RSS
Anti-Israel Activists Organize ‘Vote Uncommitted’ Campaign in New Jersey Democratic Primary to Pressure Biden
Anti-Israel protesters demonstrate in front of Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck, New Jersey, US, on March 10, 2024. Photo: Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
Anti-Israel activists are encouraging New Jersey residents participating in the Democratic primary for this year’s US presidential election to vote “uncommitted” in support of “justice for Palestine” and a “permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, in lieu of voting for President Joe Biden.
The initiative, spearheaded by the group “Vote Uncommitted New Jersey,” aims to use political pressure to change the Biden administration’s approach to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The strategy to get voters to mark “uncommitted” on their ballots mirrors other efforts by anti-Israel groups to use the Democratic primary as an outlet to signal their disgust with Biden’s support for the Jewish state.
The campaign is part of a larger effort by anti-Israel activists to portray Israel’s military response to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel as a “genocide.”
“Voting ‘Uncommitted’ will let the Democratic Party and general public know what’s at stake and how many voters they’re losing over their unwavering position on the genocide in Gaza,” the group writes on its website. “This will pressure the Biden administration to reconsider their position and call for a ceasefire.”
The group adds that Biden’s “defeat is certain” in the upcoming election against presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump if he does not adopt an anti-Israel posture.
“Thousands of New Jerseyans have demanded an end to the genocide of the Palestinian people. Biden is on track to lose the election to Trump unless he chooses to listen to the working class of this country and change course. Defeat is certain if he fails to do so,” the group continues.
The organization is also demanding that Biden secure an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” along with “the immediate and unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid” in Gaza.
Wednesday is the first day when New Jersey voters can go to polling places across the state to cast early in-person ballots. They will be able to cast votes for the presidential race, one US Senate seat, and all 12 of the state’s seats in the US House of Representatives. Voters can also choose party candidates in local and county races.
More than 235,000 people have already voted in the state using mail-in ballots. According to an official sample ballot shared with The Algemeiner, the third option listed for voters in the presidential contest — under the names of Biden and progressive activist Terrisa Bukovinac — is “Uncommitted,” under which are the words: “Justice for Palestine, Permanent Ceasefire Now.”
“Vote Uncommitted New Jersey” does not mention or condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack, which started the ongoing war in Gaza when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded Israel, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped over 250 others as hostages. Nor does it mention the significant amount of aid that has flowed into Gaza. Between March and April alone, over 10,000 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza, according to data compiled by the United Nations. However, gangs and Hamas itself have reportedly ransacked aid trucks and stripped them of their goods, complicating relief efforts in the war-torn enclave.
Suraj Patel, an organizer with “Vote Uncommitted New Jersey” said in an interview that he believes supporting the Palestinian cause will help usher in a socialist economic system.
“From the beginning, we saw this as a campaign aligned with our socialist values,” Patel told the Democratic Socialists of America.
“What we are doing in New Jersey, deep community organizing, statewide collaboration, leadership development, I believe is the raw material for a real independent full-throated socialist party, with deep roots in labor, immigrant communities, and the multiracial working class, that can go toe to toe with the Democrats and the Republicans in our state,” he added.
In February, US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), an anti-Israel firebrand and the first Palestinian American woman in Congress, endorsed the “vote uncommitted” effort in Michigan and would not clarify whether she will support Biden’s reelection effort.
“We feel completely neglected and just unseen by our government. If you want us to be louder, then come here and vote uncommitted,” Tlaib said.
Primary day in New Jersey is set for next Tuesday.
The post Anti-Israel Activists Organize ‘Vote Uncommitted’ Campaign in New Jersey Democratic Primary to Pressure Biden first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling last year overturned a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox students, a policy established when the community comprised a far smaller segment of the population than the 13 percent it represents today.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by the military spokesperson confirmed the orders on Sunday just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious as Israel’s armed forces in recent years have faced strains from simultaneous engagements with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardize their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programs to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out this month.
The post Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the terrorist group Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.
“… the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime”.
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
PRESSURE
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.
The post Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation’s Jewish community.
There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said.
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement.
The suspect, whom the authorities declined to identify, was remanded in custody after his case was heard at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday and no application was made for bail, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police.
The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews.
It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne’s oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to “condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together”.
“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,” Herzog said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as “severe hate crimes” that he viewed “with utmost gravity.” “The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,” Netanyahu said on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law’s full force.
“My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” Albanese posted on X.
Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
The post Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.