UC Berkeley student gov. unanimously passes bill condemning anti-Semitism
(JNS.org) Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC), the student government at University of California (UC), Berkeley, on Wednesday passed a bill condemning anti-Semitism in a unanimous 20-0 vote.
The bill details a history of anti-Semitic incidents in the 10-school UC system over the past five years and states that the ASUC “should respect the right of the Jewish students at UC Berkeley to define, within the guidelines of the nationally recognized definition put forth by the United States State Department, what is and is not anti-Semitism, in the same manner in which other communities are granted that right.” The State Department says, “Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions, and religious facilities.”
“As a brother of [the Jewish fraternity] AEPi, I saw the horrible anti-Semitic actions that occurred [last month] at our UC Davis chapter where swastikas were spray-painted on their house as well as discrimination against a Jewish student within the UCLA student government,” said ASUC Senator Ori Herschmann, the bill’s sponsor. “It’s extremely important for the ASUC and student governments alike to actively fight anti-Semitism and make sure all Jewish students feel safe on campus.”
Herschmann’s mention of UCLA refers to a recent incident—also described in the bill’s text—in which Jewish student Rachel Beyda, who was vying for membership on the school’s undergraduate Judicial Board, was asked by a student government member, “Given that you’re a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community… how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view in your position?” The ensuing student government debate about Beyda centered on whether her Jewish affiliation created a “conflict of interest.”
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Al-Jazeera retracts and apologizes for false story on Gaza flooding
(JNS.org) The Al-Jazeera network retracted and issued an apology for a story that claimed Israel purposely opened up dams in southern Israel that caused severe flooding in Gaza on Feb. 23.
Al-Jazeera posted on its website, “Editor’s note: An earlier version of this page hosted an article which stated that Israel had, without warning, opened a number of dams, which had resulted in a part of Gaza being flooded. This was false. In southern Israel, there are no dams of the type which can be opened. We apologize for this error.”
The French wire service Agence France-Presse (AFP) posted a similar story and video headlined “Gaza village floods after Israel opens dam gates,” also making the claim that Israel intentionally flooded Gaza by opening dams.
While AFP has taken down its video and story, it has not issued an apology. The Daily Mail posted a similar apology, but did not retract its article on the subject.
In actuality, the flooding in Gaza was the result of heavy winter rains and drainage issues in the region.
“The claim is entirely false, and southern Israel does not have any dams. Due to the recent rain, streams were flooded throughout the region with no connection to actions taken by the State of Israel,” an Israeli spokesman for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) told the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) media watchdog group.
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Jewish Agency honors Christian groups for assistance with Ukrainian aliyah
(JNS.org) The Jewish Agency for Israel paid tribute to several Christian groups for their assistance in aliyah operations from Ukraine.
The Christian groups that were recognized include: The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, Ebenezer International, Ebenezer Hilfsfonds Deutschland, Ezra International, Christians for Israel, the Patmos Foundation, One Mission, and the Kim Clement Center.
These groups were all given special thanks at the closing plenary of the Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday for “helping to both fund and physically assist The Jewish Agency’s Aliyah operations in war-torn Ukraine.”
According to the Jewish Agency, these groups helped rescue Jews from dangerous areas in eastern Ukraine by transporting them through troubled areas and locating the documents necessary for aliyah.
“There is a long history of Christian involvement in our Aliyah operations and it is always appropriate to give thanks, but today, as Christian organizations help us save Jewish lives every day in Ukraine, it is particularly important to show our appreciation,” said Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky.
In 2014, aliyah from Ukraine increased by 190 percent over the previous year due to the ongoing war between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists. Overall, 5,840 Ukrainian Jewish immigrants made their way to Israel in 2014, the second-highest total from any country, behind France.
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NYC removes Jewish circumcision regulation, opts for increased health checks
(JNS.org) The administration of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is repealing a regulation established by former mayor Michael Bloomberg that requires mohels (Jewish ritual circumcisers) to get signed permission from parents before they can orally remove blood from an infant’s wound during a brit milah.
The practice, known as metzitzah b’peh, has been conducted for centuries. But in recent years in the U.S., it has been blamed for the spread of the herpes simplex virus, among infants. But New York City’s Department of Health has announced the removal of the signature requirement, explaining that ever since the requirement has been in place since 2012, the city has received only one such written permission notice from a mohel.
