HERITAGE FLORIDA JEWISH NEWS, JANUARY 26, 2018
PAGE 15A
From page 1A
raise the money," Kancher
estimated, "and when we have
enough money to 'turn dirt,'
we will sign the lease and they
will turn the keys over to us."
Kancher said that once
they have the keys, it will
take 18 months to two years
to complete the renovations
and additional build-on.
So for at least perhaps five
years, "it's business as usual"
at the Maitland location, said
Kancher.
What will happen to the
building currently located on
the JCC/Federation campus?
There is no debt owed to the
Federation, according to Paul
Lefton, Jewish Federation of
Greater Orlando director of
marketing and communica-
tion, the Holocaust Center
owns the building.
"We are glad they are grow-
ing and will continue to work
with them," Lefton stated.
It is too early to make any
decisions concerning what
the Federation will do with
the building.
The Center, which is cur-
rently 7,000 square feet, will
be approximately 35,000
square feet at its new location.
The museum will also have
more exposure to the 66 mil-
lion visitors to Orlando every
year, which is a positive note
to Thomas Chatmon, execu-
tive director of the Downtown
Development Board and
Community Redevelopment
Agency, who is committed
to bring culture and arts to
downtown.
Mayor Buddy Dyer is also
onboard with the agreement,
calling it a "perfect fit" for the
downtown area.
"Our move to downtown
Orlando is significant for
Central Florida and the Jew-
ish community," Freid said.
"It reflects our community's
commitment to the values of
respect and inclusion for all
people, and that we can draw
lessons from the Holocaust
to bring those values to life,
which is exactly what our
founder, Tess Wise conveyed
from day one."
Fund raising efforts have
already begun.
"This project is truly about
community, and that's why
we're approaching the capi-
tal campaign effort a little
differently," explained Freid.
"Instead of a single campaign
chair, this campaign is being
led by a dedicated group of
leaders that reflect the broad
appeal, and what we expect to
be broad support, for the new,
expanded Holocaust Center."
The HMREC Board of Direc-
tors recently installed its new
officers, with Ellen Lang elect-
ed as president. Lang is the
daughter of HMREC founders,
Abe and Tess Wise. The couple
purchased the Jerusalem stone
of the Memorial Wall of the
present museum building and
their son, Steven, who lives in
Israel, facilitated the cutting of
the stone in Israel. As execu-
HMREC at its present location on The Roth Family JCC campus.
tive director, Tess was always
the moving force behind the
museum and focused on it as a
mother tends to her child. And
now, her daughterwill oversee
the museum's expansion and
new location.
"We are profoundly grate-
ful to the City of Orlando
for its generous support and
making it possible for us to
grow our physical space as
well as our impact combat-
ing hate and preserving civil
and human rights," Lang told
the Heritage. "This process
is the result of several years
of strategic planning and
evaluation. This new phase
will take several years, butwe
believe becoming part of the
downtown community will
increase public accessibility as
well as visibility of our work."
From page 3A
gave preliminary approval to
a law restricting the entry of
foreign BDS advocates, the
ADL and the American Jewish
Committee (AJC) expressed
disapproval. When contacted
by JNS this week for their posi-
tion on the new government
decision--which is more
limited than the Knesset bill
because it specifically names
20 groups, rather than being
a blanket ban--both the ADL
and AJC did not respond.
Left-of-center groups,
meanwhile, strongly criti-
cized the Israeli government's
move. Americans for Peace
Now asserted in a press release
that "boycotts are a legitimate
form of peaceful, political
expression, which must be
protected in any democracy."
Itwarned that the Israeli deci-
sion "increases the isolation
of Palestinians living under
occupation" and could lead to
"the specter of Jews--or non-
Jews--being interrogated
about their political beliefs at
Ben Gurion Airport."
But the Strategic Affairs
Ministry spokesperson told
JNS that the new regulations
"explicitly exclude political
criticism of Israel as a cri-
terion for consideration in
naming an organization."
