Eyeing move to Israel, some US Jews see Trump as solution, not problem

AMANDA BORSCHEL-DAN

‘Israel is the place I could live the life I want to live in the most optimal way’

As 1,500 potential immigrants gather at unprecedentedly large fair, a mix of politics and personal factors influence their decisions to uproot to the Holy Land
A young potential immigrant to Israel joins some 1,500 participants at the Nefesh B’Nefesh Mega Event on February 26 at the John Jay College campus in New York. (Shahar Azran)

The Parkins family of four looked dazed standing in the large lobby of John Jay College in Midtown Manhattan. Having driven all night from Chicago, they were a bit bedraggled and blinked at the hundreds milling about this massive annual event promoting immigration to Israel.

The parents, Andrea and Paul, had visited Israel three years ago and fallen in love with the country. With two high school-aged kids, however, uprooting their family wasn’t a decision to be made lightly.

Asked at the Nefesh B’Nefesh Mega Event on February 26 if the current political climate in the United States contributed in any way to their decision, Paul chuckled and said no. Andrea, however, hesitated and said, “Well, maybe a little.”

Making aliyah “was already something on our plate,” she explained. The family, a double minority in that they are both black and Jewish, has already submitted much of their paperwork. They are serious about completing their immigration process — and soon.

Gesturing to her children, Andrea said, “We’re thinking about the future.”

The Parkins family drove all night from Chicago to arrive in time for the February 26 Nefesh B’Nefesh Mega Event in New York for Jews interested in immigrating to Israel. (Amanda Borschel-Dan/Times of Israel)

The Parkins family drove all night from Chicago to arrive in time for the February 26 Nefesh B’Nefesh Mega Event in New York for Jews interested in immigrating to Israel. (Amanda Borschel-Dan/Times of Israel)

A day earlier at Sunday’s fair, Minister of Absorption Sofa Landver had pooh-poohed the idea of a new wave of US immigration. Regardless, she assured journalists that “the State of Israel is ready for every number of immigrants that will come.”

After greeting a large group of teenage future citizens and their parents, Landver acknowledged a rise in American anti-Semitism, but told The Times of Israel that the Trump administration would strengthen ties between Israel and its “big brother,” America. Landver said that while she hopes immigration would be spurred by “a desire to be home,” when anti-Semitism reaches a certain level “it could be pushing people home [to Israel].”

Among the diverse Jewish population The Times of Israel spoke with at Sunday’s fair, the impetus for immigration is a mix of personal and political reasons. From 18-year-old Israeli Defense Forces enlistees to octogenarian retirees, however, their decisions to leave the US had much to do with where they find their own and their families’ futures, and, to a lesser extent, their relationships to US President Donald Trump.

Each in his own corner of the US ‘boxing ring’

For Cindy and Gil Roter, the political influence on their decision “is very unconscious,” said Cindy. Both Roters are Trump supporters, whom they saw as the only pro-Israel candidate. For Gil, it “was a single-issue vote,” said Cindy, a teacher, who said she put liberalism to the side and voted based on Israel, national security, and the economy.

Cindy and Gil Roter are supporters of President Donald Trump, whom they saw as the only pro-Israel candidate. (Amanda Borschel-Dan/Times of Israel)

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Al-Jazeera TV Host: Prisoners Are Treated Better by Israel Than by Syrian Regime!

  MEMRI TV

Oburzający apel poznańskiego stowarzyszenia. Chcą powołać nagrodę im. Zygmunta Baumana

wSumie.pl

Poznańskie Stowarzyszenie Prawo do Miasta, założone przez działaczy Partii Razem, chce uczcić człowieka, który ma na sumieniu zbrodnie komunizmu – Zygmunta Baumana. Społecznicy apelują do prezydenta Poznania, by miasto uczciło pamięć i ustanowiło nagrodę imienia zmarłego miesiąc temu filozofa.

