Your daily spiel for Thursday, June 23

“Once the occupation ends, terrorism will disappear, there will be no more terrorism in the Middle East, or anywhere else in the world,” Abbas said

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Lifestyles of the rich and Jewish. Toronto’s Jewish middle class is having a tough time participating in communal Jewish life, but it’s not due to the rise of atheism – it’s simply too pricy. “Everyone I know is pretty much in the same boat… and most of us see Jewish high school as completely out of reach, as the tuition jumps significantly,” says one parent on the “higher end of middle-income.” If prices for Jewish education, shul, camp and kosher food continue, there’ll be more reasons than a simple distaste for religion that will have people losing faith.

THE CJN PHOTO
THE CJN PHOTO

Give Palestinians a state and jihadists the world over will renounce terror, just watch. Such was the sentiment of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas who, during an address to the European Union today, said eliminating Israel’s presence in the West Bank and Gaza would completely eradicate terrorism the world over. “Once the occupation ends, terrorism will disappear, there will be no more terrorism in the Middle East, or anywhere else in the world,” he said. Yeah, seriously. And people actually applauded that. So, according to Abbas, ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, heck even Hamas, they’ll all disavow their jihadist-abiding ways and live peacefully with us in the West once Israel “ends the occupation.” No words…..Simply, no words….

Are there any Trump supporters out there who aren’t racist anti-Semites? We all know of the KKK’s affinity for using the Echo symbol on Twitter to attack Jews (and minorities too, I’m guessing). We also know they’re all staunch supporters of Donald Trump. So is it any surprise that comedian/author Michael Ian Black, whose new children’s book A Child’s First Book of Trump is already an Amazon bestseller despite not being out yet, has, for the first time ever, become a victim of anti-Semitism? Sadly, no, though it does speak volumes about the type of people who would vote for the orangey beast, to use Black’s words.

The cover of “A Child’s First Book of Trump” by Michael Ian Black SIMON & SCHUSTER PHOTO
The cover of “A Child’s First Book of Trump” by Michael Ian Black SIMON & SCHUSTER PHOTO

Tila Tequila spews anti-Semitic garbage about Sarah Silverman, no one cares. You may remember Tila Tequila as a reality television star (back before reality TV became just regular TV) but you’ll likely remember her even more for her affinity for Donald Trump, Nazi uniforms, or that time she said she was Adolf Hitler reincarnated. This week, she accused Sarah Silverman (for some reason) and the Jews in general for killing Jesus (yawn). She even used the anti-Semitic echo symbol! Silverman responded in comedic fashion, but Tequila’s rant didn’t seem to phase her.

I didn’t even know the Icelandic First Lady was Israeli. Dorrit Moussaieff, the Israeli wife of Iceland’s president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, is ecstatic that Iceland qualified for the 2016 Euro Cup round of 16, and said she’d love to help Israel get to such a position as well. “I advise Israel to start investing in soccer from a very young age. I would be very happy to help Israel learn from Iceland’s experience,” she said. You’re definitely welcome to, Dorrit.

Proud to represent the transgender community. The first Israeli officer to come out as transgender, Lieutenant Schachar, attended a gay pride month at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. this week, speaking about his experiences, and honouring the 49 who were killed in the Orlando massacre. “This is the right of the whole world, to be free and to be whoever we want to be,” Shachar said.


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