With lockdown, Chicago Jewish Day School pivoted to remote learning, providing more than four hours of live, online instruction daily

Posted on June 21, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Amid the pandemic, Jewish day schools survive (and even thrive)
by Faygie Holt
June 19, 2020

On a recent June night, 25 people, primarily young children, sat on their couches and watched as a puppeteer explained how he creates his puppets and how they could build their own with materials they have one hand. In another “room,” about a dozen people watched as an artist explained how he uses paints to create depth and design. Welcome to the annual end-of-year art celebration at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Md. Traditionally held in person, this year’s event—like events at schools around the country—took place online with the “rooms” separate live video streams that families could tune into. READ MORE

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Chase Purdy’s new book explores the industry that could one day give rise to a kosher cheeseburger

Posted on June 21, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH INSIDER
Is 2020 the year cell-cultured meat arrives?
by Melissa Weiss
June 24, 2020

Picture this: You walk into a kosher burger joint, grab a seat and place your order. Fifteen minutes later, your meal, a hot-off-the-grill cheeseburger, arrives at the table. Does that sound like something out of a Jewish science fiction movie? Perhaps, but not to Chase Purdy, whose new book, Billion Dollar Burger: Inside Big Tech’s Race for the Future of Food, was released last week. In his debut book, Purdy explores the cell-cultured meat industry, considered to be the next frontier in the future of food. The concept of cell-cultured meat is simple. Cells — usually muscle — are harvested from an animal and then multiplied in a lab, creating tissue. READ MORE

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“Black journalists at the NY Times claimed that the op-ed literally endangered their lives”

Posted on June 21, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

COMMENTARY
The New Moralists Take Over Journalism
by Christine Rosen
July/August 2020

The New York Times op-ed page has featured contributions from Vladimir Putin, pedophiles, and the Taliban without a peep from the paper’s staff, so it might seem odd that an opinion piece by Senator Tom Cotton was the one that would spur a professional revolt. But Cotton’s op-ed argued for using the American military to help local police quell violent unrest in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In the eyes of hundreds of Times staffers, that view—shared, according to one poll, by 3 in 5 Americans—could not be permitted. READ MORE

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“There is no compelling moral, historical or political reason why annexation in whole or in part should be made contingent on agreeing to the creation of a Palestinian entity”

Posted on June 18, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
Yes: annexation, No: Palestinian state
by Michael Freund
June 18, 2020

…As with many such debates, this has largely devolved into two competing camps. There are those who call for accepting Trump’s plan, saying that the extension of sovereignty to all of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and its recognition by Washington, is worth paying the price of establishing a Palestinian state. Others categorically reject such a position, arguing that under no circumstances can Israel agree to forgo any part of Judea and Samaria, and certainly not if it means assenting to the creation of a hostile Palestinian entity next door. Hence, they argue, it would be best to forgo the extension of sovereignty altogether. Personally, I believe that both sides are mistaken. There is a third way for Israel to advance…READ MORE

JERUSALEM POST Don’t be fooled – American Jews support sovereignty Despite the noise, empirical evidence does not support the premise that engaged American Jewry opposes Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. In fact, the exact opposite is the case. Petitions against Israel’s planned extension of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria (or as they put it: annexation of the West Bank) are all the rage these days. Last week we read that “Jewish Studies Scholars Oppose Annexation,” and the week before that “Gap-year alumni are against annexation.”

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UN blacklist of Israel “warmly endorsed by Iran, Syria and North Korea”

Posted on June 18, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

UN WATCH
U.N. presents anti-Israel blacklist of 112 companies, names Airbnb, General Mills, Motorola, Bezeq & Bank Leumi
June 19, 2020

U.N. rights chief Michelle Bachelet appeared in person this week before the U.N. human rights council to present an unprecedented blacklist of 112 companies doing business “related to settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” which for the U.N. includes the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. The blacklist, originally released online in February, was warmly endorsed by numerous countries like Iran, Syria and North Korea who took the floor in Monday’s agenda item against Israel, a permanent feature of the council. The U.N. blacklist names 94 Israeli companies, including the country’s major banks and its water, railway and telephone utilities, as well as 18 international companies including Airbnb, Motorola, and General Mills. READ MORE

ISRAEL HAYOM UN Human Rights Council doubles down on anti-Israel ‘blacklist’ Palestinians praise UNHRC’s initiatives to establish a group of experts to be charged with providing annual updates to list of businesses that do business with Israeli firms located in east Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and Judea and Samaria.

