RSS
This Passover, Vote in the World Zionist Congress Election
People stand next to flags on the day the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages, Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas, and her two children Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, are handed over under the terms of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
It was said that the early Zionist activist Nachum Sokolow was fluent in 70 languages — all of them Yiddish. It was a joke, of course. But like all good Jewish jokes, it hid a deeper truth.
Sokolow, one of the forgotten giants of the early Zionist movement, really was a linguistic marvel. Yiddish, Hebrew, Polish, Spanish, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, German, and English — he wrote and spoke them all fluently. In an age before Google Translate, Sokolow was Google Translate. But every language he spoke had a singular purpose: advancing the cause of Jewish nationalism.
Sokolow put his linguistic wizardry to remarkable use. In 1917, in a now barely remembered triumph of early Zionist diplomacy, just months before the Balfour Declaration was signed, Sokolow pulled off one of the most improbable coups in Jewish history: he secured a letter of support for Zionism from the Vatican.
As the representative of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), Sokolow met with Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, the Pope’s Secretary of State, and made the case for Jewish return to the Land of Israel. Somehow — perhaps with a dash of Latin and a well-timed Biblical reference or two — Sokolow won the Cardinal over.
Soon afterward, the Vatican issued a letter expressing sympathy for Jewish national aspirations in Palestine. When asked later how Sokolow had managed such a diplomatic miracle, one Vatican insider quipped: “He made it sound like Zionism was a branch of Catholicism.”
Sokolow described the encounter in his memoir: “The Cardinal Secretary of State received me very courteously … He told me that the aspirations of the Jewish people for a national home in Palestine were understandable and natural, and that the Holy See would not oppose any measures that might be taken to realize them.”
He was right. On May 4, 1917, Pope Benedict XV described the return of the Jews to the Holy and as “providential — God has willed it.”
The Vatican’s support came just months before the Balfour Declaration, and Sokolow, together with Chaim Weizmann, used it to show Great Britain and the Allies that Zionism had moral backing that extended beyond the Jewish world.
So while the Vatican’s letter didn’t make headlines the way Balfour’s letter did, it played a subtle but significant role in paving the way for the eventual creation of the State of Israel.
There’s something wonderful about that story. It reminds us that even in the darkest, most complex times, a few words — spoken in the right tone, in the right room, by the right person — can change the course of history.
Which brings me to today — and to the action you can take, specifically through the WZO and the vital work it continues to do for the Jewish people in Israel and across the globe.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever voted in a WZO election — or even knew such elections existed. But if you care about the Jewish future, about Israel, and about Jewish education and continuity, then the WZO ballot should matter to you. Every five years, Jews in the Diaspora get a rare opportunity to directly influence the course of Jewish history — just like Nahum Sokolow did — by voting in the WZO elections.
It’s not a national election, and there are no political parties in the usual sense. But the stakes are high. This is the mechanism through which hundreds of millions of dollars are allocated to organizations that educate, inspire, and strengthen the Jewish people’s connection to Israel. It’s the closest thing we have to a global Jewish “town hall” — and your voice is needed now more than ever.
And it’s especially fitting that this election is taking place as we approach Pesach and over Pesach — the festival of redemption. Because Pesach was not only about leaving Egypt. It was also about entering Eretz Yisrael.
When God appeared to Moshe in Egypt and renewed the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God didn’t just promise liberation — He promised a destination: וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מִתַּחַת סִבְלוֹת מִצְרַיִם… וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם אֶל הָאָרֶץ – “I will take you out from under the burdens of Egypt … and I will bring you to the Land” (Ex. 6:6–8).
The Exodus was never meant to be an end in itself. It was the beginning of something far more significant. A promise fulfilled. The entire purpose was to ensure that the Jewish people would make it to the Promised Land — and live there as a free nation under God. The question is: Do we still believe in that promise? Do we live it? Do we teach it? Do we defend it?
Some might say: But we live in the United States — or France, or Australia, or the UK. Why should we have a say in what happens in Israel?
The answer is simple: because Israel belongs to all Jews, not just those who live within its borders. It is our shared inheritance. Our shared story. Our shared destiny. The WZO election is one of the few formal mechanisms through which Diaspora Jews get a voice in shaping that destiny.
And if ever that connection felt distant, October 7th made it devastatingly clear: we are all in this together. It didn’t matter whether you were in Ashkelon or Atlanta, Jerusalem, or New York: the grief was universal, the fear was shared, and the resolve that followed — the unshakable determination to stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel — proved once again that Am Yisrael is one family. One body. One soul.
