Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 27, 2022

Accepted standards are funny things. You can use a tech tool for months or even years without ever thinking about its shortcomingsand then, the second you experience a better alternative, you wonder how you ever dealt with the now-clearly-flawed setup youd stuck with for so long.

Thats exactly what happened to me with the current crop of mainstream videoconferencing systemsZoom, Google Meet, or whichever flavor you happen to prefer. Like most people these days, I participate in more than my share of online meetings. And aside from the occasional internal grumbling, I usually dont give much thought to the way they work or what could make them more effective.

But then I ran into a thoughtful new tool called Switchboard. It completely reimagines the way you interact and work with other people online. It takes the emphasis off faces and one-sided sharing and instead delivers a much-needed dose of real-world-like collaboration for your remote meeting experiences.

And no exaggeration: Its so natural, sensible, and intuitive that once youve used it, youll never look at those other videoconferencing systems the same way again.

Switchboards story starts on a slightly quirky note.

When the pandemic hit, Amir Ashkenazi found himself frustrated with the state of his guitar lessons. He quickly discovered that while services like Zoom and Meet might be fine for basic conversation, they failed to deliver for his more interactive needs.

What I realized is that those tools that we call collaboration platforms today are really just communication tools, he says. They allow us to see and hear each other and even allow us to show a screen, but when we actually want to do anything together, [they] really fall short.

That realization inspired Ashkenazi to seek out a more harmonious solution. After two years of planning, building, and iterating, Switchboard was born. Ashkenazi is hardly a newbie at startups: Hes created and then sold three significant ones in the past (Shopping.com, which was acquired by eBay; Adap.tv, which was acquired by AOL; and Tookee, which was snatched up by LogMeIn before it even launched).

The easiest way to think of Switchboard is as an interactive canvas for your video calls. Instead of the default meeting visual being the faces of the participants, its a desktopone that lives in the cloud, is specific to that individual meeting, and is available for all invited participants to share.

In the real office, we focus on content, Ashkenazi explains. In video conferences, we focus on faces. Its not naturalwere not supposed to stare at our coworkers all day long.

The centerpiece of the Switchboard setup is the humble internet browsera familiar-feeling Chromium-based creation that exists entirely in that virtual environment and empowers you to create as many windows as you need. That means you can open and run practically any app thats web-based, from Notion and Trello to Figma, Canva, and the entire suite of Google Workspace services. And then you can actually work in any of those apps anytime, collectively, without the need for any distracting view-switching or clunky manual sharing.

Its a sharp and immediately noticeable contrast to the typical video conference. And thats precisely what Ashkenazi set out to achieveeven more so with Switchboards advanced options.

Traditional videoconferencing is by its nature noninteractive. Sure, one person can share one thing at a time with everyone else. But, as Ashkenazi keenly observed, thats not the way we actually work.

In Switchboard, he aimed to better emulate the real-world coworking experience while adding some useful extras into the equation. You can have multiple apps open simultaneously across any given room, for instance. You just sign in to any service the same way you would in any browser, and Switchboard then keeps you signed in just like your regular desktop browser does.

And, critically, anyone else you invite into the room can see and work on everything alongside you, as if they were right next to you and on the same computer.

Ashkenazi likes to call it the first operating system ever built for teams, and the analogy holds up surprisingly well. In addition to the endless array of browser windows, Switchboard lets you drag and drop files directly onto your shared canvas to have them appear in your room for everyone to see and interact with. It lets you add widget-like sticky notes into your work surface. You can paste the URL of a video from YouTube and have it show up as a floating video that can then play in sync for everyone present. And, yes, if you really want to share your screen in the traditional way, you can do that, too.

As for the faces, theyre therejust not as the primary point of emphasis. Instead, Switchboard shows all of a meetings participants inside small circles at the top of a room (though you can shift them around and change their size if you wish). Anyone can talk to the group and interact with any of a rooms elements. And if individuals want to present, a special command allows them to do so and have everyone elses focus follow them around the canvas.

All basic structure aside, Switchboard presents one key advantage over our current videoconferencing standardsand over real-world meetings, tooand thats its effortless permanence.

Plain and simple, any room you create remains in place and available for anyone you invite to reopen, revisit, and continue working in for as long as you like. Particularly for companies with recurring team meetings or ongoing group projects, thats an immeasurable improvement over the awkward need to dig up all your notes, open every associated app, and start from square one each time you get going.

Video calls start with zero and end with zero, Ashkenazi says. The real worldand Switchboardis a world where permanence and memory exist.

For now, Switchboard is free for anyone to use, and itll remain that way through the end of 2022. After that, Ashkenazi tells me itll likely move to a freemium-style model, which includes both a free offering for individuals and a more robust paid plan for organizations.

And if theres one thing he can promise, its that what were seeing now is only just the beginning.

Youre going to see more innovation in collaboration in the next three years than youve seen in the last probably 10 years, he says.

Learn about all sorts of fascinating productivity boosters with my free Android Intelligence newsletter. Three things to know and three things to try every Friday.

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Meet? Meh. Zoom? Zzz. Here's the future of online meetings - Fast Company

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2022

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The Anti-Defamation League releases an annual audit of antisemitic incidents, pulled from local reports around the United States.

In 2021, the organization, which advocates against the hate and defamation of Jews, tracked 2,717 incidents, including assaults, harassment and vandalism, which ADL said is the highest number on record since the organization started tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979.

When it comes to antisemitic activity in America, you cannot point to any single ideology or belief system, and in many cases, we simply dont know the motivation, ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt said in a press release. But we do know that Jews are experiencing more antisemitic incidents than we have in this country in at least 40 years, and thats a deeply troubling indicator of larger societal fissures.

Antisemitism can take many forms, both subtle and overt. It might mean something different, depending on the community one coverscoded language from a public official, a swastika scrawled on a bathroom wall or a tiki torch-wielding mob.

To help journalists better understand issues around antisemitism in America, The Journalists Resource interviewed four experts in the field: Jerome Chanes, a senior fellow at the Center for Jewish Studies at City University of New York and author of Antisemitism: A Reference Handbook; Ken Stern, director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate; Rabbi Michael Berenbaum, former deputy director of the Presidents Commission on the Holocaust, former project director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and director of the museums Holocaust Research Institute; and Rabbi Elliot Dorff, rector and professor of philosophy at American Jewish University.Below are some of their most valuable tips for covering antisemitism. This tip sheet is a companion to Antisemitism on the rise: A research roundup and explainer.

The great replacement is a conspiracy theory positing that immigrants of color are being brought to the United States via welcoming immigration policies explicitly to replace white people and threaten their political influence. According to the ADL, many white supremacists who believe in the great replacement also believe that Jews are in charge of it. The ADL has a page on its website explaining the origins and spread of the conspiracy theory.

Understanding the history can help journalists cover events like the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, when a tiki-torch-wielding horde of white supremacists marched the streets chanting, Jews will not replace us.

Stern notes that journalists in the United States have not always been clear to include people of Jewish origin as a target of white supremacists hatred. Racism is often called out, he says, though antisemitism often goes underreported until it becomes impossible to ignore.

A 2018 working paper from Syracuse University shows that African Americans are seen as a primary threat to conceptions of white self-identity among white supremacists, while Jews are considered the main political threat to the white supremacist movement.

