Israel took a different approach to the coronavirus from the start because it’s a very different kind of society. Unlike the pampered West, Israel permanently lives in a state of potential emergency and existential threat.

Posted on April 2, 2020 by

JNS
For Israel, recognizing another enemy is second nature
by Melanie Phillips
April 2, 2020

Among the world’s democracies fighting the coronavirus, Israel has so far been by far the most successful. With a population of about 8.6 million, it had recorded at time of writing 33 deaths from COVID-19. The Deep Knowledge Group, a consortium of technology and analytics organizations, has ranked it in the fight against the virus as the safest country in the world. While Israel’s death toll is continuing to edge up, the country has contained the epidemic better than Britain, America or the stricken nations of Western Europe. Britain, with a population of some 67 million, had recorded at time of writing more than 2,300 deaths from the virus. In the United States, with a population of 327 million, more than 5,000 had died. READ MORE

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Daniel Pearl’s killers: “The re-arrest of the four gives the government time to put together a legal appeal against their acquittal”

Posted on April 2, 2020 by

REUTERS
Pakistan re-arrests four men acquitted in Daniel Pearl murder case
by Syed Raza Hassan and Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam
April 3, 2020

Pakistani authorities on Friday ordered the detention of four men set to be released after being acquitted by a court over the murder of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl, and the government said it would challenge the acquittal next week. The High Court in the province of Sindh on Thursday acquitted the four, including Briton Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was sentenced to death in 2002 for masterminding Pearl’s murder. The other three were sentenced to life. Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl, 38, was investigating Islamist militants in the city of Karachi, the capital of Sindh, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States when he was kidnapped in January 2002. He was beheaded weeks later. READ MORE

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UK’s new Labor leader “immediately apologizes to Jews for anti-Semitism in ranks, vows to ‘tear out this poison’; his wife comes from a Jewish family, has relatives in Tel Aviv”

Posted on April 2, 2020 by

TIMES OF ISRAEL
After Corbyn, UK Labour elects Keir Starmer, Zionist with Jewish wife, as leader
by Staff and AFP
April 4, 2020

Britain’s main opposition Labour party on Saturday said that Keir Starmer had been elected as its new leader, replacing Jeremy Corbyn who resigned after its crushing December election defeat. The 57-year-old former chief state prosecutor won 56.2 percent of the vote of more than 500,000 Labour members, defeating Corbyn loyalist Rebecca Long-Bailey (27.6%) and backbencher Lisa Nandy (16.2%) for the top job. Angela Rayner becomes the new deputy leader…Starmer takes the helm of a defeated and divided party in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. READ MORE

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“The second truth the pandemic has shown us is that no matter how bad things are in Israel, the plight of our neighbors is immeasurably worse”

Posted on April 2, 2020 by

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Coronavirus lessons for the coalition talks
by Caroline B. Glick
April 3, 2020

…We are living through a grave crisis. And crises have a knack for clarifying fundamental truths. The coronavirus pandemic has exposed several of them. First, our ability to control our world is limited. An unknown number of months ago, through unclear means, the coronavirus broke out in China and landed in the rest of the world shortly thereafter. Over the past month, everything that makes up our lives and our world came to a grinding halt. Schools closed. Workplaces shut down. Israel’s previously stable and promising economic outlook has disappeared. No one can tell us when or if our lives will ever go back to normal and what our economy will look like when this is over. READ MORE

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Zoom Seders: “In bold ruling, some Israeli religious authorities say use of technology permissible because it allows families to celebrate together during time of crisis”

Posted on April 2, 2020 by

TIMES OF ISRAEL
14 Sephardic Orthodox rabbis say Passover Seder can be held via videoconference
by Nathan Jeffay
March 25, 2020

In what may be one of the boldest rulings issued on technology in recent years, several Sephardic Orthodox rabbis in Israel have declared that families may conduct their shared Seder over videoconference. While Orthodox religious law normally bans the use of electronic devices on Shabbat and festivals, the ruling, signed by 14 rabbis, permits the use of software to connect the elderly to their families on the first night of Passover. The written ruling (Hebrew) comes as leaders are warning the elderly not to heighten their chance of coronavirus infection by meeting with young relatives — and as Israeli families are discussing the pain this separation causes them. READ MORE

TABLET MAG The Resilience of Rituals Despite the stilted nature of gathering like this over Zoom, I was amazed that we all knew what to do. Without any clear set of rules, we understood that the mourner was not to play hostess. During the lulls in conversation, it was not her responsibility to fill the silence or entertain. Someone else would open up conversation with a prompt, “Let’s share some stories [about the deceased].” At another point, one person asked, “Do you have some pictures you can show us?” Responding, our friend held up photos to the camera, and told us some related tidbit about her mother as a bride, as a new mother, as a grandmother. 

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The NYC school is demanding Eden Roc return its money, citing a passage in the contract that provided the trip could be canceled in the event of a “disease outbreak”

Posted on April 2, 2020 by

MIAMI HERALD
NYC Jewish school sues Miami Beach hotel for $2.3 million refund after coronavirus axes trip
by David Ovalle
March 31, 2020

Students, parents and staff of New York City’s Magen David Yeshivah day school had planned a grand Passover holiday at the iconic Eden Roc hotel in Miami Beach. They’d rented 621 rooms for 10 nights for about 1,200 guests to enjoy the beach, pool and restaurants in between a series of religious gatherings at the hotel’s banquet halls. The down payment for the April trip: $2.3 million. Now, the coronavirus pandemic has forced the school to cancel — but the Eden Roc is refusing to issue a refund, according to a lawsuit Magen David has filed in Miami-Dade circuit court. READ MORE

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China behind the cute panda: Hard to Believe – Full Documentary – Now free to watch during coronavirus lockdown

Posted on April 2, 2020 by

Within China’s medical infrastructure is a dark secret that we expose in “Hard To Believe.” The information in the film has been used as evidence in the recent China Tribunal for investigating allegations of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China. This is a crime the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would like to keep hidden at all costs. It is a significant factor in why the CCP has not allowed the international medical community in to help stop the spread of the corona virus. We’ve made our award-winning documentary “Hard To Believe” available online free during these times of uncertainty. Accurate information is more important than ever. 

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