“Sadly, our Jewish students have no response because no one has shared Israel’s legal and historical rights to the land of Israel, and Judea and Samaria, with them”

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Why it’s crucial to educate about Israel’s rights to the land
by Diane Bederman
April 26, 2021

…Let’s begin with these questions: Why do so many people and nations question Israel’s borders and the borders of no other country? Why is the Jewish state the only state whose right to exist is questioned? There is only one possible answer: It is the monumental failure of education. The time has come – in fact, it is long overdue – to educate students of high school and university age, starting in Israel, and eventually Jewish and non-Jewish youth, and the public at large, about Israel’s legal rights. The danger facing world youth is the toxic atmosphere on university campuses, including those of the highest reputation, which of late has changed from the marketplace of ideas to the marketplace of venomous, destructive incitement of hate and lies. READ MORE

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“Kerry has previously been accused of colluding with Iranian leaders to undermine Trump administration”

NEW YORK POST
Iran foreign minister reveals John Kerry kept in touch about Israeli covert operations
by Mark Moore
Apri 26, 2021

Iran’s foreign minister claimed in a leaked recording that former US Secretary of State John Kerry told him about over 200 covert Israeli attacks on Iranian interests in Syria during former President Donald Trump’s administration. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said in the leaked recording obtained by the New York Times and Iran International that the Revolutionary Guard Corps and the country’s supreme leader kept him in the dark about government negotiations and military operations, and that he was receiving intel from Kerry. “It was former US Foreign Secretary John Kerry who told me Israel had launched more than 200 attacks on Iranian forces in Syria,” he said. READ MORE

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“Eli Rozen was walking his dog when dozens of rioters assaulted him with fists, rocks and clubs; he says he’s lucky to be alive; attack one of several on Jewish civilians”

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Jerusalem man beaten by Palestinian mob on Friday says city in ‘Third Intifada’
by Staff and Agencies
April 25, 2021

An Israeli man who was badly beaten by a Palestinian mob Friday night during rioting in Jerusalem, and who was subsequently hospitalized, believes he was “a hair’s breadth from death” and described the events in the city as “a Third Intifada.” Eli Rozen, 27, was the second person in as many nights whose beating by rioters was caught on camera and caused outrage in the country. Rozen was out walking his dog around 1 a.m. in the Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood in the capital when he was accosted by dozens of angry Palestinians amid confrontations with police in the city. Video shared on social media shows Rozen getting kicked, beaten with a club and hit with rocks. READ MORE

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Watchdog group #NGOMonitor: #HRW publication “merely part of a much wider assault on Israel and its identity as a Jewish state”

ALGEMEINER
Watchdog Group Slams New Human Rights Watch Publication Attacking Israel as an ‘Apartheid’ State
by Benjamin Kerstein
April 25, 2021

A top watchdog group on Sunday slammed an upcoming publication by the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) that accuses Israel of apartheid and demands an international legal campaign against it. The publication — called “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution,” and scheduled for release on April 27 — is written by Omar Shakir, who has been denied entry to Israel due to his collaboration with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. It attacks Israel on several counts, in particular Israel’s “Law of Return,” which allows Jews from around the world to immediately claim Israeli citizenship and establish residence in the country. READ MORE

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“As the Marvel superhero and the ancient rabbis both knew, grief is just love persevering”

TABLET MAG
In ‘WandaVision,’ Timely Jewish Wisdom About Coping With Loss
by Shmuel Hain
April 21, 2021

We don’t often turn to TV shows about superheroes for profound meditations on trauma, grief, and coping with loss, yet WandaVision, a miniseries that completed its run last month, did just that….After watching the show, I understood why psychologists have observed that WandaVision provides an unexpected and profound exploration of the challenges related to coping with loss, and why critics have noted how the conceit of the series, a trauma-induced bubble where all the characters are quarantined, is an apt metaphor for life during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the show’s themes are particularly relevant for observant Jews struggling to process grief amid a plague that has wreaked havoc with traditional Jewish mourning practices. READ MORE

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Critical race theory is set to face a spate of lawsuits alleging it spurs discrimination and other illegal policies targeting whites, males, and Christians

THE FEDERALIST
Critical Race Theory Is Finally About To Face The Music In Court
by John Murawski
April 28, 2021

…Now critical race theory is about to face a major real-world test: a spate of lawsuits alleging that it encourages discrimination and other illegal policies targeting whites, males, and Christians…The common thread of these legal challenges is the inescapable logic that making accommodations for critical race theory will erode the nation’s anti-discrimination law as it has developed since the 1960s. This would mean replacing the colorblind ideal of treating all people equally, which has been widely viewed as the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement, with a contrary strategy: implementing race-based policies, which can range from affirmative action to reparations for compensating African Americans for the injustices of the past…READ MORE

