June 12, 2023, 5 pm. Activists from The Jewish Leadership Project,Yad Yamin-NY and SAFE CUNY challenged the JCRC donors and leadership as they arrived for their Gala inside the NY Historical Society: “Why is the JCRC honoring Bill Thompson when Jews are under attack at CUNY. ”
Flickr slideshow
Part of the JCRC platform is the safety of the Jewish community. Yet, while anti-Semitic attacks are rising in the city along with the hostile atmosphere for Jews at CUNY the JCRC-NY was giving an award this night to the Honorable William C. Thompson Jr, the chairperson of the board of trustees at CUNY.
“CUNY brass … finally slammed her speech as unacceptable “hate speech” unfitting for a commencement — after much outcry. “Commencement speeches are supposed to be aspirational and inspirational. They are not supposed to be hateful tirades….,” said Joseph Postasnik of the New York Board of Rabbis. CUNY has to rethink its commencement exercises.”
Anti-semitism at CUNY must be addressed not honored.
.It was a small, but effective protest. The heart-felt questions demanded more effective responses from the JCRC addressing anti-Semitism at CUNY.
Some attendees were willing to talk to the protestors, some simply starred at the signs and mobile billboards as they walked in to the gala.
The messages were clear.
JCRC NY DO YOUR JOB! END Jew Hatred. End anti-Semitism at CUNY. It must be not honored!
. Stunning audio and video of an exchange between former JCRC -NY President, Ron Weiner, [https://www.pwcpa.com/ronald-weiner] who seemed to be sitting on a fence when challenged by Jeff Lax, founder of S.A.F.E. (Students and Faculty for Equality).
“(Weiner) was so outraged at being gently questioned. This means @SAFECUNY is on the right track.
Former JCRC Pres. Ron Wiener confronts and curses at SAFECUNY co-founder Professor Jeffrey Lax.
Weak Jewish leaders need to be confronted about their continual failure to strongly oppose new contemporary forms of anti-Ziosemitism. Ron Wiener’s reaction shows that this pressure works.
… this guy is a leader?? “Effective from the top down…” Cursing at Lax, invoking Second Temple disunity. All the while avoiding saying anything of substance.”
Where is the leadership from JCRC-NY? American Jews are under assault, our institutions are under siege and our leaders are failing to protect the community.
Why is JCRC-NY honoring CUNY which has normalized Jew-hatred & permits graduation speakers to target Jews? Stop BDS on Campus. End Jew Hatred.
JCRC NY leadership must be held accountable for their failures.
On Wednesday, March 30th, 2022, Yad Yamin-NY, and other supporters of Israel, met across from the headquarters of Friends of IDF Headquarters (at 60 East 42nd Street) to show SOLIDARITY with Israel.
Video Part 1- begins across from the Friends of the IDF Headquarters.
At the same time,“inciting violence against Jews, here and in Israel”, “Zionaphobics” demonstrated in front of the NY Friends of IDF headquarters.
The anti Zionists declared this to be “Land Day (an annual commemoration of the killings of six Palestinians by Israeli forces during a general strike against land expropriation in 1976.)
Inciting violence against Jews. THIS is anti-Zionism. And Anti-Zionism is one form of anti-Semitism.
Even though anti-Semitic crimes are up FOUR HUNDRED PERCENT in NYC, these anti-Zionists continue to call for Intifada, a pogrom targeting Jews in Israel.
Video Part 2 as anti Israel protestors assemble
.Calling for Death to Israel (and the U.S.) Calling for the murder of Jews right after a week of terror in Israel. The anti-Zionist -“Zionaphobics” demanded the closure of the Friends of the IDF.
This must not go unanswered. This is not the time to be silent.
Flickr slideshow, Part 1. Yad Yamin-NY and Friends of Israel showed SOLIDARITY with Israel.
Re “LAND DAY” 2022, a statement from an anti-Zionist sponsor explaining their protest:
“We mark the 46th Palestinian Land Day on 30 March 2022. This day is an occasion to celebrate, intensify and uphold Palestinian resistance to Zionism, colonialism, apartheid and occupation, recalling those whose lives have been stolen in defense of the land and people of Palestine and to organize and struggle for return and liberation: from the river to the sea. As the Palestinian people continue to rise up and take action in resistance to defend their people and liberate their land, the Day of the Land is not only an anniversary but a day of living struggle to uproot colonialism from Palestine.” (samidoun)
Video Part 3 – NYPD was very present for these two groups. No incidents. Just lots of anti-Israel chants.
