The UK Lawyers for Israel volunteer organization sent a formal complaint to the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) this past week, calling on the organization to take action to eradicate discrimination in sport, following numerous anti-Israel incidents last month at an official FIFA event.

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In a letter addressed to Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura, Secretary-General of FIFA, UKLFI cited five separate anti-Israel incidents during last month's "FIFA Arab Cup" in Doha, Qatar, which the organization said breached FIFA's "statutes, disciplinary and ethical codes."

Four out of the five incidents occurred surrounding an "Arab Legends vs. World Legends" match featuring retired former star players to kick off the tournament. The FIFA Arab Cup served as a prelude to the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup to be hosted later this year by Qatar.

According to UKLFI, three Algerian players boycotted the Arab Legends vs. World Legends match because Israeli Avram Grant was coaching the World Legends Team. During the same match, a number of players from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Qatar defaced their jerseys featuring flags of all FIFA member nations, by blotting out the Israeli flag.

In addition, Syrian player Firas Al-Khatib took part in the match, despite defacing his shirt and blotting out the Israeli flag. As a result, the Syrian Olympic Committee and the General Sports Federation Organization expelled him from playing in future matches since the opposing team had an Israeli on the coaching staff.

Also, UKLFI wrote that following the match, Jibril Rajoub, the president of the Palestine Football Association, sent a letter to the Moroccan and Emirati football association condemning players from those countries for participating since Israelis were involved and called on them to boycott such events.

Rajoub stated that engagement with Israel on the football field is a "serious and deep stab in the heart of every free Arab" and an "insult to the Palestinian struggle." He told Arab teams not to "fall into the trap of a Nazi occupation" and not to shake hands "covered in the blood of Palestinian children."

Finally, according to the UKLFI, throughout the tournament, the Palestinian flag was routinely displayed by players and officials with no direct connection to those territories. UKLFI explained that "signaling support for the Palestinian administration in political and physical opposition to Israel is a contemptuous, discriminatory and denigratory action offending the dignity and integrity of Israel."

Sam Green, a director of UKLFI, told Jewish News Syndicate that his organization expects FIFA to uphold their "Code of Ethics and Statutes" and take action against those who discriminated against Israel during the tournament.

However, he explained, "There is a broader picture here. Sports are the gateway to normalization. If you can exclude Israelis from international sporting competitions, you are saying that it is acceptable to do so. But we're saying it's not acceptable."

He added that "once organizations start enforcing anti-discrimination rules when it comes to Israel, they are sending a message that Israelis are acceptable not only in sports but in all areas of life."

Green said FIFA needs to follow through and levy fines or sanctions against players or coaches who are well-to-do, stressing that what's important here is that FIFA take symbolic action. Of course, in the case of the legends players already retired, it won't truly harm them.

"The players that blacked out the Israeli flags on their shirts, those were symbolic moves," he said. As such, "FIFA must take steps to symbolically show they are not going to tolerate this type of behavior."

FIFA did not respond to a JNS request for comment on the anti-Israel conduct at the tournament.

At the same time, Green was pleasantly surprised that Iran's Football Federation supported former national team captain Mehdi Mahdavikia not only for playing in the legends match, but for wearing the jersey with the Israeli flag on display. Mahdavikia did come under attack from senior Iranian lawmakers and government-run news outlets for his participation.

Shlomi Barzel, the Israel Football Association's head of communications, responded to the anti-Israel incidents at the Doha tournament, telling JNS: "Every boycott is sinful for the real purpose of sport – to bring people together, to connect, to bridge gaps and to play by uniform rules. We are sorry that even an event whose whole purpose is a unifying message has been exploited by a minority of participants for an unjustified act. … We will continue to be a part of every competition, proudly representing our country, and promoting unity and cooperation through sport."

'Attitudes toward Israel are changing'

Israeli athletes and sports teams have faced discrimination and boycotts for decades by athletes and the countries they represent throughout the Arab and Muslim world.

Just last week, a 14-year old Kuwaiti tennis player withdrew from an international tournament held in the United Arab Emirates in order to avoid facing an Israeli opponent.

Last month, Malaysia refused entry to Israeli athletes for the World Men's Team Squash Championships. Despite lobbying efforts by the World Squash Federation to allow Israelis to participate, Malaysia stood its ground. The federation, therefore, canceled the event, criticizing the country for refusing to hold an open and inclusive tournament.

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In the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, several judokas from Muslim countries forfeited their matches choosing to throw away years of training instead of facing their scheduled Israeli competitors.

That said, Green explained that his organization has seen some Arab and Muslim countries change their tune when it comes to Israel. In October 2017, Israeli judokas had to compete in the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam without any reference to Israel. When Tal Flicker won a gold medal, the anthem of the International Judo Federation was played and its flag was flown, instead of the Israeli national anthem "Hatikvah" and the Israeli flag.

The UKLFI stepped in and wrote a letter to the IJF saying that what had occurred was unacceptable. The IJF took action threatening to suspend future tournaments in the UAE until they stopped discrimination against Israel.

The advocacy by the UKLFI bore fruit when, a year later in October 2018, Israeli judokas Sagi Muki and Peter Paltchik won gold medals at that same event; "Hatikvah" was played and the Israeli flag was flown in the stadium in the presence of then-Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev.

Green said the new reality "showed that attitudes toward Israel were changing in the Gulf." And, in fact, he said, "That [event] has been credited by the Israeli government as the start of the Abraham Accords. If you want a symbol of what sport really means, there is no better one than that."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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In a true "Cinderella story," 19-year-old Hailey Kops, a religiously observant athlete from West Orange, NJ, is preparing to take on the world's finest ice skaters while proudly representing Israel at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

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Kops and her partner 33-year-old Evgeni Krasnopolski recently qualified for the pairs ice skating competition at the Olympics, which will be held next February. They defied all odds when they finished in the top three at an Olympics qualifier event in Germany, punching their tickets to China, as they had only been training together as skating partners for three months.