What do journalists as a general principle, do about racist, far-right groups and individuals with antisemitic drivers to their worldview? Stern says. There have been lots of instances when journalists, I think, really have failed.

We tend to try to divide things by, is it directly related to Jews or not, Stern adds, which often obscures underlying motives.

When a 46-year-old gunman killed 11 congregants at PittsburghsTree of Life Synagogue in 2018, that, Stern says, was clearly antisemitic, and news organizations covered it that way.

The 2019 attack at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, which killed 23 people, most of them Latino, however, would not directly be considered an act of antisemitism though the ideologies of the two perpetrators were very similar, and both reportedly had ties to white supremacist movements.

Jews didnt come up in that conversation, Stern says of the El Paso shooting. But if you look at the ideology of the two shooters, they were pretty much identical. They just chose different targets on different days.

The FBI defines a hate crime as a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offenders bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity, though the agency notes on its website that hate itself is not a crime.

An incident driven by bias only becomes a hate crime, according to the New York City Police Department, when a crime has been committed. Newsrooms should consider covering antisemitic incidents even when no criminal charges have been filed. Its important to note the difference between a hate crime and a hateful incident.

Though there are various definitions of a hate crime, the New York City Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes has noted two essential factors. First, authorities must determine that theres an actual crime. Thats the difference between a hate crime and what the city defines as a bias incident.

One can still be victimized by bias and hate if there is no underlying crime, reads a message on the offices website.

Once it has been determined that a crime has been committed, for it to be a hate crime, that crime must be motivated in whole or substantial part by bias against certain personal characteristics, such as race or color, gender identity or expression, or religion or religious practice, among others, according to New York Citys hate crime office.

Chanes says its important to recognize the difference between deliberate antisemitism and inadvertent threats to Jewish security, which he defined as the ability of Jews to participate in the society without fear of antisemitism.

Chanes maintains the FBIs initial assertion that the attack was not a hate crime was not, by itself antisemitic although it did threaten the Jewish communitys sense of security. He says that distinction is necessary to understand.

Chanes says that the American Jewish community historically adopted a policy of quietism. In the decades following World War II, Jews were attempting to assimilate into the American culture, and calling out antisemitism would generate a sense of otherness.

That has changed in the decades after the 1960s, and particularly since the 1980s.

The Jewish attitude toward antisemitism changedfrom quietism to activism, one of many responses to modernity, he says. Our communities became more activist.

But in smaller communities, where Jews might not feel as secure, victims of antisemitism may prefer to remain anonymous, or to not publicize the antisemitism at all.

Its a good idea to cultivate knowledgeable sources within the Jewish community, if only to ask how a particularly sensitive issue might be handled. If a source is reluctant to speak about an issue, a reporter or editor could possibly offer anonymity, and ask specifically what they are concerned about. Is the source concerned about reprisals? Does the source feel threatened physically? Does the source not wish to be known publicly as a person of Jewish heritage?

Its also helpful to understand that self-deprecating humor is sometimes used as a way to talk about antisemitism. A 2020 Pew Research Poll of 4,718 U.S. adults who identify as Jewish, some 34% said they consider a good sense of humor as essential to their identity.

Chanes uses humor to illustrate the differing perceptions of Jews in the media, including harmful stereotypes and conspiracy theories, and how identifying antisemitism in and out of the media can be a matter of perception:

Theres an old joke about two Jewish men reading newspapers in Berlin, in 1936. One is reading the local Jewish community paper, while sitting next to his friend reading the Nazi propaganda publication, Der Strmer.

How can you read that garbage? the first one asks his friend.

Well, when I read Jewish newspapers, all I read about is how everybody hates us, the second man replies. But here, I learn how we Jews own Hollywood, we control the media and we are all doctors, lawyers and bankers. It makes me feel good about myself!

Berenbaum sums up social antisemitism with a famous quote from the late comedian Groucho Marx: I dont want to belong to any club that would accept me as a member.

Marx, for his part, reportedly responded with a joke when an antisemitic swimming club refused to admit his daughter as a member: Shes only half Jewish. How about if she only goes up to her waist?

Just as with all bigotry, stereotypes can be verbal, written or pictorial.

There are certain stereotypes of Jews that really should be avoided, Dorff says.

Jews are portrayed as greedy, such as with the happy merchant meme, depicting a large-nosed man with a prominent beard and a hat, rubbing his hands in a greedy way. Often it is suggested that Jews control Hollywood, or even the world, sometimes with puppeteer symbolism. Sometimes its as simple as portraying a Jew with an exceptionally large nose.

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law has a fact sheet on what the organization says are some of the most common motifs in antisemitic discourse, including the following:

There are instances in which news organizations have perpetuated these and other stereotypes, resulting in public apologies.

In April 2019, The New York Times published the following apology in its international print edition:

In 2020, the Miami Herald and its Spanish-language sister paper, El Nuevo Herald,apologized for an advertising insert that said American Jews support thieves and arsonists.

Also that year the Sacramento Bee publicly apologized for an advertisement that appeared Good Friday, which accused unnamed religious people of planning to slaughter Jesus Christ.

In a draft working paper he shared with The Journalists Resource, Berenbaum writes that not all antisemitism is obvious that it can be explicit, indirect or coded. Heres an example of how the same sentiment can be expressed in all three ways.

Berenbaum writes that The Rothschilds control the world is a coded statement about the alleged Jewish control of banks and international finance.

Its not always a simple matter to decode bigoted language or imagery, as Berenbaum notes. It can be a matter of context and judgement. Legitimate criticism of Israels policies or actions might not consist of antisemitism but a portrayal of Israel as the ultimate evil or a gross exaggeration of its actual influence can be a coded way to stigmatize Jews, he writes.

For example, the use of the image of a puppeteer might not be antisemitic by itself, but coupled with an implication that a Jew or Jewish community is controlling the real estate market uses that imagery to suggest outsized Jewish control.

Many antisemitic tropes used today go back centuries. For example, the false idea of outsized Jewish control over world events goes back, Dorff says, to medieval Europe.Some professions were considered honorable, like farming. Others pit Jews against their non-Jewish neighbors.

Christian landowners had Christian peasants farming the land, and they hired Jews who were not allowed to engage in farming, because that was honorific, he says. Being a land-owning farmer was an honor, passed down from generation to generation. Dorff says Jews were placed in the position of collecting taxes on that land: They hired Jews to collect the taxes from the peasants, and so the Jews were the visible enemy.

In its history of antisemitism during the early modern era (1300-1800) the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum explains that Jews were permitted to work as managers on landed estates and tax collectors.

Since the Catholic and Orthodox Churches banned usury (lending money at interest) and generally looked down upon business practices as immoral, Jews came to fill the vital (but unpopular) role of moneylenders for the Christian majority, reads a page on the museums Holocaust Encyclopedia website.

That ancient stereotype can have violent modern incarnations. It was, Berenbaum says, integral to the Central Synagogue event in Colleyville, Texas, last January, when a man held a rabbi and several congregants for several hours.

The perpetrator, who was shot and killed by police, reportedly believed that the lives of the Jews he held hostage were valuable enough to trade for a jailed Pakistani woman serving an 86-year sentence in the U.S. for attempting to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan.

During a livestream of the attack, the perpetrator explained his belief that Jewish lives were valued higher than other lives in the United States, which is why he chose to hold Jews hostage and bargain with their lives.

