Uncategorized
7 ways NYC is marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day
(New York Jewish Week) – International Holocaust Remembrance Day is on Friday, marking 78 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp. In commemoration of this day, there are numerous events across the city to remember victims and honor survivors of the genocide.
The United Nations designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2005 and, in contrast with Yom HaShoah, which usually falls in late April, the day draws considerable attention from non-Jewish audiences. Since its founding, the day’s capacity to spread messages of stopping bigotry and antisemitism has grown significantly around the world.
Below are concerts, panels and exhibits happening in New York this week aimed at commemorating the day, honoring victims and preventing hate and antisemitism with education and awareness.
1. Yad Vashem’s Book of Names at the United Nations
To mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yad Vashem is exhibiting its Book of Names — a monumental installation containing the names of 4,800,000 victims of the Shoah — at the United Nations headquarters in New York. (Courtesy of Yad Vashem)
At the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Yad Vashem is debuting its Book of Names exhibit, which contains the names of 4.8 million victims of the Holocaust. The names come from Yad Vashem’s central database of victims’ names, which they have been collecting since 1954. The opening of the exhibit will be broadcast on UN Web TV on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and will include remarks from United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan and Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Gilad Erdan. The exhibit will be open to the public until Feb. 17 at the United Nations (405 East 42nd St.). Free.
2. “Talking About the Holocaust in the 21st Century”
Fordham University will bring historians, authors and scholars together at their Lincoln Center campus for a panel discussion on how governments, media and educators can combat Holocaust denial and antisemitism. The panelists include former PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff, Fordham’s Shvidler Chair in Judaic Studies Magda Teter, Professor of Jewish History at University of Virgina James Loeffler, author Linda Kinstler and Holocaust survivor and educator Eva Paddock. In partnership with the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the Under-Told Stories Project of the University of St. Thomas. Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the McNally Amphitheater at Fordham University (140 West 62nd St.). Free and livestream available. Find more information here.
3. “Unmasking Antisemitism”
The Center for Jewish History will host an in-person and livestreamed panel discussion on past and present antisemitism, in collaboration with the United Nations and its new exhibit “#FakeImages: Unmask the Dangers of Stereotypes.” The exhibit, on view until Feb. 21, “challenges antisemitism, stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination and racism by explaining mechanisms of disinformation: propaganda, framing, fake news and conspiracy theory,” according to the UN website. The panel features historians Jonathan Brent (YIVO Institute for Jewish Research), Jason Guberman (American Sephardi Federation), Uffa Jensen (Technical University Berlin), Pamela Nadell (American University), Gavriel Rosenfeld (Center for Jewish History and Fairfield University) and Veerle Vanden Daelen (Kazerne Dossin). Thursday at 6:15 p.m at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th St.). $20. Find more information here.
4. “We Are Here: Songs from the Holocaust”
Harvey Fierstein, Joel Grey, Chita Rivera and Steven Skybell are among the dozens of performers set to appear at the “We Are Here: Songs from the Holocaust” concert at Carnegie Hall on January 26, 2022. (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images, Arturo Holmes/Getty Images, Michael Loccisano / Getty Images) (Design by Mollie Suss)
Broadway stars Harvey Fierstein, Chita Rivera and Steven Skybell and other performers will sing 14 songs written in concentration camps and ghettos during the Holocaust at Carnegie Hall. “What better way to say ‘We Are Here’ than to carry on somebody’s voice from 1940, who was murdered?” co-producer Rabbi Charlie Savenor told the New York Jewish Week. Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Carnegie Hall (881 Seventh Ave.). Tickets starting at $18.
5. “Violins of Hope”
Hear the sounds of resilience, via a collection of violins once played by Jewish victims of the Holocaust that were later restored by Israeli father-son duo Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein. Around two dozen of these violins will be played at a special Friday night Shabbat service at Temple Emanu-El by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s before being displayed in an exhibit at the Upper East Side synagogue until March 28. Friday at 6:00 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El (1 East 65th St.). Register for the Kabbalat Shabbat service here. Get the livestream here. Free.
