Sen. Bernie Sanders’s campaign has parted ways with a newly hired staffer following a report that he sent tweets containing anti-Semitic rhetoric. A spokesman for Sanders’s campaign confirmed to CNN on Friday that Darius Khalil Gordon was no longer with the campaign. “He is no longer with the campaign and we wish him the best,” Sanders campaign spokesman Mike Casca told the network. Read more at The Hill.
Jewish convert David Ben Avraham (formerly known as Samah Zaytun), who was released from a Palestinian Authority prison in Halhul after 60 days, arrived on Friday for medical examinations at the national headquarters of United Hatzalah in Yerushalayim. Ben Avraham completed the conversion process at Rav Nissim Karelitz’s bais din in Bnei Brak, before being arrested on erev of Yom Kippur upon arriving for a meeting with his son near Karmei Tzur. After his release, he was evacuated by ambulance for further treatment and medical examinations at the Shaare Zedek Hospital in Yerushalayim. “I would like to thank the United Hatzalah volunteers and the ambulance staff for the dedicated and courteous care and for the quick evacuation to the hospital,” he said. Read more at ...
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is unveiling a broad new education plan Saturday that pledges to spend $700 billion over a decade to create a high-quality child care and preschool system that he said would reach all children from birth to age 5 and create 1 million jobs. The 37-year-old, openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, also promised to spend $425 billion to strengthen America’s K-12 public schools, targeting federal investments and policy to help historically marginalized students. He would boost funding for schools in high-poverty areas as well as for students with disabilities, and promote voluntary school integration. And he said he would ensure that all charter schools – which are publicly funded but privately operated – undergo the same acc...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved an Israeli startup device that can quickly extract results based off just a drop of blood. However, unlike the former startup Theranos, which falsely claimed that it could test for diseases based off blood from the prick of a finger (and whose founder and deputy were criminally charged), Sight Diagnostics’s OLO blood analyzer conducts just the complete blood-count test (CBC), which calculates white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets in somebody—a procedure that currently can take up to a day and consists of large laboratory machines. “The CBC is frequently used as a data point in determining whether an ailment is viral or bacterial,” said Carlo Brugnara, director of the Hematology Lab at Boston’s Chi...
The Justice Department's report that is expected to conclude that the FBI's federal investigation into potential links between Russia and President Trump's 2106 campaign wasn't politically motivated will be released Monday.  Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who wrote the report, is said to have found that there was enough evidence to justify the FBI wiretapping Carter Page, Trump's former campaign adviser who reportedly had contact with Russian officials multiple times. People familiar with the report told the Los Angeles Times that the contents of the report will not only exonerate the FBI but also largely dismiss claims from the Trump administration and its allies that the federal agency broke the law in search ...
Chesed Chesed
A somber ceremony was held Saturday at the Pearl Harbor Visitors Center to mark the 78th anniversary of the surprise Japanese attack on the Hawaii naval base. The event was attended by more than 2,000 people, including about a dozen men in their 90s who survived the Dec. 7, 1941, attack that led to the entry of the U.S. into World War II. “It makes you think of all the servicemen who have passed ahead of me,” said Herb Elfring, 97, of Jackson, Mich. He’s the last of his old regiment who is still alive. Elfring was in the Army, assigned to the 251st Coast Artillery, part of the California National Guard. The unit’s job was to protect airfields, but they weren’t expecting an attack that morning. Elfring was standing at the edge of his bar...
OELWEIN, Iowa (AP) — Joe Biden said Saturday that it is “bizarre” for Bernie Sanders to propose withholding U.S. military aid from Israel if the government there doesn’t moderate its treatment of Palestinians. The remarks highlight a nuanced but significant distinction between the Democratic presidential contenders. Biden and Sanders support a “two-state solution” for Israel and the Palestinians, and both men have criticized political leaders on each side of the long-standing conflict. But Biden’s take, offered during a question-and-answer session with Iowa voters, hewed a more traditional U.S. establishment line by reaffirming a financial commitment to Israel regardless of its actions toward Palestinians. The former vice president, while casting...
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s prime minister said Friday his government wants to buy from Austria the site of the former Nazi German death camp Mauthausen-Gusen where tens of thousands of Poles were killed during World War II. Premier Mateusz Morawiecki said the intention is to preserve the memory of some 120,000 of the camp’s victims, who included many Polish intellectuals. Set up in 1938 in Austria, Mauthausen-Gusen was the first death camp that Nazi Germany operated in a country that it had occupied. Until its liberation by Allied troops in 1945, some 335,000 people had been held there in conditions that led to massive deaths. The inmates included critics of Nazism, communists, homosexuals, Polish intellectuals, Spaniards and Russian POWs. Poland’s history-mi...
The announcement last month by U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo that Israeli settlements are not illegal was either warmly welcomed or hotly rejected, depending on how you interpret international law. Indeed, recently 107 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Pompeo expressing “strong disagreement” with the State Department’s new policy and urged Pompeo to “reverse this policy decision immediately.” Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told JNS that Pompeo did a great service for Israel and for truth by stating that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not illegal.” “And it is unfortunate,” he added, “that there are some members of Congress who want to second-guess him,” referring to the Democratic law...
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who pleaded guilty in federal court this week to one count of misusing campaign funds, announced Friday that he will resign from Congress “shortly after the holidays.” “It has been an honor to serve the people of California’s 50th District, and I greatly appreciate the trust they have put in me over these last 11 years,” Hunter said in a statement announcing his resignation. Hunter is scheduled to be sentenced in March and faces a maximum of five years in prison, though he is expected to serve less than one year. The six-term congressman and his wife, Margaret, were indicted last summer and accused of spending more than $250,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses, including vacations, household items and school tuition. Hun...
