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James Comey Addresses Anti-Trump Anti-Defamation League – Breitbart News

Posted By on May 9, 2017

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The ADL has made controversial claims recently about President Donald Trump, suggesting that his campaign and his administration bore responsibility for a claimed surge in antisemitism during and after the 2016 presidential election.

Others have disputed the ADLs claims, noting that the ADL includes hoax bomb threats made by a Jewish teenager in its list of antisemitic incidents, and criticizing it for taking a partisan approach to the issue.

The ADLs findings are also in stark contrast to data released last month by experts at Tel Aviv University in Israel, who documented only a slight increase in antisemitic incidents, and concluded that there wereno indications so far of a major increase connected to the tense U.S. election or Donald Trumps new presidency.

In his remarks, Comey recalled his last speech to the ADL summit in 2014, calling it a love letter to the organization.

When I spoke to you three years ago I sang your praises, Comey said. I sang your praises and highlighted the way you fight for inclusivity and diversity.

I highlighted the way you fight for equality and justice, Comey said, adding that the ADL has helped the FBI fight hate crimes and terrorism, and has educated law enforcement about building trust in communities.

I labeled that speech three years ago a love letter to the ADL, Comey said. Three years later I can say from the perspective of the FBI we are still in love with you.

Comey did not mention the ADLs ongoing dispute with the Trump administration, including its campaign against Trump adviser Steve Bannon.

Nor did ADL givepublic credit to President Trump for prioritizingthe investigation into the bomb threats,although they dated back to the Obama administration. The Trump administrationsent 12 FBI agents to Israel to assist with the investigation.

Comey said that although hate crimes arent easily prevented we will move heaven and earth to find those responsible and bring them to justice.

Comey added, however, it is the government that must improve its protocol.

We must do a better job of tracking and reporting hate crimes to fully understand what is happening in our communities and in our country so we can stop it, Comey said, concluding his remarks to the ADL, Love, FBI.

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James Comey Addresses Anti-Trump Anti-Defamation League - Breitbart News

Anti-Semitic incidents in Florida rise 51 percent – Sun Sentinel

Posted By on May 9, 2017

According to the recently-released Anti-Defamation League Annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, there was a 51 percent increase of incidents of anti-Semitism in Florida from 137 verified incidents in 2016 up from 91 the previous year.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), founded in 1913, defines itself as the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

The ADL has been tracking anti-Semitic incidents in the United States since 1979. The audit includes both criminal and non-criminal incidents including acts of harassment and intimidation; distribution of hate propaganda; threats; and slurs.

Compiled using information provided by victims, law enforcement and community leaders and evaluated by the ADL's professional staff the audit provides an annual snapshot of this nationwide problem while identifying possible trends or changes in the types of activity reported.

The annual ADL Audit encompasses all incidents reported to the ADL Florida office, law enforcement, media or other sources. These include incidents of vandalism, assault and harassment targeting Jewish individuals and institutions.

This information assists the ADL in developing and enhancing its programs to counter and prevent the spread of anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry.

"There is no doubt that anti-Semitism is still deeply embedded in our society," said Yael Hershfield, the ADL's Florida interim regional director. "The increase in its manifestations is sobering and should alarm us all.

"This year's audit is a painful reminder that anti-Semitism still poses a threat. Our work assisting victims of anti-Semitism and pro-actively working to create a society free of bigotry is needed now more than ever."

Florida Regional Chair Scott Notowitz added, "The ADL is the leader in the fight against anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry and in combating extremism emanating from all factions of society. Hate is a learned act and can be unlearned.

"The ADL's educational programs are designed to transform attitudes and have had a significant impact. Throughout the State of Florida, the ADL will stand up and speak out against anti-Semitism no matter what the source."

Florida's increase mirrors the national increase in anti-Semitic incidents, which rose 35 percent from 941 incidents to 1,266.

Florida continues to be in the top four states reporting incidents of anti-Semitism with only California, New York and New Jersey reporting higher numbers of anti-Semitic incidents.