6. “Brundibár” performed by the Young People’s Chorus of New York City
The Museum of Jewish Heritage will host the Young People’s Chorus of New York City as they perform “Brundibár” (“Bumblebee”), which was a children’s opera by Jewish Czech composer Hans Krása that was performed by the children of the Theresienstadt concentration camp. The operetta will be performed by YPC choristers ages 8-11. The program, which will be livestreamed, will also feature covers of songs by Leonard Cohen, Simon & Garfunkel and Leonard Bernstein. Sunday at 3:00 p.m. at the Museum of Jewish Heritage (36 Battery Pl.). Tickets from $5-$36. Register here for the livestream.
7. “The Role of Mass Media in Holocaust Portrayal”
UJA-Federation of New York will host a panel with film producer and director Nancy Spielberg and author and podcaster Mark Oppenheimer about how the Holocaust has been portrayed in the media and the rise in Holocaust denial. The panel is part of the organization’s “Witness Project,” which aims to instill the memory of the Holocaust in the next generation. The virtual event will take place on Monday at 7:30 p.m. Free. Register here.
—
The post 7 ways NYC is marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Trump extends ceasefire with Iran, even after Iran balks at new round of negotiations
(JTA) — President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he would unilaterally extend the U.S.-Israeli ceasefire with Iran, even though Iran had not agreed to his conditions or even to return to the negotiating table.
Trump announced the decision on Truth Social just hours before the two-week-old deal was set to expire. Citing Iran’s “fractured” leadership, Trump wrote that he had been asked by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to “hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal.”
Vice President JD Vance’s planned trip to Islamabad, where talks were set to take place, was postponed indefinitely after Iran failed to confirm its participation in negotiations.
Trump added that the United States would maintain its naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, despite Iran’s repeated calls for the restrictions to be lifted.
The announcement marked a sharp departure from the president’s statements earlier in the day, telling CNBC that, if a deal was not made before the deadline, “I expect to be bombing.”
In a statement Tuesday, Sharif thanked Trump for his “gracious acceptance” of Pakistan’s request to extend the ceasefire, adding that the country would “continue its earnest efforts for a negotiated settlement of the conflict.”
The announcement adds to uncertain about the war’s future, including for Israelis who lived through six weeks of Iranian bombing, and renews questions about Trump’s commitment to achieving his war goals, which have varied and included blunting Iran’s nuclear ambitions, achieving regime change, and destroying Iran’s stockpile of ballistic missiles. He said earlier this week that he was asking Iran to limit its nuclear program for 20 years, five years longer than was required by the deal struck by Barack Obama in 2015. Trump exited that deal in 2018.
Last week, Trump announced a different ceasefire, between Israel and Lebanon, on Truth Social, contradicting Israel’s claim that the Iran ceasefire would not apply to its fighting with Hezbollah, an Iran-backed proxy in Lebanon.
Trump’s announcement of the ceasefire extension came during the night in Israel, after Israelis began their celebration of Independence Day. It drew criticism from one of his staunchest pro-Israel supporters, the Zionist Organization of America, whose national president Morton Klein said in a statement that “interminable delay is the standard Islamic Iranian regime negotiating tactic” and that acceding to it represented a victory for Iran. The statement did not mention Trump.
The post Trump extends ceasefire with Iran, even after Iran balks at new round of negotiations appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
Alan Dershowitz quits Democratic Party, calling it ‘most anti-Israel party in U.S. history’
(JTA) — Alan Dershowitz, the prominent pro-Israel attorney whose clients have included Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, announced on Monday that he was leaving the Democratic party and registering as a Republican.
Describing himself as a “lifelong Democrat,” Dershowitz wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that he had decided to “bite the bullet and register as a Republican,” citing Democratic support for an arms embargo on Israel last week and the Michigan Senate candidate Abdul el-Sayed’s anti-Israel rhetoric.
“There is no denying that the hard left, anti-Israel wing of the Democratic Party has moved from the fringe to the mainstream,” Dershowitz wrote, adding that “Republicans have their own antisemitic fringe, but for now it remains a fringe.”
The announcement formalized a political evolution for Dershowitz, who defended Trump during his first impeachment and has increasingly broken with Democrats over Israel in recent years.
In 2021, Dershowitz nominated Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, and Avi Berkowitz, Trump’s top Middle Eastern envoy during his first administration, for the Nobel Peace Prize over their hand in shaping the Abraham Accords.
Dershowitz — who has recently faced scrutiny over his ties to Epstein, and previously denied allegations of sexual misconduct made by one of Epstein’s accusers — panned the Democratic Party as the “most anti-Israel party in U.S. history” in the op-ed.
“I believe that the Democratic Party’s hostility to Israel represents a deeper and more dangerous shift away from the center and toward a radical approach that is bad for America and the free world,” Dershowitz wrote, adding that he intended to “work hard to prevent the Democrats from gaining control of the House and Senate.”
Dershowitz’s comments are in line with Trump’s statements about Jews and the Democratic Party. He has repeatedly expressed amazement at how any Jews could vote for the Democrats considering his own record when it comes to Israel.
The post Alan Dershowitz quits Democratic Party, calling it ‘most anti-Israel party in U.S. history’ appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas says Zionists ‘talk like Black people during slavery’
(JTA) — In an interview on a popular web series posted Tuesday, rock musician Julian Casablancas alleged that “American Zionists” are deeply privileged yet behave as if they are “Black people during slavery.”
The comment appears in a 21-minute “uncut” edition of the web series SubwayTakes, in which host Kareem Rahma interviews both famous and up-and-coming New Yorkers about their most controversial opinions.
“Well, it’s been nice having a career,” Casablancas, the frontman for the band The Strokes, said before he dove into his hot take: “American Zionists get the benefits of white privileged people, but talk like they are Black people during slavery.”
Rahma, a comedian, responded immediately, as he always does, with his personal view on the opinion: “100% agree.”
The full-length video was posted to SubwayTakes’ YouTube channel, which has nearly 1 million subscribers. An abridged version without the comments about American Zionists was shared to SubwayTakes’ other channels on Instagram and TikTok, where the project’s followings are larger.
Casablancas’ comments were not unprecedented for him: Earlier this week, his band used its final song at the Coachella music festival to condemn the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and Israel’s campaign in Gaza. The frontman previously signed onto a letter calling for a cultural boycott of Israel.
But his discussion with Rahma pointed to how blanket criticism of “Zionists” has grown commonplace in youth-oriented and left-leaning spaces. In the comments section, some viewers said Casablancas represented a model for how artists should take a stand against Israel and its supporters.
“Julian doubling down on criticising (american) zionists and zionism and american imperialism at large got me feeling hopeful and proud. smart, loud, and so f–king cool,” one commenter wrote on YouTube. “it truly is that easy @ everyone else in the industry.”
The video also marked Rahma’s strongest public comments about Israel, even as neither he nor Casablancas uttered the country’s name. He previously said he asked to press Vice President Kamala Harris for her take on the war in Gaza, which he opposed, during her appearance on the show in 2024 but was rebuffed.
“I’ve never seen something so shocking where they’re like ‘I’m so oppressed. I’m an oppressed person,’” Rahma said after agreeing with Casablancas’ take. “I’m like, ‘You are going to a wedding in Tel Aviv right now, when there are 80,000 dead people — and more — 80,000-plus dead people, including women and children half a mile away.” (The Gaza border is about an hour’s drive south of Tel Aviv.)
Rahma concluded, “Absolutely f—ed. And totally — you know what? I don’t think it’s bad to say that.”
In a further explanation of his “take,” Casablancas acknowledged that the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel was “bad” and also anticipated what those who disagree with him about Israel might say.
“I mean, just for the people that are going to be like, ‘Hamas, Oct. 7 —’ yes, bad,” he said. “But, you know, Native American rebellions didn’t mean it was OK to do what we did. Slave rebellions that were violent didn’t mean that slavery is not bad. You know what I mean? So, that’s the scope of that answer. Just to be — for the haters, for the media illiterate.”
In the 21-minute SubwayTakes video, Casablancas also came out against long audio voice messages and said that conservatives and progressives need to come together and “do a non-corporate consensus populist party, fight the billionaire gang agenda villains.”
When Rahma suggested that Americans should be allowed to stop paying taxes if the United States bombs their native country, Casablancas noted, “I know Iranian Americans that want America to bomb Iran, though.”
Rahma, who is Egyptian-American, is the creator of “Keep the Meter Running,” a web series where he interviews cab drivers and asks them to take him to their favorite place while keeping the meter running. In an August 2023 episode, he meets a Bukharian cab driver from Uzbekistan who takes him to 2nd Avenue Deli, a kosher staple on the Upper East Side.
The post Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas says Zionists ‘talk like Black people during slavery’ appeared first on The Forward.