Jews are often seen as a monolithic group, with similar physical characteristics, political leanings and religious beliefs. This is incorrect.

Ashkenazi Jews are descended from Jews who lived in Eastern Europe. Sephardic Jews are those whose ancestors lived in Spain, though they are sometimes grouped with Mizrahi Jews who derive from Western Asia and North Africa.

Some Jews may experience both antisemitism and racism. Last year Rabbi Gabriel Lumbroso, whose family originated from Tunisia, told the Eastern Oregon University student newspaper that being an olive-skinned man whose skin gets quite brown in the summer, he has been the victim of anti-Arab verbal attacks.

It happens that in America, a large percentage of Jews are white from Ashkenazi backgrounds, Dorff says. But all you have to do is go to Israel, for that matter even in America, you will see Jews who are Black and Asian and Latino.

Journalists wanting to learn more about that can reach out to Bechol Lashon, an organization that strives to raise awareness about racial, ethnic and cultural diversity among Jewish people.

Within ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities there are wide divergences in belief. Some communities are more insular, some are less so. Some see Israel as home and some Jews refuse to recognize its existence.

Within those and other ethnic groups are Jews of varying degrees of observance and tradition,including Orthodox Jews, Conservative Jews, Reform Jews and Jews who identify culturally but not religiously.

And then we have all kinds of converts to Judaism, Dorff says. As a matter of fact, in modern times, conversion to Judaism is a much higher rate than it was in times past.

In 2021, Tablet Magazine surveyed 100 American rabbis on the state of conversion to Judaism. Of the 79 who responded, 43% said they were performing more conversions recently than earlier in their careers.

Dorff says there is a sense, among American Jews in general, that antisemitism is more culturally acceptable than other forms of bigotry.Just as journalists are now encouraged to call out racism, so too can they call out antisemitism.

A recent Morning Consult/Politico poll of 2,005 registered voters asked respondents, If a candidate is accused of ______ is it a major problem?

When asked if its a major problem for a candidate to be accused of antisemitism, 71% of people who identify with liberal ideologies, 58% of moderates and 50% of people with conservative ideologies said yes.

Comparatively, when asked if it were a major problem if a candidate was accused of racist remarks, 84% of people who identify with liberal ideologies, 60% of moderates and 39% of people with conservative ideologies said yes.

In a 2019 piece for The Atlantic, Eliot A. Cohen, a professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, writes that Social anti-Semitism, the kind permissible in polite society, continues.

In his review of French Rabbi Delphine Horvilleurs book Anti-Semitism Revisited, Robert Shrimsley writes in Financial Times that Jews are not seen as underprivileged or marginalized. They are caricatured as rich capitalists. They are also too white for campaigners. This means they are beyond the interest of social justice activists who see racism as a class construct, one in which you need to be economically or socially disadvantaged.

Dorff maintains Jews are often not seen as a part of a marginalized community.

And he says its important to call out all forms of bigotry, especially if theres any chance of changing it.

The photo accompanying this tip sheet was published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license. No changes were made.

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2022

Known as the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot marks the revelation of the Torah to Moses

Shavuot is a Jewish holiday marking the revelation of the Torah to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai.

The holiday - which is known as Shavuos or, in English, the Feast of Weeks - is also one of three major festivals in Judaism.

The other big celebrations are Passover and Sukkot, as well as commemorating the wheat harvesting in the land of Israel.

But when is Shavuot in 2022, and how is the festival observed? Heres what you need to know.

When is Shavuot 2022?

In 2022, Shavuot will fall on the evening of 4 June until nightfall on 6 June.

It is a movable feast as the date varies with the Hebrew lunar calendar.

In the Hebrew calendar, Shavuot commences on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan, which falls between May 15 and June 14 in the Gregorian calendar.

However, the Torah does not specify the actual day of Shavuot, which leaves two interpretations of when it should fall; the day the Torah was given on Mount Sinai, and the day it occurs in relation to the Counting of the Omer - a time of spiritual preparation and anticipation for the giving of the Torah.

In the former theory, most of the Talmudic Sages suggest the Torah was given on the 6 Sivan. They say the Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sinai on the new moon, and the Ten Commandments were given that following Sabbath.

However, in the latter theory, the Torah states the Omer offering is the first day of the barley harvest, which began on the second day of Passover, and continues for 49 days, ending on the day before Shavuot.

What is the history behind Shavuot?

The main significance of this festival is it is the day on which the Torah was revealed by God to the Israelites at Mount Sinai.

This belief stems from Orthodox Judaism, which believes the revelation occurred on this date in 1314 BCE.

However, when it is connected to the Bible, Shavuot is also the season of the wheat harvest in Israel, which lasted seven weeks.

Harvesting began during Passover, and the concluding festival was known as Shavuot.

In the Bible, Shavuot is referred to as the Festival of Weeks (Exodus and Deuteronomy), the Festival of Reaping (Exodus) and the Day of the First Fruits.

Shavuot, the plural of the word meaning week or seven, connects to the fact that the festival happens exactly seven weeks after Passover.

However, in the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism, the day was known as Aeret, meaning holding back, as a reference to not working on the day as well as the conclusion of the holiday and the season of Passover.

How is Shavuot observed?

In the post-Temple era, Shavuot has no specific laws attached to it, other than the standard refraining from creative work.

Observances include reciting additional prayers, making kiddush, a blessed wine, and partaking of meals in a state of joy.

However, a few customs which take place on Shavuot in the Ashkenazi communities are:

Aqdamut, the reading of a piyyut (liturgical poem) during Shavuot morning synagogue services.

The poems speak about the greatness of God the Torah, and Israel, composed by Rabbi Meir of Worm, whose son was murdered during the First Crusade in 1096.

Known as alav, meaning milk, Ashkenazi Jews consume food such as cheesecake, cheese blintzes and cheese kreplach.

For Syrian Jews, cheese sambusak, kelsonnes and atayef (a cheese-filled pancake) are eaten.

However, Yemenite Jews do not consume dairy. The reason dairy is eaten draws upon old traditions, where before receiving the Torah, Israelites were not obligated to follow its rules, but since the revelation of the Torah, only Kosher food could be eaten - so they opted for dairy instead.

Rut, the reading of the Book of Ruth at morning services, but outside Israel it takes place on the second day.

The book of Ruth is read because the beloved King David, Ruths descendant, was both born and died on Shavuot.

The book of Ruth also occurs at harvest time - the celebration of Shavuot.

According to the Midrash, Jewish texts, Mount Sinai blossomed with flowers in anticipation of the giving of the Torah on its summit, so the decoration of homes and synagogues with greenery is encouraged.

Greenery is also associated with Moses, as he was found in bulrushes on the river Nile.

Engaging in all-night Torah study

This practice stems from a story, known as Tiqun Leyl Shavuot or Rectification for Shavuot Night, as the morning the Torah was given the Israelites overslept, and Moses had to wake them up as God was waiting on the Mountaintop.

To rectify this, many religious Jews stay up all night to learn the Torah.

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2022

Colon cancer can be hereditary, which means it passes from generation to generation in families. It is also genetic, meaning it develops because of an accumulation of genetic changes.

Hereditary cancers, including hereditary colon cancer, are genetic. However, not all genetic cancers are hereditary. Sometimes a person develops changes during their lifetime due to exposure to environmental factors that trigger genetic mutations.

