WHAT’S DRIVING THE AMERICAN JEWISH CONVERSATION

Good morning. Israeli forces engaged in a raid of Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital complex, as the U.S. supported Israeli claims that Hamas operates within hospitals. Separately, a group of Jewish scholars asked the pope to show support for Israel’s right to self-defense.

ISRAEL AT WAR

Congregants from Brooklyn’s Congregation Beth Elohim at Tuesday’s March for Israel in Washington, D.C. (Camillo Barone)

Organizers estimated close to 300,000 people attended yesterday’s March for Israel in Washington, D.C. Here’s what our reporters saw:

After a wrong turn in Brooklyn, a bus of rally-goers makes it to the National Mall. A bus carrying members of Brooklyn’s Congregation Beth Elohim began the day with a snafu, getting lost in the borough and delaying the group’s arrival. The snag didn’t dim the spirits of the riders, writes our editorial intern Camillo Barone, who traveled with them. “We need to do more than just pray,” said Abraham Haspel, 86, the oldest marcher in the cohort. “We have to basically demonstrate that we’re united, and that’s the reason for going to Washington today.” Read the story ➤

March for Israel: Praying at the White House, wearing Israeli flags and Matisyahu singing ‘One Day.’No rabbis were on the list of speakers at the march — but an evangelical pastor, who has in the past blamed Jews for the Holocaust, was. The Jewish hip-hop star Matisyahu inserted the Shema prayer into his peace anthem “One Day.” Hundreds of Jews prayed in front of the White House, holding a Torah scroll aloft against the sunny blue sky. Snapshots of the march from our reporters paint a picture of a day filled with questions about the future — and moments of Jewish joy. Read the story ➤

Massive rally for Israel brings message of solidarity to Washington. Yesterday’s march was the largest American Jewish protest since the 1980s, when Jews rallied for Soviet Jewry. “While the crowd cheered on strong statements of support for Israel, the attitude at times turned somber, especially when family members of the hostages spoke,” writes our reporter Arno Rosenfeld, who was on the ground. And the gathering was a clear rebuke of headline-grabbing protests, many by Jewish groups, calling for an end to the war: At one point, the crowd broke into a chant of “No cease-fire! No cease-fire!” Read the story ➤

And:

• Who is John Hagee, the Christian Zionist pastor who spoke at the March for Israel?

  
  

• In Paris, a march against antisemitism draws wide support — even, some might say, from antisemites

  
  

• Alleged bus driver boycott snarls 900 Detroit Jews’ trek to DC Israel rally

Israeli airstrikes continued in Gaza as troops on the ground raided the Al-Shifa hospital, which has become a focal point of the war. (FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Latest from the war…

• Israeli troops entered Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital, the strip’s main hospital complex, as Gaza’s communications systems were once more disrupted. An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said troops were interrogating people in the hospital, which the IDF alleges is built on top of a major Hamas compound, as part of a “precise and targeted operation.”

  
  

• Israel reportedly denied recent appeals from several Western countries to be allowed to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. The countries asked for access to Gaza via an Israel-managed crossing; humanitarian aid to the strip is currently entering via the Egypt-managed Rafah Crossing.

  
  

• A victim of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack was denied burial in a Jewish cemetery, raising concerns in the Knesset. Alina Plahti was in the process of completing a religious conversion. “I want to tell you that she was murdered because she was Jewish,” her mother said.

  
  

• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Israel must cease “this killing of women, children, babies” in Gaza, drawing a swift rebuke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

  
  

• A group of Jewish scholars and religious leaders asked Pope Francis to condemn Hamas and express support for Israel’s right to self-defense, while understanding “that the Church seeks to maintain political neutrality on the war in the Middle East.”

  
  

• Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came out against a “full cease-fire” in an essay for The Atlantic, writing that “Hamas cannot be allowed to once again retrench, re-arm, and launch new attacks” — and that “Israel’s long policy of containment has failed.”

Some Jewish officials are concerned that initial governmental plans for addressing antisemitism on campus don’t go far enough. (Getty Images)

On campus…

• The Department of Education shared initial details with Jewish leaders about its plan for combating antisemitism on college campuses and at schools; some participants on the call expressed concern that the plan is not sufficiently proactive.

