U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) announced on Thursday that she won’t seek re-election next year, following a three-decade-long career in Congress as a staunch supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
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“As the chairwoman of the appropriations subcommittee that writes the foreign-aid bill, I have advanced record funding for women’s health and basic education, especially for girls, around the world, a strong U.S.-Israel relationship with bipartisan support and other investments that support American interests abroad,” she said in a statement.

Lowey, one of 25 Jewish Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives—all of whom have called for the impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump’s—has been a fixture at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference as a prominent supporter of Israel on Capitol Hill.

Members of the Jewish and pro-Israel community expressed their appreciation for Lowey, who became the first female chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee after the Democrats won the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.

Subscribe to The JNS Daily Syndicate by email and never miss our top stories“Nita Lowey has been a tireless and invaluable champion of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann told JNS. “That bond has grown tremendously, thanks largely to her transformative leadership, support and stewardship of security aid through the Congress each year.”

AIPAC’s rival, J Street, expressed disappointment, but appreciation.

“We are sad that Chairwoman Lowey will not seek re-election, but are delighted for her and her family as she completes a distinguished career in the House of Representatives,” its director of communications, Logan Bayroff, told JNS. “We are grateful for her lifelong championship of robust U.S. diplomacy and aid, multilateral cooperation, a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and for her leadership in the quest for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Her counsel and tireless work on these and so many other issues of importance to America’s place in the world will be missed.”

“Congress is losing one of its most impactful members and greatest supporters of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship. There is no doubt that @NitaLowey will be missed,” tweeted William Daroff, senior vice president of public policy at the Jewish Federations of North America.

“Chairwoman Lowey has been a champion of liberal values including a strong U.S.-Israel relationship. Her legislative know how is unparalleled and her accomplishments legion,” Democratic Majority for Israel president Mark Mellman told JNS. “While we will miss her in Washington; the mark she has made here and in New York is indelible.”

“For the past three decades, Chairwoman Nita Lowey has proudly represented her constituents, which include a considerable number of Jewish Democrats,” Jewish Democratic Council of America executive director Halie Soifer told JNS. “For 31 years, she has given voice to our values in Congress, including through her steadfast support of Israel.”

“Nita Lowey epitomizes bold and courageous leadership, and her wisdom and experience will be deeply missed in Congress when she retires,” she added. “In the meantime, we look forward to working with her to further our shared values in the next year.”

“For more than 30 years, Rep. Nita Lowey has been a strong supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship and U.S. interests in the Middle East. We wish her well in her just-announced retirement,” B’nai B’rith International CEO Daniel Mariaschin told JNS. “And we hope that whoever runs for her seat in 2020 will have the same level of commitment to the strong ties between the U.S. and Israel.”

For the first time in years, Lowey faced a primary challenger in 2020: former Obama Department of Justice official Mondaire Jones.

“I thank Congresswoman Lowey for her years of extraordinary, inspiring service to the district,” he tweeted. “I’m looking forward to making my case to every voter in Westchester and Rockland Counties on my plan to bring bold, progressive leadership to Washington.”

“No question that the Justice Democrats are going to make this seat a top priority, especially since there’s little question they would have lost against Lowey’s unmatched local support,” a Democratic operative in the pro-Israel community told JNS. “What the pro-Israel community is going to be taking a closer look at is who is taking over for her on the Appropriations Committee and its subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs. That will be the more consequential battle when it comes to the priorities of the pro-Israel community.”

Jewish and pro-Israel groups reacted unfavorably to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision on Sunday evening to withdraw U.S. forces from northeast Syria, ahead of an expected invasion by Turkey against Kurdish forces.

The White House announced the withdrawal on Sunday, following a call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, eliciting alarm from the Syrian Kurds, whom Erdoğan considers to be terrorists.

Trump’s decision was also met with bipartisan condemnation, including from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

In the agreement between Turkey and the United States, joint U.S and Turkish ground and air patrols had created a security area that spans more than 78 miles along the Syria-Turkey border.

Erdoğan said on Saturday that the invasion could start “as soon as today or maybe tomorrow.”

