News Sources

Georgia Adopts IHRA Definition of Antisemitism

The Georgia Senate gallery broke out in a standing ovation when HB 30, which codifies the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism passed by a 44-6 vote.  StandWithUs joins in the applause for the Senate and House which passed HB 30 in a 129-5 vote. The bill ensures that Georgia will consider the IHRA definition when enforcing anti-discrimination laws and determining whether crimes suspected of antisemitic bias warrant enhanced penalties. HB 30 now awaits the governor’s signature. [SWU Press Release]

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Antisemitism, International, Press Release, USA

SD International Jewish Film Festival Preview: ‘Kidnapped’

The movie viscerally reenacts the wrenching of Edgardo from his home, the anguish it caused his family, and the divisions it created among Italian Jewish leaders who worried that overt protests would jeopardize their already precarious position in the Papal States. [Laurie Baron]

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Lawrence Baron, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Adam Lambert

Lambert’s big break came in 2009  when he finished as runner-up to singer Kris Allen in Season Eight of American Idol, covering such songs as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Black or White,” “The Tracks of My Tears,” “Mad World,” “If I Can’t Have You,” “One,” “Cryin’,” “A Change Is Gonna Come,” and “No Boundaries. [SDJW staff]

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California, International, Jewish Celebrities, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Former Shin Bet Interrogator Profiles Hamas Leader Yahya al-Sinwar in SDJW Interview

“They shouldn’t have sent him out of prison,” Koubi said. “I knew that he would make a lot of trouble. Sinwar had murderous eyes. He hates Israelis, Jews, and the ‘infidels’ — a very deep hating. He knew the Koran by heart and the charter of Hamas by heart. He told me even that they were planning to kidnap more Israeli soldiers. He was right unfortunately.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Our Shtetl San Diego County: Rabbi Nevarez Hopes to Calm Troubled County Human Relations Commission

“I’m not adding to the vitriol. My goal is to do my small part to help move the HRC away from that and into the effective, on-the-ground work that it was meant to do.” [SDJW staff]

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Ben Dishman, Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

OpEd: Israel Must Beware of Hard-Right’s Messianism

Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, both far-right ideologues in Netanyahu’s cabinet, have never tried to hide their wish to exile the Palestinians from Gaza. In their thinking, such an expulsion of the Palestinian population would allow Israel to return to its biblical borders. Then they would rebuild Gaza solely with Jewish inhabitants. [Amy Neustein, Ph.D]

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Amy Neustein, Israel, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Arthur Rubinstein

In 1912, he became a regular at the musical salon of Paul and Muriel Draper, who also nourished the musical talents of Igor Stravinski, Pablo Casals and others. After World War I, his concertizing was widely acclaimed in Spain and South America. He toured the world in the interwar years, moving to the Brentwood section of Los Angeles during World War II. He was naturalized as an American citizen in 1946. [SDJW staff]

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International, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA

Ralph Lauren Willed Himself Into the Good Life

After he decided to market the ties on his own, executives at Bloomingdale’s wanted him to narrow the tie slightly and Lauren daringly refused. Although winning Bloomingdales’ account, in anyone else’s eyes, would have been a big victory, Lauren had larger ambitions to become himself a name brand. Lauren found other stores to sell the wide tie to, and as their popularity increased, Bloomingdale’s resistance correspondingly decreased. Whereas thin ties sold at the time for $5, Lauren’s ties commanded between $7.50 and $15. The more people paid for them, the more they valued them. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Antisemitism, Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Celebrities, Jewish History, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Samuel Gompers

In 1875, Gompers was electd as president of Local 144 of the Cigar Makers International Union. In 1886, he was elected as the second vice president of the Cigar Makers’ International Union and as its first vice president in 1896, a position he retained until his death.
In 1881, Gompers helped to found the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, which reorganized itself in 1886 as the American Federation of Labor, with Gompers as president. [SDJW staff report]

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Staff and Bylined Contributors, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA

‘It’s Only A Play’ Deals with Theatre Egos

Ever wonder how many theatre egos can fit in one Manhattan hotel room?  Well, PowPac has the answer in Terrence McNally’s very clever It’s Only a Play. The premise for this witty, fast-paced show reveals the anxiety and fragile relationships of writer, actor, producer, director, critic and wannabes as they await the New York Times review of opening night on Broadway. [Eva Trieger]

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Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Druze Diplomat Emphasizes Importance of Transcending Religious, Cultural Boundaries

Amit Mekel — the Los Angeles-based Deputy Consul General of Israel to the Pacific Southwest and the first non-Jewish Israeli diplomat in this region — shared that “I feel an even deeper calling to openly share my personal journey at every event since the war’s onset.”[Israel Bonds Press Release]

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Business & Finance, California, Israel, Press Release, USA

Berkeley Lecturer Found a Sanctuary in San Diego

Recently, as I was traveling and looking for a shul in San Diego for a few weeks I found respite and much more than that at Ohr Shalom near Balboa Park – joy and  inspiration, warmth and hospitality that energized me. [Noam Schimmel]

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Antisemitism, International, Israel, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA