RSS
Thousands Attend Kosherpalooza Food Festival in a Show of ‘Jewish Unity and Pride’
An attendee at Kosherpalooza 2024 hugging an IDF soldier as part of the “Hug a Chayil” interactive part of the kosher food and beverage festival on May 30, 2024. Photo: Provided
More than 4,000 people gathered to show support for the kosher food and beverage industry in New Jersey on Thursday at the second annual Kosherpalooza, which held a deeper significance this year amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Attendees who bought tickets for the all-day, interactive food festival at the Meadowlands Expo Center had their pick of food and beverages from 150 vendors who were exhibiting at the show. Ticket holders had the opportunity to taste — and sometimes buy — a plethora of kosher options from pancakes to cured meats to root beer.
There were also 14 live food demonstrations — including one by Israeli singer Gad Elbaz, who showed how to make his Moroccan fish — eight panel discussions, a “paint and sip” corner, interactive games like a hot sauce challenge and a blind taste test, and a meet and greet and book signing with cookbook authors.
Guests attending Kosherpalooza 2024. Photo: Shmily Treger
A common sentiment expressed by exhibitors and attendees was the feeling of “unity” in the room, while outside a war continued raging in Israel and Gaza and antisemitism reached record-high levels in both the US and around the world.
Support for Israel and the Jewish community was evident throughout Kosherpalooza. Borough Park native Mishael Niyazov attended the event wearing a sweatshirt that featured the message “Free Our Hostages” on the front and back, referring to those abducted during the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel. Yoni Cohen from YJC Trade, which imports products from Israel, returned home three days ago from fighting as an IDF reservist in Gaza and then traveled to the United States for 48 hours to host a booth at Kosherpalooza, featuring Max Brenner chocolates and an assortment of halva and techina from Halva Kingdom. He traveled back to Israel on Thursday night.
“I think after Oct. 7, we are really facing now the reality that we only have each other for support and to rely on,” Ben Gingi, an Israeli baker and Instagram influencer, told The Algemeiner. “[Kosherpalooza] to the Jewish community is like a big hug at the moment and giving a lot of stability. It’s beautiful.”
“With everything that’s going on, whenever there’s an opportunity for Jewish people to come together and celebrate something that makes us distinctly Jewish, like our adherence to kosher, it’s a reason to celebrate achdus [togetherness] and Jewish pride,” added Adam Goodfriend, the creator of AGoodFriend.co, a cook-at-home meal kit that is like a kosher version of HelloFresh.
Mishael Niyazov, an attendee at Kosherpalooza 2024, wearing a sweatshirt that draws attention to the Israeli civilians being held hostage by Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: Shmily Treger
In the middle of the Meadowlands Expo Center, Kosherpalooza organizers had set up an area where attendees could “Hug a Chayal,” which is the Hebrew word for soldier. Four active lone soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), who recently returned from fighting in the Israel-Hamas war, attended Kosherpalooza to embrace visitors and also talk about their experiences with whoever asked. The pop-up was organized by Kosherpalooza in collaboration with Nevut, a nonprofit organization founded in 2017 that helps IDF lone soldiers and veterans with their mental health and wellbeing throughout their military service and also when they return to civilian life.
“What it’s going to give the soldiers [being at Kosherpalooza] more than anything is knowing that people care,” said Ari Abramowitz, executive director and co-founder of Nevut, which means “to navigate” in Hebrew. Abramowitz grew up in Monsey, New York, and was called up as a reservist in the IDF after the Oct. 7 attacks. He has already served twice in Gaza since the start of the war. Nevut helped thousands of soldiers travel to Israel to fight for Israel after Oct. 7, and Abramowitz spoke with The Algemeiner about his recent service in the IDF, lone soldiers returning home with post-traumatic stress disorder, and how being at Kosherpalooza helps the soldiers tremendously.
“Where there’s no unity it really breaks apart a nation and this [Kosherpalooza] is bringing us together, seeing so many different walks of life coming together in a room and knowing at the same time that soldiers are on the front lines defending for us — so we can be free and live life,” he said. “Every one of the soldiers that lost their lives [in the war], it was in order so all of us can be free today and be together. It tears me up inside to speak about it, but they would be very sad to see us broken. But to see all of us together living life, and to be able to live what they defended, is the biggest thing.”
Brooklyn resident Stephanie Neta Benshimol attended Kosherpalooza on behalf of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum wearing a dress that featured a large Star of David and the names of Israelis — civilians, hostages, and soldiers — who were all impacted by the Oct. 7 attacks. Benshimol, who is Israeli and American, also carried a large Israeli flag and flyers with pictures of the hostages who have been held captive by Hamas terrorists since Oct. 7.