“We are appalled by President Trump’s decision to abandon our Kurdish allies in northern Syria,” said Democratic Majority for Israel president and CEO Mark Mellman in a statement. “All of us owe a deep debt of gratitude to American troops, who put their lives on the line to defend us, and we certainly want them safe and home as quickly as possible.”

“Allowing Turkey to invade Kurdish territory in northern Syria will result in thousands of Kurdish deaths, deprive millions of their rights, and will prevent Kurdish forces from battling ISIS and from continuing to detain the tens of thousands of ISIS fighters currently in their custody,” he added.

“This decision has created a dangerous and unstable situation in the Middle East, similar to Trump’s December 2018 decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria,” said Jewish Democratic Council of America chairman Ron Klein, a former Florida Democratic congressman, in a statement. “What we said at the time remains true today—‘Trump’s withdrawal from Syria is a betrayal of our allies and a boon to our adversaries. It’s not ‘America First’ in any respect. Rather, it’s an ‘Iran and Russia First’ policy.’”

The Republican Jewish Coalition did not respond to a request for comment.

“A U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria would embolden Iran’s hold on Syria, endangering Israel and U.S. interests. As Senator Lindsey Graham noted today, Iran’s power was enhanced when former President Obama withdrew U.S. troops from Iraq—and the same would happen in the event of a troop departure from Syria,” national president of the Zionist Organization of America Mort Klein told JNS.

“In addition to empowering Iran on Israel’s northwest border, the dangers of withdrawal include sending a message that the United States may be willing to abandon allies who are also a strong supporter of Israel; the danger that the Kurds may then ally with Iran; an ISIS resurgence that threatens the U.S. homeland; a potential escape of thousands of ISIS prisoners if their Kurdish guards need to turn their attention to fending off an attack from Turkey; and increased instability,” he explained. “We hope that the president will reassess this situation.”

Sarah Stern, founder and president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth, which houses the Kurdistan Project, told JNS: “We already have seen, through Erdoğan’s brutal treatment of the Kurds in Afrin, that this is going to lead to a horrendous human massacre and possibly a genocide.”

“On the foreign-policy level, we are not thinking of the future, but only the moment. Why would anyone want to ally themselves with us if we don’t remember who our friends have been?” posed Stern. “I understand and fully appreciate what President Trump has done for Israel, but as the great sage Hillel once said, ‘If I am not for myself, who am I for? But if I am for myself, alone, what am I?’”

The Syrian Democratic Forces echoed a sentiment of betrayal.

“Based on our confidence in the #US efforts in the Security Mechanism agreement, we implemented all our commitments to remove military fortifications between Tal Abyad & SereKaniye, withdraw combat forces with heavy weapons, risking a security vacum [sic] as a result of the agreement,” tweeted the official Twitter account of the Syrian Democratic Forces in a thread, which warned that a U.S. withdrawal would undo victories against the Islamic State, including the release of tens of thousands of ISIS prisoners who are being held captive by the SDF and whom European countries have refused to take back despite such appeals from the United States.

Many fear that Israel could be adversely affected by the withdrawal.

“That Israel has always depended on itself to ensure its security has been a constant, and it goes without saying that it has clearly looked at the various scenarios that may lie ahead,” B’nai B’rith International told JNS.​

JTA.org quoted Dvir Abramovich, the chairman of B'nai B'rith's Anti-Defamation Commission, in its coverage of anti-Semitic bullying in Australian schools.

​Two reports of anti-Semitic bullying at schools in Australia are receiving widespread media coverage.

A photo that allegedly shows a 12-year-old Jewish student being forced to kneel to kiss the shoes of a Muslim classmate was circulated on social media. The incident occurred at the Cheltenham Secondary College in the town of Cheltenham, a Melbourne suburb, according to The Age, a Melbourne-based newspaper.

The report did not make it clear if the Muslim boy’s religion had anything to do with the incident.

A second incident took place at the Hawthorn West Primary School in Melbourne, where a 5-year-old Jewish student was called a number of anti-Semitic insults, including a “Jewish cockroach,” according to The Age.

Both Jewish boys have left their schools.

Dvir Abramovich, chairman of B’nai B’rith’s Anti-Defamation Commission, said the incidents are part of a broader trend of anti-Semitic bullying.

