“Crombie founded Bizmax two years ago in Jerusalem where more than a third of the Jewish population is haredim, which means “God-fearing”

YAHOO
Kosher high-tech office lures Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox
by Clothilde Mraffko, AFP
January 8, 2019

The office in central Jerusalem at first glance resembles many other start-ups — until you notice the religious books and entrepreneurs in traditional black suits. At Bizmax, a shared workspace, all the entrepreneurs are ultra-Orthodox Jews, a rarity in a community where many men shun work for religious study. “The high-tech industry is very fit for the haredim,” said Yitzik Crombie, using the Hebrew word for the ultra-Orthodox. Unlike many other sectors, the flexible schedule allows for religious obligations, he added, sporting a black yarmulke and a red beard. READ MORE

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“The primary goal of barriers on dangerous borders like Lebanon and Gaza is “not to stop civilians, refugees or illegal migrants, but to defend against hostile elements on the other side”

JNS
Six years after completion, Israel’s border fence with Egypt has transformed the south
by Yaakov Lappin
January 11, 2019

This time six years ago, Israel completed its high-tech border fence with Egypt, marking the start of a transformation in the situation along this restive frontier. With its network radars and cameras, the obstacle—dubbed “Hourglass” by the Israeli Defense Ministry—issues alerts to Israel Defense Forces units regarding suspicious movements. The barrier has almost completely stopped the mass movement of illegal migration from Africa…In addition, the fence has significantly boosted Israel’s ability to defend itself against Salafi-jihadist terror organizations that are active in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, he added. READ MORE

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“Jews are being gaslighted — psychologically manipulated to the point of questioning our own sanity and reality — by Farrakhan, Sarsour, Tamika Mallory and the leftist Jews who reflexively defend them”

JEWISH JOURNAL
The March of Hate
by Karen Lehrman Bloch
January 9, 2019

Let’s be very clear: If you decide to participate in the national Women’s March, you are enabling and abetting hatred of the Jewish people. If you are writing sanctimonious apologetics for the organizers, you are sanitizing and normalizing anti-Semitism. It was amazingly useful for Tablet magazine, in a recent report, to confirm that three of the four leaders of the Women’s March are proud anti-Semites — that even at their first meeting they berated a Jewish organizer for what they alleged was her unresolved “white supremacy,” and ultimately pushed her out. READ MORE

NY DAILY NEWS Ziva Dahl: Tamika Mallory insults Martin Luther King’s legacy of combating anti-Semitism According to a colleague, Mallory has said she doesn’t trust white people. Mallory reportedly claims Jews are exploiters of black and brown people and, according to the New York Times, insists, along with her colleague Carmen Perez, that “Jewish people played a large role in the slave trade and the prison industry.”

FREE BEACON DNC Withdraws Its Sponsorship of the Women’s March The Democratic National Committee has withdrawn its sponsorship of the Women’s March, amidst controversy over the ties of the group’s co-chairs to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and allegations of anti-Semitism. The DNC joins other groups that have withdrawn sponsorship, such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and EMILY’s List, Jewish News Syndicate reports. The National Organization for Women and the NAACP also appear to have removed their official support for the Women’s March.

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“When Temple Hadar Israel in New Castle, Pennsylvania, closed its doors, most of its ritual objects were disbursed to other congregations. What was left was buried in a cemetery”

TABLET MAG
Saying Kaddish for a Rust Belt Congregation
by Alanna E. Cooper
January 8, 2019

On a Sunday morning in November in New Castle, Pennsylvania, 18 individuals gathered in a Jewish cemetery for an unveiling ceremony. American Jews customarily hold this sort of event a year after a person dies to mark the installation of their gravestone, and to share memories of the deceased. This event was different because it marked the unveiling of a gravestone for a congregation, or—more precisely—for its ritual objects. A few minutes before 11 a.m., the cars began arriving. READ MORE

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Antisemitic left eating the Jewish left in San Francisco

MISSION LOCAL
How many hoops must Manny Yekutiel jump through before he’s deemed worthy to set foot in the Mission?
by Joe Eskenazi
January 7, 2019

When you wander into Manny’s at 16th and Valencia, everything is chill. It’s a big space. And it’s crowded. People are working on projects, sipping $1.75 cups of coffee, or reading the literature they can purchase in-house from an adjunct of Dog-Eared Books located in the store (curated titles from Franz Fanon, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Howard Zinn and many others for sale). This space feels casual and accessible. That’s the idea. Owner Manny Yekutiel, in fact, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with United to Save the MissionREAD MORE

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Manny Yekutiel responds: Manny’s builds a real-life space for civic discourse in SF The building has been vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti, is the target of weekly protests, and the business has been ideologically extorted: tell us if you’re a Zionist so we can try to drive you out of business.