The WZO allocates funds to Zionist education, aliyah programs, youth movements, Hebrew language initiatives, and efforts to build bridges between Jews around the world and their ancestral homeland. But those funds don’t float in a vacuum. They are guided by the values and policies of those elected to its governing bodies. That’s why it matters who’s at the table. And that’s why your vote matters.
In the face of rising antisemitism, growing global pressure on Israel, and relentless efforts to distort the moral clarity of Zionism into something shameful, we cannot afford to stay silent. We must not retreat from our principles. We must not apologize for our identity or our inheritance.
The WZO ballot is one meaningful way to act. It may not feel as dramatic as crossing the Red Sea, but it’s how we stand tall and say: We are here. We are proud. And we will not yield our place in history, or our voice in the present.
This Pesach, as we sit around our seder tables and recount our miraculous journey from slavery to freedom, let’s also remember that our freedom was always tied to a destination: the Land of Israel. Voting in the WZO election is a small but powerful affirmation that we still believe in that destination — and in the destiny it represents.
לשנה הבאה בירושלים — Next year in Jerusalem. But this year — make your voice count. To vote in the WZO elections, use this link: https://www.votezoacoalition.org/
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.
The post This Passover, Vote in the World Zionist Congress Election first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
US Says That Israel Accepts Gaza Ceasefire Plan; Hamas Cool to It
A picture released by the Israeli Army says to show Israeli soldiers conducting operations in a location given as Tel Al-Sultan area, Rafah Governorate, Gaza, in this handout image released April 2, 2025. Photo: Israeli Army/Handout via REUTERS
Israel has agreed to a US ceasefire proposal for Gaza, the White House said on Thursday, and Hamas said it was reviewing the plan although its terms did not meet the Palestinian terrorist group’s demands.
As a US-backed system for distributing food aid in the war-torn enclave expanded, Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the families of hostages held in Gaza that Israel had accepted a deal presented by US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Netanyahu’s office did not confirm the reports, but White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters in Washington that Israel had signed off on the proposal.
She did not detail its contents. But the New York Times quoted an Israeli official familiar with the proposal as saying the initial phase would include a 60-day ceasefire and humanitarian aid flowing through UN-run operations.
Hamas said it was studying the proposal, and senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters the group was still discussing it.
But Abu Zuhri said its terms echoed Israel‘s position and do not contain commitments to end the war, withdraw Israeli troops, or admit aid as Hamas has demanded.
Deep differences between Hamas and Israel have stymied previous attempts to restore a ceasefire that broke down in March after only two months.
Israel has insisted that Hamas disarm completely and be dismantled as a military and governing force and that all 58 hostages still held in Gaza must be returned before it will agree to end the war.
Hamas has rejected the demand to give up its weapons and says Israel must pull its troops out of Gaza and commit to ending the war.
Witkoff told reporters on Wednesday that Washington was close to “sending out a new term sheet” about a ceasefire to the two sides in the conflict that has raged since October 2023.
“I have some very good feelings about getting to a long-term resolution, temporary ceasefire and a long-term resolution, a peaceful resolution, of that conflict,” Witkoff said then.
Israel has come under increasing international pressure, with many European countries that have normally been reluctant to criticize it openly demanding an end to the war and a major relief effort.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in response to the devastating Hamas attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage into Gaza.
The post US Says That Israel Accepts Gaza Ceasefire Plan; Hamas Cool to It first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
‘A Slap in the Face’: Chicago Venue Cancels Plans to Screen Documentary About Antisemitism for Second Time
Israeli-American rapper Kosha Dillz performs his new song “Bring the family home,” his response to Hamas’s attacks, in front of a Jewish bakery in lower Manhattan, US, Oct. 11, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Aleksandra Michalska
A Chicago theater that canceled the screening of a documentary about campus antisemitism and then agreed to reschedule a showing has now made the final decision not to screen the film at its venue after facing harassment, it announced on Tuesday.
The Facets Film Forum, which operates the Facets arts theater in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, claimed in a statement that Israeli-American Jewish filmmaker and rapper Kosha Dillz and the Chicago Jewish Alliance (CJA) – which helped organize the original screening that was canceled — have allegedly engaged in harassment against the venue, making it “impossible” for the Facets to move forward with a showing of “Bring the Family Home.” The documentary covers the rise of antisemitism on US college campuses after the Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. This is the first film directed by Kosha Dillz, whose real name is Rami Even-Esh, and it focuses largely on anti-Israel encampments and sentiments at DePaul University and Northwestern University. Facets is located down the street from DePaul.
