Jerusalem Post Magazine ran a story on new efforts to retain billions in property and assets for Holocaust survivors in Eastern Europe where the call for restitution has gone largely unanswered.

B'nai B'rith International is mentioned as one of the many organizations and countries leading the renewed charge for justice.

Click below to read the story on JPost.com

The Algemeiner wrote about the controversy swirling around BDS movement activist Linda Sarsour and the backlash facing New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for praising her in Time Magazine. B'nai B'rith International CEO Dan Mariaschin is quoted in the story.

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Jewish leaders and pro-Israel activists have expressed concern over a contribution to Time Magazine by New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand that praised Linda Sarsour – a Palestinian-American political activist and vocal advocate for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel.
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In a short piece accompanying the magazine’s “100 most influential people” list for 2017, Gillibrand paid tribute to “four extraordinary women  — Tamika Mallory, Bob Bland, Carmen Perez and Linda Sarsour” for organizing the Women’s March on Washington, DC on January 21.

“The images of Jan. 21, 2017, show a diverse, dynamic America—striving for equality for all. The moment and movement mattered so profoundly because it was intersectional and deeply personal,” Gillibrand wrote. “These women are the suffragists of our time.”

The depiction of Sarsour as a fighter for the rights of all women jarred with Jewish community leaders, who pointed to her insistence that pro-Israel sentiments have no place among progressives, and her assertion, in an interview with The Nation, that one cannot be both a feminist and a Zionist.

“I salute the progressive women who reject this phony, false, hateful choice,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center told The Algemeiner. “Someone who says that Jews need not apply if they have an affection or an affiliation with Israel isn’t a progressive.”

Cooper urged Gillibrand to reconsider her positive view of Sarsour. “I think the Jewish community in New York and across the US has a lot of respect for the senator, but she may want to reevaluate the statement in Time magazine,” Cooper said. “If someone is in effect saying you have to make a choice between being a progressive woman or a Zionist, the senator, reflecting on such comments, would I hope make a different type of statement.”

“Linda Sarsour spends most of her waking hours working to delegitimize Israel and its supporters,” said Daniel Mariaschin, the Executive Vice President of B’nai B’rith International. “We’d ask Senator Gillibrand to recognize that you can’t compartmentalize on these things. It isn’t enough to say, ‘you know, she worked on the Women’s March, and therefore she deserves this kind of recognition.'”

Sen. Gillibrand’s office did not respond to The Algemeiner‘s request for comment.

The senator’s Time article has appeared in the midst of another Sarsour-related row, this time over the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School of Public Health’s decision to invite her to speak at its forthcoming commencement event.

Barbara Aaron, chief of staff to the school’s dean, Ayman El-Mohandes, said she was “delighted to confirm that Linda Sarsour will indeed speak at our June 1 commencement at [Harlem’s] Apollo Theater.” This followed protests over the invitation from prominent New Yorkers, among them Democratic state Assemblyman Dov Hikind.

“She is someone who associates with radical Islamists. She is someone who has said, clearly, she thinks throwing rocks at cars in Israel is a good thing,” Hikind said last week.

Sarsour’s public profile has risen dramatically over the last year, as she emerged as a leading voice opposing President Donald Trump. She has made frequently inflammatory comments on social media regarding Israel and the Middle East, declaring on Twitter that there is “nothing creepier than Zionism.”

Although Sarsour has since deleted, though not apologized for, some of her more injudicious tweets, these have been archived on Facebook. Among them is an incitement to violence against the prominent anti-Islamist writers Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Brigitte Gabriel. In that tweet, Sarsour stated that the two women were “asking 4 an a$$ whipping. I wish I could take their vaginas away – they don’t deserve to be women.”

Hirsi Ali, who was born in Somalia and has championed the rights of women in Islamic societies, is a victim of female genital mutilation – a well-known fact that Sarsour would have been aware of when she composed her tweet.

“For a champion of hate to be speaker at a commencement is intolerable – Sarsour is an outrageous choice,” Rabbi Meyer May, Executive Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told The Algemeiner. “I would think a school of public health would find someone who actually speaks to public health issues, not someone who advocates (Islamic) sharia law.”

Sarsour has dismissed critics of her positive stance on sharia law as “Islamophobes.” In one tweet – again since deleted – she spoke glowingly of “10 weeks of PAID maternity leave in Saudi Arabia. Yes PAID. And ur worrying about women driving.”

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report for 2016, Saudi Arabia ranks at 141 out of 144 countries when it comes to women accessing “resources and opportunities.”

Given Sarsour’s troubling record, Rabbi May said, CUNY should encourage its students to “use the critical thinking abilities we’ve taught you, and think about what you know about her while you sit and listen to her.”

