05/03 Links Pt2: The Attacks On Jews We Aren’t Talking About; BDS-backed Twitter bot network is targeting Eurovision; Corbyn's dog whistle apology; Israel reaches another milestone as population crosses 9 million

From Ian:

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The Attacks On Jews We Aren’t Talking About

Much of this has taken place in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. According to the NYPD, assault and robberies on Jews in Crown Heights went from two in 2017 to 10 in 2018. The attackers tend to be African-American, and they sometimes yell out anti-Semitic slurs. There have been at least three such attacks so far this year. You can see a lot of this violence in recovered surveillance footage, but not much of it makes it to the front pages of major newspapers.

And it’s not just happening in Crown Heights. On Tuesday morning, Rabbi Uriel Vigler was heading to his synagogue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan when he was accosted by a black man calling him a “f***ing Jew” and “the devil.” The man fled when he saw a security guard. Vigler captured some of the aftermath on video.

These incidents aren’t talked about much because they have no political utility. There’s no fake soul-searching because the attacks have nothing to do with Israel. And there’s no finger-pointing because they have nothing to do with Donald Trump and white nationalism.

There are still other reasons that black-on-Jewish hate crime is largely ignored: Democrats would rather not speak of it because they’re hyper-sensitive about offending African-American voters (and not too worried about losing Jewish ones). Some on the left are so frightened to address this kind of anti-Semitism that they’ve decided it isn’t anti-Semitism at all. An article in the Forward last December more-or-less chalked it all up to the effects of gentrification. And if Republicans bring it up, they’ll immediately be called racists, as they are when they point out Rep. Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitism.

Meanwhile, everyone’s favorite new moderate, Pete Buttigieg, just earned his official Democratic presidential-candidate badge by going up to Harlem to get the nod from the mellowing elder statesman of black anti-Semitism, Al Sharpton. Any genuine reflection on the left would surely end the ritual of seeking blessings from a man who said, in in the wake of a murderous pogrom in 1991, “If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house.” But Democrats still stand in line every four years to kiss his ring.

Most hate crimes reported in New York City are anti-Jewish, police say

More than half of all hate crimes in New York City reported in 2018 and so far in 2019 targeted Jews, authorities said Thursday.

According to New York Police Department figures released Thursday, of the 145 hate crimes reported in January through April 2019, 82 incidents – nearly 57 percent – were anti-Jewish.

In 2018, there were 353 total hate crime complaints, up from 325 in 2017, and the NYPD made 149 arrests. Of these hate crimes, 186 – or nearly 53% – had anti-Jewish bias, up from 151 in 2017.

The NYPD tally is of reported complaints and arrests, not convictions.

Three precincts with large Hasidic populations, all in Brooklyn, reported the most anti-Jewish hate crimes in 2018. The 71st Precinct, which encompasses part of Crown Heights, reported nine anti-Jewish hate crimes, the most of any precinct. Precincts including Williamsburg and Borough Park each had seven.

Sixty-nine – or 37 percent – of 2018’s anti-Jewish hate crime reports resulted in an arrest. Forty of the alleged perpetrators were white, 25 were black, two were Hispanic and two were Asian.

Synagogue asked for security funds a year ago; they arrived days before attack

The Chabad of Poway synagogue, where a gunman on Saturday fired his semi-automatic rifle at Jewish worshipers, had applied for a federal grant to install gates and more secure doors to better protect that area. The $150,000 was approved in September but only got awarded in late March.

“Obviously we did not have a chance to start using the funds yet,” Rabbi Simcha Backman told The Associated Press.

Backman, who oversees security grants for the 207 Chabad institutions across California, declined to provide details on the planned security enhancements or to speculate whether they might have changed the outcome of Saturday’s attack.

The shooter killed a woman and wounded an 8-year-old girl and two men — one of them the rabbi presiding at the service on the last day of Passover.

