Behind the Aegis
Behind the Aegis's JournalOldest man and Auschwitz survivor dies
Source: BBC via MSN
The world's oldest man - the only member of his immediate family to survive the Holocaust - has died at the age of 113.
Polish-born Yisrael Kristal died on Friday, a month before he was due to turn 114, Israeli media reported.
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After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939, Mr Kristal and his family were moved into the Lodz ghetto.
His two children died there and Mr Kristal and his wife Chaja Feige Frucht were sent to Auschwitz in 1944 after the ghetto was liquidated.
Mr Kristal's wife was murdered in Auschwitz but he survived, performing slave labour in that and other camps. When he was found by the Allies in May 1945 he weighed just 37 kg (5 stones 11 lbs).
Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/oldest-man-and-auschwitz-survivor-dies/ar-AApSSWc?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp
יהי זכרו נצח
(JEWISH GROUP) Dutch Socialists Reject Longtime Activist Over Anti-Semitic Tweets
THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!! RESPECT, PLEASE!AMSTERDAM (JTA) — The Dutch Socialist Party distanced itself from an activist for the movement after he wrote that seeing Israeli soldiers makes him “proud” of German ones during World War II.
A spokesperson for the party’s branch in Castricum, a town located 13 miles west of Amsterdam, wrote last week on Twitter that Jan van der Weiden, a former Socialist Party candidate and ex-treasurer, “has for a long time been neither a member nor active for us.”
Last month, van der Weiden tweeted: “The more I see Israelian (sic) soldiers, the more proud I am on German soldiers during the Second World War.” It was one of several tweets about Jews, including one accusing Jews of having too much influence and another explaining the need to punish Jews for Israel’s actions. The messages were removed and the Twitter account made inaccessible.
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(JEWISH GROUP) These Jewish Women Are Running For Office Because Of Trump
THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!! RESPECT, PLEASE!WASHINGTON (JTA) — Emily’s List, the organization that encourages women to run for office, reported in April that inquiries from women about running for office on the local, state and national level have skyrocketed — from 900 during the 2016 election cycle to 11,000 since Donald Trump’s election as president.
How many of these would-be lawmakers are Jewish is not known, but a few minutes with a search engine turned up seven who were all eager to talk. And when you ask them what propelled them to the churning uncertainty of seeking election, many of them circle back to two things: family and Donald Trump.
“I joined a synagogue, got involved with early childhood learning, I sat on my temple board,” said Lisa Mandelblatt, describing her life in Westfield, New Jersey, a New York City bedroom community, after she gave up her law practice. “I became a substitute elementary schoolteacher, that was all fine, I liked what was doing. Then there was the election and I was horrified about Trump being elected. I thought about the qualities I had instilled in my children, fairness.” And now she has her sights on a U.S. House seat in New Jersey.
Below are the stories of Mandelblatt and other political newbies like her.
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Jewish women leading the way!!
(JEWISH GROUP) Hate On The Far Left Is Just As Dangerous As Hate On The Far Right
THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!! RESPECT, PLEASE!In his Forward column outlining “19 People Jews Should Worry About More Than Linda Sarsour,” Steven Davidson says that with so many other dangers lurking, he is confounded by the Jewish community’s seeming obsession with the controversial Palestinian-American feminist activist.
I share Davidson’s horror at the presence of figures such as Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka in the Oval Office. I worry deeply, too, about “alt-right” or “alt-lite” figures such as Richard Spencer.
And yet even with the increasing anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia and other forms of hatred we are experiencing, I do worry more about Linda Sarsour than about most of the people on Davidson’s list — at least those involved in domestic American politics. After all, most of the list’s other individuals are known anti-Semites and bigots, fringe figures reviled by significant swaths of the American public.
The issue with Linda Sarsour is that she and many of her colleagues on the far left, including some in the LGBTQ community, are creating a false litmus test for progressive activism, one saying that if you are truly progressive you can’t be a Zionist. And, she is doing that with the aura of mainstream acceptability conferred by her Jewish allies and other prominent supporters for whom I generally have tremendous respect.