For example, tobacco, alcohol, and red or processed meat may increase the risk of genetic mutations that cause colon cancer.

About 1 in 30 cases of colon cancer are in people with a genetically inherited condition called Lynch syndrome. Doctors also call this hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer.

Cancer, including colon cancer, develops because cells grow out of control. This often occurs when genes that prevent excessive cell growth or control the rate of cell growth develop mutations. The mutations can be hereditary or due to environmental factors.

Read on to learn more about the hereditary nature of colon cancer, including the genetic factors and some other causes of colon cancer.

All cancers are genetic because changes in genes cause cells to grow out of control, leading to the disease. However, genetic does not mean hereditary.

Hereditary cancers are cancers that pass from generation to generation via genes. These cancers comprise only a small portion of colon cancers.

One of the most studied genetic forms of colon cancer is Lynch syndrome, which is also the most common.

People with Lynch syndrome mutations have a lifetime risk of colon cancer as high as 80%. Females with Lynch syndrome have a 60% lifetime risk of endometrial cancer. They may also develop other cancers, such as:

People with a family history of colon cancer are more likely to carry genes that increase the risk of cancer. This may mean they develop colon cancer at an earlier age. Doctors may recommend earlier and more frequent screenings, genetic counseling, and using colonoscopies to test for cancer instead of other, less sensitive tests.

However, not all family cases of colon cancer are hereditary. Some environmental risk factors, such as obesity, alcohol, and tobacco, may be more common according to a persons family history. For example, a family might often eat red meat together, increasing their collective and individual risk of colon cancer.

Most cases of colon cancer are sporadic, which means there is no obvious hereditary cause, with around 20% due to familial clustering. These cases may spring from genetic factors, shared environmental exposures, or an interaction between the two. About 10% develop because of inherited syndromes such as Lynch syndrome.

While earlier research suggested that carriers of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which many people call the breast cancer genes, might have a higher risk of colon cancer, more recent research undermines that claim.

A 2020 meta-analysis that included nine prior studies and controlled for age, sex, and Ashkenazi heritage, found no increased risk among this group.

People with Lynch syndrome inherit a mutation in the genes MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, or PMS2. Doctors call these mismatch repair genes because they repair incorrect pairings during the process of copying DNA. Without the ability to repair these copying errors, the risk of cancer increases.

A fifth genetic change, a group of deletions in the EPCAM gene, prevents the MSH2 gene from expressing, also causing Lynch syndrome.

Lynch syndrome causes about 5% of all colorectal cancers.

Additionally, a total of 1015% of people with a colorectal cancer diagnosis carry other mutations that increase the risk of cancer.

About 70% of colon cancer cases are sporadic, meaning there is no clear genetic cause.

However, this disease develops because of the accumulation of genetic mutations that alter the colon lining. It usually takes 10 to 15 years for these mutations to occur at a frequent enough rate to lead to cancer.

A 2017 study that looked at genetic mutations in all cancers, not just colon cancer, found that about two-thirds of these mutations occurred because of random copying errors, not exposure to environmental factors.

However, environmental exposures, and the interaction between genetic risk factors and the environment, may increase the risk of colon cancer.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main risk factors for colon cancer include:

Colon cancer does not always cause symptoms. People with genetic or environmental risk factors for this disease should not assume they are cancer-free because they do not have symptoms. Instead, they should speak with a doctor about a suitable cancer screening schedule.

Some symptoms of colon cancer may include:

For people with Lynch syndrome or other genetic risk factors for colon cancer, prevention and early detection are important. A person may meet with a genetic counselor or doctor to discuss screening guidelines.

For cancer that has not spread outside of the colon, the main treatment method is surgical resection. This procedure involves removing the cancer by removing part of the colon. People with early stages of cancer do not need chemotherapy if this surgery is successful.

With more advanced cancers, a person may need chemotherapy. If the cancer spreads to other organs, this may also require additional surgeries to remove it.

The outlook for people with an early diagnosis of colon cancer is good. The American Cancer Society reports the following 5-year relative survival rates, which indicate the percentage of individuals who are alive 5 years following diagnosis:

Despite these figures, colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death for males and females combined. And while rates have declined in general, the rate of colon cancer among people over the age of 50 years has increased.

Colon cancer is genetic, but not all cases of colon cancer spread through families. Instead, random changes in genes and mutations due to environmental factors may increase the risk of this type of cancer.

People with inherited family syndromes have a very high risk of developing colon cancer. A person who has several cases of colon cancer in their family should talk with a doctor or genetic counselor. If they test positive for a genetic syndrome, they may need more frequent and aggressive colon cancer screening.

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2022

(May 25, 2022 / Israel Hayom) This weeks report that the Israeli Navy has acquired two new amphibious landing craft has again raised the issue of how vital such capabilities are to the Israel Defense Forces and how it can use them when the day arrives.

Over the years, the Israeli Navy carried out a number of amphibious landings on all fronts, such as at the Suez Canal in the War of Attrition.

The jewel in the crown of these actions came in the 1982 Lebanon War when an out-of-date fleet of landing craft under the command of Maj. Gen. Yoram Yair dropped a brigade of paratroopers at the Awali estuary. The troops moved toward Beirut, behind the enemys back. That night, I was in command of the warship that secured the southern flank of the landing, and we provided cover fire for the forces that had just reached the beach. The complicated landing was a success and made an impressive contribution to the land maneuvers that followed.

After the war, the Israeli Navy presented a plan to acquire new landing craft that would replace the outdated fleet but encountered resistance from the General Staff, which decided not to fund the proposal. Since then, the IDF has had little ability to outflank enemy forces through amphibious landings.

Years of knowledge and capabilities went to waste until the concept of such landings saw a revival in 2008. Then-IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi approved the acquisition of a few small landing craft for the Israeli Navy, which would allow landings on a small scale. It was enough to revive the idea.

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Marine landings are complicated, multi-branch operations that require complex planning and execution but are achievable. The advantage of sending forces in from the sea to outflank the enemy lies in the element of surprise, but it can also help shatter the enemys defenses in order to shorten and win a war.

The main threats that face the Israeli Navy are Hezbollahs surface-to-surface missiles and drones. The Navy, which foresaw this, has acquired Saar 6 missile ships equipped with improved radar systems to detect high-trajectory fire, cruise missiles and drones, and intercept them with sophisticated missiles. Today, the Israeli Navy can attack targets deep inland and, in cooperation with the Israeli Air Force, hamper the enemys ability to fire missiles.

Vice Adm. (ret.) Eliezer Marom served as commander of the Israeli Navy from 2007 to 2011.

This article was originally published by Israel Hayom.

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Advanced amphibious landing capabilities improve Israel's ability to win - JNS.org

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2022

A landmark book documenting Jewish history in Washington state has just been updated and reissued in a revised edition by the Washington State Jewish Historical Society.

The first edition of Family of Strangers was written by Howard Droker, Jaqueline Williams, and the late Molly Cone and was originally published in 2003. Well-researched and ambitious in scope and scape, the book is several hundred pages in length, and is a comprehensive history of Jewish people and organizations and businesses in whats now Washington from the 1850s to about 1970.