Backman said the synagogue north of San Diego is considering asking authorities to allow some of the money be used to hire security guards, which it doesn’t have now.

BDS-backed Twitter bot network is targeting Eurovision, Israel charges

Israel said Thursday it had uncovered a network of bots and fake Twitter accounts urging a boycott of the upcoming Israeli-hosted Eurovision song contest.

The Strategic Affairs Ministry said the Palestinian-led movement that promotes boycotts against Israel is behind the effort.

Twitter confirmed it suspended “a small network of accounts” in response to the Israeli complaint.

Supporters of the BDS movement, a Palestinian-led campaign advocating boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, have been calling on artists to pull out of this year’s contest because of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.

Iceland’s representative has said it would be “absurd” to participate, and boycott activists recently renewed their call for the country to withdraw completely from the event.

Singer Netta Barzilai’s win last year with the catchy pop anthem “Toy” earned Israel the honor of hosting the 2019 Eurovision competition later this month.

Thousands of tourists are expected to arrive in Tel Aviv for the campy, gay-friendly spectacle. The semifinals will be held on May 14 and 16 followed by the Grand Final on May 18.

Israeli government minister Gilad Erdan said BDS activists “are trying every deceptive method to attack Israel.”

4il: Hundreds Anti-Israel Bots Promoting Eurovision Boycott Campaign Exposed

An in-depth examination by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs has found hundreds of fake accounts tied to the #BoycottEurovision2019 campaign. The campaign was aimed at “coordinated manipulation” of public opinion against the popular song contest, violating the platform’s terms & conditions. Targeted individuals included Madonna and performers scheduled to perform at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Israel including Bilal Hassani (France), Alessandro Mahmood (Italy), Michael Reiss (Britain) and Sarah McTernan (Ireland).

“Today we have revealed the fake social media campaign to pressure artists performing in this year’s Eurovision to boycott the contest. Instead of believing in culture as a tool to unite, Israel’s detractors try to use it to divide.” –
Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan

Tel Aviv, Israel — May 2, 2019 — Today, Minister Gilad Erdan’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs revealed a synchronized campaign of fake bot accounts against this year’s Eurovision Song Contest to be held this month in Israel under the hashtag #BoycottEurovision2019. “Coordinated manipulation” campaigns are banned under Twitter’s terms and conditions. Among the performers targeted were Madonna, Bilal Hassani (France), Alessandro Mahmoud (Italy), Michael Rice (UK) and Sarah McTernan (Ireland), and participating countries’ broadcast authorities. It is estimated that the tweets had a potential reach of 9.7 million users.

Beginning in November 2018, the Ministry of Strategic Affairs launched an in-depth examination of the social media influence campaign to boycott the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, held in Israel, leading to its release by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs titled, “The Big Scam- How BDS is Manipulating Social Media against Eurovision 2019”.
THE FULL REPORT CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE
The report revealed data indicating the use of a number of fraudulent methods – including bots and fake accounts using “Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior” to create the appearance of an authentic and wide-spread campaign, while hoping to manipulate public opinion, against artists performing at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

The next one that puts up a "Boycott Eurovision" poll gets boycotted by us at their most inconvenient moment. pic.twitter.com/IsdKpNrlfD

— The Mossad (@TheMossadIL) May 2, 2019

The answer for those who are wondering... 57 and counting.

🤖🤖 Die bots die! 🤖🤖 pic.twitter.com/1mTmIcX7KT

— The Mossad (@TheMossadIL) May 2, 2019

Our guest blog at @Israellycool on how, although loud and aggressive, the Irish boycott movement is really not so powerful. In fact, they are failing miserably. @1rorycowan @RTELateLateShow @mary_coughlan4 #latelate https://t.co/IMFaTS1sAu

— Ireland Israel Alliance (@irlisrAlliance) May 2, 2019

Prof. Phyllis Chesler: The NYTimes editorial: A clever attempt to gaslight us

On my watch, almost every single day, year after year, for almost nineteen years now, a single issue of the Gray Lady might feature anywhere from two to eight articles damning Israel. False maps, interviews with biased “experts” in so-called new stories, Op-Ed’s, Editorials by the staff, all appeared in the same issue.