“There is mounting evidence that families are forced to take their children out of public schools and to enroll them in Jewish day schools due to a growing sense of insecurity and fear that their kids will be harmed simply because of who they are,” Abramovich told The Age.

The mother of the boy in the photo said she was disappointed by the school’s lack of response. She told The Age that the school said it was not responsible for the incident since it did not take place on its campus. But the mother said she talked to the parents of the Muslim student, who disapproved of their son’s actions.

Another boy involved in the incident was later suspended for punching the Jewish boy, The Age reported.
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Meanwhile, the boy at Hawthorn West Primary School was repeatedly subjected to anti-Semitic insults and teased because he was circumcised, his mother told The Age. The school sent the parents an apology letter last month, the mother said.

Eric Fusfield B’nai B’rith International
September 24, 2019                                                                                                                                                                            
 
Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates: 
 
Of all the hatreds that tear at our social fabric today, none is more unremitting, more resilient, more adaptable than anti-Semitism.  As representatives of B’nai B’rith International, an American-based organization with members in dozens of countries around the world, my colleagues and I have viewed the resurgence of anti-Semitism throughout the OSCE region in recent years with deep anguish.  In my home country of the United States, the problem has become strikingly apparent, as synagogue mass shootings in Pittsburgh and San Diego in the past year have left American Jewry shaken and fearful for its safety. 
 
The responsibility of governments, international organizations, and leaders of society to confront this phenomenon is becoming increasingly urgent.  To do this we need practical tools.  One such mechanism has been ODIHR’s Words into Action project, which, with the support of the German government, has countered anti-Semitism through activities in the areas of education, security, and coalition-building.  Words into Action, whose contract recently expired, has published practical guides and provided other resources to assist educators, government officials, and civil society in better understanding and developing strategies to combat anti-Semitism. 
 
It is crucial that this work continue in some context, as the need is more pressing than ever.  B’nai B’rith calls on the OSCE to continue its support of ODIHR’s tolerance and nondiscrimination unit in its programs to combat the unique, and uniquely persistent, social illness of anti-Semitism.  Now is simply not the time to reverse course on this important effort. 

In 2014 we honored the 10th anniversary of the OSCE Berlin Conference on Anti-Semitism and the historic declaration that emerged from that gathering.  But the review conference that took place in Berlin that fall underscored that much work remains to be done.  The past five years have seen a wave of anti-Israel demonstrations throughout the OSCE region; these gatherings have typically featured blatantly anti-Semitic themes and have often turned violent.  Attacks and threats against Jewish individuals and institutions, such as the white supremacist march two years ago in Charlottesville, Virginia have increased in frequency and intensity, as the landscape from Belgium to Bulgaria, Germany to Greece, Holland to Hungary, and Ireland to Italy has witnessed violence against Jewish targets.  This spread of hatred has been accompanied by a corrosion of the public discourse with respect to Jews and Israel and has left Jews both in Europe and North America fearful for their safety and security. 
 
As a result of anti-Semitic attacks, thousands of Jews have emigrated from Western Europe to Israel in each of the past several years.  Furthermore, a survey of European Jewish leaders last year indicated that membership and participation in Jewish institutions has declined, at the same time that security has, of necessity, been increased.  Next Sunday night the holy day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, will begin.  Across the continent, synagogue attendance is expected to suffer as a result of fear about openly practicing Judaism. 
 
The rise of anti-Jewish hatred has also resulted in a proliferation of anti-Semitic propaganda, much of which is directed against the State of Israel.  Tragically, the demonization and delegitimization of the Jewish state has become a daily occurrence, as Israel’s enemies repeatedly accuse it of being a Nazi-like occupier and an apartheid state that disenfranchises the Palestinians.  Falsehoods about Israel are repeated so often that they become widely accepted in the popular culture and sometimes impact government policy.  The effort by Israel’s relentless critics to denigrate the Jewish state is not only evidence that anti-Semitism is alive and well 74 years after the Holocaust – this new variation of the world’s oldest hatred actually poses a security threat to the Jewish state by intensifying its international isolation. 
 
