Shalom ZOA Members, Friends and Supporters of Israel,

 

We hope that our newsletter this week finds you and your loved ones well. For those who are not feeling well, we wish for you or them a complete and speedy recovery.

ADVOCACY for “Back to School”

With the exception of locations where there are labor disputes, America’s K through 12 schools are back in session – which means that in classrooms, schools and entire school districts, young Americans are vulnerable to being taught propaganda and lies about the Muslim and Arab war against the Jewish People and the Jewish state – euphemistically known as “The Israel-Palestine Conflict.”

 

We know, for example that in July, the National Education Association: America’s largest union, approved an initiative to emphasize “Palestinian” history, geography and culture in America’s schools; that during the summer, the Democratic Socialists of America’s BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group held training workshops for teachers under the guise of “Educators for Palestine;” that a national initiative called “the National Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Our Schools” was promoting those training workshops for schoolteachers; and that the national organization “BLM at School” is in a partnership with the NEA’s “edJustice” program.

 

But the effort to demonize Israel, Zionism and the Jewish community before young Americans need not be part of a national campaign. It can happen merely through the initiative of a single anti-Israel educator.

 

It is therefore vitally important to pay attention to what is happing in your local school district, in individual schools and in the classroom. If you have school-age children, grandchildren, and/or nieces and nephews, ask to see their textbooks so that you can scan through them to see if there are errors or deliberate misinformation; find out if other supplementary books are being used, or if a newspaper or websites are used as supplementary materials or are suggested for students to turn to as resources.

 

Some classes or schools may use or suggest the anti-Israel New York Times or Philadelphia Inquirer; teachers might suggest students look at the websites of the anti-Israel Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International or other problematic websites or organizations; younger students might be asked to read “A Little Piece of Ground,” an anti-Israel book that the publisher describes as “explores the human cost of the occupation of Palestinian lands through the eyes of a young boy” that is recommended to be used in classrooms for children as young as third grade or other propaganda materials presented as children’s literature.

Please reference and use Greater Philadelphia ZOA’s Textbook Survey Form: https://philly.zoa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2020/06/textbook-survey-form-updated-012819.pdf

If you see any problematic materials being used or suspect that there might be, please contact Greater Philadelphia ZOA at [email protected] or at 610-660-9466.

‘The Philadelphia Inquirer’ continues its campaign against Israel

A pro-Palestinian reporter puts her finger on the scale.

By Steve Feldman

(September 8, 2022 / JNS) Anti-Israel “news” reports, analyses and op-eds have been routine at The Philadelphia Inquirer for more than a generation.

An Aug. 23 staff-written news article about an anti-Jewish extremist who lost a job at a local school a year ago was especially egregious in its efforts to solicit sympathy for an avowed Jew-hater, and itself incited resentment and hatred of Jews. In addition, it violated multiple journalism ethics standards, including failure to offer even a shred of objectivity or balance.

Moreover, reporter Massarah Mikati had signed an online manifesto laced with demonstrably false accusations against Israel that called on journalists to slant the news in favor of the Palestinian Arabs. Inquirer editors never should have allowed her to report on that subject.

Read the article in its entirety at: https://www.jns.org/opinion/the-philadelphia-inquirer-continues-its-campaign-against-israel/

What ‘CNN’ left out of its special on anti-Semitism

Why did the network ignore left-wing, black nationalist and Islamist Jew-hatred?

By Morton A. Klein

(August 29, 2022 / JNS) There were some good points in CNN’s recent special on anti-Semitism, such as a discussion of the importance of the Secure Community Network’s synagogue security training, a description of the harassment and death threats against a pro-Israel college student, and the general acknowledgment that anti-Semitism is a serious, growing problem.

Unfortunately, however, the special grossly downplayed left-wing and Islamist anti-Semitism, and didn’t even mention black nationalists and other major sources of Jew-hatred. This seems in large part due to CNN’s reliance on the left-wing Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and its CEO, former Obama administration official Jonathan Greenblatt, as well as U.S. State Department anti-Semitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt, who has compared pro-Jewish former President Donald Trump to the Nazis, and the far-left group T’ruah’s Jill Jacobs.

The ADL, for example, recently stated that boycotts of Israel alone do not count as anti-Semitic; praised anti-Semitic congresswoman Ilhan Omar as “committed to a more just world”; defended anti-Semitic NGOs like Amnesty International, along with the extremist anti-Israel philanthropist George Soros; and tried to defund and remove the tax exemption from three pro-Israel groups, including Christian Zionists; among numerous other dangerous positions.

Read the article in its entirety at: https://www.jns.org/opinion/what-cnn-left-out-of-its-special-on-anti-semitism/

ZOA National President Morton Klein was the sole guest on Israeli journalist Avi Abelow’s show “Pulse of Israel” to discuss the above JNS article and related issues. Watch the show in its entirety at:

Interview with Mort Klein:

https://pulseofisrael.com/2022/09/07/mort-klein-cnn-jewish-leadership/

Greater Philadelphia ZOA Needs Your Financial Support

No other organization is doing the valuable work that ZOA is doing to expose and combat Jew-hatred, educate the community and to boldly promote and defend Zionism and Israel!

 To donate electronically, go to: https://zoa.org/donate/philly/

 To donate by check, send to:

ZOA

PO Box 56

Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004

 We are grateful to those of you who have made donations to our chapter this week. We appreciate each and every donation!

 Please make your donation today while you are thinking about it.

 

 

 

Greater Philadelphia ZOA is looking for volunteers to help with three projects:

We are looking for someone to edit segments from existing digital videos.

We are also looking for people to do internet research projects.

We are looking for volunteers to make calls.

If you are able to help with any of these, please contact executive director Steve Feldman at 610-660-9466.

Thank you in advance.

We are grateful to volunteers Sharon, Andy and Bruce for their invaluable help!