Connect with us

RSS

The abandonment of Israel by LGBT groups is hypocritical and cruel

(JTA) — For more than 30 years, I have stood on the frontlines and been an outspoken leader for LGBT people and families. I have been called every name in the book, my life has been threatened because of my being gay, the police insisted on installing a panic button in my house because of these threats. But that hasn’t stopped the organizing work that I continue to do to bring safety and peace to the LGBT community.

And yet, there’s been times when I’m at LGBT events, where the safety that should be a given quickly dissipates because I am Jewish as well. There are unfortunately countless examples, but one that I will never forget is the protest that occurred at the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Creating Change conference I attended in Chicago in 2016. The protest was organized by pro-Palestinian activists who accused A Wider Bridge, a Jewish LGBTQ organization, of “pinkwashing” Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. 

As I was getting off the escalator to attend a reception hosted by A Wider Bridge, which featured members of Jerusalem Open House, a gay rights group from Israel, and excited about celebrating my pride as a Jew, I saw a throng of angry protesters disrupting the event. The protesters blocked the entrance to the conference hall, chanted slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “Zionism’s gotta go” and took over the stage, preventing the Israelis from speaking. I was both horrified and fearful. Horrified that a disgraceful authoritarian act like this could happen at an LGBT gathering about creating change for equality and justice and fearful that if I even attempted to make my way through that blockade I would be physically hurt by members of my own community, simply for being a Jew.  

I recalled that fear on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, a day of unprecedented bloodshed in Israel’s history. It all began on a Jewish holiday morning when hundreds of terrorists managed to break through the barrier separating Israel and Gaza. They spread out to more than 20 different locations, causing devastation. Tragically, they killed thousands of Israelis on the streets, in their homes and even at an outdoor music festival. They slaughtered whole families, killed children and babies in front of their parents, beheaded and burned bodies, and raped young women next to their friends’ dead bodies. They also took more than 200 people hostage and left thousands injured.

The terrorist attacks that killed the most Jews since the Holocaust was committed by Hamas, a terrorist organization that rules the Gaza Strip and whose mission is to destroy Israel and erase its people. It is a call for all in the LGBT community to speak up loudly and boldly in support of Israel. Hamas is an organization that imposes a harsh and intolerant version of Islamic law on Gaza, where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death. Hamas is an organization that persecutes, tortures and kills LGBT people, or forces them to flee for their lives. Hamas is an organization that denies LGBT people any rights, representation, or recognition

And more than two weeks later, the silence from many prominent LGBT leaders and groups supporting Israel and condemning the Hamas terrorist attacks is deafening. Those that have made brief statements don’t even mention Hamas, skirt right past antisemitism or lump it in with other intersectional identities as false equivalencies and offer no support to LGBT Jews. It is yet another way to appease other identity groups through silencing LGBT Jewish voices and experiences. To make matters worse, some of these so-called LGBT leaders are protesting Israel and using antisemitic tropes that normalize antisemitism and alienate LGBT Jews. We have stood shoulder to shoulder with our movement in the fight for racial equity, trans rights, reproductive justice and many other issues, and the abandonment from these LGBT groups is both hypocritical and cruel.

Israel is a democracy and beacon of hope and freedom for LGBT people in the Middle East, a region where many countries criminalize and persecute us. Israel is the only country in the region that recognizes same-sex marriages performed abroad, allows same-sex couples to adopt children, protects LGBT people from discrimination and violence, and allows us to serve openly in the military. Israel also has a vibrant and diverse LGBT culture, with Tel Aviv being one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world, hosting an annual Pride parade that attracts hundreds of thousands of participants and visitors. It’s a place where we can be our authentic selves.

Israel’s support for LGBT rights is not a recent phenomenon but is a reflection of its democratic values and respect for human dignity. Israel decriminalized homosexuality in 1988, long before many European countries did. Israel’s Supreme Court has been instrumental in advancing LGBT rights, ruling in favor of recognition of same-sex marriages, parental rights, gender identity, and military service. Israel’s civil society and media have also played a role in raising awareness and acceptance of LGBT issues, with many prominent figures coming out as LGBT or expressing their solidarity. This is what we strive for and honor in the United States. Israel should be no different.

