A pro-Palestinian activist who was kicked out of a gym this week and arrested while wearing a shirt that said “Israel Kills Children” has been identified as a Hamas supporter and the head of a health-care company in Arizona.

The antisemitism watchdog group Canary Mission revealed in an Instagram post on Thursday that Saiaf Abdallah is the CEO of Voyage Medical Primary Care in Tempe, Arizona, a company founded in 2017. He has a “background in health care, vaccines, and clinical research,” and “holds a variety of seminars and educational classes to help the community better understand both vaccines and research,” according to the website for the health-care provider. He has been CEO of Voyage Medical since March 2023, according to his LinkedIn page.

According to Canary Mission, less than a month after the Oct. 7, 2023, deadly terrorist attack in Israel that was orchestrated by the Hamas terrorist organization, Abdallah tweeted, “Hamas is eating your b—ch a—s soldiers … Liberation is gonna get shoved down your f—kin throat.”

In November 2023, Abdallah was arrested for disruptive behavior at a pro-Palestinian protest at Arizona State University and banned from the school’s property for one year. He has a bachelor’s degree from ASU and a master’s degree from Grand Canyon University. In December of that same year, he voiced support for Palestinian “resistance” against the Jewish state and violence against Israel.

“I wish we could call on America to send the Palestinians more weapons,” he said. “I want America to send tanks and F-16s to the Palestinians. And rifles and AK-47s. Let them take up arms. That’s the truth. That’s what should be happening … cough up some money and give weapons to the Palestinians. Let them resist.”

Canary Mission shared details about Abdallah in an Instagram post as well as a video about the incident that took place at a gym in Gilbert, Arizona, recently while he wore an anti-Israel shirt. Abdallah responded to the post by Canary Mission, writing, “I’m on Canary? How come no one mentioned it?! I’m gonna get dressed up and celebrate.”

Abdallah shared on social media this week that he was kicked out of the Life Time gym in Gilbert and arrested when he disregarded demands by gym management to leave the facility. During the ordeal, Abdallah was wearing a shirt that said “Israel Kills Children.” He said when he arrived at the gym, a staff member asked him to take off the garment and he refused. Not long afterward, the gym’s manager told Abdullah he must leave the premises for not having “an active membership,” or the gym would call the police. When Abdallah refused, police officers arrived and arrested him for trespassing.

During the incident, he made anti-Israel comments to both the manager of Life Time gym and Gilbert police officers. “There’s a Holocaust going on in Palestine,” he claimed. “There are no more gyms left in Palestine, you guys bombed all of them. Free Palestine.”

The post ‘Pro-Palestine’ Activist Spewing Anti-Israel Rhetoric Identified as Hamas-Supporting CEO of US Medical Company first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Adam Brody, Billy Crystal, and Eugene Levy are among the Jewish celebrities whose homes have been destroyed and reduced to rubble by the wildfires in Los Angeles County that started early Tuesday morning and have so far killed 10 people.

Brody and his wife, actress Leighton Meester, lived in the Pacific Palisades, where an out-of-control bush fire started Tuesday morning before spreading to other neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area with the help of strong winds.

Crystal lost the Pacific Palisades house where he had lived since 1979 and raised his children.

Levy also saw his house burn down in the same neighborhood. The “Schitt’s Creek” star told the Los Angeles Times that he was caught in gridlock traffic when trying to evacuate his neighborhood. Levy, who is Canadian, has been serving as Pacific Palisades’ honorary mayor since 2021.

“Top Gun: Maverick” actor Miles Teller, who is of Russian and Jewish descent on his father’s side, had pictures of his burning home shared by media outlets. American television host and actress Melissa Rivers, who is the daughter of the late Jewish comedian and media personality Joan Rivers, also had her home destroyed by the wildfires. She talked to CNN on Wednesday about the belongings she took from her home before evacuating, and said they included her mother’s only Emmy award — won in 1990 for Outstanding Talk/Service Show Host for her work on “The Joan Rivers Show.” Rivers also grabbed items such as passports, birth certificates, and medication before evacuating her home.

“I grabbed my mom’s Emmy, a photo of my dad [the late producer Edgar Rosenberg], and a drawing that my mother had done of me and my son … I went for a drawing of my mother’s rather than a photo, because I know I can find the photos,” she said, adding of the drawing, “I can’t replace [it].”

