GI JEWS: JEWISH AMERICAN S IN WORLD WAR II tells the extraordinary story of the 550,000 Jewish American men and women who fought in World War II, and features original interviews with Mel Brooks, Max Fuchs, Si Lewen, Henry Kissinger, Deborah Dash Moore, Robert Morgenthau, Carl Reiner, Jonathan Sarna and others.
In their own words, WWII veterans bring their war experiences to life: how they fought for their nation and their people, struggled with anti-Semitism within their ranks, and emerged transformed.
Read more about the film and watch the trailer here.
Tomorrow is the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (the federal holiday is observed on Monday, January 16), on which we celebrate the life and legacy of the civil rights leader and champion of racial justice and equality.
While most people know that Dr. King was a powerful voice against racism and for civil rights, many don’t realize that Dr. King also was an important ally in the fight against anti-Semitism and for a secure Israel.
When a student attacked Zionism during a dinner event in 1968, Dr. King angrily responded, “Don’t talk like that! When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism!”
And when radicals in the civil rights movement identified with the Arabs in the run-up to the 1967 Six-Day War, King signed an open letter to President Johnson published in The New York Times urging American support for Israel.
Speaking at the annual convention of the Rabbinical Assembly in 1968, Dr. King said:
“Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect her right to exist, its territorial integrity and the right to use whatever sea lanes it needs. Israel is one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvelous example of what can be done, how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy. Peace for Israel means security, and that security must be a reality.”
So as we honor Dr. King’s commitment to civil rights (indeed, he went to jail 29 times to achieve freedom for others), let’s also make sure to remember about, and remind others of, his condemnation of anti-Semitism and his support for a safe and secure Israel.
Last Friday, an imam in Texas called on Muslims to “kill all the Jews.”
Have you heard about this? Of course not. But why not? Isn’t it newsworthy that U.S.-based Muslim leaders explicitly preach terrorism against Jews? Doesn’t that deserve attention? Of course it does.
So why is no one is covering it?
Sheikh Raed Saleh Al-Rousan, the founder of the Tajweed Institute’s Houston branch, first proclaimed that the Jews “killed the Prophets and the Messengers of Allah,” and then quoted from a Quranic hadith calling for the murder of all Jews. He then encouraged Muslims to kill Jews in Israel, saying “The hour (Judgment Day) will not start until Muslims fight the Jews there, in Palestine.”
And, the same day, Imam Aymen Elkasaby, of the Islamic Center of Jersey City in New Jersey, denounced Jews as “apes and pigs” and prayed for “Allah [to] Count them [Jews] one by one, and kill them down to the very last one. Do not leave a single one on the face of the Earth.” Excerpts of the transcript of this sermon can be found here.
Why have American Islamic groups failed to condemn this hate speech? And why have the media been silent?
Merrick-Bellmore Jewish Community Council 