Every so often, a one-off piece might appear by Israel’s Ambassador, or Matti Friedman or Yossi Klein Halevi or Ruth Wisse. But such pieces did not appear every day or every week year after year as the poisoned propaganda did.

Look: If the Times is truly repentant, they will have to start by naming and firing the editors responsible for this “appalling cartoon”—and those who are in charge both of them and the process; start hiring new journalists who are ready to brave Hamas’s wrath by telling the truth about Gaza—just for starters; and commit to publishing as many pro-Israel op-ed pieces every week as they have published op-ed pieces against Israel. And after they’ve done so for nineteen years or more, I will begin to trust their coverage of the Middle East.

Maybe.

There is blood on their hands. The question is: Do they know it? And do they care?

We shall soon see.

Glick: DePaul University Faculty Joins in on Anti-Jew Attacks

Last Saturday, after publishing a Nazi-like screed that could have appeared under the New York Times cartoon in Der Sturmer, white nationalist John Earnest opened fire on Jews at the Chabad House in Poway, San Diego County. He killed Lorri Gilbert Kaye, and wounded Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein; nine-year-old Noya Dahan; and her uncle, Almog Peretz.

Then on Wednesday, DePaul University faculty in Chicago voted overwhelmingly to censure Philosophy Professor Jason Hill for publishing an opinion article at the Federalist defending Israel and Jewish rights, and calling for Israel to annex Judea and Samaria.

Hill’s censure is notable for what it tells us about the nature of antisemitism on college campuses in America today.

The first thing it tells us is that campus tolerance for vicious expressions of hatred of Jews and Israel is not a free speech issue. For years, student groups and professors have insisted that they have a free speech right to express their rejection of Israel’s right to exist.

Administrations across America have rewarded them richly for their efforts. Professors whose academic records consist largely of invented blood libels against Jews wrapped in post-modernist gobbledygook received tenured professorships at some of America’s most illustrious universities.

Student groups that compel universities to accept antisemitism in campus life are showered with awards. For instance, last month the Hamas-linked Students for Justice in Palestine, which leads the anti-Jewish hate campaigns on campuses throughout the U.S. received an award from New York University.

NYU’s SJP chapter received the university’s President’s Service Award on April 17. According to NYU’s website, “the award is given to students or student organizations that have had an extraordinary and positive impact on the University community, including achievements within schools and departments, the University at large, local neighborhoods, and NYU’s presence in the world.”

Let Them Speak

Several Jewish students at the University of Massachusetts, UMass, have filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts state court seeking to block the school from hosting a May 4 panel that includes Linda Sarsour, Marc Lamont Hill, The Nation sportswriter Dave Zirin, and British singer Roger Waters. The students are right to draw attention to the noxious views of the speakers and the support for anti-Israel extremism within their school’s own administration. But they are wrong, and perhaps dangerously so, to mount a legal case that relies on shutting down speech by equating it to a form of intimidation. That stance not only pits them against the deep, and mainstream, American tradition of defending free expression, but it also legitimates a set of ideas that will be used against Jewish groups who, as a minority on campus, are especially reliant on the First Amendment.

An organization called Not Backing Down had invited the quartet, and two UMass academic departments—Communication, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies—found the Sarsour-Hill-Waters message significant enough to co-sponsor the event.

News of the panel has generated widespread condemnation from local and national Jewish organizations. The ADL’s regional director, for instance, wrote to the UMass chancellor to express concerns about the program “featuring speakers who engage in rhetoric that demonizes the State of Israel and seeks to marginalize its supporters,” raising “significant consternation among Jewish students and many others on campus and in the community.” Dozens of pro-Israel organizations added their concerns, though they made clear they were “not asking that this event be shut down.”