The B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL-JNF) held, for the 15th consecutive year, a unique joint Holocaust commemoration ceremony on Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah).

This is the only event dedicated annually to commemorating the heroism of Jews who rescued fellow Jews during the Holocaust. About 300 border patrol cadets—who provided an honor guard—and 300 students participated in the ceremony together with Jewish rescuers and survivors. The ceremony took place at the B’nai B’rith Martyr’s Forest “Scroll of Fire” Plaza at 10:00 a.m. Israel time.
 
This year, the ceremony was dedicated to the rescue efforts of Walter Suskind and the Jewish caregivers who saved some 600 children at the crèche (day care center) in Amsterdam.

Scroll down to find a complete round-up of links, a magazine spread and photos from the event. 

For further details, please contact: B’nai B’rith World Center Director Alan Schneider at 052-5536441 or aschneider@bnaibrith.org.

J. The New News of Northern California ran a piece outlining the issues Germany's Jewish community will face in the future. B'nai B'rith is mentioned at the top of the article for its part in organizing a campaign to build a memorial to those who survived the Holocaust because of the Kindertransport.

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Several weeks ago, at a luncheon in Frankfurt, Germany, I saw firsthand one of the major challenges facing today’s German Jewish community. The occasion was the launch of a campaign to build a memorial to the children who escaped on the Kindertransport to England. One of the fortunate children was brought from California to speak at the event organized by B’nai B’rith. She is now 94 years old.

And that hints at a serious challenge. We are nearing the moment when there will be no more eyewitnesses to the horrors of the Holocaust. And as that day approaches, there is growing concern that Germany — which has owned up to its responsibility for the murder of 6 million Jews and millions of others — will feel that it has completed its obligation.

Many younger Germans do not believe that they should bear the burden of earlier generations. They were not perpetrators. At the same time, there are growing voices within German society to pay greater attention to other examples of mass human suffering — from the plight of Germans who endured oppressive Communist rule to the immense refugee crisis stemming from the Middle East. Germany’s sense of direct responsibility has strengthened its friendship with Israel and led to a deep commitment to combat anti-Semitism in Germany and a rebuilding of Jewish life in Germany. There is great concern about what will happen as that sense of responsibility fades into history.

I was in Germany to assess the current situation facing German Jewry and specifically to meet with activists and leaders of organizations addressing anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activity, including the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel. I was based in Berlin, a remarkably vibrant and fascinating city where most of the key organizations taking on these issues are headquartered. After 28 meetings in six days — including people from government officials to grassroots activists — I came away inspired by the remarkable dedication of the groups’ Jewish and non-Jewish leaders. Indeed, a distinguishing feature of the activist community in Germany is the number of non-Jews who are fighting these fights because they feel a deep sense of historic responsibility — that Jews must never again be abandoned.

There are, to be sure, internal community challenges. The community, which was 500,000 strong before the Holocaust, had only about 27,000 Jews until the German government made a concerted effort to rebuild Jewish life by opening its doors from 1990 through 2005 to Jews interested in moving to Germany. The overwhelming majority of newcomers were Russian-speaking Jews, and today there are some 100,000 official members of the German Jewish community, living in dozens of cities. Absorbing such a large number of newcomers relative to the existing population and providing them with the services and education they seek and need has been a major communal priority.

Layered on top are the external challenges. Anti-Semitism is a serious concern in Germany. And BDS is spreading — in the universities, arts community, churches and beyond. But I was also struck by how different the situation felt compared with France, where I made a similar visit two years ago. In France, the question I heard most frequently was: Does French Jewry have a future? France was witnessing a dramatic acceleration in aliyah to Israel and the community was feeling nearly overwhelmed by the serious threats directed against the Jewish community. Ironically, in Germany with its history, while the trends are disturbing and anti-Israel forces are gaining strength, Jews do not ask about their future.

At the same time, I worry about three longer-term trends over the next 10 to 15 years.

One is the prospect that the taboo against open anti-Semitism — directly related to that sense of German historic responsibility for protecting Jews — will be lifted as collective memory fades.

The second is the rise of the far right, which includes blatantly anti-Semitic elements — with the near-term prospect that the upcoming German election will result in the far right AfD (Alternative for Deutschland) Party winning seats in the Bundestag (the German Parliament) for the first time.

The third is the prospect that Germany’s generally moderate Muslim population (overwhelmingly of Turkish background) will — under the influence of growing radicalism in Turkey — become less tolerant and more susceptible to anti-Semitic attitudes. At the same time, there’s a possibility that the nearly 1 million refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who have been welcomed into Germany since 2015 will not be successfully integrated, resulting in extremist views taking root within pockets of this population as has happened in France.

