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JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT. |
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WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION |
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Good morning. Today: Freed hostage says Hamas asked him to point out Jews on Oct. 7, Jewish CNN anchor heckled at book event, and Sen. Chuck Schumer’s enemies can’t resist cursing him in Yiddish. |
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Hersh Goldberg-Polin in a propaganda video released by Hamas on Thursday, days after IDF troops discovered him and five other hostages murdered in Gaza. (Screenshot) |
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Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s last words are not just Hamas propaganda. A video of Goldberg-Polin condemning Israel’s continuation of the war, released by Hamas on Thursday, is the fourth of its kind: Since the bodies of Goldberg-Polin and five other murdered hostages were discovered last weekend, the terror group has been releasing videos of the deceased, all pleading for an end to the conflict.
The videos were clearly made under coercion. But even so, writes reporter Louis Keene, their messages have resonated — including with Goldberg-Polin’s parents, who have served as high-profile activists on behalf of the hostages, and approved the publication of the video in a statement saying its release “must serve as an immediate wake-up call to the world to take action today.”
“Coming, collectively, as a prophecy already fulfilled, they have been deployed as an indictment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” Louis writes, “who in recent days has faced the broadest Israeli protests since the war began 11 months ago.” |
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Latest from the war… Goldberg-Polin’s favorite soccer club, Hapoel Jerusalem F.C. — at whose games he would regularly lead raucous shirtless chants — unveiled a new jersey honoring him, saying players would don it in the “upcoming cycle.”
Rescued hostage Farhan al-Qadi said that he was taken captive by Hamas after he refused to help them locate his Jewish neighbors on Oct. 7. “I was prepared to die rather than point them to a Jew, not even to a cat,” al-Qadi, who is Muslim, said. “The whole moshav” — village — “are good friends of mine.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S., Qatar and Egypt are close to presenting Israel and Hamas with what he hinted might be a final proposal for a hostages-for-ceasefire deal. Once the plan is shared in the coming days, he said, “it will be time for the parties to decide yes or no.” |
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Former President Donald Trump addresses the Republican Jewish Coalition on Thursday. (Luke Tress) |
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Opinion | Trump isn’t an antisemite — he just hates the Jews who won’t vote for him. In a Thursday video address to the Republican Jewish Coalition, former President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly suggested during this election cycle that Jews who vote for Democrats are mentally unwell, took his rhetoric to a frightening new extreme. “Why? How do they exist?” he asked of such voters. “The rhetorical leap from that question to ‘why do they exist?’ — and then to ‘they shouldn’t exist’ — is really more of a stroll,” writes senior columnist Rob Eshman. Read his essay ➤
With harsh words — in English and Yiddish — Republicans try to win Jewish voters. Trump’s claims throughout the speech were fatalistic; he also said that Vice President Kamala Harris is “‘the candidate of the forces who want to destroy Western civilization and Israel’ and suggested that if she’s elected, terror groups will wage attacks on Israel,” writes political reporter Jacob Kornbluh. “‘You’ll never survive if they get in,’ he said.” Read the story ➤
Chuck Schumer’s enemies can’t resist cursing him out in Yiddish. The RJC meeting also saw the debut of a mocking new Yiddish nickname for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, with Norm Coleman, the coalition's national chairman, referring to him as “Chuck Schmuck.” The insult recalled a moment that thrust Schumer into the spotlight during his 1998 Senate campaign: when his opponent, the incumbent Republican Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, referred to him as a “putzhead” behind closed doors. Read the story ➤
Plus: Shabbos Kestenbaum, high-profile critic of campus antisemitism, says he’s broken with Democratic Party and will vote for Trump |
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READERS LIKE YOU SHAPE EVERY PART OF OUR WORK |
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Reporting on the ground from Israel and campus takes resources. Support the news that matters to you with a monthly donation. |
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The U.S. Department of Justice said Russia targeted the Forward as part of a disinformation campaign. (Graphic by Jake Wasserman) |
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DOJ: Russia targeted Jews in a campaign to influence elections. In a 277-page affidavit filed Wednesday, the Department of Justice detailed a broad Russian media campaign to target Jews across the globe with disinformation and fake news. Among its aims: Sowing discord in the U.S. before the presidential election, and negatively influencing Israelis’ views of Ukraine. And among its tactics, as my colleague Benyamin Cohen shared in yesterday’s Forwarding, was the creation of a fake website imitating the Forward. “These nefarious actors focusing on Jews is a reminder of the dangerous ways Jews continue to be targeted and stereotyped,” said our editor-in-chief, Jodi Rudoren. |
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– From our Sponsors: Spertus Institute– |
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WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
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As a new school year starts, the University of Pennsylvania is launching a new initiative to combat religious bigotry on campus. (Michelle Gustafson/Bloomberg via Getty Images) |
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✡️ The University of Pennsylvania will open an office to respond to complaints of antisemitism and Islamophobia. The university’s interim president, Larry Jameson, wrote in a Thursday email that the move was intended to address a “surge” of hateful incidents on campus amid the war. (Daily Pennsylvanian)
🦞 The City Council of Portland, Maine, unanimously voted to divest from businesses that work with Israel, becoming the fourth American city to pass such a resolution since the onset of war. (JTA)
👀 Jewish CNN anchor Dana Bash was heckled by protesters accusing her of being “complicit in genocide” and receiving “millions” of dollars from AIPAC during an event promoting her new book. (Times of Israel, Twitter)
Shiva call ➤ Steve Silberman, a science journalist renowned for his work examining autism, died at 66.
What else we’re reading ➤“Israeli raids paralyze daily life for many in the West Bank” … “What Tucker Carlson’s spin on World War II really says” … Adam Brody “goes full rabbi.”
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Guy Sasson playing in the quad singles bronze medal match at the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games. (Zac Goodwin/PA Images via Getty Images) |
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Israeli wheelchair tennis player Guy Sasson secured a bronze medal from the Paris Paralympics on Thursday, after beating out a Turkish competitor. Also in news from the Paralympics: Table tennis star Ian Seidenfeld, the reigning Paralympic champion, won this year’s bronze medal, and Israel’s women’s goalball team won silver. |
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Thanks to Benyamin Cohen for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Beth Harpaz for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at [email protected]. |
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