The panel and its speakers deserve this criticism. Unfortunately, a lawsuit seeking to shut down the event not only will almost certainly fail, it likely will weaken the position of Jewish and pro-Israel students on campus. The factual aspects of the complaint are undeniable. The students’ legal complaint notes, for instance, that departmental co-sponsorship left the “clearly intentional” impression that at least a majority of faculty in these departments support BDS. The complaint also recaps the ugly pasts of the speakers—ranging from Sarsour’s connections to Louis Farrakhan and anti-Semitism in the Women’s March leadership (a background first exposed in detail by Tablet) to Hill’s glib celebration of terrorists and endorsement of calls for Israel’s destruction, to Waters’ ill-concealed anti-Semitism.

Nonetheless, beyond the obvious legal problems—there is, as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) long has pointed out, no “hate speech” exception to the First Amendment, and UMass is a public institution—the lawsuit suffers from two tactical shortcomings.

Judge rules against bid to stop Roger Waters’ pro-Palestinian panel at UMass

A panel discussion about Palestinian rights at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst will be allowed to move ahead following a challenge by a group of Jewish students at the school.

A Superior Court judge on Thursday ruled against the students who argued the forum was anti-Semitic and should be forced off campus.

The panel, titled “Not Backing Down: Israel, Free Speech, and the Battle for Palestinian Human Rights,” is scheduled for Saturday and features Roger Waters, a member of the band Pink Floyd.

Waters is a staunch supporter of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions Movement that targets Israel and which some have described as anti-Semitic.

The panelists are expected to argue pro-Israel groups have tried to silence Palestinian points of view.

Judge Robert Ullmann said he couldn’t take action against the forum just because someone may say something “that fits someone’s definition of anti-Semitism.”

Photographer threatens lawsuit against Jewish group over the 'unauthorized' use of Rep. Ilhan Omar image

A professional photographer is seeking up to $150,000 in damages after the Jewish rights group The World Values Network, led by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, ran a controversial advertisement condemning Rep. Ilhan Omar over her anti-Semitic remarks.

According to the April 24-dated letter obtained by Fox News and addressed to the New Jersey-based Boteach, the “copyright infringement claim” on behalf of the Boston-based Jason Grow of Jason M. Grow Photography stems from the unapproved use of an Omar image on two occasions.

“One in an advertisement published in the Washington Post and the other in a Go Fund Me appeal,” the letter, written by Massachusetts attorney, Andrew D. Epstein, stated. “In lieu of actual damages and profit damages, my client can elect to recover Statutory Damages under 504 (c) of the Copyright Act in a sum up to $150,000.”

Grow’s biography notes that he “specializes in photographing exceptionally accomplished, busy people with real-time constraints in real environments” and has a photojournalism background with experience spanning refugee camps to conference rooms.

Corbyn's dog whistle apology

We reject Jeremy Corbyn's dog whistle apology after he endorsed an antisemitic book. ❎ His claim... He agreed with it's analysis on the cause of wars. ✅ It's claim... Jewish bankers were the cause of those wars!

In outrageous statement, Labour claims that by pointing out Jeremy Corbyn’s use of an antisemitic trope, CAA is reinforcing antisemitism

In an outrageous statement, Labour has claimed that it if you point out an antisemitic trope, that is reinforcing antisemitism. This statement sets a new low in Labour Party responses to accusations of antisemitism.

Labour was responding to the revelation yesterday that in 2009 Jeremy Corbyn authored an article in which he claimed that a decision by the BBC not to broadcast a 2009 appeal to send money to Gaza demonstrated the “unbelievably high levels of influence that Israel’s government appears to have in the upper echelons of parts of the media.” He also wrote that Israel has “control of US foreign policy.” The comments which appeared in an article that he wrote for the extreme-left Morning Star were exposed by investigative journalist Iggy Ostanin.

