Podcasts about european jews

The majority of European Jews looked to socialist ideas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. David Glanz argues Zionism was a fringe movement for decades and can be challenged again. Read more about anti-Zionism. Find out more about Solidarity. This talk was delivered at Solidarity's Keep Left conference on 19 April 2025.

The Holocaust survivors who wanted revenge. After the war, 70% of European Jews had been murdered. Germany was in ruins, and the world was stunned at the horrors the nazi's had committed. But there was one group of Jews who refused to take the death of six million of their people and simply move on. They wanted revenge. They were the NAKAMA Join our PATREON ! (Get extra episodes, research articles and more)

This week on Hashtag History, we will be discussing a time in history where the United States, Great Britain, France, and the then-Soviet Union carried out together a series of trials against Nazis for the war crimes they committed over the course of the Second World War. This series of thirteen trials was held in Nuremberg, Germany between the years of 1945 and 1949, resulting in the convictions of 161 people. These trials created a precedent as this was the first time in history in which an international criminal trial was established to hold people who had committed war crimes accountable.War is war so we will talk later about what exactly constitutes as war crimes but, for the sake of keeping things brief in the introduction, just know that what Hitler – and, by extension – his Nazi regime in Germany did during World War II was some of the most disgusting and heinous war crimes the world had ever seen. In addition to invading multiple countries – such as Poland, France, Denmark, Belgium, the Soviet Union, and more – Nazi Germany also murdered more than six million European Jews in a systematic genocide.This was unacceptable and the officials in charge of such violence were held accountable during the lengthy Nuremberg Trials.Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode.Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com. You can also check out our website for super cute merch!You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website!You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, a shoutout on social media, and stickers!THANKS FOR LISTENING!- Rachel and LeahEditor: Alex PerezCopyright: The Hashtag History Podcast

Friday May 2 has been declared an official day of remembrance and mourning in British Columbia after last weekend's horrific attack on a Filipino cultural festival in Vancouver. To date, 11 people died and dozens more remain wounded after a 30-year-old man drove an SUV into a crowd at the city's Lapu Lapu festival on April 26. The suspect has been charged with multiple counts of second-degree murder, but the investigation continues. Leaders of the Filipino community say they feel deeply touched by the heartfelt outreach and solidarity being shown by Canadian Jewish groups. In Vancouver, Jewish residents have mounted prayer vigils and also set up an emergency fundraising campaign. The outpouring of support is being described as an example of kapwa, the Filipino tradition of solidarity and unity, as that community processes the grief while seeking answers on how the mental health system failed so badly to prevent the massacre. On today's episode of The CJN Daily, we're joined by two members of Canada's Filipino community, who also share deep ties with the country's Jews: David Decolongon, who works in Vancouver for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), has family and friends who attended the festival and witnessed the horrific attack; and Primrose Madayag Knazan, from Winnipeg, is an award-winning Filipinx-Jewish author and playwright with expertise on how the Philippines helped rescue European Jews during the Holocaust. Related links Where to donate through the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver's  Filipino Community Emergency Support Fund. When Canadian Jews fundraised in 2013 to help disaster relief efforts in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan struck the country, in The CJN. When the Philippines rescued 1,200 European Jews during the Holocaust, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Marc Weisblott (editorial director) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

This week, Ben and Zach are joined by two organizers based in Palestine-Israel whose lives and political journeys inform powerful reflections on displacement, state oppression, solidarity, and the possibilities of joint struggle.Kastuś, originally from Minsk, has moved through various diasporic contexts—Belarus, Australia, and now Tel Aviv — shares his path from growing up under authoritarianism to joining the Belarusian uprising in 2020, and working with Kompass Media (Ep. 26) and on his own to alleviate harm and expose the reality of state (and state-backed) violence.Mohammed, a 48' Palestinian from Umm al-Fahm, brings deep insight from growing up as part of an activist family and community, and reflects on his experience as a Palestinian student at an Israeli university in the wake of October 7.Our conversation draws provocative parallels between the histories of European Jews and Palestinians—without flattening their differences—as a way to think about shared experiences of dispossession, repression, and resistance. On this 82nd anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, it is as important as ever to reject nationalist histories and challenge all forms of domination and hate.Learn more a bout the Polish-Belarusian (EU) Border Refugee crisis and consider supporting activists here! Subscribe to our collaborative YouTubeFollow us on InstagramIf you like the work we're doing here, please consider supporting us on Patreon!Thank you to Monsieur Jack for his beautiful rendition of the Partisan Song "Zog Nit Keynmol"

This week Rachel and Aaron change up the format to take a deep dive into the arrest and deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, imprisoned in El Salvador without due process despite a U.S. Supreme Court order to “facilitate” his return. The case has chilling parallels to what happened in Germany between 1933 and 1945. This is a warning from history worth understanding.In Nazi Germany the Gestapo didn't even have to watch everyone: your friends, neighbors, co-workers, and even family members had the power to destroy you. Much of the terror came from not knowing, you know, who was watching or listening. History doesn't replicate like DNA but it does repeat. LINKS* The Persecution and Murder of the European Jews by Nazi Germany, 1933–1945* Full news conference: Trump and President Bukele of El Salvador* Rep. Steven Horsford blasts U.S. trade rep after Trump tariff pause* Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts: How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at Their Own Game Get full access to The Cycle- On Substack at thecycle.substack.com/subscribe

***This episode contains a description of mass murder***As the Black Death moved across Europe, something darker and more insidious spread ahead of it. An antisemitic conspiracy theory that blamed European Jews for the plague. Across Europe, Jews were persecuted and often executed en masse.Maddy and Anthony are joined by Joshua Teplitsky, Professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania. He studies Jewish life in Early Modern Central Europe and is currently working on a book about plague in Prague during the early eighteenth century.Edited by Max Carrey. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.

"Killing and Starving children is not Jewish. Fighting antisemitism demands decoupling of Jews from Israel." Since many people don't have time to read full articles anymore, I want to start by linking to two poignant interviews I've had the privilege of conducting over the last few years: - Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, the first Palestinian doctor to work in an Israeli hospital: lost his wife to leukaemia aged just 43, leaving him with their 8 children. Just four months later,during the 2008-9 Gaza War, three of his daughters and one niece were killed. And yet Izzeldin has dedicated his life to using health as a vehicle for peace.  https://play.rtl.lu/shows/en/in-conversation-with-lisa-burke/episodes/n/1612726 - Bassam Aramin, Palestinian, and Rami Elhanan, Israeli, are members of The Parents Circle – Families Forum (PCFF), due to the most painful loss of their daughters at different times due to the intractable Israel and Palestine conflict. They have become 'brothers' and advocate constantly for solidarity and peace in their land. https://play.rtl.lu/shows/en/in-conversation-with-lisa-burke/episodes/n/2171062 Last week saw the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. It also saw the return of Palestinians to the north of Gaza. This juxtaposition of events hits hard. The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz had 56 survivors of the camp in attendance; down from 200 survivors for the 75th anniversary. We are losing the voice of those who experienced violence, discrimination, hatred and genocide first hand in these camps of torture and death. Of course we must add it was not only Jews that suffered in these camps. Meanwhile, anti-semitism is on the rise since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023 and the ensuing war in Gaza and Lebanon. This sudden attack on 7 October was not out of nowhere of course. It follows in a line of attacks on both sides, and in the greater region, over decades, despite various ‘agreements', ‘accords', political handshakes… nothing has yet brought peace. On my show this week I have four strong and learned voices on the region, the culture and the law: - Dalia Hader, a Palestinian living in Luxembourg who is asking for petition signatures here so that the Government of Luxembourg discusses this topic in the chamber: “Luxembourg must sanction Israel for its policies in Palestine.” https://www.petitions.lu/petition/3231 - Martine Kleinberg, President, Jewish Call for Peace a.s.b.l. - Dr. Michel Erpelding, International lawyer specialising in this region - Dr. Engy Ali, President of MSF Luxembourg Dalia Hader, is a Palestinian from Jerusalem but grew up primarily in Amman, Jordan. Like so many Palestinians, families often move if they have a choice as it becomes untenable to ‘live' and raise a family in Israel / Palestine. Current records show the state of Palestine to have about 5.5 million inhabitants. The Palestinian diaspora is numbered at about 7.4 million. About one third of Palestinians living in Palestine are under the age of 15; only about 3% live to be over 65. We discuss one definition of genocide with Dr. Michel Erpelding, which targets the killing of children to minimise population growth. Access to care and medication Dr. Engy Ali, President of Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF Luxembourg, is specialised in Critical Care medicine and public health, working for over 20 years in the medical and humanitarian field; 12 years with Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors without Borders. She has worked in Bangladesh, Kenya, Somalia, Nigeria, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Mali, Mauritania, Haiti, Liberia, DRC, Philippines, Pakistan, Gaza and Europe.   The MSF team in Gaza have lost 9 members since 7 October 2023. This loss is deeply felt by the MSF family as they dedicate their lives to giving access to health to all, equally. ‘Access to care and medication' is, according to Dr. Ali, the driving force of MSF. Dr. Ali reminds us that MSF has been present in Gaza for years. She herself was working Gaza in 2020, trying to organise medical evacuation programmes for complex trauma cases (but then Covid 19 happened.) “Our humanitarian action in Gaza is guided by our core humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality, but we do not stay silent about humanitarian crises as in Gaza. We publicly speak out and report attacks on healthcare facilities, shortages of medical supplies, and obstacles to access care, ensuring that humanitarian needs are recognized.” The testimonials you hear in this interview are from from Nadia Abo Mallouh, MSF medical coordinator from Rafah, and Abu Abed, Deputy Medical Coordiantor. Impunity reinforces antisemitism Martine Kleinberg, President of Jewish Call for Peace (JCP) has worked unceasingly to increase the clamour of Jewish voices that do not want to be connected with the direction of Israel's government and want to work with Palestinians for peace. This is a growing movement around the world with the Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Not in My Name refrain. https://jewishcallforpeace.lu Martine is herself trained in conflict resolution and prevention.  JCP is a founding Member of the European Jews for Palestine launched in October 2024, with more than 20 organisations in 14 European countries, a member of Global Jews for Palestine, and a Member of Luxembourg Collectives for Palestine. On 1 February Martine organised a conference to discuss: “Exploiting Memory: the Holocaust and the distortion of antisemitism” In organising this event, Martine faced cultural decision makers in Luxembourg who did not want their venue associated with such open conversations. Neimënster said no; the Culture Bar said yes. Neimenster said this event did not “correspond to their values…the title leads to negative interpretations against associations and institutions partnered with Neimënster. As a public establishment we remain a neutral entity and cannot be associated with this type of event” Martine is extremely clear in her own reckoning of what the Israeli government are doing to use Judaism as an instrument of war: “I refuse the instrumentalization of my Jewish identity for colonialist supremacist purpose, that has nothing to do with Judaism. My commitment is the solidarity with the oppressed and deconstruction of antisemitic prejudices.” Martine believes strongly that there is a “weaponization of the Holocaust memory and antisemitism by Israel, to gain impunity, which is destroying international law”. “Fighting antisemitism demands decoupling of Jews from Israel.” Martine Kleinberg is aghast on why almost no religious leaders, of all religions, cannot speak out with clarity that the violence against a trapped civilian population in Gaza is indefensible and wrong Does International Law have any power anymore? Michel Erpelding, is a legal scholar in the history of international law, with an additional degree in Middle Eastern studies, and works on international law particularly related to colonialism and individual rights. We speak about the definitions of international lawyers and the International Criminal Court of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and apartheid.   Israel was viewed by the UN, well before 7 October 2023, as an occupying power in Gaza, and as such remained bound by international law to meet the essential needs of the civilian population. Israel can control water going into Gaza. It can exert decisive control over Gaza via land, air and sea. We explore the notion of ‘double standards' in political discourse when it comes to annexation (for example, Putin annexing Crimea; Netanyahu annexing East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the West Bank). Naturally the 7 October attacks by Hamas was the catalyst to this most recent war, but there is also the legal notion of ‘proportionality' in war. Dr. Erpeling and Dalia discuss why the Oslo Accords of 1995 did not work. “Oslo led to a clearer apartheid reality in the West Bank and Jerusalem” says Dalia, and goes on to say how certain Palestinian segregation means one cannot drive on certain roads, cannot visit certain parts of Palestine without the ‘right' passport, requires a certain number plate, will be held up for hours at check-points to be humiliated, and so the layers of discrimination continue. This un-ending story of war sits in a region where, fundamentally, humanity has been abandoned. And this humanity at its core, will find not much difference between Israelis and Palestinians, just like the Irish and Northern Irish, just like the Ukrainians and Russians. When the Ukraine war started, how often did we hear the line, “But they are our brothers and sisters?”  Humanity is a source of life and support. Borders, walls, check-points, active discrimination and suppression are not the acts of humans who, with a religion or not, know what is right in their heart. Let's end with a recent poll in the French newspaper La Tribune Dimanche, which showed that when 986 people aged between 16 and 24 were questioned about the Holocaust, one in five had never heard of it (18%), and almost one in five had heard of it without knowing more (17%). Let's try to remember what has gone before.  Let's try to break the circles of hatred in history. Get in touch  Contact Lisa on LinkedIn or via her website. Please subscribe, rate and review the podcast. Watch on RTL Play. Tune in to The Lisa Burke Show on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon, and Tuesdays at 11am.

57% of European Jews consider leaving Europe due to the surge of antisemitism. President Trump makes remarks causing question as to whether there will ever be a two-state solution. All of this and more today on The Endtime Show! --------------- 📚: Check out Jerusalem Prophecy College Online for less than $60 per course: https://jerusalemprophecycollege.com 📱: It's never been easier to understand. Stream Only Source and access exclusive content: https://watch.osn.tv/browse   🏧: America's Christian Credit Union: Make the switch from the BIG banks: https://www.endtime.com/switch ☕️: First Cup Coffee: use code ENDTIME to get 10% off: https://www.firstcup.com ⭐️: Birch Gold: Claim your free info kit on gold: https://www.birchgold.com/endtime 🥤: Ready Pantry: Save an extra 10% your entire order (use code “ENDTIME”): https://www.readypantry.com/endtime Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Survivors of the Auschwitz extermination camp gathered there again to mark 80 years since it was liberated by Allied forces towards the end of WWII. World leaders and European royalty were present, but it was the 56 survivors of Hitler's genocide of European Jews that took centre-stage. We report from the camp and speak to survivors and guides about its horrors and the dwindling memories of them.The bishop who urged newly-inaugurated President Trump to show mercy to illegal migrants and LGBT minorities told us his policies are "not in the best interests of... our survival as a species."And could Britain's loneliest bat be about to find love?