Działacze Stowarzyszenia powołali Społeczny Komitet Upamiętnienia Profesora Zygmunta Baumana, który dąży do powstania tablicy poświęconej Baumanowi na Jeżycach, gdzie się urodził i spędził dzieciństwo.

W apelu, który przekazali prezydentowi Jaśkowiakowi, lewaccy społecznicy żalą się na brak uhonorowania człowieka, który w Korpusie Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego tropił Żołnierzy Niezłomnych.

Ubolewamy, że Rada Miasta Poznania nie zdobyła się na nadanie prof. Zygmuntowi Baumanowi tytułu Honorowego Obywatela Poznania, kiedy było to możliwe. Byłby to honor dla Profesora, ale i dla naszego Miasta. Sympatyzujemy z innymi, ogłoszonymi obecnie inicjatywami uczczenia pamięci Zygmunta Baumana, takimi jak uwiecznienie Go tablicą pamiątkową na ścianie domu, w którym mieszkał na Jeżycach, czy nadanie Jego imienia ulicy lub skwerowi

— czytamy w apelu.

Stąd ich pomysł na ustanowienie nagrody imienia Zygmunta Baumana, która byłaby, jak określają, „docenieniem spuścizny” i „zachętą do kontynuowania jego myśli” przez kolejne pokolenia. Jak tę misję określają lewicowy działacze?

oswajanie współczesnego świata poprzez podejmowanie prób zrozumienia tego, co dzieje się ze współczesnością i kondycją ludzką, zrozumienia nas samych w świecie jaki stwarzamy

— piszą w apelu członkowie Stowarzyszenia.

Na szczęście poznańscy radni mają w sobie więcej trzeźwości w ocenie historycznego dorobku Baumana i sprzeciwiają się jego uhonorowaniu. I choć samorządowcy z PO wskazują, że Baumanowi „należy się szacunek” ze względu na dorobek naukowy, to podkreślają jednocześnie „niechlubną przeszłość kandydata na patrona nagrody”.

To wyjątkowo bulwersujące, że lewicowe środowiska próbują gloryfikować człowieka, za którym ciągnie się zbrodnicza przeszłość. I choć można się przyzwyczaić do takiego relatywizmu i wybielania jego postaci, to jednak taka inicjatywa zasmuca zwłaszcza w przededniu Narodowego Dnia Pamięci Żołnierzy Wyklętych, ludzi których Bauman osobiście zwalczał.

ak/pch24.pl/”Głos Wielkopolski”

UK’s Former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Releases Animated Video to Equip Jewish Students With Tools to Counter ‘Vicious’ BDS Activity on Campus

Lea Speyer

An animated video written and narrated by Britain’s former chief rabbi — to arm students with the tools to confront hostility on campus — was released Monday, at the height of “Israeli Apartheid Week” activities at universities across the world.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks said in a statement that the content of the six-minute clip debunks the “dangerously wrong” claims of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, by highlighting that its purpose is actually “to delegitimize Israel as a prelude to its elimination.”

“The Jewish people’s fight against BDS is a serious challenge. We need to utilize every resource possible in defense of the state of Israel, making our arguments in increasingly innovative and creative ways in order to capture the widest attention,” Sacks said. “This includes battling the vicious hatred of Israel that occurs online.”

In the video, Sacks says he “supports the right of Palestinians to a state of their own and the right of Palestinian children to a future of dignity and hope.” However, he adds, “The BDS campaign will achieve neither of these things.”

Israeli Apartheid Week is an annual series of events held throughout February and March every year, with programming that includes mock checkpoints and calls for divestment and boycott campaigns. Members of leading advocacy groups in the UK recently told The Algemeiner that they were gearing up to “proactively” counter these events.

Watch Rabbi Sacks’s video on the BDS Campaign below:

Rada Praw Człowieka, czy stowarzyszenie zbrodniarzy?

   Malgorzata Koraszewska