An American scholar held for three years on espionage charges in Iran has been released from prison and was flown out of the country in exchange for an Iranian biologist imprisoned in the United States, officials said early Saturday. Xiyue Wang, a Princeton University graduate student, was conducting research in Iran when he was arrested in 2016. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison the following year and sent to the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran. Wang was exchanged for Massoud Soleimani, a stem cell researcher arrested last year on charges of sanctions violations. He was scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 11, but the Justice Department dropped all charges against him, paving the way for his release. After the exchange was made in Switzerland, Wang was flown to a U.S. Air Force ba...
Benjamin Netanyahu called for direct elections against political rival and leader of the Blue & White alliance Benny Gantz on Saturday if ongoing talks to form a unity government fail. “It’s still not too late, but if they don’t come to their senses and set up a national unity government, there is one more thing we can do to prevent an unnecessary Knesset election: A direction election for the premiership between Benny Gantz and myself,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Blue & White say that they know what the people want, so I’m all for the people deciding and no one else – including the media,” he added. Blue & White almost immediately rejected the premier’s offer, calling Netanyahu’s proposal “hollow spin&rd...
Hamas’s propaganda department reported that in the month of November, 570 “combat operations” took place against Israel in Yehuda and Shomron and East Jerusalem, in which 14 Israelis were wounded. Of these, 401 (71%) were classified as clashes, and 41 (7.25%) as various combat operations involving stabbing, throwing or dumping explosives or bottles at IDF vehicles and positions. According to the report, one stabbing and seven acts of secreting and throwing explosives at IDF and settler vehicles were carried out in November, as well as 33 firebombings or launching firebombs at Israeli targets. Read more at Arutz Sheva.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke with the leaders of the right-wing bloc on Saturday night and they decided that if elections are held, they would take place on March 3, 2020. However, the final date will be set in agreement with the other parties, in the four days remaining until the 22nd Knesset dissolves. Read more at Arutz Sheva.
Baltimore, MD – Dec. 2, 2019 - It is with sadness that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the petirah of  Rabbi S. Jerome Wallin, Z”L, father of Mrs. Judi Feldman, Mrs. Debra Kapnick, Neil Wallin and Gary WallinJudi will be returning to Baltimore, Thursday evening, Dec. 5 and will continue sitting shiva at her home, 6715 Westbrook Rd, Baltimore, MD 21215, through Sunday night. Judi may be reached via call or text at 443-629-6923. Shiva visiting hours (No Minyanim)Thu night 7:00pm-11:00pmFriday.      10:00am-1:00pmMotzei shabbos 7:00pm-11:00pmSunday:10:00am-1:00pm2:30pm-5:30pm7:00pm-11:00pm Bila HaMaves LaNetzach...
MONSEY (VINnews) — The victim of the brutal stabbing attack in Monsey has spoken to Ramapo police from his hospital bed, to assist them in their ongoing investigation. Detective Lt. Michael Colbath stated stated that they spoke to the man, but declined to comment on whether or not they obtained any new or useful information from him. Ramapo is also being assisted by the FBI in their investigation. The victim, after undergoing several surgeries, is no longer considered critical. The police are conntinuing to review security footage that captured the brutal November 20 attack. Police Chief Brad Weidel has described the video as grainy and low quality, however police have revealed that they are working to enhance the footage to get a clearer picture. The motive for the attack...
The gunman who opened fire Friday morning at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, fatally shooting three people, has been identified as Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, an aviation student from Saudi Arabia, and investigators are looking into whether the attack is terrorism-related, a U.S. official told Fox News. The shooter -- who was wielding a handgun, despite firearms not being allowed on base -- was confronted and taken out by a pair of responding officers, officials said. Two people were killed at the scene while a third victim died after being rushed to a local hospital. Seven others suffered injuries and are undergoing treatment, including the two officers, one of whom was shot in the arm and the other in the knee. Both...
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says three rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel. The military said Saturday air defenses intercepted two of the missiles. There have been no reports of injuries and no Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. Cross-border violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza has ebbed and flowed in recent years. Last month, the two sides fought their worst round of violence in months. Leaders from Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza, and the smaller but more radical Islamic Jihad are in Cairo, talking with Egyptian officials about cementing a cease-fire.
LONDON (JNS) — A total of 70 current and former British Labour Party officials condemned anti-Semitism in the party in sworn statements submitted to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Daily Mail reported on Thursday. The sworn testimonies form part of the Jewish Labour Movement’s 53-page submission to the EHRC, which is currently investigating the Labour Party over allegations of anti-Semitism. The leaked document can be read here. Witness statements reveal that Jewish party members often do not feel comfortable attending Labour meetings “due to the intensity of animosity towards them.” One respondent said they had 22 examples of anti-Semitic abuse targeting them at constituency Labour gatherings. Another claimed that an official at a constituency La...
LONDON (VINnews) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hit the campaign trail in Golders Green Friday morning, where he learned how to ice doughnuts at Grodzinski, the popular local Jewish bakery. Johnson joined incumbent Tory member  Mike Greer, who is defending a slender 1652-vote lead in a seat being contested by Liberal Democrat candidate Luciana Berger and Labour’s Ross Houston. The Jewish vote is considered crucial in an election which has been punctuated with charges of anti-Semitism in the opposition Labor party. During his visit to Golders Green, Johnson stopped over at Jewish Care’s Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Campus, where he met tenants including Holocaust survivor Rachel Levy before visiting Grodzinski. After donning an apron marked “Get Brexit d...
More articles