1933-1941. Listen to everything from the beginning at davidrovics.com/ahistoryoftheworld or just start with this one! The rise to power in Germany of Adolf Hitler The International Brigades and the Abraham Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War Anti-immigration laws and sentiment in the west and the turning back of Jewish refugees The kindertransports — rescuing Jewish children while leaving their parents to die The SS Winnipeg and Pablo Neruda's rescue of the Spanish refugees in France in 1939 Henry Ford and the popularity of fascism in the US Ram Mohamed Singh Azad and resistance to colonialism in India The US-imposed oil blockade on the Japanese Empire The internment of Japanese nationals and Japanese-Americans in the western US Chiune Sugihara and the rescue of thousands of European Jews by “the Japanese Schindler”  

pWotD Episode 2764: The Holocaust Welcome to Popular Wiki of the Day, spotlighting Wikipedia's most visited pages, giving you a peek into what the world is curious about today.With 1,336,090 views on Monday, 25 November 2024 our article of the day is The Holocaust.The Holocaust ( , HAW-lə-kawst) was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe, around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. The murders were carried out primarily through mass shootings and poison gas in extermination camps, chiefly Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor, and Chełmno in occupied Poland. Separate Nazi persecutions killed a similar or larger number of non-Jewish civilians and prisoners of war (POWs); the term Holocaust is sometimes used to refer to the persecution of these other groups.The Nazis developed their ideology based on racism and pursuit of "living space", and seized power in early 1933. Meant to force all German Jews to emigrate, regardless of means, the regime passed anti-Jewish laws, encouraged harassment, and orchestrated a nationwide pogrom in November 1938. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, occupation authorities began to establish ghettos to segregate Jews. Following the June 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, 1.5 to 2 million Jews were shot by German forces and local collaborators.Later in 1941 or early 1942, the highest levels of the German government decided to murder all Jews in Europe. Victims were deported by rail to extermination camps where, if they survived the journey, most were killed with poison gas. Other Jews continued to be employed in forced labor camps where many died from starvation, abuse, exhaustion, or being used as test subjects in deadly medical experiments. Although many Jews tried to escape, surviving in hiding was difficult due to factors such as the lack of money to pay helpers and the risk of denunciation. The property, homes, and jobs belonging to murdered Jews were redistributed to the German occupiers and other non-Jews. Although the majority of Holocaust victims died in 1942, the killing continued at a lower rate until the end of the war in May 1945. Many Jewish survivors emigrated outside of Europe after the war. A few Holocaust perpetrators faced criminal trials. Billions of dollars in reparations have been paid, although falling short of the Jews' losses. The Holocaust has also been commemorated in museums, memorials, and culture. It has become central to Western historical consciousness as a symbol of the ultimate human evil.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:57 UTC on Tuesday, 26 November 2024.For the full current version of the article, see The Holocaust on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Emma.

This week we talk about the AfD, the Freedom Party, and the Identitarian Movement.We also discuss Martin Sellner, Herbert Kickl, and racialism.Recommended Book: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane BradleyTranscriptRacialism, sometimes called scientific racism, is the pseudoscientific belief that groups of human beings are inherently, biologically different from each other based on different evolutionary paths that have carved up the species into different races that are distinct enough from each other to make interbreeding undesirable, and cultural exchange a dangerous hazard.Said another way, racialism posits, using all sorts of outdated and misinterpreted scientific understandings—like determining intelligence based on the shape of a person's skull—that black people and white Europeans and folks from Asia are different enough (which is an idea also called polygenesis) that they should stay in their own parts of the world, and that by separating everyone out according to presumed racial background, we would all be able to do as we like, based on our own alleged cultural guide rails, and in accordance with our own, alleged biological destinies; which in some cases would mean invading and killing and maybe enslaving the other, inferior, in our minds at least, races, but in the polite, political telling, usually means something like putting up walls to keep out the racially inferior riffraff, so they don't pollute our good and pure and obvious superior bloodlines.Important to note is that different people with genetic lineages in different parts of the world do tend to have distinct collections of biological traits, ranging from skin tone to height to propensities to, or defenses against various sorts of disease.There's actual no clean line between groups of people the way this theory says, though: race, the way the word is used today, references a collection of qualities that tend to be found within different groups of people, but every person is a unique collection of genetic mutations and variations, and the old-school concept of biological race has not held up to modern scientific scrutiny—it's mostly a cultural concept at this point, and even then it's a fairly fuzzy one.That said, a lot of very smart people used to believe in the racialism concept back in the Enlightment era, from around the mid-1600s to the late-1700s, as science back then was helping us delineate between all sorts of species, and giving us a hint of the more complete evolutionary understandings that would arrive the following century; but as with many fields of inquiry, this initial glimpse granted us as much new confusion, masquerading as insight, as it did actual, novel understandings.Today, this concept is almost exclusively cleaved to by folks belonging to various racial supremacist groups, including but not limited to those who are part of the so-called Identitarian Movement, which is a far-right, European nationalist ideology that spans many countries and political organizations, and which aims, among other things, to significantly truncate or end globalization, to do away with multiculturalism in all its forms, to combat what this group sees as the spread and influence of Islam across Europe, and to significantly limit or even completely end immigration of people from outside Europe into European nations.Folks and parties that subscribe to this ideology are often considered to be ultra-conservative, but also xenophobic and racist—racism being distinct from racialism, as racialism posits there are different, hard-coded biological racial realities that cleanly delineate one group of humans from another, while racism tends to be the belief that one group of people is superior to another, with folks who are racist at times acting on that belief in various ways.The Identitarian Movement is officially categorized as a right-ring extremist group by the German intelligence agency, and the Southern Poverty Law Center considers a slew of groups that align with this movement to be hate groups.Though based on the writings and principles of earlier thinkers and politicians, this group is actually fairly modern, only coming into being in its current form in the early 2000s—though the collection of ideas and efforts that informed this movement arose in France in the 1960s as part of a neo-fascist effort to inject out-of-vogue, extremist ideas into respectable, post-WWII political debate.This was essentially an effort to rebrand Nazi ideology so as to make it seem smart and with-it in the still-stunned, but rebuilding European idea marketplace, and its primary innovation was taking some of those fascist concepts and hiding them under the more palatable label of nationalism—which was experiencing a resurgence following the wave of multiculturalism that began to flourish after the war, though not without imperfections and conflict.One of the most popular elements of this ideology, though, was introduced a fair bit later, in the early 2000s and 2010s.Remigration refers to the idea that liberals, people on the left of the political spectrum, want to replace good, hard-working, morally correct, white French people—and later this idea was expanded to encompass all white Europeans—with folks from other countries, especially Muslim-majority countries, but also other places where folks don't tend to be white.These lefties are keen to do this for a variety of reasons, apparently, but one of the most popular claims is that they want to give handouts to these new arrivals, and thus get their votes, capturing the government forever by slowly reducing the overall population of the good, wholesome white locals, in order to out-populate them with new arrivals, whose votes will forever be captured by the politicians who gave them all these handouts.Sometimes called The Great Replacement Theory, this idea serves as justification for the aforementioned, increasingly popular concept of remigration, which basically means rounding up everyone who's living in Europe, but not originally from Europe, and shipping them elsewhere—even if they are citizens, and even if they aren't citizens of the countries they're being shipped to.Some versions of this idea also say that the descendants of immigrants, folks who were born in their European homes, not elsewhere, should nonetheless be shipped back to where their grandparents came from, due to a lack of sufficient assimilation—which means taking up the culture of the place you've moved to, but in this case usually serves as a stand in for “has a different faith, likes different food, adheres to different norms,” and other multiculturalism-linked, distinctions.This rounding up and shipping would be based on the person's supposed racial identity, not on their national identity—so in a way, this concept is a means of smuggling racialism into politics, by making it seems as if the modern way of organizing the world and its people—that of nation states, and those nation states granting an identity, a national origin—is not inherent or ideal, and that we should instead force people to stay where we believe other people like them, according to our beliefs about such things, originally came from, and thus, belong.That underlying concept isn't one that's taken seriously by most scientists, philosophers, demographers, or anyone else who's profession is linked to this collection of ideas, but it's proven to be a useful narrative and justification for folks who feel as if they're becoming strangers in what they consider to be their homeland, their culture, their city, and so on. And that's made it a useful point of leverage for traditionalist and conservative political parties across Europe; and increasingly, in recent years especially, elsewhere around the world, as well.What I'd like to talk about today is a party in Austria that has leaned heavily into this collection of ideas, and which claimed the most votes in the country's recent election, as a consequence.—The Freedom Party, or FPO, is an Austrian political party that's a founding member of the European-scale Identity and Democracy Party, which recently merged with other, fellow traveler parties from the Czech Republic and Hungary, to become the Patriots for Europe group; though all of these entities share roughly the same ideological platforms and practical, political ambitions.And among those ambitions is the desire to tackle the issue of immigration across the EU, reducing especially the number of people coming into the bloc from Muslim-majority nations, which large numbers of people in many European countries have complained about, usually because they feel the cultures of their hometowns and home countries are changing rapidly, and they consequently feel like they're being elbowed out and replaced by these newcomers.This is not a new complaint, and this isn't only a European thing; across history, even very modern history, when a wave of immigrants arrive in a new home, that can make the people who were there before them feel like they're under assault—and if those new arrivals have a different religion than the majority of the people in the place they've immigrated to, that can increase the perceived differences and threats, as can a difference in skin color, the clothing they wear, cultural customs, foods, fragrances, language, and just about anything else.This angle of politicking has become increasingly popular with mostly but not exclusively conservative parties around the world in recent years, though, as some of those parties have gotten pretty good at spreading this message to disaffected people, including disaffected youths, in some of the most immigrated-to places in the world.So young men in the United States have, according to recent polls, been hearing a lot about this and seem to be open to the idea that some of the, on average, at least, issues they seem to be facing in terms of educational attainment and employment options, among other things, are the fault of those new arrivals, and that's possibly a component of the gender-skewed shift we're seeing in the lead-up to November's election, with young people in general leaning liberal, but more young men leaning conservative than young women.That's almost certainly not the only issue at play here, of course, but it's something conservative politicians in the US seem to be leveraging, even to the point that former president and current Republican candidate Donald Trump recently mentioned the term “remigration” in a social media post: something that's being seen by political analysts as a trial balloon to see if the concept might be picked up by folks in his political orbit, and might in turn garner him more support amongst people who feel like too many immigrants are entering the US, and that all that immigration is bad for one of several possible, and well-promoted, reasons; maybe, this trial balloon implies, we should just ship them all back from where they came from, and that may then free up housing and jobs and maybe set things back to normal, how things used to be.It's worth noting that the word remigration was initially used to refer to the return of European Jews to their homes after WWII, but it was adopted by French white nationalists in the mid-2010s to allude to deporting immigrants and the children of immigrants, en masse.The term became more widely known after an investigation found that, in late-2023, members of the Alternative for Germany, or AfD party had a secret meeting with neo-nazis, at which there was a presentation by a thirty-something far-right Austrian political activist named Martin Sellner, who among other things is the leader of the Identitarian movement I mentioned in the intro, and in that talk he supported the idea of a program that would involve identifying and removing minorities of various kinds from Germany by force—remigration, basically, a topic he's also written a book about.Sellner later said that his words were twisted by the media and that remigration is really just a collection of policies that would slow or stop some types of immigration in the future, but he was banned from Germany because of that talk, until a German court revoked that ban last May, and he was denied entry into the UK in 2018, and into the US in 2019 because of a large donation he received from the mass-shooter who attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019, killing 51 people and injuring 89.Sellner himself has said that until 2011 he was a neo-nazi, and his wife, an American pro-Trump online influencer—who was a big proponent of the so-called Pizzagate conspiracy theory among other notable, and demonstrably untrue narratives that became popular in the lead up to previous elections—she spreads a lot of the same content, but with a US bent, rather than a European one.Both Sellners, and other members of the Identitarian movement, have been accused of parroting Nazi talking points, promoting things like Holocaust denial, and calling for minorities to be mass-executed, but they generally contend that they're simply proud nationalists who love their countries and don't want to see them changed or ruined by a bunch of people from other places with different ideas, beliefs, and priorities coming in and taking all the jobs, and tweaking everything to suit their wants and needs, against the desires of those who were there first.The concept of remigration has attained popularity at a more rapid rate in some places than others, and it seems to have done especially well in Austria—the country's Freedom Party won 29% of the vote in the country's last election in late-September of this year, and that was the highest tally of all the parties that participated; which is notable in part because of what the Freedom Party believes now, in remigration and adjacent policies, but also because this is a party that was founded in the 1950s by a former SS officer and Nazi politician.It's expected that the Freedom Party won't be able to form a government, because every other party has said they won't form a coalition with them—the currently governing conservative People's Party has said they might be open to it, but not with Herbert Kickl, the group's current leader, involved in the resultant government.Kickl is an ardent ally of Russian president Putin and has been accused of attempting to meld right-wing populism with nazi-valenced, fascist extremism—a common accusation against folks in this corner of the political spectrum, though in some cases an accusation that is also seemingly true.Like Sellner and other folks with this ideological orientation, Kickl promotes the idea of Remigration, which in the context of Austrian politics, in his mind at least, would help reinforce the strength of a Fortress Austria with completely closed borders and which is run by an all-powerful security state apparatus, that is capable of managing those borders, and keeping the peace inside the nation's impermeable walls.Kickl has said, in the wake of the election in which his party was victorious, that Austrian politicians are making a decision, by excluding his party, and him specifically from government, that is a slap in the face to the electorate—though he's continued to make overtures to other conservative parties in the hope that they might be willing to work with the Freedom Party to form a functioning government; this seems unlikely, at this point, though it's not impossible.Even without a functioning coalition, though, Kickl and his party's win at the polls, bringing in the most support of any party, speaks volumes about the popularity of this general collection of concepts and ideas; and the same seems to be true in many other countries where these ideas are being spread: despite a few let-downs for European far-right parties in recent years, this collection of political entities and personalities have done pretty well over the past decade, making substantial gains in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, in particular.That these parties often align themselves with fascist governments and subscribe to easily disproven conspiracy theories doesn't necessarily outweigh their support of increasingly popular anti-immigration policies, it would seem, and that popularity seems to be the result of their success in tying immigration to all manners of social and economic ills.Much of Europe is still experiencing economic downswings, high levels of inflation, and overall underperformance compared to their peers, post-pandemic peak, so this sort of messaging may be decently well-received even by folks who wouldn't typically agree with much of the rest of their platform or narrative, but who are currently looking for anything that defies the current status quo, and anyone who provides something that seems like it might be an explanation for those many and varied downswings and other perceived ills.Show Noteshttps://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/56618/italyalbania-asylumseeker-deal-to-cost-%E2%82%AC653-million-report-findshttps://archive.ph/PFWhkhttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/29/world/europe/austria-election-freedom-party-kickl.htmlhttps://www.reuters.com/world/europe/austrian-far-right-head-urges-rivals-let-him-govern-after-election-win-2024-10-05/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/austria-holds-tight-election-with-far-right-bidding-historic-win-2024-09-28/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remigrationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_(human_categorization)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identitarian_movementhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Replacementhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_New_Righthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_racismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Sellnerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittany_Sellnerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Kickl This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsknowthings.substack.com/subscribe

