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As a child of survivors, I see my parents in every Ethiopian immigrant to Israel

(JTA) — Recently, I watched a mother reunite with her son for the first time in 41 years.

On May 9, I was part of a delegation of the Jewish Agency for Israel that accompanied Ethiopian olim (immigrants) from Addis Ababa to Ben Gurion Airport and new lives in Israel. The mother had made aliyah in 1982 as part of Operation Moses, when Ethiopian Jewish immigrants trekked for weeks through the Sudan, hiding out from authorities in the daytime and walking by moonlight, to reach Israeli Mossad agents, who were secretly facilitating their transport to Israel.

But the son, due to family circumstances, was left behind. And here she was on the tarmac, praying and crying, and the embrace they had when the now grown man walked down the stairs, that depth of emotion after decades of waiting and yearning, was something that I will never forget.

The Ethiopian Jewish community dates back some 2,500 years, from around the time of the destruction of the First Temple. We know that they have always yearned, from generation to generation, to be in Jerusalem. Most of the Ethiopian Jews emigrated to Israel during the 1970s and 1980s and in one weekend in May 1992, a covert Israeli operation, dubbed Operation Solomon, airlifted more than 14,325 Ethiopian Jews to Israel over 36 hours. Those coming today are being reunited with family members who came during one of these earlier operations.

On my four-day trip from Addis Ababa to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, I listened to the stories of incredible perseverance, and of heartrending suffering, among Ethiopian Jews — our brothers and sisters. Close to 100,000 of them have made their way to Israel over the past 40-plus years, fulfilling this community’s centuries-long quest to come to Israel.

I heard about the Ethiopian Israeli who, as a 15-year-old, marched through Sudan with his family and lost three of his siblings to starvation. I heard the stories of families waiting, for months or years, for that moment of aliyah, as clandestine negotiations among government negotiators dragged on. It was so powerful to hear of the sacrifices they made and how strong the dream was, and is today, of coming to Jerusalem, to Israel.

RELATED: How Israel’s Falash Mura immigration from Ethiopia became a painful 30-year saga

And I thought of my own family’s journey — a different time, under different circumstances. But also a Jewish journey of perseverance, suffering and, for the fortunate among us, survival.

My parents were born in Poland in the 1930s. During World War II, my father and his family survived in a Siberian labor camp and then in a remote part of Poland. My mother’s family managed to get work papers, but her father did not have them. He survived the war by hiding under the floorboards of a barn on a farm where they were living. The woman who owned the farm did not know they were Jewish, so it was a harrowing day-to-day existence.

But my mother and father survived, managed to make it to liberation, and eventually came to the United States. They were first sponsored by the Birmingham, Alabama, Jewish community, and then made their way to New York and New Jersey, where our family has built a new life. We now have fourth-generation children growing up here in New Jersey, and we feel so fortunate for the lives we have.

Here is the essential difference from their story and mine: For my family, there was no state of Israel. Many members of my family perished in the Holocaust. There was nowhere for them to go.

This drives what I do. Today, everything has changed because we have a state of Israel, and we have a Jewish Agency that ensures that Jews can make aliyah and helps them make new lives in Israel.

Last year, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I traveled to Poland and stood at the border as thousands of Ukrainian refugees streamed across. I was standing only a few miles from where my grandfather hid under the floorboards of that barn about 80 years earlier. Back then, there was no one there to protect my family, no one to do anything for them. And here I was in 2022 standing amid a massive array of aid agencies, and the very first thing these refugees saw — whether they were Jewish or not — were signs with the Star of David, marking the Jewish Agency, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and other Jewish groups.

