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Berkeley AEPi shellfish dump wasn’t antisemitic vandalism, police and fraternity say
(J. Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — Police investigating shellfish dumped on the grounds of the Jewish fraternity at the University of California, Berkeley, say they are no longer treating the vandalism as a potential hate crime.
Alpha Epsilon Pi had said it interpreted the strewn shellfish as “act of antisemitic vandalism” because shellfish is barred by Jewish dietary laws. But the fraternity, university and local police since learned that AEPi’s house wasn’t the only target, they all confirmed.
“The Berkeley Police Department has determined that a hate crime did not occur,” Jessica Perry, a Berkeley police public information officer, said in an email on Thursday. “We confirmed that multiple fraternities had shellfish dumped in their yards on the early morning of August 26th. We want to reiterate that our department did not take this investigation lightly and confirmed through further investigation that the involved students did, in fact, not target Alpha Epsilon Pi.”
The incident began before 1 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, the first Shabbat of the school year, when a fraternity brother noticed a half-dozen people with a bucket approach the house, Jadon Gershon-Friedberg, a UC Berkeley senior and AEPi chapter president who lives in the fraternity house, said earlier this week.
He and other fraternity members immediately checked around neighboring fraternity houses early Saturday to see whether shellfish had been dumped outside other fraternity houses. They concluded at the time that their house was the only target.
Gershon-Friedberg did not respond to requests for comment after the revelation that vandalism had taken place at multiple locations.
The Berkeley chapter of AEPi expressed relief in a statement but said the incident had left Jewish Berkeley students with concern.
“While we can’t imagine the rationale for this, we are gratified to know that AEPi may not have been specifically singled out because of our commitment to being Jewish,” the statement continued. “Ignorance, however, does not excuse antisemitism and this event has contributed to an environment in which Jewish students are concerned for their safety and being discriminated against.”
The UC Berkeley administration earlier this week said it was investigating “what appears to be a hateful incident of antisemitism.” But the administration confirmed that the shellfish dump “may have occurred at multiple fraternities,” according to an email from UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof on Wednesday afternoon.
“To be clear, regardless of the facts as they unfold, we understand that the members of AEPi experienced this as an antisemitic attack and in conversations that have been had with AEPi leaders, that sense of harm was very evident,” Mogulof said in the email. “When dealing with the emotional and social fallout from incidents of bias and bigotry, intent can be distinct from impact.”
AEPi said it had heard from people responsible for the vandalism. “At least some of the people who perpetrated this act have come forward to our chapter’s leadership and apologized for their actions,” it said in its statement.
The fraternity said it would raise funds for the Anti-Defamation League’s Antisemitism Response Center, a new partnership with AEPi and its 150 local chapters to help members report and respond to acts of antisemitism on campuses.
“We hope to help our campus heal and move forward,” the group said in its statement.
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The post Berkeley AEPi shellfish dump wasn’t antisemitic vandalism, police and fraternity say appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Iran’s Oil Minister Visits Oil Export Terminal as Israeli Strike Feared
A gas flare on an oil production platform in the Soroush oilfields is seen alongside an Iranian flag in Iran, July 25, 2005. Photo: Reuters / Raheb Homavandi / File.
Iran’s oil minister landed on Kharg Island, home to the country’s main export terminal, and held talks with a naval commander on Sunday, the oil ministry’s news website Shana reported, amid concern Israel could attack energy facilities.
An Israeli military spokesman said on Saturday that Israel would retaliate in response to last week’s missile attack by Tehran “when the time is right.”
US news website Axios cited Israeli officials as saying Iran’s oil facilities could be hit, while US President Joe Biden said on Friday that he did not think Israel had yet concluded how to respond.
Iran is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with production of around 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd), or 3% of global output. Iranian oil exports have climbed this year to near multi-year highs of 1.7 million bpd despite US sanctions.
Most of its oil and gas wealth is located in the south of the country, where the Kharg Island terminal is situated and from which around 90% of Iranian oil exports are shipped.
Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad arrived on Sunday “to visit the oil facilities and meet operational staff located on Kharg Island,” Shana reported, adding that the oil terminal there has the capacity to store 23 million barrels of crude.
