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Jewish Journal

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October 11, 2022

Israel Turns to Genetic Modification and Aquaculture To Solve Food Insecurity

Israel, Wires /

To read more articles from The Media Line, click here.

Aquaculture and genetic modification could provide the basis for solving some of the world’s food insecurity problems in the coming decades, Israeli scientists believe.

By 2050, the global population is expected to reach 9.8 billion people, which will place food supplies under greater stress and will require the farming industries to become much more sustainable.

Aquaculture – the process of breeding and growing fish and plants in the water – could provide some relief.

“We believe that this is one of the best answers to this crisis,” Noam Mozes, head of the Marine Aquaculture Division at the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, told The Media Line. “Fish farming and aquaculture in general – also algaes – do not require fresh water or arable land. They consume much less energy per kilogram of protein produced and release much less CO2 to the environment.”

Ahead of an inaugural conference taking place later this month in Eilat from October 18 to 20, The Media Line spoke with experts in the fields of animal genetics and aquaculture to find out more about the latest innovations and developments.

The International Summit on Food from the Sea and the Desert will feature officials and scientists from Israel and around the world.

“We have some research project with the Jordanians and we are now starting things with Aqaba,” Mozes noted. “We have a collaboration with Egyptian researchers, Moroccan researchers, and other researchers in the North African region. Recently, we have had activity with the Emirates and Gulf countries.”

Israel Turns to Genetic Modification and Aquaculture To Solve Food Insecurity Read More »

hanukkah, candles, racism, racist, America, Jewish Journal, David Suissa

Letter to the Editor: On The Racist Remarks of Councilpersons Nury Martinez, Kevin De Leon and Gil Cedillo

Letters to the Editor /

Letter to the Editor:

As a Jew of color whose family has roots in the Deep South and as someone who is involved in Los Angeles politics, I am shocked and saddened by the racist remarks of Councilpersons Nury Martinez, Kevin De Leon and Gil Cedillo.  Racism, homophobia and discrimination have no place in Los Angeles and should not be condoned by anyone, especially our elected officials.

I am also deeply troubled by the initial and muted response to these remarks by several of our elected leaders.  The statements directed at Councilperson Mike Bonin and his son are deplorable.  But this is about so much more than Mike Bonin.  The use by an elected official of demeaning terms like “monkey” and “darkies” when talking about Black persons is offensive to every Black person in Los Angeles.  Indeed, it should be offensive to every person in this City, particularly those in our Jewish community who know too painfully the cost of hate.  For the moral health of our collective communities, elected officials who use such belittling terms should immediately lose the privilege of being allowed to serve the residents of the City of Los Angeles.

I understand this is an election year and much is at stake.  Many of our elected officials may have wanted to avoid having to request the removal of three Hispanic elected officials.  But there are plenty of smart and talented persons who can replace Nury Martinez, Kevin De Leon and Gil Cedillo.  Moreover, there are times like this where our elected leaders need to put politics aside and not only condemn unacceptable conduct, but immediately demand that any person who engages in such conduct be removed from office.  History has taught us that leaders, who do not respond swiftly and boldly in the face of cruelty and harm, passively join in that harm.

Hopefully the City of Los Angeles, and in particular our elected officials, will learn from this moment and use it as an opportunity to provide more responsive and effective leadership to all of the residents of Los Angeles.

Karl S. Thurmond has served as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of Milken Community School and Co-Chair of Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer’s 2022 Mayoral Campaign.  He is currently the Co-Chair of the Finance Committee of Sydney Kamlager’s Congressional Campaign.

Letter to the Editor: On The Racist Remarks of Councilpersons Nury Martinez, Kevin De Leon and Gil Cedillo Read More »

If Not Now, When? An Urgent Call to Support The Iranian Women’s Struggle for Freedom

Commentary, Opinion /

What is our obligation to act when a brave few put their lives at risk standing up to tyranny?

On September 16, 2022, a courageous group of Iranian women took to the streets, outraged over the Iranian Morality Police’s killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for the “crime” of wearing her hijab too loosely. The authorities have killed hundreds of people since. Yet the protests have expanded, throughout Iran and beyond, and they show no signs of abating.

All these brave Iranians know full well the potential danger their actions pose to them and especially to those still living in Iran. But they are persisting in their calls for freedom.

