WASHINGTON (JTA) — Hanan Ashrawi, the longtime Palestinian spokeswoman and commentator, said the Trump administration turned down her request for a visa to visit her family.
“No reason given,” Ashrawi said Monday on Twitter. “Choose any of the following: I’m over 70 and a grandmother; I’ve been an activist for Palestine since the late 1960s; I’ve always been an ardent supporter of nonviolent resistance; I’ve always struggled for human rights and against corruption; I’m basically an academic although I was elected to the” Palestine Legislative Council, the Palestine National Council and the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee.
1/It is official! My US visa application has been rejected. No reason given. Choose any of the following: I’m over 70 & a grandmother; I’ve been an activist for Palestine since the late 1960’s; I’ve always been an ardent supporter of nonviolent resistance;
Ashrawi has served as a negotiator through multiple rounds of peace talks.
A State Department official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the State Department could not reveal the circumstances of the denial of a visa, but added that visas are not denied for political reasons.
“Visa records are confidential under U.S. law; therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases,” said the official. “Whenever an individual applies for a U.S. visa, a consular officer reviews the facts of the case and determines whether the applicant is eligible for that visa based on U.S. law. U.S. law does not authorize the refusal of visas based solely on political statements or views if those statements or views would be lawful in the United States. Visas may be denied only on grounds set out in U.S. law.”
Among the reasons under U.S. law for visa denial are evidence that the user plans to violate the terms of the visa — by working without a permit, for instance; a criminal record; past immigration violations; and a variety of medical reasons.
JTA asked the State Department for comment. It was unavailable as of press time.
The Trump administration has defunded virtually all assistance to the Palestinians and shut down a PLO mission in Washington, D.C.
Earlier this month the U.S. government denied entry to Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment movement targeting Israel, also giving no reason.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib said in an interview that she “loves the fact” that her “Palestinian ancestors” were part an attempt “to create a safe haven for Jews” after the Holocaust.
Critics noted her remarks were at odds with the historical record, and Republicans complained that she had indulged in historical revisionism and worse.
On the podcast, interviewer Dan Klaidman asked Tlaib, whose parents immigrated from Jerusalem and the West Bank, for her “vision for a one-state solution that meets both Palestinian and Israeli-Jewish national aspirations.”
In her response, Tlaib referred to the recent commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel.
“There’s always kind of a calming feeling when I think of the tragedy of the Holocaust, that it was my ancestors — Palestinians — who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence, in many ways, has been wiped out … in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews, post-Holocaust, post-tragedy and the horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time,” Tlaib said. “And I love the fact that it was my ancestors that provided that in many ways.”
Tlaib reiterated her point later in the interview, in defending her idea of single, binational state of Jews and Arabs: “I want a safe haven of Jews. Who doesn’t want to be safe? I’m humbled by the fact that it was [my] ancestors that had to suffer for that to happen.”
Her remarks were quickly refuted by commentators, including Israeli historian Benny Morris. Morris told Ha’aretz that the Arabs of British Mandatory Palestine “did nothing to alleviate the suffering of the Jews at Nazi hands.”
In prestate Palestine, Muhammad Amin al-Husayni, the grand mufti of Jerusalem, opposed all immigration of Jews into Palestine, and during World War II campaigned against the transfer of Jewish refugees to Palestine. He also reportedly worked with the Nazis to prevent the establishment of a Jewish homeland.
In addition, the Palestinian-Arab residents revolted against the British, which led to restrictions on Jewish immigration to British Mandate Palestine, depriving Jews of a “safe haven.”
At least two of Tlaib’s Republican colleagues took her remarks out of context, saying she had said that the Holocaust — and not the refuge that Jews found in Palestine — gave her a “calming feeling.”
“Rashida Tlaib says thinking of the Holocaust provides her a ‘calming feeling,’” Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, said on Twitter.
Surely now @SpeakerPelosi & @LeaderHoyer will finally take action against vile anti-Semitism in their ranks. This must cross the line, even for them. Rashida Tlaib says thinking of the Holocaust provides her a “calming feeling” https://t.co/opUUNEol2d
Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., said on the same platform: “@RashidaTlaib says the Holocaust gives her ‘a calming feeling.’”