The Washington State Jewish Historical Society which was founded in 1968 and incorporated in 1980 saw a need and an opportunity to publish a new edition in order to correct some minor errors, fill in some blanks and bring the history up to date. In Washington, the past several decades have seen staggering population growth as well as seismic shifts in demographics for the entire state, which means that tens of thousands of Jewish people have moved here during that time. Estimates are that roughly 75,000 Jewish people live in the Evergreen State, and make up about 1% of the population.

For the new section about the recent past which comes at the end of the new edition as, essentially, a 60-page epilogue the society recruited a local writer named Stuart Eskenazi. Eskenazi, who for many years was a reporter for the Seattle Times, did not train as a historian. However, like any seasoned journalist, his research skills and storytelling chops translated well for this history project.

Along with updates to the core of the book and the addition of the new epilogue, theres one significant change visible right on the front cover.

The original subtitle was Building a Jewish Community in Washington State, Eskenazi told KIRO Newsradio earlier this week. And we changed it to Building Jewish Communities [plural] in Washington State to basically show that the story over the last 50 years is one of diversity and growth and geographic spread, and with that comes challenges within Jewish organizations and institutions to try to engage with folks.

Those challenges, says Stuart Eskenazi, include the fact that Jewish communities are not homogenous or monolithic they are as diverse, if not more diverse, than other groups centered around spiritual, ethnic, and cultural identities in Washington. Life for everyone in 2022 is more complex than it was 100 years ago, and the contained Jewish communities that once revolved around, say, a single synagogue on Yesler Way in Seattle or on South Hill in Spokane are mostly a thing of the past. Meanwhile, the sunsetting of print publications that once kept Jewish people informed has been offset by the rise of social media, and barriers to attending services in person have been removed or at least altered somewhat by the pandemic.

Still, Eskenazi says, people still have a desire to congregate around their shared values and elements of history that all Jewish people have in common.

And thats also one of the reasons the Washington State Jewish Historical Society wanted to update the book as part of a recent realignment of their mission to reflect the dynamism of Jewish people in the Pacific Northwest.

Executive director Lisa Kranseler says that part of her groups work is focused on the present and future in order to use history as a means of connecting the dynamic new and emerging Jewish communities in Washington with what and who came before.

If weve learned nothing in the last couple of years, weve learned that history is very important, and the history and educating people of what happened in an area that youve just moved to is pretty important, Kranseler told KIRO Newsradio. Because they are bringing their own ideas here, and thats fantastic. So has it been done? Has it been tried? Is there someplace where they can they go to do this work? she continued, reeling off questions she believes history can best answer for people looking to make a new home.

In Washington, Kranseler says we love [and] we welcome new ideas and creativity all the time, and thats what we as an organization have adapted to.

And those new arrivals are often what can shift or expand a particular community in ways that might not have happened without that person or some related event serving as a catalyst. In the new section of the book, Stuart Eskenazi shows how the growth of Jewish communities in Washington in the past five decades has sometimes come in surprising ways, in what might be considered surprising places.

One of his favorite stories is about a Jewish woman named Janet Hanrahan, who moved from San Diego to Bainbridge Island in the 1980s.

And in her mind, she was the only Jewish person living on Bainbridge Island at the time in the 80s, Eskenazi said. So she goes over to Temple to Hirsch in Seattle to buy Hanukkah decorations at the gift store . . . and she runs into another shopper there who, guess what, is [also] from Bainbridge Island.

So she finds out that, Hey, Im not the only Jew living on Bainbridge Island, Eskenazi continued, and she ends up having a Hanukkah party at her house. And before she knew it, around 50 people showed up.

Boom, there was a community, Eskenazi said.

That long-ago Hanukkah party, Eskenazi says, eventually led to regular gatherings, the organization of an informal religious school for Jewish kids, and ultimately, the construction of a synagogue and the hiring of a rabbi to serve that Jewish community on Bainbridge.

Similar things happened in other communities, such as Vancouver, Washington, as waves of migration, whether refugees from the former Soviet Union 1980s and 1990s, or more recent new tech workers from all over the world, have continued to draw Jewish people to the Evergreen State.

Stuart Eskenazi says one thing he tried to make clear in his portion of Family of Strangers is the difference between the religion known as Judaism which has different populations like Sephardic and Ashkenazi, and different movements like Orthodox and Reform and the more encompassing concept of Jewishness.

I tried to avoid the term Judaism and stuck with Jewishness because you can identify with your Jewishness through faith, through culture, through values, through family connections, through any way that is meaningful to you, Eskenazi said. And I dont think that non-Jews necessarily fully appreciate that being Jewish does not just mean a religion.

There are dark parts to the recent history, too, including an increase in incidents of anti-Semitism which isnt restricted to Washington, unfortunately and a deadly shooting at the Seattle office of the Jewish Federation in 2006.

But, says Stuart Eskenazi, even those troubling aspects can be harnessed for a practical use of history to achieve a big-picture, universal aim that runs deep throughout this new edition of Family of Strangers.

Local music legend Chris Ballews bizarre story of surviving the eruption of Mount St. Helens

To be honest . . . that is really, I think, the underlying reason for this second edition, Eskenazi said, to basically talk about who we are, so more people will understand who we are. And when you understand and appreciate peoples history and their struggles and their triumphs, hopefully, youll treat them with respect.

And love will triumph over hate, Eskenazi said.

Family of Strangers: Building Jewish Communities in Washington State is available online and from booksellers and will be formally celebrated at a gala eventsponsored by the Washington State Jewish Historical Society on Wednesday, June 1 at MOHAI.

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattles Morning News, read more from himhere, and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcasthere. If you have a story idea or a question about Northwest history, please email Felikshere.

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Boom, there was a community: Washingtons Jewish future guided by history - MyNorthwest

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2022

Calcalist and Poalim Hi-Tech have launched the StartUp+ competition for a third straight year The competition is designed to accompany new startups on their path to growth. Through the competitions framework, 20 chosen startups will get a chance to take part in the special Zell training program for young entrepreneurs at Reichman University. The five finalists will appear in the finale in front of a panel of judges who include partners from some of the leading venture capital funds in Israel.

Right time, right place

Within a short time frame we succeeded in signing contracts with some of the largest companies out there like Mercedes-Benz, McDonalds, Singapore Airlines, and others. Our MP5 technology, which enables videos to be personal, dynamic, and interactive, allows our customers to communicate in a much more effective way with their users. Over the past few months, weve been developing a new no-code product for video creators that will enable them to use Adobe programs to create MP5 clips on their own, and will connect them with dynamic data. We plan to release our product around September, Schreiber said.

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Michal Kissos-Hertzog.

(Photo: Calcalist)

As for what advice and tips he would give to this years contestants, he said: maybe you will win in the end, but everyone else is also amazing. Do your best, make connections, give advice and get feedback and maybe great things will come out of that. Dont just focus on the business. The competitions judges award points for having a vision, a long term dream, and whether you plan on changing the world, he said.

The first competition, which took place in 2020, was won by biotech startup Matricelf, which is active in genetic tissue engineering. The company, which was founded in 2019, developed a platform alongside Tel Aviv University that creates and 3D prints otological implants of tissues and organs. Asaf Toker, Matricelfs CEO, said that the company is continuing its research as planned, and succeeded in reaching several milestones, including meeting with the FDA, opening up a new laboratory, receiving patent approval, and saw success in its paraclinical trials.