Scores of European and Middle Eastern entertainers, politicians and governments—including Israel—have similarly declared their support publicly. But after nearly a month of protests, the leading U.S. women’s organizations and public figures have been surprisingly slow to respond.

Could it be that American women leaders are shying away from forcefully condemning the Iranian Mullah’s heinous crimes out of fear of being branded Islamophobic?

If so, let’s be honest about the obvious. If we truly care for justice, our obligations are clear. American women must immediately support the Iranian struggle against women’s oppression, forcefully and unapologetically.

American women must immediately support the Iranian struggle against women’s oppression, forcefully and unapologetically.

It is too early to say if Iran is at a tipping point. But there will be no change in Iran if U.S. leaders do not join in a unified voice to support the demonstrators. There is clear precedent, indeed many would say a religious duty, for us to step up when a brave few confront injustice. We need look no further than Queen Esther’s defense of the Persian Jewish community of her time.

But what if the struggle is internal to another sovereign state? Here too there is abundant precedent for us to act.

Take Natan Sharansky’s fight against Soviet oppression of Jewish Refuseniks. In the early 1970s Sharansky was put on trial for the simple act of applying to emigrate to Israel. He responded by speaking out against Soviet oppression and was soon imprisoned on a trumped-up charge of spying. Sharansky’s courage sparked a global movement, and U.S.-Soviet negotiations for his release became a linchpin for the Soviet Union’s eventual dissolution.

The uprising now under way in support of Iranian women’s rights is a Sharansky moment. Life for women in Iran is unbearable. They are monitored in their every movement by Iran’s  powerful facial recognition technology, and they are subjected to medieval rules: They may not work, marry, divorce, travel or even apply for a passport, much less leave Iran to escape their persecution, without a man’s permission; and they can be married off as young as age nine.

What will it take for America to heed the call of the Iranian women for the world’s help? How do we get our leaders to understand the gravity of this moment?

The Iranian Regime is a pariah state. For over four decades it has wreaked havoc in the world, instigating terrorism, armed conflict, refugee crises and nuclear and hostage blackmail. We cannot overlook that Iran’s authority over its own people is precisely how the Mullahs preserve their power to destabilize the world.

The Iranian Regime’s unfathomable brutality on women in their day-to-day lives must not be met by silence, moral equivalencies and conditional support. Our complacency only endangers the Iranians who are now risking their lives in defense of freedom, and enables the Regime to continue coopting the language of human rights for their own purposes. Thus, this cause should be a matter of the highest priority for this country.

We must help our American leaders, especially our women leaders, find the moral clarity and courage of Natan Sharansky who so aptly stated that a regime that spends the people’s money on conflicts and suppression “needs only the smallest spark of freedom to set its entire totalitarian world ablaze.”

Think about it: Wouldn’t it be powerful if Hadassah, NOW, Michele Obama, Oprah Winfrey and all women in political, business and religious leadership started a vocal national campaign in support of the Iranian women’s fight for freedom? Let’s ensure the spark that has been ignited by the women of Iran brings about the justice that is so overdue.

 

Jessica Emami, PhD, is an adjunct professor of sociology at American University and an expert on Iranian and Middle Eastern human rights issues.

If Not Now, When? An Urgent Call to Support The Iranian Women’s Struggle for Freedom Read More »

Terrorist Cheerleaders Are Not Good Journalists

Commentary, Opinion /

For years, Hosam Salem has been covering the Gaza Strip as a freelance journalist for The New York Times. That was until this week, when the Times chose to dismiss Salem from his post due to a collection of recently uncovered Facebook posts. With thunderous applause, to the tune of thousands of likes and retweets, Salem took to Twitter to blame his recent unemployment on an international conspiracy to silence Palestinian journalists, the result of a smear campaign to paint anyone who is “against the Israeli occupation” as being antisemitic. From Salem’s long Twitter thread, we see that the internet loves nothing more than portraying the State of Israel and its supporters as censorious tyrants, directing mobs to undermine anyone who dares challenge their agenda. This idea, rooted in anti-Jewish tropes, is irresistible, regardless of how, for example in the case of Salem, preposterous it is. 