American Jews have been at the vanguard of progressive justice movements for more than a century. Being shunned by these movements because of their support for a Jewish state in Israel is devastating, particularly for those who have devoted countless time and energy to advocating for peace and self-determination for both Israelis and Palestinians. Sarsour and others present a false “either-or” choice for politically liberal Jews. When push comes to shove, many younger Jews could feel compelled to stifle their Jewish and Zionist identities in order to continue to be accepted in the social and activist circles they hold dear, whether advocating for LGBTQ rights, an end to police brutality and racial profiling, or preservation of reproductive choice. That is a much longer-term danger than any “alt-right” agitator is.
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Glad to see more articles/opinions like this being expressed. I am sick of those who try to pretend it is a "both sides do it" argument, when it is actually a criticism on anti-Semitism!
(JEWISH GROUP) New 'progressive Zionist' group to march in Chicago SlutWalk
THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!!Calling themselves progressive and Zionist, about a dozen activists plan on marching in a Chicago demonstration against sexual violence to promote the idea that Zionism and liberal values are compatible.
Members of the Zioness initiative, which launched Tuesday, will march together on Saturday at SlutWalk Chicago, a women’s rights demonstration against sexual violence. Zioness members will be marching with banners and T-shirts featuring a design of a woman wearing a Star of David necklace.
Organizers of the SlutWalk initially said that they would ban Stars of David from the event, but later altered their policy to allow religious symbols but not national flags.
The SlutWalk policy came in the wake of a controversy over the Chicago Dyke March in June, when three Jewish participants at the LGBTQ demonstration were ejected for carrying LGBTQ Pride flags adorned with the Star of David. Dyke March organizers said the women were advocating for Israel at an anti-Zionist event.
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“We oppose all oppressive governments whether they be the United States or Israel, as we recognize these regimes often disproportionately oppress women and femmes. We find it disgusting that any group would appropriate a day dedicated to survivors fighting rape culture in order to promote their own nationalist agenda,” SlutWalk Chicago continued.
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I just had to include that last paragraph to highlight their fucking hypocrisy as it is just laughable!
(JEWISH GROUP) The antisemitism of Kevin Myers is a timely reminder of how prejudice hibernates
THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!! RESPECT, PLEASE!Overt antisemitism is now unacceptable, but that doesn't mean prejudice against Jewish people is extinct.
How could anyone look at the words “Jews are not generally noted for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest possible price” and think, “yeah, this is fine to publish in a national newspaper”?
That was my first response to the article by Kevin Myers in the Irish edition of the Sunday Times this weekend, and a question I’ve asked myself repeatedly since.
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I have good friends who have used exactly the same offensive stereotype to my (half-Jewish) face. I remember one, when a handful of us were eating at a restaurant, asking whether we should order another bowl of dumplings. I said no, I wasn’t hungry, to which he responded: “Stop being such a Jew.”
That kind of comment will be wearingly familiar to many with a Jewish background, but there is something instructive in why my lefty, liberal friends thought it OK to say something they knew was antisemitic. It was because, as far as they were concerned, antisemitism is no longer a problem.
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(JEWISH GROUP) A Plea to the Left: Stop Defending Anti-Semitism
THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!! RESPECT, PLEASE!Jewish Americans have a proud history of fighting for a more just and equitable America. Today, that heritage is being threatened as high profile organizations and individuals seek to push Jews out of justice movements. But rather than denouncing these movements, some leaders in the Jewish community and social justice movements are making concessions, excusing, or ignoring, or even accepting this anti-Semitism as the cost of doing business. This has to stop, not least because it’s Jews who live at the cross-section of multiple marginalized communities who have the most to lose and who pay the highest cost.
Leaders of our social justice community who I respect and admire, both Jewish and non-Jewish, are ignoring the urgent threat — and growing acceptance — of anti-Semitism in social justice movements. It’s as though they believe that justice for marginalized people is somehow strengthened when we swallow hatred against us.
But accepting the anti-Semitic behavior of other marginalized groups does not strengthen them – it weakens them. Jewish Americans need our leaders to stand against the normalization of anti-Semitic behavior and rhetoric in progressive communities. Troublingly, Jews at the intersection of various marginalizations (LGBTQ Jews, Jews of color, Jews who are immigrants, Jews who are living in poverty) are facing the terrifying prospect of alienation from the very movements that are supposed to be fighting for their lives. This is something Jewish leaders must stand against as advocates for justice.
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This goes to our internal work as well. Many of our best leaders are working to make our institutions more welcoming and accessible to all Jews. Part of that justice work means drawing a clear line between those who accept with open arms Jews who have intersecting marginalizations, and those who exclude them or demand litmus tests. When we think of intersectional theory, we must apply that lens to anti-Semitism.
