The Harvard College Palestine Solidarity Committee ended its annual Israeli Apartheid Week, which included a roster of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic speakers and programs.

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Programs, held from April 26-30 virtually this year, included webinars titled "Healthcare Injustices in Palestine and the COVID-19 Pandemic," and "Divestment as a Historical Tool for Justice," which was a discussion with tenured Harvard Professor Cornel West, a supporter of BDS, and BDS movement co-founder Omar Barghouti.

Featured panelists included Swarthmore College associate professor and BDS advocate Sa'ed A. Atshan, and Palestinian feminist scholar and activist Yamila Hussein-Shannan, who has claimed that Palestinian men are "forced to parade naked in the streets" by Israeli soldiers and citizens and blamed the oppression of Palestinian women on Israel's "occupation." Another featured panelist was Sumaya Awad, who has expressed support for violent protesters in Israel and promoted hatred against the Jewish state, according to Canary Mission.

A number of student organizations co-sponsored the week's events, including Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine and Jewish Coalition for Peace, the school's newspaper The Harvard Crimson reported.

Gilead Ini, a senior research analyst at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), told JNS he is not surprised that "such discriminatory, anti-Jewish programming was brought to campus."

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After all, he said, it wasn't long ago that the same group hosted a program to defend Rasmea Odeh, who murdered two Israelis while working for a terrorist organization dedicated to eliminating Israel. "It is an end goal that's shared by Apartheid Week, and apparently by the Palestine Solidarity Committee," said Ini.

He added that "Apartheid Week is an annual ritual of anti-Israel propaganda on college campuses that is meant, ironically enough, to convince students that [South African anti-apartheid leader] Nelson Mandela was wrong. However, Mandela openly recognized 'the legitimacy of Zionism as a Jewish nationalism,' and was forceful in supporting Israel's right to exist."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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An e-commerce platform has continued to sell merchandise that promotes racism, antisemitism and white supremacy after being asked to remove the items from its website.

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GearBubble, a Las Vegas-based e-commerce platform that allows businesses to sell products online, has been endorsed by "Shark Tank" investor and entrepreneur Kevin O'Leary, NFL legend Terrell Owens and entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel, among other celebrity figures.

The website currently has available for sale various mugs, pillowcases and apparel that feature Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, the Nazi "death's head" symbol, swastikas, "Heil Hitler" insignias, the neo-Nazi black sun and white-power symbols, as well as other neo-Nazi and fascist symbols.

One T-shirt has an image of "baby Hitler" while another has the face of US President Joe Biden slightly morphed to resemble the Nazi leader. Other items feature quotes from Hitler and many different types of merchandise featuring a fictional character called "Moon Man," which has been appropriated by white supremacists and favored by the alt-right since the 2000s, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a nonpartisan advocacy organization that was the first to notice the antisemitic and racist items, wrote a letter to GearBubble CEO Donald Wilson on Feb. 4, informing him of the merchandise and asking GearBubble to suspend the accounts that posted the objects.

In the letter, CEP noted that the items violate Gearbubble's terms and conditions, which state that nothing can be posted on the website that is "false, defamatory, misrepresenting, infringes on any other entity's intellectual property or would interfere with or restrict any other user from using the site. This includes, but is not limited to, posting anything unlawful, obscene, libelous, indecent, invasive of privacy, intellectual property infringement or anything that would cause the potential for civil liability or criminal charges."

More than two months later, CEP still has not received any response from GearBubble. The items remain listed online.

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"Antisemitism continues to be a pervasive threat, and T-shirts and coffee mugs that feature neo-Nazi symbols and Hitler icons make this danger clear," CEP executive director David Ibsen told JNS. "By allowing these materials to remain for sale on its site, GearBubble allows for the spread of antisemitism and helps those who promote it to profit from such hateful ideologies. If GearBubble was truly committed to upholding its own guidelines, it should permanently suspend the relevant accounts with immediate effect and correct the clear and obvious flaws in its reporting system that have allowed these items to remain available for sale."

