involvement with the synagogue went beyond the Jewish religion,” Mallinger’s family said in a statement. “… It was her place to be social, to be active and to meet family and friends.”

“She retained her sharp wit, humor and intelligence until the very last day She did everything she wanted to do in her life.”

Mallinger leaves behind three children, five grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. Her daughter, Andrea Wedner, 61, was wounded in the shooting. She is currently in stable condition.

Last Pittsburgh Shooting Victim Laid to Rest Friday Read More »

Anti-Semitic Graffiti Shuts Down Event At Brooklyn Synagogue

Screenshot from Twitter.

Anti-Semitic graffiti was found at a Brooklyn synagogue on Thursday, prompting the cancellation of an event that was scheduled for that night.

The graffiti, which was found on the second and fourth floors of Union Temple at around 8 p.m. EST, included statements such as “Kill All Jews,” “Die Jew Rats We Are Here,” “Hitler,” and “Jews Better Be Ready,” all written in black marker.

An event discussing the importance of voting in the upcoming midterm elections was scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. EST, featuring actress Ilana Glazer interviewing journalist Amy Goodman and Democratic state senate candidates Andrew Gournades and Jim Gaughran. The event was canceled once the graffiti was discovered.

“I can’t put these 200 people who came to listen in a safe space … in that danger,” Glazer said.

Kathryn Gonzalez, who was among the crowd of people waiting outside the auditorium where the event was supposed to be held, told the New York Post, “There was a lot of anxiety, especially given last weekend’s events and the upcoming election, the tension and fear feels heightened.”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) issued the following statement:

The vandal is suspected to be an adult male.

A New York Times report on Wednesday noted that 50 percent of all hate crimes in New York targeted Jews in 2018.

“It is the varied backgrounds of people who commit hate crimes in the city that make combating and talking about anti-Semitism in New York much harder,” the report states.

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Rosner’s Torah Talk: Parshat Chayei Sarah with Rabbi Ari Hart

Ari Hart is the rabbi of Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob, an orthodox synagogue in Skokie Illinois.  As a thought leader, he has contributed to leading secular and religious publications, including the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, The Hill, Patheos, NY Daily News, The Jewish Daily Forward,and more. Rav Ari was selected by The Jewish Week as one of the 36 “forward-thinking young people who are helping to remake the Jewish community.” He is also a founder of Uri L’Tzedek: Orthodox Social Justice and co-founder of the Jewish Muslim Volunteer Alliance. Rabbi Hart received smicha (rabbinic ordination) from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York City in 2012.

This week’s Torah portion — Parashat Chayei Sarah (Genesis 23:1-25:18) — features the death of Sarah, Isaac’s marriage to Rivka, and the death and burial of Abraham. Our talk focuses on Lavan – and other enemies of the Jewish People.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwhUqB3oj6Q&feature=youtu.be

 

Previous Talks on Chayei Sarah:

Rabbi James Gibson

Rabbi Ranon Teller

Rabbi Alan Henkin

Rabbi Wendi Geffen

Rabbi Deborah Bravo

 

Rosner’s Torah Talk: Parshat Chayei Sarah with Rabbi Ari Hart Read More »