For more than a decade, the OSCE has taken up the urgent struggle against rising antiSemitism.  High-level conferences in Vienna in 2003 and Berlin in 2004 and 2014, among other gatherings, have focused a needed spotlight on this and other forms of intolerance. 
 
The historic 2004 Berlin Declaration, which provided a series of important recommendations for governments to follow in combating anti-Semitism, specifically addressed the growing problem of anti-Semitic attacks being committed by opponents of Israel’s policies.  The passage stating that “international developments or political issues, including those in Israel or elsewhere in the Middle East, never justify anti-Semitism” stands as an important rebuff to those who try to justify hate crimes with politics.   
 
Permanent Council Decision No. 607, which preceded the 2004 Berlin Conference, and subsequent Ministerial decisions, represent vital affirmations of the OSCE’s commitment to fight anti-Semitism and related forms of racism and xenophobia.  That pact has been bolstered by the creation of ODIHR’s indispensable tolerance and non-discrimination unit, which carries out this important work each day and which includes an expert advisor on anti-Semitism, and by the appointment of the Chairman-in-Office’s three personal representatives on combating intolerance. 
 
In 2016 the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) adopted a working definition of anti-Semitism that clearly illustrates the dimensions of the problem.  The time has come for the OSCE to follow suit.  The Ministerial Council should approve a working definition of anti-Semitism based on the IHRA model, one that should then be widely promoted within the OSCE to educate public officials, journalists, teachers, and others about the contemporary manifestations of anti-Semitism.  
 
While much has been done to fight anti-Semitism in the past decade or more, much work remains.  The need for practical and effective strategies to combat and defeat this pathology is still crucial.  To this end, 
 
 We must continue to affirm commitments made at the landmark 2004 conference and reiterated at subsequent conferences and assess the implementation of those commitments. 
 
 We must enhance funding for ODIHR’s Tolerance and Non-Discrimination unit, which has now become a fixed and integral part of the OSCE’s work.  We must enable the TND unit to sustain and expand its critical activities, which has included the Words into Action project and educational programs on anti-Semitism in more than a dozen countries. 
 
 We must extend, for the foreseeable future, the terms of the three personal representatives on intolerance. 
 
 Member-states must fulfill their reporting requirements with respect to hate crimes data.  Far too few governments have done so until now. 
 
 Finally, we must strongly reinforce the crucial principle declared at the 2004 Berlin Conference – That no political position, cause or grievance can ever justify anti-Semitism – and make clear that the demonization and delegitimization of the Jewish state is often none other than a pretext for the hatred of Jews themselves. 
 

The Trentonian published a letter from B'nai B'rith International President Charles O. Kaufman condemning the use of the anti-Semitic phrase "Jew her down" by a member of the Trenton City Council.

I am sickened to read that Trenton City Council President Kathy McBride publicly used the term “Jew her down.” The use of this word as a verb is worse than offensive. And for Council members Robin Vaughn and George Muschal to follow up by supporting the use of the phrase is a pure confession of personal ignorance. Vaughn’s pivot of “We really need to get a more acute meaning and understanding of “anti-Semitic” is political folly. Her own comment acknowledges “an acute sense of ignorance.”

Muschal completes the trifecta of hate speech practitioners by saying the phrase is a “statement of speech.” It’s nothing “vicious?” Well, certainly not to anti-Semites.

There’s much work to be done in educating the public about hate speech. It’s hard to imagine that such a void of understanding could possibly exist in these callous times, but it does. I hope these officials connect much better with their constituencies and vice versa.

McBride, Muschal, Vaughn and no doubt others may want to ask their Jewish friends about the use of “Jew” as a verb. They also may want to contemplate terms that are offensive to any racial or ethnic group. I won’t get into specific references out of respect for diverse groups and cultures. However, trust me, the use of Jew as a verb is offensive.
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Please refrain from using this expression in the future. It’s embarrassing to anyone who uses it, and really shameful by elected officials of a major American city.

​— Charles Kaufman, President, B’nai B’rith International

​The Israel-based humanitarian group IsraAID, B’nai B’rith International and Chabad are among those pitching in to help the Bahamas in the wake of Hurricane Dorian’s devastation, which has killed at least seven people.

“We are in the midst of a historic tragedy in parts of the northern Bahamas,” Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said at a news conference Tuesday, adding the “devastation is unprecedented and extensive.”

The hurricane stalled over Grand Bahama Island for nearly two days, leaving whole neighborhoods, as well as airports and hospitals, submerged. At least 13,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed on Abaco and Grand Bahama islands.

IsraAID, a humanitarian aid agency that responds to emergency crises and engages in international development around the world, said Tuesday that it would send emergency support to the Bahamas.

Its emergency response team will distribute relief supplies, offer psychological first aid and deploy water filters to restore access to drinking water while conducting further needs assessments in affected communities, the NGO said in a statement.

In 2018, IsraAID said its emergency response teams reached 26,300 people with safe water, psychological and community support, and relief following nine disasters in seven countries. The group has opened an Emergency Response Fund to pay for its work.

B’nai B’rith is accepting donations to its Disaster Relief Fund to assist those affected by Dorian. Donations will go to assist local recovery and rebuilding teams, the group said in a statement.

Rabbi Sholom and Sheera Bluming, directors of Chabad of the Bahamas in Nassau, have been in touch with the Jewish community in Nassau, which was relatively unscathed by the hurricane, but have not been able to reach some of those living on Abaco, who still remain unaccounted for, according to Chabad.org.

The rabbi said that about 1,000 Jewish expats have made their home in the Bahamas, and that more than 100,000 Jews visit the islands each year.

The Blumings have joined in the official government relief effort, calling on the Jewish community to help, and is coordinating a shipment of supplies from South Florida that will include food, drinking water and mosquito nets for Abaco.

The JDC, or American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee said in a statement that it would provide emergency medical supplies through its partner the Afya Foundation, and is raising funds for the supplies as well as for recovery and reconstruction initiatives. To tailor its response to the evolving situation on the ground, JDC said it has activated its network of partners and is assessing the situation in consultation with these local and international agencies.

JDC’s disaster relief programs are funded by special appeals of the Jewish Federations of North America and tens of thousands of individual donors to JDC. Relief efforts of JDC are coordinated with the U.S. Department of State, USAID, the Israeli government and the United Nations, as well as local and international partners.
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As of Wednesday morning the hurricane, now a Category 2 storm, remained about 100 miles off Florida’s east coast, lashing it with wind and rain, and moving toward Georgia, with experts saying it could hit the coasts of South Carolina and North Carolina on Thursday and Friday. Storm surge warnings are in place up and down the coast.

Arutz Sheva included a statement from B'nai B'rith CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin in their coverage of a possible policy change that would allow Jerusalem-born American citizens to list "Jerusalem, Israel" as their place of birth on U.S. passports.

​US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the Trump administration is considering allowing US citizens born in Jerusalem to list “Jerusalem, Israel” on their US passports.


While the Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, State Department policy still does not allow for the indication of Jerusalem as being a part of Israel on passports of US citizens.

“We’re constantly evaluating the way we handle what can be listed on passports,” Pompeo told JNS.“It’s something that’s actively being looked at.”

The announcement comes as a major development after a State Department spokesperson told JNS in October, “The president has made clear that the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem remain subject to final-status negotiations between the [Israelis and the Palestinian Arabs]."

“We have not changed our practice regarding place of birth on passports or Consular Reports of Birth Abroad at this time.”
Pro-Israel organizations praised the development to JNS.

B’nai B’rith International CEO and executive vice president Dan Mariaschin praised the development, saying, “it’s encouraging news. This is a logical follow-on to moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, and in the process, corrects a historical wrong which denied this designation for over seven decades.”

“The [US] Supreme Court has determined that the passport issue is within the purview of the administration, which has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” American Zionist Movement president Richard Heideman said. “It is most appropriate for passports for those born in Jerusalem, such as my three grandchildren born at Hadassah Hospital, to be listed as born in Jerusalem, Israel and not simply born in Jerusalem as if they were stateless, which they are not.”
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“This is a very important and significant decision which affirms the long-standing fact that Jerusalem is Israel and isn’t in “dispute,’” said Republican Jewish Coalition executive director Matt Brooks. “Once again, President Trump and his administration enacts a policy that the Jewish community has long sought and underscores why he’s the most pro-Israel President in history.”