.@RashidaTlaib says the Holocaust gives her “a calming feeling” calling for a 1 state solution putting Jews in the minority & out of power of their own country. This is a heart filled w darkness & how the Holocaust began in 1st place. Listen @ 28 min mark. https://t.co/7ZEYSnxV4b
Tlaib in a statement slammed Cheney “for using the tragedy of the Holocaust in a transparent attempt to score political points.” The statement said Tlaib “did not in any way praise the Holocaust, nor did she say the Holocaust itself brought a calming feeling to her.”
President Donald Trump also took aim at Tlaib on Twitter.
Democrat Rep. Tlaib is being slammed for her horrible and highly insensitive statement on the Holocaust. She obviously has tremendous hatred of Israel and the Jewish people. Can you imagine what would happen if I ever said what she said, and says?
“Democrat Rep. Tlaib is being slammed for her horrible and highly insensitive statement on the Holocaust,” Trump said. “She obviously has tremendous hatred of Israel and the Jewish people. Can you imagine what would happen if I ever said what she said, and says?”
Last week Tlaib, the first Palestinian American to be elected to Congress, announced the datesfor her congressional visit to the West Bank, which she organized to compete with Israel trips organized by the American Israel Education Foundation, an affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
In her interview with Yahoo News, Tlaib also condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not seeing her grandmother, who lives in the West Bank, as an equal.
“We can smell it from far away that, no, you don’t want to look at my grandmother in the eye, Netanyahu, and say ‘You are equal to me. You are as human as I am to you,’” she said.
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israeli company Teva is a key target in a lawsuit brought by 44 states claiming that 20 drugmakers colluded to divide up the market in an effort to avoid competition and raise prices.
Teva’s U.S. branch was named in the lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Connecticut. Prosecutors allege that Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. was able to raise prices by more than 1,000 percent and stifle competition for generic drugs, Reuters reported.
Over 19 months from 2013 to 2015, Teva significantly raised prices on 112 generic drugs and colluded with its competitors on at least 86 medicines, the lawsuit claims.
“Teva is a consistent participant in the conspiracies identified in this complaint, but the conduct is pervasive and industry-wide,” according to the lawsuit. “Through its senior-most executives and account managers, Teva participated in a wide-ranging series of restraints with more than a dozen generic drug manufacturers, all of whom knowingly and willingly participated.”
Teva’s chief financial officer, Mike McClellan, said at a news conference Sunday in Israel that the company “has not engaged in any conduct that would lead to civil or criminal liability.”
“We take these accusations seriously and we are going to defend ourselves,” he said.
Teva is the world’s No. 1 generic drugmaker. In the last couple of years, the company has undergone a global restructuring after being hurt by the expiration of its patents on Copaxone, its drug for multiple sclerosis, and struggling under a $35 billion debt from its acquisition of Allergan’s Anda generic drug division.
I have always wanted to visit Poland, but regrettably, I have never managed to, so when the opportunity arose for me to spend three days in Krakow last week with the March of the Living, coinciding on Yom Hashoah, I immediately jumped at it.
My great grandparents immigrated to South Africa from Lithuania in the late nineteenth century, so fortuitously, my immediate family was largely unaffected by the Holocaust. I did, however, grow up hearing the daring, hazardous journey, undertaken by my father’s great uncle, Rabbi Motel Katz, one of the heads of the famous Telz Yeshiva, in Lithuania.
In 1941, Rabbi Motel traveled to America to arrange visas for the families and students of Telz, so they could escape Nazi persecution. But, in June 1941, while Rabbi Motel was in New York, the Germans arrived in Telz. On July 15, all the Jewish men, including the Rabbis, teachers and students of the Seminary, were rounded up and mercilessly killed. With no Rabbis, it was left up to Rabbi Motel’s wife to assume the leadership role of the community. However, on August 30, the women and children were similarly murdered. After three years of anxious waiting, Rabbi Motel heard that tragically his wife, ten children, staff and all his students had perished in the Holocaust.
I have derived continuous inspiration from Rabbi Motel because of what he did next. Realizing that it was up to him to carry on the torch of his community, he founded a new Telz Yeshiva in Cleveland, Ohio, and dedicated the rest of his life to rebuilding Jewish life.
