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Where Are the Celebrities After Public Assault on Jews in Los Angeles?
On Sunday, we saw pro-Hamas protestors physically attack Jews in front of a Los Angeles synagogue, as they called for genocide and violence.
We have long heard that Jews control Hollywood, but many Jewish celebrities have been completely silent about the growing attacks against Jews, not to mention the situation in Israel.
I wish Jewish celebrities had half the courage to speak out for Jews and Israel as random influencers do, with posts about “All Eyes on Rafah” and other supposed injustices.
Furthermore, when Jews do speak out, they often do so in a half-hearted way, in order to protect their fan base.
Angry masked men prowling the streets looking for Jews. This is LA in 2024. pic.twitter.com/8BYYf64eFq
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) June 24, 2024
Ben Stiller recently came out in public saying that all wars should end, and that he wants peace. Stiller continued, “Antisemitism must be condemned whenever it happens and wherever it exists. As should Islamophobia and bigotry of all kinds.”
It seems like Stiller is apologizing for even speaking out. He can’t just oppose hatred against Jews and Israelis, without implying that attacks on Muslims are happening at a similar level (they are not; almost every domestic act of violence about Israel has been Muslims and other people attacking Jews).
The evening of the Academy Awards was another prime example of what’s wrong. Hollywood stars, including singer Billie Eilish, actor Mark Ruffalo, director Ava DuVernay and many others, wore pro-Palestinian pins or spoke about the Palestinian cause. There was largely silence from our Jewish brethren, who supposedly control Hollywood.
Others like Adam Sandler have made vague comments about antisemitism and Israel, while others such as Seth Rogen and Ilana Glazer are actively saying things against Israel.
There have been a handful of Jewish celebrities who have spoken out since October 7th. Michael Rappaport, Jerry Seinfeld, Debra Messing, Tiffany Kaddish, Mayim Bialik, Montana Tucker, and others have bravely made their voices heard — but that number should be in the hundreds.
Whether they fear a backlash or simply don’t care enough, we must demand our celebrities speak up, or pay a price from our community.
Many of these celebrities speak out freely about issues such as climate change — and even about attacks against other minorities — but never about Jews and Israel.
It’s disgraceful — and they should be ashamed of themselves.
Ronn Torossian is a proud Israeli American Jewish Zionist. He is an author, entrepreneur and philanthropist.
The post Where Are the Celebrities After Public Assault on Jews in Los Angeles? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels
View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
i24 News – Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.
The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.
“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.
The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pope Calls Gaza Airstrikes ‘Cruelty’ After Israeli Minister’s Criticism
Pope Francis waves after delivering his traditional Christmas Day Urbi et Orbi speech to the city and the world from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, December 25, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi
Pope Francis on Saturday again condemned Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, a day after an Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff for suggesting the global community should study whether the military offensive there constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
Francis opened his annual Christmas address to the Catholic cardinals who lead the Vatican’s various departments with what appeared to be a reference to Israeli airstrikes on Friday that killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza.
“Yesterday, children were bombed,” said the pope. “This is cruelty. This is not war. I wanted to say this because it touches the heart.”
The pope, as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts, but he has recently been more outspoken about Israel’s military campaign against Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
In book excerpts published last month, the pontiff said some international experts said that “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide.”
Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli sharply criticized those comments in an unusual open letter published by Italian newspaper Il Foglio on Friday. Chikli said the pope’s remarks amounted to a “trivialization” of the term genocide.
Francis also said on Saturday that the Catholic bishop of Jerusalem, known as a patriarch, had tried to enter the Gaza Strip on Friday to visit Catholics there, but was denied entry.
The patriarch’s office told Reuters it was not able to comment on the pope’s remarks about the patriarch being denied entry.
Israeli officials were not immediately reachable for comment on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The post Pope Calls Gaza Airstrikes ‘Cruelty’ After Israeli Minister’s Criticism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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IDF Pledges to Implement Lessons from Failure to Intercept Houthi Missile
Iranian-backed Yemeni terrorist leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – The Israeli military said on Saturday that while the investigation into the failure to intercept the missile that hit Tel Aviv early in the morning was still ongoing, some lessons were already being implemented. The ballistic missile, fired by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, landed at a playground in a residential area, leading to 16 people sustaining injuries from glass shards.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said that “some of the conclusions have already been implemented, in regards of both interception and early warning.”
The spokesperson added that “no further details regarding aerial defense activities and the alert system can be disclosed due to operational security considerations.”
The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what they describe as “acts of solidarity” with Palestinians in Gaza.
The post IDF Pledges to Implement Lessons from Failure to Intercept Houthi Missile first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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