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BRAVA!
(JEWISH GROUP) Jewish artist takes on Twitter for enabling anti-Semitism
THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT, PLEASE!An Israeli-German artist best known for his “YOLOCAUST” project, which combined selfies taken at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial with images of concentration camp victims, released a video Monday targeting Twitter’s failure to address online anti-Semitism and racism, with a series of offensive tweets drawn on the ground at the social media giant’s offices.
In the video, Shahak Shapira said that despite alerting Twitter of some 300 tweets containing offensive content, the company had failed to delete most of the messages. He added that in nine of the cases, he was told the tweets were not in violation of the company’s policies.
Due to Twitter’s inaction over the offensive tweets, Shapira decided that “if Twitter forces me to see those things, then they’ll have to see them too,” leading him to travel to the company’s Hamburg offices and draw 30 of the tweets outside the entrance using chalk from a spray can.
Among the tweets that Shapira painted on the ground were messages such as “JEWISH PIG,” “LET’S GAS SOME JEWS TOGETHER,” “GAYS TO AUSCHWITZ,” and “GERMANY NEEDS A FINAL SOLUTION FOR ISLAM,” next to which he wrote “HEY TWITTER: DELETE THIS CRAP.”
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This was also posted in GD: Man spraypaints Twitter office sidewalk with abusive tweets it refuses to delete.
Also see the article about him on his creation, The YOLOCAUST.
Notorious Holocaust denier Ernst Zndel dies in Germany
Convicted Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel, who served jail time for inciting racial hatred, has died in Germany at the age of 78, local media reported on Monday.
Zündel, one of the leading figures in the denial movement, died on Saturday at his home in the southwestern spa town of Bad Wildbad, his sister Ingrid was quoted by DPA news agency as saying.
Zündel, who lived in Canada for decades before being extradited in 2005 over his anti-Semitic views, was sentenced to five years' prison by a German court in 2007 for repeatedly disputing the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis in the Second World War.
He was freed in 2010, with time spent behind bars before his trial counted as part of his sentence.
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To paraphrase Bette Davis:
You should never say bad things about the dead, only good… Ernst Zündel is dead. Good!
May his supporters and other anti-Semites (and their casual defenders) follow his lead and be nothing more than a pathetic footnote in history!
Media Matters Cristina Lpez explains how the White House uses dog whistles to appeal to the "alt-r
Media Matters’ Cristina López explains how the White House uses dog whistles to appeal to the "alt-right"
Cristina López on PRI’s The World: Dog whistles like “cosmopolitan” “allow you to appeal to a certain part of the population that it wouldn’t be OK to appeal in a general speech, like the White House press briefing. But these groups are attuned, and they are listening.”
MARCO WERMAN (HOST): It may sound a little like it falls into the category of the word "elitist," but "cosmopolitan" also has an ugly history of anti-Semitism. Nazis in Germany and Joseph Stalin both weaponized the word. Cristina López is a senior researcher at Media Matters. She's been following trends in language used by white supremacists and the "alt-right." So, what does a word like "cosmopolitan" actually signal to white supremacists, Cristina?
CRISTINA LÓPEZ: Well, like you very well said -- antisemitism has a long, ugly tradition of using cosmopolitanism as a dog whistle. And the thing about dog whistles is that they work kind of like easter eggs -- you have to know what you're looking for to find them. So, therefore, they kind of, like, land with a very specific kind of audience, but fly over the heads of everybody else. So, on a sort of speech that was meant for public consumption, like yesterday's press briefing, Stephen Miller was able to just throw in the word "cosmopolitan" and make it sound like he meant "elitist." And, when confronted by anyone, he would be able to say, you kno, "Well, no. Of course you're making this up, I am myself Jewish" or be able to get away with it. And the thing about dog whistles is that they have to work into a larger context, and the context that we have in this particular instance is that the White House in the past 24 hours has cited explicitly groups that are anti-immigrant nativist groups -- Stephen Miller cited the Center for Immigration Studies, and the White House website had the praise from the group the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, and the group NumbersUSA. These groups have been labeled hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center. So, those citations that are so explicit leave very little room for interpretation to whether we should call it a dog whistle or not.
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This will inspire anti-Semitism from all directions.
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