News – Diaspora
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. day in the United States, honouring one of our generation’s staunchest advocates for equality, decency, and basic human rights. King was also a believer of the Jewish state. “Israel is one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvellous example of what can be done, how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy,” he once said. “Peace for Israel means security, and that security must be a reality.”
Today we remember a great leader for civil rights and a great friend of Israel. Martin Luther King Jr. “Israel is one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvelLous example of what can be done, how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy. Peace for Israel means security, and that security must be a reality.”
Posted by StandWithUs on Monday, January 18, 2016
A missing Orthodox woman from New Jersey was found dead in the Passaic River this week. Devorah Stubin, 22, reportedly suffered from epilepsy. Her funeral took place yesterday.
Sharren Haskel, a Canadian-born member of Knesset, opened up to The CJN recently about her fight for consumers, marijuana legalization, and what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s election win means for Jews and Israelis.
Yesterday, Pope Francis became just the third pope to visit Rome’s main synagogue, in a bid to demonstrate the ongoing friendship between the Catholic and Jewish communities.
Jewish Democratic U.S. presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has called for normalizing ties with Iran. “I think the goal has got to be as we’ve done with Cuba, to move in warm relations with a very powerful and important country in this world,” he said. Do you agree with the senator’s policy on this matter? Moreover, do you think he has a chance against Hilary?
A Polish city reportedly used Jewish tombstones to build a wall around a Christian cemetery, an Israeli blogger learned recently. The blogger was able to convince the mayor of Ostrowiec to dismantle the wall and repair the tombstones, out of respect to the Jews who are buried there. It’s certainly the least he could do.
Following Shurat HaDin’s Facebook experiment to show that an anti-Israel bias exists on the social media platform, the Israeli NGO has now launched a new campaign called “Mark Zuckerberg don’t kill us.” Subtlety is obviously not the goal here. The new campaign is a bid to raise funds (some $30,000 US) in order to place billboards directly in front of Zuckerberg’s house in Palo Alto, Calif.
“If Mark Zuckerberg opens his eyes – we won’t let him stop there,” the NGO states on its website. “We are calling on you to help us erect a giant billboard across from Mark Zuckerberg’s house, for him to see the incitement on Facebook. We must not continue to allow Mark Zuckerberg to ignore us. Together we will stop incitement on Facebook.”
Ever wonder what it’s like to be a subway driver, particularly one working for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)? Well, you’re invited to learn the story of Jessie Kushner, who apparently sings while she works.
News – Israel
Yesterday, Jewish-Israeli Dafna Meir, 38, was stabbed to death in her West Bank home, in front of three of her six children. Meir, who worked as a nurse, attempted to bravely fight of the attacker, who remains at large, to save her children. She was buried this morning. MK Yair Lapid has responded to this horrific act of terror, the latest in a series of attacks against Jewish civilians in Israel:
“Today, I read through the foreign press. How is it that Dafna Meir does not appear on the front page of every newspaper in the world? How have we failed so horribly with our public relations and how have we reached a state where the world looks at us and is not interested in the fact that women are being murdered at the entrances to their own homes?” It’s a question that has remained on all of our minds in the wake of ongoing terror in Israel. It’s doubtful that any answer out there will provide comfort.
A pregnant woman is “moderately” injured after a teenage Palestinian terrorist stabbed her in the settlement of Tekoa this morning, a day after Meir’s death. As of publication, she is not in life-threatening danger, and the fetus is stable. The terrorist was shot dead by an armed civilian. Expect to hear about this all over the news today here, and at other Jewish media sites.
An American weapons expert claims it was Hamas, and not Israel, that killed four Palestinian boys on a beach during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge. The incident was detrimental for Israeli public relations, galvanizing much of the world to blame Israel for “war crimes” and murdering innocent children. Israel had defended itself by using a valid argument, albeit one that is contrary to popular belief: that Hamas used human shields, and deployed missiles from densely-populated civilian areas.
But according to Thomas Wictor, Israel is not even partly responsible. After conducting a forensic analysis of the events that transpired that day, the weapons expert concluded that the boys were murdered by Hamas for propaganda purposes, a theory that is definitely believable, considering that martyrdom is a blessing to terrorist entities like Hamas, and not a desecration of human rights. Wictor’s stance was presented in a movie, War Crimes in Gaza, by French filmmaker Pierre Rehov.
The Times of Israel ran an expose on West Bank refugees, specifically on why they haven’t joined in on the latest ‘knife intifadah.’ “Let us live in peace and quiet,” one refugee said. “We don’t want anything. We want to live together with the Israelis. We have no problem with that. They are our cousins. We will live with them in peace.”
Residents of Tel Aviv showed up at the Simta Bar, the venue where two Israelis were killed by a terrorist on New Years day, on Friday, to show solidarity with the Dizengoff pub. “We held this event to prove that we cannot be defeated by terror,” Dor Avidan, one of the pub’s owners, told Israel’s Walla news.
A yeshiva student performed an enormous mitzvah earlier this week after he located NIS 130,000 ($47,265 Cdn) in a duffle bag at a Haifa bus station, and searched for its owner to return it. The owner, a secular Jew who showed up eventually, told Israel’s Arutz Sheva that he was very “anti-Orthodox,” until now. “I wanted to give him a nice sum, but he absolutely refused to accept anything, and said that it was his mitzvah,” he said.
Sports
Due to their loyalty to Canadian Jewish rapper Drake, the Raptors have banned Meek Mill music in their locker rooms. Not like he has that many hits anyway. In other Raptors news, today is the last day to vote for Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan for the All-Star game in Toronto. As Canada’s only team, I implore all of you to take a moment and vote.
Furthering their firm anti-Israel stance, Malaysia has again made it impossible for Israelis to compete there after denying Israeli table tennis players entry visas for the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Kuala Lumpur. Israel’s Table Tennis Association (ITTA) announced its decision not to send Israeli delegates due to security concerns.
Culture
At last night’s Critics Choice Awards, actor Mayim Bialik (read our interview with her here) accepted her first-ever award while paying tribute to her late father. Other winners at the Awards include Holocaust film Son of Saul for best foreign language film, Constance Zimmer, for lead actress in a drama, the Amy Winehouse documentary, Amy, for best documentary, and your favourite crazy ex-girlfriend Rachel Bloom.
Amy Schumer, a Jewish comic on the rise, accepted the Critics’ Choice MVP award (she deserves it). Rather than thanking her manager or friends, Schumer decided to thank a body part for her success: her stomach. “Thank you for this trophy, covering the reason that I had to write my own [stuff],” Schumer said, as she gestured toward her stomach. “If you’re an actress and you have this area right here, you have to write your own stuff if you want to get it made.”
Seventeen-year-old Harrison Cohen’s audition for American Idol is making waves online, partly due to his singing chops and partly due to his charismatic grandpa, Alvin Rosenfeld, whom Cohen turns to for dating tips, apparently.
Throwback
In light of Archer announcing its Season 7 premiere (on March 31, 2016), here’s Jon Benjamin singing Shema Israel. Starts at the 9:40 mark.