In an interview with JNS,
Paul Scham, president of
Partners for Progressive
Israel, argued that "calling
BDS 'economic terrorism'
is simply demagoguery," be-
cause in his view, "there is no
plausible connection between
the presence ofa BDS activist
and Israeli security."
Leaders of organizations
representing Reform and
Conservative Judaism de-
clined to comment on the
Israeli government decision,
while Orthodox groups were
supportive of the move. A
spokesman for the Orthodox
Union (OU) told JNS, "The
OU's position on this, as with
awide range of other decisions
made by the Israeli leadership,
is to defer to the decisions of
the duly elected democratic
government of the State of
Israel."
Rabbi Pesach Lerner, presi-
dent of the Coalition for Jew-
ish Values, which represents
several hundred Orthodox
rabbis nationwide, said, "It is
routine for democratic coun-
tries to ban foreign nationals
who wish to harm it. it would
be irresponsible for a nation
not to engage in elementary
self-preservation. The goal of
BDS is to destroy Israel, and it
is prudent for Israel to respond
as it has."
Section 212 of the current
U.S. immigration law autho-
rizes the exclusion of foreign
citizens who are suspected of
intending to engage in "any
activity" related to "sabotage"
of the government. It also
prohibits the entry of anyone
who "endorses of espouses
terrorist activity," even if they
are not involved in actual
terrorism.
Restrictions on admission
to the U.K. are even broader.
Section 2 of the relevant
British law states that a for-
eigner can be prevented from
entering the country if the
authorities decide that "the
applicant's character, con-
duct or associations" make it
"undesirable" to grant entry.
Kampeas
From page 5A
is on the skids, Abbas has re-
flexively blamed its structure,
which he says favors Israeli
settlement expansion and
Palestinian disempowerment,
and called for a diminished
U.S. role.
"It is impossible, and I
repeat--it is impossible--to
return to the cycle of negotia-
tions that failed to deal with
the substance of the matter
and the fundamental ques-
tion," he told the U.N. General
Assembly in September 2014
following the collapse ear-
lier in the year of the Obama
administration-led peace
talks and the Gaza War that
ensued in the summer of the
same year. He also called for
a greater U.N. role in peace-
making.
Abbas subsequently re-
treated from that posture, em-
bracing renewed talks under
the Trump administration.
Notably the PLO has not taken
substantive steps to end the
peace process. (A subsequent
vote by the Central Council
recommending an end to
recognition of Israel was
nonbinding and symbolic.)
So why is this speech
attracting so much at-
tention?
Abbas resurrected just
about every anti-Jewish
trope in the Palestinian na-
tionalist playbook: that there
was no Jewish connection
to Israel, that Zionism was
a European colonialist plot,
that Jews preferred Hitler's
Europe to the renascent
Zionist project in Palestine,
even that Israel is drugging
Palestinian youths.
"We condemn unequivo-
cally President Abbas' recent
statements rejecting the Jew-
ish people's connections with
Israel, denying the legitimacy
of a Jewish State of Israel,
and promulgating conspiracy
theories about the creation of
the State of Israel," the Reform
movement said in a statement.
"Such statements and actions
undercut possibilities for a
peace process thatalone holds
the path to a viable and inde-
pendent Palestinian state."
J Street, the liberal Jewish
Middle East policy group that
in recent moyths has focused
its criticism m the Israeli and
U.S. governnents, called the
speech"unac~ptable."Abbas'
frustration, he group said,
was"no excus~ for calling into
question eitier the Jewish
connection b, or Palestinian
recognition 4, the state of
Israel--or fo language and
proposals th~ are justifiably
earning widepread condem-
nation."
But like tis declarations
of the deatt of the peace
process, nora of Abbas' gibes
were new. They have cropped
up repeatedly in Palestinian
propaganda, especially after
negotiations go south Follow-
ing the collapse of the 2000
Camp David talks, the late
Palestinian leader YasserAra-
fat stepped up his claims that
Israelis falsified archaeologi-
cal evidence of a Jewish past
in the land of Israel. Arafat's
wife, Suha, was infamous for
her spurious allegation that
Israel was somehow poisoning
Palestinian youths.