Salem describes his work for the Times in respectable language. He notes his coverage of protests at the Gaza-Israel border in 2018, the investigation into the death of a field nurse during one of these protests, and the recent Guardian of the Walls operation in May of 2021. From this, one might assume that Salem is an objective, professional journalist, simply reporting what is happening on the ground in one of the most contentious regions of the world. One also might assume that the decision to sack him because of his Palestinian heritage or perhaps because of his sympathy for the Palestinian cause is unreasonable. However, one look at his aforementioned Facebook page would suggest otherwise. 

Salem uses Facebook to advocate constantly for the Palestinian cause, which, based on his rhetoric, we can only assume means the elimination of the Jewish state of Israel and its replacement with an Arab-majority state from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. Examples of Salem’s activism include his continual glorification of “martyrs,” that is, Palestinians who “resist” Israel by killing innocent civilians. In 2021, he eulogized Mahmoud Salem and Nabil Masoud, two Palestinians responsible for a 2004 terrorist attack that killed ten workers in the Israeli city of Ashdod. He wrote of the attack: “May Allah have mercy on them and have mercy on those who planned, prepared, and participated.” Earlier, in 2014, Salem expressed support for the massacre of four rabbis and an Israeli-Druze police officer in northern Israel, writing (quoting the Qur’an): “Those who are killed in the way of Allah will not be misled … strike the rivals until you exalt them.”  

The organization responsible for bringing these comments to light is Honest Reporting. HR, an NGO with the mission of “monitoring media bias against Israel,” certainly did its job. Their report on Salem, which they provided to The New York Times, was clearly in response to bias and unfair double standards against Israel from those who are paid to be impartial. Yet in Salem’s point of view, Honest Reporting is part of “a systematic effort to distort the image of Palestinian journalists as being incapable of trustworthiness and integrity, simply because we cover the human rights violations that the Palestinian people undergo on a daily basis at hands of the Israeli army.” Salem decried the editor of Honest Reporting for branding him and other Palestinian journalists as “antisemitic,” using quotes around the word to impose an air of disbelief at the claim that he does not like Jewish people. Apparently, sympathizing with terrorists who indiscriminately kill civilians and expressing approval for a violent jihadist campaign to eliminate Israel is “covering human rights violations,” and not bigoted radicalism.

This trick provides cover to those who engage in antisemitic behavior, for they now have an excuse, and if they are held accountable, they can “punch-up” at nefarious, powerful forces working against them.

Though the online firestorm was mostly related to Salem’s previous support for terrorism, Salem’s placement of word “antisemitic” in scare quotes reveals more of the game that is actually being played here. Detractors of the Jewish people, mainly from the left—from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party to progressive organizations on American college campuses—have made a habit of attaching suspicion to accusations of antisemitism. They have successfully trained their followers to distrust Jewish people who claim to be the target of vilification, especially when it comes to Israel. This lies in stark contrast to the left’s usual reactions to complaints of prejudice, which typically consist of proper investigations and solidarity with the aggrieved marginalized community. In normalizing the narrative that “the Jews are constantly crying wolf,” and that the Jews deserve to be investigated when they shout “antisemitism,” rather than the people at whom they are shouting it, stories like Salem’s become incredibly popular, and sensationalized to fit the broader conspiracy theory of a Jewish-led witch-hunt to silence their own critics. This trick provides cover to those who engage in antisemitic behavior, for they now have an excuse, and if they are held accountable, they can “punch-up” at nefarious, powerful forces working against them.

It bears repeating that the Jewish people, and Israel for that matter, are not trying to silence their critics. In a seminal 2014 essay for Tablet Magazine, author Matti Friedman describes his time as a correspondent for the Associated Press in Israel, and notes that during his work, “the agency had more than 40 staffers covering the Israeli-Palestinian territories. That was significantly more news staff than the AP had in China, Russia, or India, or in all of the 50 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa combined. It was higher than the total number of news-gathering employees in all the countries where the uprisings of the ‘Arab Spring’ eventually erupted.” Friedman acknowledges the absurdity of how saturated Israel’s press attention was in 2014, during a war that claimed 42 lives, as opposed to the smaller media presence in zones with much higher casualty rates, including in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, where every month more people are killed than in the entire span of Operation Protective Edge. 