Responding to Mr Corbyn’s comments about media control, a spokesperson for the Labour Party said that: “The suggestion that Jeremy was talking about Jewish people, when he commented on the greater level of media influence the Israeli government has than the Palestinian leadership, is entirely false, and itself relies on a damaging antisemitic trope.”

The accusation of Jews controlling foreign policy and the media is one of the most well known antisemitic conspiracy theories. Under the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” is antisemitic.

It is very clear to us that Mr Corbyn was deploying an antisemitic trope, and the Labour Party’s attempt to blame us for calling him out on it is appalling.

This is a PSC (Palestinian solidarity campaign) rally outside Downing Street In London Whitehall and this is one of their supporters saying the “Jews brought antisemitism upon themselves “! The PSC Patron is Jeremy Corbyn who has never resigned from them #holocaust #antisemitism pic.twitter.com/BMSIUPRChH

— Eye On Antisemitism (@AntisemitismEye) May 2, 2019

UC Berkeley Establishes First Faculty Chair in Israel Studies

Joining a select group of universities in the world with an endowed faculty chair in Israel Studies, the University of California, Berkeley, a hotbed of antisemitism, announced the creation of the Helen Diller Family Chair in Israel Studies.

The chair is the university’s first in the field. It will serve to endow courses, research and programs of the Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies.

Made possible by a $5 million grant from the Helen Diller Foundation, the position will be held by Ron Hassner, the Berkeley institute’s faculty co-director and an international relations expert on the relationship between religion and conflict.

Hassner is an associate professor of political science whose courses regularly draw hundreds of students.

“I am moved and humbled by the generosity of the Helen Diller Foundation,” he said. “The foundation recognized the urgency of teaching Israel in an even-handed and professional manner on the Berkeley campus and sprang into action. Their gift allows us to address our students’ growing thirst for bold discussions in this flourishing, provocative and crucial academic field.”

The Dillers’ connections to Berkeley were deep, going back to the early 1950s, when the two met as undergraduates. They went on to become prominent Bay Area business leaders and philanthropists in medicine, the arts and Jewish affairs. Helen Diller passed away in January 2015, and Sanford Diller in June 2017.

Big fat lies from Marin's 14 Friends of Palestine

Fat chance we’d ever get the truth from Jane Jewell’s Marin-based group, 14 Friends of Palestine.

On their website, the group spreads the egregious lie that “Israel restricts the amount of food going into Gaza, a ruthless and deliberate policy whereby the dietary needs of the Gazan people are chillingly calculated to keep the population alive at a near starvation level.”

It’s a complete falsehood.

There are no restrictions on food going into Gaza, and Gaza farmers export agricultural products to the Middle east and Europe. Rather than facing starvation, obesity is becoming a public health priority in Gaza. Gaza's stores, and restaurants are filled with luscious offerings

Gaza exports agricultural products. “Strawberries are an important source of income in Gaza for Palestinian farmers and their families,” said the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit, which facilitates the exports. “The export and sale of strawberries from the Gaza Strip has yielded revenues of about 13m NIS so far this harvest season, a 290% improvement over last year,”

Rather than a population kept at “near starvation levels”, peer reviewed medical literature documents the Palestinians' struggle with Western rates of obesity.

Williams College Student Leaders Deny Recognition to ‘Pro-Israel’ Group, Prompting Calls for Inquiry

Student leaders at Williams College in Massachusetts denied official recognition to the Williams Initiative for Israel (WIFI) campus group last week, following protests from students opposed to the Jewish state’s policies.

During an April 23rd meeting, members of the College Council (CC) anonymously voted 13-8 with one abstention against allowing WIFI to become a registered student organization (RSO), The Williams Record reported on Wednesday. It is believed to be the first time in over a decade that the CC voted against recognizing a club that complied with its bylaws.

According to its constitution, WIFI seeks “to support Israel and the pro-Israel campus community, as well as to educate the College on issues concerning Israel and the Middle East.” With RSO status, it would be eligible to receive funding and administrative support, among other benefits.

