USA

Local law enforcement and Israel

Israel boycott advocates in San Diego County have been attempting, so far without success, to persuade local law enforcement executives to refuse to travel with the Anti-Defamation League for familiarization with Israeli police techniques. Tammy Gillies, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said such a push was successful a few years ago in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, “where the City Council was asked to stop organized trips to Israel by law enforcement.  They passed that and it was a shock to us. … There are organizations in San Diego working very hard and lobbying our law enforcement agencies not to send people to Israel.” [Sour shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Eva Trieger, International, Middle East, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

ADL’s Gillies tells of Poway shooting’s lasting impacts

Prosecutors announced on Thursday they would seek the death penalty against John T. Earnest, 20, the alleged shooter who killed congregant Lori Gilbert-Kaye at Chabad of Poway last Passover while wounding three others, including Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein.  Meanwhile, Tammy Gillies, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, was telling San Diego Jewish World that the effects of that April 27 shooting rampage are still being felt throughout San Diego County. “I think some of our institutions are taking more seriously the idea of security,” Gillies commented during an interview. “Some always have, and some not so much, but now are more on board.” Members of other religious communities are now “realizing that when we go to synagogue – when we take our kids to synagogue – we have to walk through armed guards to go, and I think that has been shocking to some other communities.  I think it has raised awareness about anti-Semitism.” [Our shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

AIPAC should take a gentler approach toward Israel’s critics

Hatikvah, as Israel’s national anthem, stirs tender emotions among us whenever it is played, but for others it is a provocation. Likewise, a $225 million expenditure is seen as worth the price to defend Israel, but some newly-minted members of Congress do not readily understand that. Two episodes surfaced last week that reflected missed opportunities in communication for Jewish organizations that seek to be protective of Israel. Most prominent was the sharp bickering between Sen. Bernie Sanders and Jewish and political leaders over his attacks against AIPAC and Israel’s prime minister. Despite the offensive attitudes of some Israel critics, some of this acrimony could be grounded in AIPAC’s tactics to lose friends and influence people – the wrong way about Israel. [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA

Coronavirus curtailing normal life in Israel

The Coronavirus, also known as COVID 19, is spreading steadily throughout the world. At first it seemed to be confined to one region of China, then to other places in the Far East, but now it’s getting closer every day, appearing first in Italy and then in the rest of Europe, the Middle East and now even Israel. The unfortunate Israelis who happened to be on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, commonly known in Israel as the coronaship, were first confined to their cabins for a fortnight, then isolated in Japan, and when finally allowed to return to Israel (not all of them though, as a few were found to be carriers before being able to board the plane bringing them to Israel, so had to remain behind), only to be subjected to another two weeks of isolation in a hospital in Israel. One sad result of this was that one couple had to be separated, the wife returning to Israel and the husband remaining in isolation in Japan. Those two happen to live quite near to me in Mevasseret, though I do not know them personally, I’ve read about them in the local paper, and my sympathies certainly go out to them. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Lifestyles, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

OpEd: Trump’s disastrous domestic policy

Sadly, we have become accustomed to Trump’s lies and misstatements about the presumed progress the US made under his watch. It’s time to take a hard look at his domestic policy which is inflicting terrible damage and anguish on the majority of Americans. Trump knows that he lies regarding just about everything, but he continues to successfully sell his lies to his base, representing the 25 to 30 percent of Americans who still believe every word he says. [Alon Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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Alon Ben-Meir, USA

OpEd: U.S., Israel benefit under Trump, Netanyahu

A strong link exists between Israel and the US, personified by Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump. Therefore there is linkage between the two ongoing leadership contests. Although Israel had enjoyed non-partisan support in the US for decades, that diminished rapidly under the Obama administration. In fact, as a last parting shot, President Obama ordered his ambassador to the United Nations to refrain from vetoing a particularly nasty Security Council Resolution (2344), which basically declares that Jerusalem and Israel’s heritage is Muslim/Palestinian, not Jewish. [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

Eight of 12 Jewish candidates made runoffs

Sanders and Bloomberg were two of the 12 Jewish candidates whose names appeared on San Diego County ballots.  Of the other 10, semi-official returns indicated that three placed in first positions — Sara Jacobs in the 53rd Congressional District, Joe Leventhal in San Diego’s 5th City Council District, and incumbent Bernie Rhinerson in the District B race for the San Diego Community College District.  (Their second-place finishing opponents respectively were San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez, City Attorney candidate Marni Von Wilpert, and Daniel Piedra.) [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Sandi Masori, USA

How Jewish candidates fared in March 3 primary

There were 12 Jewish candidates on San Diego County ballots on March 3.  Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden were in a coast-to-coast race for delegates that stretched from Maine to California, with Biden winning or ahead at press time in Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Minnesota, and Massachusetts.  Sanders won or was leading in California, Colorado, Utah, and Vermont.  Michael Bloomfield won in the American territory of American Samoa, and was battling Elizabeth Warren for third place in many of the states.  Texas and Maine saw seesaw battles between Biden and Sanders, both too close to call as we went to press. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

12 Jews compete on San Diego County ballots

While San Diego Jewish World does not plan to make any formal endorsements until the November election, we would like our readers to be aware of the names of our fellow Jews who are on San Diego County ballots.  There are at least a dozen such candidates, whose Jewish affiliation has been made known to us.  Whether they are Democrats, Republicans, or independents, we would like to congratulate them for putting themselves out there. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

SDJW correspondent publishes sixth novel

Our correspondent in Mevasseret Zion, Israel, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, has written a sixth novel, this one called A Ruffled Calm.  As with her previous five novels, Shefer-Vanson has illustrated the cover of her book with one of her own art pieces, seen to the right of this story. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

Susan Davis provides fact sheet on coronavirus

Congresswoman Susan Davis, D-San Diego, has issued a fact sheet about the coronavirus.  We republish it here: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first identified on February 11, 2020 in Wuhan, China. The first infections were linked to a live animal market, but the virus is now spreading from person-to-person. It often spreads between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet) and through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes…. [ Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

Historians, biographers probe Jewish Cleveland

Cleveland Jews and the Making of a Midwestern Community contains a pair of biographical essays, which I read with considerable interest, and more than a majority of essays of the historical type, dealing with such phenomena as the growth of Jewish Orthodoxy in Cleveland; the impact of Jewish philanthropy on that city; the growth of Jewish schools; The development of feminist ideals among Jewish women’s organizations;  Black-Jewish relations in Cleveland; suburbanization of Cleveland’s Jewish community; Reform Judaism in the Cleveland suburbs; and programs to assimilate into Jewish society refugees from the Soviet Union. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, USA

San Diegans’ dream trip leads to new website

In 2017, newlyweds Jonathan Moed and Zoe (Jurkowski) Moed went on a year-long dream trip around the world, and now Jonathan is pursuing a “passion project” to help high-tech start up entrepreneurs in developing nations realize dreams of their own. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

‘…I Am Proud To Be A Socialist’

It is sad, appalling, and outrageous that much of what Bernie Sanders is advocating is denigrated as “socialist,” as if it were a stigma detached from the day-to-day realities of life that affect every American man, woman, and child. I have and continue to be apolitical, but for me, anything to do with human rights matters because in the final analysis, no one has any right whatsoever to undermine another person’s right to be free, to believe, to feel secure, and to be treated humanely and equitably, as long as it does not infringe upon someone else’s rights. [Alon Ben-Meir, PhD}

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Alon Ben-Meir, USA