Israel Rejects Palestinian Statehood

Israel Rejects Palestinian Statehood

Rebuffing Biden, cabinet rejects unilateral Palestinian state as “reward for terrorism”

Approved even by centrist ministers, the statement rejects “international diktats” pushing two states; minister Sa’ar compares reported US-Arab proposal to appeasement of Nazis in 1938

Israel’s cabinet Sunday unanimously approved a declaration rejecting “international diktats” seeking to push Palestinian statehood in the wake of reports the US and several Arab partners were preparing a detailed plan for a comprehensive peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians which was to include a “firm timeline” for a Palestinian state.

“Israel utterly rejects international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians,” the cabinet decision read. “A settlement, if it is to be reached, will come about solely through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions.

“Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” the motion added. “Such recognition in the wake of the October 7th massacre would be a massive and unprecedented reward to terrorism and would foil any future peace settlement.”

Full story here.

New Dubi Club Season Opens

New Dubi Club Season Opens

The Lithuania Jewish Community’s Dubi Children’s Club opened a new season of activities on Sunday, February 18. If your child or children aged 4 to 6 want to meet friends, play, have fun and engage in new activities, mark your calendar for Sunday at 12 noon. Dubi Club takes place at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. For more information, contact Žana Skudovičienė by telephone at +370 678 81514 or by email at zanas@sc.lzb.lt.

Circumcision Specialist Coming to Lithuania Early March

Circumcision Specialist Coming to Lithuania Early March

Circumcision specialist Dr. Martin Harris of Great Britain will visit Vilnius March 3 and 4. He is ready to offer his services to Lithuanian Jewish Community and Jewish religious community members free of charge. Those interested are invited to register by sending an email to sinagoga1903@gmail.com. More information about Dr. Harris is available here.

Abstract Expressionist Shows Work at LJC

Abstract Expressionist Shows Work at LJC

Abstract expressionist painter Simonas Gelminauskis opened an exhibition of his work at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius last Thursday called “From Paris with Love.”

The 18 works on display are the fruit of a decade of creativity following his 22-year break from painting.

“The fall I spent in my studio in the Marais Jewish neighborhood in Paris in the global center of residences of art helped me recover after my father’s death and helped me think about impermanence. So this exhibition is dedicated to love. To the love of life,” the artist said at the opening ceremony for the exhibit. He didn’t chose the venue lightly, either: his current studio is located at the site of the former Great Synagogue on Jewish Street in Vilnius, from which he says he draws artistic inspiration, as he did in the Marais in Paris.

The exhibit will remain on display a the LJC for several months.

Lithuanian President Decorates Goodwill Foundation Co-Chairpeople

Lithuanian President Decorates Goodwill Foundation Co-Chairpeople

Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda decorated Goodwill Foundation co-chairpeople Faina Kukliansky and Rabbi Andrew Baker with the Lithuanian Order of Merit, Officer’s Cross, at an awards ceremony held on Restoration of Lithuanian Statehood Day, February 16.

This was in high recognition of their great efforts in promoting Jewish culture and seeking respect and fairness for the Lithuanian Jewish community, seeking appropriate commemoration for victims of the Holocaust and seeking symbolic restitution for their property stolen.

“This award is not just personal recognition, but is a testimony to the entire Lithuanian Jewish Community who haven’t rested in seeking justice, concord, community and joint effort. To be recognized on this important day to us and to Lithuania is a great honor,” attorney, Goodwill Foundation chairman and Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky said at the ceremony held at the Office of President. She also congratulate Rabbi Andrew Baker, co-chairman of the Goodwill Foundation, on his receipt of the same prize.

Washington State Mandatory High School Holocaust Education Bill Adds “Hamas Amendment”

Washington State Mandatory High School Holocaust Education Bill Adds “Hamas Amendment”

Legislators in Washington state have been discussing making Holocaust classes mandatory for high school students there for over five years now. The neighboring Canadian province of British Columbia and the province of Ontario announced plans to do so last year. After settling on the formula “Holocaust and genocide education,” some legislators are proposing an amendment to teach history from the perspective of Hamas as well. Seattle-based conservative radio talk-show host Jason Rantz predicts below the dispute will result in the failure to pass any relevant law at all. Foreign observers have wondered if Washington state’s far-left legislators won’t introduce another amendment to teach the Holocaust from the perspective of Nazi Germany as well.