She told The Algemeiner that Kosherpalooza is a display of “Jewish unity” that is crucial now more than ever as Israel continues its war against Hamas terrorists. “We all have to be united together, no matter what. Israel is am echad, lev ehad [one nation, one heart],” she added. “That’s the only way we are going to win. No matter what your view is in politics, we need to be in this together. Keep talking about the hostages. Spread awareness. Don’t forget the second Holocaust that happened to the nation of Israel.”
Stephanie Neta Benshimol attending Kosherpalooza 2024 wearing a dress that features the names of the Israeli victims and hostages from Oct. 7. Photo: Shmily Treger
Gitty Halberstam, the creator and owner of the coffee liquor Misceo (which means “to brew” in Latin), agreed “100 percent” that it’s important to show solidarity right now for fellow Jews, whether its for businesses, entrepreneurship, or the Jewish community as a whole.
“We have companies here from all different walks of Jewish life, and the Jewish food and wine beverage industry is so diverse and so large and still everyone is here to help each other and be here together,” she told The Algemeiner.
Miss United States Addison Grace Hadley also attended Kosherpalooza and afterwards shared on Instagram that she left the event “smiling with a VERY full belly.” The Nashville native was a nanny to three Jewish children while studying in graduate school and after falling in love with the Jewish culture, decided to convert to Judaism.
“I met so many new friends, tried so many delicious new foods, and had some deeply meaningful conversations with inclusive, genuine people about faith, about food, about culture, about my conversion journey — even got to chat Hebrew name choices with a delightful group of new gal pals!” added the Nashville native. “The highlight of today (though there are SO many choices!) was receiving an invitation to celebrate Shabbat with some of our new friends — the #kosherpalooza family is warm, welcoming, and inviting, and I love them all.”
The post Thousands Attend Kosherpalooza Food Festival in a Show of ‘Jewish Unity and Pride’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
A pro-Israel rally at the University of Toronto was headlined by Columbia University professor Shai Davidai
Around 200 people gathered for a pro-Israel demonstration at University of Toronto’s downtown campus at King’s College Circle—which was the site of one of Canada’s largest pro-Palestinian encampments during May […]
The post A pro-Israel rally at the University of Toronto was headlined by Columbia University professor Shai Davidai appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
RSS
‘Not Welcome’: New Pro-Hamas Campaign Aims to Abolish Hillel Campus Chapters
A statue of George Washington tied with a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh inside a pro-Hamas encampment is pictured at George Washington University in Washington, DC, US, May 2, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Craig Hudson
The campus group National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) is waging a campaign to gut Jewish life in academia, calling for the abolition of Hillel International campus chapters, the largest collegiate organization for Jewish students in the world.
“Over the past several decades, Hillel has monopolized for Jewish campus life into a pipeline for pro-Israel indoctrination, genocide-apologia, and material support to the Zionist project and its crimes,” a social media account operating the campaign, titled #DropHillel, said in a manifesto published last week. “Across the country, Hillel chapters have invited Israeli soldiers to their campuses; promoted propaganda trips such as birthright; and organized charity drives for the Israeli military.”
It continued, “Such actions reveal Hillel’s ideological and material investment in Zionism, despite the organization’s facade as being simply a ‘Jewish cultural space.’”
DropHillel claims to be “Jewish-led,” although only a small minority of Jews oppose Zionism, and the group has been linked to and promoted by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters.
Hillel International has provided Jewish students a home away from home during the academic year. However, NSJP says it wants to “weaken” it and “dismantle oppression.”
The idea has already been picked up by pro-Hamas student groups at one college, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, according to The Daily Tar Heel, the school’s official student newspaper. On Oct. 9, it reported, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) unveiled the idea for “no more Hillel” during a rally which, among other things, demanded removing Israel from UNC’s study abroad program and adopting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. Addressing the comments to the paper days later, SJP, which has been linked to Islamist terrorist organizations, proclaimed that shuttering Hillel is a coveted goal of the anti-Zionist movement.
“Zionism is a racist supremacist ideology advocating for the creation and sustenance of an ethnostate through the expulsion and annihilation of native people,” the group told the paper. “Therefore, any group that advocates for a supremacist ideology — be it the KKK, the Proud Boys, Hillel, or Heels for Israel — should not be welcome on campus.”
The #DropHillel campaign came amid an unprecedented surge in anti-Israel incidents on college campuses, which, according to a report published last month by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), have reached crisis levels.
Revealing a “staggering” 477 percent increase in anti-Zionist activity involving assault, vandalism, and other phenomena, the report — titled “Anti-Israel Activism on US Campuses, 2023-2024” — painted a bleak picture of America’s higher education system poisoned by political extremism and hate.
