From the Jewish Daily Forward
Genetics Expert Insists 75% of Jews Share Roots in Middle East
Family Tree DNA Chief Trashes Kazar Theory as ‘Lies’
By Judy Maltz
The overwhelming majority of Jews living today should be able to trace their roots back to the Middle East with a little DNA testing, he maintains, and all those who claim otherwise, as far as he’s concerned, have their history wrong.
“We’re not interlopers who came here from Eastern Europe, and we’re not Serbs or Kazars,” says Greenspan. “You can use whatever polemic you want to discredit the Jews or discredit the nation, but saying that we weren’t here is a lie.”
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Jon Stewart’s problem with his Jewish ‘brethren’
Jon Stewart is no stranger to harsh criticism. Some Jews have called him a self-hater, while the Iranian media has painted him as a Mossad agent. But “The Daily Show” host wasn’t on the receiving end Tuesday when he dished out some tough love to his fellow Jews.
In an interview with Canada.com to promote his new movie, “Rosewater,” the Jewish comedian commented on a number of things he found “troubling” with Judaism and the Jewish state.
“It’s so interesting to me that people want to define who is a Jew and who is not. And normally that was done by people who weren’t Jewish but apparently now it’s done by people who are,” Stewart said. “And you can’t observe [Judaism] in the way you want to observe. And I never thought that that would be coming from brethren. I find it really sad, to be honest.”
He went on to describe certain Jewish behavior as “fascistic.”
Asked whether he could criticize Israel, Stewart’s answer was a resounding “No.” Although that’s not a new revelation.
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From PressTV
Israelis clash with Palestinians marching to al-Quds
On Friday, approximately 100 Palestinians participated in the rally called “We are going to Jerusalem,” which was organized by Abdulla Abu Rahma, coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall, in the occupied West Bank, Xinhua reported.
The demonstrators headed from Ramallah towards the fence that separates the West Bank from al-Quds. The rally was held to show solidarity with Palestinian residents of in the occupied city.
“The demonstrators entered the area of Qalandia airport after they climbed the wall and cut the fence that surrounds the airport area and waved Palestinian flags,” Abu Rahma said.
From PressTV
Israel bans renowned doctor from Gaza for life
Tel Aviv announced on Thursday that it had banned Gilbert, Norway’s doctor of peace for Gaza, from entering the Israeli-besieged Palestinian enclave for security reasons.
The announcement was made after the Norwegian Embassy in Tel Aviv asked for an explanation to why Gilbert had been refused entry to Gaza last month.
The renowned doctor tried to return to Gaza in October to work at Shifa hospital, where he treated thousands of the Palestinians injured in Israel’s 50-day war on the blockaded coastal sliver earlier this year.
Norway’s Secretary of State Bård Glad Pedersen has called on Tel Aviv to change its decision, arguing “the humanitarian situation in Gaza is still difficult and there is a need for all health workers.”
From the Jewish Daily Forward
Princeton Professors Open New Front in Campus Battle Over Israel
Should Hillel Take Sides Against 60 Tenured Faculty?
Princeton University professors have opened a new front in the battle over Israel on campus with a petition signed by 60 tenured faculty members calling for the university to divest from companies backing the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
The explosive protest, the most powerful faculty-led effort at an Ivy League school in recent years, has triggered a wideranging debate over the Middle East conflict within the Jewish community at the bucolic New Jersey campus and sparked pro-Israel counter petitions from both students and faculty.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
U.S. envoy on anti-Semitism ‘concerned’ over anti-Semitism in Turkey
(JTA) — The United States is concerned over recent expressions of anti-Semitism in Turkey, the State Department’s special envoy for combatting anti-Semitism, Ira Forman, said.
Forman spoke of these concerns in an interview with JTA Friday from Berlin, where he attended a high-level meeting on anti-Semitism organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE.
“We are concerned when civil society or political leaders call on the Jewish community to denounce Israel,” Forman said in reference to such calls. Prime Minister Tayyp Erdogan made similar statements during Israel’s summer war with Hamas in Gaza.
“And we are concerned when we hear that someone posted a sign reading ‘to be demolished’ on Istanbul’s Neve Shalom synagogue,” Forman said in reference to an incident that occurred this week.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Knesset advances bill to force Adelson-owned newspaper to charge customers
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli lawmakers approved in a preliminary vote a bill that would make free distribution of a major newspaper illegal.
The bill’s chief target is Israel Hayom, a free Israeli newspaper owned by American billionaire Sheldon Adelson. The bill passed its first reading by a vote of 43 to 23.
Sponsored by Labor party lawmaker Eitan Cabel, the bill will now be sent to a Knesset committee to be revised for its second and third Knesset plenum votes.
While the bill targets all newspapers that are distributed for free, it has been clear its intent is to force the Adelson-owned newspaper, which is considered to be a mouthpiece for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to charge customers. Founded in 2007, Israel Hayom is the only major free Israeli paper, and recently became Israel’s most-read. The bill would mandate that Israel’s least-expensive major paper charge no less than 70 percent the price of its next-most-expensive competitor.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
CRIF: Recognizing ‘Palestine’ risks worsening anti-Semitism in France
(JTA) – CRIF, France’s federation of Jewish organizations and communities, said the submission to parliament of a draft motion favoring immediate recognition of a Palestinian state risks exacerbating anti-Semitic hatred.
CRIF urged French lawmakers to refrain from voting in favor of the motion, which a predominantly Socialist bloc this week submitted to a vote in the French lower house later this month. Last week, the French Green party advanced a similar initiative in the French Senate.
“In France, after the anti-Semitic riots this summer, this declaration will certainly not be interpreted as a peace initiative and risks exacerbating the anti-Semitic tensions which we saw last summer,” reads the CRIF statement on the planned vote, which is slated for Nov. 28.
CRIF rarely links France’s anti-Semitism problem to mainstream political parties’ policies on Israel.
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