“Today's Morocco is a prime example of what a great peaceful coexistence and international cooperation can be with an Arab country.” Eli Gabay, an Israeli-born lawyer and current president of the oldest continuously active synagogue in the United States, comes from a distinguished family of Jewish leaders who have fostered Jewish communities across Morocco, Israel, and the U.S. Now residing in Philadelphia, Eli and his mother, Rachel, share their deeply personal story of migration from Morocco to Israel, reflecting on the resilience of their family and the significance of preserving Jewish traditions. The Gabay family's commitment to justice and heritage is deeply rooted. Eli, in his legal career, worked with Israel's Ministry of Justice, where he notably helped prosecute John Ivan Demjanjuk, a Cleveland auto worker accused of being the notorious Nazi death camp guard, "Ivan the Terrible." Jessica Marglin, Professor of Religion, Law, and History at the University of Southern California, offers expert insights into the Jewish exodus from Morocco. She explores the enduring relationship between Morocco's Jewish community and the monarchy, and how this connection sets Morocco apart from its neighboring countries. —- Show notes: How much do you know about Jewish history in the Middle East? Take our quiz. Sign up to receive podcast updates. Learn more about the series. Song credits:  Pond5:  “Desert Caravans”: Publisher: Pond5 Publishing Beta (BMI), Composer: Tiemur Zarobov (BMI), IPI#1098108837 “Suspense Middle East” Publisher: Victor Romanov, Composer: Victor Romanov; Item ID: 196056047 ___ Episode Transcript: ELI GABAY: Standing in court and saying ‘on behalf of the State of Israel' were the proudest words of my life. It was very meaningful to serve as a prosecutor. It was very meaningful to serve in the IDF.  These were highlights in my life, because they represented my core identity: as a Jew, as a Sephardic Jew, as an Israeli Sephardic Jew. These are the tenets of my life. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: The world has overlooked an important episode in modern history: the 800,000 Jews who left or were driven from their homes in the Middle East and North Africa in the mid-20th century. Welcome to the second season of The Forgotten Exodus, brought to you by American Jewish Committee. This series explores that pivotal moment in history and the little-known Jewish heritage of Iran and Arab nations. As Jews around the world confront violent antisemitism and Israelis face daily attacks by terrorists on multiple fronts, our second season explores how Jews have lived throughout the region for generations – despite hardship, hostility, and hatred–then sought safety and new possibilities in their ancestral homeland. I'm your host, Manya Brachear Pashman. Join us as we explore untold family histories and personal stories of courage, perseverance, and resilience from this transformative and tumultuous period of history for the Jewish people and the Middle East.  The world has ignored these voices. We will not. This is The Forgotten Exodus.  Today's episode: leaving Morocco. MANYA: There are three places Eli Gabay calls home: Philadelphia, the city where he has raised his children; Morocco, the land where his parents Rachel and Amram were born and his ancestors lived for generations; and Israel, his birthplace and original ancestral homeland. Eli has been on a quest to honor all those identities since he left Israel at the age of 12. ELI: On my father's side, they were all rabbis. On my mother's side, they were all businesspeople who headed synagogues. And so, my grandfather had a synagogue, and my other grandfather had a synagogue. When they transplanted to Israel, they reopened these synagogues in the transition camp in Be'er Sheva. Both families had a synagogue of their own. MANYA: For the past five years, Eli has served as president of his synagogue--the historic Congregation Mikveh Israel, America's oldest continuous synagogue, founded in Philadelphia in 1740. Descended from a long line of rabbis going back generations, Eli is a litigation attorney, the managing partner of a law firm, a former prosecutor, and, though it might seem odd, the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Nicaragua in Philadelphia. But the professional role that has brought him the most acclaim was his time in the 1980s, working for Israel's Ministry of Justice, decades after the Holocaust, still trying to hold its perpetrators accountable. CLIP - ‘THE DEVIL NEXT DOOR' TRAILER: Charges were filed today against John Demjanjuk, the 66-year-old Ukrainian native, who's accused of being a Nazi death camp guard named Ivan the Terrible. The crimes he was accused of… MANYA: We'll tell you more about that later. But first, we take you to the Jerusalem Israeli Gift Shop in northeast Philadelphia, a little slice of Israel on the corner of Castor Avenue and Chandler Street. [shofar sounds] Every day, amid the menorahs and shofars, frames and mezuzahs, Eli's 84-year-old mother Rachel Gabay, the family matriarch and owner of thisJudaica shop, is transported back to the place where she grew up: Israel. ELI: My father was a teacher all his life, and my mother [shofar sounds] runs a Jewish Judaica store that sells shofars, you can hear in the background. RACHEL: It's my baby. The store here became my baby. CUSTOMER: You're not going to remember this, but you sold us our ketubah 24 years ago. RACHEL: Yeah. How are you, dear? ELI: Nice. CUSTOMER: We're shopping for someone else's wedding now. RACHEL: Oh, very nice… For who? CUSTOMER: A friend of ours, Moshe, who is getting married and we wanted to get him a mezuzah. MANYA: For Rachel, Israel represents the safety, security, and future her parents sought for her when in 1947 they placed her on a boat to sail away from Morocco. By then, Casablanca had become a difficult place to be Jewish. Israel offered a place to belong. And for that, she will always be grateful. RACHEL: To be a Jew, to be very good… ELI: Proud. RACHEL: Proud. I have a country, and I am somebody. ELI: My father's family comes from the High Atlas Mountains, from a small village called Aslim.The family arrived in that area sometime in 1780 or so. There were certain events that went on in Morocco that caused Jews from the periphery and from smaller cities to move to Casablanca. Both my parents were born in Morocco in Casablanca. Both families arrived in Casablanca in the early 30s, mid 30s. MANYA: Today, the port city of Casablanca is home to several synagogues and about 2,000 Jews, the largest community of Morocco. The Museum of Moroccan Judaism in suburban Casablanca, the first museum on Judaism in the Arab world, stands as a symbol of the lasting Jewish legacy in Morocco. Indeed, there's been a Jewish presence in what is considered modern-day Morocco for some 2,000 years, dating back to the early days of the establishment of Roman control.  Morocco was home to thousands of Jews, many of whom lived in special quarters called “Mellah,” or Jewish ghetto. Mellahs were common in cities across Morocco. JESSICA: Morocco was one of the few places in the Islamic world where there emerged the tradition of a distinctive Jewish quarter that had its own walls and was closed with its own gates. MANYA: Jessica Marglin is a professor of religion, law, and history at the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on the history of Jews and Muslims in North Africa and the Mediterranean. JESSICA: There's a bit of a debate. Were these quarters there to control Jews and force them to all live in one spot and was it a sort of form of basically repression? Or was it a way to protect them? The first mellah, the one in Fez is right next to the palace. And so there was a sense that the Jews would be closer to the Sultan or the Sultan's representative, and thus more easily protectable. It could be interpreted as a bad thing. And some Jews did see it as an unfair restriction. But I would say that most Jews didn't question the idea that Jews would live together. And that was sort of seen as natural and desirable. And there was a certain kind of autonomous jurisdiction to the mellah, too.  Because Jews had their own courts. They had their own butchers. They had their own ovens. Butchers and ovens would have been kosher. They could sell wine in the mellah. They could do all these things that were particular to them. And that's where all the synagogues were. And that's where the Jewish cemetery was, right? It was really like a little Jewish city, sort of within the city. MANYA: Unlike other parts of the Middle East and North Africa where pogroms and expulsions, especially after the creation of the state of Israel, caused hundreds of thousands of Jews to abruptly flee all at once – spilling out of countries they had called home for centuries – Jews chose to leave Morocco gradually over time, compared to the exodus from other Arab countries.  JESSICA: When I teach these things, I set up Morocco and Iraq as the two ends of the spectrum. Iraq being the most extreme, where Jews were really basically kicked out all at once. Essentially offered no real choice. I mean, some did stay, but it was choosing a totally reduced life.  Versus Morocco, where the Jews who left did so really, with a real choice. They could have stayed and the numbers are much more gradual than anywhere else. So there was a much larger community that remained for years and years and years, even after ‘67, into the ‘70s.  Even though they kept going down, it was really, it was not like Iraq where the population just falls off a cliff, right? It's like one year, there's 100,000, the next year, they're 5,000. In Morocco, it really went down extremely gradually. And that's in part why it's still the largest Jewish community in the Arab world by far. MANYA: Morocco's Jewish history is by no means all rosy. In all Arab countries, antisemitism came in waves and different forms. But there are several moments in history when the Moroccan monarchy could've abandoned the Jewish population but didn't. And in World War II, the Moroccan monarch took steps to safeguard the community. In recent years, there have been significant gestures such as the opening of the Jewish museum in Casablanca, a massive restoration of landmarks that honor Morocco's Jewish past, including 167 Jewish cemeteries, and the inclusion of Holocaust education in school curricula. In 2020, Morocco became one of four Arab countries to sign a normalization agreement with Israel, as part of the U.S.-backed Abraham Accords, which allowed for economic and diplomatic cooperation and direct flights between the two countries. MANYA: Oral histories suggest that Jews have lived in Morocco for some 2,000 years, roughly since the destruction of the Second Temple. But tangible evidence of a Jewish presence doesn't date as far back. JESSICA: The archaeological remains suggest that the community dates more to the Roman period. There was a continual presence from at least since the late Roman period, certainly well before the Islamic conquests. MANYA: Like other parts of the Middle East and North Africa, Jews in Morocco were heavily concentrated in particular artisanal trades. Many were cobblers, tailors, and jewelers who adorned their creations with intricate designs and embellishments. Gemstones, carved coral, geometric designs, and symbols such as the Hamsa to bless the wearer with good fortune and protect them from the evil eye. JESSICA: And there were certain areas where they kind of were overrepresented in part because of stigmas associated with certain crafts for Muslims. So gold and silver jewelry making in certain parts of Morocco, like in the city of Fez, Jews were particularly overrepresented in the trade that made these gold threads, which are called skalli in Moroccan Arabic, and which are used to embroider sort of very fancy clothing for men and for women. Skalli for instance, is a very common last name for Jews.  MANYA: Jessica notes that in the 12th and 13th Centuries, Morocco came under the rule of the Almohad caliphate, a fundamentalist regime that saw itself as a revolutionary reform movement. Under the Almohad dynasty, local Christians in North Africa from Morocco to Libya all but disappeared.  Jews on the other hand stayed. She suspects Morocco developed its own version of crypto-Jews who superficially converted to Islam or at least lived outwardly as Muslims to survive.  JESSICA: There's probably more of a sense of Jews had more experience of living as minorities. Also, where else were they going to go? It wasn't so obvious. So whatever conversions there were, some of them must have stuck. And there are still, for instance, Muslim families in Fez named Kohen . . . Cohen. MANYA: Jews chose Morocco as a place of refuge in 1391, when a series of mob attacks on Jewish communities across Spain killed hundreds and forcibly converted others to Christianity. As opposed to other places in Europe, Morocco was considered a place where Jews could be safe. More refugees arrived after the Alhambra Decree of 1492 expelled Jews from Spain who refused to convert. That is when Eli's father's side of the family landed in Fez.  ELI: Our tradition is that the family came from Spain, and we date our roots to Toledo, Spain. The expulsion of the Jews took place out of Spain in 1492 at which time the family moved from Spain to Morocco to Fez. MANYA: At that time, the first mellahs emerged, the name derived from the Arabic word for salt. Jessica says that might have referred to the brackish swamps where the mellah were built.  JESSICA: The banning of Jews from Spain in 1492 brought a lot of Jews to North Africa, especially Morocco, because Morocco was so close. And, you know, that is why Jews in northern Morocco still speak Spanish today, or a form of Judeo Spanish known as Haketia. So, there were huge numbers of Iberian Jews who ended up throughout Morocco. And then for a long time, they remained a kind of distinctive community with their own laws and their own rabbis and their own traditions. Eventually, they kind of merged with local Jews. And they used Spanish actually, for decades, until they finally sort of Arabized in most of Morocco. ELI: My father's family, as I said, comes from a small town of Aslim. The family arrived in that area sometime in 1780 or so after there was a decree against Jews in Fez to either convert to Islam or leave. And so in a real sense, they were expelled from that region of Fez. There were Jews who arrived throughout the years after different exiles from different places. But predominantly the Jews that arrived in 1492 as a result of the Spanish expulsion were known as the strangers, and they integrated themselves in time into the fabric of Moroccan Jewry.  MANYA: For Eli's family, that meant blending in with the nomadic Amazigh, or indigenous people of North Africa, commonly called Berbers. Many now avoid that term because it was used by European colonialists and resembles the word “barbarians.” But it's still often used colloquially.  ELI: Aslim is in the heart of Berber territory. My father's family did speak Berber. My grandfather spoke Berber, and they dressed as Berbers. They wore jalabia, which is the dress for men, for instance, and women wore dresses only, a head covering.  Men also wore head coverings. They looked like Berbers in some sense, but their origins were all the way back to Spain. MANYA: In most cases across Morocco, Jews were classified as dhimmis, non-Muslim residents who were given protected status. Depending on the rulers, dhimmis lived under different restrictions; most paid a special tax, others were forced to wear different clothes. But it wasn't consistent.  ELI: Rulers, at their whim, would decide if they were good to the Jews or bad to the Jews. And the moment of exchange between rulers was a very critical moment, or if that ruler was attacked. MANYA: The situation for Jews within Morocco shifted again in 1912 when Morocco became a French protectorate. Many Jews adopted French as their spoken language and took advantage of educational opportunities offered to them by Alliance Israélite Universelle. The borders also remained open for many Jews who worked as itinerant merchants to go back and forth throughout the region.  JESSICA: Probably the most famous merchants were the kind of rich, international merchants who dealt a lot with trade across the Mediterranean and in other parts of the Middle East or North Africa. But there were a lot of really small-time merchants, people whose livelihood basically depended on taking donkeys into the hinterland around the cities where Jews tended to congregate.  MANYA: Rachel's family, businesspeople, had origins in two towns – near Agadir and in Essaouira. Eli has copies of three edicts issued to his great-grandfather Nissim Lev, stating that as a merchant, he was protected by the government in his travels. But the open borders didn't contain the violence that erupted in other parts of the Middle East, including the British Mandate of Palestine.  