In an interview with JNS, Kops said her journey to the Olympics began at age 3, when she first laced up her skates and would march around the ice as her mother Lisa, a champion figure skater and coach, would be leading skating training sessions.

By the time she was six years old, Kops was already waking up at around 5 a.m. in order to practice skating before school. She would then go to school and return to the rink after her classes to get in more practice. A few years later, her talent started drawing attention.

"Once I started competing, I realized that I had a love for performing along with the competition and adrenaline, and at around 11 or 12-years-old one of my coaches [at the time] told me, 'I am going to get you to the Olympics.' And others started saying I had a lot of potential in the sport," Kops said.

At age 13, Israel's Ice Skating Federation invited her to try out for team Israel. The federation happens to hold its year-round training near her New Jersey home, as Israel has limited ice skating facilities.

Out of convenience and her love for Israel, Kops tried out, made the team and shortly thereafter obtained her Israeli citizenship.

"It had always been a dream of mine to skate for Israel. As a Jewish religious girl raised modern Orthodox, I know that Israel is our home. It was always part of my plan to try to skate for Israel," she said.

Skating became such an integral part of her life that Kops was home-schooled throughout high school in order to focus on her passion.

But in 2019, after having achieved success on an international level, Kops – who had suffered several knee injuries and missed out on experiences as a teenager – decided to walk away from the sport as her heart wasn't completely in it.

"I didn't go to high school, and didn't have a normal teenage life, so I decided to hang my skates up. It wasn't fair to my team if I wasn't 'all in' anymore," she said.

Yet after attending a religious seminary in Israel in 2020-2021 for her post-high-school gap year this past June, on her first day home Kops got a call from the head of the Israeli Ice Skating Federation Boris Chait, who said Krasnopolski was in desperate need of a partner in order to attempt to qualify for this third Olympics.

Kops agreed to dust off her skates after two years off the ice and come out of retirement, and despite the extremely short window, the pair managed to qualify, finishing ahead of some of the top skaters in the world, including from powerhouses China and Belarus.

"[Kops and Krasnopolski] made history by qualifying for the Olympics after only training together for three months," Chait told JNS. "Usually, pairs have to be together for years and years. They made it by beating out very capable teams."

Kops said regarding her partner, "I have so much respect for him and he is a super talented skater. The fact that I have the opportunity to skate with a three-time Olympian is amazing in itself."

She added, "We were friends before, so we had this base of friendship when we started skating together. I think it's super important in a partnership when there is mutual respect, it makes it so much easier. And he has helped me so much to prepare since he has so much experience and has been through this before."

This past week, the pair were in Israel for the country's top skating competition before heading back to the U.S. to continue training. In January, they will compete in the European Championships before final preparations for the Olympics.

Another challenge Kops faced throughout her journey is the fact that she is Sabbath observant. As a result, she would walk to the rinks if a competition was on a Friday night and her family would contact local Chabad emissaries to assist with lodging, food or other religious needs.

Kops said that she was forced to balance being in the Orthodox Jewish world and the competitive skating world at the same time. However, while she said that at first this was a very difficult challenge, over the years she has learned to adjust.

She explained, "It's nice for me to feel that I can still be religious and compete. In the past it was very difficult, but now it's normal for me to keep Shabbat, keeping kosher, and it's something I really want to hold on to."

In terms of her expectations at the Olympics, Kops said that a podium finish would be very difficult for a new team, but she will be out there giving it her all.

"My personal goal is to skate clean, get to the finals and try to get a medal," she said. "Every time I get on the ice whether at a small or big competition, I try to do the best that I can."

Chait added, "Only 19 pairs from the whole world made it to the Olympics. Making it to the Olympics is already considered a 'win' and an achievement of a lifetime."

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Kops's mother Lisa along with her father Steven are her biggest fans. They have traveled with her to competitions around the world and were in Germany when the pair qualified for the Olympics.

"I think that every parent wants their children to chase their passion and dreams no matter how big, challenging and potentially unattainable those dreams can actually be," Steven told JNS, noting that Hailey representing Israel "has been the greatest honor for us as a family."

He added, "Two of my three siblings live in Israel and we have a lot of extended family in Israel as well. I don't think there will be a dry eye in the room when Hailey and her fellow Israeli athletes walk out during the opening ceremony carrying the Israeli flag and wearing the Israeli flag on their jackets."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Thirty-nine teams from 23 countries around the world gathered in Israel this week for the International Federation of American Football's (IFAF) 10th Flag Football World Championship, hosted by the American Football in Israel (AFI) organization at the Kraft Family Sports Campus in Jerusalem.

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After three days of intense competition, both the USA men's and women's national teams took home gold medals, each needing comeback wins in the finals to defeat Team Mexico's talented men's and women's squads respectively, who both walked away with the silver.

Team Panama reached the podium with a third-place finish in the men's bracket, as the Austrian women joined them by securing a bronze medal as well.

The top eight finishers in both the men's and women's divisions automatically qualified for the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Ala., featuring the highest level of competition in non-Olympic sports. It will mark the first time that flag football will be featured at that event. The hope is that flag football will become an official sport in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Summer Games.

Unfortunately for the host country, Israel's men's national team, which came into the tournament ranked fifth in the world, finished in ninth place, with the women securing the 12th slot, leaving both teams out of the World Games.

The AFI was relieved that the tournament wasn't canceled at the last minute, as just days before the Israeli government implemented COVID-19 travel restrictions, essentially banning all non-Israeli citizens from entering the country with limited exceptions.

League representatives scrambled behind the scenes lobbying officials in order to get special permission for the more than 800 players, coaches, trainers, referees, media and others to enter Israel, while implementing tight health-safety restrictions throughout the entire tournament.

