Other items in today’s column include:
*The Zonderful World of ‘Fauda”
*Mandatory hate crimes education proposed for law enforcement
*Jewish American Heritage Month
*Recommended reading
SAN DIEGO — As the only daily Jewish news outlet in our county, San Diego Jewish World has made it a mission to keep track of important races in the county in which members of the Jewish community will be runoff candidates in the November general election. Now, with the nation, state, and local governments all in the process of looking beyond the coronavirus pandemic to the recovery of the economy, candidates for mayor, Congress, and the County Board of Supervisors are again making news.
Ironically, from our standpoint, the movement this week came from the opponents of the Jewish candidates, whom we try to cover as closely and without bias as we do the Jewish candidates.
For example, in San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez’s run for the 53rd Congressional District seat from which Susan Davis is retiring, and in which fellow Democrat Sara Jacobs is her opponent, Gomez just announced her endorsement from Senator Elizabeth Warren, who until recently was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination before she dropped out in favor of former Vice President Joe Biden.
About Gomez, Warren commented: “”At a time when working families are being squeezed to their breaking points, we need leaders with courage and conviction in Congress. Georgette Gómez is committed to fighting for fundamental change that will touch the lives of people. As we meet this moment of crisis, Georgette’s proven track record of fighting to expand affordable housing and taking action on climate change will be indispensable in Congress. That is why I am proud to add my voice to the broad coalition supporting Georgette.”
In the 3rd County Supervisorial District meanwhile, in which Terra Lawson-Remer, a Democrat, seeks to unseat incumbent Kristin Gaspar, a Republican, Gaspar announced her proposed “Game On San Diego” protocol which she said would accelerate the reopening of sports practice fields and gyms.
Citing support from former San Diego Padre Tony Gwynn Jr., Gaspar said the plan, to be unveiled Tuesday at a Board of Supervisors meeting, “would position San Diego County with the most comprehensive youth sports safety plan in all Southern California.”
Gaspar, who has three children and has coached youth, said, “Our kids desperately need this outlet for the physical, emotional and character-building benefits that organized sports provide. It’s time to get our kids moving again.”
The race for mayor of San Diego pits Assemblyman Todd Gloria against a fellow Democrat, City Councilwoman Barbara Bry.
On Tuesday, Gloria announced that he will be convening a “Back to Work San Diego” task force “so that when public health officials determine it is safe to do so, we can immediately work rebuilding our economy.”
He said the task force represents a “broad range of constituencies that need to be at the table to get our city back to work, including public health professionals, small business representatives, labor organizations, and more.”
Task force members will include:
–U.S. Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52)
–California State Treasurer Fiona Ma
–San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher
–San Diego Unified School Board Member Richard Barrera
–Dr. Cheryl Anderson, Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, UC San Diego School of Medicine
–Jason Anderson, Renewable energy/clean technology advocate
–Paola Avila, VP for International Business Affairs, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
–Dr. Tahir Bhatti, Wellness Physician, UC San Diego Health
–Phil Blair, Executive Officer, Manpower HR Staffing
–Janice Brown, Chief Strategy Officer, Brown Law Group
–Mark Cafferty, CEO, San Diego Economic Development Corporation
–Bill Fulton, Urban Planner
–Dr. Alan Gin, Economist, University of San Diego
–Jay Goldstone, former COO, City of San Diego
–Dr. Kyra Greene, Executive Director, Center on Policy Initiatives
–Mikey Knab, Restauranteur
–Keith Maddox, Executive Secretary Treasurer, San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council
–Ari Matusiak, Former White House Director of Private Sector Engagement (2011-2014)
–Namara Mercer, Executive Director, San Diego Lodging Association
–Dr. Fadi Nicolas, Chief Medical Officer, Sharp Behavioral Health Services
–Jason Paguio, President/CEO, Asian Business Association San Diego
–Maya Rosas, Director of Policy, Circulate San Diego
—Dr. Dara Schwartz, Lead Psychologist, Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital
–Admiral Dixon Smith (ret), EVP, R.E. Staite Engineering, Inc.
–Jason M-B Wells, San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce
–David Wescoe, former CEO, San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System
–Angie and Jon Weber, Cowboy Star/California Restaurant Association
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The Zonderful world of ‘Fauda’
Israeli screenwriter Moshe Zonder returned to San Diego Tuesday in a video chat about the first season of the Netflix series Fauda, which he wrote. In a Zoom session co-sponsored by the Murray Galinson San Diego-Israel Initiative and the Hive at Leichtag Commons, Zonder told interviewer Chaya Gilboa that he never expected the success that Fauda, which means “chaos” in Arabic, would have not only in Israel but throughout the world, including Muslim countries. He said he thought many viewers would be offended by his efforts to help people understand the motivations and personal lives of the people on the other side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Gilboa, director of Jewish Engagement for the Leichtag Foundation, commented that the humanization of the enemy was a unique aspect of the series. In the first season, a Hamas leader known as the Panther (Hisham Suliman) was discovered to be alive, years after his fake funeral. Doron, the Israeli undercover agent (Lior Raz) who thought he had killed the Panther rejoins a secret Israeli unit to finish the job. We see both men so dedicated to their causes that it results in inevitable conflict, worry, and grief for their families, whom they love very much. We also see, according to Zonder, the reflection of both men in each other.
After completing the first season, Zonder chose not to continue with the series, saying that it took so much out of him. Among other activities, he came to San Diego State University as a visiting professor to teach film writing here. In Tuesday’s video chat, we got a feeling of what he must have been like as a teacher, when he suggested that characters should not be all good, or all bad, but must be a mixture of both, like Tony Soprano (James Gondolfini) in the HBO series The Sopranos. In that award-winning series, a mobster was the protagonist, who had some endearing qualities notwithstanding the way he treated his enemies and his wife.
While in San Diego, Zonder wrote the script for an upcoming Netflix series, Tehran, in which a Persian-born Israeli returns to her native country to spy for the Mossad so the Israeli Air Force, when necessary, could be able to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability. As in Fauda, this new series attempts to humanize the opponents, and to give both Israelis and Iranians the human side of their sworn enemies, according to Zonder.
In the video above, Tatiana Siegel of the 92nd Street Y in New York City interviewed Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff, the co-creators of Fauda.
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Mandatory hate crimes education proposed for law enforcement
*California Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) has won passage in the Assembly Public Safety Committee of a bill (AB 2236) that would require the state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to create a refresher course on hate crimes which law enforcement officers would be required take every five years. “With anti-Semitic incidents reaching record levels in 2019, we must do more to prevent hate crimes and protect our communities,” said Gabriel, who also serves as Vice Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus. “We know that the Jewish Community and many other communities are at risk, and that hate-motivated bigotry and violence often increase during moments of social and economic uncertainty. This legislation will help ensure that law enforcement is best equipped to respond to hate crimes and protect those at risk.”
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Jewish American Heritage Month
The Endowment for Middle East Truth on Tuesday profiled suffragist Gertrude Weil.
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Recommended reading
*Lisa Daftari forwards a story from The Telegraph (London) showing us a Hezbollah tunnel that went from Lebanon to Israel.
*Eric George Tauber passed along a story in Israel21C concerning the donation to a Gaza children’s hospital of a system for purifying water by an Israeli company.
*Barry Jagoda, author of Journeys With Jimmy Carter and Other Adventures in Media, writes in Times of San Diego that American politics have devolved since the days he served as a White House assistant to President Carter.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com