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Arab Likud candidate praises Netanyahu as strong leader and “brushes aside criticism of the party’s spearheading of the recently-passed Nation State law”

i24 NEWS
Muslim woman running for Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party shunned by family
January 10, 2019

A Muslim Arab woman running as a candidate for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party defended her decision in an interview with i24NEWS on Tuesday, despite her having been shunned as “disloyal” by her family.Dima Tayeh, from the village of Kafr Manda in Israel’s northern Galilee region, announced earlier this week that she would be seeking a spot on the Likud list. If elected, she would be the first Muslim Arab lawmaker to join the Likud party…On Wednesday, Tayeh’s family released a statement denouncing her opinions and shunning her until she “declares loyalty to her people and her faith”. READ MORE

ELDER OF ZIYON/JNS Donna Shalala: The Arab freshman member of Congress you AREN’T hearing about – because she is pro-Israel and anti-BDS  “I’m absolutely opposed to a boycott of any kind both in terms of disinvestment, as well as in the attacks on Israeli academics by the British Union. I was one of the first college presidents in the country to denounce that…” Interestingly, Shalala was honored by the American University of Beirut with an honorary degree (she’s of Lebanese ancestry) and students protested because she is “Zionist.”

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“Supporters of armed congregants say that with responsible training, they are a necessary defense in an age of frequent mass shootings. Call it the good Jewish guy with a gun”

JTA
After Pittsburgh, some synagogues are more comfortable with guns in the pews
by Ben Sales
January 8, 2019

On an average Saturday morning at the Orthodox Ohel Tefillah synagogue on Chicago’s North Side, about 10 percent of the men carry a handgun. That number may seem high in a liberal city with some of the strictest gun laws in the country. But in the aftermath of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre last year, Rabbi Moshe Revah expects it will grow. He wouldn’t be surprised if soon, 10 of the 40 or so men who pray there each week — 25% — will be packing heat. “Definitely, Pittsburgh sparked the interest,” the rabbi said regarding gun ownership. “Originally it was much more of a taboo topic in the community… Definitely people are much more understanding of the idea.” READ MORE

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“Israel’s ostensible peace partner, the Palestinian Authority, educates its people to an almost pathological hatred of Israel”

COMMENTARY
Peace: The Missing Israeli Election Issue
by Evelyn Gordon
January 10, 2019

Israel’s election campaign has only just begun, but one key issue is already notable by its absence: peace with the Palestinians. To many Americans—especially American Jews, who overwhelmingly consider this the most important issue facing Israel—the fact that almost none of the candidates are talking about the peace process may seem surprising. But several recent incidents help explain why it’s a very low priority for most Israeli voters…Ordinary human interaction with Israelis, aka “normalization,” is anathema to many Palestinians, including many PA officialsREAD MORE

GATESTONE Bassam Tawil: The New Palestinian ‘Catastrophe’: A Shopping Mall Hiring Palestinians Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction is angry. It seems a Jewish Israeli businessman has just built a shopping mall in east Jerusalem and most of its workers and customers are Arabs. Fatah leaders have called for boycotting the mall.

ELDER OF ZIYON Fatah leader: Arab leaders meeting Israelis a “stab in the back” of Palestinians

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“A fellow flier who witnessed the tumult said he overheard a steward utter “those retarded Jews” in conversation with a female flight attendant before the plane took off”

NEW YORK POST
Spirit Airlines turned our flight into an anti-Semitic nightmare: couple
by Yaron Steinbuch
January 10, 2019

A Borough Park couple is accusing Spirit Airlines of turning a trip to Florida into an anti-Semitic “nightmare” from start to finish — calling them “retarded” as the plane took off, harassing them throughout the flight, and having cops escort them off the plane after landing. Chana and Yisroel Beck arrived at Newark Airport on Tuesday along with their 6-week-old, 2-year-old and 3-year-old daughters, eager to embark on their weeklong trip to Fort Lauderdale…Once the plane landed, an announcement was made for all the passengers to remain seated as two police officers and two Spirit supervisors came aboard to escort the family off without explanation, she said. READ MORE

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Israel boycott ban is not about free speech

CAMERA BLOG
Reuters Misrepresents New Congress’ Anti-BDS Bill
by Tamar Sternthal
January 10, 2019

Reuters’ article yesterday on the “Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act,” a bill which stalled Tuesday in the Senate, opens with a misleading and ominous reference to the legislation’s “measure to punish Americans who boycott Israel” (“First bill of new U.S. Congress, on Middle East policy, stalls in Senate“). Further down, the article repeats this inaccurate and overly broad characterization of the bill’s supposed application to Americans at large, stating that it “would let state and local governments punish Americans for boycotting Israel.” In fact, the bill would not sweepingly apply to “Americans” at large, but to “entities” engaged in geographically specific boycott activityREAD MORE

TOWER ACLU Falsely Claims That Anti-Boycott Legislation Limits Free Speech The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one time the nation’s premier civil rights organization, has falsely characterized legislation that would penalize companies that boycott Israel as limiting free speech. 

REUTERS Israel boycott ban is not about free speech Contrary to the challengers’ free speech narrative, these state laws do not actually impact anyone’s ability to hold, express or advocate any viewpoint. Instead, they only require businesses seeking government contracts (or investments) to certify they are not engaged in discriminatory boycotts.

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