Large swastika painted on home of Jewish family in North Carolina Rabbi tells local TV vandalism occurred days after family put up Hannukah decorations; police paint over graffiti so kids won't see it - JTA

A swastika painted on the garage of a Jewish family near Charlotte, North Carolina. (Screen capture: WSOCTV)

Large swastika painted on home of Jewish family in North Carolina

Rabbi tells local TV vandalism occurred days after family put up Hannukah decorations; police paint over graffiti so kids won't see it
By JTA

7 December 2017

A large swastika was spray painted on the garage door of a Jewish family in Charlotte, North Carolina. The swastika was painted overnight Tuesday, according to local reports.

Police painted over the swastika on Tuesday morning before the family’s children could see it, WBTV reported.

The swastika was drawn days after the family put up decorations for Hanukkah, the family’s rabbi, Dusty Klass, told the television station. The rabbi said the family wanted people to know that the incident had occurred to open a discussion about it.

“They were shocked, they were hurt, they were angry,” Klass said. “It was really important to them that people know this happened here in Charlotte and that it’s not OK and that it could happen to anyone and that we need to know about it and talk about it so we can do something about it.”

There were 15 reported anti-Semitic incidents in North Carolina in the first six months of 2017, according to Anti-Defamation League statistics, compared to one in the state in all of 2016.

Under threat, Jewish Community Centers given special okay to track caller information - JTA

US Jewish leaders meet with the FBI director James Comey to discuss the ongoing investigation of bomb threats to JCC on March 3, 2017. (Courtesy/Jewish Community Centers of North America )

Under threat, JCCs given special okay to track caller information

Temporary FCC waiver granted in bid to help community centers hunt down callers making bomb threats

BY JTA March 5, 2017

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The Federal Communications Commission has granted Jewish Community Centers throughout the country a temporary waiver allowing them to receive caller information, in response to the recent series of bomb threats on the Jewish institutions.

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The waiver, approved on Friday, comes days after 29 JCCs and Jewish schools across the country received called-in bomb threats, the fifth such incident in less than two months.

It was also approved the same day that a St. Louis man was charged with making at least eight bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers and the Anti-Defamation League.

On Wednesday, Sen. Charles Schumer, the Democratic Senate minority leader from New York, sent a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai asking him to grant the targeted institutions special waivers allowing them to work with law enforcement to access caller ID information, calling the waiver “critical.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of NY speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 2, 2017, about news reports of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ contact with Russia’s ambassador to the US during the presidential campaign. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“(W)e conclude that there is good cause to grant such a waiver on an emergency basis due to a large number of recent bomb-threat calls targeting these facilities and substantial disruption and fear caused as a result,” the FCC said in its decision. The decision also serves as a notice for public comment on whether to make the waiver more permanent.

“I applaud the FCC’s decision to grant a special waiver to targeted JCCs, which will help us track down and identify perpetrators making threatening calls that frighten communities and waste the precious resources of local law enforcement. Already, one suspect has been taken into custody and I am hopeful today’s decision will help catch and deter any future copycats. All communities and entities targeted by intimidation and fear deserve access to all of the tools needed to ensure these criminals are brought to justice,” Schumer said in a statement.

Hundreds of Polish Christians Rally with Jews in Support of Israel [VIDEO] by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Hundreds of Polish Christians and Jews march in solidarity with Israel in Warsaw. (Photo: Edward Ćwierz/ Facebook)

Hundreds of Polish Christians Rally with Jews in Support of Israel [VIDEO]

By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz January 13, 2016   BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them; for I am the Lord, their God.” (Leviticus 26:44)

With anti-Semitism on the rise in Europe, a pro-Israel rally made its way through the streets of Warsaw on Sunday in solidarity with the Jewish state, reported Jewish.pl.

Waving the blue-and-white Star of David flag along with the Polish flag, Jews and Christians danced and sang side-by-side as they marched to Grzybowski Square and the Israeli Embassy.

Israel’s ambassador to Poland, Anna Azari, addressed the crowd, stating, “I’ve never seen such a large demonstration of support for Israel.”

The stated purpose of the march was to protest growing anti-Semitism in Europe as a result of the rise of Islam, and the numerous and “unjust UN resolutions” against Israel.

The gathering, organized by a group of pro-Israel churches and organizations, was intended to show support for Israel in the face of ongoing terror attacks, which they dubbed the third intifada. One of the lead religious organizations behind the rally was The Church of the Community of the Tent of David organized the rally, led by their pastor, Edward Ćwierz.

Christians who took part in the public pro-Israel display explained that their presence was to show “support that the covenant between the Jews and God is still in effect” as is written in the Bible:

“I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, so that will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.” (Genesis 12: 2-3)

Pawel Czyszek, editor of the Polish Jews Forum, told JTA, “When Polish and European media report on events in Israel, it is often unreliable and negative for Israelis. I walked in the march, carrying the flag of the State of Israel, to demonstrate my support for the country and convey to Israelis that they are not alone.”