Yet critics took aim at the club for failing to express a stance on certain issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among them the blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and the occupation of lands claimed by Palestinians.

Word Crimes: Left-wing Israel Studies faculty try to silence scholars deemed too pro-Israel

You might think that Israel Studies faculty would support Israel. But as with Jewish Studies, many of the faculty are leftists who support or at least are sympathetic to the anti-Israel boycott movement. Others are anti-Zionist. These anti-Israel Israel Studies faculty bring their politics not only into the classroom, but into their allegedly scholarly work.

In an academic environment dominated by anti-Israel narratives, the Special Issue amounted to a dissenting voice. That dissenting voice, apparently, could not be tolerated.

Since the journal is affiliated with the Association for Israel Studies, and since the critics of the “Word Crimes” issue include members of this group, it is noteworthy that the membership reportedly “spans the gamut of traditional Zionists to supporters of the international boycott movement [BDS] against Israel” – which presumably makes the group the only academic body that has members who would like to see the country they study eliminated.

The attacks on the Special Issue were made, among other places, in open letters to the Association for Israel Studies and Israel Studies Journal.

The reported leaders of the attacks on the Special Issue were Arie M. Dubnov, the Max Ticktin Chair of Israel Studies at George Washington University, and Ian S. Lustick, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania.

😂😂 #BDS https://t.co/XvkKO8UXee @ayidindixieland

— Ozraeli Dave (((דיויד לנג))) (@Israellycool) May 3, 2019

More repulsive antisemitism at San Francisco State University

SFSU is again living up to its reputation as one of the most difficult campuses in America for Jewish students.

Today, vile signs have appeared throughout San Francisco State University, blaming anti-semitism on "the occupation".

Do they really believe that there were no recorded incidents of anti-Semitism before 1967, or is this just another in a series of hate -filled message meant to intimidate and silence Jewish students?

What's up with the NY Times pushing reader comments defending their publishing that antisemitic cartoon? Why are these "Times Picks"? pic.twitter.com/1vfon0Gs2H

— Adam Holland (@ad_holland) May 2, 2019

Facebook bans anti-Semite Farrakhan, conspiracy jock Jones for hate speech

After years of pressure to crack down on extremist content, Facebook has banned Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones and other extremists, saying they violated its ban against hate and violence.

The company also banned right-wing leaders Paul Nehlen, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson and Laura Loomer, along with Jones’ site, Infowars. The latest bans apply to both Facebook’s main service and to Instagram and extend to fan pages and other related accounts.

Decried as censorship by several of those who got the ax, the move signals a renewed effort by the social media giant to remove objectionable material — and individuals — promoting hate, racism and anti-Semitism.

Removing some of the best-known figures of the US political extreme takes away an important virtual megaphone that Facebook has provided the likes of Jones, Yiannopoulos and others over the years.

Critics praised the move, but said there is more to be done on both Facebook and Instagram.

“We know that there are still white supremacists and other extremist figures who are actively using both platforms to spread their hatred and bigotry,” said Keegan Hankes, senior research analyst for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups in the US.

The Democratic Party’s Puzzling Connection to a ‘Far-Right Extremist’

Journalists are writing stories about Instagram's decision to ban a number of prominent "far-right leaders" and "right-wing extremists" in an effort to crack down on misinformation and dangerous online behavior.

The banished far-right zealots include Infowars' Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopolous, Paul Joseph Watson, Paul Nehlen, Laura Loomer, and…

…Louis Farrakhan.

That's according to the Washington Post, which to its credit has issued a correction since posting the following (now deleted) tweet:

As the Post noted in its correction, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, a prominent anti-Semite who has led chants of "Death to Israel" in Tehran, was "incorrectly" included in its list of "far-right" individuals. It's the sort of mistake that could easily be shrugged off if not for the fact that the national media constantly makes, and almost always errs in one direction. On several occasions specifically involving Farrakhan, the media has engaged in some dubious behavior.

