Your Daily Spiel is The CJN‘s daily roundup of trending stories in the Jewish world
CANADA
BDS activists took to grocery stores in Vancouver and Calgary to plaster anti-Israel labels on Israeli products. “Shopping was fun,” wrote one such activist on her Facebook page, captioning a photo depicting the results of her handiwork. “In instances like this, our general practice would be to ban the individual from the store moving forward,” a spokesperson for a Calgary No Frills, where the incident occurred, said.
Shopping was fun! #BDS #calgary #BoycottIsrael #barcode729 #humanrightsabuse #israelterrorizes #StopTheGenocide #RaiseYourVoice
Posted by Billie Jones on Sunday, March 6, 2016
In what many are saying is an apparent act of terror, 27-year-old Montreal-born Ayanie Hassan Ali stabbed two Canadian Forces officers yesterday at a North York military site before he was subdued by Armed Forces members, who held him until police arrived. During the attack, Ali, who has no criminal record, called out, “Allah told me to do this. Allah told me to come here and kill people,” according to Police Chief Mark Saunders. Ali faces a charge of attempted murder, as well as two counts of assault with a weapon, and aggravated assault.
Despite what many Jewish students say is an anti-Semitic environment at York university, a group of students claim that they feel safe on campus, thanks to the efforts of Hillel and other pro-Israel organizations. “I felt really lonely at York at first. But I’ve met so many friends through Hillel. Hillel promotes unity among so many Jews, from atheists to those who are Orthodox,” one student said.
UNITED STATES
While it’s been a great ride for Bernie Sanders, pundits predict that today will be his last day as a legitimate presidential candidate as Super Tuesday (part two) gets underway. With five states at stake, today will play more of an immediate role, however, in the GOP race. If Marco Rubio and John Kasich fail to win in their home states (Florida and Ohio, respectively), it’s the end of the road for both Republican contenders.
A Jewish transgender woman has been named as the White House’s senior liaison to the LGBTQ community, less than a year after becoming the first openly transgender person to serve in the White House. Born in Honduras but raised by Jewish parents in Brookline, Mass., Raffi Freedman-Gurspan will serve as White House’s “lead point of contact” for LGBTQ groups.
A student charged with spray-painting offensive and homophobic graffiti in an Illinois chapel has been revealed to be the son of a prominent chief justice. Matthew Kafker, a freshman at Northwestern University, reportedly defaced his school’s church chapel with swastikas, slurs against African-Americans and gays, and a penis, accompanied by the word ‘Trump.’ Whether or not he was calling out Trump for supporting racism and homophobia or supporting the Republican front-runner, has yet to be disclosed.
ISRAEL
Israeli police called off a city-wide manhunt for an alleged terrorist in Tel Aviv after it was revealed that an IDF soldier simply saw a homeless person with a knife and got spooked. “After a situation assessment, checking security cameras and located eyewitnesses, this is not a nationalistic attack,” police spokesperson Luba Samri said. “It was apparently sparked by a homeless man who passed by the area. Police are continuing to investigate the incident.”
Israel’s chief rabbi of its Sephardic community said that, if a terrorist is coming after you with a knife, it’s a “mitzvah” to kill him. “One shouldn’t start being afraid that someone will petition the High Court of Justice or some chief of staff will come and say something different. There is no need to be afraid. ‘He who comes to kill you, get up and kill him,’” Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said, citing a rabbinic commandment dealing with self-defence.
An Israeli 10th-grader has come up with a new geometric theorem. While doing her geometry homework, Tamar Barbi from Hod Hasharon discovered the theorem she was using to solve a problem actually didn’t exist yet. “I realized that the theorem really didn’t appear anywhere, even though it’s very logical and basic,” she said. Despite her new-found fame, Barbi says she hopes to one day work in theatre arts.
WORLD
Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik, who was sentenced to 21 years in prison in 2012 for the murder of 77 people after he detonated a car bomb in central Oslo, appeared in court today to challenge his solitary confinement. In court, Breivik made a Nazi salute (which he’s done many times in the past), which his lawyer said is “the worst thing you can do in a courtroom.”
Jordanian parliament passed into a law a bill that prohibits the sale and rent of real estate in the ancient city of Petra to Israeli citizens. The decision comes in the wake of numerous reports that Israelis were purchasing land in the city.
If you’ve ever been to Tel Aviv (particularly if you’re a night owl), there’s a good chance you dined at Benedict, the famous 24-hour breakfast spot with numerous locations. Now, the restaurant has announced it is expanding to Berlin, on the grounds of a new boutique hotel. “We are bringing the DNA of the world-famous Israeli breakfast to Berlin with freshness and abundance,” said the franchise’s co-owner Yair Kindler.
TECH
Israel is known as the Startup Nation for several reasons (Wix or Waze anyone?) But out of said nation comes an idea that is certainly niche: a television station geared entirely toward dogs. DogTV has videos that are 3-6 minutes long and designed specifically to relax, arouse, or even help train dogs, using “the most advanced veterinary science.”
Israeli defence systems firm Rafael has been tapped to help the newly-launched ExoMars spacecraft land on the Red Planet gently once it is ready to touch down in 2018.
CULTURE
The trailer for Sausage Party, the first R-rated animated feature film, is officially out, and it’s as weird (but hilarious) as one would assume for a movie about food items trying to run away from the humans who eat them. The film features an All-star comedy cast (Kristen Wiig, Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, etc.) and was written by Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Ari Shaffir.
After a four-year hiatus, Israeli trio Balkan Beat Box are back with a new song. Let’s hope Jason Derulo doesn’t sample this one.
Kathie Lee Gifford, co-host of NBC’s Kathie Lee and Hoda show, has apparently been visiting Israel for the last 45 years, and visited again this month, as viewers can see from a video clip of her adventures in the Holy Land:
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