In late August 1929, a clash about the use of space next to the Western Wall in Jerusalem led to riots and a pogrom of Jews who had lived there for thousands of years. Moroccan Jews also were attacked. Rachel's grandfather Nissim died in the violence. RACHEL: He was a peddler. He was a salesman. He used to go all week to work, and before Thursday, he used to come for Shabbat. So they caught him in the road, and they took his money and they killed him there.  ELI: So my great-grandfather– RACHEL: He was very young. ELI: She's speaking of, in 1929 there were riots in Israel, in Palestine. In 1929 my great-grandfather went to the market, and at that point … so . . . a riot had started, and as my mother had described, he was attacked. And he was knifed. And he made it not very far away, all the other Jews in the market fled. Some were killed, and he was not fortunate enough to escape. Of course, all his things were stolen, and it looked like a major robbery of the Jews in the market. It gave the opportunity to do so, but he was buried nearby there in a Jewish cemetery in the Atlas Mountains. So he was not buried closer to his own town. I went to visit that place. MANYA: In the mid-1930s, both Amram and Rachel's families moved to the mellah in Casablanca where Amram's father was a rabbi. Rachel's family ran a bathhouse. Shortly after Amram was born, his mother died, leaving his father to raise three children.  Though France still considered Morocco one of its protectorates, it left Morocco's Sultan Mohammad V as the country's figurehead. When Nazis occupied France during World War II and the Vichy regime instructed the sultan to deport Morocco's Jews to Nazi death camps, he reportedly refused, saving thousands of lives. But Amram's grandmother did not trust that Morocco would protect its Jews. Following the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt, the Axis Powers' second attempt to invade North Africa, she returned to the Atlas Mountains with Amran and his siblings and stayed until they returned to Casablanca at the end of the war.  ELI: There was a fear that the Nazis were going to enter Morocco. My father, his grandmother, took him from Casablanca with two other children and went back to Aslim in the mountains, because she said we can better hide there. We can better hide in the Atlas Mountains. And so my father returned, basically went from Casablanca to the Atlas Mountains to hide from the coming Nazis. MANYA:  In 1947, at the age of 10, Amram went from Casablanca to an Orthodox yeshiva in England. Another destination for Jews also had emerged. Until then, no one had wanted to move to British-controlled Palestine where the political landscape and economic conditions were more unstable.  The British restricted Jewish immigration making the process difficult, even dangerous. Additionally, French Moroccan authorities worked to curb the Zionist movement that was spreading throughout Europe. But Rachel's father saw the writing on the wall and took on a new vocation. RACHEL: His name is Moshe Lev and he was working with people to send to Eretz Yisrael. MANYA: A Zionist activist, Rachel's father worked for a clandestine movement to move children and eventually their families to what soon would become Israel. He wanted his children, including his 7-year-old daughter Rachel, to be the first. RACHEL: He worked there, and he sent everybody. Now our family were big, and they sent me, and then my sister went with my father and two brothers, and then my mom left by herself They flew us to Norvege [Norway].  MANYA: After a year in Norway, Rachel was taken to Villa Gaby in Marseille, France, a villa that became an accommodation center for Jews from France who wanted to join the new State of Israel. There, as she waited for a boat to take her across the Mediterranean to Israel, she spotted her brother from afar. Nissim, named for their late grandfather, was preparing to board his own boat. She pleaded to join him. RACHEL: So we're in Villa Gaby couple months. That time, I saw my brother, I get very emotional. They said ‘No, he's older. I told them ‘I will go with him.' They said ‘No, he's older and you are young, so he will go first. You are going to stay here.' He was already Bar Mitzvah, like 13 years.  I was waiting there. Then they took to us in the boat. I remember it was like six, seven months. We were sitting there in Villa Gaby. And then from Villa Gaby, we went to Israel. The boat, but the boat was quite ahead of time. And then they spoke with us, ‘You're going to go. Somebody will come and pick you up, and you are covered. If fish or something hurts you, you don't scream, you don't say nothing. You stay covered.  So one by one, a couple men they came. They took kids and out. Our foot was wet from the ocean, and here and there they was waiting for us, people with a hot blanket. I remember that. MANYA: Rachel landed at Kibbutz Kabri, then a way station for young newcomers in northern Israel. She waited there for years without her family – until one stormy day. RACHEL: One day. That's emotional. One day we were sitting in the living room, it was raining, pouring. We couldn't go to the rooms, so we were waiting. All of a sudden, a group of three men came in, and I heard my father was talking. His voice came to me. And I said to the teacher, taking care of us. I said ‘You know what? Let me tell you one thing. I think my father is here.' She said ‘No, you just imagination. Now let's go to the rooms to sleep.'  So we went there. And all of a sudden she came to me. She said, ‘You know what? You're right. He insists to come to see you. He will not wait till morning, he said. I wanted to see my daughter now. He was screaming. They didn't want him to be upset. He said we'll bring her because he said here's her picture. Here's her and everything. So I came and oh my god was a nice emotional. And we were there sitting two or three hours. My father said, Baruch Hashem. I got the kids. Some people, they couldn't find their kids, and I find my kids, thanks God. And that's it. It was from that time he wants to take us. They said, No, you live in the Ma'abara. Not comfortable for the kids. We cannot let you take the kids. The kids will stay in their place till you establish nicely. But it was close to Pesach. He said, we promise Pesach, we bring her, for Pesach to your house. You give us the address. Where are you? And we'll bring her, and we come pick her up. JESSICA: Really as everywhere else in the Middle East and North Africa, it was the Declaration of the Independence of Israel. And the war that started in 1947, that sort of set off a wave of migration, especially between ‘48 and ‘50. Those were the kind of highest numbers per year. MANYA: Moroccan Jews also were growing frustrated with how the French government continued to treat them, even after the end of World War II. When the state of Israel declared independence, Sultan Mohammad V assured Moroccan Jews that they would continue to be protected in Morocco. But it was clear that Moroccan Jew's outward expression of support for Israel would face new cultural and political scrutiny and violence.  Choosing to emigrate not only demonstrated solidarity, it indicated an effort to join the forces fighting to defend the Jewish state. In June 1948, 43 Jews were killed by local Muslims in Oujda, a departure point for Moroccan Jews seeking to migrate to Israel. Amram arrived in Israel in the early 1950s. He returned to Morocco to convince his father, stepmother, and brother to make aliyah as well. Together, they went to France, then Israel where his father opened the same synagogue he ran in the mellah of Casablanca. Meanwhile in Morocco, the Sultan's push for Moroccan independence landed him in exile for two years. But that didn't last long. The French left shortly after he returned and Morocco gained its independence in March 1956. CLIP - CASABLANCA 1956 NEWSREEL: North Africa, pomp and pageantry in Morocco as the Sultan Mohamed Ben Youssef made a state entry into Casablanca, his first visit to the city since his restoration last autumn. Aerial pictures reveal the extent of the acclamation given to the ruler whose return has of his hope brought more stable conditions for his people. MANYA: The situation of the Jews improved. For the first time in their history, they were granted equality with Muslims. Jews were appointed high-ranking positions in the first independent government. They became advisors and judges in Morocco's courts of law.  But Jewish emigration to Israel became illegal. The immigration department of the Jewish Agency that had operated inside Morocco since 1949 closed shop and representatives tasked with education about the Zionist movement and facilitating Aliyah were pressed to leave the country. JESSICA: The independent Moroccan state didn't want Jews emigrating to Israel, partly because of anti-Israeli, pro-Palestinian sentiment, and partly because they didn't want to lose well-educated, productive members of the State, of the new nation. MANYA: Correctly anticipating that Moroccan independence was imminent and all Zionist activity would be outlawed, Israel's foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, created the Misgeret, which organized self-defense training for Jews across the Arab countries. Casablanca became its center in Morocco. Between November 1961 and the spring of 1964, the Mossad carried out Operation Yakhin, a secret mission to get nearly 100,000 Jews out of Morocco into Israel. JESSICA: There was clandestine migration during this period, and a very famous episode of a boat sinking, which killed a lot of people. And there was increasing pressure on the Moroccan state to open up emigration to Israel. Eventually, there were sort of secret accords between Israelis and the Moroccan King, which did involve a payment of money per Jew who was allowed to leave, from the Israelis to the Moroccans.  MANYA: But cooperation between Israel and Morocco reportedly did not end there. According to revelations by a former Israeli military intelligence chief in 2016, King Hassan II of Morocco provided the intelligence that helped Israel win the Six-Day War. In 1965, he shared recordings of a key meeting between Arab leaders held inside a Casablanca hotel to discuss whether they were prepared for war and unified against Israel. The recordings revealed that the group was not only divided but woefully ill-prepared. JESSICA: Only kind of after 1967, did the numbers really rise again. And 1967, again, was kind of a flashpoint. The war created a lot of anti-Zionist and often anti-Jewish sentiment across the region, including in Morocco, and there were some riots and there were, there was some violence, and there was, again, a kind of uptick in migration after that. For some people, they'll say, yes, there was antisemitism, but that wasn't what made me leave. And other people say yes, at a certain point, the antisemitism got really bad and it felt uncomfortable to be Jewish. I didn't feel safe. I didn't feel like I wanted to raise my children here.  For some people, they will say ‘No, I would have happily stayed, but my whole family had left, I didn't want to be alone.' And you know, there's definitely a sense of some Moroccan Jews who wanted to be part of the Zionist project. It wasn't that they were escaping Morocco. It was that they wanted to build a Jewish state, they wanted to be in the Holy Land. ELI: Jews in Morocco fared better than Jews in other Arab countries. There is no question about that. MANYA: Eli Gabay is grateful to the government for restoring many of the sites where his ancestors are buried or called home. The current king, Mohammed VI, grandson of Mohammed V, has played a significant role in promoting Jewish heritage in Morocco. In 2011, a year after the massive cemetery restoration, a new constitution was approved that recognized the rights of religious minorities, including the Jewish community.  It is the only constitution besides Israel's to recognize the country's Hebraic roots. In 2016, the King attended the rededication ceremony of the Ettedgui Synagogue in Casablanca.  The rededication of the synagogue followed the re-opening of the El Mellah Museum, which chronicles the history of Moroccan Jewry. Other Jewish museums and Jewish cultural centers have opened across the country, including in Essaouira, Fes, and Tangier. Not to mention–the king relies on the same senior advisor as his father did, Andre Azoulay, who is Jewish.  ELI: It is an incredible example. We love and revere the king of Morocco. We loved and revered the king before him, his father, who was a tremendous lover of the Jews. And I can tell you that in Aslim, the cemetery was encircled with a wall and well maintained at the cost, at the pay of the King of Morocco in a small, little town, and he did so across Morocco, preserved all the Jewish sites. Synagogues, cemeteries, etc.  Today's Morocco is a prime example of what a great peaceful coexistence and international cooperation can be with an Arab country. MANYA: Eli is certainly not naïve about the hatred that Jews face around the world. In 1985, the remains of Josef Mengele, known as the Nazis' Angel of Death, were exhumed from a grave outside Sao Paulo, Brazil. Eli was part of a team of experts from four countries who worked to confirm it was indeed the Nazi German doctor who conducted horrific experiments on Jews at Auschwitz. Later that decade, Eli served on the team with Israel's Ministry of Justice that prosecuted John Ivan Demjanjuk, a retired Cleveland auto worker accused of being the notorious Nazi death camp guard known as “Ivan the Terrible.” Demjanjuk was accused of being a Nazi collaborator who murdered Jews in the gas chambers at the Treblinka death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II. In fact, Eli is featured prominently in a Netflix documentary series about the case called The Devil Next Door. CLIP - ‘THE DEVIL NEXT DOOR' TRAILER: …Nazi death camp guard named Ivan the Terrible. The crimes that he was accused of were horrid.  The Israeli government is seeking his extradition as a war criminal. And that's where the drama begins.  MANYA: Demjanjuk was convicted and sentenced to death, but the verdict was later overturned. U.S. prosecutors later extradited him to Germany on charges of being an accessory to the murder of about 28,000 Jews at Sobibor. He was again convicted but died before the outcome of his appeal. ELI: Going back to Israel and standing in court and saying ‘on behalf of the State of Israel' were the proudest words of my life. It was very meaningful to serve as a prosecutor. It was very meaningful to serve in the IDF. These were highlights in my life.  They represented my core identity: as a Jew, as a Sephardic Jew, as an Israeli Sephardic Jew. These are the tenets of my life. I am proud to serve today as the president of the longest running synagogue in America. MANYA: Eli has encountered hatred in America too. In May 2000 congregants arriving for Shabbat morning prayers at Philadelphia's Beit Harambam Congregation where Eli was first president were greeted by police and firefighters in front of a burned-out shell of a building. Torah scrolls and prayer books were ruined. When Rachel opened her store 36 years ago, it became the target of vandals who shattered her windows. But she doesn't like to talk about that. She has always preferred to focus on the positive. Her daughter Sima Shepard, Eli's sister, says her mother's optimism and resilience are also family traditions. SIMA SHEPARD: Yeah, my mom speaks about the fact that she left Morocco, she is in Israel, she comes to the U.S. And yet consistently, you see one thing: the gift of following tradition. And it's not just again religiously, it's in the way the house is Moroccan, the house is Israeli. Everything that we do touches on previous generations. I'm a little taken that there are people who don't know that there are Jews in Arab lands. They might not know what they did, because European Jews came to America first. They came to Israel first. However, however – we've lived among the Arab countries, proudly so, for so many years. MANYA: Moroccan Jews are just one of the many Jewish communities who, in the last century, left Arab countries to forge new lives for themselves and future generations.  Join us next week as we share another untold story of The Forgotten Exodus. Many thanks to Eli, Rachel and Sima for sharing their family's story.  Too many times during my reporting, I encountered children and grandchildren who didn't have the answers to my questions because they'd never asked. That's why one of the goals of this project is to encourage you to ask those questions. Find your stories. Atara Lakritz is our producer. T.K. Broderick is our sound engineer. Special thanks to Jon Schweitzer, Nicole Mazur, Sean Savage, and Madeleine Stern, and so many of our colleagues, too many to name really, for making this series possible.  You can subscribe to The Forgotten Exodus on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and you can learn more at AJC.org/theforgottenexodus.  The views and opinions of our guests don't necessarily reflect the positions of AJC.  You can reach us at theforgottenexodus@ajc.org. If you've enjoyed this episode, please be sure to spread the word, and hop onto Apple Podcasts or Spotify to rate us and write a review to help more listeners find us.

