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Holocaust novel by Jodi Picoult removed as Florida school district purges libraries to comply with state law
(JTA) – A Holocaust-themed novel by bestselling author Jodi Picoult was among dozens of books removed from a South Florida school district library’s circulation last month, in the latest example of books with Jewish themes getting swept up amid a larger conservative-led effort to police potentially inappropriate material in classrooms.
“The Storyteller” was removed from the library last month at a high school in Martin County, a southeast Florida district, owing to a parental complaint. According to a list of removed books published by local media. the novel was among several others by Picoult that were taken off the shelves. Other removed books by Jewish authors include the coming-of-age novel “Forever,” by Judy Blume, and “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” by Jonathan Safran Foer, which is about a boy whose father was killed on 9/11.
Nationwide, book removal campaigns have sought to purge schools and public libraries of what opponents have deemed “critical race theory,” “pornography” and “gender ideology.” Notable instances of Holocaust-themed books getting ensnared in such efforts include Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” being removed from a Tennessee middle school curriculum; a graphic novel adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary being briefly removed from a Texas district; and several young-reader histories about the Holocaust also being briefly removed from a Missouri district.
Florida in particular has required additional scrutiny of the books that are available to schoolchildren. While Gov. Ron DeSantis has denied that the state is banning books, activists say his “Stop W.O.K.E. Act” encourage parents and educators to take license in purging schools of material that could carry a hint of impropriety. Some districts have covered or removed their classroom libraries entirely to comply with the law, while other Florida districts have removed picture books that trigger concern, including one about Shabbat that was part of a diversity package and another about a Jewish family with two dads.
Blume’s and Foer’s books have been frequent targets of other school bans and removals, as have many other books on Martin County’s list — including Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” and Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.” But Picoult, who grew up in a secular Jewish household, told the Washington Post that this was the first time, to her knowledge, that “The Storyteller” has been targeted. She said the removal was “shocking, as it is about the Holocaust.”
First published in 2013, “The Storyteller” follows the Jewish granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor who learns that her neighbor is a former Nazi officer who served in concentration camps. Her neighbor also asks her to help him commit suicide.
The Post reported that most of the Florida district’s book complaints originated from one parent: the head of the local chapter of the conservative group Moms For Liberty.
“At this point, we believe we have challenged the most obscene and age inappropriate books,” the parent, Julie Marshall, told the Post.
Marshall did not immediately respond to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency request for comment on why she sought to remove “The Storyteller,” but she previously told the school board that the vast majority of her challenges were based on what she deemed sexually explicit content. The book contains several sexually graphic scenes, including depictions of sexual assault by Nazi guards.
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The post Holocaust novel by Jodi Picoult removed as Florida school district purges libraries to comply with state law appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Puppet Monty Pickle is guest on the Forward’s ‘Yiddish Word of the Day’
It’s not every day that a kosher dill pickle puppet gets a chance to learn some Yiddish.
Monty Pickle, star of the children’s series The Monty Pickle Show, recently joined Rukhl Schaechter, host of the Forward’s YouTube series Yiddish Word of the Day, for an episode teaching viewers the Yiddish words for various wild animals.
Or as they’re called in Yiddish: vilde khayes.
The Monty Pickle Show, a puppet comedy on YouTube and TikTok, aims to show young viewers what it means to be Jewish in a fun, lively way. The series was created by the Emmy Award-winning producers of Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock.
So far, he’s met a number of Jewish personalities, including rabbis, musicians and chefs, and explored holidays like Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah and Passover.
Sitting alongside Rukhl during the lesson, Monty eagerly tries to guess what each word means, providing for some very funny moments.
The post Puppet Monty Pickle is guest on the Forward’s ‘Yiddish Word of the Day’ appeared first on The Forward.
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IDF Nabs Islamic State Terror Suspect in Syria
Guns seized in the course of the operation. Photo: IDF Spokesperson via i24
i24 News – Israel Defense Forces soldiers conducted an operation on Wednesday in the area of Rafid in southern Syria to apprehend a suspected terrorist affiliated with ISIS, the military spokesperson said on Saturday.
The announcement comes as Washington announced a major operation to eliminated Islamic State terrorists in Syria after three Americans lost their lives in a jihadist attack in Palmyra.
The Israeli soldiers completed the operation in Syria “in cooperation with IDF intelligence,” the statement read, adding that “the suspect was transferred for further processing in Israeli territory.”
Additionally, during the operation, weapons were found and seized.
IDF troops “continue to remain deployed along the Golan Heights border in order to protect the State of Israel and its citizens,” the statement from the spokesperson concluded.
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Report: Trump Admin Envisions Transformation of Gaza into Chic High-Tech Metropolis
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – The US administration of President Trump vision for the future of Gaza has it transformed into a high-end high-tech hub of luxury and innovation, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
A team of officials understood to be led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff developed a draft proposal to convert the war-ravaged Palestinian territory into a glittering metropolis, propelling Gazans from poverty to prosperity.
US officials with familiarity with the plan—pitched to foreign governments and delegations as a PowerPoint presentation— are cited in the report as saying that, understandable open-endedness of a project in its early phase notwithstanding, the blueprint has many lacunae and leaves crucial questions unanswered.
Critics cite the plan’s silence on the thorny question of disarming Hamas, the Islamist terror group that ruled Gaza for the past 15 years, and initiated the cross-border incursion and massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023; the attack launched the devastating war that has left much of the coastal territory in ruins.
The plan’s projected cost is put at $112.1 billion over 10 years, with Washington prepared to commit support to the tune of some $60 billion in grants and guarantees on debt for “all the contemplated workstreams” in that time period.
The question of where two million Gazans would reside during the costly and lengthy rebuilding is also left unaddressed, it is understood.
Similar-sounding plans have been mooted by the Trump administration even before it managed to broker a ceasefire in October that paused the two year-long war.