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Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

January 28, 2019

ABC to Pilot Two Israeli Series

Leave a Comment / Entertainment /

ABC has ordered pilots based on the hit Israeli series “The Beauty and The Baker” and “Until the Wedding.”

“The Beauty and the Baker,” a romantic comedy about the relationship between a glamorous supermodel and a bakery worker, starring Rotem Sela and Avraham Aviv Alush, ran for two seasons in Israel and can be seen via Amazon Prime Video.

Executive Producer David Frankel will write and direct. Keshet Studios’ Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott, and Rachel Kaplan and original series creator Assi Azar will also executive produce.

“Until the Wedding” is drama following a newly engaged couple and how their engagement impacts their family and friends and their own love lives. Writer/executive producer Becky Mode will produce with Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Alon Aranya and Reshet Media’s Avi Zvi and Ami Amir.

No air dates have been set at his time.

ABC to Pilot Two Israeli Series Read More »

Malaysia Loses Paralympics Swimming Over Israel Ban

Leave a Comment / Online, Worldwide /

The International Paralympics Committee (IPC) announced on Sunday that Malaysia will no longer be hosting the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships due to their ban of Israeli athletes from participating.

IPC president Andrew Parsons said in a statement, “All World Championships must be open to all eligible athletes and nations to compete safely and free from discrimination.”

“When a host country excludes athletes from a particular nation, for political reasons, then we have absolutely no alternative but to look for a new Championships host,” Parsons continued.

Israeli Foreign Ministry Ambassador David Roet praised the IPC’s decision in a Times of Israel blog post.

“This sets an example for all international organizations: they must send a clear message to all who believe they can intimidate, boycott, disinvite or even isolate Israel from international events,” Roet wrote.

Both the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee also praised the IPC’s move:

The Malaysian government is standing by their decision to bar Israeli athletes from participating in the competition.

“If hosting an international sporting event is more important than standing up for our Palestinian brothers and sisters who get murdered, maimed and tortured by the [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regime, that means Malaysia has truly loss its moral compass,” Syed Saddiq Ryed Abdul Rahman, the Malaysian Minister of Youth and Sports, said in a statement. “Malaysia stands firm with our decision on the ground of humanity and compassion for the Palestinian plight. We will not compromise.”

It has not yet been decided as to where the competition will be held; the deadline for countries to apply as the host is Feb. 11. The event is a qualifying match for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Malaysia Loses Paralympics Swimming Over Israel Ban Read More »

Israel Sides With U.S., Canada Against Venezuela’s Maduro

Leave a Comment / Israel, Online /

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that the Israeli government recognizes Venezuelan National Assembly President Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president of the country instead of Nicolas Maduro.

Netanyahu said in a statement, “Israel joins the United States, Canada, most of the countries of Latin America and countries in Europe in recognizing the new leadership in Venezuela.”

Guaido responded in a tweet, “Seventy-four years ago, the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated, and today, just as our country is also fighting for its freedom, we thank the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu for the recognition and the support.”

United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Assistant to the President and Special Relations Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt tweeted praise for Netanyahu’s decision:

https://twitter.com/jdgreenblatt45/status/1089563838691848199

Jerusalem Post senior contributing editor Lahav Harkov noted that a Jewish Venezuelan woman said in a radio interview how important Netanyahu’s endorsement of Guaido was to Venezuelans:

Iran, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Authority are among those who are siding with Maduro.

Israel Sides With U.S., Canada Against Venezuela’s Maduro Read More »

Holocaust Memorial Day

Leave a Comment / Blogs /

Is our messaging optimised when it comes to the remembering the Holocaust? 

Yesterday was Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), an important annual event. We remember the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and subsequent genocidal tragedies in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. As the UK’s Daily Express newspaper put it, “this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day will include marking the 25th anniversary of the Genocide in Rwanda, which began in April 1994 and the 40th anniversary of the end of the Genocide in Cambodia, which ended in 1979.”

I am an English Jew, and it astounds me quite how much respect is paid to the Holocaust – with over 6000 HMD events in 2016 – but quite how hypocritical some public figures can be: They say “never again.” They hear “never again.” They vow “never again.” In the next breath,  many of these empathizers and sympathizers are criticizers of Israel. 

“We love Jews, but why can’t we criticize the actions of the Israeli Government?” is a regular refrain. I tackle that topic in the next issue of the Jewish Journal, and our editor David Suissa commented on it in his last column. 

There is a beautiful picture of this year’s memorial at York Minster, one of the largest cathedrals in Europe. That is the same York where 150 Jews were massacred there at Clifford’s Tower in 1190. Things have changed 900 years later, or have they?

Perhaps is time to refine our messaging. We remember the Holocaust but we recognize, explain and share how anti-semitism has changed. Today the virus has morphed into anti-Zionism. A Jew-hater is a Jew-hater and we are naive if our PR does not keep up with the times.

Holocaust Memorial Day Read More »