Toker added that in June of last year, the company made a successful initial public offering (IPO) on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and its employee count grew from five to eleven. Matricelfs implants are built from a matrix of cells that are extracted from the patient, which also decreases the possibility of the body rejecting the implant. The company is also developing neural implants for spinal injuries, and plans on conducting its first human-based trial by the end of 2023. Toker also addressed this years contestants saying: one of the most important things is to choose an exceptional team that will accompany you along the way, and even more importantly during difficult times.

An attractive prize package

The competition is open to startups at the pre-seed and seed rounds, who are technology-based, and have raised at least $5 million so far. A panel of judges will examine contestants based on criteria such as presenting a competitive edge in terms of innovative technology and possessing business potential. Registration is open until June 10, with the finale taking place on July 27.

Finalists will receive an opportunity to meet with and present their technology in front of a panel of judges - including from the leading venture capital funds in Israel - and will win an especially attractive prize package that includes dozens of thousands of shekels, professional assistance from Poalim Hi-Tech, and a promotional campaign on the Calcalist website.

Kissos-Hertzog, CEO of Poalim Hi-Tech and one of the competitions judges, thinks that assisting high tech companies to reach new heights is a national interest, and that Israels entrepreneurial DNA alone isnt enough to succeed. Only countries who continue to invest in high tech, develop and adopt innovative technologies can move forward and maintain their lead in the industry.

She says that high tech exports comprised 54% of Israels total exports in 2021 (although in 2022 that began to decline), and the country needs to continue to invest so that the high tech industry will continue to flourish, be a national growth engine and a source of national economic strength. Government investments should include R&D, with the private market almost entirely funding the sector in Israel; transportation, to allow other cities to follow in the steps of Tel Aviv; education, to close the socioeconomic and gender pay gaps; and enacting regulation that will assist with easier implementation of these goals and help build local infrastructure. The country needs to make sure that it is investing in companies Seed rounds and the rest will come from the private market, but it needs to start with the government, she says.

Kissos-Hertzog also discussed the shake up in the financial markets over the past few months and said: The industry is in an interesting position in 2022. We are after the cash flow period where records were broken and now, the capital market is going cold, there are problems in the supply chain, the Ukraine-Russia war, and worldwide sanctions against Russia are having an effect, as well as ramifications from the pandemic, the changing demands of buyers and sellers, and the rising interest rates. This has all led to a slowdown.

She thinks that the market is undergoing a massive accelerated correction compared to the past two years, but assuming that it is only a correction, she thinks that good companies who have healthy, organic growth will continue to grow if they adapt to these times. Unhealthy companies or ineffective ones will either close their doors or be acquired.

This years panel of judges include Dr. Yaron Daniely, Partner at aMoon and Head of the aMoon Alpha branch; Emmanuel Timor, General Partner at Vertex Ventures; Nofar Amikam, Partner at Glilot Capital Partners; Assaf Wahrhaft, Partner at UpWest Ventures; Guy Yamen, Partner at TPY; Avichay Nissenbaum, Partner at Iool Ventures. Other judges include Renana Ashkenazi, General Partner at Grove Ventures; Yuval Cohen, co-founder of StageOne Ventures; Yael Alroy, Partner at Viola Ventures; Yair Cassuto, Partner at Pitango; Maya Pizov, Partner at Amiti Ventures; Rotem Eldar, Partner at 10D Capital, and Elihay Vidal, Editor-in-Chief of CTech.

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Only countries that continue to innovate can lead - CTech

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2022

Pew Research Center conducted this study to better understand Americans views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For this analysis, we surveyed 10,441 U.S. adults from March 7 to 13, 2022. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Centers American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses, which gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about theATPs methodology.

Here arethe questions usedfor this analysis, along with responses, and itsmethodology.

In recent years, U.S. public opinion has become modestly more positive toward both sides in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

Overall, Americans continue to express more positive feelings toward the Israeli people than toward the Palestinian people and to rate the Israeli government more favorably than the Palestinian government.

But these gaps are much larger among older Americans than among younger ones. Indeed, U.S. adults under 30 view the Palestinian people at least as warmly (61% very or somewhat favorable) as the Israeli people (56%) and rate the Palestinian government as favorably (35%) as the Israeli government (34%).

The new survey, conducted March 7-13 among 10,441 U.S. adults, also shows that public opinion varies considerably on these questions by political party. Republicans and those who lean toward the Republican Party express much more positive views of the Israeli people (78% very or somewhat favorable) than of the Palestinian people (37%), and they view the Israeli government far more favorably (66%) than the Palestinian government (18%).

By contrast, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents hold about equally positive views of the Israeli people and Palestinian people (60% and 64% favorable, respectively) and rate Israels government on par with the Palestinian government (34% vs. 37%).

Among both Republicans and Democrats, feelings toward the Israeli and Palestinian governments and the Palestinian people have warmed slightlysince 2019, while views of the Israeli people have held steady.

Nearly three-quarters of a century after the founding of the modern state of Israel, the survey finds no clear consensus among Americans about the best possible outcome of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

About one-third of the public says splitting the land into two countries a version of the two-state solution long backed by U.S. diplomacy would be best (35%). But roughly a quarter (27%) would prefer to see a single state emerge, in most cases with a government comprised jointly of Israelis and Palestinians. And more than a third of U.S. adults (37%) say they are not sure what is the best outcome.

Age is a factor in these opinions: Older Americans are more inclined than younger ones to say that a two-state solution would be the best possible outcome of the conflict, while adults under 30 are more likely than their elders to say they arent sure whats best.

Religious affiliation also matters: White evangelical Protestants are much more likely than members of any other major Christian tradition to say the best outcome would be a single state with an Israeli government; 28% say this, compared with 6% each of Catholics, White non-evangelical Protestants and Black Protestants.

Perhaps relatedly, White evangelicals also are the group most likely to say God gave the land that is now Israel to the Jewish people. Fully 70% of White evangelicals take that position, more than twice the share of U.S. Jews who answered a similar (but not identical) question in a2020 surveyby saying God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people (32%).

The new survey also asked the U.S. public about theboycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movementagainst Israel. Relatively few Americans know about this boycott effort; 84% say they have heard not much or nothing at all about it. Just 5% of U.S. adults have heard at least some about BDS and express support for it, including 2% who strongly support it.

The survey was conducted among Americans of all religious backgrounds, including Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus, but it did not obtain enough respondents from non-Christian religious groups to report separately on their responses. U.S. Jewsviews toward Israelwere explored in depth in Pew Research Centers report Jewish Americans in 2020 (though that survey did not include a question about the best possible outcome of the conflict).

Two-thirds of Americans express at least a somewhat favorable view of the Israeli people, including one-in-five who say they feelveryfavorably toward the Israelis. Opinion about the Palestinian people is somewhat cooler: 52% of the public has a favorable view, and one-in-ten U.S. adults have averyfavorable opinion of the Palestinians.

Republicans and those who lean to the GOP are much more likely to express a favorable view of the Israeli people (78%) than of the Palestinian people (37%). Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, on the other hand, similar shares express favorable views toward both groups (60% and 64%, respectively).

Compared with their elders, younger U.S. adults tend to express cooler views toward the Israeli people and warmer views toward the Palestinians. For example, 56% of adults under 30 say they feel favorably toward the Israeli people, compared with 78% among those ages 65 and older. And a solid majority of those ages 18 to 29 (61%) express favorable views toward the Palestinians, compared with 46% of those 50 and older.