Democrats Add “Hamas Amendment” to Holocaust Education Bill
by Jason Rantz, February 12, 2024

Washington Democrats added a so-called “Hamas amendment” to the Holocaust Education bill which will ensure anti-Semitic lessons are taught to kids.

The move was meant to appease a progressive voter base demanding Israel be labeled genocidal for its attack against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 5:09 P.M. on Friday, February 16, and concludes at 6:24 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Friday is also one of Lithuania’s two independence celebrations, Restoration of the State Day, marking the promulgation of the Act of Independence of Lithuania in Vilnius on February 16, 1918, and is officially observed with government offices and most businesses closed for the day.

Hamas Pogromniks Scale Jewish Hospital in Toronto

Hamas Pogromniks Scale Jewish Hospital in Toronto

CBC news reported February 13 on a pro-Palestinian protest on Monday which resulted in masked perpetrators scaling Mount Sinai Jewish hospital in Toronto to plant a Palestinian flag several stories up. CBC evening news program the National reported the hospital was originally built to treat Jewish patients denied treatment at other hospitals because of anti-Semitism.

In videos posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, apparently from the time of the protest, a person can be seen climbing an awning that’s branded Mount Sinai Hospital while waving a Palestinian flag.

Another video shows scores of people along hospital row also calling for “intifada” while many of them waved Palestinian flags. Intifada is an Arabic word used to describe more than one Palestinian uprising over the decades.

UK Labour Withdraws 2 Candidates for Anti-Semitic, Anti-Israel Comments

UK Labour Withdraws 2 Candidates for Anti-Semitic, Anti-Israel Comments

The Labour Party of the United Kingdom has withdrawn the candidacy of two candidates standing for election in two days over anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks they made to the press.

As reported by the BBC, the Mail on Sunday published comments last week from Ali, claiming Israel had “allowed” the Hamas attack.

Ali subsequently apologized “to Jewish leaders for my inexcusable comments.”

Monday evening the Daily Mail published a fuller recording, allegedly of Ali, blaming “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” for the suspension of Andy McDonald from the Labour Party.

Yet Another Anti-Semitic Attack in Lithuania

Yet Another Anti-Semitic Attack in Lithuania

A monument to commemorate Jewish prisoners in the ghetto in Druskininkai, fabricated and erected by private donations, has been knocked over. The latest attack on Lithuanian Jews was discovered Tuesday morning.

“We receive offensive letters daily, rocks are hurled at our Community building, synagogues are being vandalized and anti-Semitic rhetoric rings out from the podium in the national parliament. This seems very much like coordinated activity. This process isn’t getting weaker, on the contrary, it’s accelerating, so we need to take the strictest measures to avert tragedy,” Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky commented.

Beginning with anti-Semitic statements MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis made last spring and continues to make on the internet and to the press and following Hamas’s terrorist attack killing over a thousand Israelis on October 7, attacks against Lithuanian Jews are growing ever-more frequent. Last week alone the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius and the Šiauliai Jewish Community in Šiauliai were attacked, Nazi and white power symbols were graffitied on a pedestrian bridge in a Vilnius suburb and stickers from an extremist group were plastered on Vilnius mass transit. Both the Choral Synagogue, the only working synagogue in Vilnius, and the Zavl shul synagogue on Gelių street in Vilnius were vandalized.

The vandalism committed on Šv. Jokūbo street in Druskininkai, the southern Lithuanian spa town on the border with Belarus, is just another link in a long chain of anti-Semitic acts. The monument in Druskininkai marks the location of the Druskininkai ghetto stood from 1941 to 1943, where around 900 Jews from the town and surrounding villages and farms were held prisoner before being murdered.

“While other countries and some people criticize Israeli policies, this has nothing at all to do with the Jews who live in Lithuania today. We are Lithuanian citizens and we expect and hope the state will insure our safety,” chairwoman Kukliansky added.

Relationships between Men and Women in Judaism

Relationships between Men and Women in Judaism

Natalja Cheifec invites you to attend her lecture on relationships between men and women in Judaism.