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“It is important to understand that this timeline is similar to how tensions grew in 2014 and other cycles that led to tensions in Gaza and Jerusalem”

JERUSALEM POST
Escalation over Jerusalem is how wars start
by Seth J. Frantzman
April 24, 2021

The recent string of events leading to greater clashes in Jerusalem and rocket fire from Gaza is part of the cycle that has led to conflicts in the past. The recent Jerusalem escalation coincided with Ramadan and TikTok videos of Orthodox Jews being attacked. Numerous arrests were made, but that didn’t calm tensions. A massive far-right rally this past Thursday then led to further tensions, including early-Saturday morning rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Hamas and Palestinian groups in Gaza have vowed solidarity with Jerusalem.READ MORE

ISRAEL HAYOM Dozens injured as violent clashes in Jerusalem continue overnight Arab protesters confront a group of some 300 far-right Jewish activists who marched in protest of recent attacks by Arabs on Jews.

FREE BEACON Anti-Semitic TikTok Trend Fuels Violence in Jerusalem Videos depicting anti-Semitic violence are trending on TikTok in Israel, encouraging Arab assaults on Jews amid ongoing violent protests in Jerusalem. The videos, which show Arab teens assaulting unsuspecting Jews, have stoked violent conflicts in the Old City of Jerusalem. Tensions came to a head Thursday night as the far-right Jewish group Lehava organized a street march in protest, chanting “death to Arabs.”

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After 36 rockets fired into Israel, Netanyahu convenes with security officials at Kirya base; military says Kohavi delaying visit ‘in light of the events and expected developments’

TIMES OF ISRAEL
PM says to ‘prepare for any scenario’ in Gaza; IDF chief postpones US trip
by Staff
April 24, 2021

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said to “prepare for any scenario” vis-a-vis the Gaza Strip on Saturday afternoon amid soaring tensions with the Hamas-run enclave following overnight barrages of rockets fired at Israel. The premier made the remark following an urgent security meeting earlier Saturday at the Israel Defense Forces’ Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv with IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Minister of Public Security Amir Ohana, the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, and other high-level officials. Following the meeting, Netanyahu also called for “calm on all sides” after several nights of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in Jerusalem and the West Bank, the worst violence seen in years. READ MORE

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Palestinian businessman Ashraf Jabari: “It was a subtle celebration of thoughtful conversation, mutual respect and heritage-enhanced relationships. These are the building blocks of the emergent Israeli-Palestinian market”

JNS
Iftar gathering in Hebron shows commonalities between Israelis and Palestinians
by Josh Hasten
April 21, 2021

As the sun was setting over the ancient city of Hebron signifying the end of another day of fasting for devout Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan, hungry Palestinians were shuttling their guests from a meeting point in the city to a private and beautiful home to prepare for an Iftar feast, the customary sunset meal Muslims have to break their fast just after the call for evening prayers. But at this particular gathering, the 75 or so guests weren’t only Muslims. Around half were Israeli Jews, primarily political and community leaders of the “settler” movement, Israelis who live and represent the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria, more commonly known as West Bank. READ MORE

The Yishai Fleisher Show  Open Iftar and Israel’s “Seldon Crisis”
Yishai and Malkah go to a Ramadan Iftar dinner in Hebron to break bread with pro-normalization Palestinians. Then, Rav Mike Feuer joins Rabbi Yishai to deal with Israel’s political crisis and to see how the Torah law of Parshat Kedoshim can help heal society.

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“Even cautious epidemiologists say that Israel can breathe easier and that the country is showing what other nations can expect if they can keep on vaccinating”

WASHINGTON POST
With most adults now vaccinated, Israelis are busting loose
by Steve Hendrix and Shira Rubin
April 21, 2021

Israel is partying like it’s 2019. With most adults now vaccinated against the coronavirus and restrictions falling away — including the lifting this week of outdoor mask requirements — Israelis are joyously resuming routines that were disrupted more than a year ago and providing a glimpse of what the future could hold for other countries. Restaurants are booming outside and in. Concerts, bars and hotels are open to those who can flash their vaccine certificates. Classrooms are back to pre-covid capacity. The rate of new infections has plummeted — from a peak of almost 10,000 a day to about 140 — and the number of serious coronavirus cases in many hospitals is down to single digits. READ MORE

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