Instead, New York health officials said they now plan to increase health checkups among Orthodox Jewish males. If results show that a baby contracted herpes after a brit milah, and if DNA testing shows that the baby was specifically infected during the metzitzah b’peh ritual, the mohel will be banned from continuing the practice. A group of Jewish organizations and rabbis had previously sued New York City over the signature regulation, but agreed on these new terms as part of the settlement of the lawsuit, the New York Post reported.
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Anti-Islamist Libyan general to meet with Israeli officials in Jordan
(JNS.org) Libyan General Khalifa Haftar, who is attempting to form a coalition to fight Islamists in Libya, will reportedly meet with Israeli officials in the Jordanian capital of Amman.
According to the U.K.-based Arabic newspapers Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Haftar secretly visited Egypt twice last week. On the trip, he received 400 containers of weapons to help fight Islamic extremists in Libya.
The Egyptian military recently launched attacks on groups aligned with the Islamic State terrorist organization, in response to Islamic State’s murder of 21 Egyptian Christians. Egypt, along with its Arab allies such as Jordan, has called for international intervention in Libya to combat the growing threat of radical Islam. Some have compared Haftar’s efforts to combat Islamist terror to the approach of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Meanwhile, Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni on Tuesday criticized the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union for failing to support his government’s battle against a rival movement called the Libya Dawn, which seized the Libyan capital of Tripoli last year.
“Unfortunately, the international community, and especially the United States, Britain, and the European Union, have refused to arm the Libyan army,” Thinni told Al-Arabiya.
“Libya Dawn is part of militant Islamists which get weapons, ammunition, and supplies from all over the world,” he said. “But America and Britain have other ideas against the interest of the Libyan people.”
Al-Thinni has been heavily criticized within Libya for failing to provide citizens with basic resources such as gas, electricity, and medicine. Some have called for al-Thinni to quit and hand power over to Gen. Haftar, who recently merged his forces with army troops in eastern Libya to fight Islamist groups there.
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Report: Saudi Arabia may lend Israel its airspace for attack on Iran
(JNS.org) In closed talks with European lawmakers, Saudi diplomats have expressed their willingness to cooperate with Israel on a possible attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities, Israel’s Channel 2television network reported Tuesday.
According to the report, however, Saudi officials have said that they would first need to see some meaningful progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in order to muster up public support for allowing Israel to use Saudi Arabia’s airspace for an attack on Iran.
The report comes as Arab governments have expressed deep reservations about the ongoing progress in nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 powers—U.S., U.K, France, Russia, China and Germany.
According to a Wall Street Journal report last week, leading Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates have said that any nuclear deal that allows Iran to retain its capacity to enrich uranium—which can be used to produce a nuclear weapon—would likely force them to develop their own nuclear capabilities.
One Arab official told the Wall Street Journal that the Arab states would prefer a collapse of negotiations with Iran over a bad deal, echoing the sentiment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has heavily opposed the possibility that Iran may retain some aspects of its nuclear program in a deal with world powers.
But U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has dismissed criticism of the nuclear talks, saying that America would never allow Iran to retain the ability to produce nuclear weapons.
“This is our policy: Iran will not get nuclear weapons. Anyone going around saying that they don’t like the deal, doesn’t even know what the deal is. There’s still no deal at all,” Kerry said.
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UCLA student vying for student government asked if Jewishness is ‘conflict of interest’
(JNS.org) The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) student government is under fire after questioning the candidacy of a Jewish student based on her religion.
When student Rachel Beyda applied to be a member of the UCLA Judicial Board, earlier this month, she was questioned on whether her Jewishness and her participation in Jewish life on campus could be a “conflict of interest,” according to a video of the debate on the issue posted by the USAC Live! YouTube account.
“Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community. How do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?” asked Fabienne Roth, one of the students who opposed Beyda’s candidacy.
Although Beyda was eventually approved for the position in a 9-0 vote, that decision only came about after a faculty member intervened to explain the difference between an actual “conflict of interest” and a “perceived conflict of interest,” which could apply to any member of the judicial board.
After the debate, UCLA’s undergraduate student government president, Avinoam Baral, told the Daily Bruin that “it was definitely very difficult” to listen to the board discuss the student’s candidacy because they “were quite clearly biased against her because of her Jewish identity and her affiliation to the community.”
Baral added that it was particularly difficult for him to hear the debate “as a Jewish student,” as it “echoed a centuries-long sort of connotation of Jews being unable to be truly loyal.” Baral is currently working on a draft resolution against anti-Semitism on campus.
In response to the incident, UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block issued a letter stating that “no student should feel threatened that they would be unable to participate in a university activity because of their religion.” Four students who opposed Beyda’s candidacy, including Roth, also made a public apology.
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