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JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Columbia (the school) cancels finals, Colombia (the country) to sever ties with Israel, why some lawmakers voted against antisemitism bill, skeletons found outside famous Nazi’s home and, on a lighter note, enjoy an Ashkenazi delicacy made of fish sperm.

CONFLICT ON CAMPUS

Police face off with pro-Palestinian students early Thursday morning after dismantling part of the encampment on the UCLA campus. (Getty)

Violence at UCLA…

➤ Hundreds of police officers in riot gear tore through barricades on the UCLA campus early Thursday morning to clear out a pro-Palestinian encampment. Our Louis Keene has the latest from Los Angeles.

➤ The encampment was attacked the previous night by pro-Israel supporters. The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles said it was “appalled at the violence,” and that the “abhorrent actions” of a pro-Israel group “do not represent the Jewish community of our values.”

➤ At UCLA, Jewish students say that pro-Israel violence has undercut their advocacy.

Opinion | I got caught in the melee at UCLA. Here’s how it could’ve been prevented:“Sensing that the confrontation could explode, a number of colleagues and I inserted ourselves between the two groups to serve as a buffer,” writes David Myers, a UCLA professor, who believes the university had fair warning of the tinder box on campus. Read his essay ➤

Opinion | I can’t see myself standing with the UCLA protesters or counterprotesters. Luckily, there’s a third group: Zahra Sakkejha is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants to Canada and works in Los Angeles. She is part of a movement of Jews and Arabs who have, as our senior columnist Rob Eshman describes, “the sheer audacity of caring about both sides” and who create “a constant cognitive dissonance among the protesters they encounter.” Read his essay ➤

Pro-Palestinian protesters rally outside Fordham University Wednesday in New York where a group had established an encampment inside a building. (Getty)

Plus…

Columbia University told its teachers on Wednesday to either move finals online, postpone them or cancel them altogether.

Binghamton University students launched a pro-Palestinian encampment Wednesday night.

Hundreds of students held sit-ins on Wednesday at Chicago public high schools in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Drew University in New Jersey entered into a mediation agreement after two students said they were harassed for being Jewish.

Many student protesters are linking the Palestinian struggle with other global issues, including policing and the mistreatment of Indigenous people.

President Joe Biden will deliver a speech about antisemitism next week at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to mark Yom Hashoah.

Several university presidents, many from faith-based schools, are set to travel to Auschwitz Monday to take part in the March of the Living.

ISRAEL AT WAR

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday in Israel getting a tour of the humanitarian aid at a border crossing with Gaza. (Getty)

The latest…

Israel’s war cabinet is set to meet at 6:30 p.m. local time to discuss the latest hostage negotiation deal.

Nine Americans and Israelis impacted by the Oct. 7 attacks have jointly filed a lawsuit against American Muslims for Palestine and National Students for Justice in Palestine, accusing them of being Hamas collaborators.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Wednesday his country will cut diplomatic ties with Israel.

Members of Sweden’s Jewish community are anxious about potential attacks from those protesting Israel’s participation at next week’s Eurovision Song Contest.

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ALSO IN THE FORWARD

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene at a news conference on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. (Getty)

Why top Democrats opposed bipartisan bill targeting antisemitism in universities: The House passed the Republican-led Antisemitism Awareness Act Wednesday by a bipartisan 320-91 vote. But 70 Democrats voted against the bill because it adopts a controversial definition of antisemitism which some Jewish advocacy groups say stifles legitimate criticism of Israel. The bill now moves to the Senate.

Related: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican, voted against the bill because she believes it “could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews.”

Just how accurate is the Peacock series The Tattooist of Auschwitz?The show, about the real-life love story between two Holocaust survivors, is based on a 2018 international bestselling book which caused a stir for getting numerous facts wrong. The museum at Auschwitz stopped recommending the book. Now, the producer of the new series told us how important it was for her to get things right.

Plus: Kratsborsht is a sweet and sour sauce made from the sperm of a mature male herring. It was an Ashkenazi delicacy, but was also popular among non-Jews for a meatless Christmas Eve meal.

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

A Polish police officer stands guard outside the Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw on Wednesday, after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the building. (Getty)

🕍 Police arrested a Polish teen on suspicion he attacked Warsaw’s main synagogue Wednesday with three firebombs. The building sustained minimal damage and nobody was hurt. (AP)

😲 Speaking of Poland, archaeologists there unearthed five human skeletons outside the former home of Nazi commander Hermann Göring. (CNN)

👏 Comedian Amy Schumer has faced a lot of online criticism since Oct. 7 for her support for Israel. But, she reveals in a new interview, “maybe 10 times a day” people stop her on the street to thank her. (Variety)

📚 The title of Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s book Where the Wild Things Are was derived from a Yiddish saying. Visitors will discover that, and much more, at a new show at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. (Forward)

Shiva call ➤ Peter Schey, a lawyer who defended migrant rights and fought the Trump administration’s family separation policy, died at 77.

What else we’re reading ➤ Universities face an urgent question: What makes a protest antisemitic? … United Methodists strike down ban on ordination of gay clergy, and will allow LGBTQ+ weddings … Holocaust survivors take on denial and hate in new digital ad campaign launched today.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Did former President Donald Trump say the Yiddish word farkakte at a speech Wednesday in Wisconsin? Watch above and let us know.

Related: Meet the New York realtor who describes her listings as “farkakte apartments.”

***

Dept. of corrections: In a tease for a story we shared yesterday about the shlep vs. schlep debate, we incorrectly stated that protesters in front of the Forward Building in 1970 threw an egg at our staffers. In fact, it was an annoyed Forward staffer on the third floor who tossed the egg onto the protesters.

Thanks to Louis Keene, Lauren Markoe, Chana Pollack, Rukhl Schaechter and Talya Zax 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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