Top 12 Jewish News: Jewish Tennis Champ Beats Nadal...
Wednesday September 23, 2020
Jewish tennis whiz, Diego Schwartzman, beats international superstar Nadal to advance to Italian Open finals. In a statement to Times of Israel, the Argentine tennis star said, "for sure its my best match ever...I played a few times against the three champions in tennis. I never beat them until today. I'm very happy".
In Amsterdam today, construction of the new National Holocaust Monument of Names began. The first stone was laid by Jacqueline van Maarsen, a good friend and classmate of Anne Frank. The monument will have 102 thousand stones, representing each name of Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
In an address to the United Nations General Assembly today, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman called upon world leaders to confront Iranian nuclear aspirations as a united front and expressed support for US Middle East peace efforts. The King said Iran is creating ‘chaos, extremism and religious fanaticism’. He also called to disarm Hezbollah. He added, “the kingdom supports all efforts aimed at advancing the peace process" - a clear reference to the UAE-Israel-Bahrain peace deal.
Canada's Throne speech today on behalf of the government covered mainly the situation arising from Covid-19 and how the government will continue confronting it through job creation, vaccine and assistance. The government wants to also combat racism and discrimination by providing additional tools and resources.
Nazi war criminals should not get away with murder: An American citizen who was a Nazi guard is facing extradition. At 94, he fled to the US in 1959 and is said to be one of the last Nazi war criminals to go on trial. He is accused of abetting the murder of 70 prisoners at a satellite camp near Hamburg. In July, Bruno Dey became the latest camp guard convicted at age 94 for his complicity in murdering 5,232 at the Stutthof camp. "Sadly, these trials are too little too late as thousands of guards went on with their lives after the war having been part of the Nazi murder machine" - said Avi Benlolo.
In a revelation today in the Globe and Mail, the Canadian government is said to have conducted clandestine meetings with North Korea in 2018 in order to establish a relationship with the dictatorship. The article says Canada discussed opening an embassy in its capital and even having military exchanges. "Given the country's human rights abuses, its threat to launch nuclear weapons and its testing, this seems incomprehensible" said Avi Benlolo. North Korea is further accused of providing some of the most despot regimes in the world with knowledge and materials to develop nuclear arms - including Iran and previously, Syria.
Zoom cancels conference call with accused terrorist Leila Khaled at San Fran University. At the insistence of the Lawfare Project and the Jerusalem Report, the Zoom statement read in part, "In light of the speaker’s reported affiliation or membership in a US designated foreign terrorist organization, and SFSU’s inability to confirm otherwise, we determined the meeting is in violation of Zoom’s Terms of Service and told SFSU they may not use Zoom for this particular event". Congratulations to the Lawfare Project on this excellent announcement.
In an opinion piece in Haaretz, Yossi Beilin says, "The Arab Peace Initiative is irrelevant nowadays in its original formulation as a promise to normalize relations with Israel on condition that it would make peace with the Palestinians. But it played an important role to show both sides the potential accessibility of a peaceful horizon". Now is the time, he argues, for Palestinians to come to the table.
Bahrain news agency describes that a team from the "State of Israel" arrived in Manama today to "discuss areas of cooperation" between the two countries". This  follows the peace signing agreement in Washington between the two nations.
Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer condemns violence and racism in her city. Although racial tensions are high, she encourages community to pull together..."we cannot allow despicable actions of few". Black Lives Matter and anti-racism supporters came face-to-face with counter-protesters at Rotary Recreation Park in the central Alberta city on Sunday, with RCMP officers in between them. At one point, as many as 16 officers were at the rally, which organizers had intended to be peaceful.
A video has emerged comparing the Ottawa police Chief to Hitler, and has been condemned by the Ontario Chiefs of Police. In a statement, I wrote: "Comparing a Canadian Police Chief to Hitler is offensive and completely inappropriate. Aside from diminishing the Holocaust and its victims, our police services are second to none".
Liquidation of Vilnius Ghetto: The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance mentioned and memorialized the National Memorial Day marking the Genocide of the Lithuanian Jews, marking the murder of 90% of Lithuanian Jews.