If that wasn't challenging enough, weather forecasters predicted a torrential wind and rain storm for Jerusalem on the final day of competition, forcing a venue shift from the Kraft Family Campus to Jerusalem's Teddy (Kollek) Stadium just several hours before the medal-round games took place. Fortunately, the rain held off for the most part, and the large stands in the 34,000-seat stadium blocked the intense wind, allowing the games to continue unhampered.

Steve Leibowitz, president of American Football in Israel and the head of the local organizing committee for the tournament, told JNS that hosting an international competition in the midst of a pandemic with all of the paperwork involved and safety measures implemented "was the most difficult project I have ever been involved with."

In regard to the competition itself, Leibowitz said "flag football is a growing sport. The game is only growing stronger around the world, and we in Jerusalem had an opportunity to help make that happen. I can't thank [New England Patriots owner] Robert Kraft enough along with our other generous sponsors."

Kraft, along with his late wife Myra, has philanthropically been a top supporter of the sport in Israel for the past two decades, with the stadium in Jerusalem bearing his family's name.

Public sponsors of the tournament included the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage, the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Jerusalem Development Authority, City of Jerusalem and Ayelet‒Israel's non-Olympic Sports Federation.

'What we pulled off was incredible'

Sheneika Comice, one of the star wide receivers for the champion U.S. national women's team, spoke to JNS on the first day of the competition and said "Israel is a beautiful country. I love the hospitality, and we are really enjoying the competition. Our goal is to win a ticket home, baby!" referring to her team's desire to secure a spot at the World Games, which they did, and handily.

Chris Lankford, who has been the U.S. national women's team head coach for the past three years, told JNS that "it's been a great tournament with great sportsmanship, and an amazing environment – period."

Lankford added that while he didn't get to see as much of the country as he would have liked due to COVID-19 restrictions, "the landscape is beautiful. The air in Jerusalem is so clean; it's great to be able to see the stars." He said that he would "definitely" come back to visit Israel again.

Nausicaa Dell'Orto, the captain of the Italian women's national team whose team finished in eighth place qualifying for the World Games, told JNS "I'm grateful to be a part of this team. We're always improving, and we're going to make it up that ladder."

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Danny Gewirtz, who co-founded the AFI with Leibowitz and serves as its special projects manager, was part of the broadcasting crew calling the games live to tens of thousands of viewers on YouTube.

He discussed Israel's performance at the tournament telling JNS that men's team coach "Kenny Zwiebel did a great job with a combination of rookies and veteran players, and had a great first day finishing 3-0, but had two difficult losses on day two preventing them from moving on. It was a valiant effort."

Gewirtz said "the women's team was completely overhauled over the past six months, and head coach Elissa Sagoskin did a great job with a group of many new players. They should be proud of themselves for the way they competed in this tournament."

In regard to the event in general, he pointed out that "what we pulled off was incredible. The AFI staff really joined together to provide a great experience for all these international flag football players."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Lenny Goldberg, who immigrated to Israel back in the 1980s from New York, runs a small business out of his community of Tapuach in Samaria. Goldberg's company, called "Luna-na," caters to birthday parties, summer camps and other special events for children and adults alike throughout the country by providing a variety of inflatable bouncy castles and other similar entertainment play devices for his clients.

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But running a small business in Judea and Samaria can be difficult with all of the politics involved in being a Jewish company based on the other side of the "Green Line." Whether Israelis themselves or those from countries abroad, some make it a point not to patronize businesses in the area.

One organization founded within the past year, however, has stepped up in order to provide the Jewish residents of Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley with the opportunities and tools to grow and thrive.

Known as "Bikurim: The Economic Zionist Initiative," its mission is to develop and deliver technology tools required for family-run small businesses to widen their consumer markets and attract more customers.

In Goldberg's case, Bikurim subsidized the cost for Luna-na's newly polished website to attract the public to the company's party-rental services. Bikurim now manages their website as well.

'It's simple Zionism to help Jews make a living'

Bikurim was founded last December by Gedaliah Blum, an entrepreneur and Israel advocate who lives with his family in the Binyamin (southern Samaria) community of Eli.

Blum told JNS that Bikurim is an apolitical organization "aimed to strengthen and solidify the Jewish people's place within Judea and Samaria."

He explained, "We are focused on building up the economy and integration of Judea and Samaria throughout Israel and internationally. Economic strength has been a leading force for our growth and leverage in the world."

"We are looking to take that initiative, and bypass the political discussions and responses to negative policies against us," said Blum.

While he recognizes the importance of hasbara – defending Israel through public diplomacy – he also pointed out that "instead of reacting, we are proactive. They say that politics is downstream of culture. If your first point of reference is to discuss politics, they have already formulated their politics through their culture, whether through media, movies, travel, etc."

He added that "part of our economic Zionist initiative is to focus on culture – on the positivity of what Judea and Samaria has to offer to the world; how integral the region is to our people and our heritage and for those who subscribe to Judeo-Christian values. Without it, essentially, is like someone walking around without a heart."

In addition to subsidizing the cost of web design, along with eCommerce platforms for small businesses, the organization helps fund marketing materials in order to create self-sustainability and independence on behalf of its clients. It also works to promote businesses through an online business directory focused on companies in Judea and Samaria, and is in the process of launching a new tourism booking site called "Go East" that will feature lodging options, restaurants and other entertainment experiences throughout the region.

Blum said the Bikurim initiative has taken off, with a broad range of supporters from countries around the world donating to the cause on a monthly basis.

For example, Blum said a donor from an African country who is a devout Christian sends in $2 a month because he wants to be part of "the restoration of the Jewish people in their homeland." And at the same time, he has a very wealthy hedge-fund manager from the United States who donated a significant amount of money towards the project.

Goldberg was grateful for Bikurim's help on his website, telling JNS "it's simple Zionism to help Jews make a living and build the land, especially in Judea and Samaria."

"Making a living is so important, that's what keeps us here," he added. "The economy rolling is like the oil in the wheels, there nothing more important to help businesses in Judea and Samaria; it's a big mitzvah."