A rough cut of “Bring the Family Home” was set to premiere at Facets on May 13, but mere hours before the screening, the venue canceled the event, citing safety and security concerns for its patrons and staff. After facing an abundance of criticism from Kosha Dillz, CJA, and their supporters, Facets agreed to work with the filmmaker to reschedule the screening for later this summer.
“Facets Film Forum respects the First Amendment, its protections of free speech and the right to express views through film,” Facets said in a statement on May 16. “We regret any unintended offense our decision to cancel a privately organized, public film screening caused the filmmaker, those seeking to attend the event, and members of our community who have experienced or witnessed oppression or discrimination in any form.”
However, this week the theater has backtracked on its decision to reschedule the screening, before it even announced a new date for the event.
“Rather than acknowledging the legitimacy of our concerns and decisions, CJA and the filmmaker, and individuals that appear to be their supporters, have engaged in harassing Facets,” the venue claimed. It alleged that supporters of the film were “vilifying” Facets in an email campaign targeting donors, arts groups, and others, and even shared “vicious” posts on social media “attacking Facets.” The posts allegedly included offers for a “bounty to anyone willing to burn down Facets’ building,” which Facets reported to authorities. The venue also claimed that supporters of “Bring the Family Home” recording a conversation with a Facets staff members without consent and then posted it online, sharing personal contact details.
CJA launched an email campaign earlier this month that urged its supporters to reach out to Facets about the cancellation on May 13. CJA claimed the venue called off the event “because of discomfort with Jewish visibility” and called the move “shameful” and “a disgrace.” Facets said on Tuesday that more than 2,500 emails were sent.
“Given these acts, we are ceasing any further discussions with CJA and Mr. Dillz. Facets will not tolerate harassment of its staff from any organization,” the theater said in the statement this week. “Facets will continue to remain committed to our mission and the safety of our staff and guests.”
Facets said that for five decades, it has “provided a safe space for the community to experience a vast variety of film perspectives.” The venue noted that it hosted an event as part of the Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema’s 20th Anniversary Celebration in March. Earlier this month, the theater also screened “No Other Land,” the Oscar-winning documentary that heavily criticizes Israel’s demolition of a village in the West Bank. “Bring the Family Home” was originally meant to be mentioned on the marquee outside of Facets along with “No Other Land,” said Kosha Dillz.
In its statement, Facets also listed three Jewish or Israel-themed movies that it has screened in the past, including “Come Closer,” “In Between,” and “Zone of Interest.” None of those films depict pro-Israel sentiments or a condemnation of antisemitism like “Bring the Family Home.”
Kosha Dillz told The Algemeiner on Thursday he cannot believe that he has been canceled twice by the same venue, which has not screened his film even once. “I was quite shocked,” he said. “It’s exhausting to deal with this for the second time. How can they cancel a film twice that hasn’t been shown once. To me, that’s just representative of what the Jewish community has to deal with.”
He also denied taking part in the alleged harassment that Facets claimed it faced, including the email campaign and calls online to burn down the venue.
“The 2,500 emails — those are people that aren’t related to me. I don’t know them. Obviously, they know me,” he noted. “They made it seem as if I was the one who rallied people to email them and take away their funding. That’s obviously not true.”
Even now, after Facets made the final decision not to screen “Bring the Family Home,” Kosha Dillz does not support efforts to attack the venue for the move.
“I don’t think bullying people who have gotten bullied makes sense. I don’t think that’s a win-win situation,” he explained. “I don’t believe in people ganging up on them. I just think they were bullied by other bullies.”
Kosha Dillz had multiple Zoom meetings and sent several emails back and forth with leaders at Facet to reschedule a screening of “Bring the Family Home,” hoping to find a new date for the event. Following the decision by Facets this week to call off all efforts for a screening, Kosha Dillz told The Algemeiner that he is upset but will now focus his time and energy on finding a new venue to screen the documentary.
“It’s called selective Jewishness,” he said of the move by Facets. “They are picking which voices they get to hear and they’re letting other people define it for them. I was the one who offered for them to make it good [after the initial cancellation] and they took me up on it and then, you know … it’s kind of a slap in the face. But the first time, shame on them. The second time, shame on me.”
On Wednesday, CJA released a statement on social media in response to Facets decision this week and also the allegations against the Jewish group.
“We objected, respectfully and publicly, to the theater’s sudden about-face. We sent emails. We asked questions. We defended a Jewish voice that refused to conform to the approved script. For that, they accused us of harassment,” CJA said. “If Facets believes in free speech, it must apply to Jews who are visible, assertive, and yes, Zionist. Anything less is not inclusion. It’s performance. We remain proud partners of ‘Bring the Family Home’ and of every Jewish artist who refuses to stay quiet just to stay included.”