While there has been significant hardship and struggle for the first generation of Ethiopian Jews in Israel, it was incredibly inspiring for me to meet members of the second generation — those who made the trek as children or teenagers in the 1980s and ’90s — who are now Israeli adults in positions of leadership and significant responsibilities. We heard from Havtamo Yosef, who immigrated as a young child from Ethiopia with his parents, and then watched his father become a street sweeper and his mother a housecleaner while he was growing up. Now he heads up the entire Ethiopian Aliyah and Absorption services for the Jewish Agency, ensuring that there are stronger absorption procedures, better education and firmer foundations for better lives for these new immigrants than there ever was for his family.

While there was no Israel for my family when we were refugees, there were — in Birmingham, Alabama; in Hillside, New Jersey; and everywhere along the way of my family’s journey — people who thought outside of themselves, who cared and took care of my relatives. This is my legacy and what motivates me today.

So when I stood on the tarmac at Ben Gurion earlier this month, I cried tears of sadness at the long family separations and tears of joy that today this Jewish journey continues, from Ukraine and Russia and Ethiopia to Israel. Today, there is a place to go and a people to welcome Jews on that tarmac, with an Israeli flag, a smile and a warm embrace, and a promise of better lives in freedom.


The post As a child of survivors, I see my parents in every Ethiopian immigrant to Israel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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‘Gas the Jews’: UK Doctor Who ‘Satirically’ Wrote Antisemitic Online Posts Allowed to Continue Practicing

Dr Martin Whyte, a former executive member of the British Medical Association. Photo: Screenshot

A British doctor who posted “gas the Jews” and other antisemitic comments on social media will still be able to see patients after the United Kingdom’s top medical regulatory body found that he did not possess bigoted beliefs and that his conduct “falls just short of that which would be considered serious enough to pose a risk to public protection.”

The outcome will likely further fuel widespread concerns over a wave of recent allegations of antisemitism in the UK health-care system that has left Jewish patients fearing for their wellbeing.

Two tweets in particular written by Dr. Martin Whyte, a pediatrician and former executive member of the British Medical Association (BMA), were brought to the attention of the General Medical Council (GMC).

On April 18, 2018, Whyte posted, “Me: It’s important to represent Judaism and Jewish people fairly and respectfully in art. Also me: Jew banker goblins.” Then, on Oct. 27, 2018, he posted, “Hahaha zeig heil hahaha gas the jews hahaha just kidding but have you seen these youtube videos about the holohoax, they’re pretty convincing imo…[sic].”

The latter posting came on the same day as the mass murder of 11 Jews at the Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a crime for which Robert Bowers now sits convicted and awaiting execution.

Whyte explained his actions to the GMC, claiming that the remarks were intended satirically and in response to “a prominent figure on the political far right” who “was well-known at the time for having made a widely circulated YouTube video in which he claimed to have trained a dog to respond with ‘a Nazi salute’ in response to the words ‘Zeig Heil’ and ‘gas the Jews.’”

Whyte stated that it was “possible that a reader without any knowledge of [his] personal views might misunderstand the meaning of what [he] had written.”

The investigatory committee assessed that Whyte “is a doctor in good standing and the committee have seen multiple positive references from professional colleagues and the extensive evidence of his reflection in relation to the allegations. It recognizes that the tweets reported in the press represent a tiny proportion of his online activity and that they were posted seven years ago. In the light of this, and the personal and professional impact upon him of the media attention and the subsequent investigation, the committee regards repetition to be unlikely.”

A spokesperson for the GMC explained that “we carried out a full and thorough investigation into Dr. Martin Whyte’s social media posts. After hearing the evidence, an investigation committee found his posts were grossly offensive. They decided a formal warning was necessary to uphold confidence in the profession, which will appear on the doctor’s online record for two years and must be disclosed to any potential new employers. A warning is formal, significant disciplinary action on a doctor’s registration.”

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), a British charity, had initially submitted the complaint about Whyte’s tweets and responded to the GMC’s decision.

“Every week there is some new outrage from the medical regulatory system,” CAA posted on X. “Is there any level of racism against Jewish people that the GMC would consider worthy of actual disciplinary action? If so, we have yet to see it. Antisemitism is at record highs in our society, and regulators are totally asleep at the wheel. Another spectacular failure by the medical regulator.”