'Maintain continuity in this area'

Alisa Chessler, a single mother from Palm Beach, Fla., told JNS that when she learned about Bikurim's mission through social media, "it touched my heart." She started off as a monthly donor to the organization, but after connecting with Blum decided that she wanted to play a bigger role in helping Bikurim thrive.

Dedicating her time as a volunteer, Chessler is helping to create awareness about the organization in the United States and is even assisting in establishing a US board of directors for the organization.

She insisted that "economic Zionism is the future, and I sincerely believe that future generations need to be involved now."

Chessler said "80% of the Torah takes place in Judea and Samaria. It is the heartland and the homeland of the Jewish people. It is important to ensure that we maintain continuity in this area."

"Small businesses are what allows people who work from their home communities in that part of the country to stay there and gives them the chance to thrive," she said. "I'm honored to be able to help families living where it is not always the easiest environment."

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Blum expounded on that idea, saying that "without Judea and Samaria, we don't have legitimacy in Tel Aviv or Beersheva historically because the center of Jewish life before we were exiled [by the Romans] was Judea and Samaria. Whether you are on the far-left or far-right, we all speak about returning to our land after 2,000 years of exile."

"This is the land," he said. "We need to invest in it and ensure families can support themselves, and that small businesses are self-sustainable.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Aryeh Lightstone, former special envoy for economic normalization for the Abraham Accords and chief of staff to former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, believes that the Biden administration needs to focus on bolstering Israel's efforts for regional peace and not rewarding the Palestinian Authority by re-opening the US consulate in Jerusalem.

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"Biden made the promise to open the consulate, which seems to be against US law under the [1995] Jerusalem Embassy Act and also against Israeli and international law. I will let the lawyers and politicians fight this out. I'm a civilian. But I think the narrative matters," he told JNS as part of a special briefing Nov. 18 hosted by American Friends of Likud.

He explained, "Israel has now extended its hand in peace to five different countries in the past 12 months. Every one of those countries from Sudan to Kosovo to Morocco to the UAE to Bahrain have only changed their relationship with one country: Israel."

"To me," he said, "if I was asking my Republican or Democratic senator or congressman, mayor or dogcatcher to speak to the Biden administration, I would ask, 'Why aren't we rewarding the absolutely fantastic efforts by the Israeli people and government in pursuing peace? What are we pushing [opening a consulate] for? You have people [in Israel] who are pursuing peace and you have people [in the PA] who are still paying people to kill Jews.' I think everyone would agree that we should reward the peacemakers and we should not reward those people who are anti-peace at this moment, with the various nefarious laws that the PA has."

During the event – "Embassy (and a Consulate?) in Jerusalem, Israel's Undivided Capital" – Lightstone argued that the most significant accomplishment for Israel under former US President Donald Trump was "not the recognition of Jerusalem, but rather sovereignty."

"The United States didn't make Jerusalem the capital of Israel," he said. "Israel made it the capital. The United States just corrected its own wrong by recognizing that."

Sovereignty, he explained, means telling Israel, "You are an adult country, our number one ally in the region if not the world. Don't rely on us to tell you what to do. You tell us what you want to do and ask our opinion, but make the decisions in the best interests of the State of Israel."

However, Lightstone said that "it did not take very long for the current administration to try and put Israel back into a box."

'It is difficult to understand where the win is'

Regarding the Biden administration's desire to rejoin the Iranian nuclear deal, Lightstone said, "The administration has not learned the lesson of Afghanistan. It is difficult to understand where the win is with any type of deal with Iran. I don't understand why there is this pursuit other than to try and prove a failed policy of the past correct today. I can't intellectualize something totally irrational."

The US along with other world powers and Iran will convene on Nov. 29 in Vienna to renew negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program. The latest round of negotiations is the first under Iran's new president, Ebrahim Raisi.

On the subject of Israel's normalization deals with Arab states, Lightstone noted that the Biden administration initially refused to utter the phrase "Abraham Accords."

"This was not only childish and foolish, it was a cause of tremendous disappointment and embarrassment for millions of intelligent, well-meaning people – thoughtful voters, who voted for President Biden," he said.

He went on to tell the group that "from a US perspective, I want to see a transformed Middle East. The best way to slow down the progress of the Abraham Accords is to put Israel in a corner on the consulate issue, which does nothing other than appease a very small portion of President Biden's support group of the progressive left."

Lightstone added, "The Abraham Accords countries are not asking for this. Egypt and Jordan are not. The PA leadership – who still pays people to kill Jews – why their opinion matters at all is beyond common sense."

He described the forces for or against the advancement of the Abraham Accords as "the great competition for what Islam is going to look like over the next 50 years."

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Now that he is no longer Friedman's chief of staff, Lightstone said that he is working in the business sector, but also recently helped put together a documentary series on the Abraham Accords through the former ambassador's new organization, "The Friedman Center for Peace through Strength." He said that the US "should be supporting and promoting the UAE, Bahrain and Moroccan view of leadership as opposed to some of the nefarious characters in the area."

"We need to fight against the Iran deal, consulate and BDS with everything we have," he said, "but at the same time, we have to be fully excited and supportive of the Abraham Accords."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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About 750 boisterous Jewish supporters of the Republican party gathered in Las Vegas this past weekend to hear from potential Republican presidential candidates, along with current elected officials, with the focus on the GOP's goal of taking back the Congress and Senate in the 2022 midterms and the White House in 2024.

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Speaker after speaker at this year's Republican Jewish Coalition conference accused the Biden administration of failing on many issues including damaging the strong US-Israel ties developed under the Trump administration and showing weakness against Iran as it pursues nuclear weapons.

Participants exuded optimism about the upcoming 2022 midterm elections following the successes and gains of the Republican party in state elections last Tuesday, especially the victory of the newly elected GOP governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin.

In a pre-taped message, former US President Donald Trump said that "no president has ever been a better friend to the State of Israel, and I am proud of that."