Israel’s LGBT community is not monolithic, but diverse and inclusive, representing different backgrounds, religions, ethnicities and political views. Israel’s LGBT community includes Jews, Arabs, Christians, Muslims, immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Israel’s LGBT community also includes Palestinians who have fled from the oppression and violence they face in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death. Israel provides us with shelter, medical care, legal aid and social support. This is what we honor in the United States. Israel should be no different.

Even democratic societies are imperfect, as I’m sure we can all agree having seen what has taken place throughout the United States these last few years. The onslaught of anti-LGBT bills and laws is frightening. And Israel’s support for LGBT rights is not without its own challenges and obstacles. Israel still does not allow same-sex marriages to be performed within its borders, due to the influence of religious authorities who control marriage laws.

But accusations that it uses  its LGBT-friendly image as a tool to divert attention from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or to impose its Western values on the region, are unfounded and unfair. Israel’s support for LGBT rights is a genuine expression of its identity and values. Israel does not seek to interfere with the internal affairs of other countries or impose its views on them. However, Israel also expects other countries to respect its right to do the same, and to refrain from violating the human rights of LGBT people. 

The LGBT community should not be deceived by Hamas’s propaganda or manipulation. Hamas does not care about human rights or humanitarian issues. Hamas does not care about the Palestinians or their aspirations. Hamas only cares about its own power and ideology. Hamas uses the Palestinians as pawns, shields and victims in its war against Israel. Hamas exploits the LGBT community as tools and allies in its campaign against Israel.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Weisel said, “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” The LGBT community and our leaders must take sides, call out evil and clearly stand up in support of Israel and all Jews at this critical time. As history reminds us, silence equals death. 

We must remember our history as a LGBT community when gay men were branded with a pink triangle and sent to Nazi concentration camps to die. Whether we are Jewish or not, all LGBT people have a deep connection to Jewish people because it is a reminder of the shared history of oppression and resistance that both of our communities faced under the Nazi regime. 

We cannot be silent today or ever. The LGBT community must speak up and stand with Israel in this war because it is the right thing to do. It is the right thing to do for Israel, as Israel is a country that stands with us in our struggle for justice and recognition. It is the right thing to do as Israel offers LGBT people freedom, equality, dignity and security. The LGBT community must support Israel in the war against Hamas because it is a matter of principle and survival.


The post The abandonment of Israel by LGBT groups is hypocritical and cruel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Continue Reading

RSS

Jewish Synagogue, Holocaust Memorial Vandalized in Poland After Politician Denies Holocaust

An antisemitic slur spray-painted on the ruins of a former synagogue in Dukla, Poland. Photo: World Jewish Restitution Organization

Two Jewish sites in Dukla, Poland, were vandalized over the weekend mere days after Polish member of the European Parliament (MEP) Grzegorz Braun claimed gas chambers at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp were fake and repeated an antisemitic blood libel in a live radio interview.

Vandals spray-painted the word “F–k” followed by a Star of David on the ruins of a former synagogue that was destroyed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, and a memorial commemorating Holocaust victims located at the entrance of the Jewish cemetery in Dukla was defaced with a swastika and the word “Palestine,” according to the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO). The memorial honors Jews of Dukla and the surrounding areas who were murdered by Nazis during the Holocaust.

The two Jewish sites in Dukla are cared for by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODZ), which was established in 2002 by the Union of Jewish Communities in Poland and the WJRO to protect and commemorate Poland’s Jewish heritage sites.

“These hateful acts are not only antisemitic, but they are also attempts to erase Jewish history and desecrate memory,” said WJRO President Gideon Taylor in a released statement on Tuesday. “Polish authorities must take swift and serious action to identify the perpetrators and ensure the protection of Jewish heritage sites in Dukla and across the country.”

“The vandalism of Jewish sites in Dukla—with swastikas and anti-Israel slurs—is not an isolated act,” insisted Jack Simony, director general of the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation (AJCF), in a statement to The Algemeiner. The nonprofit focuses on preserving the memory of the Jewish community in Oświęcim (Auschwitz) and maintains the Auschwitz Jewish Center, the last remaining synagogue in town.

“While we cannot say definitively that it [the vandalism] was sparked by Grzegorz Braun’s Holocaust denial, his rhetoric contributes to an atmosphere where hatred is emboldened and truth is under assault,” added Simony. “Braun’s lies are not harmless — they are dangerous. Holocaust denial fuels antisemitism and, too often, violence. This is why Holocaust education matters … because when we fail to confront lies, we invite their consequences. Memory must be defended, not only for the sake of the past, but for the safety of our future.”