GearBubble did not respond to a request for comment on the issue.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan reflected on 2020 and how "Israel's future looks brighter than ever" in his address on Sunday night at the Zionist Organization of America's Virtual Superstar Gala.

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Erdan, also Israel's incoming ambassador to the United States, received the ZOA's Woo Kai–Sheng Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Diplomacy. In his acceptance speech, he said that while this past year "supplied a fair amount of hate, it also delivered a fair amount of peace."

He noted that the signing of the Abraham Accords in September "transformed the region" and has resulted in "a flurry of cooperation on a myriad of levels, but there has also been a shift in the way the [countries] view one another and their place within the region."

"Together, we have started to build a brighter future," said Erdan. "For years, the Palestinians held the interests of the Arab world hostage. Arab countries were forbidden from recognizing Israel's existence or having relations with us unless we surrender to outrageous Palestinian demands. The Abraham Accords shattered that paradigm."

He added that perhaps Iran should be thanked for inspiring "this newfound bond" between Israel and Arab countries.

"By continuing to spread its dangerous ideology, the ayatollah regime has united the moderate forces in the Middle East. Today, we stand together in confronting the murderous intentions of the world's No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism. When Israel and Arab countries unite on any issue, then the world should start listening."

Erdan briefly addressed this year's deadly coronavirus pandemic, adding that the disease of anti-Semitism reaches much further. "It has existed for as long as the Jewish people has existed, and unless we do more to fight against it, it will stay with us for generations to come," he said, vowing that fighting anti-Semitism will be among his "top priorities."

The virtual event featured an array of honorees and speakers, including US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman; author and law professor Alan Dershowitz; rapper and actor Ice Cube, who reiterated his stance against anti-Semitism; and Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight, who compared US President-elect Joe Biden and leftism to communism and socialism during his speech.

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Friedman, upon receiving the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Defender of Israel Award, talked about how "it's just not enough to be pro-Israel. One must be pro-Zionist." He named US President Donald Trump the "most pro-Zionist president to occupy the Oval Office" and called out the political left for its views on Israel.

"As a Zionist, I've always respected and held sacred the right of Israel to decide what's best for itself. It's high time for the American left to extend that same courtesy to Israel. Don't claim to be pro-Israel, you've successfully rendered that term all but meaningless. But [be] pro-Zionist. Allow Israel the same rights and self-governance that you would extend to any other nation. Don't assume that living in America, you're in a position to know more than Israelis about what's best for Israel. Here's a news flash: You don't."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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"The survey is the beginning of a conversation we must all have, not the end," Matthew Bronfman, who chaired the Claims Conference task force behind the survey, told Jewish News Syndicate. "It raises many questions and highlights many areas where scholarly and empirical research is required. Having said that, we are now eight decades past the Holocaust. The world has made a promise to Holocaust survivors to 'never forget,' but perhaps inevitably, the world has moved on."

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He added that "it's understandable that people might focus on their immediate concerns. But the lessons of the Holocaust have eternal value -- not only for the victims and their families, not only for the Jewish community, but for humanity."

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also known as Claims Conference, commissioned the firm Schoen Cooperman Research to conduct the first-ever nationwide survey on Holocaust knowledge and awareness among millennials and Generation Z in each of the 50 states. Schoen Cooperman conducted 1,000 interviews nationwide with adults ages 18 to 39 between Feb. 26 and March 28, 2020. The margin of error for the national sample is 3% and higher in the state oversamples.

According to the survey, there is a clear lack of knowledge, and many distortions, surrounding the Holocaust for millennials and Gen Z.

Nationally, 63% of respondents didn't know that 6 million Jews were killed during the years of World War II and the Holocaust, and 36% believed that 2 million Jews or fewer were killed. Furthermore, of the more than 40,000 concentration camps and ghettos built in Europe during the Holocaust, 48% of respondents could not name a single one. While 44% were familiar with the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland and 6% knew the name Dachau, familiarity with Bergen-Belsen (3%), Buchenwald (1%) and Treblinka (1%) was significantly lacking.

