Holocaust survivor Shalom Stamberg holds a book with a photo of himself in Auschwitz, alongside a copy of his concentration camp record. AP Photo/Ariel Schalit One in four American millennials believe the Holocaust was exaggerated or entirely made up, according to a recent national survey that sought to find out what young adults know about […]
Washington (AFP) – US President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday said he had asked the government’s top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci to remain in his post and join his Covid-19 team after he takes office. “I asked him to stay on in the exact same role he’s had for the past several presidents,” Biden said
Biden says asked Fauci to join his Covid team Read More »
USA
San Francisco (AFP) – Facebook on Thursday said it is revising its systems to prioritize blocking slurs against Black people, gays and other groups historically targeted by vitriol, no longer automatically filtering out barbs aimed broadly at whites, men or Americans. The change in Facebook’s algorithm is a shift from the social network’s ethnicity and
Facebook changing ‘race-blind’ hate speech policy Read More »
USA
It all comes down to “promote the general welfare” vs. “the free exercise…of religion.”
On Nov. 8, Satmar Grand Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum more than freely exercised his religious traditions by hosting a family wedding in Brooklyn reportedly attended by 7,000 guests at a time when coronavirus cases persisted at high levels of infection. On Nov. 23. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio promoted the general welfare by socking the organizers with a laughable $15,000 fine. On Nov. 26, our dysfunctional Supreme Court stamped a final judgment on a synagogue attendance case – rooted in Brooklyn – prioritizing “the free exercise…of religion” over “the general welfare.” [Bruce S. Ticcker]
Free Exercise of Religion vs. Promoting the General Welfare Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, USA
Washington (AFP) – Still irate and bitter one month after his election defeat to Joe Biden, Donald Trump is openly musing about a second run at the US presidency in 2024. Refusing to accept defeat, Trump’s lawyers and supporters continued Wednesday to file lawsuits and even call for extraordinary intervention, such as martial law, to
Trump floats idea of 2024 White House run Read More »
USA
ATLANTA — Voting rights groups filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday claiming the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office improperly removed nearly 200,000 people from the state’s voter registration list last year. The lawsuit says the secretary removed tens of thousands of voters from the list because it believed they had moved away when, in fact, they
Groups sue Georgia over voter purges Read More »
USA
Los Angeles (AFP) – A Jewish doctor working with coronavirus patients in California shared his shock about the moment he saw neo-Nazi tattoos on the body of a severely ill man he was treating. As his team – which included a Black nurse and a respiratory specialist of Asian descent — prepared the man to
US Jewish doctor tweets on treating Covid patient with Nazi tattoos Read More »
Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
Jews are now examining every Biden appointee with an eye towards rooting out anyone who is anti-Israel. The prickliest among us attack people if their views are simply different, as in those unhappy with the choice of Tony Blinken as Secretary of State because he supports a two-state solution (as does his boss), opposed sanctioning Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and spoke at the J Street conference. Of greater concern are appointees who appear genuinely anti-Israel. One who has already drawn attention is Reema Dodin, a Palestinian American appointed as Biden’s deputy director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. In 2002, she said that Palestinian “suicide bombers were the last resort of a desperate people” and was involved in protests calling on the California University system to divest from Israel. She also complained that Palestinians were portrayed as “villains in the media” when they were “suffering” and “oppressed.” [Mitchell Bard]
Sometimes, we Jews can be oversensitive Read More »
Middle East, USA
Did you know there are horses in San Diego County with roots that can be traced back directly back to the Vikings? They are Icelandic horses and their ancestors were perfect for crossing the oceans on Viking boats as the horses were short–about 12-14 hands-, calm, and sure-footed. Icelandic horses today are not very different from their predecessors and Iceland has been careful to keep it that way. [Mimi Pollack]
Mimi’s Ark: Icelandic Horses in Encinitas Read More »
International, Lifestyles, Mimi Pollack, San Diego County, The World We Share, USA
Now that Joe Biden is the acknowledged President-Elect, we as Jews have a moral obligation, to pray for his success as we did for our outgoing President, Donald Trump. This is the Jewish way. [Ezra Friedlander]
Jewish Trump supporters should now pray for Biden Read More »
Jewish History, USA
President Obama viewed Israel as a colonial force, an outsider, occupying Arab-Muslim lands. And that perspective colored his foreign policy.That is not President-elect Biden’s perspective. He is not going to rush off to Cairo and make a big-splash speech. Israel and the Middle East will not be a top priority for action by a Biden
Why Joe Biden’s Middle East and Israel policy is not Obama’s Read More »
Middle East, USA
Recently I had an opportunity to brief a group of European diplomats and journalists on a variety of conflicts, with a focus on the Middle East. During the Q&A I was asked which of the region’s conflicts Biden should tackle first. Without much hesitation I said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not only because it is over seven decades old, but because it is an increasingly intractable, explosive, and destabilizing situation, which reverberates throughout the Mideast, and several regional powers are exploiting it to serve their own national interests, which sadly contributes to its endurance. [Alon Ben-Meir, Ph.D]
Biden Could End the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USA
WASHINGTON – US Attorney General Bill Barr said Tuesday that the Justice Department has found no evidence of voter fraud significant enough to reverse Democrat Joe Biden’s defeat of President Donald Trump in the November 3 election.“To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the
US attorney general says no evidence of decisive election fraud Read More »
USA
It makes headlines but is ultimately of no moment that Janet Yellen will, when confirmed, become the nation’s first female secretary of the treasury, just as she was the first female chair of the Federal Reserve. Women filling government’s top jobs is inching ever closer to becoming simply the norm.What matters about Yellen — born
Editorial: Madam secretary: In praise of Biden’s choice of Janet Yellen Read More »
USA