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Henry Ford’s history with antisemitism to become a movie
(JTA) — A lawsuit filed by a Jewish labor activist in 1925 took down Henry Ford’s antisemitic newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, in a real-life drama that riveted Americans.
A century later, the saga is set to become an on-screen drama, too, as a Jewish-interest production company is developing a film based on an academic study of Ford’s antisemitism and the libel lawsuit that blunted its reach.
Leviathan Productions is adapting the 2012 book “Henry Ford’s War on Jews and the Legal Battles Against Hate Speech” by Victoria Saker Woeste, a research professor at the American Bar Foundation. The book focuses on Ford’s acquisition of the Independent in 1919, which he transformed into an antisemitic tabloid while at the height of his fame and influence as an automotive visionary.
Under Ford’s ownership, the Independent published, among other headlines, “The International Jew: The World’s Problem,” and the paper was freely distributed at Ford dealerships. It played a major role in disseminating “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” an antisemitic forgery purporting to detail the secret plan for Jewish world domination, throughout the United States in the interwar period. That document continues to animate antisemitism today.
Aaron Sapiro, a farm workers’ rights advocate, sued the paper for libel in 1925 after it published antisemitic allegations about his California cooperative farming movement. The trial two years later was a major First Amendment case and resulted in Ford agreeing to shutter the paper.
Leviathan Productions launched last year with a goal of bringing more Jewish stories to screen. It was founded by Ben Cosgrove, a film and TV producer whose credits include the Oscar-winning “Syriana,” and Josh Foer, journalist and co-founder of the adventure travel brand Atlas Obscura as well as of the online Jewish text repository Sefaria. The company previously announced that it is producing a film version of “The Pledge,” a nonfiction account of U.S. Jews’ role in Israel’s 1948 war for independence, and a horror film based on the Golem of Prague.
Ford’s antisemitism was also a plot point in the 2020 HBO adaptation of the Philip Roth novel “The Plot Against America.” In the story’s alternate-history United States where Charles Lindbergh becomes president, Ford serves in his cabinet and helps implement antisemitic policies. A recent experimental documentary, “Ten Questions For Henry Ford,” directed by Jewish filmmaker Andy Kirshner, also delved into his antisemitism.
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The post Henry Ford’s history with antisemitism to become a movie appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Hostage Deal talks Stalled as Hamas Rejects New Israeli Framework – Report
US President Donald Trump and Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attend a signing ceremony in Doha, Qatar, May 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
i24 News – i24NEWS’s diplomatic affairs correspondent, Amichai Stein, reported Sunday evening that negotiations over a potential hostage deal have hit a standstill.
According to political sources, “the negotiations are stalled, Hamas is refusing the new framework presented by Israel.”
Throughout the day, no direct negotiation meetings were held. Instead, the small security cabinet is set to convene this evening to discuss the state of the talks.
There is also speculation of a potential meeting between Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and US President Donald Trump to address the impasse and broader regional dynamics.
In parallel, Arab diplomats have reportedly issued a warning to Israel regarding its plan to construct a “humanitarian city” in Gaza. According to sources, diplomats cautioned that the initiative could harm the fragile fabric of the Abraham Accords and inflame regional tensions.
The post Hostage Deal talks Stalled as Hamas Rejects New Israeli Framework – Report first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran: ‘Israel Will Pay the Price’ for Allegedly Trying to Kill Pezeshkian
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivers a speech during the National Army Day parade ceremony in Tehran, Iran, April 18, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was slightly injured in the leg during an Israeli airstrike, according to a report on Sunday by the Iranian news agency Fars, prompting Iran to launch a widespread probe to root out suspected moles that infiltrated the Islamic Republic’s highest ranks.
Al Jazeera cited an unnamed Iranian official who said, “The assassination attempt on President Pezeshkian will not go unanswered – Israel will pay the price.”
According to Fars, which has ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the attack took place on the morning of Monday, June 16, while a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council was held on the lower floors of a building in western Tehran. In addition to the Iranian president, Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the head of the judiciary Mohseni Ajei, as well as other senior regime officials were attending this meeting.
Six bombs or missiles targeted the entry and exit points of the building in order to block evacuation routes and disrupt air circulation, the report said. This operation is said to have been inspired by the elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last year. Following the explosions, power was cut on that floor, but the leaders managed to escape through an emergency exit prepared in advance.
Pezeshkian and several other officials sustained minor leg injuries during the evacuation, according to the agency. Given the accuracy of the information used in the attack, the media outlet reports that authorities are investigating the possibility of collaboration with Israel.
Official confirmation and reactions
A few days earlier, a high-ranking military leader in the Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Rezaei, had stated on state television that Israel had “attacked six locations where the Supreme National Security Council had gathered, but none of its members had suffered even minor injuries.”
Pezeshkian had previously accused Israel of having attempted to assassinate him. “They tried, yes,” he told American journalist Tucker Carlson during an interview last week. “They acted accordingly, but they failed.”
The post Iran: ‘Israel Will Pay the Price’ for Allegedly Trying to Kill Pezeshkian first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hezbollah Violates Ceasefire 7 Times a Day on Average, IDF Figures Show
A drone view of buildings in Lebanon, next to the Israel-Lebanon border, following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, as seen from Metula in northern Israel, Dec. 2, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg
i24 News – The Shiite jihadists of Hezbollah violate the ceasefire agreement with Israel more than seven times a day on average, according to Israel Defense Forces data obtained by i24NEWS and made public for the first time on Saturday.
Israel has flagged upward of 1,200 violations by Hezbollah in its report to the US-led five-country monitoring panel tasked with supervising the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
Of these, 650 violations were relayed to the Lebanese army for handling, while the rest of the times the IDF responded by attacking the violators.
The Lebanese army has identified 390 additional violations on its own initiative and filed a report saying that it had handled them.
Thus official data shows that the Lebanese army handled 52% of all violations, and 440 of the targets Israel flagged by Israel.
The majority of the infractions the Lebanese army manages to stem are concentrated in the south of the country.
The post Hezbollah Violates Ceasefire 7 Times a Day on Average, IDF Figures Show first appeared on Algemeiner.com.