The survey also addressed the topic of Holocaust denial. When asked whether the Holocaust did, in fact, take place, 10% said it did not happen or were not sure. Meanwhile, 23% of respondents either believed that the Holocaust did not happen or that it took place but that the number of Jews who died in it "has been greatly exaggerated," or they were unsure.

A little more than one in 10 (12%) of US millennials and Gen Z agreed that they had never heard of or don't think they've heard of the word "Holocaust" before, and 15% of respondents thought it was acceptable for someone to have neo-Nazi views.

Also unsettling is that 59% agreed that "something like the Holocaust could happen again today."

Regarding social-media's role in spreading Holocaust misinformation, 49% said they have observed Holocaust denial or distortion on social media or elsewhere online, and 56% said they saw "Nazi symbols," including flags with swastikas or pictures glorifying Adolf Hitler and Nazi soldiers, in their community and/or on social-media platforms within the past five years.

"The dual crisis of critical knowledge gaps, plus broad exposure to distortion and denial on the social-media apps that young Americans frequent, was the most alarming finding of the survey," Arielle Confino, senior vice president at Schoen Cooperman, told JNS. "Social-media platforms and apps like Facebook and TikTok are undoubtedly serving as platforms for this and are clearly having an impact."

'A notable amount of misinformation'

Some 67% of US millennials and Gen Z'ers said they first learned about the Holocaust in school, which underlines the important role that educational institutions in America play in Holocaust education.

A total of 80% agreed with the statement that "It is important to continue to teach about the Holocaust, in part, so it doesn't happen again"; 64% believed Holocaust education should be compulsory at school; and 50% agreed that the lessons about the Holocaust are "mostly historically accurate, but could be better."

While the respondents did not indicate how lessons could improve, Confino suggested "pivoting away from a survivor/memoir-centric model to one that pairs firsthand accounts with historical, geographical, sociological and political context to hopefully eliminate any questions about historical accuracy."

Bronfman believes that while teachers are now making a dramatic switch to a new "virtual" learning environment due to the coronavirus pandemic, adaptations "can and should be applied to Holocaust education."

"I'm thinking in particular of the vast amount of online resources freely available through Holocaust museums and other institutions," he said. "We know that personalizing the Six Million, for example, is always crucial, and there are videos of survivors' testimony that can be incorporated into classroom learning."

Although general support for Holocaust education existed among respondents, there remains a notable amount of misinformation about it among millennials and Gen Z. In the survey, 11% of respondents agreed that the Jews caused the Holocaust; 22% said the Holocaust was associated with World War I; and 32% were not familiar at all with the late famed Holocaust survivor, author and Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel.

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"It is my hope that these disparities in Holocaust knowledge will inspire a national movement to optimize the quality of Holocaust education and deploy it systematically across the country," said Confino. "Currently, Holocaust curriculum is determined at the local level. And even in the states where Holocaust education is mandated, the quality of the lessons vary significantly from school to school as each locality sets its own school curriculum, and it is up to each individual teacher to decide how they want to teach the Holocaust.

"In my opinion, the current approach to Holocaust education in the United States … isn't sufficient. We need to optimize Holocaust curriculum and teacher training with an emphasis on providing the necessary historical and geopolitical facts and context and deploy it systematically on a national level."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org

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The appeal on Change.org includes an open letter addressed to Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey by the petition's creator, New York City resident Sabina K.

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"When social media is weaponized, I ask you, Jack, do not let Twitter be an accomplice," she said.

Farrakhan has an estimated 350,000 followers on Twitter. Sabina said allowing him to remain on the platform "is negligent in times when hate crimes against Jews are on the rise."

The Nation of Islam leader has a history of making anti-Semitic remarks, previously describing Adolf Hitler as "a great man," and calling Jews "termites" and "Satan."

More recently, in his Fourth of July sermon that was broadcast on television, he promoted an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory and said Jews should have their brains knocked out by the "stone of truth."

Recent celebrities who have promoted Farrakhan on social media include actor/rapper Ice Cube, NFL wide receiver DeSean Jackson, actor/rapper Nick Cannon, comedian Chelsea Hander and pop-music icon Madonna.

