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What happened when a Jewish group and the right-wing Moms for Liberty shared a conference hotel
(JTA) — It was still winter when the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs learned that its June conference would share space at a hotel with an unexpected guest: a conservative “parents’ rights” group that is driving book bans across the United States.
Among the books pulled from classrooms at the behest of Moms for Liberty members have been several Holocaust-related or Jewish titles, including a version of “The Diary of Anne Frank.” The group’s conference would bring together backers of the group’s agenda, purportedly to protect children from dangerous influences in their schools. It would also attract protesters who view Moms for Liberty as a vanguard for a radical right wing that is increasingly taking aim at LGBTQ rights.
That gathering at the Marriott Philadelphia Downtown took place alongside the national convention of the men’s club group and took its attendees by surprise, said convention co-chair Mark Givarz.
“We didn’t rent the whole building. We rented half of it,” Givarz, , who lives in Florida, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “But we never expected to have a group of controversy next to us.”
It was too late for the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, which is associated with Judaism’s Conservative denomination, to reconsider its conference location. The group had already signed a contract with the Marriott, and approximately 400 attendees from across the country had already booked travel for the event, which ran June 28 to July 2. Plus, the organizers had already put together a whole program and made plans to set up a temporary synagogue for the duration of the event.
So the group proceeded, putting out a statement rejecting Moms for Liberty and emphasizing that it holds very different values.
“We believe that every person is made b’tzelem elohim — in God’s image, and deserving of loving-kindness, respect, and dignity,” the statement said. “As such, the FJMC strongly advocates for equal rights for all, including the LGBTQIA+ community. At the FJMC we welcome all participants with love, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, which is why our Inclusion Initiative is a vital part of our programming.”
The statement went on, “While the FJMC recognizes that Moms for Liberty and their speakers have the constitutional right to peaceably assemble, the FJMC does not endorse either the organization, its leadership, or the sentiments that they or their speakers may express during their conference.”
As the event drew nearer, Givarz and his co-chair Rick Wronzberg continually monitored the Moms for Liberty website for updates on guest speakers, concerned about the possibility of security issues at their own event. In the days before the conference, Moms of Liberty announced that three Republican candidates for president would speak: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been a particular champion of the parental rights movement. All three draw support from Republican Jews —including a subset of the men’s club convention attendees — driven in part by their records on Israel.
Moms for Liberty also ignited new controversies as the conference neared. A chapter in Indiana quoted Adolf Hitler in a newsletter; an apology followed, but so did an illumination of other instances when group members had cited Hitler approvingly. A report in Vice documented ties between the group and multiple white supremacist and extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, whose founder has a history of antisemitism and whose members were integral to the Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol. And the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate, officially declared Moms for Liberty an “extremist” organization, along with several other parental rights groups.
A few people who had planned to attend the FJMC conference canceled because of the overlap out of concerns for the atmosphere, Givarz said.
“They didn’t want to disrupt their Shabbos with the nonsense,” he said. “Can you blame them?”
Eric Weis, a member of the group’s board of directors from New Jersey, canceled his plans to attend despite having attended each of the group’s conferences over the last 22 years. “There was just no way we could have fun,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer, which first reported about the overlapping conferences.
Another group member, Elliott Dubin, did travel from Northern Virginia to attend with his wife but told the local newspaper that the conference overlap was particularly galling because of his group’s membership.
“I just wondered who is the genius that booked two sort of opposing groups in the same hotel?” Dubin said. “Many of the Holocaust survivors went through book burnings in Germany and this seems to be the same type of thing.”
Tensions were high as the conferences got underway, as hundreds of protesters against Moms for Liberty gathered outside the Marriott. Police, Secret Service and hotel security amassed to keep the peace and protect the political speakers, and several protesters were arrested.
Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs leaders said they and their attendees felt safe despite the crowding. And Givarz said encounters between the two conferences were mostly neutral.
Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich speaks during the Moms for Liberty “Joyful Warriors” national summit at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown on June 30, 2023 in Philadelphia (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Only at one moment was there tension, when attendees of the men’s clubs conference got to bypass a security line and Moms for Liberty attendees got upset — but Givarz compared it to a dispute in the line to get soda at a baseball game. JTA has reached out to Moms for Liberty for comment on the confluence of the conferences.
“We’re very, very pleased with the Philadelphia Police Department and the Marriott for providing excellent, very assuring and unobtrusive security,” Alan Budman, the newly installed president of the mostly volunteer organization, told JTA.
On Saturday, a group of about 50 men set out on a short walking tour — and wound up with police escorts.
“We didn’t ask for it — they sent police officers on bicycles to accompany them on the walk down to the tour which was about a seven- or eight-block walk and then on the tour itself and back,” Budman said. “So it made our people feel much more secure.”
Givarz said that throughout the conference, he had brief, cordial conversations with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich. He said she complimented his kippah, which was made by the Abayudaya Jewish community in Canada. (There is a FJMC chapter there, but Ugandan group members were unable to attend the conference because of visa issues.)
Givarz said he made contact one last time with Descovich on Sunday as both conferences were wrapping up — for a goodbye that he said was not particularly memorable.
“At the end of the day, in my opinion,” Givarz said, “Moms for Liberty were like a mosquito that got swatted around but did no damage.”
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The post What happened when a Jewish group and the right-wing Moms for Liberty shared a conference hotel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Jewish Democrat Announces Primary Challenge Against Anti-Israel New York City Councilwoman
Jewish Democrat Maya Kornberg, an author and senior research fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, has launched a primary challenge to New York City Councilmember Shahana Hanif. Photo: Screenshot
Maya Kornberg, a Jewish Democrat from Brooklyn, New York, has launched a campaign to unseat New York City Councilwoman Shahana Hanif, an outspoken critic of Israel.
Kornberg announced on Tuesday that she will seek to represent District 39 in the New York City Council. Much of the city’s Jewish community has expressed outrage at Hanif over her repeated repudiations of Israel, including her false accusations that the war against the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza constitutes a “genocide.”
“I am thrilled to announce that I’m running for NYC Council in District 39! With the Trump presidency looming, local governance is more important than ever, and the City Council is our best line of defense,” Kornberg wrote on X/Twitter on Tuesday. “Together, I believe we can build a district where everyone can feel happy, safe, and thrive.”
“I’ve dedicated my career to making democracy work better,” Kornberg added in a statement, promising that if elected she will concentrate on “standing up against hate, providing reliable constituent services, and delivering meaningful change for every resident in every corner of the district.”
Kornberg’s decision to enter next June’s Democratic primary contest sets up a showdown between a self-described “pragmatic” liberal and a far-left democratic socialist. Hanif, who represents heavily Jewish neighborhoods in central Brooklyn such as Park Slope, has reportedly enraged her constituents by ignoring concerns about antisemitism and unloading an unrelenting barrage of criticism directed at Israel.
Following Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, Hanif issued a statement blaming the Jewish state for the terrorist attacks.
“The root cause of this war is the illegal, immoral, and unjust occupation of the Palestinian people. The Occupation has brought violence toward Israelis and Palestinians for over 75 years. There will be no peace unless the rights of all people in this region are respected,” Hanif wrote on X/Twitter on Oct. 13.
Despite Hanif’s presence on New York’s “Taskforce to Combat Hate,” she has reportedly refused to denounce acts of antisemitic vandalism and graffiti around the city. Hanif was also arrested at an October 2023 “ceasefire” rally organized by the anti-Israel Democratic Socialists of America organization. At the rally, protesters chanted “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — a popular slogan among anti-Israel activists that has been widely interpreted as a call for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea — and held up signs reading “No, I do not condemn Hamas.”
Hanif later participated in the anti-Israel encampments at Columbia University in April. She posted a photo of herself from the center of the encampment, sporting a red keffiyeh and smiling.