Nearly nine-in-ten White evangelical Protestants have a favorable view of the Israeli people (86%), including 42% who say they have a very favorable view. But White evangelical Protestants are among theleastlikely subgroups to say they have a favorable view of the Palestinian people (37%). By contrast, religiously unaffiliated Americans adults who describe themselves, religiously, as atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular express similarly positive views toward both the Israeli people and Palestinian people (58% and 59%).

Putting these two questions together, a plurality of U.S. adults (42%) view both the Israeli people and Palestinian people favorably, while 15% express unfavorable views of both groups. An additional quarter see the Israeli people favorably and the Palestinian people unfavorably, and one-in-ten view the Palestinian people favorably and the Israeli people unfavorably.

Roughly half of Democrats view both groups favorably, compared with 34% of Republicans. Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to view the Israeli people favorably and the Palestinian people unfavorably (44% vs. 12%). White evangelical Protestants, a heavily Republican group, are more likely to view the Israeli people favorably and the Palestinian people unfavorably than any other combination of responses.

Adults under 30 are more inclined than older Americans to view the Israeli people unfavorably but the Palestinians favorably.

When asked about their views of the Israeligovernment, about half of the U.S. public (48%) expresses a very or somewhat positive view, compared with 28% who view the Palestinian government favorably.

The survey did not define Palestinian government for respondents. Much of the West Bank continues to be administered by the Palestinian Authority, under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, while Gaza has been governed by Hamas since 2007.

As with views toward the Israeli people, young adults are much less positive toward the Israeli government than are older Americans. But adults under 30 have somewhat more favorable views of the Palestinian government now than they did in 2019.

White evangelical Protestants are the religious group most likely to express a very or somewhat favorable view of the Israeli government (68%). Much lower shares of Catholics (50%), White Protestants who are not evangelical (51%), Black Protestants (43%), and religiously unaffiliated people, sometimes called nones, (31%) say the same. Atheists (a subgroup of the nones) are more likely to express a favorable view of the Palestinian government (39%) than of the Israeli government (20%).

A third of Americans have an unfavorable view of both the Israeli and Palestinian governments, while three-in-ten (29%) view the Israeli government favorably and the Palestinian government unfavorably.

About half of Republicans (51%) view the Israeli government favorably and the Palestinian government unfavorably, while roughly four-in-ten Democrats (41%) view both governments negatively.

Young adults are less inclined than their elders to view the Israeli government favorably and the Palestinian government unfavorably.Adults under 30 are also muchmorelikely than those ages 65 and older to view both governments unfavorably (43% vs. 18%).

For nearly three decades, successive U.S. administrations have backed, at least in principle, negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians toward atwo-state solutionalong the lines envisioned in the 1993 Oslo Accords. However, a long impasse has led some U.S. officials, as well as some Israelis and Palestinians, to warn that the vision of two independent states coexisting is indanger of collapse. For this reason, the survey included a new question asking Americans which of several broad alternatives they would consider to be the best outcome of the conflict.

About a third of U.S. adults (35%) say the best possible outcome would be that the land is split into two countries, one with an Israeli government and one with a Palestinian government. A similar share (37%) say they are unsure what the best outcome would be, while fully one-quarter say the best solution would be one country either governed jointly by Israelis and Palestinians (16%) or with an Israeli government (10%). Just 2% say the best outcome would be one country with a Palestinian government.

Roughly equal shares of Republicans and Democrats (including those who lean to each party) favor a two-state solution, saying the best solution is to split the land into two countries with separate governments (34% and 36%, respectively). But Republicans (18%) are far more likely than Democrats (3%) to say the best outcome would be one country with an Israeli government. And Democrats (19%) are slightly more likely than Republicans (13%) to favor an outcome in which a single country would be jointly governed by Israelis and Palestinians.

About four-in-ten Catholics (42%), atheists (43%) and agnostics (40%) say the best outcome is splitting the land into two countries, one with an Israeli government and one with a Palestinian government share this view.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, White evangelical Protestants are the most likely to say that the best possible outcome is one country (39%), including 28% who say that the best solution would be a single country with an Israeli government. By contrast, just 6% of other Protestants and Catholics take that position.

Some Americans views toward Israel may be tied to their religious beliefs. Indeed, 30% of all U.S. adults say God gave the land that is now Israel to the Jewish people, similar to the share ofJewish Americanswho expressed this view in 2020. Others say that God did not give the land that is now Israel to the Jewish people (11%); that they do not believe in God (17%); or that they are not sure how to answer the question (41%).

Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say that God gave the land that is now Israel to the Jewish people (46% vs. 18%). (Previous surveys also have found thatDemocrats are less likely than Republicans to believe in God.)

White evangelical Protestants are the U.S. religious group most inclined to say God gave the land that is now Israel to the Jewish people. A solid majority of White evangelicals (70%) take this position, compared with a minority of Black Protestants (36%), White non-evangelical Protestants (31%) and Catholics (25%). Among White evangelicals, those ages 50 and older are especially likely to hold this view.

Among all survey respondents who believe God gave Israel to the Jewish people, a quarter (25%) say the best outcome of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be a single country with an Israeli government well above the 10% of all U.S. adults who favor this outcome.

Relatively few Americans have heard a lot (3%) or some (12%) about the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. Three-in-ten say they have not heard much (31%) about it, and 53% have heard nothing at all about the movement. These patterns hold across political parties and religious groups, although U.S. Jews aremuch more familiarwith BDS.

The BDS movement, launched by Palestinian groups in 2005, alleges that Israel is occupying and colonizing Palestinian land, discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel and denying Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes. Itdescribes its missionas working to end international support for Israels oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law by calling for boycotts of Israeli companies and sporting, cultural and academic institutions. Critics of BDS, including theU.S. government under President Donald Trumpand theAnti-Defamation League, have called the movement antisemitic.

Respondents who said they have heard at least some about the BDS movement were asked a follow-up question about whether they support or oppose it. Overall, 5% of U.S. adults say they support BDS at least somewhat, including 2% who strongly support it. An additional 3% neither support nor oppose the movement, while 6% are opposed to it, including 5% who strongly oppose it. The vast majority of the public (84%) has not heard much, if anything, about BDS and, therefore, was not asked whether they support or oppose it.

Atheists are especially likely to say they support the BDS movement (13%, 2% oppose), although most atheists like Americans in general have not heard much, if anything, about it (79%). Conversely, about one-in-ten White evangelical Protestants (11%) and Republicans (12%) oppose the BDS movement against Israel, while no more than 2% of people in these groups support it.

BDS hasgained some attentionfor its activity on college campuses, and adults under 30 are slightly more likely than older Americans to say they support the movement though roughly eight-in-ten have not heard much about it.

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Modest Warming in U.S. Views on Israel and Palestinians - Pew Research Center

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2022

Last week, Lake Catholic and the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland learned of the very serious allegations of anti-Semitism at a Lake Catholic Orange High School varsity lacrosse game, including the appearance of a swastika on the back of the leg of a Lake Catholic player. The swastika is the most notorious symbol of antisemitism and hate more broadly, and its appearance was both shocking and appalling. The Diocese of Cleveland and Lake Catholic High School condemn anti-Semitism in all forms, and we extend our most sincere apologies to the Orange High School community and to all Jewish and non-Jewish community members alike for the hurt that has resulted from this incident.

