International

Remembering via a virtual March of the Living

Residents throughout our county are joining a unique, worldwide virtual memorial to remember the victims of the Holocaust.  Sidelined by the coronavirus pandemic from attending this year’s “March of the Living” which brings thousands of Jews to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration complex in Poland to mourn those who were murdered by the Nazis, members of the Jewish community instead are posting their sentiments on line via the Never Means Never website created for the purpose by March of the Living organizers. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA

Coronavirus and coalition politics dominate Israeli news

They say it’s like a war, but it isn’t. Our wars are shorter, more dramatic, with something like an end coming after days or weeks. And those running them are more regimented and united. It’s possible to exaggerate, of course. Our wars have their civilian commentators, ranging across the board politically. But nothing like the variety we’re hearing from those talking about Coronavirus. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Congresswoman Davis announces financial help for students

Federal relief funds  for local universities and colleges and for their students in need during the coronavirus pandemic were announced on Monday by Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego).  In total, 23 institutions of higher learning in the count are receiving grant totaling $137,435,195, and will be required to distribute at least $71,360,718 in grants to students to pay for housing food, and other essentials. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

In reply to 140 U.S. Jewish leaders

What if American Jews read on the front pages of The New York Times and the Washington Post that Israeli Jews would estrange themselves from American Jews, if the latter chose to vote for a president who was lukewarm on Israel, instead of one who was very pro-Israel? Americans would be piqued that Israelis expected them to vote as if Israel were at the top of their priority list! [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

Standing with the Asian community

I sympathize with the more than 50 Asian and Pacific Islander organizations in San Diego that have issued a statement urging San Diegans to avoid using terms such as the “China virus,”  “Chinese virus,” or the “Wuhan virus” as these descriptions have the effect, whether intended or not, of fanning latent racism among non-API residents. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Fred Kropveld, International, San Diego County, USA

Trump’s pandemic failure: A missed opportunity

Instead of minimizing the ominous danger of the virus and ignoring the warning of top scientists about the prospective disastrous consequences it could unleash, he could have mobilized from the onset of this pandemic every national resource to tackle the virus head on. This includes the military, the National Guards, and thousands of companies and medical institutions to produce critical equipment and testing on a national scale, and creating an aggressive national program to fight this virus as a war on all fronts. [Alon Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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Alon Ben-Meir, USA

Author probes ‘desert Islam’ versus its cosmopolitan form

The author was born into a Muslim family living in Canada, so therefore she grew up in a modern, pluralistic and capitalist society while being educated in the tradition of the Muslim religion. In the first part of her book she identifies herself as a lesbian, a journalist and a feminist with an inquirinig mind and openness to interaction with other cultures. She has studied the Koran and the various Muslim texts extensively, and has come to the conclusion that the way the religion is pursued in most Muslim countries today is in fact a travesty and a distortion of its original principles. [Book review by Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Middle East

A virtual Passover in passing

On Wednesday night, many of us had Passover seders we’ll always remember, when we met by Zoom, Facebook, and other Internet devices because the Coronavirus made it unsafe for us to hold our usual celebratory family gatherings.  We’ve been collecting photos from Facebook and our email of San Diegans in their unusual celebrations. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

UK report: Plague and political turmoil

We are suffering dreadfully in UK from the Coronavirus plague. In view of the fact that you are also experiencing the ravages of the virus, I do not need to recount the horrors. However it is worth just mentioning that it is particularly impacting the Jewish Community in UK. It appears that Jews account for 2% of deaths, but are less than 0.5% of the population. [Lloyd Levy]

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International, Lloyd Levy