He went on to list his administration's accomplishments, including moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Trump slammed the Biden administration for showing weakness against Iran and putting the Jewish state in danger. Trump said that US President Joe Biden's "unbelievable weakness toward the Iranian regime directly provoked a missile attack on Israeli civilians," referring to the thousands of rockets fired by Hamas at Israel last May.

"Biden shamefully criticized and slandered the nation of Israel even when it was under attack," he said.

While Trump loomed large over the conference and has yet to signal if he will run for president in 2024, several other speakers included presidential hopefuls, making their pitches to a friendly audience.

Former Vice President Mike Pence told the crowd: "Make no mistake about it, President Joe Biden has turned his back on Israel," citing the current administration's desire to rejoin the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that the Trump administration pulled out of in May 2018.

The former vice president also took Biden to task for planning to open a consulate for the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem, a move he said was illegal, by establishing a diplomatic mission for a foreign entity in Israel's capital. Pence called on Congress to intervene in order to prevent the move.

'We can no longer talk about the past'

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley received an exceptionally warm welcome as she reinforced her support for Israel, citing how under her watch the Trump administration pulled out of the United Nation's Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for unfairly singling out and condemning Israel. Under the Biden administration, the United States recently rejoined the UNHRC.

Haley also expressed her admiration for the pro-Israel Washington lobby AIPAC but encouraged the body to distance itself from politicians who support policies harmful to Israel.

"I have spoken at AIPAC events many times, and they've always been unbelievably supportive to me," she said. "If a politician supports the disastrous Iran deal, opposes moving the American embassy to Jerusalem and is embraced by antisemites who support the BDS movement, then your pro-Israel group should have absolutely nothing to do with him."

In addition to focusing on Israel, many of the speakers criticized the Biden administration on domestic issues, including education, critical race theory, personal liberties and freedoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other speakers included Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Israel's former Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer.

Christie, a two-term governor from New Jersey who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2016, urged Republicans to look forward and not back.

"We can no longer talk about the past and past elections," said Christie. "No matter where you stand on that [2020] election – no matter where you stand, it is over. Every minute that we spend talking about 2020, all the wasted time that we're there, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are laying ruin to this country."

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DeSantis, who has gained national popularity and is viewed as being a possible Republican frontrunner for the 2024 presidential election, touted his achievements in office.

"In the state of Florida, I am walking that line. I am standing my ground. I'm not backing down," he said. "We've done an awful lot in the state of Florida. We have a lot more to do, and I have only begun to fight."

The Florida governor, who is up for re-election next year, took aim at the Biden administration over its vaccine and other COVID-related mandates as well as border policies. At the same time, he pointed fingers at the far-left in the Democratic Party, saying that "the woke are antisemitic. They are anti-Israel."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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With Jews around the world set to begin the High Holiday season, the small Jewish communities in six Gulf states, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are planning to take part publicly in some of the traditional holiday rituals for the first time in decades.

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This newfound openness is a direct result of the Abraham Accords signed a year ago between Israel, the United States, the UAE and Bahrain, followed by Sudan and Morocco.

Ebrahim D. Nonoo, leader of Bahrain's Jewish community and president of the newly founded Association of Gulf Jewish communities (AGJC), whose goal is to develop Jewish life in the region, told JNS that "the best thing about Rosh Hashanah this year is that we are able now to advertise it. We are saying 'Happy New Year' to our Bahraini friends and government officials. It's beautifully really out in the open now."

He added "for us, in Bahrain, it's about reciting the prayers, which we will be doing at home. But at the same time, we are sending packages of honey, pomegranates and other traditional Rosh Hashanah items to [Muslim] Bahraini families so they can join us in experiencing Rosh Hashanah."

Nonoo grew up in Bahrain after his grandfather moved to the country from Iraq seeking business opportunities and succeeding in establishing a life there for his family. As such, Nanoo is seeking to expand avenues of Jewish growth for others.

He is hopeful that the community will soon have a full-time rabbi and make greater use of the local synagogue in the city of Manama, Bahrain's capital. He currently tries to conduct services there on a weekly basis.

He said that since the signing of the Abraham Accords "government officials have become more open, and we are getting a lot more visitors, which is a fantastic sign. At the same time, more local Jews" – he estimates 50 community members – "are coming to the synagogue and want to see what's going on."

Nonoo said while fewer Jews reside in the other Gulf countries, the AGJC was formed to support them with their needs to participate in the rituals on Rosh Hashanah and maintain a Jewish lifestyle throughout the year.

Michael (last name withheld upon request) is also an AGJC board member who represents around 10 Jews living in Oman. He owns an engineering consultancy company and is a development strategist, having arrived in the country in 2008 from Vancouver, Canada. He decided to stay there permanently after stints working throughout the Gulf since the 1970s.

He told JNS that he has always felt safe there – safer than in Vancouver. He said he believes that any anti-Jewish sentiment exists because of ignorance as a result of social media and other media-related propaganda.

With few practicing Jews in Oman, coupled with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, he said that his community will be celebrating this Rosh Hashanah in their homes. Michael personally will be celebrating with his son, who flew in from abroad. He plans to fly to Dubai for Yom Kippur.

Michael, who claims to make "the best hummus in all of Oman," said it's his goal to reopen the country's only Jewish cemetery for use when the need arises and has discussed the issue with the relevant officials.

The largest Rosh Hashanah event in the region is slated to take place in Dubai, the UAE city that boasts the largest Jewish community, with an estimated 500 practicing Jews.

'This is going to be an amazing experience'

Alex Peterfreund, a co-founder of Dubai's Jewish community, its cantor and an AGJC board member who arrived in the country from Antwerp, Belgium, in 2014, told JNS that the community will be hosting services and kosher meals for several hundred guests in a local hotel under the leadership of Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie, the Jewish Council of the Emirates' (JCE) senior and resident rabbi.