The largest increase in anti-Semitic incidents in Florida was in the category of anti-Semitic harassment. There were 119 incidents of anti-Semitic harassment in Florida in 2016, almost double the total of 61 from 2015.

The counties with the highest number of reported incidents in 2016 were Palm Beach with 42, and Miami-Dade and Broward, each with 26. In total, incidents were reported in 26 of Florida's 67 counties.

One of the biggest examples of anti-Semitic incidents throughout 2016 and into 2017 is that numerous Jewish institutions in Florida and around the nation reported receiving anti-Semitic and harassing faxes.

Some staff members and affiliated leaders received these faxes at their home and office fax machines. Even many college campuses received these faxes.

Some of these faxes have been attributed by authorities to a hacker by the name of Andrew Auernheimer an unabashed racist and anti-Semite who claimed credit for exploiting network printers/fax machines to print racist and anti-Semitic flyers.

"White supremacists [like Auernheimer], emboldened by the rhetoric of the 2016 presidential campaign, are stepping out of the shadows and into the mainstream," said Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League.

In a Twitter post in August 2016, Auernheimer claimed to have exploited 50,000 printers to print his latest flyer.

For more information about the ADL's Florida Region or to report an anti-Semitic incident to the ADL visit florida.adl.org or http://www.facebook.com/adlflorida or call the ADL Florida Office at 561-988-2900.

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Anti-Semitic incidents in Florida rise 51 percent - Sun Sentinel

Anti-Semitism In The Feminist Movement Is Nothing New – Forward

Posted By on May 6, 2017

When people claim that feminism and Zionism are incompatible, as Linda Sarsour and others have, they are committing an act of erasure and profound ignorance. Erasure, because they silence the countless Jewish women who have fought for both the collective rights of the Jewish people and equality for women. Profound ignorance, because, in the words of journalist Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Zionism is to Jews what feminism is to women an ongoing struggle for self-determination, dignity, and justice.

Many towering figures of the feminist movement were Jewish and deeply Zionist. Clara Lemlich, who led a strike in 1909 that inspired the one held on International Womens Day, adapted Psalm 137 from the Hebrew Bible into Yiddish as a pledge for her supporters: If I turn traitor to the cause I now pledge, may this hand wither from the arm I now raise. The original Psalm is about the Jewish peoples exile from and yearning to return to Israel, while living in the Diaspora. Rose Schneiderman, another leader of the 1909 strike, was both a feminist and active in the Zionist movement. So was Emma Lazarus - the list goes on. As the century marched on, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Leah Rabin, and numerous other giants in the feminist movement all subscribed to some form or another of Zionism because they were Jews and because of the explicit anti-Semitism they experienced in feminist circles. Their Jewish identity was a major reason for their activism - they sought dignity and freedom for themselves as Jews and as women.

Unfortunately, the use of the womens movement to further anti-Semitism and anti-Israel extremism is not a new phenomenon. Professor Judith Plaskow wrote in 1980 about a disturbing new line of thought which blamed the patriarchy on Jewish tradition, and by extension on the Jewish state. In 2010, researcher Jennifer Roskies released a working paper concluding that, one need not scratch very deeply below the surface to behold an undercurrent which can prove unsettling to Jewish women. Expressions of anti-Zionism and of outright anti-Semitism raise the question of how Jewish women experience an apparent attack which calls their feminist allegiance into question, echoing the very conversation that has erupted in the past few weeks.

I find Pogrebins 1982 article Anti-Semitism in The Womens Movement to be one of the most pointed reminders that the modern feminist movement has never been totally at ease with Jews or Zionism. This article goes point by point through ugly accusations of dual loyalty and responsibility for introducing the patriarchy, as well as tensions with the African American community over anti-blackness and anti-Semitism. As Pogrebin notes, Somehow leftists who espouse one world transnationalism make exceptions for national liberation struggles and independent nation states in Latin America, Africa, or anywhere but Israel.

A major event that fueled divisions between Zionism and feminism was the 1975 Mexico City Womens Conference. This was one of the most visible and vicious attempts to wield institutions against Jews, to the point where Jewish women who attended flat out refused to speak about their experiences in the aftermath. In a rhetorical attack that continues to this day, conference delegates conflated Zionism with imperialism, neocolonialism, and racism.

