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Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles Concludes Its Sold-Out Run With More Than 7,000 Attendees

From left: Ynon Kreiz, Gal Gadot, and Meir Fenigstein attend the 36th Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles opening night on Nov 13, 2024 in Los Angeles. Photo: Jordan Strauss/JanuaryImages

The 36th Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles recently ended with sold-out screenings, more than 7,000 attendees, and the most sponsors in its history of nearly four decades.

The film festival, which is the largest display of Israeli films in the United States, took place Nov. 13-26 after a two-year hiatus due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. It ran across six theaters located in Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, and Encino, and included screenings of more than 40 feature films, documentaries, and student short films from Israel’s film schools. Audience members were also treated to post-screening Q&A’s with a total of 20 Israeli filmmakers and other members of the film industry.

“Los Angeles audiences thoroughly embraced the return of the Israel Film Festival, which had been postponed due to the war in the Middle East,” said Meir Fenigstein, founder and executive director of the Israel Film Festival. “Residents from Santa Monica and Beverly Hills to the San Fernando valley gathered to be entertained and celebrate Israeli culture, storytelling, its filmmakers, and talent both behind and in front of the camera. As our hearts ache for so many affected by the war, the sense of community was pervasive as people shared, learned, and were reminded of all that Israel has to offer.”

“Come Closer,” which is Tom Nesher’s directorial debut and Israel’s submission for the Academy Awards in the category of best international feature film, received the film festival’s Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film. The film is about a young woman named Eden who struggles to cope with the sudden death of her brother. After he is killed in a car accident, Eden discovers that her brother had a secret girlfriend. The two women lean on each other for support and bond in their grief, but their relationship becomes obsessive, passionate, and dangerous.

The Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary was given to “The Child Within Me,” directed by Yaniv Amoday and Eti Aneta and winner of the Ophir Award for Best Documentary Film. The film spotlights the musical career and personal life of Israeli musician Yehuda Poliker. The festival’s Audience Choice Award for Best Student Film was awarded to “Girl NO. 60427,” which is about a young girl who finds and reads a secret notebook that her grandmother kept during the Holocaust. The film was directed by Shulamit Lifshitz, who is a student at The Ma’aleh School of Film and Television in Jerusalem, and previously won the BAFTA Student Film Award for Best Live Action Film.

Israeli actress and producer Gal Gadot awarded the 2024 IFF Industry Leadership Award to Mattel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ynon Kreiz, who helped spearhead the company’s first and highly successful global film “Barbie.” The 2024 IFF Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Israeli actor and comedian Shaike Levi.

This was the first year that the Israel Film Festival hosted a Community Partner screening series, in which nonprofit Jewish and Israeli organizations in Los Angeles sponsored more than 20 exclusive premiere screenings for their members. The festival also hosted for the first time a panel of Israeli-American producers discussing the possibility of co-productions between American and Israeli film industries.

The 37th Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles is scheduled to take place in November 2025.

The post Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles Concludes Its Sold-Out Run With More Than 7,000 Attendees first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli Soccer Team Pays Tribute to Murdered Bibas Family With Special Orange Jerseys

A special jersey created by Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. to honor Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas. Photo: Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C./Instagram

The professional Israeli soccer team Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv FC honored the late Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas, who were murdered by Hamas terrorists, by wearing special orange jerseys that featured their images during Monday night’s game

On the front of the bright orange jerseys was a drawing of Shiri, 32, hugging her two red-headed sons. All three family members were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, held captive in the Gaza Strip, and then brutally murdered. Their names were written in Hebrew underneath the drawing on the jersey, which also had a Hebrew message on the front that said: “We will not forget, and we will not forgive.” Three black hearts appeared under the image of Shiri and her boys.

Additionally on the jersey was a special logo that Bnei Yehuda created for Shiri’s husband, Yarden Bibas, who was also kidnapped and survived Hamas captivity.

The team’s traditional logo is orange and features a standing lion that has one paw on a soccer ball and another paw holding a Star of David. In honor of the Bibas family, the team added to the lion’s chest an image of a ribbon that symbolizes a call for the return of all the hostages abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. Above the lion there was a message in English that read “We Will Never Forget,” and below the animal it read, “Bibas Family.”

“Bnei Yehuda is the orange group of Israel,” the team said in an Instagram post. “Our color symbolizes community, commitment, and family, and when the whole world was exposed to Ariel and Kfir’s ginger hair, the connection was instantaneous. Tonight, the color orange takes on an even deeper meaning — not only our identity, but also our way of remembering, honoring, and perpetuating.”

The club also announced that it will rename two teams in its youth department to further honor the Bibas children. The teams will be called “Bnei Yehuda — Kfir Bibs Tel-Aviv” and “Bnei Yehuda — Ariel Bibs Tel-Aviv.”

The team said, “As a club with a huge soul and heart, we decided to perpetuate the name of Ariel and Kfir in a way that will stay for generations.”

Eliran Oved, the manager of Bnei Yehuda, said the bright orange color of the jerseys “will always remind us to remember, not forget, and continue to embrace our community with genuine love.”

Bnei Yehuda players wore the special jerseys during Monday night’s game against Hapoel Ramat Hasharon. Bnei Yehuda won the game 2-0 and dedicated the victory to the Bibas family. Yarden Bibas later thanked the team for honoring his late wife and children with the special jerseys, saying it gave him “goosebumps” to see.

Ariel was 4 and Kfir was 10 months old when they were murdered in November 2023 during Hamas captivity, according to the Israel Defense Forces. They were held hostage in Gaza for 503 days, and their bodies were returned to Israel last week on Thursday. Hamas claimed they returned Shiri’s dead body that same day, but after the body’s return to Israel, forensic examination showed that it did not belong to her. Hamas turned over her real body to Israel on Saturday.

Forensics examination of Kfir and Ariel’s bodies revealed that Hamas terrorists killed the brothers “with their bare hands,” said IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. “Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered by terrorists in cold blood,” Hagari explained. “The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys — they killed them with their bare hands. Afterwards, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities.”

Abducted when he was 9 months old, Kfir was the youngest hostage kidnapped by terrorists from Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the youngest to have been killed. Shiri’s parents, Margit and Yosi, were also murdered by Hamas during their deadly rampage across southern Israel. Three generations were murdered by Hamas terrorists that day, as well as the Bibas family dog. Yarden was kidnapped but released by Hamas on Feb. 1 as part of a ceasefire agreement between the terrorist group and Israel. Sixty-three hostages are still being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The post Israeli Soccer Team Pays Tribute to Murdered Bibas Family With Special Orange Jerseys first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Here’s What New York’s Governor Needs to Do About CUNY

CUNY pro-Hamas students and supporters setup encampment at the school’s campus in New York City on April 25, 2024. Photo: Steve Sanchez via Reuters Connect

It is time for New York Governor Kathy Hochul to put some teeth into New York State’s Executive Order 157, by disciplining the Professional Staff Congress of CUNY. 

According to New York State’s Office of General Services, Executive Order No. 157 (EO 157) directs State entities to “divest all public funds supporting the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel. The first-in-the-nation action will ensure that no State agency or authority engages in or promotes any investment that would further the harmful and discriminatory Palestinian-backed Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign in New York State.”

This Executive Order was signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo on June 5, 2016. EO 157 is still in effect.

The Professional Staff Congress (PSC) is the union that represents approximately 30,000 professors and staff who are employed by the City University of New York (CUNY) and the CUNY Research Foundation.

PSC membership is open to full-time and part-time professors, and staff who have retired. On January 23, 2025, the delegate assembly of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) approved the, “PSC and NYCERS [sic] Israeli Investments Divestment Resolution” (PSC BDS Resolution). The Delegate Assembly is the principal governing body of the Professional Staff Congress, and the policy forum for the PSC. The Assembly discusses, debates, and designs the policy positions of the PSC. This resolution calls for divestment of PSC assets from Israel and Israeli companies. 

Here is the relevant part of the resolution:

And, be it further resolved that the Professional Staff Congress shall divest its own funds from any investment vehicle that includes in its portfolio stocks and bonds of Israeli companies and Israeli government bonds no later than the end of January 2026, and shall continue in good faith to try to meet that investment objective.

The PSC resolution clearly supports the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (BDS) movement that seeks to weaken, isolate, and delegitimize Israel. The PSC resolution states: 

Whereas, in the past, such as during the period of apartheid rule in South Africa, American institutions such as colleges and labor unions have used the tool of divestment to show their disapproval of state policies that violate international human rights laws, and also to weaken those states economically.

This PSC CUNY resolution places the PSC in direct conflict with the State of New York. How can the CUNY PSC be the representative of CUNY employees if New York State is prohibited from negotiating and signing contracts with the PSC?

I am a member of the CUNY Professional Staff Congress and I am outraged. I hope I am not alone.

The January, 2025 resolution of the PSC Delegate Assembly is just like their June 10, 2021 “Resolution in Support of the Palestinian People” (CUNY PSC Resolution in Support of the Palestinian People, June 10, 2021).

The 2021 screed is a one-sided polemic that places the entire blame for the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians squarely on Israel. It is clear from the text of the 2021 resolution — “Whereas, Israel’s pattern and practice of dispossession and expansion of settlements, dating back to its establishment as a settler colonial state in 1948” — that the PSC views Israel as an imposed state, not a legitimate country. 

EO 157 asserts: “the State of New York will not permit its own investment activity to further the BDS campaign in any way, shape or form, whether directly or indirectly” (EO 157). 

The intention of the PSC to divest its assets from Israel and Israeli companies is clear support of the BDS campaign, and this requires Governor Hochul to act.

It is now incumbent upon Hochul to enforce EO 157 and cut direct and indirect financial support to the PSC until the PSC revokes its commitment to actively support the BDS campaign. 

The first move by New York State should be to add the PSC to the list of “Institutions or Companies Determined to Participate In Boycott, Divestment, or Sanctions Activity Targeting Israel” (List of Companies and Institutions that engage in BDS Activity). The second step should be to exclude the PSC from future discussions and negotiations with New York State.

The BDS movement does the propaganda work of Hamas and prolongs the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis. By passing the BDS resolution, the PSC has become complicit in prolonging this catastrophic war that was launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The PSC is certainly not advocating for peace, but rather for the destruction of Israel. 

Charles A. Stone is a Professor at Brooklyn College, CUNY.

The post Here’s What New York’s Governor Needs to Do About CUNY first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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The Bibas Children Were Murdered in Cold Blood; Why Won’t the World Admit It?

Ariel and Kfir Bibas. Photo: Hostages and Missing Families Forum

We are publishing the details confirmed by Israel regarding the Bibas family‘s deaths because Yarden Bibas has expressed his wish for the world to know how his beloved wife and children were killed.

According to Israeli officials, four-year-old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir Bibas were strangled to death by their Palestinian captors. Their bodies were then mutilated with rocks to simulate the effects of an airstrike.

These findings were confirmed in a forensic examination conducted in Israel after Hamas returned their remains in yet another macabre spectacle in Khan Yunis, where armed terrorists paraded black coffins on stage before an exhilarated crowd.

While the identities of Ariel, Kfir, and fellow hostage Oded Lifshitz—who was also abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz—were quickly confirmed, forensic tests revealed that the remains Hamas had claimed were Shiri Bibas’ actually belonged to an unidentified Palestinian woman. Shiri’s body was only handed over later, transferred to the Red Cross in Gaza before being returned to Israel on Friday.

Israeli officials have determined that Shiri was murdered in the same brutal manner as her sons in November 2023.

The world witnessed the sheer savagery of Hamas terrorists and the Palestinian civilians who joined them as they stormed across the border into Israel on October 7, 2023.

Many of us remember, in excruciating detail, some of the most horrifying moments of that day: the terrorist who called his father to boast that he had killed ten Jews “with his own hands,” using the phone of a woman he had just murdered alongside her husband. The body of Shani Louk, brutalized and lifeless, paraded through Gaza on the back of a pickup truck as a crowd of civilians jostled to further desecrate her remains. The terror on Noa Argamani’s face as she reached for her boyfriend while being sandwiched between two Palestinian men on a motorbike, abducted into Gaza.

Yet even among these horrors, the cold-blooded murder of a mother and her two young children stands apart. It is difficult to grasp such evil, and yet we must. We must say it, again and again: Shiri Bibas and her sons were murdered in Gaza by Palestinian terrorists with their bare hands, their bodies mutilated afterward. They did not die in an airstrike, as Hamas has falsely claimed, and no media organization should be permitted to repeat this lie—parroting the very group responsible for the atrocities of October 7.

Since the release of their bodies, along with six hostages—including two who had been held captive by Hamas for over a decade—we have publicly called out several media organizations that continue to promote the grotesque falsehood that Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Among them: MSNBC, TIME, and the Associated Press.

The tragic confirmation of the Bibas family’s deaths has laid bare—like no other event—just how deeply the Western media has normalized the propaganda of an Islamist terrorist organization that is banned in every single country where these outlets operate.

The New York Times, for example, referred to the Bibas family and Oded Lifshitz as “prisoners” of Hamas, a grotesque distortion of reality. NPR described Hamas handing over the wrong body of Shiri Bibas—despite their prompt delivery of her remains on Friday, proving they knew exactly where she was—as a simple “mistake.” ABC News and The Telegraph went so far as to cast doubt on whether the wrong remains had even been handed over, framing Israel’s DNA-confirmed identification as a mere “allegation.” Both outlets only corrected their reports after swift intervention from HonestReporting.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post obscenely referred to Ariel and Kfir Bibas as “youths”—using language that mirrors Hamas’ own dehumanizing rhetoric. And then there was the BBC’s Jon Donnison, who equated Hamas’ staged propaganda spectacle with Israel, declaring that the “propaganda efforts by both [were] pretty nauseating.”

Let that sink in. A journalist, paid by British taxpayers as per the BBC‘s funding model, compared the parading of the bodies of Israeli children before a crowd in Gaza to something he imagines Israel is doing. It is beyond the pale.

And yet, when HonestReporting’s Editorial Director, Simon Plosker, called Donnison out on X (formerly Twitter), the BBC journalist’s response was frankly embarrassing.

This is where we are now. In some cases, particularly when media outlets issue rapid corrections, these distortions can be attributed to laziness. But in others—like Donnison’s—it is simply Western media acting as a PR machine for a terrorist organization. And in his case, he’s doing it on the British public’s dime.

The pattern is clear: When Hamas lies, too many journalists rush to print it. When Israel tells the truth, they call it an “allegation.”

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post The Bibas Children Were Murdered in Cold Blood; Why Won’t the World Admit It? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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