The Talmud says a God-fearing man vindicates an immoral woman but he himself becomes immoral, whereas an immoral man who weds a God-fearing woman becomes God-fearing himself.

Natalja Cheifec will discuss the secrets of the strength of the Jewish family, quick divorce cases, Jewish wedding ceremonies, the concept of love in Judaism and miraculous cases of fertility among Jewish females.

The lecture will be conducted in Lithuanian starting at 7:00 P.M. on Thursday, February 15 via the zoom internet platform. You must register to obtain credentials for accessing the discussion by clicking here.

#NataljosEdukacija

Pro-Hamas Transgender Shoots Up Hispanic Christian Congregation in Houston

Pro-Hamas Transgender Shoots Up Hispanic Christian Congregation in Houston

Genesse Ivonne Moreno, a man “living as a woman,” opened fire on an outdoor Christian congregation gathered for a Spanish-language prayer service at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, Sunday. Media reported he had a pro-Palestinian slogan, “Free Palestine,” on the gun he used. Lakewood Church is a so-called mega-church located in a former sports stadium and is one of the largest churches in the United States.

“KHOU and the Houston Chronicle are reporting Moreno, who previously identified as Jeffery Escalante, had an extensive criminal history dating back to 2005, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety records search,” reported the Washington Blade, a gay publication.

Detectives estimate Moreno might have fired as many as 12 rounds during the incident which unfolded in the Lakewood Church Sunday afternoon. The shooter’s weapon was an AR-15, according to CNN and ABC News.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner disclosed that Moreno entered the church with a young child and he was dressed in a trench coat. An exchange of gunfire ensued when Moreno initiated the attack. Two off-duty law enforcement officers, present at the scene, responded with lethal force, killing Moreno. Officials Monday afternoon said the boy was Moreno’s 7-year-old son. The boy and a 50-year-old man were wounded during the shooting. The man was shot in one leg and the child was hospitalized in critical condition.

Australian “Creative Workers” Draw Up and Post Hit-List Targeting 600 Australian Jews

Australian “Creative Workers” Draw Up and Post Hit-List Targeting 600 Australian Jews

A group of pro-Palestinian activists working as what are called “creatives” in Australia have posted a hit-list containing the names and details of just under 600 Jewish Australians who support Israel. The Jews targeted are also engaged in creative and cultural work. At least two of the list-makers and spreaders have been identified; one is a well-known author and illustrator of children’s books and the recipient of hundreds of thousands of Australian dollars in grant money from government agencies.

“Nazi-like”: Hundreds of Jewish Australian artists and their families doxed by high-profile pro-Palestine activists [“dox” is a verbalized noun meaning “to release the documents on someone,” i.e., personal details and contact information, including but not limited to home addresses, telephone numbers, credit card numbers, bank accounts, property records, family members, political and community affiliations, genealogies, DNA records and etc.]

A “despicably” published spreadsheet containing the names, occupations and social media profiles of almost 600 Jewish Australian artists led to death threats after it was shared by high-profile pro-Palestinian activists.

Almost 600 Jewish Australian creatives and artists, who were members in a WhatsApp group chat, had their personal details indexed into a spreadsheet with the link made public.

Condolences

Rimanas Elizejus passed away February 12. He was born in 1924. He was a Community member of long standing and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. We extend our deepest condolences to his children and all of his friends and relatives.

South African ForMin Claims Israel Targeting Her Family

South African ForMin Claims Israel Targeting Her Family

South African foreign affairs and cooperation minister Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor from the ruling African National Congress party claims her family members are being targeted by Israel in revenge for South Africa bringing a genocide case against Israel at the United Nations International Court of Justice. Note the ANC has traditionally maintained ties with the Palestine Liberation Organization and has consistently spoken out for Palestinians while blaming Israel and comparing it to apartheid South Africa.

Cape Town–International relations and co-operation Minister Naledi Pandor says her life might be in danger after she received threats from suspected Israeli agents.

Following these threats, she has asked police minister Bheki Cele to beef up her security.

Pandor has been vocal in condemning Israel’s war actions against Gaza, as South Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over allegations of genocide.

Pandor told journalists at the state of the nation address that she had spoken to Cele over concerns for her family’s security.

“I spoke to minister Cele because of the messages I was getting, and I felt it would be better to have extra security. What I am more concerned about is my family because in some social media messages, my children are mentioned,” said Pandor.

“The Israeli agents, the intelligence services: this is how they behave, and they seek to intimidate you, so we must not be intimidated. There is a case that is under way,” Pandor said.

Aussie Deputy Police Commish Gives Cover to Anti-Semitic Pogrom

Aussie Deputy Police Commish Gives Cover to Anti-Semitic Pogrom

Deputy police commissioner for the Australian state of New South Wales Mal Lanyon seemingly pulled a page from the Lithuanian playbook last week, providing cover for a mob hellbent on pogrom at the Sydney Opera House who chanted “gas the Jews” on October 9, before Israel initiated its self-declared war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

According to Lanyon, Strike Force Mealing, a special working group tasked with investigating possible criminal offenses at the gathering, hired an acoustics expert who reviewed audio recordings and decided the crowd was actually chanting “Where’s the Jews?” despite numerous ear-witnesses at the event and voluminous video footage which indicated they had in fact clearly chanted “Gas the Jews!”

“The expert has concluded with overwhelming certainty that the phrase chanted during that protest as recorded on the audio-visual files was ‘where’s the Jews,’ not another phrase as otherwise widely reported,” he said.

The day after the protest, NSW oremier Chris Minns had condemned the rally, describing it at “abhorrent.”

IDF Finds Tunnel under UNRWA HQ

IDF Finds Tunnel under UNRWA HQ

“This is one of the central commands of the intelligence. This place is one of the Hamas intelligence units, where they commanded most of the combat.”

New evidence of the cooperation between United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the Islamist terror organization Hamas came to light after Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) discovered a tunnel shaft near a UNRWA school during its operations in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military announced on Saturday.

The tunnel shaft, near the school, led to an underground shelter that served as a valuable asset for Hamas’s military intelligence wing, according to the IDF. The route connected to the tunnel also led to a path beneath UNRWA’s central headquarters in the Gaza Strip.

According to the report, the tunnel was 700 meters long and 18 meters deep and contained several constructed side doors to various new routes. The IDF stated that the newly acquired intelligence from this operation will allow it to conduct additional raids on Hamas in the future.

The discovery comes after revelations last week UNRWA staff in Gaza acted as terrorists in the invasion of southern Israel on October 7. Commentators and Israeli officials say the tunnel under UNRWA in Gaza puts the UN agency at the center of terror operations against Israel.

Full story here.

Lithuanian Parliament to Remove Immunity from Allegedly Anti-Semitic MP

Lithuanian Parliament to Remove Immunity from Allegedly Anti-Semitic MP

by Modesta Gaučaitė-Znutienė, February 12, 2024

The Lithuanian parliament has green-lighted the removal of parliamentary immunity from Remigijus Žemaitaitis for his comments allegedly belittling Jews. Žemaitaitis counters his comments were not anti-Semitic and claims the accusations are political because he decided to run for president.

The Office of Prosecutor General made the request to parliament to annul Žemaitaitis’s legal immunity because of allegedly anti-Semitic comments the MP made on facebook. The MP says this is an attempt to get rid of him ahead of the presidential election in May.

Prosecutor general Nida Grunskienė took to the podium in parliament telling lawmakers the pre-trial investigation into alleged anti-Semitic statements by Žemaitaitis was launched on May 8 last year and involves the possible sowing of discord against a national, racial, ethnic, religious or other group of people.

IDF Frees Two Hostages

IDF Frees Two Hostages

(JTA)–The Israeli military has rescued two hostages in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the second such rescue since Hamas took hundreds of Israelis captive on October 7.

The overnight rescue operation which was announced in the early hours of Monday morning, Israel time, comes as the Israel Defense Forces are shifting their focus to Rafah, a city on the border with Egypt where there are currently more than a million Palestinians. The rescue operation also comes as negotiations toward a ceasefire and hostage release have hit obstacles.

The two rescued hostages, Norberto Louis Har, 70, and Fernando Simon Marman, 60, were taken captive from the border community of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak during Hamas’s October 7 attack. Hamas took some 250 hostages in total and killed approximately 1,200 Israelis in its attack, which launched the current war.

Full story here.