It was this personal story that went through my mind as I prepared for my trip, but I was really hoping to find my own sources of inspiration. Little did I know the unexpected places they would appear.
In the queue to enter the famous Remah Synagogue in Krakow, a 20 year old non-Jewish girl from Manchester turned to me to ask what a Synagogue was. She was walking through the town and just happened to have made her way into the Jewish Quarter. I quickly realized that not only did she have very little knowledge about Judaism but she was actually quite oblivious to even the existence of the Holocaust! She had vaguely heard of Hitler and responded with a typically British understatement of ‘Well that’s not very nice!’ upon hearing from me that six million Jews were murdered.
Cousins in arms: Noam Mirvis with Joel Pollak at the train tracks at Birkenau; Photos courtesy of Noam Mirvis
I shared the significance of where we were standing, advised her to do some research on the Holocaust and suggested for her to even visit Auschwitz. I left feeling disheartened at her sheer ignorance and shared the story in disbelief with other members of my group.
This story sadly is not uncommon. Recent alarming figures from the Claims Conference Survey reveal that over two-thirds of American millennials have never heard of Auschwitz. Over 45% of those surveyed could not name a single one of the 40 ghettos or concentration camps.
However, the story with my new friend doesn’t end there. The next morning in the long tight queue to enter the gates of Auschwitz, I turned to my left and low and behold to my utter shock standing right next to me was the very same girl! She decided to come after our conversation and had even brought with her some friends. I now left feeling extremely encouraged that someone who just a few hours before had never even heard of the Holocaust was now ready and willing to be educated about all the horrors at the scene of the largest concentration camp.
I then made the three kilometers journey to Birkenau and found the inspiration I was looking for in the most unusual of places, the room in which the Jewish prisoners used as toilets. It was the place they felt safe enough to hide when they wanted to pray, as the Nazis found the stench too much to even enter. Immediately after I left, I heard singing from the building next door. I walked in to see the barracks, full of bunk beds cramped so tightly. So poignantly, a group of Yeshivah students were singing these words from Psalms in Hebrew.
“I lift my eyes up to the mountains. From where shall come my help? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. The guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps!”
I shuddered as I realized that these very same words would have been repeated over and over by those precious souls desperately praying for salvation. Their faith meant everything to them. They simply wouldn’t be able to believe that Jews are now allowed to walk freely in the place of their hell, singing and praying in an act of defiance.
Yeshiva students singing in the barracks in Birkenau
Walking on the train tracks out of Birkenau emotionally charged, I was reflecting on this experience with Joel, a fellow member of my group who I had just met as he had joined the group late. I mentioned the fact of not having any direct family members who went through the camps, as they had already left Lithuania. He told me he was born in South Africa so shared that very fact and then asked which town in Lithuania my family was from. As soon as I mentioned the tiny town of Šeduva, his face lit up and told me his family is also from there and seriously suggested that maybe we were related.
I told him my surname and after playing every Jew’s favorite game of Jewish geography, delving a bit deeper into our family history, quite astonishingly we managed to work out that indeed we are actually related! It emerges that my great grandfather Lazar Mirvis and his great grandmother Sheyna Kushner were first cousins.
This remarkable meeting struck me very hard. In the very same place where the Nazis broke families and literally separated parents from their children, husbands from their wives and siblings from each other, I was able to be reunited with my family. It is the exact opposite of what the Nazis wanted to do. 80 years ago, we could have been were standing in the same selection line, awaiting our fate to be separated, never to have seen each other again.
I could have bumped into my long-lost cousin anywhere in the world, but to have done so right in the spot where 1.1 million people were murdered for the simple crime of just being Jewish, I believe is the ultimate symbol of defiance.
I think of Rabbi Motel who tragically was never able to be reunited with his family, as I enjoy my newfound friendship with my cousin, Joel.
I travelled back to Israel, where I made my home 18 months ago, with more questions than answers. I find it impossible to fathom how humanity could so brutally and mercilessly murder over 6 million people just because they were Jewish. However, I returned home in the days leading up to Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut with a much clearer understanding of what the March of the Living is all about, a renewed sense of defiance that the Jewish people are still here, alive and strong.