“I’m proud to witness disciplined leadership from students mobilize for peace and against genocide,” Hanif wrote.
The incumbent councilwoman also voted against a resolution to establish “End Jew Hatred Day” in New York City, claiming that it had been brought forth by a “coalition that has concerning ties to far-right politicians who promote problematic and hateful rhetoric.”
Kornberg, who has reportedly spent months fundraising to enter the primary race, is expected to receive substantial backing from the community’s pro-Israel constituents. Many District 39 constituents have expressed exasperation with Hanif’s unwillingness to publicly apologize for her past commentary and hesitance to tackle surging antisemitic hate crimes in the city.
The impending battle between Kornberg and Hanif comes on the heels of New York City experiencing a somewhat rightward shift in the 2024 presidential election. Every single county in the New York City metropolitan area moved toward Trump compared to four years ago, and the Republican president-elect’s margin of defeat in the heavily Democratic city was 16 points narrower than in 2020.
In the wake of last month’s surprising election results, many Democrats are modulating their approach to controversial topics such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, seeking to strike a more moderate tone. Many observers believe the District 39 primary race could indicate whether the deep-blue city has made an enduring shift away from far-left progressivism.
The post Jewish Democrat Announces Primary Challenge Against Anti-Israel New York City Councilwoman first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Orthodox Rabbinical Conference Slams German University for Canceling Lecture by Israeli Historian Benny Morris
Israeli historian Benny Morris in 2024. Photo: Screenshot
The Orthodox Rabbinical Conference of Germany, an influential association of orthodox rabbis, lambasted the University of Leipzig for canceling a lecture by Israeli historian Benny Morris following anti-Israel student protests described by the school as “understandable, but frightening in nature.”
The Cologne-based group said on Wednesday that it was “shameful to see how quickly an academic institution in Germany is now caving in to aggressive anti-Israeli and antisemitic activism,” German media reported. Instead, the association continued, it is necessary to “resolutely defend the freedom of teaching and science.”
According to the rabbinical conference, young people must be taught to engage with each other at educational institutions rather than shut out opposing views in order to fulfill the post-Nazi promise of “never again.” However, it continued, submitting to aggressive activists rather than protecting constitutional rights is an “alarming signal” and a threat to a free, democratic society.
Morris, one of Israel’s leading public intellectuals, was scheduled to deliver a lecture about extremism and the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, in which the Jewish state secured its independence, at the university on Thursday as part of a lecture series on antisemitism.
However, the school released a statement this past Friday announcing that it had canceled the planned event, citing protests over the lecture and what it described as security concerns.
“Our invitation to Prof. Morris was motivated by the desire to talk about his earlier work, which has had a profound impact on historical research, the university said in its statement. “Unfortunately, Prof. Morris has recently expressed views in interviews and discussions that can be read as offensive and even racist. This has led to understandable, but frightening in nature, protests from individual student groups.”
The University of Leipzig did not elaborate on any specific comments by Morris, whose works include the seminal study The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, first published in 1988, and made a point of noting it did not endorse the historian’s views.
“In principle, inviting speakers to the university does not necessarily mean that we agree with their views, and we firmly distance ourselves from Prof. Morris’ controversial statements,” the school said. “The purpose of the event with him was to engage critically, not to endorse his theses or later statements. In our opinion, science thrives through the exchange of diverse ideas, including those that are challenging or uncomfortable. We trust that our students are able to engage constructively and critically with the guest speaker.”
Various groups including Students for Palestine Leipzig had called for the lecture to be canceled, arguing Morris — who has expressed political opinions associated with both the left and the right — held “deeply racist” views against Palestinians.
“Together with security concerns, the above points mean that Prof. Benny Morris’ lecture will not take place,” the university stated.
Morris, 75, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the decision to cancel the lecture was “disgraceful, especially since it resulted from fear of potential violence by students. It is sheer cowardice and appeasement.”
Despite canceling Morris’ lecture, the University of Leipzig expressed concern about the increased efforts to boycott and marginalize Israeli scholars because they are from the world’s lone Jewish state.