In October, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled a new plan to address what he described as “just too many examples, clear examples, of antisemitism that have not been dealt with adequately or effectively” in the country’s National Health Service (NHS).

One notable case drawing attention involved Dr. Rahmeh Aladwan, a trainee trauma and orthopedic surgeon, who police arrested on Oct. 21, charging her with four offenses related to malicious communications and inciting racial hatred.

Aladwan’s arrest followed the GMC clearing her to continue treating patients. She had made antisemitic social media claims such as labeling the Royal Free Hospital in London “a Jewish supremacy cesspit” and asserting that “over 90% of the world’s Jews are genocidal.”

Aladwan wrote on April 29 that “I will never condemn the 7th of October,” referring to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

“I fail to see how medics using such language with impunity doesn’t undermine confidence in the medical profession. I have no confidence in our regulation system,” Wes Streeting, the UK secretary of state for health and social care, wrote in response to Aladwan’s remarks.

The Algemeiner has reported regularly on the surge of reports of antisemitism in UK medical settings.

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Texas man charged with making antisemitic death threats to Jewish conservative pundits

A Texas man was arrested last week in Florida after he allegedly launched a volley of antisemitic death threats against several prominent conservative activists.

Nicholas Lyn Ray, 28, of Spring, Texas, allegedly made his threats between Oct. 8 and Oct. 10 on an X account named “@zionistarescum,” according to an arrest affidavit.

His alleged victims included far-right Jewish conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer and conservative Jewish political commentators Joshua Benjamin Hammer and Karol Markowicz. A fourth victim, Seth Dillon, is the Christian CEO of a conservative satire site The Babylon Bee, according to an arrest affidavit.

The @zionistsarescum account was created in September 2025 and the first posts visible on it after Ray’s arrest respond to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder whose killing spurred conspiracy theories about Israeli involvement. Several posts advanced that theory, while others amplify the white supremacist influencer Nick Fuentes, who had feuded with Kirk.

In a message allegedly directed at Dillon, according to the affidavit, Ray accused him of “conspiring with Israel about Charlie Kirk,” the Turning Point USA founder who was murdered in September, adding that “these receipts are going to be perfect for display when you get hung bitch.”

The affidavit also describes a threat that Ray allegedly directed toward Markowicz, who was born in the former Soviet Union. Ray allegedly wrote, “Russian genocide jew whose family escaped prosecution in American you deserve to be hung.”

In another threat directed towards Loomer, Ray allegedly wrote, “why you asking this question as if you aren’t gonna soon find out Mossad agent? you gonna get hung from the capitol baby.”

Ray also allegedly referred to Hammer as a “F—t Israeli spy” and threatened to “hang you at the capitol and take turns beating you with a pinata bat,” according to the affidavit.

While the threats appeared to have been deleted from Ray’s X account, his most recent post dated Oct. 15 read, “When Israel is purged it will be biblical.” On Oct. 9, he referred to Loomer as a “f—ing kyk” and wrote “Israel are the biggest lying Satanist pedophiles on the planet.”

An investigation into Ray was launched by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Oct. 12 after agents were alerted to his alleged posts.

Ray is currently facing four counts each of making a written or electronic threat to commit a mass shooting or act of terrorism, extortion or threatening another person and using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office.

According to another court document, Ray indicated to law enforcement that he had been “watching youtube when he became interested in anti-Israel content” prior to allegedly making the threats.


The post Texas man charged with making antisemitic death threats to Jewish conservative pundits appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Cornell University Secures Deal With Trump Administration, Restoring $250 Million in Federal Funds

Cornell University students walk on campus, November 2023. Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect

The Trump administration restored $250 million in federal funds it confiscated from Cornell University earlier this year, following the New York-based institution’s agreeing to pay a $60 million settlement, half of which will be spent on agricultural research.

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, Cornell was cut off from significant taxpayer funds after the government determined that it declined to prevent or respond to egregious incidents of antisemitic discrimination and had enacted over many decades educational policies, such as racial preferences, which undermine merit. Following the move, Cornell received “more than 75 stop work orders” from the government. Later, the university cleaved its budget, telling the public in an announcement of the measure that “urgent action is necessary, both to reduce costs immediately and to correct our course over time.”

Friday’s settlement delivers respite and an offramp from further draconian fiscal measures which would have upended university operations.

According to the US Justice Department, the settlement calls for Cornell’s sharing admissions data with the government to prove that it is not practicing racial preferences in admissions and “invest $30 million through 2028 in research programs on agriculture, farming, and related studies.”

The latter provision noticeably expires in 2028, the year in which the US will hold its next presidential election.

“The Trump administration has secured another transformative commitment from an Ivy League institution to end divisive DEI policies,” US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement, referring to so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. “Thanks to this deal with Cornell and the ongoing work of the US departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Servies], US universities are refocusing their attention on merit, rigor, and truth seeking — not ideology. These reforms are a huge win in the fight to restore excellence to American higher education and make our schools the greatest in the world.”

Cornell University has seen a series of disturbing antisemitic incidents since the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre perpetrated by Hamas across southern Israel.

Three weeks after the atrocities which ravaged Israeli communities, now-former student Patrick Dai threatened to commit heinous crimes against members of the school’s Jewish community, including mass murder and rape. He was later sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.

Cornell students also occupied an administrative building and held a “mock trial” in which they convicted then-school president Martha Pollack of complicity in “apartheid” and “genocide against Palestinian civilians.” Meanwhile, history professor Russell Rickford called Hamas’s barbarity on Oct. 7 “exhilarating” and “energizing” at a pro-Palestinian rally held on campus.

Cornell University and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) sparred all of last academic year, with SJP pushing the limits of what constitutes appropriate conduct on campus. In September, school officials suspended over a dozen SJP-affiliated students who disrupted a career fair, an action which saw them “physically” breach the area by “[pushing] police out of the way.” In February, the university amnestied some of the protesters, granting them “alternate resolutions” which terminated their suspensions, according to The Cornell Daily Sun.

The university took center stage in another campus antisemitism outrage in October, as its student newspaper published an anti-Zionist opinion piece which promoted Holocaust inversion by melding a Nazi symbol with the Star of David.

The article, titled “Thousand & One Eyes for an Eye” and written by indigenous studies professor Karim-Aly Assam, argued that Israel’s military strategy for the Gaza war against Hamas prioritized revenge for the Oct. 7 massacre over security “under the pretext of obtaining justice.” The article further accused Israeli officials of describing Palestinians as “animals” to justify “ruthless destruction and killing” — a distortion of former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s describing the Hamas fighters who murdered, raped, and maimed women, children, and men on Oct. 7 “human animals” two days after the atrocities transpired.

Assam’s article implied an equivalence of Israel’s military objective to eradicate Hamas from Gaza with the Nazi genocide of Jews across Europe during World War II, a trope which anti-Israel activists and antisemites traffic to foster negative public opinion against Israel’s efforts to secure its borders and quell jihadist activity in the Palestinian territories.

The tactic — Holocaust inversion — is one part of a triad of Holocaust-skepticism, the other two components of which are “denial” and “distortion” — used to defame Jews and deny that they are and have been victims of hatred. Once reserved to neo-Nazi media, Holocaust inversion, experts say, is being increasingly embraced by other more mainstream segments of society.

“As a result of securing this groundbreaking settlement between the United States and Cornell, applicants and students will receive fair and equal treatment as required by our civil rights laws, and American farmers will have expanded opportunity for agricultural development and productivity,” US Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “The Cornell agreement exhibits this administration’s deep commitment to vigilantly enforce our federal civil rights laws on college campuses, and ensure that American universities manage taxpayer dollars responsibly.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

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