The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center was decimated by the fire, but its 13 Torah scrolls were saved.

Other Jewish celebrities whose homes were destroyed in the wildfires include Diane Warren, Ricki Lake, and Jennifer Grey.

Warren and Levy have been honored by Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), a pro-Israel nonprofit organization that is comprised of prominent members of the entertainment industry dedicated to combating anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism in the industry. The organization shared its condolences to victims of the wildfires in a released statement.

“We are devastated by the unprecedented destruction in Los Angeles, which has forced members of the Creative Community for Peace’s advisory board, and broader community, and even our esteemed Ambassadors of Peace honorees, such as Eugene Levy and Diane Warren, to evacuate and face the loss of their homes,” CCFP said. “We are a community of strength and resilience. Together, we will rebuild and overcome.”

Lake’s home in Malibu was destroyed on Tuesday, and she chronicled in a series of Instagram posts her family’s failed efforts to stay behind and save the house, before they decided to evacuate and prevent themselves from being engulfed in the flames.

“Ross and I lost our dream home,” she wrote in one Instagram post, referring to her husband. “This description ‘dream home’ doesn’t suffice. It was our heaven on earth. The place where we planned to grow old together … This loss is immeasurable. It’s the spot where we got married 3 years ago. I grieve along with all of those suffering during this apocalyptic event. Praying for all of my neighbors, my friends, my community, the animals, the firefighters, and first responders.”

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who is the daughter of the late Jewish actor Tony Curtis, said she is donating $1 million toward the relief efforts for the wildfires in LA.

“As the fire still rages on and @calfire @losangelesfiredepartment and all the available first responders and agencies involved in fighting fire and saving lives are still hard at work and neighbors and friends are banding together to save each other, my husband and I and our children have pledged $1 million from our Family Foundation to start a fund of support for our great city and state and the great people who live and love there,” Curtis, who had to evacuate her LA home, wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday. “I’m in communication with [California] Governor [Gavin] Newsom and [LA] Mayor [KAren] Bass and Senator [Adam] Schiff as to where those funds need to be directed for the most impact.”

At least 70,000 people have been displaced by the wildfires since Tuesday morning, and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said late on Thursday that he expects the death toll to increase. The Palisades fire between Santa Monica and Malibu and the Eaton fire in the east near Pasadena have been ranked as the most destructive fires in the history of Los Angeles for destroying more than 34,000 acres and nearly 10,000 structures, according to Reuters.

The Jewish organization Chai Lifeline is providing resources to support victims of the Los Angeles wildfire, and the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles has created a Wildfire Crisis Relief Fund to support its neighbors affected by the fires, while also helping to facilitate shelter, warm meals, and other needs for victims. BStrong — an initiative started by Jewish entrepreneur and former reality star Bethenny Frankel in partnership with the nonprofit organization Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) — is raising funds and also providing supplies and resources to help with the relief efforts.

The post Adam Brody, Billy Crystal, Eugene Levy Among Jewish Celebrities Whose Homes Destroyed in Los Angeles Wildfires first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

For many Quebec students, the Holocaust is a remote concept, one which is barely connected to their lives or worldviews.

That’s problematic, says Marcy Bruck, communications director of the Montreal-based Foundation for Genocide Education. In some schools she says, “they might just read Anne Frank and that’s it,” even though “Grade 6 is an excellent entry point” for more profound learning.

Ontario announced last year it would make Holocaust education mandatory starting in Grade 6, expanding it in Grade 10 history next fall to link the Holocaust to extremism and antisemitism, with additional teacher training. In November 2023, Alberta also made Holocaust education mandatory in social studies, following British Columbia’s announcement to include it in the K-12 curriculum next school year.

In Quebec, the Foundation for Genocide Education and others continue to lobby for greater space in the curriculum. “Our position is clear,” said foundation president Heidi Berger. “We believe strongly that this education is more important than ever, in light of the alarming rise in antisemitism in Canada since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians, and that it must be made a mandatory part of the school curriculum. Learning this history develops critical thinking and empathy and promotes respect for diversity.”

Last year, the foundation surveyed 200 Canadian secondary social science and history teachers, and found that 72 percent believe there is greater urgency for it, “yet only 50 percent said their students are knowledgeable on the subject,” added Berger, “and more worrying, only 46 percent of teachers in Quebec said education on the Holocaust and other genocides is currently included in their school’s curriculum.”