Since learning of the allegations, Lake Catholic and the Diocese have worked to gather all the facts as quickly as possible, with the goal being to appropriately punish wrongdoing and to use the opportunity to reinforce the universal truth that each person is made in the image of an all good and loving God and deserving of respect and love.

Based on the available evidence, we believe the following to be true:

As a result of these findings, Lake Catholic has begun implementing the following response and action plan:

It should also be noted that the head coach of the Lake Catholic lacrosse team has resigned.

This incident reminds us all that sin and its consequences are a reality of the human experience and that actions have very real consequences. We pray for all those who have experienced hurt as a result of what occurred. We pray also that those at fault, in a spirit of humility, learn to grow in kindness, love, and good judgment. Finally, we pray for healing and forgiveness so that from this experience we might overcome division and grow closer as a human family.

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Statement from the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland and Lake Catholic High School May 25, 2022 - Catholic Diocese of Cleveland

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Posted By admin on May 27, 2022

"Basle Congress" redirects here. For the 1869 4th General Congress of the International Workingmen's Association, see Basle Congress (1869).

The First Zionist Congress (Hebrew: ) was the inaugural congress of the Zionist Organization (ZO) held in Basel (Basle), from August 29 to August 31, 1897. 208 delegates and 26 press correspondents attended the event.[1] It was convened[2] and chaired[3] by Theodor Herzl, the founder of the modern Zionism movement. The Congress formulated a Zionist platform, known as the Basel program, and founded the Zionist Organization. It also adopted the Hatikvah as its anthem (already the anthem of Hovevei Zion and later to become the national anthem of the State of Israel).

The conference was covered by the international press, making a significant impression;[4] the publicity subsequently inspired the antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.[5][6][7]

The first Zionist Congress was convened by Theodor Herzl as a symbolic parliament for the small minority[8] of Jewry in agreement with the implementation of Zionist goals. While Jewish majority indifference or opposition to Zionism would continue until after revelation of the Holocaust in World War II,[9] some proponents point to several directions and streams of this early Jewish opposition. "Alongside the dynamic development of the Zionist movement, which generated waves of enthusiasm throughout the Jewish public, sharp criticism began to appear about Zionism, claiming that Zionism could not hope to resolve the Jewish problem and would only serve to harm the status of Jewish laborers and sabotage its own recognition as an independent class."[3][10] As a result of the vocal opposition by both the Orthodox and Reform community leadership, the Congress, which was originally planned in Munich, Germany, was transferred to Basel by Herzl.[2][3] The Congress took place in the concert hall of the Stadtcasino Basel on August 29, 1897.[11] Proceedings were conducted in German.[12]

Herzl acted as chairperson of the Congress, which was attended by some 200 participants from seventeen countries, 69 of whom were delegates from various Zionist societies, and the remainder were individual invitees.[2] Seventeen women attended the Congress, some of them in their own capacity, others accompanying representatives.[2] While women participated in the First Zionist Congress, they did not have voting rights; they were accorded full membership rights at the Second Zionist Congress, the following year.[2]

Over half the delegates were from Eastern Europe, with nearly a quarter coming from Russia.[4][13]

Herzl was elected President of the Congress, with Max Nordau, Abraham Salz and Samuel Pineles elected first, second and third Vice Presidents respectively.[15]

Following a festive opening in which the representatives arrived in formal dress, tails and white tie, the Congress moved to the agenda.[2] The principal items on the agenda were the presentation of Herzl's plans, the establishment of the Zionist Organization and the declaration of Zionism's goals-the Basel program.[2]

According to the 200-page Official Protocol, the three-day conference included the following events:

The "Zionist Executive" elected by the First Congress consisted of:[15]

In addition, it was agreed that one representative was to be appointed for each of Britain, America and Palestine. This was proposed to take place later at publicly convened assemblies.

On the second day of its deliberations (August 30), the version submitted to the Congress by a committee under the chair of Max Nordau, it was stated: "Zionism seeks to establish a home for the Jewish people in Palestine secured under public law." This gave clear expression to Herzl's political Zionist vision, in contrast with the settlement orientated activities of the more loosely organized Hovevei Zion.[3] To meet halfway the request of numerous delegates, the most prominent of whom was Leo Motzkin, who sought the inclusion of the phrase "by international law," a compromise formula proposed by Herzl was eventually adopted.[2]

The program, which came to be known as the Basel Program, set out the goals of the Zionist movement. It was adopted on the following terms:[2]

Zionism aims at establishing for the Jewish people a publicly and legally assured home in Palestine. For the attainment of this purpose, the Congress considers the following means serviceable:

1. The promotion of the settlement of Jewish agriculturists, artisans, and tradesmen in Palestine.

2. The federation of all Jews into local or general groups, according to the laws of the various countries.

3. The strengthening of the Jewish feeling and consciousness.

4. Preparatory steps for the attainment of those governmental grants which are necessary to the achievement of the Zionist purpose.

Formula adopted by the First Zionist Congress

According to Israel Zangwill it was Max Nordau who came up with the phrase "a publicly and legally assured home" to avoid antagonising the Sultan "too deeply".[18]

The First Zionist Congress is credited for the following achievements:

Theodor Herzl wrote in his diary (September 3, 1897):[19]

Were I to sum up the Basel Congress in a word - which I shall guard against pronouncing publicly - it would be this: At Basel I founded the Jewish State.[3] If I said this out loud today l would be greeted by universal laughter. In five years perhaps, and certainly in fifty years, everyone will perceive it.

Theodor Herzl (1897)

Subsequent congresses founded various institutions for the promotion of this program, notably a people's bank known as the Jewish Colonial Trust, which was the financial instrument of political Zionism. Its establishment was suggested at the First Zionist Congress in 1897; the first definite steps toward its institution were taken at the Second Zionist Congress in Cologne, Germany in May, 1898.[20] For the Fifth Zionist Congress, the Jewish National Fund was founded for the purchase of land in the Land of Israel and later the Zionist Commission was founded with subsidiary societies for the study and improvement of the social and economic condition of the Jews within the Land of Israel.

The Zionist Commission was an informal group established by Chaim Weizmann. It carried out initial surveys of Palestine and aided the repatriation of Jews sent into exile by the Ottoman Turks during World War I. It expanded the ZO's Palestine office, which was established in 1907, into small departments for agriculture, settlement, education, land, finance, immigration, and statistics. In 1921, the commission became the Palestine Zionist Executive, which acted as the Jewish Agency, to advise the British mandate authorities on the development of the country in matters of Jewish interest.[21]

The Zionist Congress met every year between 1897 and 1901, then except for war years, every second year (19031913, 19211939). In 1942, an "Extraordinary Zionist Conference" was held and announced a fundamental departure from traditional Zionist policy[22] with its demand "that Palestine be established as a Jewish Commonwealth."[23] It became the official Zionist stand on the ultimate aim of the movement.[22] Since the Second World War, meetings have been held approximately every four years and since the creation of the State of Israel, the Congress has been held in Jerusalem.

A participant card from the event.

The symbol of the First Congress.

The flag of the First Zionist Congress

Max Bodenheimer's (top left) and Herzl's (top right) 1897 drafts of the Zionist flag, compared to the final version used at the congress

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