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Most recently, the social media giant permanently banned former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke from its platform for breaking its rules forbidding hate speech.

Duke's account "has been permanently suspended for repeated violations of the Twitter rules on hateful conduct," the company said.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Danon's first move upon returning to Israel will be to visit his mother, who he has not seen in almost a year, he said.

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Regarding the next step in his career, he shared advice that former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley gave him, which is to take "time before making any commitments."

So, he said, "I'm going to go back to Israel and enjoy it. Relax and take my time before making any decisions."

"But for sure, I will stay involved; that is my nature," he added. "For the last 20 years, I was involved in public life. [Now] I will be more vocal than I was in the UN because when I was in office, I had to represent the Israeli government always. Now when I become a private citizen, I will be able to speak openly and express my views, and actually promote my views like I used to do before I was in diplomacy."

A former Knesset member from the Likud Party, he previously served as minister of science, technology and space, and as deputy minister of defense. Regional Cooperation Minister Gilad Erdan will replace Danon at the end of July. In January, Erdan will take over Ron Dermer's position as Israel's ambassador to the United States as well.

Danon noted that his "lowest moment in the last five years [was] the moment the US decided to abandon Israel" at the UN Security Council under the Obama administration when it supported Resolution 2334 against Israel. He further accused the Obama administration of working behind the scenes to promote that resolution, which condemned Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria, as well as eastern Jerusalem.

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Nevertheless, the ambassador strongly feels that "no one can jeopardize the bond" between America and Israel.

He also offered this advice to Israel's enemies and allies alike: "Don't threaten Israel. You're not going to gain anything from it. [If] you have concerns, speak to us."

 Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Presented bilingually in Hebrew and Arabic with subtitles, "Fauda" tells the story of an elite undercover unit in the Israel Defense Forces with a focus on Israeli agent Doron Kavillio, played by the show's co-creator, Lior Raz. The last two seasons took place primarily in the West Bank, but in the new one, the action moves to the Gaza Strip.

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During a webinar hosted by the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) one day after the third season of "Fauda" launched on Netflix, actors Yaakov Zada Daniel, Boaz Konforty and Rona-Lee Shimon discussed filming Season 3 mostly in Israeli-Arab villages in Israel, but also in Jaffa and in IDF training zones.

Local populations were "unbelievably friendly and cooperative," according to Konforty, who mentioned the idea of having a tour for "Fauda" fans to see the locations used for filming.

Daniel, who plays Eli, one of the members of the undercover unit in the show, said the IDF helped make the scenes taking place in Gaza as realistic as possible.

"Of course, we cannot get into Gaza, or there would be no Season 3 today or Season 4," explained Daniel. "But the IDF really helped us and supported us. They gave us helicopters, and we worked together closely. I think we both benefited from this."

Daniel said his real-life experience as an undercover operative in the IDF is similar to the role he plays; it helped him understand the mindset of his character. He has experienced undercover missions in Israeli-Arab villages, similar to those in the show, but said real missions are quicker – "in and out," as opposed to lasting days or months in enemy territory.

Konforty, who plays Avihai – a sniper who is part of the counter-terrorist unit in the show – was a tank commander during his IDF service. He said "being in the military, when you come to a series like this, for us things are very, very familiar. It's like a language that we know, even though it's not our day-to-day now. But it's a language we don't forget. The things that we say to each other, I believe, if someone would listen to our conversations and he was not in the military, he would have to ask for explanations. We didn't have to ask. We understood what we have to do and the role in a very, very deep way."

'We bonded really quickly'

Season 3 of "Fauda" took about three months to film. Regarding a fourth season, Daniel said, "I heard that they are writing something. I hope it will happen. We really want it, and I hope it will happen."

Shimon, who plays Nurit, the only woman in the Israeli counter-terrorism unit, said the cast does all their stunts in the show, and their training included how to fire a weapon, Krav Maga and kickboxing. About being the only female among the main characters, she said it was a lot of fun – "we bonded really quickly. I think there are very few moments where I felt like 'the woman' with the guys."