“Regardless of this case, we want to express our concern that a double standard is being established that is being applied to Israeli scholars, who are increasingly marginalized and excluded from events under the pretext of political differences of opinion, while other voices are given unhindered access to the university,” the university said. “This applies, for example, in Leipzig to events by colleagues who are close to the BDS movement, which is classified as a suspected extremist case in Germany. We are far from establishing a culture of cancellations, but the possibility should remain open to be able to discuss difficult and critical voices from both sides in a tough manner.”
The Algemeiner has reported extensively on wide-ranging efforts across academia to exclude Israeli scholars and institutions in accordance with the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward its eventual elimination.
The post Orthodox Rabbinical Conference Slams German University for Canceling Lecture by Israeli Historian Benny Morris first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Australia Backs UN Resolution Calling for Israel to Pull Out From Gaza, West Bank in Major Policy Shift
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong during Question Time in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Nov. 28, 2024. Photo: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas via Reuters Connect
Australia on Tuesday voted in favor of a UN General Assembly resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza, breaking a two-decade pattern of opposing such a measure.
The resolution passed by a vote of 157-8 vote, with Israel and the United States voting no and seven abstentions.
In the measure, the General Assembly called for a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “based on the pre-1967 borders,” as well as a peace conference in New York next year, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, to advance diplomatic efforts in making the two-state solution a reality.
The resolution characterized Israel as an “occupying power,” demanding the Jewish state end its presence in Gaza, the West Bank, and eastern Jerusalem — areas described as “Occupied Palestinian Territory.” It also called on the UN to recognize the “inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, primarily the right to self-determination and the right to their independent state.”
Australia has not voted for such a measure at the UN since 2001. However, Australia’s Ambassador to the UN James Larsen and a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong both said in statements that Tuesday’s vote was meant to work toward peace in the Middle East and a two-state solution. Wong previously called on Israel to “exercise restraint” on Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Australian Opposition Leader Peter Dutton blasted the government’s decision to support the UN resolution, accusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of “selling out” the Jewish community and “abandoning Israel” for electoral purposes.
“The best we can do for peace in the Middle East is defeat Hamas and Hezbollah and make sure their proxy in Iran does not strike with nuclear weapons, or through the Houthis, or others they are finding because innocent women and children are losing their lives,” he told reporters in Sydney.
The vote came amid already flaring tensions between Israel and Australia.
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar summoned Australia’s Ambassador to Israel, Ralph King, for an official reprimand following Canberra’s decision not to grant Israel’s former Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked, a visa to enter the country last month.
Saar charged that the decision to prohibit Shaked from visiting Australia was based on “baseless blood libels spread by the pro-Palestinian lobby.”
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke explained that his decision to refuse Shaked’s visa application was rooted in concerns that she would “seriously undermine social cohesion” by speaking about the war in the Middle East, noting her past comments about Palestinians.
Meanwhile, antisemitism in Australia has surged following Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught, amid the ensuing war in Gaza.
Antisemitism in Australia quadrupled to record levels over the past year, with Australian Jews experiencing more than 2,000 antisemitic incidents between October 2023 and September 2024, according to a new report published by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), an organization that advocates upholding the civil rights of the country’s some 120,000 Jewish citizens. In many cases, antisemitic incidents were fueled by anti-Israel animus.
Daniel Aghion, president of ECAJ, lambasted Australia’s latest UN vote in comments reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
“This is a shameless pursuit of a domestic political agenda that puts [the ruling Labor Party’s] aspirations in vulnerable seats ahead of historic and principled support for a democratic ally,” he said, referring to Australia’s upcoming elections this spring. “For some time now, this government has been chipping away at bipartisan support for Israel and a negotiated end to the conflict. After this latest significant shift, there is very little left.”
David Taragin is a writer based in New York.
The post Australia Backs UN Resolution Calling for Israel to Pull Out From Gaza, West Bank in Major Policy Shift first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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