The problem then, as now, is that associating Israel with colonialism erases the identity, history, and rights of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland of 3,000 years. There is incontrovertible archaeological, historical, and scientific proof that Jews descended from, and never completely left the land of Israel. Zionism and the modern State of Israel exist because of these indigenous roots, and as a form of liberation from the 1,900 years of oppression Jews experienced across Europe and the Middle East.

Another part of the problem is that Sarsour and her supporters are as un-nuanced about Zionism as they claim Zionists are about Israel. This is purposeful. They want to sell the idea that Zionism is monolithic as if Zionists do not constantly criticize and debate Israeli government policy and what peace with the Palestinians should look like. In effect, they are saying that to be respectable, Jews must support the Palestinian cause at the expense of their own peoples rights. But Palestinian self-determination and Jewish self-determination are not a zero-sum game one need not come at the expense of the other.

Intersectional feminism is hugely important for marginalized groups, which makes it particularly disappointing when leaders in feminist movements use the concept to attack Israelis, Jews, and their supporters. We must understand how different forms of oppression relate to each other to effectively fight and overcome them. But insisting that Jews need not apply if they subscribe to the belief in a Jewish homeland in Israel is an anti-Semitic double standard. Too many leftists already ignore anti-Semitism unless its rhetorically convenient, so perhaps its unsurprising that Sarsours brand of feminism demands that we give up our liberation movement for some nebulous greater good. In 1984 bell hooks wrote that feminism has its party line and women who feel a need for a different strategy, a different foundation, often found themselves ostracized or silenced. The emerging party line that feminists cannot be Zionist should not be tolerated.

In short, you are neither an intersectional feminist nor a good leader for the feminist movement if you disrespect women who helped build the foundation you are standing on, selectively choose which groups of people are worthy of self-determination, and seek to exclude women who support the existence of Israel. To be clear, I strongly disagree with those who attack Sarsours feminist credentials because she is Muslim. The fact she is a Palestinian American Muslim who wears a hijab should not be the focus of criticism. Her promotion of ideas that are effectively anti-Semitic and her refusal to stop to working with Rasmeah Odeh a convicted terrorist are examples of what make her unpalatable as a leader for a feminist movement.

At their core, Zionism and feminism are both liberation movements which are entirely compatible with one another. The insistence that Zionists cannot be feminists is part of a larger reactionary campaign against Jewish rights. This essentially amounts to a demand that we act like good Jews to gain acceptance in civil society echoing the racism that we have experienced many times throughout our history. This should be resisted with determination and resolve. Because as intersectional feminism teaches us, it is possible to be many different things at the same time feminist, Zionist, pro-Palestinian, and much more.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward.

The Forward's independent journalism depends on donations from readers like you.

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Anti-Semitism In The Feminist Movement Is Nothing New - Forward

Terry High School educator earns award from Anti-Defamation League – Fort Bend Herald

Posted By on May 6, 2017

Each year, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) presents the Walter Kase Teacher Excellence Award to three Region IV educators for their outstanding efforts to create an atmosphere in their schools that rejects prejudice and regards diversity as a strength.

Terry High School English teacher Mary Catherine Watson, co-sponsor of the Terry High Schools No Place for Hate Club, was honored May 3 at the groups annual Kase Award Luncheon. In addition to a commemorative plaque, Watson receives a $500 stipend and ADL will provide a World of Difference Institute Workshop at Terry High School.

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Terry High School educator earns award from Anti-Defamation League - Fort Bend Herald

Anti-Zionism is damaging to Arab-Israeli relations – Johns Hopkins News-Letter

Posted By on May 5, 2017

A recent diplomatic spat between the German foreign ministry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has once again thrust the Arab-Israeli conflict back into international prominence. Tensions between Israel and foreign governments and organizations seeking to ingratiate themselves with ostensibly progressive groups intent on, above all, the heavy-handed elimination of Zionism through brute-force methods (see: Boycott, Divest, Sanction) have soared over recent years.