  
  

• A pro-Israel University of Southern California economics professor was placed on partial leave after video of his confrontation with pro-Palestinian campus protesters went viral; the professor says his comments in the video were taken out of context.

  
  

• Three Jewish students filed suit against New York University, saying the school failed to enforce anti-discrimination policies in response to alleged antisemitism.

“I am asking of the Rebbe that he can keep them alive,” the father of one hostage said. (Alex Kent/Getty Images)

Across the U.S.…

• Some 300 Israelis gathered in Queens to pray for the safe return of hostages held in Gaza at the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson.

  
  

• The U.S. issued a third round of sanctions against Hamas officials and individuals suspected of supporting Hamas, as the U.K. also announced new sanctions against Hamas leaders and financiers.

  
  

• A woman reportedly attacked a Jewish-owned business in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, the site of the 2018 Tree of Life massacre, tearing down a “Support Israel” poster and bashing windows with a hammer on the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht.

Chef Ora Wise, far right, at a protest in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy of Ora Wise)

This Israel-born, Jewish chef is demanding a cease-fire. Ora Wise, who was a labor organizer before becoming a chef, joined a coalition of food professionals advocating for a cease-fire shortly after the war began, as concerns rose about strained access to essential resources in Gaza, including food. “So many Jewish rituals and traditions are based in food: We tell stories through food, we celebrate and mourn through food.” Wise told our editorial fellow Sam Lin-Sommer. “So I’m heartbroken to see another people being denied that in my name.” Read the story ➤

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ALSO FROM THE FORWARD

Barbra Streisand performing with pop star Ariana Grande in 2019. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for BSB)

How Barbra Streisand became a meme-able legend for a new generation. “Many things that have been said about God also apply to Barbra Streisand,” writes Jenny Singer, a former Forward editor — among them, the psalmists’ exaltation that “Each generation shall praise your deeds to the next, telling of your greatness, and the splendid honor of your glory.” For Gen Z, Streisand’s greatness has to do in part with the internet-friendly qualities of her wonderfully strange obsessions, including repeatedly cloning her dog and chronicling her home improvement efforts in a coffee table book titled My Passion for Design.

– From our Sponsor: Spertus Institute –

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

A third man arrested in relation to a suspected Hezbollah plot in Brazil was captured in Brasilia; the two previous suspects were arrested in Sao Paulo. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)

👀  Brazilian police arrested a third man suspected of being linked to an alleged Hezbollah plot to target Jewish sites in the country. (Reuters)

😮  A Holocaust-denying account reportedly earned revenue from X, formerly Twitter, despite apparently violating X’s rules against violent speech. The account, which has also praised Hitler, shared screenshots appearing to confirm it had earned $3,000 in revenue from the platform this year. (Forward)

🚌  Birthright Israel canceled its planned December trips amid security concerns around the war. Birthright trips have often continued through periods of conflict, with adjusted schedules to skirt areas with increased fears of violence. (Times of Israel)

⚖️  Israel’s Supreme Court determined that non-Jewish widows of Jews have the right to emigrate to Israel under the country’s Law of Return. (Forward)

😳  Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the U.K.’s Labour Party, repeatedly refused to call Hamas a terrorist group in an interview with Piers Morgan, who asked Corbyn to do so 15 times. Corbyn, who once described Hamas as “friends,” told Morgan “I do not approve, support or welcome Hamas.” (Jewish Chronicle)

🖌️  A new exhibit in Vancouver invites white visitors to use an “Aryan Recognition Tool” to compare their faces to those of Nazis. The exhibit, called Conceptions of White, frames the idea of whiteness as a force of “cultural erasure.” (National Post)

What else we’re reading ➤“The extreme ambitions of West Bank settlers” … “Small Jewish communities emerge in Ivory Coast” … “Why being visibly Jewish is so important to me right now.”

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Matthew Litman for the Forward

“It’s just important to show up for our community, to show that we’re not afraid,” one March for Israel attendee told our Arno Rosenfeld at the rally. “I do disagree with some of the speeches,” said another, but “it’s important for the American Jewish community to reach out and find common ground.”

Thanks to Jaclyn De Bonis and Jay Ehrlich for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Benyamin Cohen for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at editorial@forward.com.

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