On July 10, a ceremony was held commemorating the 84th anniversary of the 1941 Jedwabne massacre, when hundreds of Polish Jews were massacred – mostly by their neighbors – in the northeastern town in German-occupied Poland. The ceremony was attended by dignitaries and faith leaders including Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich and Israeli Deputy Ambassador Bosmat Baruch. Groups of anti-Israel and far-right activists — including MEP Braun and his supporters – tried to disrupt the event by holding banners with antisemitic slogans and blocking the vehicles of the attendees, according to Polish radio.

Hours later, during a live radio broadcast, Braun falsely claimed the Auschwitz gas chambers were “a lie” and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum was promoting “pseudo-history.” He also claimed that Jewish “ritual murder is a fact.” Polish prosecutors launched an investigation into Braun’s comments, they announced that same day. Under Article 55 of the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), Holocaust denial is a criminal offense in Poland.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum issued a swift condemnation of Braun’s remarks and said it intents to pursue legal action. The Institute of National Remembrance — which is the largest research, educational and archival institution in Poland – also denounced Braun’s remarks, saying there is “well-documented” evidence supporting the existence of gas chambers. His comments were also condemned by the Embassy of Israel in Poland, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and the US Embassy in Warsaw, which said that his actions “distort history, desecrate memory, or spread antisemitism.” AJCF called on the European Parliament to consider disciplinary measures against Braun, including potential censure or expulsion.

Auschwitz Jewish Center Director Tomek Kuncewicz said Braun’s comments are “an act of violence against truth, against survivors, and against the legacy of our shared humanity.” AJCF Chairman Simon Bergson called the politician’s remarks “blatant and baseless lies,” while Simony described them as “a calculated act of antisemitic incitement” that “must be met with legal consequences and universal moral condemnation.”

The post Jewish Synagogue, Holocaust Memorial Vandalized in Poland After Politician Denies Holocaust first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Coalition of 400 Jewish Orgs and Synagogues Urge Teachers Union to Reverse Decision Cutting Ties with ADL

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. Photo Credit: ADL.

Following a vote by the National Education Association (NEA) on July 6 to end its relationship with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), 400 Jewish communal groups, education organizations, and religious institutions have come together to call for the influential teachers union to change course.

“We are writing to express our deep concerns about the growing level of antisemitic activity within teachers’ unions, particularly since the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023,” the letter to NEA President Becky Pringle stated. “Passage of New Business Item (NBI) 39 at the National Education Association (NEA) Representative Assembly this past weekend, which shockingly calls for the boycott of the Anti-Defamation League, is just the latest example of open hostility toward Jewish educators, students and families coming from national and local teachers’ unions and their members.”

In addition to the ADL, signatories of the letter included American Jewish Committee (AJC), Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Jewish Federations of North America, #EndJewHatred, American Jewish Congress, B’nai B’rith International, CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting & Analysis), Combat Antisemitism Movement, Democratic Majority for Israel, StandWithUs, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Zioness Movement, and Zionist Organization of America (ZOA).

The group told Pringle that “we have heard directly from NEA members who have shared their experiences ranging from explicit and implicit antisemitism within the union to a broader pattern of insensitivity toward legitimate concerns of Jewish members – including at the recently concluded Representative Assembly. We are also deeply troubled by a broader pattern of union activity over the past 20 months that has targeted or alienated Jewish members and the wider Jewish community.”

The letter to Pringle included an addendum providing examples of objectionable rhetoric. These named such incidents as the Oakland Education Association (OEA) putting out a statement calling for “an end to the occupation of Palestine” and the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) accusing Israel of genocide.

The coalition of 400 organizations urged the NEA to “take immediate action” and suggested such steps as rejecting NBI 39, issuing a “strong condemnation” of antisemitism within the union, drafting a plan to counter ongoing antisemitism in affiliate chapters, and opposing “any effort to use an educator’s support for the existence of Israel as a means to attack their identity.”

ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt wrote on X that “Excluding @ADL’s educational resources from schools is not just an attack on our org, but on the entire Jewish community. We urge the @NEAToday Executive Committee to reverse this biased, fringe effort and reaffirm its commitment to supporting all Jewish students and educators.”

The post Coalition of 400 Jewish Orgs and Synagogues Urge Teachers Union to Reverse Decision Cutting Ties with ADL first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Zohran Mamdani Won’t Condemn Calls for Violence Against Jews; Why Are Jewish Leaders Supporting Him?