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Jewish Democratic Council won’t support antisemite Ilhan Omar’s chief primary opponent, progressive Antone Melton-Meaux

Posted on June 18, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Jewish Democratic Council says it won’t back Ilhan Omar, mum on endorsing her primary opponent
by Jackson Richman
June 18, 2020

The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) has affirmed that it will not support Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in her upcoming primary, but did not provide a endorsement to her chief primary opponent, progressive Antone Melton-Meaux. Omar is set to face Melton-Meaux, who has been critical of Omar’s anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements, in an Aug. 11 primary for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District. When asked by JNS about whether JDCA would be taking on Omar, executive director Halie Soifer instead chose to comment on the activities of the Republican Jewish Coalition, rather than to explain why her organization is not endorsing the opponent of an incumbent who has a record of anti-Semitic remarks. READ MORE

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Michael Flynn and Sergey Kislyak talked about how Russia could help Israel at the UN

Posted on June 18, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

THE MEDIA LINE
Transcript: Russia Blocked Second Obama UN Resolution on Israel
by Charles Bybelezer
June 18, 2020

According to a recently declassified transcript of a phone conversation between former White House adviser Michael Flynn and then-Russian ambassador to Washington Sergey Kislyak, Moscow blocked a 2016 United Nations initiative that would have imposed on Israel final parameters for a peace deal with the Palestinians. In December of that year, the US abstained on – and thus allowed passage of – Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement activity. However, the newly declassified transcript suggests that then-president Barack Obama had floated a second resolution calling for the creation of a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 borders within a specified timeframe. READ MORE

JERUSALEM POST Lahav Harkov: Flynn transcript shows Russia opposed Obama UN resolution on Israel The transcripts show that on December 29, 2016, just days after Resolution 2334 was passed, the Russian ambassador called Trump’s adviser.

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“One chief of police, for instance, credited what he learned in Israel with assisting him in deescalating and resolving an armed hostage-taking incident”

Posted on June 18, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

FORWARD
I am the architect of the U.S.-Israel police exchange. Don’t believe the lies.
by Steven L. Pomerantz
June 19, 2020

The nationwide demonstrations following the horrific killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis have launched a pressing conversation about race and law enforcement in America. Unfortunately, some are cynically trying to drag Israel into the debate, claiming the Jewish state is responsible for incidents of police brutality in the United States owing to law enforcement exchange programs between our two countries. As the architect of one of those programs, I can say this claim is not only false, but dangerous. READ MORE

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“Facing discrimination, poverty, and misery, Palestinians residing in Iraq have finally broken their silence in an attempt to draw the world’s attention to their predicament”

Posted on June 18, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
The Palestinians No One Tells You About
by Khaled Abu Toameh
June 19, 2020

…The Palestinians are accusing the Iraqis and the United Nations of taking a series of measures that have further aggravated the conditions of hundreds of Palestinian families in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. In a letter to the Iraqi newspaper Al-Youm, Palestinians complained that “the animals that live in European countries have a better life than us.”…The Arab states unremittingly subject Palestinians to apartheid and discriminatory measures. Yet the heads of the UN and its member states seem too busy with their obsession with Israel to attend to the pleas of these Palestinians, who are being deprived of basic rights in Iraq and throughout the Arab world. READ MORE

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“Jerusalem hails diplomatic achievement as Brussels ratifies pact with large majority; left-wingers’ bid for delay rejected; EU to watch political developments, ‘act accordingly’”

Posted on June 18, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
EU okays landmark Israel ‘Open Skies’ aviation deal, despite annexation tensions
by Raphael Ahren
June 18, 2020

The European Parliament on Wednesday evening ratified a major aviation agreement with Israel. The Open Skies agreement is seen as a major boost for the Israeli economy, since it reduces airfares and promotes the creation of additional routes. Jerusalem hailed the vote on the deal, which concluded a seven-year process, as a major diplomatic achievement. At the same time, the European Union on Thursday indicated that the vote should not be seen as prejudging its response to a possible Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank. READ MORE

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