From simply looking at how many cameras and notebooks are between the river and the sea at any given time, it is obvious that criticism of Israel is not swept under the rug, but constantly front and center, constantly available to those who wish to engage in it, and reliably handed a microphone by organizations, institutions, media outlets and governments. The insinuation that a cabal of Zionists are working overtime to whitewash any deviation from a pro-Israel worldview is rooted not in fact but in lies about the Jewish people that have existed for centuries (if you need proof, just look at Kanye West’s recently deleted tweets.) The New York Times’s decision to fire a dignified shill for one side of the conflict who was hired to be an objective observer is the bare minimum of journalistic standards and does nothing to imply the existence of a sinister plot to undermine pro-Palestinian politics. 

I consider myself a pro-Israel advocate, and because of this label, it would be undoubtedly inappropriate for a major news corporation to hire me as a news reporter on Middle Eastern affairs. Based on my previous activism and writing, nobody speaking truthfully should concede that I could be neutral on Israel and Palestine, whether I be taking pictures or interviewing soldiers. I am not a victim because of this, and I am certainly not being silenced. Neither is Hosam Salem.

Blake Flayton is the New Media Director and columnist for the Jewish Journal.

Terrorist Cheerleaders Are Not Good Journalists Read More »

The Kind of Atonement That Can’t Be Fasted Away

Commentary, Opinion /

With rising antisemitism now a worldwide phenomenon—manifested in appalling acts of violence and a casual acceptance of defaming Jews in impolite company—and with the gates already closed on Yom Kippur, now might be a good time to suggest making next year’s Day of Atonement a global holiday.

Admittedly, none of the world’s peoples are especially good at repentance. And owning up to humanity’s most enduring prejudice has never been a priority for any of its religions or member states. Countries are far more likely to highlight crimes against the motherland than to confess to past sins of its own. (See Poland and Ukraine, and the entire Arab world). 

Institutions fare no better. The Catholic Church has only minimally acknowledged two millennia of bigotry and slander against the Jewish people. Human rights organizations, like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and the purveyors of progressive politics, such as the Squad and a mounting faction within the Democratic Party, peddle antisemitic rhetoric as if taking its cue from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. 

Ironically, Germany has done more than any other country to acknowledge its murderous antisemitic past. Of course, the Holocaust has given it a lot to atone for, which renders Holocaust denial elsewhere all the more absurd. Meanwhile, the rest of the world has no interest in absolving Germans of their guilt. Keeping the crimes of the Nazis front and center allows others to shirk their own complicit history. Better to anoint the Nazis as the embodiment of evil. That’s why Vladimir Putin reminds Russians that his war with Ukraine is the resurrection of an earlier enemy that must be vanquished again. And it also explains why for many Americans, anyone who supports Donald Trump is a Nazi because Trump himself is Hitler incarnate. 

Suffice is it to say that the casting away of the sin of antisemitism into a moving body of water (as in the symbolic ritual of tashlicht), will undoubtedly result in it drifting right back. Jew-hatred is an imperviously unsinkable sin. 

Indeed, nowadays, more so than in any recent memory, antisemitism is a tough habit to keep under control, or to even practice behind the scenes. It is fashionably of the moment, and displayed without shame—a love that very much dares to speak its name. Convenient excuses are no longer necessary. Even those detoxifying proxies, like Zionism and Palestinian rights, are set aside for less ambiguous fare.

The handiwork of hatred is everywhere. The Jews of Europe—especially in France, Sweden and Belgium—are especially vulnerable to acts of violence. Openly wearing Jewish symbols is flirting with disaster.

In the United States, what was once no worse than casual antisemitism has suddenly metastasized into full-blown antisemitic assaults. Open threats of intimidation are rampant. Life for Jews on college campuses, whether they support Israel or not, has become intellectually stifling, socially marginalizing, and in-your-face threatening. When it comes to the mistreatment of Jews, there’s now a special hall pass enabling both students and faculty to snub the “marketplace of ideas,” deny free speech and open inquiry, and dispense with any pretense to “live and let live.”

There is no way to overlook that safe spaces are not being set aside for Jews; that no microaggressions — or even macroaggressions — are punishable if committed against Jews.

One can no longer overlook that safe spaces are not being set aside for Jews; that no microaggressions are punishable if committed against Jews; that Jewish hate crimes are often downgraded to a less severe incident with an altogether different motive; that the pieties of political correctness do not apply to Jews; that no minority status is accorded for Jews; and that it is no longer commonly accepted that Jews have weathered a history of persecution unlike any other.

