Jewish World Update Mar/Apr 2020
Open Season On Jews?
Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and New Jersey are reeling from two deadly attacks in December that violently ended the lives of six people and wounded many others. Chaim Deutch, a New York City Council member, said recently, “It seems like it’s open season on Jews in New York City.”
Grafton E. Thomas, 37, faces five counts of attempted murder after he charged into the Monsey, New York, home of Orthodox Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg of Congregation Netzach Yisroel and went berserk, stabbing five people with a machete as they celebrated the seventh night of Hanukkah.
A few days earlier, a 34-year-old Jewish woman and her young son were attacked by a 42-year-old woman while walking through a quiet section of Brooklyn, New York. The attacker spotted the pair as she left a Dunkin’ Donuts, yelled an anti-Semitic slur, and began beating the mother on the head.
Meanwhile, in Jersey City, New Jersey, people are still trying to recover from the attack at a kosher market that left six people dead, including the two assailants. Things grew ugly in Jersey City after residents began blaming the Jewish people for the attack and expressing joy that Jews are being murdered, The Jerusalem Post reported. “That’s great. If they was dead, they got shot dead. That’s great. Get them [expletive] Jews the [expletive] out of here. Get these [expletive] Jews. Get the Jews out of Jersey City.”
On her Facebook page, Jersey City Board of Education member Joan Terrell-Paige also blamed the victims, ranting against “brutes of the Jewish community” and defending shooters David Anderson and Francine Graham, who were vicious anti-Semites. Amid calls for Terrell-Paige’s ouster, she eventually took down her post but was quickly defended by black activist Al Sharpton and the Jackson Hill Main Street Management Corporation, a nonprofit urban development organization, The Algemeiner reported.
The stabbing in Monsey, about 35 miles north of New York City, was the 13th anti-Semitic incident in three weeks in New York state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. In Monsey, a town of only 18,000 residents, a 30-year-old man on his way to morning prayers was beaten and stabbed in November, The Journal News of Rockland County reported.
Cardoza-Moore Slams Claim Jesus Was Palestinian
Laurie Cardoza-Moore, founder and president of the pro-Israel Christian group Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN), pulled no punches recently when she slammed the growing myth that Jesus Christ was a Palestinian. She said if Jesus were alive today, He would not even be allowed in the Palestinian Authority’s city of Bethlehem because of His Jewish roots.
“By falsely demoting the Jewish people to religious insignificance and damnation,” she said, “these irresponsible hate-preachers are putting Jews in danger. The fictitious notion that Jesus was a Palestinian is the illegitimate child of Palestinian terrorists and replacement theologians that could ultimately lead to violent attacks against Jews worldwide.”
“Jesus Christ was born in the city of Bethlehem in Judea to a Jewish mother,” Cardoza-Moore said. “That means he was born and died a Judean Jew. The Bible makes no reference to a place called Palestine and the suggestion that he was Palestinian is not just heretical but anti-Semitic,” she declared, reported worldisraelnews.com.
Cardoza-Moore said this false doctrine was fabricated by Bethlehem Bible College, which advocates a Palestinian evangelical perspective. Bethlehem Bible College hosts the popular Christ at the Checkpoint conference each year and espouses Palestinian Liberation Theology. PJTN produces the biblically based, pro-Israel DVD Israel Indivisible.
Lauder Launches $25 Million Anti-Semitism Campaign
Ronald Lauder, a former U.S. ambassador and current president of the World Jewish Congress, has implemented a $25 million campaign to aggressively challenge federal, state, and local candidates who support or normalize anti-Semitism, worldisraelnews.com reported. The severe uptick in American anti-Semitism prompted the move. “Anti-Semitism has become fashionable again, and for too long, American Jews have been silent,” he said. “All candidates and American cultural leaders who traffic in hatred against Jews should consider themselves on notice.”
Orthodox Give Trump High Marks
Despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s unpopularity in the U.S. Jewish community, he has overwhelming support from Orthodox Jews, according to a new poll. AMI Magazine polled 700 Orthodox Jews across 15 states, in which 89 percent approved of Trump; 5 percent did not; and 6 percent were undecided, JNS.org reported. Ninety-one percent opposed Trump’s impeachment, and 92 percent said they trust the president and Republicans more than the Democrats and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the issue of anti-Semitism.
Netanyahu, Danon Rip Into ICC
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tore into the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) recently for its plans to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes, calling it an “absurd” decision that showed the court is being weaponized against Israel, timesofisrael.com reported. Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, called ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s statement accusing Israel of war crimes “diplomatic terror” in an interview with Ynet. Netanyahu said the ICC “is acting against the right of Jews to settle in the homeland of the Jews. To turn the fact that Jews are living in their land into a war crime—it is hard for there to be a greater absurdity than this,” Netanyahu said, adding the ICC should be probing Iran or Syria.
Brazil to Move Its Embassy to Jerusalem
Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Brazil will move its embassy to Jerusalem this year, israelhayom.com reported. “We will fight terrorism together,” he said. “If we want to prevent terrorist attacks, we must demonstrate strength. So sooner or later, we [Brazil] will declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization.” Less than a year ago Brazil declined to move its embassy because of backlash within the Brazilian government.
Israel to Sell Egypt Natural Gas
Israel was scheduled to begin exporting natural gas to Egypt from its Tamar and Leviathan fields early this year, Israel business daily Globes reported. “For the first time in its history, Israel is becoming an energy exporter. This is the most important economic cooperation between Israel and Egypt since the 1979 peace agreement between the countries,” said Israeli official Yuval Steinitz. “The natural-gas revolution is making us an energy power and will provide not only enormous revenues for the state, but also a dramatic decrease in air pollution.”
Breakthrough in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
Tel Aviv University has developed a treatment to reduce the number of pancreatic cancerous cells by up to 90 percent with merely two weeks of injections. PJ34, a small molecule, destroys the cancer cells during mitosis, or cell division, with no ill effects on healthy cells, reported The Jerusalem Post. The treatment represents a landmark discovery in the field of pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers that usually kills its victims within five years. Researchers have tested the drug on mice and will next test it on pigs. The treatment may be two years away from human trials.
France Calls Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism
France’s National Assembly has passed a nonbinding resolution stating that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism, JNS.org reported. “Hate toward Israel due to its perception as a Jewish collective is akin to hatred toward the entire Jewish community,” the resolution reads. It urges countries to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism, which states, “Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Diabetes Cure on the Way?
Israeli startup Betalin Therapeutics is bringing its artificial pancreas to clinical trials as a huge step in developing a cure for diabetes. Currently about 160 million people are insulin-dependent and face the daily struggle of adjusting their blood-sugar levels and injecting insulin. The Engineered Micro Pancreas (EMP) would replace a nonfunctioning human pancreas rather than attempting to jump-start it. The EMP detects blood-sugar levels, and its beta cells secrete the appropriate amount of insulin in response, reported israel21c.org. Each EMP is expected to cost $50,000, of which insurance should cover a significant portion. The product should be ready for human testing in a year.
Venezuelan Politician Calls For Israel Alliance
Venezuelan politician Julio Borges said Venezuela and Israel share similar values and enemies and must strengthen their relationship, JNS.org reported. Borges is shadow foreign minister under Venezuela’s opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, who is recognized as the country’s president by 60 nations, including Israel and the United States.
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