She added, "They tell dirty jokes all the time; we just had a lot of laughs. I know that by now if I call each one of them at like two in the morning and say, 'I need you, come help me,' they would. I earned five really amazing big brothers."

Shimon said "Fauda" has helped build a bridge between Arabs and Israelis. "The situation we've been in for many years has been one of divide. I think it's hard to humanize the people on the other side for some people, and I think that's what the show has done. It kind of opened a window to a way there. Of course, we wrote it, and we're Israelis, and it is from our point of view. But it gave a lot of room that wasn't there before and just pushed the conversation forward in that sense."

Shimon, Konforty and Daniel also reminisced about the last time they were together before being forced to self-quarantine due to the coronavirus. They recalled gathering to watch a few episodes of the latest season, saying they missed spending time together eating, drinking and going out in the evenings in Tel Aviv.

During the lockdown, Shimon said she is trying to maintain her ballet routine and do yoga, Pilates and meditate. Konforty shared that his two young children, ages 2 and 4, are keeping him busy during the quarantine, while Daniel said he is spending his time cooking, cleaning and writing.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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TheHolocoin.net, which was purchased on April 2 and registered with the website-building platform SquareSpace, is no longer accessible. However, the valueless virtual currency is still being traded on trading platforms such as ForkDelta.

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StopAntisemitism.org was one of the first to draw attention to the anti-Semitic cryptocurrency.

"This has to be one of the most vile and atrocious anti-Semitic incidents we have yet to come across," Liora Rez, executive director of StopAntiSemitism.org, said. "For someone to erect and orchestrate a plan where they can buy the ashes of dead Jews as currency on a trading platform clearly shows the blatant hatred of Jews that exists in society today."

Holocoin.net offered two currencies – "JEWS" and "ASH" – and its founders are online users that go by the usernames "Smaug Hitler" and "30YearOldHimmler." The virtual currency is being promoted as an "ERC-20" token, which means it is designed for use on the Ethereum platform, an open-source blockchain-based distributed computing platform, and may be transferred to a cryptowallet.

The cryptocurrency quickly found its way onto online forums and social media sites.

A page on the website Reddit that promotes HoloCoin describes it as "a cryptocurrency that recreates the Holocaust" and says that "15,300,000 JEWS were created, the team is airdropping JEWS and [it] is up to you if you wanna save them or let them burn."

A thread on the website 4chan about the HoloCoin discusses those who purchased the cryptocurrency, saying, "Thank you to everybody who signed up and received your initial shipment of 500 JEWS. While initial shipments have ended, any wallet that registers according to instructions on TheHoloCoin.net will receive 50 JEWS every other week. JEWS may be purchased anytime."

The message continued saying, "Any JEWS neither airdropped nor purchased will continue to burn at the rate of 4,107 per day – the rate at which 6 million are burned in four years. Thank you goyim for saving JEWS. Please continue to save JEWS, before they are burned and turned to ASH."

The 4chan thread also features the cryptocurrency's emblem: a large circle with "Remember The 6 Million" around its border with a large blue Star of David in the center, along with the letters "HC." The banner photo for HoloCoin's Twitter page has a Star of David that says "ash" around it, with a shadow in the background of the Pepe the Frog meme.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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When traveling with his family to visit British relatives in London or even to the United States, the Tel Aviv resident said he's heard horrible things about Israel and disapproval when he mentioned where he's from. It bothered him so much he felt he had to do something about it.

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Merav Habte, 16, from Maaleh Adumim, whose parents were born in Ethiopia, wanted to learn about the rise of anti-Semitism in the world and how to counter it, as well as ways of expressing her own personal stories about Israel and her family's experiences to others.

That's why they signed up for an initiative, started in November by the pro-Israel organization StandWithUs, called Tevel ("universe" in Hebrew), which focuses on teaching Israeli high-schoolers about leadership and diplomacy – namely, how to present Israel accurately abroad.