Part 2

When all Jews with influence (unlike today) joined together for the sake of Klal Yisroel

Jonathan Davis digs deep into his narration toolbox in Joseph Kanon's atmospheric audiobook set in 1939. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile's Robin Whitten discuss this tense listen. As the world prepares for war, displaced European Jews attempt a departure to parts unknown. Davis employs a stoic tone when describing Kristallnacht, the beatings, and the rounding up of family members. When the disparate citizens gather on a last-chance trip to Shanghai, Davis modulates the tempo and emotion throughout the remainder of the audiobook, ratcheting up the anticipation for the protagonist's final confrontation with the Japanese Gestapo. Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile's website. Published by Simon & Schuster Audio. Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile's website.   Today's episode is brought to you by Brilliance Publishing. The Sound of Storytelling. Discover your next great listen at Brilliance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do you know about Galveston, Texas? Perhaps you've heard about the disastrous hurricane of 1900, perhaps not. This was also likely the case for the thousands of European Jews who migrated to the United States via the city's port in the years preceding the First World War.Don speaks to Rachel Cockerell, whose great-grandfather, David Jochelmann, was one of those persuading passengers to make the journey. Rachel's book is called 'Melting Point'.Produced and edited by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code AMERICANHISTORY.You can take part in our listener survey here.American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Zeina Azzam, a Palestinian American who is poet laureate of Alexandria, writes longingly about her ancestral home in Palestine while celebrating her American identity, often peppering her English poetry with Arabic. Azzam, 68, came to the U.S. at the age of 10 after living in Homs, Syria and Beirut. Her parents fled their home in Haifa in 1948 when Zionist paramilitary forces drove more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homes to establish the Israeli state. The Zionists were largely European Jews who themselves suffered through centuries of displacement, antisemitism, and genocide. This mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians is called Al Nakba, or The Catastrophe, and ignited a refugee crisis that's lasted decades. Today, Israeli settlements continue to displace Palestinians in the West Bank. This history has fueled both Israel and Hamas to conduct violent strikes and retaliations. Next month, VCIJ at WHRO will profile an Israeli-American. Azzam has made a colorful and happy home in Alexandria, decorated with cultural emblems from the Arab World, fig trees and jasmine plants. Her poem, “Write My Name,” has gone viral with its vivid description of children surviving in war-torn Gaza. Azzam read the poem before the United Nations Palestinian Rights Committee, and the verse has been translated into multiple languages. Speaking independently, not as the Poet Laureate of Alexandria, she shared stories about her life as a child of refugees in America, Al Nakba, the Israeli-Hamas War and her hope for the future.

►Who will win the 2024 presidential election? ►Did my guest correctly predict the 2000 presidential election? ►What does it mean to be conservative? ►Is Donald Trump a conservative? ►How are most experts misunderstanding the history of America's conservatism? ►How are most experts misunderstanding an important part of modern Jewish American history? My guest has correctly predicted the outcome of every U.S. presidential election since 1984. In this episode, I ask him to predict the 2024 election? We also talk about FDR's record of helping or harming European Jews in the years leading up to WWII.

European Jews flee from the Third Reich towards their ancestral homeland, only to encounter the complexity of wartime politics in the Middle East. Leaders of the Yishuv propose another all-Jewish regiment in the British Army.

Steve Leder, Head Rabbi of Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles, is one of the country's most influential rabbis and the author of 5 life changing books. Rabbi Leder joins us for second podcast to discuss topics such as the foundations of Jewish faith, fascinating historical anecdotes, the problems within DEI, the role of education in Judaism, mental health and addiction,  Did you know that the founding fathers of the United States considered adopting Hebrew as the official language? Or that Napoleon played a pivotal role in the emancipation of European Jews?  Whether you're deeply religious, spiritually curious, or simply a lover of history, there will be something for you in this discussion.  Topics Discssed (01:01) Differences between Judaism and Christianity, The Jewish emphasis on ethical behavior (09:00) The idea that Jews are white eastern european colonizers is absurd (18:23) The problem with diversity, equality and inclusion (31:14) Hate of Jews subordinates the rest of their entire identity (36:32) The democratic party no longer represents the working class (38:40) As it relates to God and religion, how much do you think our country has veered (56:13) I was not capable of balancing it, which is why I'm stepping aside (01:04:41) Painkiller addiction and how it changed your life (01:16:45) Spirituality is the sanctification of the ordinary  

During the Second World War, Mennonites in the Netherlands, Germany, occupied Poland, and Ukraine lived in communities with Jews and close to various Nazi camps and killing sites. As a result of this proximity, Mennonites were neighbours to and witnessed the destruction of European Jews. In some cases they were beneficiaries or even enablers of the Holocaust. Much of this history was forgotten after the war, as Mennonites sought to rebuild or find new homes as refugees. The result was a myth of Mennonite innocence and ignorance that connected their own suffering during the 1930s and 1940s with earlier centuries of persecution and marginalization. European Mennonites and the Holocaust (U Toronto Press, 2021) identifies a significant number of Mennonite perpetrators, along with a smaller number of Mennonites who helped Jews survive, examining the context in which they acted. In some cases, theology led them to accept or reject Nazi ideals. In others, Mennonites chose a closer embrace of German identity as a strategy to improve their standing with Germans or for material benefit. A powerful and unflinching examination of a difficult history, European Mennonites and the Holocaust uncovers a more complete picture of Mennonite life in these years, underscoring actions that were not always innocent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

During the Second World War, Mennonites in the Netherlands, Germany, occupied Poland, and Ukraine lived in communities with Jews and close to various Nazi camps and killing sites. As a result of this proximity, Mennonites were neighbours to and witnessed the destruction of European Jews. In some cases they were beneficiaries or even enablers of the Holocaust. Much of this history was forgotten after the war, as Mennonites sought to rebuild or find new homes as refugees. The result was a myth of Mennonite innocence and ignorance that connected their own suffering during the 1930s and 1940s with earlier centuries of persecution and marginalization. European Mennonites and the Holocaust (U Toronto Press, 2021) identifies a significant number of Mennonite perpetrators, along with a smaller number of Mennonites who helped Jews survive, examining the context in which they acted. In some cases, theology led them to accept or reject Nazi ideals. In others, Mennonites chose a closer embrace of German identity as a strategy to improve their standing with Germans or for material benefit. A powerful and unflinching examination of a difficult history, European Mennonites and the Holocaust uncovers a more complete picture of Mennonite life in these years, underscoring actions that were not always innocent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

During the Second World War, Mennonites in the Netherlands, Germany, occupied Poland, and Ukraine lived in communities with Jews and close to various Nazi camps and killing sites. As a result of this proximity, Mennonites were neighbours to and witnessed the destruction of European Jews. In some cases they were beneficiaries or even enablers of the Holocaust. Much of this history was forgotten after the war, as Mennonites sought to rebuild or find new homes as refugees. The result was a myth of Mennonite innocence and ignorance that connected their own suffering during the 1930s and 1940s with earlier centuries of persecution and marginalization. European Mennonites and the Holocaust (U Toronto Press, 2021) identifies a significant number of Mennonite perpetrators, along with a smaller number of Mennonites who helped Jews survive, examining the context in which they acted. In some cases, theology led them to accept or reject Nazi ideals. In others, Mennonites chose a closer embrace of German identity as a strategy to improve their standing with Germans or for material benefit. A powerful and unflinching examination of a difficult history, European Mennonites and the Holocaust uncovers a more complete picture of Mennonite life in these years, underscoring actions that were not always innocent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history

During the Second World War, Mennonites in the Netherlands, Germany, occupied Poland, and Ukraine lived in communities with Jews and close to various Nazi camps and killing sites. As a result of this proximity, Mennonites were neighbours to and witnessed the destruction of European Jews. In some cases they were beneficiaries or even enablers of the Holocaust. Much of this history was forgotten after the war, as Mennonites sought to rebuild or find new homes as refugees. The result was a myth of Mennonite innocence and ignorance that connected their own suffering during the 1930s and 1940s with earlier centuries of persecution and marginalization. European Mennonites and the Holocaust (U Toronto Press, 2021) identifies a significant number of Mennonite perpetrators, along with a smaller number of Mennonites who helped Jews survive, examining the context in which they acted. In some cases, theology led them to accept or reject Nazi ideals. In others, Mennonites chose a closer embrace of German identity as a strategy to improve their standing with Germans or for material benefit. A powerful and unflinching examination of a difficult history, European Mennonites and the Holocaust uncovers a more complete picture of Mennonite life in these years, underscoring actions that were not always innocent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/german-studies

During the Second World War, Mennonites in the Netherlands, Germany, occupied Poland, and Ukraine lived in communities with Jews and close to various Nazi camps and killing sites. As a result of this proximity, Mennonites were neighbours to and witnessed the destruction of European Jews. In some cases they were beneficiaries or even enablers of the Holocaust. Much of this history was forgotten after the war, as Mennonites sought to rebuild or find new homes as refugees. The result was a myth of Mennonite innocence and ignorance that connected their own suffering during the 1930s and 1940s with earlier centuries of persecution and marginalization. European Mennonites and the Holocaust (U Toronto Press, 2021) identifies a significant number of Mennonite perpetrators, along with a smaller number of Mennonites who helped Jews survive, examining the context in which they acted. In some cases, theology led them to accept or reject Nazi ideals. In others, Mennonites chose a closer embrace of German identity as a strategy to improve their standing with Germans or for material benefit. A powerful and unflinching examination of a difficult history, European Mennonites and the Holocaust uncovers a more complete picture of Mennonite life in these years, underscoring actions that were not always innocent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

During the Second World War, Mennonites in the Netherlands, Germany, occupied Poland, and Ukraine lived in communities with Jews and close to various Nazi camps and killing sites. As a result of this proximity, Mennonites were neighbours to and witnessed the destruction of European Jews. In some cases they were beneficiaries or even enablers of the Holocaust. Much of this history was forgotten after the war, as Mennonites sought to rebuild or find new homes as refugees. The result was a myth of Mennonite innocence and ignorance that connected their own suffering during the 1930s and 1940s with earlier centuries of persecution and marginalization. European Mennonites and the Holocaust (U Toronto Press, 2021) identifies a significant number of Mennonite perpetrators, along with a smaller number of Mennonites who helped Jews survive, examining the context in which they acted. In some cases, theology led them to accept or reject Nazi ideals. In others, Mennonites chose a closer embrace of German identity as a strategy to improve their standing with Germans or for material benefit. A powerful and unflinching examination of a difficult history, European Mennonites and the Holocaust uncovers a more complete picture of Mennonite life in these years, underscoring actions that were not always innocent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/genocide-studies

During the Second World War, Mennonites in the Netherlands, Germany, occupied Poland, and Ukraine lived in communities with Jews and close to various Nazi camps and killing sites. As a result of this proximity, Mennonites were neighbours to and witnessed the destruction of European Jews. In some cases they were beneficiaries or even enablers of the Holocaust. Much of this history was forgotten after the war, as Mennonites sought to rebuild or find new homes as refugees. The result was a myth of Mennonite innocence and ignorance that connected their own suffering during the 1930s and 1940s with earlier centuries of persecution and marginalization. European Mennonites and the Holocaust (U Toronto Press, 2021) identifies a significant number of Mennonite perpetrators, along with a smaller number of Mennonites who helped Jews survive, examining the context in which they acted. In some cases, theology led them to accept or reject Nazi ideals. In others, Mennonites chose a closer embrace of German identity as a strategy to improve their standing with Germans or for material benefit. A powerful and unflinching examination of a difficult history, European Mennonites and the Holocaust uncovers a more complete picture of Mennonite life in these years, underscoring actions that were not always innocent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/eastern-european-studies