The growing prominence of this BDS movement on college campuses across the United States, for instance, is just one symptomatic expression of the growing uptick of anti-Semitism across the entire political spectrum, manifesting itself primarily in opposition to Israels right to exist.

Thus, a heightened Israeli defiance of such myopic, virulently anti-Semitic policies is completely justified given what exactly is at stake. I therefore stand completely behind Prime Minister Netanyahu in his decision to cancel the scheduled meeting with German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel.

To explore the roots of the modern Arab-Israeli conflict and provide a bit of context for the rest of this article, we can invoke the 1947 report generated by the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) and the subsequent Arab-Israeli War of 1948. The UNSCOP partition plan called for two states, conjoined by an economic union, with borders allotted based on legitimate Jewish land purchases and Arab population centers.

The resounding Arab rejection of said plan, the instigation of a civil war and the intervention of six neighboring Arab powers due to dissatisfaction with the Palestinian Arabs performance in a war they started resulted in the situation we now have today: the Palestinian citizenry, bearers of a refugee status they can never shake, caught in the crossfire between bitter Arab states and Israel over a parcel of land they forfeited by starting a war they thought impossible to lose.

Back to BDS: Enumerating the many inconsistencies with which BDS is rife would greatly exceed the length of one opinion piece and bore any reader to tears, so I will attempt to abridge such a dissertation and hit the main points.

A salient characteristic of the BDS movement and those who support it is the branding of Israel as an Apartheid state, a moniker which, while deeply racist, stands to overtly whitewash the legitimate plight of those who suffered for decades under Afrikaner rule and the struggles of the African National Congress against an inherently unjust and racialized system. The Palestinian issue has no such origins, and to suggest so would be tantamount to invoking Alternative Facts.

Palestinian-Arab citizens of Israel are granted all the same rights Jewish citizens; They serve alongside Jews in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), they vote in Israeli elections and serve in the Knesset, they use the same facilities as Jews and theyre permitted to marry whomever theyd like all features noticeably absent from Apartheid in South Africa.

Some, however, may not be referring to the institutionalized separateness that defined Apartheid but to the notion that Israel and the Palestinian Authority exist as semiseparate yet cohesive entities.

Juxtaposing the superposed state of the Palestinian Authority within Israel with the level of overt racism and disenfranchisement experienced by black South Africans not only betrays an acute level of ignorance, privilege and hyperbole but also a profound inability to consult either a dictionary or an encyclopedia.

Another argument for divesting from Israeli civilian institutions is to end the so-called Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. Little do proponents of BDS seem to know (or choose to ignore), but the IDF has been disengaged from the Gaza Strip since 2005; In the West Bank, Israeli forces continue to work with the blessing of the government in Ramallah (Fatah) in order to ensure the security of both Israeli citizens in Israel proper and Palestinians living in Areas A and B.

The depiction of the presence of Israeli security forces as some heinous occupying power has, simply put, no basis in fact; The ever-bountiful supply of rockets fired into Israel from Gazan UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) facilities by Hamas stands both as a flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention and a potent testament to this fact.

We must also consider the existence of BDS in the context of other BDS-lacking calamities that far exceed the scope and scale of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Not one BDS activist to which Ive had the displeasure of speaking has mentioned starting a campaign to address the ongoing legitimate military occupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India and Pakistan; nor have they mentioned the necessity of a campaign against the government of Myanmar for their continued engagement in ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya people in the Burmese Rakhine state.

Darfur is forgotten, Nicols Maduros flights of fancy are swept under the rug and Kurdistan is all but ignored. Lo and behold, the Arab-Israeli squabble, one that has resulted in fewer casualties in its entire duration than the Syrian people sustain in one year, has the largest cult following such a dispute has ever seen. The only explanation for this fanaticism, directed at the worlds only Jewish state (mind you, in a sea of Arab states), is anti-Semitism.

It is time for all self-respecting members of the progressive movement to shirk the toxic spectacle known as BDS.

Just about every reason for such a crusades existence is rooted in deep-seated prejudice against Israels right to exist, Judaism and those who practice it (a true global minority). It is our duty as champions of those who struggle against tyranny on the international stage and in the United Nations to do everything we can to mitigate it.

Those who seek to delegitimize and ridicule Prime Minister Netanyahu and dismiss his rejection of the German Auenminister as an overreaction to something seemingly minute but simultaneously purvey the concepts of microaggression and privilege should be called out on their hypocrisy and closeted anti-Semitism and disallowed from adopting the well-worn faade of self-righteousness.

Howard Senior is a freshman majoring in applied math and statistics, International Studies and political science. He is from Miami, Fla.

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Anti-Zionism is damaging to Arab-Israeli relations - Johns Hopkins News-Letter

Anti Defamation League says ‘OK’ hand sign not a white supremacist hate symbol – The Independent

Posted By on May 5, 2017

One of Americas oldest civil rights organisations has said it does not think the thumb and forefinger OK hand gesture is a white supremacist sign.

The Anti-Defamtion League (ADL) issued the clarification after two journalists known to be supporters of Donald Trump made the sign while standing behind the podium at the White House press briefing room.

The two reporters vehemently denied they were either white supremacists or that they were making a sign in support of such views. However, the image of them sparked a storm on social media, with some commentators arguing that the symbol was a way to indicate white power, as reported by The Independent.

A previous entry on the hate symbols database of the ADL refers to the use by white supremacists of a two-handed hand sign in which one hand forms the letter "W" and the other hand forms the letter "P", to represent WP or "White Power". The "OK" symbol is the same as the "W" in this two-handed gesture.

The ADL has now suggested the one-handed "OK" symbol alone is not a sign indicating white supremacy.

Has the simple thumb-and-forefinger OK hand gesture become a white supremacist hand sign, the organisation asked in a blog post.

Well, no, it hasnt, but you are likely to hear just the opposite from social media, thanks to the latest hoax from members of notorious website 4chan.

The resurgence of the symbol may be traced back to a popular alt-right meme, known as smug Pepe, which began circulating on alt-right, pro-Trump message boards in 2015. Mr Trump often uses the symbol when speaking, explaining its significance with the presidents supporters.

White House refuses to condemn murder of black man by white supremacist

The ADL, a Jewish organisation established in 1913 to protect civil rights and oppose anti-semitism, pointed to an anonymous 4channer announcing Operation O-KKK in February, telling 4chan members we must flood Twitter and other social media websitesclaiming that the OK hand sign is a symbol of white supremacy.

The ADL said the OK hoax was simply the latest in a series by 4channers and others, to try and take innocuous items, symbols or gestures and falsely attribute white supremacist meanings to them. One was the concept that white supremacists were drinking milk to show the superiority of the white race and the purity of white milk.

Writing on the subject forBuzzFeed, Joseph Bernstein said that that hoaxers hoped their fake Trump hate memes wouldgain media attention so they couldthen point to them as evidence of bias against the President and his supporters.

Where it gets really fuzzy, however, is trying to determine when and if these symbols cross over from ironic usage, he added. Take milk. While milk as a supremacist symbol may have started as a sneering troll, it has now become an oft-used prop to publicly signal support for white nationalist politics at rallies, protests, and brawls.

The ADL quoted its own researcher on extremism, Mark Pitcavage, who said that most hate symbols appear and spread organically, over time.

The process of acceptance and growth in use typically takes months or even years, even for on-line symbols, he said.

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Anti Defamation League says 'OK' hand sign not a white supremacist hate symbol - The Independent

The Zionist Quiz – Jerusalem Post Israel News

Posted By on May 3, 2017

The Zionist Quiz. (photo credit:COURTESY WORLD ZIONIST ORGANIZATION)

Every year, on the evening of Independence Day, the Zionist Quiz, sponsored by The World Zionist Organization, the Zionist Council in Israel and the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage is broadcast on national Israeli television. This year, the Dinour family, from Givat Shmuel, beat nine finalist families, in the Zionist quiz.

The final was broadcast on Israeli Channel 10 and presented by Eli Yatzpan at The Jerusalem Theater.

Minister of Jerusalem and Heritage and Minister of Environmental Protection, Zeev Elkin, Chairman of the World Zionist Organization, Avraham Duvdevani, Deputy and Acting Chairman of the World Zionist Organization, Yaakov Hagoel, Chairman of the Zionist Council in Israel, Yigal Bibi, the Director General of the Zionist Council in Israel, Yigal Brand and the Deputy Director General of The Zionist Council in Israel, Shlomi Ashkenazi, were present at the quiz.

Around 15,000 people took part this year in the Zionist quiz in Israel and around the world, including some 2,000 participants from the United States, a surprising figure that showing the strong connection of American Jews to the history and developments in the country.

At the end of Independence Day, 10 families competed in the final. The questions focused on the 120th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress in Basel, the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, the 70th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration and the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Jerusalem.

The Dinour family from Givat Shmuel won the Final, Pnina (Grandmother), Shai (Father), Yonatan (Uncle) and Yuval (the son). The family won a flight and a tour following in the footsteps of Herzl around Europe

Elkin congratulated the winners stating, "I congratulate the Dinour family from Givat Shmuel for winning the quiz of Zionism and heritage. All ten finalists who joined the thousands who participated in the quiz prove that Zionism is not a matter of the past. Zionism is alive and kicking!

The connection of different generations created here in a quiz is wonderful to me. This year we mark the Jubilee Year celebrating the unification of the city and I invite the entire public to learn about Zionism and our heritage, and visit Jerusalem and its various sites."

Hagoel also spoke of the event, stating, "In such an interactive era, it is important to strengthen the young generation to their Zionist heritage.

The World Zionist Organization, via the Zionist quiz, provides an opportunity to strengthen the Zionist identity of the entire public through this emotional and exciting event, travelling through important stages in the history of the Jewish people.

Brand added, "The Zionist Council in Israel stresses the importance of events from the history and heritage of the people in Israel and the Diaspora throughout the entire year. The Zionist quiz shows a connection to the values and to the family history of the people of Israel to a wide range of audiences.

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The Zionist Quiz - Jerusalem Post Israel News

Confessions Of A Once-Distant Zionist – Jewish Week

Posted By on May 3, 2017

The 1967 Israeli-Arab war broke out on the eve of finals week, in early June, when I was a student at Yeshiva University. I admit that one of my first responses to the dramatic radio bulletins I listened to in my dorm room was a fleeting prayer that exams be canceled.

Dont misunderstand. Of course I was concerned about the fate of my fellow Jews. I had been following the dire news for several weeks as Egyptian President Nasser ramped up his threats to drive the Jews into the sea. With the prospects of an imminent war growing, I had marched with pride at the especially large and fervent Israel Day parade down Riverside Drive the Sunday before, and joined my fellow students in prayer in the tense days leading up to the conflict.

But at the time I didnt really think of Israelis as my brothers and sisters. More like distant cousins. I didnt personally know anyone who lived in Israel. I had met very few Israelis. And I didnt know many people who had ever been to Israel.

Gary Rosenblatt

While thousands of young people around the country were inspired by religious and secular Zionist camps and youth groups, I dont think my experience was that unusual 50 years ago for many American Jews, especially those of us who grew up outside of major Jewish communities like New York.

In those days our flat, interconnected world was very round. Long-distance travel was arduous and less common. When I was very young, the voyage to Israel was still made by ship and measured in days, not hours. Air travel became more popular in the 1960s, but trans-Atlantic flights were costly. And growing up in a small town in Maryland, I was far removed from a robust Jewish community. The Israel I was familiar with was more ancient than contemporary. It was the yearning for a restored Jerusalem of my daily prayers. But that was a call for the restoration of the Temple and its ritual sacrifices, not something I related to, and it was the Israel of the biblical stories I read in Hebrew school, where wars were fought with spears (and a timely slingshot) rather than tanks and artillery.

The only taste of modern-day Israel I had was from the World Over, the Jewish equivalent of The Weekly Reader, with illustrated stories about children in shorts and kova tembel hats (the Israeli national symbol), often shown discussing events while kicking a ball in the fields.

I couldnt relate. I preferred baseball the game and the caps.

For American Jews today, whether as supporters or critics, Israel is a reality in their lives, and an indicator of their Jewish identity, no longer the distant dot on the map it was when I was growing up.

Even when I left public school after sixth grade and attended a yeshiva in nearby Baltimore, the rabbis were more fluent in Yiddish than Hebrew, and spoke of their native European countries, not Israel. Modern Zionism was not part of the curriculum and not part of the discussion.

The one childhood experience that made Israel real for me was when I was about 14 and my parents made their first trip to the Jewish state as part of a rabbinic convention they attended.

They came back talking about their experience the first time I recall Israel as part of our conversations at home and with scores of color slides my dad took of Israeli scenes and landmarks. My parents began inviting groups of congregants to our house for scheduled showings of the slides, since hardly any of the members had been to Israel, and I began to learn about places like the Knesset, the Jerusalem Windmill and the King David Hotel. (Remember that the Western Wall was in Jordanian hands and off limits then.)

What struck home, though, were shots inside a makolet (small grocery store) with Hebrew writing on the jars of jelly and boxes of cereal. I began to think of Israel as a bustling, real-life society, not just a repository of biblical relics.

Israeli Army Gen. Ariel Sharon (C), flanked by Gens. Haim Bar-Lev (L) and Yishayahu Gavish (R) and unidentified aides, arrives by helicopter at an army base June 1, 1967 in Israels Negev Desert. David Rubinger/GPO/Getty Images

But it was the 1967 War that profoundly changed my identity as a Jew, and how I related to Israel.

During those dramatic six days, as tiny Israel, under threat of extinction from far larger forces on three fronts, prevailed and subdued the enemy, the events seemed nothing short of miraculous to me, and to millions of others. When we heard that IDF soldiers in Jerusalem had secured the Old City, and saw photos of Rabbi Shlomo Goren sounding the shofar at the Kotel, the significance of that new reality was profound. Israel had not just won the war, it had done so overwhelmingly, taking on new land and reunifying Jerusalem for the first time in many centuries. It had also won the hearts of diaspora Jews in a new and deeper way.

Suddenly, Israel was a source of great pride and admiration, and not just for Jews.

The problematic aspects of such a lopsided victory the consequences of the humiliation of and responsibility for so many Arabs and the acquisition of additional land were little considered in the euphoric aftermath.

Suddenly, Israel was a source of great pride and admiration, and not just for Jews. Major U.S. newspapers and magazines described Israels victory enthusiastically in David vs. Goliath terms, and its soldiers and leader were perceived as Super Jews.

American Jews had supported Israel generously in financial terms in its founding and early years. During the Six-Day War, they responded in unprecedented ways. At night, YU students would take the subway to Times Square and unfurl a large Israeli flag on the sidewalk as theatergoers, emerging from Broadway shows, emptied their wallets on the spot.

Israeli armys Southern Command General Ariel Sharon, C, arrives by helicopter with Generals Haim Bar-Lev, L, and Yishayahu Gavish, R, at an army base just days before the June 5 start of the Six-Day War, June 1, 1967 in the Negev Desert in southern Israel. David Rubinger/GPO via Getty Images

But the response transcended dollars; it went to a more intense, emotional level with renewed interest in Israel and an inner sense of connection for countless diaspora Jews, stirred by the drama of the war and the realization of how close Israel came to being destroyed.

Years later, when I visited Israel for the first time, at 27, as part of a mission for Jewish journalists, I felt a part of me was coming home. Since then, having made the trip more than two dozen times, I cherish the strong bonds to the land and the people that are personal as well as professional, and my commitment to Israel is an integral part of who I am as a Jew.

Still, for American Jews today, whether as supporters or critics, Israel is a reality in their lives, and an indicator of their Jewish identity, no longer the distant dot on the map it was when I was growing up.By now, largely through the success of Birthright Israel, about half of all diaspora Jews between the ages of 18 and 26 have visited Israel a remarkable achievement. But Israel, once the great unifier in our society, has become a source of division and debate, chiefly over its policies regarding the Palestinians. In the Orthodox community the ties to Israel are stronger than ever. But in the liberal denominations, and especially among the young and unaffiliated, the perception of Jerusalems policies as illiberal are cause for concern and frustration, if not opposition.

Israeli soldiers pray at the Western Wall June 7, 1967. This iconic photo by David Rubinger became famous as a symbol of the Six Day War victory. David Rubinger/Getty Images

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Confessions Of A Once-Distant Zionist - Jewish Week

Palestine: Hamas not against Jews but Zionism – Middle East Confidential

Posted By on May 3, 2017

Notorious for its strong stance against Israel, Hamas has released a document showcasing a shift in its policies by affirming that its conflict is with the Zionist project not with the Jews because of their religion. It also stressed that the group does not wage a struggle against Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine before blaming the Zionists who constantly identify Judaism and the Jews with their own colonial project and illegal entity. The document was made public in Qatar by Khaled Meshaal, Hamass leader in exile since 2004, who vowed that they will not back down from the Palestinian right to return. He said they will remain defiant towards the Zionist ideology or entity and to ensure Palestines freedom from the [Jordanian] river to the [Mediterranean] sea. It wants a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. Tel Aviv is cautious with the document and a spokesman for Prime Minster Netanyahu alleged that Hamas is attempting to fool the world, but it will not succeed. The real Hamas according to him is they (Hamas) dig terror tunnels and have launched thousands upon thousands of missiles at Israeli civilians. Hamas has refused to recognize Israel and the document didnt signal a change a position in that case. Palestinian activist, Raja Abdulhaq, doesnt think that there is a new initiative or new policy but rather a new way of qualifying what Hamas has been endorsing for the past 60 years. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is expected to be at the limelight this week as President Donald Trump is expected to arrive in Israel this week.

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Palestine: Hamas not against Jews but Zionism - Middle East Confidential

In Hebrew and Yiddish, Donald Trump Declares May Is Jewish American Heritage Month – Breaking Israel News

Posted By on May 3, 2017

Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage for ever; for they are the rejoicing of my heart. Psalms 119:111 (The Israel Bible)

President Donald Trump. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

President Donald Trump has continued the annual tradition of proclaiming May Jewish American Heritage Month, saying in a statement released last week, We celebrate our nations strong American Jewish heritage, rooted in the ancient faith and traditions of the Jewish people.

The proclamation included phrases in both Hebrew and Yiddish, referring in the first paragraph to the moral and ethical code of the Jewish people inspired by their spiritual vocation of tikkun olam the charge to repair the world.

In the second paragraph, the proclamation used a Yiddish term to refer to the Jewish ideal of America. Escaping religious persecution and ethnic violence and seeking political freedom and economic opportunity, American Jews, over centuries, have held firm in the belief that the United States was Di Goldene Medina the Golden Country.

The statement paid tribute to the towering success that the Jewish people have achieved in America through a unique synthesis of respect for heritage and love of country.

Those achievements are felt throughout American society and culture, in every field and in every profession, it continued, from the building of prestigious schools and hospitals to the creation of superheroes like Batman.

Trump added a personal message to his proclamation by referring to his Jewish family members, stating, This month, I celebrate with my family including my daughter, Ivanka, my son-in-law, Jared, my grandchildren, and our extended family the deep spiritual connection that binds, and will always bind, the Jewish people to the United States and its founding principles.

Ivanka converted to Orthodox Judaism in 2008 before marrying Kushner. The couple have three children together.

Now, therefore, I, Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2017 as Jewish American Heritage Month, the proclamation concluded.

I call upon all Americans to celebrate the heritage and contributions of American Jews and to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities and ceremonies.

The tradition of declaring May a month recognizing American Jewish heritage began in 2006 with former President George W. Bush, and has been continued by the sitting president ever since.

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In Hebrew and Yiddish, Donald Trump Declares May Is Jewish American Heritage Month - Breaking Israel News


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