Similar to comments made by Nonoo, Peterfreund said "the biggest difference between this Rosh Hashanah and in previous years is that we were a group of Jews coming together in a discreet way, and now it's much more open and people feel more comfortable."

He added that "in the past, some people were insecure and hesitant, and that is much less the case this year."

Peterfreund said another big difference is that this year, local Muslims from Dubai would be joining the group to take part in the festivities.

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"The main focus is the interaction between Muslims and Jews," he emphasized. "This is going to be amazing. When you sit and explain why you eat the head of a fish, pomegranate, apples and honey – what we have been doing for thousands of years – and you feel how the locals are curious and eager to interact with us, this is going to be an amazing experience."

He noted that "the same way that we have learned about Ramadan and their traditions, they will be a full part of our festivities.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Three Israeli documentary filmmakers arrived home safely from Nigeria at the end of last week, after what they described as 20 "hellish days" detained under inhumane conditions by the government's Department of State Services (DSS) security agency.

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Rudy Rochman, David Benaym and Noam Leibman had set off for the African country as part of their "We Were Never Lost" documentary project aimed at telling the stories of disconnected and lesser-known Jewish communities around the world.

However, after several days of filming members of the Jewish Igbo people in the southeastern city of Ogidi – they consider themselves to be descendants of the biblical tribe of Gad – a group of heavily armed and masked DSS agents forcibly took the three into custody on July 9, seizing their passports and cell phones, and taking them in for questioning.

The agents said the matter would take about 15 minutes. It wound up turning into 20 days of imprisonment.

Rochman, a Jewish-rights activist with several hundred thousand followers on social media who came up with the idea for the documentary and was serving at its producer and host, said that local bloggers had put the group in danger by publishing articles erroneously claiming that the filmmakers were political or security figures, or perhaps even Mossad agents who arrived from Israel in order to help the Biafra separatist movement take on the Nigerian government.

In the late 1960s, Nigeria and a secessionist state called the Republic of Biafra, which had declared its independence, fought a bloody nearly three-year civil war in which Biafra (supported by Israel at the time) lost an estimated 2 million civilians – mainly due to starvation as a result of a Nigerian blockade – along with 100,000 soldiers. Biafra lost the war, and the area was reabsorbed into Nigeria.

In recent years, tensions became high again between the two sides with the founding of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) separatist movement led by political activist Nnamdi Kanu. Rochman explained that Kanu recently returned to his Igbo Jewish roots.

On June 27, Kanu was arrested by Interpol in the Czech Republic and extradited to a Nigerian prison for trial, accused of starting an anti-government uprising.

Despite a public statement on the "We Were Never Lost" platform explaining that their presence in the country was purely cultural, the blog posts seemed to draw a connection between Kanu, the activities of the separatists and the arrival of the filmmakers.

"Our goal was to document the lives of the Jewish community and to share their stories, struggles, experiences, aspirations and to bring their story to the world," said Rochman, emphasizing that they were not on a political trip.

However, he said, the Nigerian government "sees a blur of everyone who is Igbo and connects them to Judaism, Israel and to the separatist movement."

'I wanted to keep it at the diplomat level'

On their first day in detainment, Rochman said the group was placed in a cell at the local area police station where the interrogations began. The day they were taken in, a Friday, led into Shabbat, and the filmmakers begged for some grapes, which they used to recite Kiddush (the Shabbat blessing over wine), and some crackers, which they used as bread for their Shabbat "meal."

Early on Saturday morning, the men recount being led out of the prison at gunpoint and placed into a van, where they were taken on a nine-hour drive to the capital city of Abuja. Despite being told that their passports and phones would be returned to them upon arrival, and that the Israeli ambassador was waiting for them in the capital, it wasn't the case.

Instead, Rochman said that the gunmen forced them to take off their rings and shoes, and "they threw us into a circular cage, where you could walk maybe three or four steps in each direction. It was pitch-black and reeked of urine, with bottles of urine still there from former prisoners. There were cockroaches and mosquitoes, and we slept on the floor. I used my jacket as a pillow. It was like that for an entire week."

For the first six days, the group survived on bread and crackers, without showering and with daily interrogations, thinking that perhaps this would be their reality for years.

On the sixth day, Benaym, the project's field producer, who suffers from immunosuppression due to a past illness and was unable to take his daily medication since it was in their hotel, wasn't feeling well and was taken to a local hospital.

He said that "leaving my friends behind was extremely hard. I kept telling them, 'I'm not going; I'm not leaving you guys.' But they told me, 'You have to – you have to talk to our families and the ambassadors to make sure everybody knows. And they said you have to be healthy, so you have to go.' "

After treatment at the hospital, Benaym, who also holds French citizenship, was released to the French Embassy on the condition that he be transported back to the police station daily for interrogation.

While under the custody of the French, Benaym was able to use the opportunity to work towards the release of his colleagues and friends. He opened a line of communication with the three families and the various Israeli, French and US embassies/consulates – Rochman and Leibman are dual Israeli-US citizens and Rochman is also a French citizen – to coordinate a strategy.

As a veteran freelance journalist, Benaym encouraged all parties to refrain from providing the media details of the ordeal. He explained that he didn't want further misinformation spread, which would only jeopardize their release. "I wanted to keep it at the diplomat level," he said.

Back in prison, Rochman and Leibman were allowed kosher-food delivery from the local Chabad House once a day, even though Rochman said that on several occasions, food was withheld. On the seventh day, they were given a bucket of water to pour over their heads and finally given a change of clothes.

The two, however, became more nervous after the interrogations stopped on day nine.

Describing the experience, Leibman, who was the film's director, said, "I was definitely losing my mind at times – weeks in a blank room with no phone, computer, books, magazines or anything to do. Rudy definitely helped me keep my composure. That man can handle any situation thrown at him."

On the 10th day, they were moved to a different "cage" with other prisoners, who Rochman says were working as informants for the authorities in an attempt to extract information from the pair. At this point, they were allowed visits from Israeli Deputy Ambassador Yotam Kreiman and Rachel Washington, a representative of Deputy Chief of Mission Kathleen FitzGibbon of the US Consulate General in Nigeria.