Am Yisrael Chai!
Noam Mirvis is a nonprofit public relations professional living in Jerusalem. Prior to making Aliyah from in 2017, he spearheaded the first ever pro-Israel lobbying group in the House of Lords in the British Parliament.
(JTA) — A bakery in Houston that dates back to Poland in the early 19th century lost its kosher certification after deciding to stay open on Passover.
The Three Brothers Bakery was certified by the Houston Kashruth Association but no longer appears on the organization’s website.
Owners Bobby and Janice Jucker told the local media that the decision to stay open was difficult but necessary in order to pay off a $750,000 disaster loan taken in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. The bakery took on three feet of water during Harvey in August 2017.
Other natural disasters — Tropical Storm Allison, Hurricane Ike and the 2015 Memorial Day floods — also caused damage to the bakery.
The Juckers said they needed to stay open during Passover or close permanently. Bobby Jucker is the fifth generation of bakers in his family.
The bakery formerly closed for all eight days of Passover.
The bakery opened in Chrzanow, Poland, around 1825 and was last known as Morris Jucker’s Bakery. The family was sent to concentration camps in 1941, survived the Holocaust and opened the original Three Brothers Bakery in Houston in 1949.
Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum required online marketplace, Redbubble, to remove items May 7 and prohibit the selling of products bearing photos of the concentration camp located in Poland.
Products— including tight miniskirts, tote bags and throw pillows—contained images of the brutal Nazi death camp scene. Imprinted on the items for sale were photos of an electronic fence, guardhouse and train tracks that contributed to the murder of millions of Jews and other minorities during the Holocaust.
In response to the items, Auschwitz Memorial tweeted, “Do you really think that selling such products as pillows, mini skirts or tote bags with the images of Auschwitz – a place of enormous human tragedy where over 1.1 million people were murdered – is acceptable? This is rather disturbing and disrespectful.”
Redbubble quickly responded to the Auschwitz Memorial’s complaint by thanking them for bringing it to their attention and agreeing that the controversial items disobeyed the online company’s community and content guidelines.
.@redbubble Do you really think that selling such products as pillows, mini skirts or tote bags with the images of Auschwitz – a place of enormous human tragedy where over 1,1 million people were murdered – is acceptable? This is rather disturbing and disrespectful. pic.twitter.com/cdPvZGMXC6
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) May 7, 2019
The online retailer tweeted: “We are taking immediate action to remove these and similar works available on these product types.
According to the Washington Post, a Redbubble spokeswoman stated, “Redbubble takes a strong stance against racism and violence, including the atrocities committed in Nazi concentration camps, and scan specifically for this type of content daily.”
“We have taken immediate action to remove the works identified by The Auschwitz Memorial, and apologize that it was necessary,” the spokeswoman continued. “We are continuously working to ensure that we are able to keep offending content of this nature off of Redbubble and will be further adjusting our policies moving forward.”
Since Redbubble users are authorized to upload their own innovative items, the online retailer does not approve each product before it becomes public on the site. Users are expected to responsibly upload items that align with the website’s guidelines.
Auschwitz Memorial continuously takes action to ensure that such an atrocity is respected, and survivors are protected.
The Lawfare Project, a non-profit legal litigation fund committed to protecting the civil and human rights of Jewish communities worldwide, has filed a new case May 13 against Kuwait Airways in Germany, over the airline’s policy of anti-Semitic discrimination.
A Frankfurt-based Israeli businessman, known as Shmuel M in the case, booked a flight from Munich to Sri Lanka in November 2018 and was denied the right to travel because of his Israeli passport.
When Shmuel M asked about the availability of kosher food on the flight the airline asked whether he held an Israeli passport. When he said he did, he was told that he wouldn’t be able to travel and would need to speak with the airline’s lawyers for further information.
According to The Lawfare Project, this is the second time they have represented Israelis barred from traveling in Germany by Kuwait Airways. A previous case from 2017 involved the same discriminatory policy in Germany and remains under review by Germany’s Constitutional High Court.
