Lawfare Project moves against Holocaust denial posts on Facebook
The Lawfare Project filed takedown notices this week against Facebook posts denying the Holocaust and containing anti-Semitic material, successfully leading to several posts being removed or blocked by Facebook in a number of countries.
The Lawfare Project’s action followed controversial comments last week by Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, in which he condoned the presence of Holocaust denial content on the platform, saying, “I don’t believe that our platform should take that down because I think there are things that different people get wrong. I don’t think that they’re intentionally getting it wrong.”
The Lawfare Project’s Spanish counsel, Ignacio Wenley Palacios, set out to demonstrate that Facebook’s takedown policy is inconsistent. In several European countries, Holocaust denial violates both criminal and civil law, and is considered libel against the Jewish people. Holocaust denial is the claim that the Holocaust—the Nazi genocide of millions of Jews during World War II—never happened or that the number of Jews murdered is greatly exaggerated.
Facebook’s current takedown policy, enforced by algorithms and people manually reviewing content, does not permit content that violates a wide variety of hate speech including “anything that directly attacks people based on what are known as their ‘protected characteristics’—race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or serious disability or disease.” In contrast to Holocaust denial, much of this hate speech is legal.
Brooke Goldstein, Executive Director of The Lawfare Project, said:
“Mark Zuckerberg’s statement that Holocaust deniers are not ‘intentionally getting it wrong’ contradicts the findings of historians, sociologists and mainstream political figures, who categorize Holocaust denial as a form of anti-Semitism. Facebook bans hate speech that attacks groups based on ethnicity or religious affiliation, so statements should be removed if they attack the Jewish people, an ethno-religious group. In countries such as Spain, where Holocaust denial violates civil and criminal law, we will continue taking action to get it removed.” — From the Lawfare Project
127 Children aboard Special Aliyah flight from the United States
There were 127 children under age 17 on board a special Aliyah flight chartered by Nefesh B’Nefesh, representing more than half of the flight’s Olim who landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday, July 25. Cooperating agencies were Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel and JNF-USA.
This diverse group of newcomers to Israel ranged in age from 6 months to 80 years old and included 34 families, 18 singles, three sets of twins, six future IDF soldiers, and 15 medical professionals. Thirty five percent of the flight (88 Olim) will be moving to Israel’s periphery, locations in the north and south of the country outside of the center’s metropolitan areas as well as Jerusalem, under the joint Nefesh B’Nefesh – KKL “Go Beyond” initiative.
The new Olim hail from across the U.S., including Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington, as well as from the Canadian province of Quebec.
“Each day that brings new Olim to Israel is a joyous occasion, especially when there are one hundred and thirty children on a single Aliyah flight. This is the future unfolding before us,” said Minister of Aliyah and Integration, Sofa Landver. “The Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, together with Nefesh B’Nefesh, continues to encourage Aliyah and assist Olim from North America. These newcomers, together with the country’s veteran Olim, are strengthening Israel’s resilience, economic development and society as a whole. I am so pleased that many of today’s Olim are joining our Negev-Galilee project which will help strengthen Israel’s periphery.”
The new Olim arrived on the first of two Nefesh B’Nefesh charter Aliyah flights of the year, which, along with 8 group Aliyah flights and Olim arriving independently on a daily basis, will bring over 2,000 people immigrating through Nefesh B’Nefesh this summer from North America. Since 2002, Nefesh B’Nefesh, together with its partners, has brought more than 57,000 Olim to Israel from the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. –From Nefesh B’Nefesh
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Enzyme can help prevent spinal cord injury from getting worse
Spinal cord injury or damage causes permanent changes in strength, sensation and other body functions. Hope of recuperation is slim to none. Now a new Tel Aviv University study finds the intravenous injection of a potent enzyme, just hours after an accident, has the potential to diminish a cascade of pathological events responsible for neuronal death, such as inflammation and scarring.
The study was conducted by Dr. Angela Ruban of TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Dr. Yona Goldshmit of TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University. It was published in May in the Journal of Neurotrauma.
“Primary mechanical damage to spinal cord tissue kills a certain amount of neuronal cells. But there’s secondary damage due to the release of excess glutamates, which are responsible for additional functional disability,” Dr. Goldshmit says. “The main idea is to reduce the secondary damage as soon as possible — to block the body’s natural reaction to spinal cord trauma. This is the role of the enzyme injection we devised.”