Over the next 10 days, the young men remained in custody under similar horrible conditions as the relevant bodies worked to secure their freedom. On day 20, the three were transported to the airport, and after their airline tickets were scanned, were given back their passports and cell phones, and put on a flight to Turkey, where they took a connecting flight back home to Israel.

'We won't be able to create the episode we envisioned'

Rochman believes that the main forces who helped secure their release were his parents, who he said "managed to get everyone involved from businessmen to politicians on the Israeli, American and French side, going up to [Emmanuel] Macron, the president of France, up to US Secretary of State [Antony] Blinken, along with Israeli businesspeople in Africa."

He added: "Everyone cared. It was clear people were trying to do things even when we felt helpless."

A day after arriving in Israel, the group paid a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem to thank God for their safe return.

Rochman said, "For us, it's difficult to sleep at night. For me, personally, from the overstimulation – where you go from seeing nothing, doing nothing for weeks in a very dark place, and all of a sudden there is light, you can breathe outside air – it's almost if you are on an adrenaline rush at night, and it's hard for us to sleep."

Leibman acknowledged that since they were detained after only several days of filming, they won't be able to produce the full documentary as they had hoped. "After being forced to leave Nigeria, we won't be able to create the episode we envisioned, but I think this incident has brought a much-needed wave of interest and attention to the Igbos from world Jewry," he said.

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Nevertheless, the filmmakers insist that they will continue their "We Were Never Lost" project. According to Rochman, they will start filming in other countries shortly, taking added precautions and aiming to work completely under the radar.

"I'm still as motivated, and even more so about the documentary," said Benaym. "As a journalist, we never want to become the story; it's not our goal. The second that we became the story, we knew that something was going to go wrong. So our goal is to put the focus back on these communities, and make sure that we never become the story again."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post How 3 Israeli filmmakers wound up becoming the story in Africa appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan is back on his home turf, leading 16 of his colleagues – ambassadors to the United States and the United Nations – from countries around the world, along with some of their staffers, on a week-long fact-finding mission throughout the Jewish state.

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The diplomats hail from Australia, Argentina, Bhutan, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Hungary, Kenya, Guatemala, Ukraine and Tonga. The trip, sponsored by the American Zionist Movement (AZM), includes representatives from the International March of the Living and B'nai B'rith International.

The delegation is visiting communities along Israel's northern and southern borders to see Hamas and Hezbollah terror tunnels, as well as to receive security briefings. The ambassadors will also visit historical and religious sites and high-tech centers, and meet with senior Israel government officials. On Tisha B'Av earlier this week, they participated in a special Holocaust Remembrance program at Yad Vashem, arranged by the International March of the Living.

Erdan said he decided to arrange the trip in order to set the record straight on Israel's 11-day conflict with Hamas in Gaza in May.

"After Operation Guardian of the Walls, I decided to bring a group of UN ambassadors, and also ambassadors from Washington who represent their countries in the United States, to experience and learn firsthand about our security challenges," he said.

Erdan said another goal of the trip was to highlight the connection between the Jewish people and the State of Israel, going back thousands of years because that union "is being challenged every day at the UN and on the world stage. I'm sure that after visiting here and learning so much, they will support Israel's cause much more in the international arena."

He expressed confidence that the mission will be successful, saying that "Israel sells itself. Whenever you experience Israel, you learn the complexities, you understand the deep roots and the history, you go back someone different – that's the experience, and we know it."

'I can always learn something new'

AZM President Deborah Isaac said, "We hope that the participants come away from the experience with a deeper and more realistic perspective of Israel and the threats it faces, as well as an appreciation for the rich and diverse culture of the State of Israel. The American Zionist Movement looks forward to forging new and lasting friendships with the members of the delegation and their host countries."

Hungary's Ambassador to the United States, Szabolcs Ferenc Takács, told Jewish News Syndicate that while this wasn't his first trip to Israel, he was looking forward to discovering more. "I've been here many times, but I can always learn something new, and I very much appreciate those who organized this trip," he said.

Takács added, "I've been working with the Jewish community back in Hungary and also with the State of Israel for many years. And, of course, my country's political ties with Israel are very strong. … It's quite natural for me to be on this diplomatic trip because everything that we are doing with Israel and for Israel brings me here; we admire [its] achievements."

Doma Tshering, the Kingdom of Bhutan's Ambassador to the United Nations, told JNS that she was very excited to be in Israel for the first time: "We have had a wonderful itinerary so far. It's been extremely fulfilling and absolutely enriching."

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After touring Jerusalem's ancient City of David archeology park just minutes before the press briefing, Tshering noted that the visit was "really quite amazing. To think of all the generations that lived in the area before us and how they progressed is quite breathtaking."

Rachel Moore, director of communications and Public Affairs for Aish HaTorah, who ran the briefing and then hosted the delegation for lunch, told JNS that "Ambassador Erdan has shown consistent friendship and support to Aish for many years through several of his government positions. It's an honor and privilege to have his friendship and to be able to host his important delegation. We look forward to continuing to work together with him on fighting the hate directed at Israel and the Jewish people."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Gila Hammer, the 18-year-old daughter of Rabbi Shalom Hammer, an educator in Israel for the past 30 years, died by suicide on Dec. 5, 2019.

Hammer told Jewish News Syndicate that following the shiva, the traditional seven-day mourning period, "I decided the only way that I could make sense of my loss, our loss – the only way that I could possibly continue and persist to exist – would be commemorating her by helping other people who are suffering, and hopefully, making an impact and saving their lives so that they should never have to experience or feel the tragic loss that we do every single minute of every day."

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A month after Gila's passing, Hammer, a resident of Beit Shemesh, was approached by Stuart Katz, the owner of a travel business whose own daughter was struggling with mental-health issues, about getting involved in a new initiative that he was introducing in Israel to help those who are at the onset of crisis.