What stood out in Abbas'
speech was how he compiled
a single golden oldies collec-
tion of anti-Jewish myths and
fabrications.
"What we heard yesterday
from Mahmoud Abbas was
terrible," Israeli President
Reuven Rivlin told a delega-
tion of the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee. "He
returned back to the ideas he
expressed decades ago, when
they were no less terrible. To
say Israel is the result of a
Western conspiracy to settle
Jews in land belonging to Arab
populations? To say that the
Jewish people has no connec-
tion with the land of Israel?
He forgot many things, and
said exactly the things that
led him to be accused years
ago of anti-Semitism and
Holocaust denial."
How is Israel's govern-
ment reacting?
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu condemned Ab-
bas' comments but has not
proposed any changes in Israeli
policy nor any departure from
the Kushner peace initiative.
Netanyahu's reaction, nota-
bly, was jammed into a video
postcard greeting from India,
where he otherwise extolled the
virtues of touring that country.
"He has revealed the truth,"
Netanyahu said of Abbas. "He
has torn off the mask and
shown to the public the simple
truth that I have been work-
ing to instill for many long
years: The root of the conflict
between us and the Palestin-
ians is their steadfast refusal
to recognize the Jewish state
in any borders whatsoever."
How is the United States
reacting?
Abbas said of Trump, "May
your house be demolished."
It's not clear whether he was
referring to the White House,
Trump Tower or wishing for
an end to the Trump dynastY.
In any case, Trump and his
spokesmen seemed unfazed.
"Clearly emotions are run-
ning high in the region and
we certainly accept that," said
Heather Nauert, the State
Department spokeswoman.
"I'd like to caution folks in
the region and particularly
Mr. Abbas that some of those
things [he said] would be
considered inflammatory
and inciteful and divisive.
We would like to see a peace
process go forward."
Indeed, Greenblatt's first
stop when he gets to Israel
will be to meet with repre-
sentatives of the Quartet, the
grouping of the United States,
Russia, the European Union
and the United Nations that
guides the peace process.
"Jason will be attending
a regular meeting of the
Quartet envoys to exchange
information and continue
our engagement on advancing
peace," a senior White House
official told JTA.
From page 5A
those suggested by Yehuda
Kurtzer and Rabbi Danya
Ruttenberg, who have called
for the creation of a neutral
platform for those seeking
redress without fear of retri-
bution. We may also consider
the use of ombudsmen or
new tools like AllVoices, an
app-based reporting service
under development.
Equal opportunity
Beyond these five areas,
the most important way to
create sustainable change in
our community is to ensure
that women are treated equi-
tably and have opportunities
to advance to top leadership
roles.
Starting today, we must
advocate for pay equity for
comparable roles. We must
include more women on CEO
search committees and candi-
date interview lists. We must
mentor and sponsor women in
advancing in their careers. We
must, as Advancing Women
Professionals has taught us,
make the choice not to serve
on or support panels, com-
mittees and initiatives where
women are not represented.
When we raise up women, we
raise up everyone--especially
those of diverse, underrepre-
sented backgrounds.
Indeed, we can make an
inclusive, safe and respectful
environment a key element
of great Jewish workplaces.
In doing so, we will create
spaces free from harassment,
gender disparagement and
bias; and usher in a new era of
leadership that better reflects
and supports the people and
communities we serve.
Lisa Eisen is the vice
president of the Charles and
Lynn Schusterman Family
Foundation, a global organi-
zation committed to igniting
the passion and unleashing
the power in young people to
create positive change," www.
schusterman.org.
~ ~ ~. ~,~. ~ ~!. i~ ~,
Every day that you're outside, you're exposed to dangerous, but invisible, ultraviolet (UV) sunlight. Left unprotected, prolonged
exposure to UV radiation can seriously damage the eye, leading to cataracts, skin cancer around the eyelid and ether eye disorders.
Protecting your eyes is important to maintaining eye health now and in the future.
Shield your eyes (and your family's eyes) from harmful UV rays. Wear sunglasses with maximum UV protection.