“When this new treatment will be available to paramedics, the consequences of injuries could be dramatically reduced,” Dr. Ruban says.
“Our takeaway is, ‘Don’t wait to diagnose it, treat it,'” Dr. Ruban says. “It’s similar to aspirin, which can rescue a cardiac patient from irreversible damage if taken within the first few hours of a heart attack. We suggest administering the injection even in cases of uncertain diagnosis. There’s no side effect to the injection, but it might just mitigate secondary damage and dramatically improve the quality of a person’s life.” — From Tel Aviv University
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Arab-Jewish LGBTQ Pride Parade planned for Thursday in Lod
A joint Arab-Jewish LGBTQ Pride event will be held on Thursday in Lod — a city made up of Arabs, Orthodox Jews, Ethiopian israelis, Russian Israelis and others, that is most known for poverty and conflict, according to Libby Lenkinski, vice president for public engagement of the New Israel Fund.
System Ali, a multi-cultural band, will perform at the event.
“The Jewish-Arab Pride event in Lod will lift up the diversity in their community,” Lenkinski said. “It will support those who feel silenced and afraid. This is what System Ali is all about and it is why NIF is working to kickstart their workshops in low-income schools around the country. They are a powerful way to reach out to young artists to instill pride and to challenge injustice.” — From New Israel Fund
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San Diego’s Jewish City School Superintendent gets a contract extension
The San Diego Unified Board of Education voted 5-0 Tuesday to extend the employment contract for Superintendent Cindy Marten through the 2021-22 school year. Her current contract runs through June 30, 2020.
The Board’s decision comes following the Superintendent’s annual evaluation in which board members said they are “extremely proud of the district’s continuing progress under Superintendent Marten’s leadership.”
“Our schools have made tremendous progress over the past five years, but I am even more excited about what we are building for the future. I am grateful for the hard work of our students, our families, and our staff, the support of our city, and the continued confidence the Board of Education has expressed in our work,” said Superintendent Cindy Marten.
Some key accomplishments are highlighted below:
* Goal 1: Closing the Achievement Gap with High Expectations for All: Progress is evident as the district’s fourth and eighth grade students outperformed other large urban school districts by demonstrating significant grade level gains in both reading and mathematics on the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the “Nation’s Report Card.”
* Goal 2: Access to Broad and Challenging Curriculum: Progress is evident in the expansion of access to college classes districtwide, including opportunities for high school students to earn college credits through City, Mesa and Miramar Community Colleges and UCSD Extension.
* Goal 3: Quality Leadership, Teaching and Learning: Significant progress and positive impact is evident in the improvement of recruiting staff members who reflect the diverse backgrounds of our students, and in offering early employment contracts to high quality, diverse candidates in hard-to-staff areas such as math, science and special education.
* Goal 4: Positive School Environment, Climate and Culture: The Superintendent continues to make gains in improving support services for students. Counseling services, restorative practices, trauma informed care and student wellness now offer reliable supports to students that contribute to overall school success. Collaboration among departments is evident across the district to ensure the needs of the whole child are being met.
* Goal 5: Parent and Community Engagement: Significant improvement has been made in parent and community relationships with schools and the district as a whole. The foundational work started by the FACE team provides the structure for continued implementation and expansion of services. A variety of events and opportunities were offered on High Impact Home Strategies and implementing literacy strategies in the home. The Neighborhood Schools and Enrollment Options team has made significant improvements to the Choice process and customer service to families enrolling in district schools.
* Goal 6: Well-Orchestrated Districtwide Support Services and Communications: The district has cultivated and sustained valuable community partnerships with entities including SAY San Diego, the Center, National Conflict Resolution Center, Anti-Defamation League, and others that provide mutual support. The Superintendent has successfully improved the relationships with our bargaining units, and communication with the Board and public is frequent and open. — From San Diego Unified School District
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Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Yiddish books now available on line
The Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, has announced that they have made Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Yiddish works freely available online through the Yiddish Book Center’s Steven Spielberg Digital Yiddish Library. This is a major milestone for readers and scholars alike as the Yiddish originals were never widely distributed and often differ significantly from their more familiar English versions, which Singer reworked for an American audience. The availability of these works was made possible by permission of the Singer Estate.
Preceding items culled from news releases. Send your Jewish interest news to editor@sdjewishworld.com