There was reportedly a small counter-demonstration led by the National Rebirth of Poland (NOP), a far-right political group formerly associated with Poland’s Christian National Union. The NOP is notoriously homophobic and proudly flaunt their ideal of fascism. They are a fringe element in Polish politics and have no seats in the parliament. The counter-demonstration did not disturb the rally, which remained peaceful and joyous.

The march was also supported by the Christian Church “Cenacle” in Kielce, Foundation “Polania” Krakow, the Church of Evangelical Christians, the Church “New Jerusalem”, the Church Mission “New Beginning”, and the Movement “Poland for Jesus”.

Jews have lived in Poland for over 800 years and at one time the country hosted the largest Jewish population in Europe. Nonetheless, it was also the scene of some of the most virulent anti-Semitism, culminating in the almost completely genocidal destruction of Polish Jewry during the Holocaust.

Fleeing 'place full of death,’ Jews from eastern Ukraine weep for homeland - HAARETZ

Fleeing 'place full of death,’ Jews from eastern Ukraine weep for homeland

Hundreds of Jews have been made refugees by the fighting in the east of the country.

By JTA | Jul. 21, 2014  HAARETZ

Jewish men and boys prepare to read prayers in a synagogue in Donetsk, Ukraine, Friday, April 18, 2014.Photo by AP

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By Dmitry Lovetsky and David Mchugh | Jul. 21, 2014 | 7:34 PM

Anatoly Lazaurenko’s face betrays no emotion as he watches footage of an old woman he used to know lying in the rubble of what once was his home in the war-torn city of Slavyansk.

Oblivious to her mangled face, Anatoly, 8, points to a corner of the computer screen to indicate the bombed-out apartment in eastern Ukraine that his family fled last month as a tense standoff between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces escalated into urban warfare.

Like many Ukrainians, the boy has become inured to disturbing sights after months of violent conflict in his country. Even after watching the video, Anatoly says he would rather be home — under fire, but with his friends and classmates. But his mother insists they are staying with relatives near Dnepropetrovsk, far from the battle zone, as long as the fighting persists.

“Every day Anatoly asks me in tears if we can go back yet,” says his mother, Ludmila.

The Lazaurenkos are among hundreds of Jews made refugees by the fighting in eastern Ukraine, part of a larger movement of tens of thousands of people who have fled since pro-Russian militias — some toting heavy caliber machine guns and mortars — took up arms against government troops in March.

Hundreds already have died in the fighting, including the 200 passengers and crew aboard a Malaysia Airlines jet shot down over eastern Ukraine on Thursday by what American and Ukrainian officials say was a Russian anti-aircraft missile fired from rebel-controlled territory.

On Friday, two Jews — Svetlana Sitnikov and her daughter, Anna — were killed in an explosion in the eastern city of Lugansk.

The Jewish refugees are surviving on assistance from local and foreign Jewish groups that in recent weeks have launched major rescue and relief operations. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and community officials are helping to provide housing, monthly stipends, food and medicine in what they describe as one of largest mobilizations in the history of Ukrainian Jewry.

“We’re talking about a multi-element package designed to improve the situation of each and every person who left the battle zone,” said Yoni Leifer, the head of operations in the Dnepropetrovsk region for JDC. A separate relief operation is being carried out by the Chabad-led Jewish community of Dnepropetrovsk.

The Lazaurenkos decided to leave Slavyansk last month after government forces began engaging the separatists. But Ludmila Lazaurenko does not blame Ukrainian troops, who launched their offensive following the standoff with the rebels.

“We were pro-Russian,” Lazaurenko said of herself and her parents, Nadezhda and Alexander Belovol, who fled with her and Anatoly. “But that changed after we saw how they fought from inside the houses of civilians, with no regard for their lives. There is no excuse for that.”

Two weeks after the family left, they learned from a television news broadcast that their house had been blown up.

“We started crying when we saw that nothing was left,” Lazaurenko said. “We have nothing now.”

For those without relatives to take them in, JDC and the Jewish community of Dnepropetrovsk have arranged rooms in the community’s various institutions. The Beit Baruch old age home reached its capacity last week after 28 people were given spots in vacant rooms.

Among them are Rosa Dvoskina and Sofia Sanina, two women in their 80s who fled Slavyansk and Lugansk, respectively, earlier this month.

“I made it out, but I can’t stop thinking about my poor friends and neighbors who are still trapped there without water or medicines in a place full of death,” said a weeping Dvoskina, who had lived in her apartment building for 40 years before having to leave.

Like most refugees, Dvoskina and Sanina say they fled out of a general concern for safety unrelated to the fact that they are Jewish. But their neighbors at Beit Baruch, an Orthodox family of seven from Donetsk who requested not to be named, said anti-Jewish graffiti began to appear in the city as the rule of law weakened.

“We started seeing swastikas painted on park benches, buildings,” the family’s grandfather said.