“As the year progressed, Jewish students and Jewish groups on campus came under unrelenting scrutiny for any association, actual or perceived, with Israel or Zionism,” the report said. “This often led to the harassment of Jewish members of campus communities and vandalism of Jewish institutions. In some cases, it led to assault. These developments were underpinned by a steady stream of rhetoric from anti-Israel activists expressing explicit support for US-designated terrorists organizations, such as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and others.”
The report added that 10 campuses accounted for 16 percent of all incidents tracked by ADL researchers, with Columbia University and the University of Michigan combining for 90 anti-Israel incidents — 52 and 38, respectively. Harvard University, the University of California – Los Angeles, Rutgers University New Brunswick, Stanford University, Cornell University, and others filled out the rest of the top 10. Violence, it continued, was most common at universities in the state of California, where anti-Zionist activists punched a Jewish student for filming him at a protest.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Not Welcome’: New Pro-Hamas Campaign Aims to Abolish Hillel Campus Chapters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
‘Muslim for Trump’ Launches Initiatives in Key Battleground States, Says Candidate Will Bring ‘Peace’ to Gaza
Former US President Donald Trump is seen at a campaign event in South Carolina. Photo: Reuters/Sam Wolfe
The “Muslims for Trump” organization has officially launched initiatives to help elect Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to the White House, arguing that he would be more likely to end the war in Gaza than Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
In a statement released on Monday, the group said it will focus on recruiting Muslim voters in key battleground states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina. The organization both praised Trump for his supposed “peace-focused” approach to ending the war in Gaza and condemned Harris for helping facilitate a so-called “genocide.”
“After meeting with President Trump, it was clear to me he is the right leader for Muslims to get behind,” Rabiul Chowdhury, co-founder of Muslims for Trump and former co-chair of the “Abandon Harris Movement,” said in a statement.
Chowdhury added that during his discussions with Trump, the former president vowed to “ending the escalation of wars and bringing peace to war-torn regions.” In contrast to Trump’s promise to stop the “bloodshed” in Gaza, he claimed, Harris has “recklessly pushed us toward World War III.”
Chowdhury, a self-described “peace advocate,” urged the Muslim community not to fall victim to supposed “misinformation” campaigns by the media and Democrats that paint the former president as hostile to immigrants. He claimed that the former president’s focus is on “ending war, not dividing families through false immigration claims.”
Samra Luqman, chair of the Michigan chapter of Muslims for Trump, underscored the need to punish the Biden administration for what he described as supporting a “genocide” in Gaza.
“The goal of this election is to hold the Biden administration accountable for a genocide. No amount of fear mongering or scare tactics will persuade my community into forgiving the mutilation, live-burning, and genocide of over 200,000 people,” he said.
According to data produced by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, roughly 40,000 people have died in Gaza since the war began last October. Israel has said that its forces have killed about 20,000 Hamas terrorists during its military campaign.
Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication.
On the organization Muslims for Trump’s official website, it claims that the Abraham Accords, a series of historic, Trump administration-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and several countries in the Arab world, helped stabilize the Middle East. It also says that had Trump not lost the 2020 presidential race, the so-called “genocide” could have been prevented.
“Under Trump’s leadership, the Abraham Accords were brokered, fostering peaceful relations between Israel and several Arab countries. Supporters might argue that Trump’s diplomacy prioritized peace and stability in the Middle East, reducing the likelihood of large-scale conflicts like genocide,” the group wrote.
Over the course of his campaign, Trump has repeatedly touted his support for the Jewish state during his singular term in office. Trump has boasted about his administration’s work in fostering the Abraham Accords, promising to resume efforts to strengthen them if he were to win November’s US presidential election.
Harsh US sanctions levied on Iran under Trump crippled the Iranian economy and led its foreign exchange reserves to plummet. Trump and his Republican supporters in the US Congress have criticized the Biden administration for renewing billions of dollars in US sanctions waivers, which had the effect of unlocking frozen funds and allowing the country to access previously inaccessible hard currency.
Trump also recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a strategic region on Israel’s northern border previously controlled by Syria, and also moved the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing the city as the Jewish state’s capital.
Despite Harris’s repeated efforts to woo Muslim voters, polling data indicates that the demographic has made a dramatic swing away from the Democratic Party. Polling data from the Arab American Institute reveals that Trump slightly edges Harris among Muslim voters by a margin of 42 to 41 percent. A report from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) shows that Green Party candidate Jill Stein leads Harris and Trump with Muslim voters in the key swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona.
The post ‘Muslim for Trump’ Launches Initiatives in Key Battleground States, Says Candidate Will Bring ‘Peace’ to Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login