Indeed, in this regard, the total erosion of Black-Jewish solidarity is especially distressing. In 20th-century America, Jews saw in African-Americans a familiar face. Yet, some in the Black community have no memory of Jews taking up their cause. Jews created the NAACP and directed its Legal Defense Fund. A Jewish lawyer, Samuel Leibowitz, defended the Scottsboro Boys, pro bono, all the way to the Supreme Court. Another Jewish attorney, Stanley Levison, served as Martin Luther King Jr.’s lawyer, friend and fundraiser.

Rabbis, such as Abraham Joshua Heschel, marched alongside Reverend King in Selma and Montgomery. Jews comprised the largest group of participants in the Freedom Rides. Two of the three civil rights workers killed in Mississippi (Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman) were Jews. And King and his confidante, Bayard Rustin, were confirmed Zionists.

Given this honorable history of linking arms, the anti-Jewish smack talk these past several years of Black rappers and professional athletes, and the apologists for the antisemitic dog whistles of the Squad and the Black Congressional Caucus, has been disgraceful. 

Here’s the latest: Twitter and Instagram restricted access to entertainment and fashion mogul, Kanye West due to antisemitic tweets and postings where he invoked the ancient canards of Jewish “control” and “greed.” Note that Kanye steered clear of maligning Israel. He went straight for the Jew-gular.

Admittedly, these are grim times, what with rising and random crime and a shape-shifting pandemic that laughs off vaccines like bug bites. The stock market is like a falling elevator that used to make regular stops at the penthouse. A war in Ukraine is causing a tailspin in world economies and testing the resolve of nations that once believed in humanitarian intervention. 

Meanwhile, Americans remain dangerously divided, intolerant of opposing viewpoints, and quick to demonize one another. There is daily internet chatter about an impending civil war that we should probably start taking more seriously.

Give people an excuse to hate or blame Jews, and impulse control is nowhere to be found.

The worst kind of prejudices are unleashed when people feel vulnerable, mainstay anchors are adrift, and social cohesion is completely untied. And as prejudices go, antisemitism is always the least tamed. Give people an excuse to hate or blame Jews, and impulse control is nowhere to be found.

This tragic wave of global antisemitism should make atonement the order of the day. Yom Kippur ended but the breaking of the fast instantly revealed faulty brakes. What that portends for all supplicants these days, Jews and non-Jews alike, is that having one’s name sealed in the Book of Life is far from a sure thing.

The Kind of Atonement That Can’t Be Fasted Away Read More »

Jews, Quiet No More

Commentary, Opinion /

It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining high above, and the streets seemed as cheerful as ever. Later that afternoon, my phone rang, and on the other side was a friend of mine who is a person of color. I could sense something was wrong.

“What happened to your voice?” I wondered.

She took a deep breath and replied: “You noticed?”

“Of course,” I said. “What’s up?”

Clearly, things were not as usual. “I attended a training today at our corporate office for senior management, titled ‘Inspiring Conversations,’ led by our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Department. As part of the training, we were asked about a leader we admired. One of my colleagues chose to go first and said.” She paused for a minute, a tremble in her voice, then continued: “Derek Chauvin! Going on to explain that he’d read all about him and how he was ‘incredible’ and ‘fascinating’ and just how much he looked up to him for his dedication to public safety and security. A cloud fell over me that very second. Can you imagine?!”

I was speechless. “What did the others say?” I asked, intrigued. She sighed. “All the moderator had to say was “well, that’s the first time I’ve heard that one.” The others acted as if nothing had happened. I ran out, crying, and all I could hear was laughter behind me. My supervisor came out a short while later to bring me my bag and offer me the day off. I didn’t want a day off! That training was important to me. I wanted my deviant colleague to get the day off and get out of there. I felt a mix of anger, sadness and rage. Tears kept flowing down my cheeks.”

I was so upset listening to her, as I suspect any decent person would be, and rightfully so. But this is where I need to confess to something. My friend is Jewish, and the name mentioned in her training session wasn’t Derek Chauvin but rather Adolf Hitler.

All the rest is accurate, word for word.

Does this change your reaction to what happened?

