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Israelis Wear Dog Tags in Solidarity With Hostages and Each Other

Military-style dog tags calling for the return of Israeli hostages who have been held in the Gaza Strip since they were seized by Hamas gunmen on October 7, are displayed at a stall in Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, January 11, 2024. The Hebrew reads “Our hearts are held hostage in Gaza”. REUTERS/Dedi Hayun

On Israeli city streets and on television, in shops and in cafes, one symbol of solidarity with hostages held in Gaza has become ubiquitous in the 100 days since Hamas abducted them: military-style dog tags worn on neckchains.

The small metal rectangles, similar to those soldiers carry for identification, are typically inscribed with two slogans in Hebrew, “our hearts are held hostage in Gaza” and “together we will win,” and one in English, “bring them home now.”

“Everyone wants to show their support one way or another,” said Shayna Roth, 36, a digital marketing specialist and mother of three from Modi’in, near Tel Aviv.

“It just makes you feel that no matter where you go, no matter who you meet or talk to, we’re all a nation, undivided.”

Hamas killed 1,200 people during its assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, the worst loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust and the deadliest day in Israel’s 75-year history.

Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel has responded with a military offensive of air strikes and ground operations against the Palestinian terror group in Gaza.

Of the 240 hostages who were kidnapped on Oct. 7, more than 130 are still held captive in Gaza. Their plight, and the anguish of their families, are deeply felt across Israeli society.

Wearing these dog tags really allows us to connect to the families that have been directly affected,” said Roth, who also has pictures of hostages by her Shabbat candles, which in Jewish tradition are lit on Friday evenings to usher in the Sabbath.

‘BEYOND WORDS’

Roth’s mother, Marilee Crowell, was visiting from California and was wearing a dog tag as the two women visited the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem.

Nestled among the food stalls and bakeries in the warren of alleyways, a souvenir shop had several displays of dog tags. It was here that Roth had bought a batch of them to send to her mother and other relatives living in the United States.

Crowell, 78, said she was wearing hers to show her deep empathy with the hostages, their families, and Israelis in general, following the Oct. 7 killings.

“I stand with you in your suffering and yes, we want the hostages back, yes, it’s beyond words. I stand with you, I hold your hand in your grief. That’s what it means to me,” she said. Her daughter had tears in her eyes as she listened.

A steady stream of customers stopped at the souvenir shop and bought dog tags. Among them, Judith, who did not wish to give her family name, bought several, including an unusual model with a religious blessing on it, “God bless you and keep you.”

“Everybody is hurting. Everybody knows somebody who is a soldier, or knows somebody who lives in (the southern) area, so everybody’s involved, it’s one big family. So it’s just showing that we care, that we’re standing together,” she said.

Steven Winston, a visitor from Britain where he runs a pro-Israel group called the National Jewish Assembly, was wearing a dog tag he had bought at “Hostages Square,” in Tel Aviv, where hostages‘ families and supporters have been campaigning.

Winston gave similar reasons for wearing the symbol, adding that he would not hesitate to wear it in London, where police reported a historic surge in antisemitic hate crimes after Oct. 7.

“If someone tried to take it off me, then let them try, but I’m not going to shy away from my identity and my feelings. I’m proud to wear it,” said Winston.

The post Israelis Wear Dog Tags in Solidarity With Hostages and Each Other first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Ex-IDF Soldier Becomes First Republican in 50 Years to Win New York State Assembly Seat in Long Island District

Daniel Norber of 16th District of New York

Daniel Norber was elected in November 2024 to represent the 16th District in the New York State Assembly. Photo: Screenshot

A former officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) became the first Republican to win a state assembly seat in northern Hempstead, Long Island in more than 50 years. 

Daniel Norber narrowly defeated two-term Democratic incumbent Gina Silitti to capture the 16th District of the New York State Assembly. The district encompasses most of Nassau County, an area which maintains a significant Jewish population. 

Norber’s victory came amid a huge surge in support for Republican candidates across the country. US President-elect Donald Trump won the 16th District by over 2,000 votes, assisting Norber, a dual US-Israeli citizen, secure victory in his history-making down-ballot race. 