State media reported Paknejad met with Mohammad Hossein Bargahi, a Revolutionary Guards Navy commander, to check the security of Iran’s South Pars gas platforms and assess the effective actions of the Guards’ 4th Naval Region.
“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy plays an important role in the security of oil and gas facilities,” Paknejad was quoted as saying.
China, which does not recognize US sanctions, is Tehran’s biggest oil customer and according to analysts imported 1.2 to 1.4 million barrels per day from Iran in the first half of 2024.
The post Iran’s Oil Minister Visits Oil Export Terminal as Israeli Strike Feared first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says France’s Call for Halting Sales of Arms Used in Gaza is a ‘Disgrace’
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks as he meets with his Moldovan counterpart Maia Sandu (nos seen) at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, February 4, 2021. Photo: Reuters/Benoit Tessier
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit out at France’s President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday for saying that shipments of arms to Israel used in the conflict in Gaza should be stopped as part of a broader effort to find a political solution.
“Shame on them,” Netanyahu said of Macron and other Western leaders who have called for what he described as an arms embargo on Israel.
“Israel will win with or without their support,” he said in a pre-recorded video released by his office, adding that calling for an arms embargo was a disgrace.
Macron earlier told France Inter radio that the priority was “to get back to a political solution (and) that arms used to fight in Gaza are halted. France doesn’t ship any.”
“Our priority now is to avoid escalation. The Lebanese people must not in turn be sacrificed, Lebanon cannot become another Gaza,” he added.
France is not a major weapons provider for Israel, shipping military equipment worth 30 million euros ($33 million) last year, according to the defense ministry’s annual arms exports report.
Macron’s comments come as his Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot is on a four-day trip to the Middle East, wrapping up on Monday in Israel as Paris looks to play a role in reviving diplomatic efforts.
The post Israel Says France’s Call for Halting Sales of Arms Used in Gaza is a ‘Disgrace’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After a Year of War, Wounded Israeli Reservists Face Long Road to Recovery
Aaron Bours, 34, an Israeli reservist and marketing manager who was severely wounded fighting in Gaza, participates in physical therapy as he recovers at Sheba Medical Centre in Ramat Gan, Israel September 23, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Ten months after he was shot in the leg by a sniper in Gaza, Israeli reservist Aaron Bours is walking on crutches and hoping to make a full recovery from the wound he sustained trying to rescue his officer in an ambush.
“There were bullets all around me,” Bours said.
Three hours after he was shot, he was in surgery at Sheba Medical center near Tel Aviv where doctors were able to save his leg. Long months of intense rehabilitation followed.
Some 300,000 reservists were called up at the beginning of the war and many have served for months on multiple tours. Their experience, and the experience of the families they left, will color attitudes in Israel for years to come.
As of September, more than 10,000 wounded soldiers have been treated by the Rehabilitation Department of the Ministry of Defense since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that triggered Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip.
More than two thirds of those treated have been reservists who returned to their military units from civilian life.
Just over a third are dealing with limb injuries, with the rest dealing with a variety of internal and spinal injuries, as well as eye, ear and head wounds that underscore the intense combat in the ruins of Gaza.
Israel Dudkiewicz, the doctor who runs the rehabilitation center at Sheba Medical Center, said the hospital understood on Oct. 7 that they would need to expand to receive an influx of wounded patients. With around a quarter of its staff called as reserves themselves, the hospital added beds and opened three new wings to treat the injured.
“I can’t say it wasn’t challenging,” said Dudkiewicz. “But in the end we were able to provide service.”
But the impact of serious injuries on reservists, who will return to civilian life when the fighting is over, will be felt for many years.
Yosi Sochr, 34, was severely wounded when an explosive device was detonated remotely. Doctors are still not sure if he will ever regain full use of his left arm and shoulder, which were hit by a piece of shrapnel.
So far he can move his hand but not the rest of his arm.
“It was hard,” said the reservist in the hospital bed next to his wife. “I’m not a 20-year-old kid. I have a whole world around me – when I just disappear, it’s felt.”
The post After a Year of War, Wounded Israeli Reservists Face Long Road to Recovery first appeared on Algemeiner.com.