Los Angeles elects its first Jewish mayor
(JNS.org) Eric Garcetti will be the first elected Jewish mayor in the history of Los Angeles after winning 54 percent of the vote in a race decided early Wednesday morning.
Garcetti, a 42-year-old Democratic city councilman whose mother is of Russian Jewish descent and whose father is Mexican American, defeated city controller Wendy Greuel.
National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) Chair Marc R. Stanley said in a statement that NJDC is “extraordinarily proud that Garcetti is the first Jewish American elected to serve as the mayor of America’s second largest city.”
“Garcetti has a distinguished record of public service along with strong ties to the city. We wish him and his family a hearty mazal tov,” Stanley said.
The eclectic Garcetti has acted on television shows including All My Children and The Closer, in addition to being a Rhodes Scholar and serving for eight years in military intelligence for U.S. Navy Reserves.
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Leading Jewish groups aid tornado victims
(JNS.org) Prominent international Jewish organizations are coming to the aid of the victims of Monday’s devastating tornado that ripped through the Oklahoma City region with wind speeds of up to 200 miles per hour, killing 24 people, including nine children.
Despite the area being home to just around 5000 Jews, local Jewish groups such as Chabad of Oklahoma City are doing its part to assist in disaster relief.
“The Oklahoma City community is very friendly towards Jews and incredibly supportive of Eretz Yisrael, and that is why we are especially committed to doing everything we can to help, we want there to be a noticeable response from our community,” Rabbi Ovadia Goldman told The Jewish Press on Tuesday morning.
Chabad has offered an array of help to those in need, including offers of shelter, monetary assistance, cell phones, food and clothing.
Meanwhile, other international Jewish organizations have opened up relief funds for the victims of the tornado.
B’nai B’rith International has opened its Flood, Tornado and Hurricane Disaster Relief Fund. This fund has helped victims of other major disasters such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and the earthquakes in Japan in 2011 and Haiti in 2010.
“No amount of advanced warning could have prepared the people of Moore for the horrors this storm has brought. We’re going to do our best to help these people get back on their feet,” B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs said in a statement.
The Jewish Federation of San Diego also has opened a fund to aid the tornado victims.
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‘Palestinian-American Day’ designated by NJ mayor
(JNS.org) During a season when many U.S. municipalities were officially marking Israeli Independence Day, Jeffrey Jones, the mayor of Paterson, NJ, designated Sunday, May 19 as “Palestinian-American Day” in his city with a proclamation and had a Palestinian flag hoisted over Paterson’s City Hall.
Khader Abuassab organized the city-sanctioned celebration, which was attended by about 120 people who danced and shouted “long live Palestine.” South Paterson is home to many Palestinian Americans, many of whom call the city “Little Ramallah,” according to the Jewish World Review. New Jersey Assemblyman Thomas Giblin, a Democrat representing the state’s 34th district, presented a ceremonial resolution marking the event, and U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) presented a letter of Special Congressional Recognition.
The Jewish Press reported that Abuassab, or a person of the same name, age and place of residence, had been sentenced to 13 months in prison for racking up more than $600,000 in credit card fraud with more than 40 different credit cards. He is also known for advising Muslims in the community not to cooperate with authorities during the spring of 2012, when the New York Police Department was monitoring Muslim businesses and institutions in the New York area.
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Hamas student cartoon throws Star of David in the garbage
(JNS.org) A cartoon displaying a person whose body is painted with the colors of the Palestinian Authority flag throwing a Star of David into a garbage can was published by the Hamas-affiliated student union, al-Kutla al-Islamiya, in Gaza with the text “Keep the world clean” underneath.
There are no colors from the Israeli flag in the picture, only the Star of David, indicating that the cartoon refers to Judaism as a whole. The student union educates students in high schools, universities and other Gaza institutions about Hamas’s primary goal of freeing all of Israel from Israeli “occupation.” Hamas also justifies attacks on Israeli civilians as “resistance,” and many of those active in the organization have joined the al-Kassam Brigades, which frequently fire rockets into Israel.
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ZOA regains tax-exempt status amid IRS controversy
(JNS.org) The Zionist Organization of American (ZOA) has had its tax-exempt status reinstated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the organization announced Monday.
The ZOA, which was founded in 1897, is one of the oldest Zionist organizations in the world. It lost its tax-exempt status in early 2011 after it failed to provide the IRS with tax filings for three consecutive years, the Forward reported in 2012.
Despite the IRS holdup, ZOA said it did not let the issue interfere with its work.
“The work of the ZOA has never been altered or diminished one iota during this period. Our campus work; our Title VI efforts; our Capitol Hill work; our writings, lectures, TV and radio appearances have continued as always,” ZOA President Morton Klein said in a statement.
Although ZOA’s loss of tax-exempt status and its reinstatement were unrelated to the ongoing national controversy over the treatment of conservative groups at the IRS, that controversy has extended to the Jewish community in another way. A 2010 lawsuit by the pro-Israel group Z Street alleges the IRS singled out the group for extra review when it applied for tax-exempt status, and the first hearing in that case is set for July 2 in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.
Report: EU set to blacklist Hezbollah
(JNS.org) The European Union (EU) is set to blacklist the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, AFP reported.
The request to formally add Hezbollah’s military wing to the EU’s list of terror groups was initiated by the United Kingdom and will be discussed in early June, several European Union (EU) diplomats told AFP.
“We hope to have an agreement by the end of June,” one of the EU diplomats said.
The United States and Israel have been pressing the EU for years to blacklist Hezbollah. The change in the EU’s attitude appears to be related to evidence that Hezbollah was behind the terror attack on an Israeli tourist bus in Burgas, Bulgaria that killed five Israelis and one Bulgarian in July 2012.
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