These are real concerns and modern German history has taught us the danger of not heeding warning signs. Fortunately, in addition to exceptionally dedicated and capable activist leaders in Germany, and a German government that deserves credit for its actions aimed at accepting responsibility for the past and absorbing the lessons for the future, there are a number of visionary American-based foundations that are committed to helping support the best and most strategic efforts aimed at securing the future for Germany’s Jews.
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The people on the front lines in Germany are very grateful for the support and sense of solidarity from abroad. Vigilance is indeed required. As one person I met commented, “Germany is at the peak of its economic performance and its friendship with Israel. It can only go in the wrong direction.” And another, discussing his fears about anti-Semitism within German society simply said, “Just because they don’t speak doesn’t mean they don’t believe.”

The Jerusalem Post covered the news that the Texas House of Representatives passed an anti-BDS bill, quoting B'nai B'rith International CEO Dan Mariaschin welcoming its passage and mentioning senior B'nai B'rith leader Charles Kaufman for testifying in its favor.

Scroll down to read the story or click below to read it on JerusalemPost.com.

In a groundbreaking legislative act to blunt economic warfare against Israel, the Texas House of Representatives unanimously passed on Thursday an anti-boycott bill that bars the state from engaging in business with companies that are involved in the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement targeting the Jewish state.

The bill was passed 131-0 and the author of the legislation was Representative Phil King. Pro-Israel organizations welcomed the vote.

Joel Schwitzer, the Regional Director of the American Jewish Committee in Dallas, told The Jerusalem Post, "AJC together with other community leaders worked diligently to ensure that every legislator received multiple contacts about the importance of passing this bill.  We’re excited that this brings this legislation one step closer to being law of the land in Texas, strengthening its relationship with Israel, Texas’ 4th largest trading partner.  We appreciate the leadership of Representative Phil King in authoring the bill.  It is gratifying to see our elected officials sending such a clear and principled message that Texas will not do business with those who boycott our friend Israel."

Sen. Brandon Creighton, the author of the Senate anti-BDS bill, said Texas should not do business with companies that participate in the BDS movement.

“I want to thank the government of Texas for seeing the true, hateful intentions of BDS and banning such state-sponsored bias,” said The Israel Project CEO and President Josh Block.  He added, “The people of the Lone Star State and Israel share an unbreakable bond based upon mutual values, and by passing this legislation – ensuring that taxpayer dollars do not fund discrimination – Texas has reaffirmed this important friendship."

Christians United for Israel  (CUFI) said in a statement that ," CUFI has been working closely with lawmakers in support of the legislation since its conception. These efforts included bringing Texans from across the state to Austin to lobby lawmakers in support of the bill, testifying before both the Senate and House committees to which the legislation was assigned, and distributing an action alert earlier this week letting Texas State Representatives know that CUFI’s membership is behind the bill."

CUFI founder and Chairman Pastor John Hagee said “Texas is CUFI’s home state and among the most pro-Israel states in the union. The relationship between the Jewish State and the Lone Star State is built upon shared values, including a rock-solid commitment to standing up for liberty – especially when it is threatened by radical Islamic extremism."

“I am very proud that Texas will join with those states that have told the BDS movement that America is unimpressed by efforts to demonize Israel. And I am equally proud of the hard work CUFI members, leaders and staff have done in order to see this and similar legislation advance in state capitols around the country,” Hagee added.

The Texas State Senate passed its version of anti-BDS bill in March. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expected to sign a merged version of the anti-BDS bills in early May.

“In addition to the unwavering support of Gov. Abbott, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, this legislation would not have been possible without the steadfast leadership of the bills’ authors, State Sen. Brandon Creighton and State Rep. Phil King,” said CUFI Action Fund Chairwoman Sandy Hagee Parker.

 CUFI has  3.3 million members  in the United States. Daniel S. Mariaschin, the CEO of B'nai B'rith International, told the Post,  "We are grateful by the overwhelming support for this measure in the Texas Legislature. It remains vitally important for government figures and legislative bodies to join the growing number of people who recognize the abject injustice of the BDS movement."

Charles Kaufman, who chairs B’nai B’rith’s International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy and is based in Austin, delivered testimony in the Austin legislature in support of the anti-BDS bill. Mariaschin told the Post last month that the Dallas-based bank Comerica should close an account that it maintains with the pro-BDS organization the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL).The IADL ”excuses the actions of terrorist organizations and denies Israel’s right to defend itself," Mariaschin said.

The Parthenon in Huntington, W. Va., wrote about B’nai Sholom Temple participating in "Unto Every Person There Is A Name."

B'nai B'rith International is the official North American sponsor of "Unto Every Person, There Is a Name" ceremonies.

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