..They challenged settler-funding Zionist organizations that fund Israel: Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Central Fund of Israel and the American Friends of Ateret Cohanim.
#DefundRacism and #DefendPalestine.
Resist “settler colonialism”. Defend “palestine”.
Show solidarity with the “palestinian” people.
End Israel’s “settler colonialism”.
One-way narratives are dangerous.
Flickr slide show Part 2 – the anti- Zionist,”Zionaphobics” outside the Friends of the IDF headquarters.
..Outside the headquarters, Nerdeen Kiswani was filmed by Russian state-owned news, RUPTLY TV. Nerdeen is alLaw student, community activist & “palestine” legal client: Nerdeen Kiswani, She claims she has faced a barrage of attacks for her campus and local organizing for “palestinian” freedom, alongside@CUNYLawSJP and@cunyjlsa .
May 23, 2021. NYC Lower Manhattan – WTC 7. “Stand with Israel. Unite Against Terror“. (apologies for late post)
”IAC officials plan to lay blue and white flowers – showing Israel’s national colors – at the World Trade Center memorial, and to march from the site to the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in nearby Battery Park afterward, creating a powerful symbol linking the destruction of European Jewry to contemporary efforts to target Jews and other innocent victims.”
There was much joy amongst those who gathered in support of Israel. Families with children were able to stay this time (no fear of marauding ‘palis’- see LINK)
You could tell even the NYPD was relaxed – as long as the ‘fakestinians’ stayed away (which they did)
Unfortunately, music was blasted at such a HIGH decibel it was impossible to join the crowd. Noticed others hung back as well, especially those with children.
Only able to to watch from a distance, no where near the stage, was disappointing; not able cover the rally speakers.
Later I noticed I had captured the obnoxious “Crack Head Barney” standing in the crowd (left of center- in pink dress/ blond curly wig) See [Crackhead Barney at @CHBAF]
“Barney” loves confrontations so the police removed her immediately.
And of course, she complained.
She did not want to be ‘penned’ with the Neturei Karta protestors (she works ALONE)
.Apparently, ‘Barney” headed uptown, perhaps hoping to hook up with another scheduled Support Israel gathering. Elad Eliahu found “Barney” making a nuisance of herself -as usual- to anyone she could hassle. (see his video below)
.But, once I arrived at Duffy, saw only 3 or 4 people hanging around.
The police asked the Jewish support groups to stay home. (The “palestinians” were quite violent at the most recent rally in Duffy (see LINK)
Guess it worked. Both sides were hardly visible.
.
WTC 7 to Duffy/Times Square. The message: ISRAEL has a RIGHT to DEFEND.
Am Yisrael Chai!
[Where indicated pictures and videos property of Pamela Hall-VSB]
addendum: Aug 29, 2021. The propaganda assaults on Israel’s Right to Exist never end. More reports to follow.
May 12, 2021 Duffy Square . NYC. Stand Up Against Terror.
(no idea why this rally was never posted here)
It was a really nice turn out in Support for Israel, with just a few Neturei Karta in opposition. Unfortunately the speakers were in a tight circle so the media wasn’t able to get coverage – other than a few signs.
Flickr slide show of Rally
August 26, 2021: “Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s meeting with President Joe Biden comes in the midst of heightened tensions with its regional archenemy, Iran, and as Israel grapples with a gradual resurgence of hostilities on its southern border with the Gaza Strip.”
April 8, 2020. Before The China Virus exploded across the world, there was “Linda Sarsour: We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders” . Her book signing held at NYC’s famous Strand Book Store on March 11, 2020.
FLASHBACK: Linda Sarsour @lsarsour
My book comes out TODAY, on #SuperTuesday of course. Never thought I would ever type these words. It’s the right book at the right time. Get your copy today OR post the one you receive with hashtag #NotABystander. #NotMeUs
However, this “Right Time” book signing (on the 11th) was also protested by Yad Yamin-NY. It was NOT the “Right Time”.
