Tag Archive for: Judaism

WATCH: Ivanka Trump cites her Judaism in responding to online attacks

President Donald Trump’s daughter and former advisor Ivanka Trump shares how a Jewish concept has helped her cope with online attacks.

Jon Voight on Angelina Jolie’s support for Palestinians: ‘influenced by antisemitic people’

Oscar-winning actor and outspoken pro-Israel conservative Jon Voight said in an interview published Tuesday that his daughter, Angelina Jolie, had backed the Palestinians because she was “influenced by antisemitic people.”

The interview, by Variety, said:

Today, Voight doesn’t resemble any of the troubled men tortured by circumstances he’s played in his six-decade career, including would-be hustler Joe Buck in “Midnight Cowboy,” paralyzed Vietnam vet Luke Martin in “Coming Home,” and Ed Gentry, a suburban everyman turned avenging killer in ”Deliverance.”

Today, he’s all loopy grandpa, which is a role he plays for his six grandchildren now that he has reconciled with his once-estranged daughter, Angelina Jolie.

No one is spared Voight’s seething right-wing political opinions, including his daughter, who he feels has fallen victim to antisemitic subterfuge. (“Angelina wishes him well but does not speak about him publicly,” said a source close to the actress.)

He says her politics are, to put it mildly, not his, while his are the subject of an endless circular conversation — especially now that Trump is on the upswing.

The actor is a staunch supporter of Israel, most recently its response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, and Jolie is a longtime refugee activist, currently decrying Israel’s killing of women and children in Gaza [sic]. In our conversations, Voight never lets it go, criticizing her Palestinian stance repeatedly, like a candidate going after an opponent in a 30-second ad.

“She has been exposed to propaganda,” he says. “She’s been influenced by antisemitic people. Angie has a connection to the U.N., and she’s enjoyed speaking out for refugees. But these people are not refugees.”

Israel is not deliberately killing women and children in Gaza; it tries to avoid civilian casualties — unlike Hamas, which hides among Palestinian civilians while targeting Israeli civilians.

Voight’s statement that the Palestinian residents of Gaza are “not refugees” refers to the fact that most were resettled there 75 years ago; many were born and raised there and are not “refugees” in the way that term is used for other conflicts.

In October, Jolie released a statement on the Hamas terror attack and the subsequent war: “What happened in Israel is an act of terror. But that cannot justify the innocent lives lost in bombing a civilian population in Gaza that has nowhere to go, no access to food or water, no possibility of evacuation, and not even the basic human right to cross a border to seek refuge.”

Palestinians have been provided with large shipments of aid; they have “nowhere to go” because neighboring Arab states refuse to take them in.

EDITORS NOTE: This World Israel News video is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

The Future of Judaism and Islam on America’s Campuses?

After doing a program last Sunday with chaver Dr. Charles Jacobs of Americans for Peace and Tolerance on Lisa Benson’s National Security Matters program about Jewish Myopia towards Islam, I was forwarded this notification by a noted theologian, scholar, author, former university president and ordained Conservative rabbi, Dr. Richard L. Rubenstein. Dr. Rubenstein is the author of many important works, one among them is Jihad and Genocide.

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO OF THE PROGRAM BY CLICKING HERE.

Having written about the dangers of Jewish Muslim Dialogue and the banal cupidity of Jewish communal leadership and in this instance the faculty of the JTS regarding this and other similar events on college campus with Jewish students threatened by Muslim Student Associations, I find this program naive and dangerous. It is no wonder that most Jews are ill informed about the underlying Qur’anic doctrine of hatred towards Christians, Jews and other unbelievers. Why Chancellor Eisen, Professor Visotzky support such dialogues is appalling, as they neither educate or inform Jewish and non-Jewish audiences of the realities of why Islamic anti-Semitism exists on college campuses and in the West generally. As Dr. Jacobs cogently argued in response to a caller:

The “J” Streeters and the left again want us to think that we Jews have done it to ourselves. It is our behavior that has made the Muslims hate us. That is a very empowering thought because if it’s true, if you could make yourself believe it was true, then you could change the reality. You could just simply change your behavior and the hatred would go away. Unfortunately Islam is a religion, a political and an economic system. In it there is a demand for worldwide supremacy. When Islam conquers the land, the people on the land have a choice. If they are Jews or Christians, they can choose not to be killed if they accept the status of dhimmitude.