The ex-IDF officer’s win also came in the midst of increasing antisemitism across the country. In the year following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, Jewish families in Nassau County have reported being targeted with hate crimes

In September, a Jewish family in Nassau County alleged that a suspect urinated on their front door and yelled antisemitic slurs. Months earlier in April, county officials denounced antisemitic graffiti which covered the faces of hostages taken captive by Hamas during the Oct. 7 onslaught. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is Jewish, has also accused Civil Service Employees Association Local 830, an 8,000-member local union, of antisemitism for distributing flyers depicting him with devil horns.  

Silitti, Norber’s opponent, found herself in hot water with the local Jewish community after one of her staffers bashed Israel on social media. 

“She wasn’t sensitive to what was going on. I felt she was out of touch,” Norber, 45, told the New York Post.

Though Norber focused his campaign on domestic issues such as bolstering law enforcement and cutting taxes, he believes that his support for Israel also helped him establish valuable inroads with the local Jewish community. Moreover, his grandparents endured the Holocaust and his mother ran away from communism in the Soviet Union.  

Norber was also on the ground in Israel during the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks with his wife and four kids. 

“It was the worst atrocity to Jews since the Holocaust. Israel is not the same anymore,” Norber said, according to the Post.

Norber has also touted a series of policies which would likely bolster Jewish safety in Nassau County. In the New York State Assembly, he aims to implement a statewide mask ban with the goal of preventing anonymity during protests — a popular tactic employed by activists during anti-Israel demonstrations to hid their identity. The lawmaker also wants to repeal cashless bail, with the intention of reducing the number of violent criminals on the streets.

The post Ex-IDF Soldier Becomes First Republican in 50 Years to Win New York State Assembly Seat in Long Island District first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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‘Challah for Ceasefire’?: Phoebe Maltz Bovy on watching the political tightrope in women’s media

In the before-times, a personal essay in a women’s magazine about home-baked challah, in which the writer discusses how this ritual connects them to their Jewish roots, would be a […]

The post ‘Challah for Ceasefire’?: Phoebe Maltz Bovy on watching the political tightrope in women’s media appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.

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Palestinian Filmmaker Who Accused Israel of ‘Genocide’ Wins Top Prize at Film Festival With Israel-Set Drama

A promotional photo from “Happy Holidays.” Photo: 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival

A Palestinian filmmaker who has accused Israel of “genocide” during the ongoing war in Gaza took home the top prize on Sunday at the 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival for a family drama set in Israel that includes Jewish and Arab characters.

Director Scandar Copti won the Golden Alexander for best feature film and a 10,000-euro cash prize for his film “Happy Holidays,” an Arabic- and Hebrew-language film that follows four interconnected characters who “share their unique realities, highlighting the complexities between genders, generations, and cultures.” One character, named Rami, is a Palestinian from Haifa who must deal with his Jewish girlfriend’s sudden decision to change her mind about her planned abortion.

Copti directed and wrote the screenplay for “Happy Holidays.” He also directed the Oscar-nominated 2009 film “Ajami.”

“Happy Holidays” is Copti’s second film, and it premiered in early September in the 2024 Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section, where it won the award for best screenplay. During his virtual acceptance speech at the Venice Film Festival, Copti accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Gaza, where the Israeli military has been waging a campaign against Hamas terrorists.

“Over the past 11 months, our shared humanity and moral compass has been tested as we witness the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” he said in comments which elicited applause from the audience. He talked about the “painful reality” in Gaza and said “Happy Holidays” examines “how moral narratives can bring us together as communities, but also blind us to the suffering of others. It explores how traditions and indoctrination can distort our values and make injustice seem acceptable.”

“True freedom is interconnected,” he added. “None of us are free until all of us are free, from all sorts of oppression.”

The jury at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival — which included filmmaker and producer Sara Driver, filmmaker Denis Côté, and producer Konstantinos Kontovrakis — applauded Copti’s film “for intricately weaving different narratives and perspectives that fully expose the complexity of national, gender, and class dynamics that can divide societies and for seeing the future in the face of a young woman.”

The post Palestinian Filmmaker Who Accused Israel of ‘Genocide’ Wins Top Prize at Film Festival With Israel-Set Drama first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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