Amid lingering uncertainty about the future of Ukraine’s embattled eastern border cities, Dvoskina and Sanina are thinking about immigrating to Israel, though they would prefer to return to their homes. Other refugees, including Elena Libina from Donetsk, are determined to leave permanently for Israel.

Libina is staying in a community facility in Dnepropetrovsk only until her immigration application is approved. Meanwhile, the Jewish community is arranging for the rescue of her 91-year-old aunt, who remains trapped in Lugansk.

“We felt the tension rising and noticed that bus tickets out of the city were increasingly becoming more expensive,” Libina told JTA. “When they bombed the administration building, I left.”

Dnepropetrovsk is one of Ukraine’s largest Jewish communities, with 50,000 members. Several oligarchs, including the banking magnate Igor Kolomoisky, have poured millions into the community’s institutions, including several Jewish schools and the $100 million Menorah Jewish Community Center, a 450,000 square-foot facility that includes luxury mikvah baths, kosher restaurants, a Holocaust museum and a day care center.

Zelig Brez, the community’s director general and right hand of the city’s influential chief rabbi, Shmuel Kamenetsky, said organizing the rescue and relief operation isn’t merely a religious duty but part of his responsibility toward Ukraine’s smaller Jewish communities.

“It comes with the territory of being an engine of Jewish life in Ukraine,” Brez said.

The community has made wide use of its facilities to help house the refugees. Elena Konigina and her 12-year-old daughter, Ksenia, have stayed at a scenic countryside resort near the Dnepropetrovsk suburb of Pavlograd since they fled Lugansk in May.

Konigina would like to immigrate to Israel, but Ksenia is a minor and cannot exit the country without the consent of both parents. Konigina says she does not know how to reach Ksenia’s father, whom she divorced several years ago.

Even if she could go, Konigina worries that the situation in the Jewish state won’t be much better.

“I don’t know what good that will do,” Konigina said. “They are shooting there, too.”

Jews show support for Israel over Gaza

Jews show support for Israel over Gaza

Thousands of French protestors in Paris raise signs reading, 'Hamas charter calls for the destruction of Jews.' In New York, members of Jewish organizations express 'unequivocal support for the State of Israel's right to defend itself'

       

Published:  11.21.12, 09:33 / Israel Jewish Scene 'Israel, we're all united' (Photo: AFP)

Some 2,500 people demonstrated in Paris on Tuesday evening in support of Israel's operation in Gaza. Most of the protestors were Jewish.

A similar show of support was also held outside the Israeli Consulate in New York.

Anti-Israel

Neturei Karta hold pro-Palestinian rallies / Yitzhak Tessler Members of extreme Hasidic sect opposing Zionism stage fiery protests in central cities worldwide, tearing Israeli flags and raising signs against Gaza operation Full story

"The Hamas charter calls for destruction of Jews," read some of the signs raised by the French protestors.

Addressing the crowd, the president of the Israelite Consistory of France, Joel Mergui, likened "terrorism that wants to kill in Israel" as "the same that attacks Jewish children in France."

Hundreds of riot police surrounded a group from the militant Jewish Defense League and ordered them to lower flags that bore a Star of David and a clenched fist.

A main axis was blocked off for the demonstration just off the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue, and riot police vans lined neighboring streets.

 
'Stop Palestinian terrorism.' NY protest (Photo: Reuters)

"Everyone seems to forget what Israel has been going through, years of rockets," said one of the protestors. "Every state has a natural right to defend itself. I am French and I'm Jewish and clearly I take an interest in what is happening."

Ariel, another protestor, said: "We feel close to them because they haven't done anything for which they deserve what they're going through. When missiles are fired on you while you're in school, at home or at a restaurant, it's very scary. We want to tell them that we support them with all our hearts."

Past Middle East tensions have impacted on France, which has Western Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim populations, and boosted anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic incidents.


Show of support in Paris (Photo: AFP)


 
'Hamas charter calls for destruction of Jews' (Photo: AP)



'Israel's war is France's war' (Photo: EPA)


'We stand with Israel' (Photo: EPA)


'Israel, we're all united' (Photo: AFP)

A protest organized by Jewish organizations was held in New York. Michael S. Miller, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, said during the event: "The purpose of this gathering is to express the unequivocal support for the State of Israel among New York's political, communal, ethnic and faith leaders.

"The flagrant and unprovoked violence emanating from Gaza must immediately come to an end. Until then, we wholeheartedly support Israel's right to defend herself."

He added that any moral comparison between Israel's actions and Hamas' actions should be strongly rejected.

The JTA news agency reported that the Jewish Federations of North America have committed $5 million in assistance to the Jewish Agency's Israel Terror Relief Fund for the immediate needs of the people living under fire.

Organizations representing Orthodox Judaism – the Rabbinical Council of America, the Orthodox Union and the National Council of Young Israel –called on "all Jews to increase their Torah study as spiritual support and merit for those Israeli soldiers and civilians on the front line of battle."

The RCA instructed its members to hold special classes and lectures in their communities "dedicated to the support of the IDF and the State of Israel," JTA reported.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4309617,00.html