CJA also accused Facets of “cultural exclusion” and “soft censorship,” making “endless excuses” and “shifting standards for what qualifies as ‘appropriate’ Jewish expression.”
CJA said “Bring the Family Home” will be shown in Chicago on June 22, but a venue has yet to be secured.
The post ‘A Slap in the Face’: Chicago Venue Cancels Plans to Screen Documentary About Antisemitism for Second Time first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
‘Part of Our Commitment to the Palestinian People’: Anti-Israel Group Vandalizes Jewish-Owned Business in London
Vandals targeted a Jewish-owned real estate business in London on May 28-29, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
A Jewish-owned real estate business in London was vandalized by a radical anti-Israel group overnight on Wednesday into Thursday in an attack that local Jewish leaders called a “traumatic antisemitic targeting.”
Video shows two masked people dressed in all black smashing the windows of the business — which is located in Stamford Hill, a heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood — and spraying it with red paint. Pictures in the aftermath of the vandalism show shattered glass and red paint all over the office, and other reports say computers and furniture were also wrecked.
Last night in London’s Stamford Hill: A Jewish business completely destroyed by vandals who spray-painted “Drop Elbit”—targeting a company with NO ties to Israel whatsoever. Jewish businesses. Jewish people. Targeted for being Jewish. pic.twitter.com/JruV4Si4J9
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) May 29, 2025
“This should be treated as [an] antisemitic incident without any doubt,” Rabbi Herschel Gluck, president of Jewish security service Shomrim’s branch in Stamford Hill, told the Jewish Chronicle. “[The owners] are visibly Jewish; the people who run the business and this business itself have nothing to do with Israel.”
According to the Chronicle, the authorities were “called as soon as the damage was discovered on Thursday morning and the Metropolitan Police were notified shortly afterwards.”
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that the investigation is ongoing and that no arrests have been made so far. “This incident is being treated as racially aggravated criminal damage,” the statement continued.
“We understand the concern this may cause members of the Jewish community,” the police noted. “Officers are working with community leaders and patrols have increased across the local area.”
Palestine Action, the group behind the vandalism, took responsibility for it on social media.
BREAKING: Palestine Action target the London-based landlords of Kent’s Elbit weapons factory, Instro Precision.
Instro Precision continues to export targeting gear to Israel, making both the Israeli weapons maker and its landlord, perpetrators of genocide. pic.twitter.com/TDN2yrEump
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) May 29, 2025
“Palestine Action target[s] the London-based landlords of Kent’s Elbit weapons factory, Instro Precision,” the group posted on X. “Instro Precision continues to export targeting gear to Israel, making both the Israeli weapons maker and its landlord, perpetrators of genocide.”
Along with vandalism of the business itself, “Drop Elbit” was also spray-painted on the pavement outside it, referring to Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense firm that is an industry leader.
A spokesperson for the group said the attack was a “part of our commitment to the Palestinian people” because “we will not allow companies on our doorstep to profit from mass murder.” The real estate group, it claimed, is “the [landlord] of a Kent-based Israeli weapons factory which is exporting targeting gear for the Israeli military.”
However, according to Gluck, the attack “is pure antisemitism” because “the people have no connection to Israel at all. They [the vandals] are accusing this company of having a connection to an Israeli arms manufacturer, which is not true.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) responded to the vandalism on X, asking, “Why is Palestine Action still not banned?”
“Palestine Action is a criminal enterprise operating freely in the UK and terrorizing the Jewish community,” it wrote. “It must be banned and its organizers and activists prosecuted.”
This latest vandalism is part of a general spike in antisemitism in the UK.
The UK experienced its second-worst year for antisemitism in 2024, despite recording an 18 percent drop in antisemitic incidents from the previous year’s all-time high, according to a report released in February.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, released data showing it recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, a drop of 18 percent from the 4,296 in 2023. These numbers compare to 1,662 antisemitic incidents in 2022, 2,261 in 2021, and 1,684 in 2020.
Last year’s total “is a reflection of the sustained levels of antisemitism that have been recorded across the UK since the Hamas terror attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023,” CST said of its findings. “CST’s Antisemitic Incidents Report 2023 charted the immediacy and scope of the rise in anti-Jewish hate following that attack, before Israel had set in motion any extensive military response in Gaza.”
The post ‘Part of Our Commitment to the Palestinian People’: Anti-Israel Group Vandalizes Jewish-Owned Business in London first appeared on Algemeiner.com.