“Time and again Kuwait Airways has shown itself to be a bigoted airline with a bigoted policy that should have no place in a modern liberal democracy. An airline that kicks Israelis off planes should be kicked out of Germany,” Brooke Goldstein, Executive Director of The Lawfare Project, the legal think tank and litigation fund representing the plaintiff, said in a statement to the Journal. “When a Jewish passenger is denied the right to travel after requesting a kosher meal, in Germany of all places, then anyone who respects the values of equality, fairness, and the rule of law should be appalled.”
Kuwait Airways has previously justified its racist discrimination by citing a Kuwaiti law that is decades old which bans all Kuwaiti citizens and companies from doing any business with citizens of the Jewish state.
“If Kuwait Airways wishes to continue operating in Germany then the message should be clear: carry everyone or carry no one,” Lawfare Project’s German Counsel representative Nathan Gelbart said in a statement. “There can be no discrimination against Jews on German soil. As long as we permit an airline to advertise flights for everyone except Israelis it is a stain on the moral fabric of our country.”
The Lawfare Project in the past pressured Kuwait Airways in the U.S. and Switzerland which led to the airline canceling its NYC-London flights, and all its inter-European flights, rather than deal with its discriminatory practices.
The case has been filed at the Landshut District Court, which has jurisdiction over Munich International Airport. Kuwait Airways has yet to reply to the claims listed.
Peggy Lipton, best known for her TV roles in “The Mod Squad” and “Twin Peaks,” died May 11 at age 72 following a battle with cancer.
Her daughters from her marriage to music producer Quincy Jones, actresses Rashida and Kadida Jones, announced her passing in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. “She made her journey peacefully with her daughters and nieces by her side. We feel so lucky for every moment we spent with her.”
Born in New York City, Lipton grew up in an upper-middle-class Jewish family on Long Island, the daughter of a corporate lawyer and an artist. She modeled for the Ford model agency and segued to acting after her family moved to Los Angeles in 1964. She made her debut in “The John Forsythe Show” the following year and made many guest star appearances before landing the part of Julie Barnes on ‘Mod Squad’ in 1968. She was nominated for four Emmy awards and won a Golden Globe for the role.
Most recently, Lipton appeared in the 2017 film “A Dog’s Purpose” and the TV shows “Twin Peaks,” “Claws,” and “Angie Tribeca,” alongside her daughter Rashida.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin thanked American astronaut Jessica Meir on Sunday for her plans to bring an Israeli flag into space with her on a mission in September.
Meir, the daughter of a mother from Sweden and an Iraqi-Israeli father, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about the Israeli flag she’s bringing with her last week. She also plans to take some socks sporting menorahs among her personal items.
“Thank you for taking us with you on your world journey in space,” Rivlin said in a statement.
Meir, 41, is heading to the International Space Station to study how space affects humans.
The astronaut, who grew up in Maine, said being Jewish is an important part of her identity.
Poland canceled the visit of a delegation of Israeli officials because it did not want to focus the discussion on Holocaust property restitution.
The visit had been scheduled to start on Monday.
“Poland decided to cancel the visit of Israeli officials after the Israeli side made last minute changes in the composition of the delegation suggesting that the talks would primarily focus on the issues related to property restitution,” the Foreign Ministry in Warsaw said in a statement posted to its website late Sunday.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki publicly declared earlier this month that his government will not pay compensation for property lost during World War II since, he said, Poles were the war’s major victim. He repeated the message on Saturday at an election rally in the northern town of Mlawa.
On Saturday, hundreds of protesters against Holocaust restitution in Poland marched through Warsaw. The protest, which began outside the U.S. Embassy and moved to the prime minister’s office, featured signs calling claimants “Holocaust hyenas.” Another slogan heard was “stop the Jewish claims.”
The question of restitution has become a major campaign issue in advance of the European Union elections scheduled for May 26 and the Polish general elections, which will take place by November, Ynet reported.
Gideon Taylor, chair of operations for the World Jewish Restitution Organization, said in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Poland is the only country in the European Union that has not passed comprehensive legislation for restitution or compensation for looted or nationalized property.
“Property that belonged to Jewish Holocaust victims and their families was confiscated by the Polish Communist authorities after the war along with that of non-Jews, property that continues to benefit the Polish economy,” he wrote. “We urge Poland to address this historical injustice.”
