Princeton Lyman, who helped organize airlift of Ethiopian Jews, is mourned
Arthur Stark, Chairman and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations issued the following statement:
The Conference of Presidents on Tuesday expressed its deep regret on the passing of the Hon. Princeton Lyman, who, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, played an important role in organizing the airlift of thousands of Ethiopian Jews from the Sudan to Israel, in what was called Operation Moses. Furthermore, as US Ambassador to South Africa, Ambassador Lyman earned the respect of all parties and helped in the government transition from apartheid to democracy
Only two American diplomats were informed of the details, secret flights, and the complex logistics in bringing them undetected to Israel from the Sudan, which had no relations with the Jewish State. “We had the privilege of working with him both during and in the aftermath of Operation Moses. He played a low-key role and was not properly recognized in the media for his important contribution. We are grateful for his service to the United States and his important place in the historic chapter of the rescue of Ethiopian Jews, as well as his friendship to us,” said Malcolm Hoenlein. — From Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
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Many thousands see Holocaust survivors’ video imploring Zuckerberg to delete Holocaust denial posts from Facebook
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) posted on August 8 the first “Open Letter Video” on Facebook featuring Holocaust survivors imploring Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to remove Holocaust denial posts from the global social media platform. (Click here to see the posted video)
The video featuring Holocaust survivors Aron Krell, Roman Kent and Jehuda Evron has been viewed more than 70,000 times and has reached more than 152,000 people.
Claims Conference Executive Vice President, Greg Schneider commented, “Mark Zuckerberg is a brilliant innovator, but with regard to Holocaust denial on Facebook, he got this one wrong. Holocaust denial is not a lack of education or information; it is not a mistake. Holocaust denial is a premeditated, deliberate act which calls 400,000 living Holocaust survivors liars.”
While the response to the call-to-action has been striking, the most profound reaction has come from the survivor community in the comments to the Facebook video post. Unexpectedly, Holocaust survivors have been sharing their personal testimonials.
Examples of Holocaust survivor posts include:
“I am 79 and I’m a Holocaust Survivor. As a child of 2 ½ my parents and I were taken to Westerbork from Amsterdam and then to Bergen-Belsen. We had 267 Family Members, 4 of us walked out of the camp!!” – S.E.Lazarus
“I am a survivor of the Holocaust, 82 years old, lost all my family in Hungary and came to Israel as a lonely orphan child.” – A. Adar
“I’m 82 and a survivor with my mother, father and brother…my Aunt, my Uncle and four cousins, they were murdered in the gas chambers.” – R. DeGroot
Schneider continued, “In the wake of Mark Zuckerberg’s refusal to remove Holocaust denial from Facebook, we wanted to be sure those who experienced the horrors of the Holocaust had the opportunity to be heard. We hope Mr. Zuckerberg takes a moment to listen to the plea from Holocaust survivors Roman Kent, Aaron Krell and Jehuda Evron, and read the responses from survivors. Like the hate speech and false news that Facebook is diligently working to remove, Holocaust deniers are intentionally trying to mislead the public and their lies must also be removed.” — From the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
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Lowey says cuts in aid to Gaza could hinder, not help, Israeli-Palestinian peace process
Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY17/Rockland-Westchester), Ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, issued the following statement Tuesday regarding the Trump Administration’s reported decision to cut $200 million in aid to the West Bank and Gaza:
“The Trump Administration’s reported decision to cut more than $200 million in humanitarian aid for the West Bank and Gaza will end food assistance, health services, education programs, youth development, and more that directly benefit the Palestinian people. While Hamas is to blame for the ongoing suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza, the Administration’s decision risks worsening an already unstable region.”
“I am a life-long believer that the two-state solution is the only means to ensure Israel’s long-term security and to enable Palestinian aspirations for their own state. But two states for two peoples will only be possible if both sides are at the negotiating table. However, if the Administration’s decision is part of an ill-conceived plan to pressure Palestinians into negotiations, I urge the Administration to reconsider this approach.” — Preceding from Congresswoman Nita Lowey
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Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, Jewish Federations of North America welcome DHS security grants for religious institutions
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and Jewish Federations of North America on Tuesday welcomed the awarding of federal security grants by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
DHS announced the awards of $60 million under the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) – whose creation was spearheaded by the Orthodox Union, the Jewish Federations of North America and other coalition partners.
The grants are made to nonprofits – including synagogues, schools and community centers – deemed to be at risk of attack and to harden their facility security.
Nathan Diament, Executive Director of the OU Advocacy Center and William Daroff, Senior Vice President for Public Policy of JFNA, issued the following statements following DHS’ s announcement on Friday.
“The $60 million funding level is the highest for this program since its inception,” Diament said. “We are thankful for the leadership and support of those in Congress who have championed this program on a bipartisan basis including: Sens. Shelby, Schumer, Boozman, Hoeven, Portman, Peters, Nelson, Blunt and Van Hollen and Reps. Frelinghuysen, Lowey, McCaul, Yoder, Pascrell, Meng, Donovan and Thompson. While we wish this program were not necessary, we are grateful for the work of DHS and the support of key legislators to provide the needed security resources.”
“Since September 11, nonprofits generally, and Jewish communal institutions specifically, have been the victim of an alarming number of threats and attacks,” added Daroff. “The NSGP is helpful to deal with those threats through resources for target hardening and the integration of nonprofit preparedness activities with broader state and local preparedness efforts.” — From Union of Orthodox Congregations and Jewish Federations of North America
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Nearly 1,100 congregations offer free High Holy Day tickets to college students
Alpha Epsilon Pi, the world’s leading Jewish college fraternity, working with Synagogue Connect, has established an online system to match college students from around the world looking for a congregation at which to spend the Jewish High Holidays for free. This is the third year of the Alpha Epsilon Pi/Synagogue Connect partnership. The online system is free and is open to all Jewish college undergraduate and graduate students looking to get off campus for a variety of reasons.
Synagogue Connect founders Rabbi Ronald Brown and Rabbi Charles Klein have already gotten nearly 1,100 congregations from all denominations (Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative and Orthodox) and throughout the world to offer free seats to college students. Students merely have to notify the synagogue in advance of the holiday that they will be attending and bring along a college ID.
“There are a number of great resources on campus for Jewish students but we know that some campuses don’t provide those opportunities and sometime students are looking to get off campus for a variety of students,” said Rabbi Brown. “We’re extremely gratified at the number of congregations which have agreed to open their doors.”
Alpha Epsilon Pi built an online database which allows students to search for congregations within a radius of a location of their choice for Synagogue Connect and also hosts the online Synagogue Connect program.
“We want to do everything possible to provide more opportunities for our brothers and all Jewish college students to have a meaningful experience during the upcoming High Holidays. Of course, many of our brothers will participate in on-campus services at Hillel and Chabad and we encourage that but this provides additional opportunities on some campuses and for all students,” said James Fleischer, AEPi’s chief executive officer.
“We’re grateful to our friends in AEPI for helping to make this happen and for keeping this program open and free to all Jewish college students, not just members of AEPi,” said Rabbi Brown.
To access the Synagogue Connect database, go to www.synagogueconnect.com — From Alpha Epsilon Pi
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Preceding culled from news releases. Send yours to editor@sdjewishworld.com