Your Daily Spiel is The CJN‘s daily roundup of trending stories in the Jewish world

CANADA

In Ontario, Ellis Don, a Canadian construction services company, is teaming up with Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, an Israeli high-tech firm responsible for the development of Iron Dome, to use Israeli-designed applications to operate a Guelph-based electricity grid in the most efficient manner possible. Learn more about innovation in the Canada-Israel relationship here.

In a must-read opinion piece for anyone pursuing a Jewish education for their children, UJA professional Daniel Held argues that we must make Jewish day school affordable for the middle class. He’s got a point.

UNITED STATES

A writer for the Jerusalem Post visited Minnesota this week to meet the Jewish owner of NFL team the Vikings. Like Robert Kraft, it’s no secret that Mark Wilf, a son of Holocaust survivors, supports Israel and Jewish causes.

At the University of California, Berkeley this week, several pro-Israel students stood opposite a mock “apartheid wall” erected by Students for Justice in Palestine to offer a counter narrative. The students held up images of victims of terror in Israel, noting, however, that administrators constantly intervened, making it harder for their voices to be heard.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are both bringing out the big guns in their battle for their ‘home’ state of New York, where there are 247 Democratic delegates up for grabs. Clinton brought out fellow Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer, while Sanders received endorsements from Spike Lee and Rosario Dawson.

The Jewish Agency has announced a new expanded initiative to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism on campus. “Anti-Israel activities like divestment campaigns and boycott efforts are a threat to Jewish life on campus,” the organization’s Shelley Kedar said.

ISRAEL

The fourth annual Palestine Marathon, also known as the ‘Right to Movement’ marathon, took place today, with over 4,000 attendees. Entry permits were denied to over 100 from the Gaza Strip, which an Israeli defence body said was intentional in order to delegitimize Israel through bad press.

P.A. president Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview on Israeli television that peace is still attainable, that Benjamin Netanyahu is still a ‘partner’ in the process, and that he unequivocally condemns the wave of knife attacks. “When a child goes and takes a knife, he does not consult with anyone. Not with his parents, not his brother,” Abbas said. “No sensible person would have his son come to him and tell him ‘I want to take a knife and kill’, and he will answer him: ‘That’s a wise thing to do, go for it.’ It is not possible. It is not possible. He will take away the knife. Parents do not want this.” Read the whole transcript here.

The IDF soldier who shot a prone Palestinian attacker will be released to serve his jail service on an open military base. “There is evidence on both sides as to the question of what motivated him to fire,” wrote the judge ruling over the case. “After reviewing the updated material from the investigation, my opinion remains the same. As such, we cannot necessarily consider the suspect’s action to be as serious as the prosecutor claims.”

The husband of the ‘world’s best teacher,’ a Palestinian woman who won a $1 million prize, served ten years in prison for his participation in a terror attack that killed six Israelis, it was revealed this week.

Vogue magazine published a lovely article spotlighting Tel Aviv this week, titled “9 Reasons Tel Aviv should be your next Mediterranean getaway,” which include the city’s art life, food, the beach (of course) and other things that make the city great.

WORLD

A private Muslim school in northern England is teaching its students that Jews are, like Pinky and the Brain, hell-bent on world domination. The school’s founder also reportedly distributes flyers promoting content from anti-Semitic propaganda text The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Following a report from Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) issued to Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen about how Fatah supports terror, Jensen refused to change his country’s position on the group as being “moderate.”

CULTURE

It’s April Fools Day, which  means you’ve probably read a lot of content that isn’t entirely accurate today. If you’re a gmail user, you may have seen Google’s April Fools joke: a gif from the Minions movie inserted into your email, which quickly caused more headaches than laughs. “Looks like we pranked ourselves this year,” Google said after apologizing. Indeed.

Jewish actor Gary Shandling, who died last week at 66, will be ordained as a monk before he’s laid to rest in a Buddhist funeral service next month. Shandling arranged the ceremony himself before he died.

A Toronto writer’s debut opera begins its stint today at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, based on the Egyptian story of Isis and Osiris. Writer Sharon Singer has apparently always been fascinated by ancient Egypt.

Disney has invested millions of dollars into Playbuzz, a quiz startup co-founded by the son of former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert. Haim Saban is also an investor into the company that gives media companies a platform to create quizzes and other fun interactive content.

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