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Jewish Journal

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January 8, 2019

Jewish Dems Respond to Trump Speech

Leave a Comment / Online, United States /

The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) responded to President Trump’s speech calling for a border wall by saying that the real issue is the ongoing partial government shutdown.

JDCA executive director Halie Soifer said in a statement, “The facts simply do not support the president’s assertion of a national security crisis at our southern border. To the extent there is a crisis in our country, it is one of the president’s own making given the grave economic, security, and social impact of his unnecessary and dangerous government shutdown.”

Soifer added that it was of greater national security importance to “reopen the government immediately and ensure salaries are provided to the tens of thousands of TSA airport security officers, law enforcement and corrections officers, Customs and Border Patrol officers, and other vital U.S. government employees affected by the shutdown.”

“Essential government programs, including food assistance for American families and children, are in jeopardy and 800,000 Americans are either working without pay or not working at all,” Soifer said. “This government shutdown is a political crisis created by the president, and an abdication of his fundamental responsibility to govern.”

Soifer concluded the statement calling on Senate Republicans to completely re-open the government.

Trump’s full speech as well as the responses from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer can be read here.

Jewish Dems Respond to Trump Speech Read More »

Senate Dems Block Pro-Israel Bill From Getting a Vote

Leave a Comment / Online, United States /

Senate Democrats blocked a pro-Israel bill from reaching the 60-vote threshold necessary for it to reach the floor of the Senate for a vote.

By a margin of 56 votes in favor and 44 against, the bill fell short by four votes to end the filibuster. According to the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), 43 of the votes against were from Senate Democrats:

There were four Senate Democrats that voted for the bill: Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Krysten Sinema (D-Ari.)

Myriad Senate Democrats, such as Ben Cardin (D-Md.), have argued that the Senate should not be conducting any business until President Trump ends the partial government shutdown over funding for a border wall. Other Senate Democrats, such as Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), have argued that the anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) provision violates the First Amendment of the Constitution.

On the other side of the aisle, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who sponsored the bill, argued that the bill was compatible with the First Amendment:

Rubio had earlier tweeted that the Democrats don’t want to reveal their growing support for the BDS movement:

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) accused senators who supported the bill of dual loyalty in a Monday tweet, which the Anti-Defamation League said was “deeply troubling.”

The bill itself would have provided at least $38 billion in aid to Israel – which would have been a record amount of military aid from the United States to another country – as well as provide aid to Jordan, an ally of both the United States and Israel.

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Malaysia Prevents Israeli Swimmers From Participating in Championship

Leave a Comment / Israel, Online /

Malaysia is preventing Israeli swimmers from participating in the world championship that the country is hosting.

Israel and Malaysia have zero diplomatic relations at this point in time; Malaysians are barred from traveling to Israel. The lack of diplomatic relations has resulted in Israel’s Paralympics swim team being unable to obtain the visas necessary to travel to Malaysia.

Nisim Sasportas, chairman of the Israeli Olympic Committee, told Ynet News, “For some time now we have been trying to guarantee our participation in the world championships. In principle, everyone says that it will work out, but we have still not received an invitation or visas.”

“We are continuing to apply pressure,” Sasportas said. “We have letters of support from the International Paralympics Committee, the European Paralympics Committee and the Olympic Athletes Committee, and hope that they allow the athletes and their security entourage to participate.”

The world championship is scheduled to be held in Kuching in July; the competition will play a role in determining who will be able to participate in the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020.

Israeli athletes have previously had trouble getting into Malaysia, including Israeli tennis players in 2016 and Israeli windsurfers in 2015. The exception was in 2010, when Ilya Grad, an Israeli boxer, was given a special visa to participate in a reality show.

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Israeli Forces Arrest Palestinian for Bus Stop Shooting

Leave a Comment / Israel, Online /

Israeli security forces arrested a Palestinian terrorist for allegedly taking part in a Dec. 13 shooting at a Givat Assaf bus stop, close to Ramallah.

The Palestinian, identified as Asem Barghouti, was arrested on the morning of Jan. 8 by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel’s counterterrorism police unit Yamam and the Shin Bet at the home of a suspected accomplice’s house at the Abu Shukheidim village in Ramallah.  According to the Shin Bet, Israeli forces confiscated a firearm, ammunition and night-vision equipment at the house; the Shin Bet believes that Barghouti was going to use the equipment to carry out further terror attacks.