The Atlantic, for example, still features the follow headline on its site.

At the very least, Farrakhan is finally being recognized as an extremist in the wake of controversies surrounding his connection to the leaders of the Women's March and his praise for Ilhan Omar, the habitually anti-Semitic congresswoman from Minnesota. But characterizing him as "far-right" or "right-wing" is especially absurd considering his ties to the Democratic Party.

Not only has Farrakhan been a guest of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in 2005, he was photographed at that meeting smiling next to then-Sen. Barack Obama. A CBC staffer reached out to the photographer, Askia Muhammed, requesting the photo. Instead, Muhammed sent the image to Farrakhan and kept one copy for himself. It wasn't published until 2018.

Why you defending Jew-hater @LouisFarrakhan, @SnoopDogg? Not chill. Not chill at all! https://t.co/PQD1KXiF2q

— Ozraeli Dave (((דיויד לנג))) (@Israellycool) May 3, 2019

Projected on Brazil's congress building: Holocaust Never Again

The words “Holocaust Never Again” in Portuguese were projected on Brazil’s iconic National Congress buildings to mark Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day.

It was the second straight year that the green block letters covered the 300-foot tall facade of both 28-story twin towers of the Congress, Brasilia’s most famous landmark, on Wednesday night. The unprecedented honor to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day in the country’s capital city was proposed by the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre, who is Jewish.

Brazil’s umbrella Jewish organization, the Brazilian Israelite Confederation, promoted the projection.

“The initiative is a tribute to the memory of the six million Jews exterminated by the Nazis during World War II, in the darkest episode in modern history,” the group said in a statement. “It also remembers the spirit of resistance of those who managed to rebel in some concentration camps.”

In 1945, my father, starved and unconscious, was mistaken for a corpse at the Nazi concentration camp in Ebensee, Austria. By a miracle, someone realized that he wasn't yet dead.

Last week, my father and mother welcomed a new great-grandchild.
!עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי#YomHashoa pic.twitter.com/tpcz5tRAgx

— Jeff Jacoby (@Jeff_Jacoby) 2 май 2019 г.

What a moving moment.
This Holocaust survivor accompanying IDF soldiers on their journey in Poland sat up in his seat, turned around, and asked them to sing his favorite songs with him. A small but beautiful moment.

Shabbat Shalom. pic.twitter.com/6OvE9D8O9m

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 3, 2019

Israel reaches another milestone as population crosses 9 million

Just days before Israel celebrates its 71st anniversary, new figures show the number of Jews and overall population have reached a record high.

According to a report issued by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Thursday, the number of residents in Israel stood at roughly 9,009,000 in March, the largest since its founding in 1948. Likewise, the number of Jews stood at a record 6,738,500, or 74.8%.

In 1948, Israel had 850,000 residents, of which an estimated 650,000 were Jewish.

IDF: 56 soldiers died since last Memorial Day, bringing total to 23,741

The number of Israeli casualties of war stand at 23,741 as of May 2019, according to figures published by the Defense Ministry on Friday ahead of Memorial Day next week.

Since last Memorial Day, 96 new names were added to the roster of those who died defending the country since 1860. Fifty-six were IDF soldiers and police, and 40 were disabled veterans who passed away due to complications from injuries sustained during their service.

The figures include all soldiers and police who died during their service over the past year, including as a result of accidents, suicide or illness.

Nine names were also added to the list of civilian Israeli terror victims who perished in attacks in the past year, the national insurance institute — Israel’s equivalent of social security — said on Friday, bringing the total to 3,146.

Israel’s Memorial Day will commence Tuesday evening with a ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, when a one-minute siren will ring out across the country.

The Defense Ministry said around 1.5 million Israelis are expected to visit various military ceremonies or memorials next Tuesday and Wednesday.

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