The participants, all in 10th grade, meet weekly either in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv and hear from speakers – many of them StandWithUs alumni or team members – about Israel's history, development, economy and perception, among other topics.

Some of the subjects Green and Habte, along with other teens in the program, analyze include how to differentiate legitimate and illegitimate criticism about Israel; the image of Israel from an outside perspective; the goals of the BDS movement; complexities in Israeli society and how they appear outside of the country; Israel's history in an activist's perspective; minorities in Israel; debate skills and how to answer tough questions about Israel; how to speak in front of a camera; and the history of the United Nations, with its biases and often negative influences on Israel, and about its policies and military.

Muhammad Zuabi, an Arab Israeli IDF soldier, spoke to the students about his decision to defend his homeland, the eventual support he got from his parents – despite their initial shock and confusion – and also how the fight for Israel's right to exist is "not only a Jewish fight, but an Israeli fight," said Green.

"The goal of Tevel is to be an educational platform that gives young Israeli leaders a place to grow as leaders with a strong connection to their country," its director, Alon Sternberg, told JNS. "I want to teach the students about the challenges that Israel face in the global arena and how to respond. I want to find the young passionate students that won't have the chance to express themselves in school and give them a chance to blossom."

Currently, 40 students are enrolled in the program, half girls and half boys, with half from Tel Aviv and half from Jerusalem.

Field trips complement the lectures and in-class learning. During a recent visit to the Knesset, for example, they met with Giora Furdis, a spokesperson of the Israeli election committee who offered ideas about how to make the voting process easier.

Participants must also volunteer to boost their hands-on knowledge of Israel's culture, heritage, history and demographic composition to use in sharing personal stories and experiences abroad. Some students collect and donate food to those who can't afford meals; others work with Holocaust survivors, young children or those with special needs.

Green has been volunteering at a senior-care facility near Tel Aviv for a month now. He said he has been inspired by the residents, including one man who was 14 when he helped with the war effort in 1948, just as the state of Israel was established. "The incredible things that he did when he was 14 I can't imagine doing when I'm even 18," acknowledged Green. "I'm just generally in awe of the amazing stuff that they've done."

As for Habte, she and a friend are starting their own project, where a chef will teach Arab and Jewish children how to cook each other's cuisines in an effort to improve relations and stress commonalities of living in the Middle East.

Tevel participants attend different high schools in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and come from diverse backgrounds and beliefs, both religious and secular. What unites them is their passion for Israel and the desire to help tell Israel's story to the world. The students are encouraged to use English to communicate with non-Hebrew speakers when traveling outside of Israel.

During one session focused on "answering tough questions," students practiced (and then were coached on) how to respond to accusations against Israel, such as it being a racist country, an "apartheid state" and not a democracy.

Green remembers practicing in class how to respond to the claim that the West Bank is "the largest prison on earth," run by Israel.

He said students were taught why the security wall was erected in the first place – to help protect Israeli civilians against violence and terrorism encouraged by Palestinian leadership – and step-by-step techniques on countering such arguments to "get the message across in the most optimal way," including making sure that askers not feel attacked or offended, so they can really listen to responses.

"At first, we need to sympathize with them," said Habte. "Tell them, 'OK, this is a really good question' and try to get to know the person first. That's how we'll get people to listen to us."

The session on how to answer tough questions has been Habte's favorite in the program so far and also one of the most important things she has ever learned, she told JNS.

She recalled an instance in Chicago when someone told her that Israel does not exist – that it's really Palestine. Habte said, "To be honest, I had no idea what to say. I was just shocked and quiet. So this session really helped me know what I need to do. Now I have more confidence in myself that I know what to say and how to respond."

She also appreciated hearing from Charlotte Korchak, director of international student programs at StandWithUs, who compared the Jewish state's history with Israel's image around the world, and focused on the country's ancestral roots – topics not explored in a typical high-school history class, stressed Habte.

'Expressing personal stories from our point of view'

The program is also geared to emphasize and develop valuable life skills.

"Every other session deals with how to speak in front of people – whether it's debate skills, or body language and how to move yourself in space, and move your arms in order to get your message across in the most optimal way," explained Green. "We recently did a session about how to answer really tough questions about Israel and learned that sometimes you have to admit that you don't really know the answer, which is important. If you pretend you know the answer for everything when in fact you don't, it gives the wrong message across. That's a good thing to learn. Also how to be in front of a camera, give a speech or statement, and even this interview right now is highly effective by the skills that I acquired there."

He said his favorite part about Tevel is the open forum that leaves opportunity for a wide range of discussions – whether it's about minority groups in Israel or even the Australian bushfires – because it keeps the sessions interesting and "very stimulating."

"The program is not just about coming and listening to lectures every week. It's about expressing personal stories from our point of view," added Habte.

Sternberg said that young people "have to confront the issues that they see on social media, and they have questions. And in the educational system, they don't talk about these kinds of issues. They teach them things they need to know about [Israel's] history, but they don't talk about it from a strategic point of view or from an activist point of view."

"Some kids have an interest in being involved in politics one day, and they know a lot more than most grown-ups, and this program challenges them," he said. "It gives them a place to structure their own point of view for the future."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Herbalists from around the world are expected to attend the three-day Ancient Roots Herbal Conference in Ana Poriya, Israel, but two confirmed speakers – 7Song, a Russian-Jewish herbalist from America, and Danny O'Rawe from Northern Ireland – have withdrawn their participation. They did so after receiving ultimatums from BDS supporters, who threatened to close their clinics, call their clients and bash them on social media, according to Sara Chana Silverstein, an Orthodox Jewish master herbalist from New York who still plans to speak at the conference.

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She told Jewish News Syndicate that BDS supporters sent threatening emails to conference speakers, as well as to "hundreds" of nonparticipants, to cause them to boycott the event and not attend next year's conference.

"The whole goal of this conference was to bring international herbal research to Israel," said Silverstein. "For BDS to attack this conference limits knowledge for the world."

Herbalism is the study of botany and the use of medicinal plants, which have been used throughout human history to provide treatment for various ailments.

The conference in Israel was announced in the summer of 2019 with the modest goal of selling 50 to 75 tickets to break even on associated costs.

Rivkah Asoulin, one of the organizers living in Israel, said the event was originally supported by Bevin Clare, president of the American Herbalists Guild, a prominent herbalist association. Clare even agreed to film a video promoting the event, which Asoulin then posted online.

But in January, Clare asked Asoulin to remove the video, saying she received nearly two-dozen hostile emails, many from AHG members, that criticized her support of the conference and said she should have received approval from the AHG Board before creating the clip, reported Hamodia.

According to the publication, "Asoulin said Clare told her she understood the difficulties of putting on an international herbalist conference and that she felt for organizers, but, 'Rivkah, in life we have to choose our battles, and I'm not going to choose Israel.'"

When news spread of supporters pulling out of the event, conference organizers expressed dismay over the situation.

"Sadly, some of our 2020 speakers and supporters have been falsely led to believe that supporting Ancient Roots Israel would be a wrongful political statement, and they have become the target of serious harassment endangering their work and livelihood by a campaign that is fostering the politics of division," they said in a statement.

"Ancient Roots believes in talking to everybody, no matter what their convictions, and we regret that said group has not contacted us directly and explained their grievances and given us a chance to accommodate their concerns and instead issued boycott, demands and other threats to the very people who wanted to do what they believe in, which is sharing herbal medicine with all peoples, throughout the world. We herbalists are concerned with people and plants, not with politics."

"The choice of targeting our non-commercial, non-political activity, and thus trying to stop herbalists from gathering to further their knowledge of ways to improve the lives and health of people around the world, is indeed troubling and unethical. Once again, we see something started with good and noble intent derailed by the politics of division that is sweeping the world."

Why is Israel 'constantly met with such a threat?'

Leading the BDS effort is Shabina Lafleur-Gangji, an herbalist who was recently hired as the editor of the Journal of the American Herbalists' Guild.