Barghouti is alleged to be behind the Dec. 13 shooting that resulted in the deaths of two Israeli soldiers, injuring two other Israelis, one of whom was also an Israeli soldier. He and his brother Salih were allegedly also behind a Dec. 9 shooting that injured seven Israelis, including a pregnant woman who was forced to give premature birth as a result of her injuries. The prematurely born baby died shortly thereafter. Salih was shot and killed by Israeli forces on Dec. 12.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, “I praise the Shin Bet, IDF and Yamam for capturing the depraved terrorist who committed the Givat Assaf terror attack and was part of the Ofra attack. The long arm of Israel will reach all those who harm our citizens, and the State of Israel will bring them to justice.”

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Sherman-Palladino, Stiller, Baron Cohen Score Directors Guild Nominations

Leave a Comment / Entertainment /

Ben Stiller, Sacha Baron Cohen and Amy-Sherman Palladino are among the Jewish directors who have been nominated for the 71st Annual Directors Guild Awards, which will take place on Feb. 2 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland.

Stiller received a nomination for directing the Showtime limited series “Escape at Dannemora,” Cohen was singled out for co-directing his series “Who Is America?” also on Showtime, and Sherman-Palladino got her second consecutive nomination for directing Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” She’ll compete in the comedy series category opposite her husband, Daniel Palladino, who is nominated for a different episode of the show.  

Barry Levinson, who won a DGA Award for “Rain Man,” was nominated for HBO’s “Paterno,” his seventh nomination, and three-time DGA winner Lesli Linka Glatter is once again nominated for the Showtime series “Homeland.

In children’s TV, Barry Sonnenfeld scored a nomination for “A Series of Unfortunate Events”; and in reality programming, Eytan Keller got a nod for “Iron Chef Gauntlet.”  Louis J. Horvitz received his 19th nomination for directing the Grammy Awards, and Glenn Weiss, who famously proposed to his girlfriend Jan Svendsen at the Emmy Awards last year, was nominated for his direction of the Tony Awards, his 15th nomination (he has won eight times).

On the feature side, Matthew Heineman will vie in the first-time feature film director category for “A Private War,” his third DGA nomination. He won twice before, for the documentaries “City of Ghosts” and “Cartel Land.”

Julie Cohen is nominated for the documentary “RBG” (with co-director Betsy West); and Spike Jones, né Adam Spiegel, got a nod for his Apple Homepod commercial, his third nomination.

Sherman-Palladino, Stiller, Baron Cohen Score Directors Guild Nominations Read More »

Two Nice Jewish Boys – Episode 121: Cartoons for Autism

Leave a Comment / Podcasts, Two Nice Jewish Boys /

It happens one day: you meet someone special. You fall in love, move in together. Support each other. You get married, until death do you apart. You take a mortgage, buy a place in the suburbs or in the city. Everything is going according to plan, and life is smiling at you.

Then you decide it’s time to take the next step. And before you know it, the stork delivers a beautiful baby to your doorstep, as if you ordered it in Amazon Prime.

You want what’s best for the baby, you invest in him from day one. You send him to the kindergarten, you play with him, sing songs together. You’re genuinely happy.

When your child is two, maybe three… something seems a little off. You can’t really put your finger on it. The kid doesn’t talk yet, he seems anxious, and he never looks at you straight in the eyes. You take him to a specialist, and the news is devastating – your child is autistic.

An estimated 1 out of 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls are diagnosed with autism in the United States. Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S. And the scariest thing of all – not one know what causes autism, nor why the sickness rate is in constant growth. But when your kid is diagnosed, it’s not the end. Only the beginning, and today, more and more companies are trying to develop ways to aid autistic children. But today’s guest, Gilad Piker, is a little bit different.

Gilad works in Candy Bear, a production company for animated content. He co-produced Zack and Quack alongside our guest from episode 41, Gili Dolev. And one day he had an idea, that might revolutionize the world of autistic children.

We’re extremely glad to have Gilad on the show today.

Gilad’s Indiegogo project

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Rosner's Domain Podcast

Yaron Dekel: Understanding the Israeli Elections

Leave a Comment / Podcasts, Rosner's Domain Podcast /

Shmuel Rosner and Yaron Dekel discuss the upcoming Israeli election: who are the key players and who has a chance to win.
Yaron Dekel is a political commentator and cohost of the popular radio show “Dekel Segel” on Galei Tzahal, the Israeli radio network operated by the Israel Defense Forces. Yaron served as a commander at Galei Tzahal in the years 2012-2017. He has won many awards for his journalistic achievements, including the Sokolov Award.
yaron dekel

Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Yaron Dekel: Understanding the Israeli Elections Read More »