Zohran Mamdani Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

In the wake of Zohran Mamdani’s surge in New York City politics, a disturbing trend has emerged: prominent Jewish leaders are being urged to join “Jews for Zohran,” a newly formed effort to legitimize a candidate whose record and rhetoric are alarmingly out of step with Jewish communal values.

In a city that’s home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel — and where antisemitic incidents are on the rise — this is a profound mistake.

Mamdani has refused to explicitly condemn the slogan “Globalize the Intifada,” which has been widely understood as a call to violence against Jews. His defenders insist it’s a symbolic plea for Palestinian rights. But nuance offers little comfort when the phrase glorifies violent uprisings, and is routinely chanted alongside calls for Israel’s destruction.

Institutions such as the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and watchdogs like StopAntisemitism.org have made it clear: attempts to sanitize violent language must be firmly rejected.

Mamdani’s vocal support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement is equally troubling. BDS does not merely critique Israeli policy; it seeks to economically isolate and politically delegitimize the Jewish state. When a candidate stands against the most visible symbol of Jewish survival — Israel — while brushing off violent slogans as misunderstood metaphors, we must ask what message this sends to our communities.

The answer should be clear. Jewish New Yorkers were the targets of over half the city’s reported hate crimes last year. From Crown Heights to Midtown, visible Jews have been harassed, assaulted, and mocked. Mamdani was flagged by national antisemitism monitors in December for promoting material that mocked Hanukkah. This is not abstract. This is personal, present, and dangerous.

Yes, Mamdani has pledged to increase hate crime funding from $3 million to $26 million. But that’s not enough. The Jewish community — especially now — needs more than budgetary gestures. We require moral clarity, as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel powerfully stated: “Morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself….”

Moral clarity demands more than financial promises, it requires principled rejection of rhetoric that endangers Jews. Belonging isn’t forged by slogans; it’s proven through sustained empathy, shared responsibility, and unwavering commitment to safety.

Calls for Jewish leaders to publicly support Mamdani, including those made to officials like Brad Lander and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), aim to provide political cover for a candidate whose worldview clashes with core Jewish values. These aren’t harmless endorsements. They’re symbols. And symbols matter.

Endorsing Mamdani sends a troubling signal: that political convenience or progressive branding outweighs communal safety and historical memory. When Jewish leaders align with someone who flirts with the delegitimization of Jewish statehood and refuses to condemn slogans rooted in violence, they are telling our adversaries that our moral lines are negotiable.

New York’s Jewish community has long been a moral compass in American politics. What happens here echoes across the nation. If our leaders can be cajoled into supporting a candidate like Mamdani, what message does that send to Jews in swing districts, smaller cities, and across college campuses? It normalizes equivocation. It emboldens the fringe. It tells the next generation that Jewish dignity is up for debate.

This is about more than Mamdani. It’s about whether Jewish pride and Jewish safety remain non-negotiable pillars of our political participation. Some have argued that this is simply politics as usual — that strategic alliances are part of coalition-building. But the Jewish people know better than most that what begins as a small compromise can metastasize into a much greater danger.

Former Democratic Councilman Rory Lancman said it best: “If ever there was a time to put principle over party, this is it.” He’s right. And that’s why this moment requires Jewish leaders to speak not just as political actors, but as moral stewards.

Jewish leaders are free to engage with any candidate they choose. But engagement is not endorsement. One can listen, challenge, and debate without aligning oneself publicly with a candidate whose positions cross communal red lines. Outreach does not require complicity.

If Jewish political figures join “Jews for Zohran,” they risk helping mainstream dangerous ideologies. They risk fracturing communal unity even further at a time when Jewish communal unity is our best defense. They risk allowing today’s ambiguity to become tomorrow’s regret.

Jewish history teaches us the cost of silence, of appeasement, and of looking away. We cannot afford those mistakes again — not in this city, not in this era; history is beginning to repeat itself and we cannot allow that to happen.

To every Jewish leader now weighing their public stance: choose principle. Choose safety. Choose the kind of moral leadership our tradition demands; reject the logic of “Jews for Zohran.” The stakes are too high — and the message matters.

Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

The post Zohran Mamdani Won’t Condemn Calls for Violence Against Jews; Why Are Jewish Leaders Supporting Him? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News