Nick Underwood's Yiddish Paris: Staging Nation and Community in Interwar Paris (Indiana University Press, 2022) is a captivating study of the culture and politics of the vibrant community of Yiddish-speaking immigrants to Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Making their way to the French capital from various sites in Eastern Europe, members of this Jewish community developed their own cultural institutions, including theatre companies, musical groups, and choruses. Left-leaning in their politics, these newly French Jews typically understood their cultural and community work as expressions of a Socialist or Communist politics. This political orientation also drew non-Yiddish-speaking and non-Jewish audiences to the work of these organizations and artists, establishing forms of solidarity across cultural and religious groups and classes, in Yiddish and in French.  Throughout the book, Underwood examines closely the history of key cultural organizations that brought Yiddish speakers in Paris together and worked to disseminate Yiddish language and culture throughout a wider community in France. Understanding their efforts as profoundly modern, even avant-garde, these cultural and political actors forged and expressed a Jewish diaspora nationalism they regarded as compatible with French republicanism. France was a space of multicultural possibility that seemed the perfect place to build the future.  Taking the reader through the work of various figures and groups, Underwood follows the solidarity, performances, and pluralism of the Yiddish community in interwar Paris up to the eve of the Second World War. Attentive to the devastating experiences that awaited so many French and European Jews after 1939, the book remains focused on the present of the interwar period throughout, emphasizing the community's hopes for an inclusive French society respectful of forms of religious, racial, cultural, and linguistic difference. Drawing on a wealth of archival materials the author pursued in sites in multiple countries, the book includes some very real and moving stories. Apart from the historical actors Underwood sought out directly and through family members, the lives and experiences of so many actors, singers, musicians, and engaged community members spring off many of the book's pages. It's a compelling book that will be of great interest to scholars across subfields and disciplines, and I hope you enjoy our conversation.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Nick Underwood's Yiddish Paris: Staging Nation and Community in Interwar Paris (Indiana University Press, 2022) is a captivating study of the culture and politics of the vibrant community of Yiddish-speaking immigrants to Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Making their way to the French capital from various sites in Eastern Europe, members of this Jewish community developed their own cultural institutions, including theatre companies, musical groups, and choruses. Left-leaning in their politics, these newly French Jews typically understood their cultural and community work as expressions of a Socialist or Communist politics. This political orientation also drew non-Yiddish-speaking and non-Jewish audiences to the work of these organizations and artists, establishing forms of solidarity across cultural and religious groups and classes, in Yiddish and in French.  Throughout the book, Underwood examines closely the history of key cultural organizations that brought Yiddish speakers in Paris together and worked to disseminate Yiddish language and culture throughout a wider community in France. Understanding their efforts as profoundly modern, even avant-garde, these cultural and political actors forged and expressed a Jewish diaspora nationalism they regarded as compatible with French republicanism. France was a space of multicultural possibility that seemed the perfect place to build the future.  Taking the reader through the work of various figures and groups, Underwood follows the solidarity, performances, and pluralism of the Yiddish community in interwar Paris up to the eve of the Second World War. Attentive to the devastating experiences that awaited so many French and European Jews after 1939, the book remains focused on the present of the interwar period throughout, emphasizing the community's hopes for an inclusive French society respectful of forms of religious, racial, cultural, and linguistic difference. Drawing on a wealth of archival materials the author pursued in sites in multiple countries, the book includes some very real and moving stories. Apart from the historical actors Underwood sought out directly and through family members, the lives and experiences of so many actors, singers, musicians, and engaged community members spring off many of the book's pages. It's a compelling book that will be of great interest to scholars across subfields and disciplines, and I hope you enjoy our conversation.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Nick Underwood's Yiddish Paris: Staging Nation and Community in Interwar Paris (Indiana University Press, 2022) is a captivating study of the culture and politics of the vibrant community of Yiddish-speaking immigrants to Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Making their way to the French capital from various sites in Eastern Europe, members of this Jewish community developed their own cultural institutions, including theatre companies, musical groups, and choruses. Left-leaning in their politics, these newly French Jews typically understood their cultural and community work as expressions of a Socialist or Communist politics. This political orientation also drew non-Yiddish-speaking and non-Jewish audiences to the work of these organizations and artists, establishing forms of solidarity across cultural and religious groups and classes, in Yiddish and in French.  Throughout the book, Underwood examines closely the history of key cultural organizations that brought Yiddish speakers in Paris together and worked to disseminate Yiddish language and culture throughout a wider community in France. Understanding their efforts as profoundly modern, even avant-garde, these cultural and political actors forged and expressed a Jewish diaspora nationalism they regarded as compatible with French republicanism. France was a space of multicultural possibility that seemed the perfect place to build the future.  Taking the reader through the work of various figures and groups, Underwood follows the solidarity, performances, and pluralism of the Yiddish community in interwar Paris up to the eve of the Second World War. Attentive to the devastating experiences that awaited so many French and European Jews after 1939, the book remains focused on the present of the interwar period throughout, emphasizing the community's hopes for an inclusive French society respectful of forms of religious, racial, cultural, and linguistic difference. Drawing on a wealth of archival materials the author pursued in sites in multiple countries, the book includes some very real and moving stories. Apart from the historical actors Underwood sought out directly and through family members, the lives and experiences of so many actors, singers, musicians, and engaged community members spring off many of the book's pages. It's a compelling book that will be of great interest to scholars across subfields and disciplines, and I hope you enjoy our conversation.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

Nick Underwood's Yiddish Paris: Staging Nation and Community in Interwar Paris (Indiana University Press, 2022) is a captivating study of the culture and politics of the vibrant community of Yiddish-speaking immigrants to Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Making their way to the French capital from various sites in Eastern Europe, members of this Jewish community developed their own cultural institutions, including theatre companies, musical groups, and choruses. Left-leaning in their politics, these newly French Jews typically understood their cultural and community work as expressions of a Socialist or Communist politics. This political orientation also drew non-Yiddish-speaking and non-Jewish audiences to the work of these organizations and artists, establishing forms of solidarity across cultural and religious groups and classes, in Yiddish and in French.  Throughout the book, Underwood examines closely the history of key cultural organizations that brought Yiddish speakers in Paris together and worked to disseminate Yiddish language and culture throughout a wider community in France. Understanding their efforts as profoundly modern, even avant-garde, these cultural and political actors forged and expressed a Jewish diaspora nationalism they regarded as compatible with French republicanism. France was a space of multicultural possibility that seemed the perfect place to build the future.  Taking the reader through the work of various figures and groups, Underwood follows the solidarity, performances, and pluralism of the Yiddish community in interwar Paris up to the eve of the Second World War. Attentive to the devastating experiences that awaited so many French and European Jews after 1939, the book remains focused on the present of the interwar period throughout, emphasizing the community's hopes for an inclusive French society respectful of forms of religious, racial, cultural, and linguistic difference. Drawing on a wealth of archival materials the author pursued in sites in multiple countries, the book includes some very real and moving stories. Apart from the historical actors Underwood sought out directly and through family members, the lives and experiences of so many actors, singers, musicians, and engaged community members spring off many of the book's pages. It's a compelling book that will be of great interest to scholars across subfields and disciplines, and I hope you enjoy our conversation.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

Nick Underwood's Yiddish Paris: Staging Nation and Community in Interwar Paris (Indiana University Press, 2022) is a captivating study of the culture and politics of the vibrant community of Yiddish-speaking immigrants to Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Making their way to the French capital from various sites in Eastern Europe, members of this Jewish community developed their own cultural institutions, including theatre companies, musical groups, and choruses. Left-leaning in their politics, these newly French Jews typically understood their cultural and community work as expressions of a Socialist or Communist politics. This political orientation also drew non-Yiddish-speaking and non-Jewish audiences to the work of these organizations and artists, establishing forms of solidarity across cultural and religious groups and classes, in Yiddish and in French.  Throughout the book, Underwood examines closely the history of key cultural organizations that brought Yiddish speakers in Paris together and worked to disseminate Yiddish language and culture throughout a wider community in France. Understanding their efforts as profoundly modern, even avant-garde, these cultural and political actors forged and expressed a Jewish diaspora nationalism they regarded as compatible with French republicanism. France was a space of multicultural possibility that seemed the perfect place to build the future.  Taking the reader through the work of various figures and groups, Underwood follows the solidarity, performances, and pluralism of the Yiddish community in interwar Paris up to the eve of the Second World War. Attentive to the devastating experiences that awaited so many French and European Jews after 1939, the book remains focused on the present of the interwar period throughout, emphasizing the community's hopes for an inclusive French society respectful of forms of religious, racial, cultural, and linguistic difference. Drawing on a wealth of archival materials the author pursued in sites in multiple countries, the book includes some very real and moving stories. Apart from the historical actors Underwood sought out directly and through family members, the lives and experiences of so many actors, singers, musicians, and engaged community members spring off many of the book's pages. It's a compelling book that will be of great interest to scholars across subfields and disciplines, and I hope you enjoy our conversation.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/european-studies

Nick Underwood's Yiddish Paris: Staging Nation and Community in Interwar Paris (Indiana University Press, 2022) is a captivating study of the culture and politics of the vibrant community of Yiddish-speaking immigrants to Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Making their way to the French capital from various sites in Eastern Europe, members of this Jewish community developed their own cultural institutions, including theatre companies, musical groups, and choruses. Left-leaning in their politics, these newly French Jews typically understood their cultural and community work as expressions of a Socialist or Communist politics. This political orientation also drew non-Yiddish-speaking and non-Jewish audiences to the work of these organizations and artists, establishing forms of solidarity across cultural and religious groups and classes, in Yiddish and in French.  Throughout the book, Underwood examines closely the history of key cultural organizations that brought Yiddish speakers in Paris together and worked to disseminate Yiddish language and culture throughout a wider community in France. Understanding their efforts as profoundly modern, even avant-garde, these cultural and political actors forged and expressed a Jewish diaspora nationalism they regarded as compatible with French republicanism. France was a space of multicultural possibility that seemed the perfect place to build the future.  Taking the reader through the work of various figures and groups, Underwood follows the solidarity, performances, and pluralism of the Yiddish community in interwar Paris up to the eve of the Second World War. Attentive to the devastating experiences that awaited so many French and European Jews after 1939, the book remains focused on the present of the interwar period throughout, emphasizing the community's hopes for an inclusive French society respectful of forms of religious, racial, cultural, and linguistic difference. Drawing on a wealth of archival materials the author pursued in sites in multiple countries, the book includes some very real and moving stories. Apart from the historical actors Underwood sought out directly and through family members, the lives and experiences of so many actors, singers, musicians, and engaged community members spring off many of the book's pages. It's a compelling book that will be of great interest to scholars across subfields and disciplines, and I hope you enjoy our conversation.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/french-studies

Zionism was a national liberation movement developed by European Jews in the late nineteenth century. Their early vision of a national homeland was fulfilled about half a century later with the creation of the independent state of Israel, which turned a majority Arab land into a Jewish state. Today, pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses routinely denounce Zionism as a violent colonial project. In this episode, political scientist Ian Lustick recovers Zionism's historical origins and discusses its future, as roughly 7 million Jewish Israelis face as many Arab residents on territory controlled by Israel.

Image:  “Roll call at Buchenwald concentration camp, ca.1938-1941. Two prisoners in the foreground are supporting a comrade, as fainting was frequently an excuse for the guards to ‘liquidate' useless inmates.”   Editorial comment: At 16 million worldwide souls, the core population of Jews are not yet as populous as they were before the Nazi Holocaust. About 7 million Jews reside in Israel, and most others in the US. Jews make up just 0.2% of the world's human population. There are ten cities in the world with 19 million or more people in residence. How could so much hatred be directed at so few people? Antisemitism — always the harbinger of mass murder​.   – Dr. Peter and Ginger Breggin   This is the first time Ginger and I have done our radio show without a guest — leaving the full hour to ourselves; we hope you enjoy it! It's a bit choppy, there are awkward movements, and to add to that it surprised me (but not Ginger) when we focused entirely on antisemitism. That in itself added to our passionate engagement. We begin talking about two dismaying and disillusioning experiences we had with two different people whom we have respected and admired and one of whom we thought we were developing a real friendship.   We discuss the shocking details of their public comments about Israel and the current war with Hamas, why we fear these kinds of remarks could ultimately cause a Second Holocaust, this time involving not 6 million European Jews, but 7 million Israeli Jews — that is a little under half of all the core (avowed) Jews in the world.   Other points we explored:  Why is antisemitism always a mortal threat to the Jews? Why do the globalist predators hope the Jews and the Muslims will destroy each other? People say that the Israeli leadership is corrupt and even too warlike, but even if true, it's also true of nearly all the world's leadership, including the U.S., Russia, Ukraine, North Korea, China, etc. — and would we murder their citizens as well?   Hardly anyone calls for the murder of a nation because of their leadership, except when it comes to the Jews. On a more positive note, we even venture some thoughts on how to talk to an antisemite who is not yet a Nazi. And end with some very positive principles to live by.       Learn more about Dr. Peter Breggin's work: https://breggin.com/   See more from Dr. Breggin's long history of being a reformer in psychiatry: https://breggin.com/Psychiatry-as-an-Instrument-of-Social-and-Political-Control   Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal, the how-to manual @ https://breggin.com/a-guide-for-prescribers-therapists-patients-and-their-families/   Get a copy of Dr. Breggin's latest book: WHO ARE THE “THEY” - THESE GLOBAL PREDATORS? WHAT ARE THEIR MOTIVES AND THEIR PLANS FOR US? HOW CAN WE DEFEND AGAINST THEM? Covid-19 and the Global Predators: We are the Prey Get a copy: https://www.wearetheprey.com/   “No other book so comprehensively covers the details of COVID-19 criminal conduct as well as its origins in a network of global predators seeking wealth and power at the expense of human freedom and prosperity, under cover of false public health policies.”   ~ Robert F Kennedy, Jr Author of #1 bestseller The Real Anthony Fauci and Founder, Chairman and Chief Legal Counsel for Children's Health Defense

America Out Loud PULSE with Dr. Peter & Ginger Breggin – We discuss the shocking details of public comments about Israel and the current war with Hamas, why we fear these kinds of remarks could ultimately cause a Second Holocaust, this time involving not 6 million European Jews, but 10 million Israeli Jews — that is two-thirds of all the Jews in the world. Why is antisemitism always a mortal threat to the Jews? Why do the globalist predators hope the...

America Out Loud PULSE with Dr. Peter & Ginger Breggin – We discuss the shocking details of public comments about Israel and the current war with Hamas, why we fear these kinds of remarks could ultimately cause a Second Holocaust, this time involving not 6 million European Jews, but 10 million Israeli Jews — that is two-thirds of all the Jews in the world. Why is antisemitism always a mortal threat to the Jews? Why do the globalist predators hope the...

Tom and Andy lament the growing number of Holocaust deniers and the decline of knowledge and awareness of the NAZI murders of millions of European Jews.