Katz had founded the Israeli branch of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), an Australian-based organization that since 2000 has been training individuals in countries worldwide to serve as "mental-health first-aiders" – those able to deliver initial help to people identified as grappling with certain issues until appropriate professional support is received or until the crisis resolves.

Hammer underwent the necessary training to become a certified mental health first responder as well as a trainer. On July 4, Hammer, along with instructor Ruchie Bromberg, launched the first-ever, 14-hour MHFA Israel Youth Course in Beit Shemesh with 17 participants to provide the tools they will need to become certified mental-health first-responders and help teens in crisis.

"The idea of the course is not to diagnose and not to offer therapy; it's a first-aid course for responders," said Hammer. "Just like someone from Hatzalah or [Magen David Adom] who arrives to help someone who is physically sick or in danger of losing their life knows how to respond, the same response [would apply] with regard to mental health."

Participants are taught how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental health problems in young people, as well as learn effective initial help strategies and how to guide a young person towards appropriate treatment.

Hammer noted that mental-health emergencies are more challenging to treat because such issues are simply more difficult to identify and more complex by nature.

He added that as a first responder, the goal when identifying teens who are suffering is to "bring them back to be grounded, more at ease, and then they would be willing to remind themselves that 'I do have reason to live, I do have options that I can explore,' and bring them to the next stage, which would be therapy or a hospital."

Hammer explained that the course is geared for anyone who works with youth under the age of 18, including educators, youth directors, guidance counselors and parents (the subset he feels are most in need of the course), along with mental-health professionals themselves.

Fourteen of the 17 participants who started the course on Sunday are from the Lema'an Achai organization, which fights poverty in Israel, while the other three joined independently.

'An army of people who can help save lives'

Avi Tenenbaum, an Israel-based mental-health counselor who since 2010 has been running a private practice specializing in addiction treatment and acute trauma that occurs following a catastrophic event, also served as the former director of the Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit at United Hatzalah of Israel. He has trained thousands of first responders in psychological first aid. (The United Hatzalah Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit are currently in Surfside, Fla., working with survivors and family members of the recent condominium collapse.)

As a result of Tenenbaum's expertise in providing aid for families coping in the wake of large-scale disasters, he was called to the scene in the immediate aftermath of the Tree of Life Synagogue mass shooting in Pittsburgh in 2018, Hurricane Harvey that ravaged Texas and Louisiana in 2017, the 2016 Haifa fires and many other tragedies.

Tenenbaum, who was contacted by Katz to serve as a consultant and help design the curriculum for the MHFA Youth Course, told JNS that he is a big believer that average individuals, with a minimum amount of training, can play a huge role in saving lives.

"In the addiction field, one of the biggest resources is the 12-step groups, like Alcoholics Anonymous. What it essentially is," he explained, "is a peer support group – a grassroots group where you are able to give very minimal training to people, and then they go and help each other with their own life experience and their own knowledge, and are able to help one another in a tremendous way."

Tenenbaum discovered "that in the addiction field, and then in the trauma field with the unit that I ran as well, we were able to take regular people, first responders, without psychology degrees and give them a basic course, and basic tips and tools in crisis intervention, and with minimal training, they made enormous differences in people's lives during crises."

He said, "You can tap into this enormous resource of regular people who are already in the community and who know people, including the teens who are suffering. Maybe it's their gym teacher or mini-market guy that sells milk, but they are there already. Just give them the tools to help others. All of a sudden, you have an army of people who can help save lives."

In terms of the current picture of teens suffering from mental health issues in Israel, Tenenbaum said that, unfortunately, statistics from government agencies on the topic, specifically from the Health Ministry, are not available. "Whether teens or adults, I found that the statistics in Israel are greatly lacking in a shocking way. Israel is a leader in the world in many areas, but when it came to the statistics about mental health among teens, it was so lacking."

He added, "You don't have the information. We don't even know our own situation. You have this very imperfect picture of how bad it is. And it's worse than it is. It's not that we have zero information, but it's very incomplete."

'Pay more attention to our teens'

Tenenbaum said that when he needs information or statistics, he often turns to the research commissioned independently by Headspace, an organization in Israel with centers in Jerusalem and Bat Yam, and which offers walk-in mental-health services for Israeli teens.

According to research per their website, more than 80% of adolescent mental disorders are not diagnosed or treated properly. In Israel, only 34% of adolescents aged 14 to 17 years suffering from mental disorders seek professional help due to inaccessible services, lack of knowledge and the stigma attached to seeking treatment.

Tenenbaum described Headspace's statistics as being "alarming."

"We hope Israel will be able to pull more information to get a clearer picture of the situation," he said." That will create the urgency to pay more attention to our teens, to allocate more resources to do whatever it takes to help them."

Katz told JNS that he got involved in the mental-health field when his daughter self-diagnosed herself three years ago.

"One thing I realized pretty fast, and which was verified by the professionals, is that the biggest obstacle is the stigma surrounding mental health issues," he acknowledged. "Mental health is a taboo topic until you come face to face with it. What people don't realize is that 50% of the population at some point of their lives will face mental-health issues head-on. Tragically, people don't realize it even when they are facing it."

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It is for those reasons that Katz not only became certified as a first responder, taking the course in the United States but became certified as a trainer as well. There are currently only five Israelis (including Katz and Tenenbaum) who can train the trainers and 12 individuals (including Hammer) who can teach the course.

Katz said that for the past two years, he has been advocating for the MHFA youth courses in Israel and for the past 10 months has been building the foundation, leading to this week's initial course.

"If someone is not literally bleeding from their brain, but in pain, something is wrong, and we have to be able to know how to assist them," he said. "We like to deal with this in non-crisis situations, and we don't want them to become crisis situations, just like with any type of physical issue."

He said he hopes that the number of those who achieve certification will "multiply like rabbits," so as to increase the chances of potentially saving lives.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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