“Why, protest some might ask?” Well, to begin, Sarsour is an infamous Jew-Hater. Also, she supports Sharia Law and has gone on-record supporting the elimination of Israel. (There’s more) She has promoted Jihad and embraced terrorist Rasmeah Odeh.”
Yad Yamin decided they TOO were not to be BYSTANDERS, so on March 11 a call went out to :
“Jew hater, lyin’ Linda Sarsour, will be at Strand Book Store to promote her autobiography. If we didn’t know any better, by reading lyin’Linda’s promotion written by Strand Bookstore, we’d think that lyin’ Linda should get a humanitarian award. We know better. Time to fight back! No time for silence!“
But, then, in the blink of an eye, everything changed.
March 12-13, 2020 : the NY City /State government shut the city down, making this post an after thought. The pandemic media-mania overwhelmed the NYC business community. With no income, rents can’t be paid. Employees are laid off. Recovery, for many, a very slim possibility.
We were silenced. Unwilling participants in the pandemic confusion. However, Linda did manage to find a pandemic connection so she could promote Islam:
Linda Sarsour @lsarsour – March 20, 2020
I am watching ‘Pandemic’ on Netflix and finding it very informative and grounding. Highly recommend. I am also appreciating that the leading health figure in NYC on pandemics is a brilliant Muslim doctor named Dr. Syra Madad who is featured in this series.
Meanwhile, our protest. Better late than never is here . On You tube
Finally, some light reading: The Press Release for Sarsour’s book promotion. (hurl alert)
Wednesday March 11: 7:00PM – 8:00PM
Buy a copy of We Are Not Here to be Bystanders or a $15 gift card to attend. This event will take place in our 3rd floor Rare Book Room. Linda Sarsour, co-organizer of the Women’s March, shares how growing up Palestinian Muslim American, feminist, and empowered her, moved her to become a globally recognized activist on behalf of marginalized communities across the country.
“On a chilly spring morning in Brooklyn, nineteen-year-old Linda Sarsour stared at her reflection, dressed in a hijab for the first time. She saw in the mirror the woman she was growing to be—a young Muslim American woman unapologetic in her faith and her activism, who would discover her innate sense of justice in the aftermath of 9/11. Now heralded for her award-winning leadership of the Women’s March on Washington, in We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders Linda Sarsour offers a poignant story of community and family.
From the Brooklyn bodega her father owned, where Linda learned the real meaning of intersectionality, to protests in the streets of Washington, DC, Linda’s experience as a daughter of Palestinian immigrants is a moving portrayal of what it means to find one’s voice and use it for the good of others.
We follow Linda as she learns the tenets of successful community organizing, and through decades of fighting for racial, economic, gender, and social justice as she becomes one of the most recognized activists in the nation. Throughout, she inspires readers to take action as she reaffirms that we are not here to be bystanders.”
In his foreword to the book, Harry Belafonte writes of Linda, “While we may not have made it to the Promised Land, my peers and I, my brothers and sisters in liberation can rest easy that the future is in the hands of leaders like Linda Sarsour. I have often said to Linda that she embodies the principle and purpose of another great Muslim leader, brother Malcolm X.”
This is her story…
Ending with her GLOWING Press Bio:
“Linda Sarsour is an award-winning civil rights activist, community organizer, and mother of three. A Palestinian Muslim American born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she is the former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York and the co-founder of the first Muslim online organizing platform, MPower Change. She is also a founding member of Justice League NYC, a leading force of activists, artists, youth, and formerly incarcerated individuals committed to criminal justice reform through direct action and policy advocacy.
Sarsour served as national co-chair of the largest single day protest in US history, the Women’s March on Washington. Named among 500 of the most influential Muslims in the world, she was also cited as one of Fortune’s 50 Greatest Leaders, and featured as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2017. She has won numerous awards for her activism, including a Champion of Change award from the Obama Administration. She is a frequent media commentator on issues that affect Muslim communities, Middle East affairs, and criminal justice reform. She is most recognized for her transformative intersectional organizing work and movement building.“
We return to the present: April 8, 2020 where New York City is “On Pause” … still ….
[Where indicated pictures and videos property of Pamela Hall]