Sadly, the same care and consideration given to addressing the plights of other minority groups are rarely afforded to antisemitism and Jewish history. It seems as though it is acceptable to belittle and trivialize Jewish issues, including the atrocities of the Holocaust, the moral abyss of humanity. In San Diego, a middle school teacher placed Hitler’s portrait alongside inspirational historical leaders, such as U.S. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, as well as British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., in a 7th-grade classroom, telling a Jewish student that “Hitler may have done some bad things, but he also had strong leadership qualities.”

Sadly, the same care and consideration given to addressing the plights of other minority groups are rarely afforded to antisemitism and Jewish history.

Cringe-worthy ignorance.

Indeed, the colleague who uttered that filthy name is worthy of all condemnation and should be schooled for his ignorance and malice. But even more so, all the others present in the room and the group’s moderator are worthy of even more reprimand and condemnation.

Philosopher John Stuart Mill delivered an inaugural address in 1867 at the University of St. Andrews and stated:

Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name and with the means which he helps to supply because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.

Not only did none in attendance utter a word, but, making matters worse, they snickered and laughed it away. The moderator himself did the same and chose to look the other way. And this insensitivity transpired under the banner of “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” What mockery. These terms have come to represent nothing more than a cacophony of hypocrisy and lip service in our modern society.

“I felt repulsed, threatened, scared, and let down by my company,” my friend told me. “Some of my relatives perished in the Holocaust, not to mention the many other millions who lost their lives because of that creature. I’m unsure what my company will do about it or if they just want me to return to work as if nothing happened and sweep it all under the rug. But I’m not going to stay quiet, and they will be hearing from me,” she concluded.

“They will be hearing from me.” Despite the disturbing nature of the issue at hand, my friend’s response is encouraging. Jews are no longer content to sit back and allow our history and suffering to be diminished. And I know that my friend is not alone. What is clear is this: The age of quiet Jews is over.

Jews, Quiet No More Read More »

Kanye Barred from Twitter After Tweeting He’ll Go “Death Con 3” Against Jews

News, United States /

Rapper Kanye West has been blocked from his Twitter account after he tweeted on October 8 that he would go “death con 3” against the Jews.

West had previously been blocked from his Instagram account after he shared a text exchange he had with fellow rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs in which Combs lambasted West for wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt. West responded by alleging that Jews has told Combs to reach out to him. The Instagram block prompted West to tweet: “When I wake up I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” “Death con 3” is an apparent reference to DEFCON3, a United States military readiness level. West then tweeted that he couldn’t be antisemitic because “black people are Jew also.” “You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone who opposes your agenda,” West wrote.

Jewish groups condemned West’s remarks.

“The behavior exhibited this week by @kanyewest is deeply troubling, dangerous, and antisemitic, period,” the Anti-Defamation League tweeted. “There is no excuse for his propagating of white supremacist slogans and classic #antisemitism about Jewish power, especially with the platform he has.” They added in a subsequent tweet that West used the antisemitic tropes of “power. Disloyalty. Greed. Deicide. Blood. Denial. Anti-Zionism.” In an interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, West had said that the Abraham Accords forging peace between various Gulf Arab nations and Israel were simply a way for Jared Kushner to make money. Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, is Jewish.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted: “When all else fails threaten Jews? We have no idea what set off @kanyewest but don’t blame JEWS OR [the] JEWISH community! Will this celebrity be held accountable for his cascading hatred?”

“In the past week, Ye has spread some of the most vile and age-old stereotypes about Jews to his hundreds of millions of followers,” Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) said in a statement. “There should be no place for this kind of hate in our public discourse. We support every entertainer’s right to free speech, but no one has a free pass to target and demonize a minority group with such malice.” They added that they are “gravely concerned about the impact of Ye’s statements – and how they will affect his fans, particularly young people.” “At the same time, we hope this can be a moment that ultimately creates better awareness about the dangers of antisemitism for Ye, his fans, and other entertainers,” CCFP continued. “We remain open to dialogue with him about how harmful and fallacious his comments are.”

The Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance said in a statement that West is perpetuating “stereotypes that have been the basis for discrimination and violence against Jews for thousands of years.” “The Black and Jewish communities must stand together through incidents like this to make clear that trafficking in hateful stereotypes is unacceptable – and that the words of one entertainer do not reflect the views of an entire community,” they said.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles wrote in an Instagram post that they were “alarmed” by West’s “blatantly antisemitic rhetoric.” “Mr. West has tens of millions of followers and his hateful speech is further spread and elevated to tens of millions of media outlets around the world,” they said. “We are deeply concerned about the impact these words have especially on young people.”

