By Donald H. Harrison in San Diego
NATIONAL
The U.S. Coast Guard appeared to be making a quick turnaround on its previously reported decision to no longer classify swastikas, nooses, and Confederate flags as “hate symbols” but instead to label them as “potentially divisive.”
Questioned about the proposed new regulations, the Coast Guard’s acting commandant Admiral Kevin Lunday promptly issued counteracting regulations saying that swastikas, nooses and other symbols of hate would be prohibited in the Coast Guard’s “workplaces, facilities, and assets.”
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) told The Washington Post, which broke the story of the proposed change in policy: “At a time when antisemitism is rising in the United States and around the world, relaxing policies aimed at fighting hate crimes not only sends the wrong message to the men and women of our Coast Guard, but it puts their safety at risk.”
Agreeing, Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, commented that labeling such symbols as “potentially divisive” implied that their meaning is up for interpretation and debate.
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said the swastika and the noose “are explicit symbols of antisemitism and hate.”
The Jewish Telegraph Agency quoted the head of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, as saying “The decision to weaken these standards is an indelible stain on the Coast Guard and a violation of the good that our nation stands for.”
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In Friday’s issue of Jewish Insider: Jewish Members of Congress Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) and Laura Friedman (D-California) joined by Ted Lieu (D-California) have formed the Alliance Against Antisemitism Political Action Committee with the stated purpose of supporting candidates who make fighting antisemitism a priority. Also in the same issue, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York says he will introduce a resolution condemning neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes.
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Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego), commenting on enactment of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, said: “This is a massive victory for transparency, accountability, and most importantly, the survivors. And there’s another win here too: after facing mounting public pressure and a potential mass defection from members of his own party, Trump caved. He spent months trying to block the release of these records, but once it became clear he was going to lose this fight, Trump reversed course and told his party to vote for the bill.”
STATE AND LOCAL
CalMatters reports on multimillionaire Shlomo Rechnitz’s troubled nursing home empire, with 78 facilities in California owned by Shlomo or his wife Tamar.
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San Diego County’s Democratic congressional representatives Scott Peters, Juan Vargas, Mike Levin, and Sara Jacobs announced they will inspect the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego on Monday, Nov. 24, to look into reports that people have been detained in the basement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The four members of Congress were turned away by local ICE agents on Oct. 20 and Oct.27 even though they were engaged in their duties to conduct federal oversight. A press conference is planned following the inspection tour.
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Jewish Family Service’s president for government affairs Kaley Levitt clashed publicly with the Encinitas City Council over a proposed contract to continue operating a secure parking lot for homeless families living in their vehicles. The program through Dec. 31 had been funded with regional grants and JFS donations at $540,000 per year, with the city paying nothing. The request to Encinitas City Council to fund the program for the next calendar year was for $610,000.
Mayor Bruce Ehlers instead offered $150,000 for a half year, which Levitt said was insufficient to cover the costs of security, site managers, and case workers. The San Diego Union Tribune reported on Friday that regional grants “won’t be awarded until midway through 2026 and that is why they’re asking the city for money now.”
Councilmember Luke Shaffer said JFS’s request for $610,000 for a full year was “highway robbery” and “you are not the group that deserves this.” Other Council members complained that in the five years since the 25-space parking lot program was established by JFS for the homeless only 78 of the 306 people served actually were from Encinitas. City money would be better spent on hotel vouchers and with the San Diego Rescue Mission, some council members said.
INTERNATIONAL
U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed a 28-point peace plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine that would have Ukraine cede some territory to Russia and limit the size of Ukraine’s military, the Associated Press has reported. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously has rejected any territorial concessions to Russia, but now he risks offending the United States government if he rejects the plan.
Trump has given Zelenskyy until next Thursday, Nov. 27, to respond. Zelenskyy said in an address to his nation on Friday that his nation was presented with the difficult choice of losing its dignity or losing its key American ally.
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Jonathan Pollard who spent 30 years in a U.S. prison for selling secrets to Israel met secretly last July with U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee in the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. On the right of the American political spectrum Steve Bannon is demanding he be fired, Tucker Carlson wants an explanation. On their left, Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas posted on X “Jonathan Pollard is a convicted traitor who provided highly sensitive national security information to the Israeli government. He did grave harm to our country. He has never shown a degree of remorse or his crimes. It’s inacceptable that Ambassador Huckabee secretly met with Mr. Pollard, a convicted traitor, at the United States Embassy.”
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Times of Israel has published a full-length article detailing the meetings of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The article also mentions left wing activist Noam Chomsky, filmmaker Woody Allen, and Bard College President Leon Botstein. The article leaned heavily on a previous report in the Wall Street Journal.
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Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz announced through a spokesman that his nation’s embargo on some weapons sales to Israel will be lifted Nov. 24 provided that Israel’s ceasefire with Gaza holds. Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar welcomed Merz’s “move to revoke the decision regarding the partial ‘embargo.’ I call on other government to adopt similar decisions, following Germany.”
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Wendy Kahn, national director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), earlier this week issued a statement remonstrating with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa that he hadn’t reopened his nation’s embassy in Israel. When closing it a month after the Oct.7, 2023 Hamas cross border massacre of 1,200 Israelis and hostage taking of another 250 Israeli residents, Ramaphosa said the closure would last only for the “duration of the war,” the Algemeiner recently reported.
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Katharina von Schnurbein, European Commission Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life, received Combat Antisemitism Movement’s (CAM) Global Leadership Award at that organization’s summit in Paris, France. Sacha Roytman, CAM’s CEO, said the summit was attended by municipal leaders from more than 130 cities across 30 European nations.
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Daniel Sokatch, CEO of the New Israel Fund, writes: “Through a rapid response grant to Legal Aid for Palestinians (or L.E.A.P.), we are offering Palestinians legal recourse—a way to bring civil lawsuits for damages incurred by settler violence. This new organization’s goal is to make extremist settlers think twice before burning a Palestinians’ car, throwing a rock through their window, or worse. And with another rapid response grant we are helping install security cameras in over 100 Palestinian villages to capture settler violence in real time.”
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World