Quebec City’s assertion is that it is addressed in existing courses. Ministry spokesperson Esther Chouinard told The CJN “the concept of genocide” is studied in three high school social sciences programs. “First, the concept is integrated into the History and Citizenship Education program in the first cycle (grades 7 and 8),” specifically with content such as ‘Auschwitz’ or the ‘Nuremberg Laws’, then in the 20th Century History program in Cycle 2 (grades 10 and 11) in the theme of crises and conflicts. Genocides are also studied in the Contemporary World program she says, which aims “to lead students to grasp the complexity of today’s world and open up to the diversity of societies that make it up by studying different problems and issues of the contemporary world, including tensions and conflicts.”

The call for mandatory Holocaust education is growing, as school boards and educators find ways to incorporate it into existing curricula. At the English Montreal School Board, Quebec’s largest board, age-appropriate materials have been taught for years, using visits to the Montreal Holocaust Museum (MHM), speakers, and lessons integrated into Language Arts, History, and Art. On Oct. 3, 2023, the board formally asked the education ministry to make it mandatory, EMSB chair Joe Ortona telling The CJN a year later “if they don’t do it, we will.”

Last month, Federation CJA gave a $50,000 grant to the EMSB to continue and bolster its Holocaust education program. “Given the climate of antisemitism in the world and Montreal at this time,” stated Federation CJA president Yair Szlak in a release, “we believe this is an opportune moment to ensure that high school students, in particular, are properly educated about what happened in the Holocaust and the roots of antisemitism.”

Montreal lawyer Hélène Poussard’s ignorant statements show why Holocaust education is needed.

CIJA is calling on the government of Quebec to include #Holocaust and #antisemitism awareness in its educational curriculum. https://t.co/e3oVn4baIX@FederationCJA

— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) July 12, 2022

The board’s main focus is on the museum, spokesperson Mike Cohen told The CJN. “But it is left up to us to use the funds in the best way. Between buses, admission and speaker, each visit to the museum is expensive but invaluable. We also bring speakers to schools, run a special website and have a podcast.”

Studying the Holocaust is more urgent today, says Ortona. “These initiatives have been ongoing but became more consistent and continuous since last year, with the explosion of antisemitism across the world and particularly in Canada and Montreal.

“I have heard from many students and staff who visited the museum and spoke to survivors. Most are not Jewish and have not been exposed to this subject. It had a tremendous impact, and I know this will follow them after their high school days are behind them.”

The Montreal Holocaust Museum is actively training educators, offering workshops, visits and tailored teaching guides and resources for each province’s curriculum. “Imagine if this was taught incorrectly, or teachers didn’t understand the really complex history,” says spokesperson Sarah Fogg. “That is why our work has been rooted in teacher training… Obviously we would welcome it being mandated in the province, but it is also really important to mandate teacher training.”

The MHM is seeing increased engagement and interest from educators to work with the museum and others to bring lessons and knowledge to students. Nearly 2,500 teachers from French, English, private and public sectors have participated in 50 museum workshops and conferences over the last five years.

The government she says, should turn to experts, “to get these teachers the training they need alongside organizations like ours who have pedagogical expertise, resources, tools and collections. That is crucial.” The museum’s move next year to the newly constructed, much larger space on Saint-Laurent Boulevard in the heart of the city will allow more such activities.

United Against Hate Canada (UAHC) director Marvin Rotrand began lobbying provinces when he was national director of B’nai Brith’s League for Human Rights and says, “Ontario is the gold standard.” Rotrand wrote to all 125 Quebec MNAs, urging them to follow Ontario’s lead. Despite other provinces’ moves he told The CJN, “We have made no progress in Quebec” he says, “where it remains possible for students to graduate with no Holocaust education… Quebec has among the weakest Holocaust education curriculum in the country.”

“Making Holocaust education mandatory reduces hate incidents targeting other racial and religious minorities,” he says. “Research clearly shows that in U.S. states with mandated Holocaust education, antisemitic crimes dropped by 55 percent. Crimes against Black, LGBTQ2+, Latino and Muslim communities also fell.”

Thank you Councillor @SonnyMtl for your leadership supporting @bnaibrithcanada request to #Quebec to follow #Ontarion and introduce mandatory #Holocaust education in primary school: Moroz moves motion calling for compulsory Holocaust education https://t.co/2xgIJBj0qO #cdnpoli

— Marvin Rotrand (@MarvinRotrand) October 2, 2023

Exactly, says Fogg, pointing to the Reality Check 2023 study looking at the effect of Holocaust education on youth.

Among key findings of the survey of 1,500 American post-secondary students, was that those receiving Holocaust education in high school were significantly more likely to be tolerant of others with different beliefs; open to having their own views challenged; able to discuss and negotiate controversial issues; and were more comfortable with people of a different race or sexual orientation. Not only were they more likely to report more tolerant and pluralistic attitudes and challenge incorrect or biased information, they were less likely to be a bystander to online harassment.

Sandra Banon doesn’t need statistics, just some good books. The EMSB French teacher has taught Holocaust lessons for more than a decade to Grade 6 students, often buttressed with museum visits. “As long as classes are prepared, then tour guides make it a more interactive, meaningful experience.” That means talking about pre-war discrimination and stigmatization of Jews wherever it happened. “Showing a yellow star on a smart board is one thing, but after a proper lesson and they see one on display at the museum, they immediately understand its origin and the context, so the impact is more significant.”

She uses stories and activities in French and art classes based on the book Hana’s Suitcase and was awarded a scholarship to learn more at Yad Vashem in Israel. “It’s absolutely worth the effort,” insists Banon, who met students years later who thanked her for introducing them to this part of history. “They were more aware in secondary when they were introduced to other, more horrific aspects of the story, and more prepared to go deeper and be more open-minded.”

EMSB commissioner Julien Feldman says young people need tools “to confront irrational sentiments they encounter at school and online everyday, especially antisemitism, racism and discrimination. We see Holocaust distortion running rampant online, especially among adults who are vulnerable to propaganda and conspiracy theories – because they have no grounding in authentic history.”

In Quebec schools overall, there is only sporadic mention of the Holocaust and genocide adds Berger, “to illustrate other concepts such as tensions and conflicts, justice and civil rights, while school boards such as the EMSB have committed themselves to taking on this education, as well as dedicated individual teachers.” 

What’s needed says Bruck, is a separate course, “or separate components of existing courses, a day dedicated to Holocaust studies. Make it mandatory as part of the course where they discussed the Holocaust in and of itself.” Feldman agrees, saying students also need to hear and understand Canada’s part, including “our policy of sealing our borders to refugees during the Nazi era.”

The Foundation for Genocide Education, whose interactive Studying Genocide guide is available in French and English to every Quebec high school reaching over 300,000 students, met with Education Minister Bernard Drainville last spring to push for mandatory Holocaust education.

A warm reception notwithstanding, the official position is that it’s already taught in some way. “They haven’t closed the door” says Bruck. “I don’t know if they’ll make it mandatory, but there’s definitely effort to make it more prominent in the existing curriculum… We continue to dialogue with them.”

‘Shocking to see’: Video shows Quebec students giving Nazi salute during class https://t.co/9t11me4p7f

— CTV Montreal (@CTVMontreal) May 24, 2023

Shortly after the June 2023 case involving a group of Grade 7 students recorded performing Nazi salutes and playing Nazi military music in a Quebec classroom, Rotrand urged Drainville to act, as students’ obliviousness to the impact of their gestures illustrated why starting in Grade 6 is a good idea. That same month, the minister’s office told French-language news it would not follow Ontario’s lead.

Drainville and his ministry are currently mired in numerous challenges with school infrastructure, teacher shortages, and secularism issues, particularly following reports of religious interference in Montreal-area schools, mainly within the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM), Quebec’s largest French board.

Bruck says it would serve Quebec well to make Holocaust and genocide education part of its Culture and Citizenship program. “It will show how open society is, especially in terms of what’s been going on in Quebec of late, and the explosion in antisemitism in Montreal.”

At the Lester B. Pearson School Board, the island’s second-largest school board serving the western part of greater Montreal, the Holocaust is taught within the context of the Quebec Education Program, spokesperson Darren Becker told The CJN. “It would be covered in Grades 8 and 11 history,” adding, “several of our high school teachers recently attended a workshop hosted at the Holocaust Museum in Montreal to provide them with curricular resources.”

Asked what Holocaust material is taught in any of their 185 schools, CSSDM spokesperson Alain Perron told The CJN, “the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal applies the educational program of the Quebec Ministry of Education. Have a nice day.”

The post The call is growing for mandatory Holocaust education in the province of Quebec appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.