Stop Antisemitism tweeted, “Kanye’s antisemitic rants do not warrant ‘understanding’, ‘sympathy’, or ‘prayers’. Jew hatred -regardless of source – must be condemned through and through.”

B’nai Brith International tweeted that West’s remarks were “appalling.” “These remarks seem now to be part of a pattern and do not belong on social media or anyplace else,” they wrote.

Zionist Organization of American National President Morton A. Klein called West “a despicable bigoted racist [Jew-hater] mindlessly threatening Jews.” Klein argued that if someone threatened to go “death con 3” on Blacks, then “he would call us all despicable bigoted racist [Black-haters].”

Kanye Barred from Twitter After Tweeting He’ll Go “Death Con 3” Against Jews Read More »

Milken Family Foundation Jewish Educator Awards Recipients | Sukkot Social Justice Program Highlights Measure ULA

Movers & Shakers /

The Milken Family Foundation, in partnership with Builders of Jewish Education (BJE), announced the 2022 recipients of the prestigious Jewish Educator Awards (JEA), which honors excellence at BJE-affiliated Jewish day schools. 

The four recognized L.A. Jewish day school educators are Shoshana Braude, a first-grade Judaic studies teacher at Bais Chaya Mushka of Los Angeles; Monica Daranyi, 9-10 division dean and math teacher at Milken Community School; Rabbi Daniel Grama, Rebbe and director of recruitment at Valley Torah High School; and Larry Kligman, head of school at Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School.

“I have the best job because it is not work; it is something that I love,” Daranyi said upon receiving her award presented by Milken Family Foundation Chairman and Co-Founder Lowell Milken. “It is an honor for me to walk through the gates and to walk into my classroom to be able to teach all of you.”

Milken Family Foundation and BJE announced the winners during surprise assemblies. Each of the honorees were given an unrestricted $15,000 financial prize.

The 2022 JEA recipients will be celebrated, together with their families and community leaders, during a luncheon this winter. The inclusive event brings together leaders across Los Angeles’ Jewish community, from the most secular to the most Orthodox.

Temple Israel of Hollywood Senior Rabbi Mari Chernow spoke about the importance of home at the Interfaith Sukkot program supporting Measure ULA. Photo by Ryan Torok

An Oct. 9 interfaith Sukkot program at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) brought together faith-based social justice organizations, synagogue members and volunteers who support Measure ULA.

Appearing on the November ballot, Measure ULA, if passed, would increase a real estate transfer tax on properties in Los Angeles sold for over $5 million, creating additional revenue for affordable housing, homeless initiatives, and rental assistance. In most cases, the seller of the property would be responsible for paying the tax, which would be 4% for properties sold between $5-$10 million, and $5.5 million for properties $10 million and up.

Supporters of the measure, a coalition that includes IKAR, Temple Israel of Hollywood and Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, say it would create an additional $900 million in annual revenue for affordable housing in a city sorely in need of it. The tax, its backers say, would leave most unaffected, imposed only on millionaires and billionaires.

At the start of the event, everyone gathered in a large sukkah beside the HUC-JIR parking lot and discussed ways in which Sukkot, which began Sunday night, resonates with themes of housing justice.

“Being in a fragile and precarious dwelling like this makes us aware of those without housing,” a HUC-JIR faculty member Rabbi Ruth Sohn said. “[Being in a sukkah] awakens us to the experience of those who don’t have housing.”

Measure ULA, Sohn said, “really provides hope for the future.”

Fake fruit dangled from the sukkah’s roof, and tapestries decorated the walls. Seated at the several round tables inside the hut, attendees noshed on salad and desserts as faith and community leaders expressed their support for the ballot initiative. 

They included Michael Siegel, a congregant of TIOH, who, after the program in the sukkah, canvassed residents of South Los Angeles, knocking on homeowners’ doors and sharing information about the measure.

“I think there’s potentially more good than harm associated with the measure,” he told the Journal afterwards. “It’s something that hasn’t been done before, and hopefully it will improve the lives of the unhoused population.”

“A basic tenet of Judaism is tikkun olam,” he added, “and this fits in with tikkun olam.”

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