At the turn of the 20th century, millions of European Jews were seeking an escape from antisemitic persecution. While many dreamed of Palestine, a few thousand made their way, instead, to Galveston in Texas. In conversation with Rob Attar, the author Rachel Cockerell tells the story of the little-known Galveston movement, explaining how it connects to the histories of America, Zionism and European Jewry. (Ad) Rachel Cockerell is the author of Melting Point: Family, Memory and the Search for a Promised Land (Wildfire, 2024). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Melting-Point-Promised-groundbreaking-Philippe/dp/1035408910/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, January 25th, 2024. Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/01/24/calls-grow-louder-for-haley-to-drop-out-of-gop-primary/ Calls Grow Louder for Haley to Drop Out of GOP Primary Demands grew louder for former Gov. Nikki Haley to drop out of the GOP primary race on Tuesday after placing second in New Hampshire to former President Donald Trump. Many Republicans believe Haley should leave the race so all available GOP resources can be allocated towards defeating President Joe Biden. Republicans spent over $167 million in losing efforts to defeat Trump in New Hampshire and Iowa, with plans to release millions more in future primaries. https://twitter.com/i/status/1750015374639390818 - Play Video After Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) exited the race Sunday, Haley’s path to the nomination did not appear to improve. In fact, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ endorsement of Trump further consolidated support behind the former president, placing pressure on Haley to also end her fledgling campaign. In all states besides New Hampshire, Trump leads by no less than 30 points. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said Trump is the de facto GOP nominee moving forward. “Congratulations to President Trump on another decisive win in New Hampshire and becoming the presumptive nominee of our party,” he said. Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) congratulated Trump on his big win Tuesday evening: “To no one’s surprise, @realDonaldTrump won BIG tonight in New Hampshire. President Trump’s message is resonating with voters. It’s only a matter of time until 45 becomes 47. Congratulations, Mr. President!” CEO of the Federalist Sean Davis urged Haley to drop out, noting that if she did not, she would be “fully owned by the left-wing Democrats.” “If Nikki Haley’s primary goal is to defeat Joe Biden in November, she will drop out tonight and endorse Trump. If she continues to stay in a race she cannot win just to attack Trump, then we’ll know she’s fully owned by the left-wing Democrats who are funding her campaign,” he said. Social media influencer Ryan Fournier demanded Haley just give up and drop out. “Nikki Haley is refusing to drop out, claiming “this race is far from over.” It’s been over from the start. You all betted on the worst happening to Trump to secure victory. It’s time to give it up.,” he said. Nate Cohn, the New York Times’ chief political analyst, wrote on Monday the polling undoubtedly shows Haley’s inevitable resignation from the race, so Trump can turn his focus to defeating President Joe Biden. “So, without a monumental shift in the race, he will secure the nomination in short order,” he said. “Too little, too late,” Haley backer and a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, Fergus Cullen, told the New York Times about Haley’s prospects. “She had to inspire and engage unaffiliated voters, and I just haven’t seen her doing what she needs to do to reach that audience and turn them out in the numbers that she needs.” https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/immigration/2814985/biden-administration-demands-texas-grant-dhs-access-border/ Biden administration demands Texas grant border access following Supreme Court decision The Biden administration has demanded the state of Texas relinquish control of a 2.5-mile strip of land on the border and grant federal agents access following a Supreme Court decision that gave Border Patrol agents to slash state-installed razor wire. The Department of Homeland Security sent Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) a letter Tuesday obtained first by the Washington Examiner in which General Counsel Jonathan Meyer called out the state for its inaction after the highest court rescinded an appeal court injunction and allowed federal police to cut down razor wire fencing in Eagle Pass in order to rescue and apprehend illegal immigrants as they cross the Rio Grande. “The state has alleged that Shelby Park is open to the public, but we do not believe this statement is accurate,” Meyer said. “To our knowledge, Texas has only permitted access to Shelby Park by allowing public entry for a memorial, the media, and use of the golf course adjacent to Shelby Park, all while continuing to restrict U.S. Border Patrol’s access to the park.” Meyer said the Supreme Court decision allowed federal law enforcement not only to cut wire at the border but to be present on the border, the latter of which has not been possible since the Texas National Guard commandeered the 2.5-mile strip of city land and locked out all federal employees on Jan. 10. “As you are aware, yesterday, the Supreme Court vacated the injunction prohibiting the Department from cutting or moving the concertina wire that Texas had placed along the border except in case of emergency, and restored the Department’s right to cut and move the concertina wire placed by Texas in order to perform their statutory duties,” Meyer wrote. “The Department must also have the ability to access the border in the Shelby Park area that is currently obstructed by Texas.” But despite the court’s decision, Texas National Guard soldiers reaffirmed the state’s position Tuesday. Soldiers in Eagle Pass installed more razor wire at the river and laid out more fencing and concertina wire despite the rain that swept through the region Tuesday, according to video. The DHS maintained in its letter that it had the upper ground in terms of legal ground that allowed its personnel to be on city land along the border. It cited the U.S. Code, in which the department acquired permanent real estate interests in and around Eagle Pass in 2008 to build border wall barriers in the vicinity. “Because the Department owns property rights to the areas depicted on the attached map, we demand that you immediately remove any and all obstructions on it,” Meyer said. Border Patrol still has limited access to a boat ramp within Shelby Park despite the state’s initial concession earlier in the land seizure to let agents load and unload a boat into the river. Meyer called for full access to the boat ramp and river. The Biden administration had threatened Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) with legal action on Jan. 14 if Texas did not relinquish control of land, but has not followed up with a lawsuit. “We demand that Texas cease and desist its efforts to block Border Patrol’s access in and around the Shelby Park area and remove all barriers to access in the Shelby Park area,” Meyer told Paxton in the letter. The showdown between state and federal leaders comes 12 days after three immigrants drowned attempting to wade across the river from Mexico on Jan. 12. Border Patrol officials in Eagle Pass were alerted to immigrants who had drowned and two others in distress and attempted to respond but were denied access at a gate into the state-seized land. The state has taken issue with Border Patrol cutting its wire on the basis that the wire would deter and prevent more illegal immigration. Federal law enforcement agents are required to arrest anyone who has illegally entered the country or is illegally present, including those who cross the river and are blocked from continuing up the riverbank by the razor wire. https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/holocaust-survivors-numbers-report-claims-conference/2024/01/23/id/1150570/ Almost 80 Years after the Holocaust, 245,000 Jewish Survivors Are Still Alive Almost 80 years after the Holocaust, about 245,000 Jewish survivors are still living across more than 90 countries, a new report revealed Tuesday. Nearly half of them, or 49%, are living in Israel; 18% are in Western Europe, 16% in the United States, and 12% in countries of the former Soviet Union, according to a study by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference. Before the publication of the demographic report, there were only vague estimates about how many Holocaust survivors are still alive. Their numbers are quickly dwindling, as most are very old and often of frail health, with a median age of 86. Twenty percent of survivors are older than 90, and more women (61%) than men (39%) are still alive. The vast majority, or 96% of survivors, are “child survivors” who were born after 1928, says the report “Holocaust Survivors Worldwide. A Demographic Overview'” which is based on figures that were collected up until August. “The numbers in this report are interesting, but it is also important to look past the numbers to see the individuals they represent,” said Greg Schneider, the Claims Conference’s executive vice president. “These are Jews who were born into a world that wanted to see them murdered. They endured the atrocities of the Holocaust in their youth and were forced to rebuild an entire life out of the ashes of the camps and ghettos that ended their families and communities." Six million European Jews and people from other minorities were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust. It is not clear exactly how many Jews survived the death camps, the ghettos or somewhere in hiding across Nazi-occupied Europe, but their numbers were a far cry from the pre-war Jewish population in Europe. In Poland, of the 3.3 million Jews living there in 1939, only about 300,000 survived. Around 560,000 Jews lived in Germany in 1933, the year Adolf Hitler came to power. At the end of World War II in 1945, their numbers had diminished to about 15,000 — through emigration and extermination. Germany's Jewish community grew again after 1990, when more than 215,000 Jewish migrants and their families came from countries of the former Soviet Union, some of them also survivors. Nowadays, only 14,200 survivors still live in Germany, the demographic report concluded. For its new report, the Claims Conference said it defined Holocaust survivors "based on agreements with the German government in assessing eligibility for compensation programs.” For Germany, that definition includes all Jews who lived in the country from Jan. 30, 1933, when Hitler came to power, to May 1945, when Germany surrendered unconditionally in World War II. The group handles claims on behalf of Jews who suffered under the Nazis and negotiates compensation with Germany's finance ministry every year. In June, the Claims Conference said that Germany has agreed to extend another $1.4 billion, (1.29 billion euros), overall for Holocaust survivors around the globe for 2024. Since 1952, the German government has paid more than $90 billion to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis. https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-announces-2-billion-medical-debt-bailout-500000-residents NYC Mayor Eric Adams announces $2B medical debt bailout for up to 500K residents New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday a plan to buy up millions of dollars in medical debt owed by hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. In what the mayor said would be a "one-time" deal, the city will spend $18 million in taxpayer funds over the next three years to pay off medical debt owed by up to 500,000 residents. Officials estimate that the program will wipe out over $2 billion of medical debt owed in what they call the "largest municipal initiative of its kind in the country." "Getting health care shouldn't be a burden that weighs on New Yorkers and their families," Adams said in a statement. "Since day one, our administration has been driven by the clear mission of supporting working-class New Yorkers and today's investment that will provide $2 billion in medical debt relief is another major step in delivering on that vision. Up to half a million New Yorkers will see their medical debt wiped thanks to this life changing program — the largest municipal initiative of its kind in the country." Medical debt is among the top causes of bankruptcy in the United States, especially for those who lack health insurance. Nearly 1 in 10 U.S. adults (9%), or roughly 23 million people, owe medical debt, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The collective medical debt owed by Americans nationwide is estimated by the group to be as much as $195 billion. New York City will partner with RIP Medical Debt, a New York-based nonprofit, to acquire debt portfolios and retiree debt from health care providers and hospitals and erase it, officials said. "No one chooses to go into medical debt — if you're sick or injured, you need to seek care. But no New Yorker should have to choose between paying rent or for other essentials and paying off their medical debt, which is why we are proud to bring this relief to families across the five boroughs, as we continue to fight on behalf of working-class New Yorkers," Adams said. Founded in 2014, RIP Medical Debt uses donations to buy debt from health care providers in bundles at a steep discount. The group uses data analytics to identify debtors who are most in need — households that earn less than four times the federal poverty level or whose debts are 5% or more of annual income — and buys their debt. Those who benefit from the organization's work receive letters in the mail announcing that their debt has been erased, tax and penalty-free. The group has partnered with local governments before, including with Cook County in Illinois to abolish more than $280 million in medical debt owed by residents, but never at the scale of its partnership with New York City. To supplement the city's spending on the program, RIP Medical Debt and the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City are soliciting private donations to raise additional funding over the next three years. https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2024/1/22/ngsegtq5k078chahr8s3etgus3983p New ‘Jurassic World’ Movie in the Works, 2025 Release Being Eyed A new “Jurassic World” movie is in the works. In fact, it’s so deep in development that Universal is eyeing a 2025 release date for this one. If that’s the case then it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if it goes into production this year. The good news is that “Jurassic Park” screenwriter David Koepp is back, his last script for the series was 1997’s “The Lost World.” Koepp is set write the script to introduce a “new Jurassic era,” which likely means Chris Pratt won’t be returning as the lead. It’s only been two years since the last one, 2022’s “Jurassic World Dominion”, but Universal’s clearly looking to make more of these films. No director is attached for now, but, the way things are speeding up, one will surely be hired soon.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, January 25th, 2024. Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/01/24/calls-grow-louder-for-haley-to-drop-out-of-gop-primary/ Calls Grow Louder for Haley to Drop Out of GOP Primary Demands grew louder for former Gov. Nikki Haley to drop out of the GOP primary race on Tuesday after placing second in New Hampshire to former President Donald Trump. Many Republicans believe Haley should leave the race so all available GOP resources can be allocated towards defeating President Joe Biden. Republicans spent over $167 million in losing efforts to defeat Trump in New Hampshire and Iowa, with plans to release millions more in future primaries. https://twitter.com/i/status/1750015374639390818 - Play Video After Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) exited the race Sunday, Haley’s path to the nomination did not appear to improve. In fact, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ endorsement of Trump further consolidated support behind the former president, placing pressure on Haley to also end her fledgling campaign. In all states besides New Hampshire, Trump leads by no less than 30 points. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said Trump is the de facto GOP nominee moving forward. “Congratulations to President Trump on another decisive win in New Hampshire and becoming the presumptive nominee of our party,” he said. Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) congratulated Trump on his big win Tuesday evening: “To no one’s surprise, @realDonaldTrump won BIG tonight in New Hampshire. President Trump’s message is resonating with voters. It’s only a matter of time until 45 becomes 47. Congratulations, Mr. President!” CEO of the Federalist Sean Davis urged Haley to drop out, noting that if she did not, she would be “fully owned by the left-wing Democrats.” “If Nikki Haley’s primary goal is to defeat Joe Biden in November, she will drop out tonight and endorse Trump. If she continues to stay in a race she cannot win just to attack Trump, then we’ll know she’s fully owned by the left-wing Democrats who are funding her campaign,” he said. Social media influencer Ryan Fournier demanded Haley just give up and drop out. “Nikki Haley is refusing to drop out, claiming “this race is far from over.” It’s been over from the start. You all betted on the worst happening to Trump to secure victory. It’s time to give it up.,” he said. Nate Cohn, the New York Times’ chief political analyst, wrote on Monday the polling undoubtedly shows Haley’s inevitable resignation from the race, so Trump can turn his focus to defeating President Joe Biden. “So, without a monumental shift in the race, he will secure the nomination in short order,” he said. “Too little, too late,” Haley backer and a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, Fergus Cullen, told the New York Times about Haley’s prospects. “She had to inspire and engage unaffiliated voters, and I just haven’t seen her doing what she needs to do to reach that audience and turn them out in the numbers that she needs.” https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/immigration/2814985/biden-administration-demands-texas-grant-dhs-access-border/ Biden administration demands Texas grant border access following Supreme Court decision The Biden administration has demanded the state of Texas relinquish control of a 2.5-mile strip of land on the border and grant federal agents access following a Supreme Court decision that gave Border Patrol agents to slash state-installed razor wire. The Department of Homeland Security sent Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) a letter Tuesday obtained first by the Washington Examiner in which General Counsel Jonathan Meyer called out the state for its inaction after the highest court rescinded an appeal court injunction and allowed federal police to cut down razor wire fencing in Eagle Pass in order to rescue and apprehend illegal immigrants as they cross the Rio Grande. “The state has alleged that Shelby Park is open to the public, but we do not believe this statement is accurate,” Meyer said. “To our knowledge, Texas has only permitted access to Shelby Park by allowing public entry for a memorial, the media, and use of the golf course adjacent to Shelby Park, all while continuing to restrict U.S. Border Patrol’s access to the park.” Meyer said the Supreme Court decision allowed federal law enforcement not only to cut wire at the border but to be present on the border, the latter of which has not been possible since the Texas National Guard commandeered the 2.5-mile strip of city land and locked out all federal employees on Jan. 10. “As you are aware, yesterday, the Supreme Court vacated the injunction prohibiting the Department from cutting or moving the concertina wire that Texas had placed along the border except in case of emergency, and restored the Department’s right to cut and move the concertina wire placed by Texas in order to perform their statutory duties,” Meyer wrote. “The Department must also have the ability to access the border in the Shelby Park area that is currently obstructed by Texas.” But despite the court’s decision, Texas National Guard soldiers reaffirmed the state’s position Tuesday. Soldiers in Eagle Pass installed more razor wire at the river and laid out more fencing and concertina wire despite the rain that swept through the region Tuesday, according to video. The DHS maintained in its letter that it had the upper ground in terms of legal ground that allowed its personnel to be on city land along the border. It cited the U.S. Code, in which the department acquired permanent real estate interests in and around Eagle Pass in 2008 to build border wall barriers in the vicinity. “Because the Department owns property rights to the areas depicted on the attached map, we demand that you immediately remove any and all obstructions on it,” Meyer said. Border Patrol still has limited access to a boat ramp within Shelby Park despite the state’s initial concession earlier in the land seizure to let agents load and unload a boat into the river. Meyer called for full access to the boat ramp and river. The Biden administration had threatened Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) with legal action on Jan. 14 if Texas did not relinquish control of land, but has not followed up with a lawsuit. “We demand that Texas cease and desist its efforts to block Border Patrol’s access in and around the Shelby Park area and remove all barriers to access in the Shelby Park area,” Meyer told Paxton in the letter. The showdown between state and federal leaders comes 12 days after three immigrants drowned attempting to wade across the river from Mexico on Jan. 12. Border Patrol officials in Eagle Pass were alerted to immigrants who had drowned and two others in distress and attempted to respond but were denied access at a gate into the state-seized land. The state has taken issue with Border Patrol cutting its wire on the basis that the wire would deter and prevent more illegal immigration. Federal law enforcement agents are required to arrest anyone who has illegally entered the country or is illegally present, including those who cross the river and are blocked from continuing up the riverbank by the razor wire. https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/holocaust-survivors-numbers-report-claims-conference/2024/01/23/id/1150570/ Almost 80 Years after the Holocaust, 245,000 Jewish Survivors Are Still Alive Almost 80 years after the Holocaust, about 245,000 Jewish survivors are still living across more than 90 countries, a new report revealed Tuesday. Nearly half of them, or 49%, are living in Israel; 18% are in Western Europe, 16% in the United States, and 12% in countries of the former Soviet Union, according to a study by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference. Before the publication of the demographic report, there were only vague estimates about how many Holocaust survivors are still alive. Their numbers are quickly dwindling, as most are very old and often of frail health, with a median age of 86. Twenty percent of survivors are older than 90, and more women (61%) than men (39%) are still alive. The vast majority, or 96% of survivors, are “child survivors” who were born after 1928, says the report “Holocaust Survivors Worldwide. A Demographic Overview'” which is based on figures that were collected up until August. “The numbers in this report are interesting, but it is also important to look past the numbers to see the individuals they represent,” said Greg Schneider, the Claims Conference’s executive vice president. “These are Jews who were born into a world that wanted to see them murdered. They endured the atrocities of the Holocaust in their youth and were forced to rebuild an entire life out of the ashes of the camps and ghettos that ended their families and communities." Six million European Jews and people from other minorities were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust. It is not clear exactly how many Jews survived the death camps, the ghettos or somewhere in hiding across Nazi-occupied Europe, but their numbers were a far cry from the pre-war Jewish population in Europe. In Poland, of the 3.3 million Jews living there in 1939, only about 300,000 survived. Around 560,000 Jews lived in Germany in 1933, the year Adolf Hitler came to power. At the end of World War II in 1945, their numbers had diminished to about 15,000 — through emigration and extermination. Germany's Jewish community grew again after 1990, when more than 215,000 Jewish migrants and their families came from countries of the former Soviet Union, some of them also survivors. Nowadays, only 14,200 survivors still live in Germany, the demographic report concluded. For its new report, the Claims Conference said it defined Holocaust survivors "based on agreements with the German government in assessing eligibility for compensation programs.” For Germany, that definition includes all Jews who lived in the country from Jan. 30, 1933, when Hitler came to power, to May 1945, when Germany surrendered unconditionally in World War II. The group handles claims on behalf of Jews who suffered under the Nazis and negotiates compensation with Germany's finance ministry every year. In June, the Claims Conference said that Germany has agreed to extend another $1.4 billion, (1.29 billion euros), overall for Holocaust survivors around the globe for 2024. Since 1952, the German government has paid more than $90 billion to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis. https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-announces-2-billion-medical-debt-bailout-500000-residents NYC Mayor Eric Adams announces $2B medical debt bailout for up to 500K residents New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday a plan to buy up millions of dollars in medical debt owed by hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. In what the mayor said would be a "one-time" deal, the city will spend $18 million in taxpayer funds over the next three years to pay off medical debt owed by up to 500,000 residents. Officials estimate that the program will wipe out over $2 billion of medical debt owed in what they call the "largest municipal initiative of its kind in the country." "Getting health care shouldn't be a burden that weighs on New Yorkers and their families," Adams said in a statement. "Since day one, our administration has been driven by the clear mission of supporting working-class New Yorkers and today's investment that will provide $2 billion in medical debt relief is another major step in delivering on that vision. Up to half a million New Yorkers will see their medical debt wiped thanks to this life changing program — the largest municipal initiative of its kind in the country." Medical debt is among the top causes of bankruptcy in the United States, especially for those who lack health insurance. Nearly 1 in 10 U.S. adults (9%), or roughly 23 million people, owe medical debt, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The collective medical debt owed by Americans nationwide is estimated by the group to be as much as $195 billion. New York City will partner with RIP Medical Debt, a New York-based nonprofit, to acquire debt portfolios and retiree debt from health care providers and hospitals and erase it, officials said. "No one chooses to go into medical debt — if you're sick or injured, you need to seek care. But no New Yorker should have to choose between paying rent or for other essentials and paying off their medical debt, which is why we are proud to bring this relief to families across the five boroughs, as we continue to fight on behalf of working-class New Yorkers," Adams said. Founded in 2014, RIP Medical Debt uses donations to buy debt from health care providers in bundles at a steep discount. The group uses data analytics to identify debtors who are most in need — households that earn less than four times the federal poverty level or whose debts are 5% or more of annual income — and buys their debt. Those who benefit from the organization's work receive letters in the mail announcing that their debt has been erased, tax and penalty-free. The group has partnered with local governments before, including with Cook County in Illinois to abolish more than $280 million in medical debt owed by residents, but never at the scale of its partnership with New York City. To supplement the city's spending on the program, RIP Medical Debt and the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City are soliciting private donations to raise additional funding over the next three years. https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2024/1/22/ngsegtq5k078chahr8s3etgus3983p New ‘Jurassic World’ Movie in the Works, 2025 Release Being Eyed A new “Jurassic World” movie is in the works. In fact, it’s so deep in development that Universal is eyeing a 2025 release date for this one. If that’s the case then it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if it goes into production this year. The good news is that “Jurassic Park” screenwriter David Koepp is back, his last script for the series was 1997’s “The Lost World.” Koepp is set write the script to introduce a “new Jurassic era,” which likely means Chris Pratt won’t be returning as the lead. It’s only been two years since the last one, 2022’s “Jurassic World Dominion”, but Universal’s clearly looking to make more of these films. No director is attached for now, but, the way things are speeding up, one will surely be hired soon.