Being a dhimmi is lower than second class status where you may not have political independence. You may not have freedom. You are subjugated. However, if you allow yourself to be subjugated and you follow their rules you can still be a Jew or a Christian. Now if you don’t, however, if you rebel against that, then the entire theological house of Islam with sword behind it comes after you and that is what happened with Israel. Israel is a rebellious dhimmi state. The Jews were never supposed to have self-rule just like the Christians. South Sudan came about as a Christian state after having defeated a Jihad against it so too the Jews.

The Jews and the Christians in the Middle East are not allowed to have self-rule. A theological Israel is a theological catastrophe for Islam. It is not a border war. If it was that, then, if it were, you could make concessions and you could make compromises with two people living in peace.

Unfortunately that’s not the case.

The Future of Judaism and Islam on America’s Campuses
Tuesday, February 18, 2014 7:30 p.m.
Questions? Contact Burton L. Visotzky

The Jewish Theological Seminary’s Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue (JTS) and the Russell Berrie Foundation, are co-sponsoring the “Annual Pope John Paul II Lecture on Interreligious Understanding” at JTS this coming February 18, 2014. It will be a panel to address “The Future of Judaism and Islam on America’s Campuses.”

Two issues equally affect Jews and Muslims as they approach campus life. The first is retaining religious identity in the face of the assimilative forces on America’s university campuses. Jews and Muslims can learn from one another about how to form uniquely American religious identities that will serve them into adulthood and communal responsibility. The second issue is potentially more fractious, for it concerns the things that divide the two religious bodies, particularly over Israel and Palestine.

Join Imam Abdullah Antepli (Duke), Prof. Mehnaz Afridi (Manhattan College) and Rabbi Gail Swedroe (Univ. of Florida) as they engage one another in a lively dialogue on these timely topics. The evening will be moderated by JTS Chancellor Arnold Eisen, (former chair of Jewish Studies at Stanford University).

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on The New English Review.

Florida: Islamic bias found in high school history textbook

Creeping  Shariah reports:

Two Brevard School Board members are reviewing a world history textbook used in ninth grade Advance Placement classes amid concerns that it is biased in favor of Islam — at the expense of Christianity and Judaism.

House Representative Ritch Workman and individuals from two citizens groups spoke against the textbook, Prentice Hall World History, at the Brevard School Board meeting Tuesday, citing examples of phrases and passages they believe show bias.

“Our children deserve facts and accuracy, not history being revised for our own failure or desire to not offend one culture or another,” said Workman, a Republican from Melbourne.

The textbook, which has been used in Brevard for the past three years, devotes a chapter to Islam, with sections including the rise of Islam and the building of the Muslim empire. Conversely, Christianity and Judaism do not have their own chapters and instead are referenced in paragraphs embedded in other sections.

Workman also expressed concern about how historic events are portrayed and what phrases are used. For example, he said the textbook reads Jesus proclaims himself to be the Messiah but declares Muhammad becomes a prophet.

School board members Amy Kneessy and Andy Ziegler promised to review the textbook, which is published by Pearson, a well-known printer of educational textbooks.

“No matter what the subject is, whether it’s math, English, science or world history, students need to have accurate, unbiased information,” Kneessy said. “If textbooks are unbiased or incomplete, it’s our job to fix that.”

Pearson Spokeswoman Susan Aspey said the company and its authors adhere to “the highest editorial standards when creating course materials, which undergo a rigorous review process.”

“The textbook referenced was approved by the state of Florida and meets all requirements for the High School World History Course,” she wrote in an email. “A review of the book shows there is balanced attention given to the beliefs of Islam, Judaism and Christianity.”

Ziegler said the underlining issue is accuracy and fairness — and should be investigated.

Read more.

Related video from an event featuring Brigitte Gabriel, founder of ACT for America,  in Jacksonville, FL: