Coalition Spotlight: Looking Ahead With Hope to the Coming Year

With Rosh HaShanah (the Jewish New Year) just around the corner, many Jewish partner organizations are publicly reflecting on the past 12 months, both the successes and challenges, and looking ahead with hope to the coming year. We wish all Jewish members of the coalition a Shanah Tovah U’Metukah!

Here is a sampling of how the coalition has made a difference this week:

Spotlight

UK Lawyers For Israel (UKLFI): The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is looking into a complaint by UKLFI about Iraqi wheelchair tennis players pulling out of a competition at the Bucharest Open Wheelchair Tennis Tournament in August to avoid playing against Israelis. Thanks to the information UKLFI provided, the International Tennis Federation is investigating the case.

Read more here.

The International Tennis Federation @ITFTennis is looking into a complaint by @UKLFI about Iraqi wheelchair tennis players pulling out of a competition to avoid playing against Israelis. https://t.co/FYZ9pSh974 pic.twitter.com/r5v8khELo5

— UK Lawyers For Israel (@UKLFI) September 19, 2022

Upcoming Events

3GNY: On Sunday, October 2, at 2 pm ET at Tada! Theater, a new staging of Anne Frank’s diary titled “Anne Being Frank” will tell the story of Anne Frank’s diary, but set in the midst of a Nazi concentration camp as Frank races to finish reading her words before passing away. Recognizing the sensitivity and presentation of the play, the age recommendation for audience participants is 16+.

Purchase tickets for this one-time showing here and RSVP for the 3G Meet-Up following the event by emailing events@3gnewyork.org.

Edlavitch DCJCC: For the third year running, the Blast is back. Residents are invited to take to the streets on Sunday, September 25, at 4:00 pm ET to mark the sanctity of this time. Just walk outside your house with your shofar and sound the shofar as best or as loud as you can!

Pin your location here to let others know where you’ll be blowing your shofar.

The Blast is back.https://t.co/hZ53dgmV26 https://t.co/k8qeV8rVxq

— theblastdc (@theblastdc) September 8, 2022

Kreuzberger Initiative against Antisemitism (KIgA): On September 29, from 3 PM- 6:30 PM CET, a symposium entitled “Countering Holocaust Distortion Through Education,” organized by the Kreuzberger Initiative against Antisemitism (KIgA) and supported by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), will shed light on the challenge of Holocaust denial in an international context.

Register here. 

Park Avenue Synagogue: Rabbi Elliott Cosgrove will dialogue with Dr. Richard Haass at 2:00 PM ET on Wednesday, October 5th, Yom Kippur. As part of this year’s fast day reflection, Dr. Haass will share his insights on current global issues and how we can better understand and relate to them. Dr. Haass is in his 20th year as President of the Council on Foreign Relations. His latest book, “The World: A Brief Introduction,” was a New York Times bestseller and his next book, “The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens,” will be published in January.

Learn more here.

Partner Achievements 

Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund and Secure Community Network: The Department of Homeland Security announced the appointment of 25 members to the reinvigorated Faith-Based Security Advisory Council, in advance of the first meeting on Thursday, October 6, 2022. The external advisory body providing advice to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security includes Kiran Kaur Gill, Executive Director, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Michael Masters, National Director & CEO, Secure Community Network.

Read more here.

Increasingly, our nation + our world are facing new threats that demand new, innovative solutions. We are proud that SALDEF ED Kiran Kaur was appointed by @SecMayorkas to the @DHSgov Faith-Based Security Advisory Council to drive solutions of the future.https://t.co/YndZRFdNrM pic.twitter.com/vP2MGu4EXP

— SALDEF (@SALDEF) September 20, 2022

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA): Prior to the Jewish New Year, President Ambassador Dore Gold has announced the recent activity report for 2022, which includes insight on a number of initiatives in which the Center has engaged, and that he will step down from his position as President after nearly 20 years at JCPA. Thank you for your service and work as president, Ambassador Gold, as well as the impressive work of the Center this past year!

Read more here.

Recommended Readings and Viewings

ALUMS for Campus Fairness: Analyzing data from 2017 through 2022, ALUMS has compiled a report on the institutional bias of college and university newspapers towards Israel, while remaining silent on the issue of antisemitism around the world as well as on campus. 75 higher educational institutions have published nearly 1,500 stories about Israel over the five-year time period, with the vast majority of these publications depicting Israel in a negative light.

Download the full report here.

Jewish Institute for Liberal Values: Founder and CEO David L. Bernstein, authored the forthcoming book “Woke Antisemitism: How a Progressive Ideology Harms Jews,” with a foreword by Natan Sharansky. “Woke Antisemitism” is a firsthand account from a long-time Jewish leader about how woke ideology shuts down discourse, corrupts Jewish values, and spawns a virulent new strain of antisemitism. The book is due out in digital and on-demand form, soft cover, on Tuesday, October 18, 2022. 

Be the first to learn about its availability here.

I am super excited to announce my book Woke Antisemitism: How a Progressive Ideology Harms Jews, with an amazing Foreword by my hero Natan Sharansky. Published by Post Hill Press, it will be initially released on Oct 18th in both digital & soft cover on demand. pic.twitter.com/aMPt2AH7Cw

— David Bernstein (@DavidLBernstein) August 31, 2022

Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI): From exiting a health crisis (the Covid-19 pandemic) and entering a geopolitical crisis (the Ukraine war), the past year presented many challenges. The JPPI’s Annual Assessment provides an opportunity to observe the work and the trends that will be important in the upcoming year, as relevant to the work’s priorities, as well as the challenges that will continue to persist.

Read more here.