Howdy folks! On this particular Bull Session, I am thrilled to host Ryan Whitaker, a guest who brings a unique perspective to our lively discussion. We delve into the oddities of recent political events, especially the January 6 Capitol incident, with a mix of humor and serious analysis. We also explore the influential role of religious groups in American economics and politics(are the Mormons the American version of European Jews??), pondering over the future of Trump's political career, the essence of free speech, and the media's shaping of public opinion. Join us for this entertaining and insightful episode that's perfect for sparking conversations! Theme Music Burnin' Daylight - Matt Wilson #BullSession #PoliticalHumor #FreeSpeech #MediaInsight #RyanWhitaker. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Dr. Waitman Beorn shares his expertise on what he refers to as "the Nazi genocidal project" which includes not only the mass murder of European Jews in the Holocaust but also the systematic murder of other populations with a focus on Eastern Europe. As Dr. Beorn notes, many have suggested that the unimaginably violent fighting in Eastern Europe was the exception, compared to the fighting in Western Europe, but historic evidence suggests the reverse is more accurate. Dr. Beorn's books are linked below. Links Marching Into Darkness: The Wehrmacht and the Holocaust in Belarus (https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674725508) The Holocaust in Eastern Europe: At the Epicenter of the Final Solution (https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-holocaust-in-eastern-europe-9781474232180/) Between the Wires: The Janowska Camp and the Holocaust in Lviv (https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496237590/) Visualizing Janowska: Creating a Digital Architectural Model of a Nazi Concentration Camp (https://www.waitmanwbeorn.com/visualizingjanowska) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mother-of-tanks/message

This is our Christmas special....looking at the bad news in the world, in the light of the good news of Christmas!   Icelandic Volcanoes; Spanish Olives; Egypt's President; Ghana's mystery presidential candidate; Confusing Congo election; Genocide in Darfur - again; the Suez Canal; Wasted Covid Vaccines; The Spirituality of Kandinsky; Temple Universities abusive intersectionality; Islamic sermons in Australia; Hamas plots to kill European Jews; the heresy of Jayne Ozanne; Pope Francis goes full Woke; SEEK 18 - Mistakes in the Bible; and Louise Perry on Sin. With appropriate Chrismas music from Chris Rea, John Lennon, Bing Crosby and David Bowie, Boney M,  Mike Oldfield, Chris de Burgh and Bach! 

Shane:Last Friday I travelled to Nenagh for the funeral of Shane MacGowan. It was a sad and yet joyous event with family and friends lifting their voices and their hearts as a succession of musicians played some of Shane's best known songs, including the exuberant Fairytale of New York, Cór Cúil Aodha, including Seán O'Sé and Seán O'Riada's son Peadar also did what they do best.The de-humanising of the Palestinians:Last Sunday was the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was a response to the horror of the Second World War, and in particular the holocaust of European Jews and murder of countless millions of trade unionists, gay people, socialists and others the Nazi regime regarded as inferior. Its first sentence encapsulation what many hoped would be the dawn of a new era – ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.'Christmas Ceol:If you are looking for musical stocking fillers this column recommends two bits of ceol. First off is Fergus O Hare's new CD – Deep in my Heart.

Beginning in 1940 a group of Polish diplomats based in Bern, Switzerland, orchestrated a program of forging passports and identity documents from Latin American countries. These were then smuggled into Nazi-occupied countries, where they were used to save thousands of Jews from the Holocaust. When the Ładoś Group–named after its leader, Aleksander Ładoś, the Polish ambassador to Switzerland–ended its activities in 1943 it had saved possibly as many as 10,000 people from extermination, making it one of the largest conspiracies on behalf of the survival of the European Jews.  Roger Moorhouse describes the Lados Group and its activities in his new book The Forgers: The Forgotten Story of the Holocaust's Most Audacious Rescue Operation. His most recent book was Poland 1939: The Outbreak of World War II (which won the Polish Foreign Ministry History Prize). He is also the author of Berlin at War (shortlisted for the Hessell-Tiltman Prize), and The Devils' Alliance.   He is a visiting professor at the College of Europe in Warsaw. For Further Information As mentioned in the podcast, Episode 273 was an exhaustive examination of the life of Josef Pilsudski: father of modern Poland, socialist, Siberian exile, civilian, military thinker, bank robber, master diplomat, and dictator. Also a friend of the podcast, or so we hope. Some common terrain was also discussed in Episode 317, about the village of Oberstdorf in the Allgauer Alps. More on the Ładoś Group The featured image was generated with AI ∙ November 4, 2023 at 12:26 PM  

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world. Military reporter Emanuel Fabian and reporter Canaan Lidor join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode. Today is the 28th day of the war with Hamas and the IDF announced it had encircled Gaza City last night. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has landed in Israel to ask for humanitarian pauses in the fighting. What are we hearing from Israeli officials? The Reuters news service has reported that the US is flying surveillance drones over the Gaza Strip to help gather intelligence on the locations of hostages taken by Hamas. Next, we turn to Israel's northern border, which has heated up over the past few days ahead of a planned speech by Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. We cast the spotlight on a battle overnight Wednesday-Thursday with intense and chaotic fighting that raged for over three hours following an ambush targeting soldiers from the Golani Brigade's 13th Battalion. Lidor reports on how European Jewry is faring during the Israel-Hamas war and discusses the Dagestan airport attempted "pogrom" on Sunday. Lidor spent several days in the refuge city of Eilat this week and reports back on the incredible encounters he experienced there. For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog. Discussed articles include: Live blog November 3, 2023 Israeli troops roll into Gaza City as ground offensive intensifies, IDF toll rises IDF releases radio recording, footage of troops fending off Hamas ambush in Gaza Hezbollah's Nasrallah to break silence as Lebanon border skirmishes intensify Rocket from Lebanon strikes Kiryat Shmona as fighting ramps up on northern border Different this time: On Israel trip, UK Jewish leaders share grief and deep concern Pro-Hamas sentiment shocks European Jews, rekindling fears about their future In Europe, soaring antisemitism popularizes a new invention: The camouflaged mezuzah Rioters storm airport in Russia's Dagestan in hunt for Jews aboard flight from Israel For displaced families, Eilat's charms are a painful reminder of a life pierced by war THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. IMAGE: Israeli artillery stationed near the Israeli-Gaza border, in southern Israel, November 2, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seventy-five years ago this week, the Jewish community of Palestine (known as the yishuv) gathered in the art museum of Tel Aviv—then a city of less than 200,000 inhabitants—in order to perform a resurrection. Thirty-seven people—36 men and one woman—were about to sign Israel's Declaration of Independence, which would reestablish Jewish political sovereignty in the Holy Land for the first time since the destruction of the Second Temple 2,000 years ago. They gathered in that museum just three years after the liberation of Auschwitz, just three years after six million Jews were murdered in Europe, to establish Israel as a place where the Jewish people could at last control their own fate and destiny and safety. More than that, in the land of Israel, there was a sense—not just among religious Jews, but all Jews—that they were finally going home. The Israel of the early days—poor, socialist, secular, where food rationing was the norm— feels so far away. Now, Israel is an economic superpower, a world leader in high tech. And the socialist left that built the country has given way to a political right that dominates the Jewish state. But throughout its 75 years, Israel has always prided itself on being the world's only Jewish democracy. A liberal democracy in a sea of undemocratic regimes. Now, hundreds of thousands of Israelis are worried that that identity—an identity that Israelis pride themselves on and have defended since its existence—is in danger. They've been taking to the streets, night after night for the past five months, with Israeli flags in their hands chanting and demanding one thing: “democratya.” Democracy. One of those people is my guest today, Daniel Gordis: rabbi, academic, American Israeli, and author of eight books, including the just published Impossible Takes Longer: 75 Years After Its Creation, Has Israel Fulfilled Its Founders' Dreams? On today's episode, Danny helps us make sense of this complicated, tumultuous, beautiful, often indecipherable place: What did Israel's founders want for the country? Has their promise been fulfilled? How did the Jewish people manage to become a world economic powerhouse after two in every three European Jews had been slaughtered? And in light of the ongoing political turmoil, what does the future of this small, miraculous country—both Jewish and democratic—hold? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices