American Jewish Committee opens global religious freedom drive
American Jewish Committee (AJC) has launched #8Nights4ReligiousRights, the global Jewish advocacy organization’s Hanukkah initiative in support of religious freedom around the world.
The eight-day Hanukah holiday, which begins Sunday evening with the lighting of the first candle in the menorah, celebrates the restoration of Jewish religious freedom in ancient Israel.
“Hanukkah has two universal messages,” said AJC CEO David Harris. “First, never take religious freedom for granted. We’re blessed in America, but we should always recall that our freedom also entails mutual respect and the principle of live and let live.
“Second, not everyone is as lucky as we are. In too many countries, freedom of religion is either non-existent or severely restricted. And in some places, being a religious minority can be downright dangerous.”
This year, AJC is highlighting the situation of eight religious communities under threat across the globe and encouraging people of all faiths to join in shining a light on the areas of the world where darkness remains, and the freedoms of religious communities are suppressed.
Details on each of the eight endangered communities and AJC’s support for them are at https://www.ajc.org/8nights4religiousrights. They include the Yazidis in Iraq, the Ecumenical Patriarch and Greek Orthodox Christians in Turkey, North Koreans, Baha’is in Iran, Coptic Christians in Egypt, Rohingya in Myanmar, religious minority groups in Pakistan, and Jews in Europe.
AJC, a longstanding leader in efforts to end discrimination, hatred, and the oppression of religious minorities, urges sharing #8Nights4ReligiousRights to show support for these communities and for religious freedom around the world. — From American Jewish Committee
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StandWithUs urges removal of Gab website from Cloudfare
StandWithUs has launched a campaign calling on Cloudflare to stop providing internet services to Gab – the website Pittsburgh shooter Robert Bowers used as a forum for his anti-Semitism and other racist views. The campaign features a petition directed at Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince and educational content on social media.
Gab pledged to prevent incitement to violence on its platform but has utterly failed to do so. The site features a myriad of posts and comments promoting the murder of Jewish, Black, Latino, indigenous, Arab, and LGBTQ people, violence towards immigrants and political opponents, and rape against women. It is also allowing users to glorify Robert Bowers, Dylann Roof, and other white supremacist terrorists. As such, it is deeply disturbing that Cloudflare – a major web security company – continues to provide crucial services that allow Gab to operate.
StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein said that, “As a child of Holocaust survivors, I know where such vicious racism and incitement to violence can lead. While free speech is an inalienable right, it should be clear that companies have absolutely no obligation to facilitate forums where hate mongers promote murder and sexual assault. Cloudflare should honor the victims of racist and anti-Semitic attacks in Louisville, Pittsburgh, and elsewhere by dropping Gab as a client. They have already waited too long.”
“History shows that the type of hateful rhetoric posted on Gab is often followed by real life violence,” said Lauren Post, Writer and Researcher at StandWithUs. “Furthermore, online harassment can be just as pernicious as offline bullying for minorities, victims of sexual assault, and other people who are targeted by Gab users. We appreciate that Cloudflare cut off services to a neo-Nazi site last year and believe it’s time for them to do the same with Gab.”
Gab serves as a platform for many prominent white supremacists, including Christopher Cantwell. Cantwell publicly threatened to kill people at the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville. Cantwell and others use Gab to promote vicious racism and violence against minorities and women. For example, Gab is permitting users to advertise a white supremacist video game in which players gun down Jews, Black people, and members of the LGBTQ community. This not the exception – Gab is allowing an immense amount of hateful and violent rhetoric on its site.
StandWithUs notes that many of the anti-Semitic posts on Gab include attacks on Israel. Much of the rhetoric about Israel on the site is indistinguishable from the “anti-Zionism” espoused by extremists on the far left. It is clear that the new anti-Semitism, which targets the Jewish state in addition to the Jewish people, is alive and well across the political spectrum.
Gab has demonstrated that it is unwilling or unable to prevent purveyors of hate from using it as a platform to incite violence. As such, StandWithUs urges Cloudflare to follow in the footsteps of Google, Apple, and GoDaddy by dropping Gab as a client. — From StandWithUs
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New Zealand Parliamentarians extend Hanukah greetings to Jews of their country and the world
John McCormick, chairman of the Hawkes Bay Province Friends of Israel, writes: Here is something we have not seen before in New Zealand Politics. A group of MP’s has gotten together to put out a message to the New Zealand Jewish community for Hanukkah. The group is led by the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Select Committee of the 120 seat House of Representatives.
See: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=281688135819036
Alfred Ngaro is a Cook island Maori with Jewish ancestry, and is an Auckland List MP.
Melissa Lee was born in China. Melissa is a list MP. Melissa attended a Keren Hayesod Fund Raiser on Oct 7th organized by C4I, Christians for Israel, that was held in Auckland.
Chris Penk is former military and holds the seat of Helensville which is a semi rural seat on the north west side of Auckland which was the seat of former Jewish Prime Minister Sir John Key.
Simeon Brown is a young chap who represents part of the city Pakuranga south Auckland. He is the MP for
Pakuranga.
Nuk Korako is a Maori chap and is a back bench List MP.
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi Is a Sikh of Indian decent and a back bench list MP. — From John McCormick
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Jewish Democratic Council of America celebrates midterm election results
Haile Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA), issued the following statement:
Three weeks after the midterm election and just in the time for Hanukkah, the tallying of votes for the House, Senate, and gubernatorial races is finally complete. With each passing week, it has become clear that the Blue Wave that swept the nation on November 6 was truly monumental, as demonstrated below by our “monumental midterm menorah.” Democrats netted a total of 40 House seats, which is the largest midterm gain for Democrats since Watergate. The margin of support for Democrats in the 2018 elections – which totaled more than nine million votes – was the largest midterm vote margin for either party in history. The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) is incredibly proud of our contributions to this historic election win, which included engaging over half a million Jewish voters, helping to secure 49 Dem wins, and flipping 28 seats from red to blue. Now that the elections have passed, we are thrilled to begin planning for our advocacy agenda for the 116th Congress, and to speak out on issues of importance to the Jewish community.
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In the coming weeks JDCA will debut its “Blueprint for Jewish Advocacy” in the 116th Congress. Key issues we plan to engage on include:
1. Supporting the U.S.-Israel relationship and opposing BDS
2. Promoting social justice, equality, human rights, and freedoms
3. Combating anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination
4. Protecting democratic institutions and the right to vote
5. Defending against climate change and other environmental threats
6. Promoting comprehensive and humane immigration reform
7. Advocating for common-sense gun reforms
8. Supporting access to affordable healthcare
— From Jewish Democratic Council of America
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Pitzer College President Melvin Oliver condemns proposed BDS boycott of Haifa University
Late Thursday, Pitzer College President Melvin L. Oliver delivered a speech before the Pitzer College Council, in which he strongly condemned the faculty vote to suspend the school’s study abroad program in Israel, and said: “To deny Pitzer students who want to study at Haifa University the opportunity to study abroad and to enter into dialogue and promote intercultural understanding at the altar of political considerations is anathema to Pitzer’s core values” and would “foolishly alienate Jewish and non-Jewish constituents.”
As reported in the Clarement Independent, Oliver also questioned why Pitzer should cancel its study abroad programs in Israel when there are other countries with contentious issues in which Pitzer has study abroad programs. “China currently has 1 million Muslims imprisoned in re-education camps. Why would we not suspend our program with China?” questioned Oliver. “Or take our longest standing program in Nepal where the Pitzer in Nepal program has been run for over 40 years. During that time they have had a bloody civil war that killed 19,000 people. Why Israel?”
In appreciation for President Oliver’s strong condemnation, seventy-five civil rights, education, Jewish and student groups who earlier in the day had urged him to take this exact action, and to defend and protect the rights of all Pitzer students to study in and about Israel, sent him the following letter:
Dear President Oliver,
Our organizations heartily commend you for the speech you gave before the Pitzer College Council yesterday, in which you strongly condemned the Faculty vote to suspend your school’s study abroad program at the University of Haifa, saying that it showed “little or no consideration for our educational objectives and mission.” We also deeply appreciate your standing up for the academic rights of all Pitzer students, including those who want to travel to or study about Israel. As you rightly point out, sacrificing students’ educational opportunities on “the altar of political considerations” would be “anathema to Pitzer’s core values.”
Thank you again for your strong leadership on this issue, and for speaking up in defense of the welfare of all Pitzer students. — From the AMCHA Initiative
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Preceding items culled from news releases and personal correspondence. Please send your communication to editor@sdjewishworld.com