"I am someone who *absolutely* stands behind the BDS movement," Lafleur-Gangji wrote in an Instagram post. "We decided something needed to happen and reached out to the herbalists involved. Within 24 hours they both made the decision to retract their support for the conference in solidarity with folks in living under the brutal force of Israeli apartheid."

View this post on Instagram

The last couple days have been hectic. As some of you may know, a few prominent herbalists made the decision to endorse and/or teach at the Ancient Roots herbal medicine conference in Israel. The conference had no Palestinian or Muslim speakers included in their line up, yet included a speaker who referred to Palestinians as a non-people who willfully left their ancestral lands. I am someone who *absolutely* stands behind the BDS movement, not because I hate Israeli folks, but because of the LOVE I have for Palestinians. I believe they are entitled to dignity, human rights, clean water, education, healthcare, and the ability to live freely on their ancestral lands. When I heard the news about this conference, I did what I always do when I hear about people making decisions that directly undermine systemically brutalized people; I felt hopeless. But then, something beautiful happened. People from all across Turtle Island started coming together to talk about it. We decided something needed to happen and reached out to the herbalists involved. Within 24 hours they both made the decision to retract their support for the conference in solidarity with folks in living under the brutal force of Israeli apartheid. I wanted to share this because we don't often get to celebrate wins. We also rarely are gifted with the opportunity to speak honestly and thoughtfully and be met with respect. I want to thank Bevin and 7song for being willing to listen and learn. It's not easy to hear dozens of people criticize a decision you have made, yet you still had an open heart and I appreciate that. I also want to thank @dandelionessherbals , @catalystcommunityherbals , @futurespellremedies , @riverroseapothecary , @earthseedholistic , @welldeepremedies , and everyone else who put their time and energy into this. You all held it down and I feel so appreciative of your work and presence. There is so much more that needs to be done, but taking a moment to celebrate feels important. . #freepalestine . Shout out to my friend Badee for the beautiful keffiyeh & @cheekbonebeauty for gracing my lips with CINDY

A post shared by °•○shabina lafleur-gangji○•° (@shabbyshabzz) on Jan 2, 2020 at 9:42pm PST

In the same post, Gangji thanked Clare, six other herbalists "and everyone else who put their time and energy into" their campaign to convince herbalists to withdraw participation in the event. She ended her post with "#freepalestine #bds #rightofreturn and #untilweareallfree."

Lafleur-Gangji did not respond to a JNS request for an interview, and Clare did not respond to a request for a comment by JNS.

"Israel is at the forefront of innovations for medical research," said Silverstein. "What we as botanical medicine experts want to do is to bring that knowledge to Israel because we know they're going to take it and make it worldwide. I think that's why the BDS attack is so daunting; herbalists that would want to come to next year's conference are going to be intimated because Shabina also reached out to them. So for next year, other herbalists who would have been thrilled to come are now going to be intimidated."

In a statement to JNS, the American Herbalists Guild distanced itself from Clare and Lafleur-Gangji. The Guild said Lafleur-Gangji holds "a contractor position" and is "not an employee of the AHG," adding that "the views and opinions expressed by AHG contractors, employees and board members on their personal blogs, publications, websites and social media are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the American Herbalists Guild as an entity."

AHG also claimed that it was not aware of the Ancient Roots conference, "nor of any perceived or implied endorsement of this event. Nor were we a part of any withdrawal or boycott."

The Guild said, "The actions by individuals associated with the AHG were made independent of consult by the organization. … Be assured the situation at hand has prompted an internal dialogue within the organization and its leadership, and a review of our social-media policies and all perceived and implied endorsements by any employees, officers, contractors and staff is a priority."

BDS supporters are continuing to threaten herbalists even as the conference is set to start on Sunday, according to Asoulin.

"We were attacked by BDS, and it is ongoing. They attack us and our social-media followers to this day," she told JNS. "We can talk about what it means to Israeli businesses and even 'the little guys,' like us, when we are striving to reach out to the international community, and simultaneously embrace the world to come to Israel with love and mutual understanding and academic partnership, and are constantly met with such a threat."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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