Tag Archive for American Jews

| November 12, 2014
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Obama to posthumously award 3 Jewish civil rights workers Medal of Freedom

Obama to honor Michael Schwerner & Andrew Goodman both N.Y. Jewish civil rights activists, and James Chaney who were murdered for trying to register African-American voters in Mississippi in 1964 .

 

President Barack Obama is planning to posthumously award three Jewish civil rights workers who were murdered in Mississippi in 1964 the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Goodman Chaney Schwermer

The 1964 FBI poster listing Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney and Michael Schwerner missing. – Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, activists from New York, were trying to register voters in Philadelphia, Mississippi, together with James Earl Chaney, a local African-American, when they went lynched and brutally murdered by members of the KKK on the night of June 21, 1964

“These three young men, and countless others, paid the ultimate sacrifice in an effort to help bring equality to the state of Mississippi,” the office of U.S.

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Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| March 14, 2014
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At FIDF gala, Israeli army’s media machine helps rake in $20 million

 

With the spotlight on Iranian munitions seizure and suave Israeli pilots, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces’ fundraiser in NY, brings in a hefty $20 million in donations.

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The Waldorf ballroom – all three of its gilded tiers – was packed this past Tuesday night, as one of New York’s more visible and popular Jewish charities, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, celebrated its annual gala dinner.

Chief of Staff Lieut. Gen. Benny Gantz speaks at FIDF gala, New York, 2014


Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz speaks at Friends of Israel Defense Forces gala, New York, 2014. – Photo: Shahar Azran

After the recent IDF seizure of an Iranian missile shipment bound for Gaza, the evening morale was high, and so was the socialite buzz.

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Category: The Diaspora | Tags: , , ,
| February 8, 2014
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Historic site of U.S. ‘Jewish Expulsion Order’ by General Ulysses S. Grant

A Jewish resident from Mississippi says the house in which Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, issued the expulsion of Jews during the American Civil War, should be made a museum, local media reports.

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A resident of Oxford, Mississippi petitioned Lafayette County authorities on Monday to recognize a home owned by the county as an historic landmark for its significance to both Civil War and American Jewish history, and to stop plans to turn it into a jail, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported on Wednesday.

A portrait of Ulysses S. Grant

A portrait of Ulysses S. Grant by Ole Peter Hansen Balling – Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Asher Reese, a Jewish resident of Oxford, who has been researching the property found that the house was the headquarters of Major-General Ulysses S.

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Category: Jewish News, The Diaspora | Tags: ,
| December 10, 2013
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Pro-Israel orgs stepping back from confrontation with White House over Iran

AIPAC’s executive director calls for pro-Israel organizations & groups to focus on passing new & stricter sanctions as a means of shaping a final anti-Nuclear deal with Iran.

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When it comes to the deal between Iran and major powers, Israel and the pro-Israel community are retreating from a strategy of confrontation and working instead to influence the contours of a final agreement.

U.S. President Obama speaking at the 2011 AIPAC convention.

U.S. President Obama speaking at the 2011 AIPAC convention. – Photo: AP

In a conference call last week, Howard Kohr, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s executive director, advised pro-Israel activists and leaders not to confront the Obama administration directly over the “difference of strategy” between the United States and Israel on Iran. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| November 27, 2013
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Tug-of-war over American commitment to return Jewish archives to Iraq

 

Iraqi Jews claim materials were forcibly taken from them & should be returned to owners or descendants….not Iraq.

By Reuters

 

 

Jewish books and documents found by U.S. soldiers in the flooded headquarters of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and sent to the United States for restoration have touched off a dispute between Baghdad and Iraqi Jews who fled the country.

A Passover Haggadah from Vienna, 1930

A Passover Haggadah from Vienna, 1930 is pictured after treatment in this undated handout photo from the National Archives obtained by Reuters November 26, 2013.- Photo: Reuters

After a $3 million restoration, the collection has been put on display at the Washington-based National Archives. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , , , ,
| October 17, 2013
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UN Chief: American Jews have made distinct imprint on UN

 

Ban Ki-moon addresses Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations gala in New York, stresses anti-Semitism “has no place in the 21st century.”

By MAYA SHWAYDER, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT

 

 

 

NEW YORK – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the American Jewish community for its partnership in fighting injustice while stressing the need to “stand strong against extremists,” while speaking in New York Tuesday night.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a news conference in Andorra April 2, 2013.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a news conference in Andorra April 2, 2013. – Photo: REUTERS/Albert Gea

At the 50th anniversary tribute gala dinner of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Ban said the UN and American Jewry “share a common goal… and identical values” in the pursuit of “peace and human dignity for all.”

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Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| August 9, 2013
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Kerry tells US Jewish leaders: Palestinian-Israeli peace a ‘strategic imperative’


U.S. Sec of St. Kerry asks American Jews to endorse negotiations between Israel & the Palestinians.

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice briefed Jewish leaders on resumed Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

Kerry and Indyk.

Kerry and Indyk at the State Department in Washington. – Photo: Reuters

The meeting Thursday evening in the White House lasted 90 minutes, participants said, and was characterized mostly by Kerry’s enthusiasm for the resumed talks, and the serious commitment he said saw from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Kerry appeared bullish about talks he has worked assiduously to revive since becoming secretary of state in February, but also nervous about the potential for failure, warning of circumstances – for instance, pressures on Netanyahu – that could undermine the talks. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,