Around The Jewish World

SA JEWISH REPORT STAFF

Air France stewardesses refuse headscarf edict on Iran flights

JERUSALEM – France is compelling female members of its cabin crew to wear more modest attire and a headscarf on renewed flights to the Iranian capital of Tehran – a move that is causing consternation and resentment among its workforce.

According to The Guardian, the airline is “facing a mutiny” from staff members who object to being forced to wear garb that constitutes “ostentatious religious sign”.

The airline’s union has raised the matter with management, which is standing firm on the required dress code just weeks before Air France resumes three daily flights to the Iranian capital. – Jerusalem Post

Judge stops right-winger from attending son’s bris

BEERSHEBA -A Beersheba district court judge on Sunday denied a petition by ultra-nationalist Meir Ettinger to be allowed to leave administrative detention in order to attend the circumcision of his son.

Presiding Judge Yisrael Pablo Akselrod said in his ruling that Ettinger poses a danger to society and must not be released to attend the ceremony, even if only for a few hours and with full escort by Israel Prison Service officials.

Attorney Sima Cochav, who is representing Ettinger on behalf of the right-wing organisation “Honenu” – which helps Jews accused of acts of violence against Arabs – said on Sunday that “it is important to emphasise that this is a man on administrative detention and not a convicted criminal.

“Dangerous convicts are given furloughs while Meir Ettinger is kept behind bars even though he hasn’t been indicted with any crime.”

Also on Sunday, Ettinger’s wife, Moriah, wrote a letter to the Ashkenazi and Sephardi chief rabbis of Israel, calling on them to intervene on his behalf. – Jerusalem Post

Far-right protesters hold demonstration in Golders Green

LONDON – Far-right protesters at the Golders Green war memorial unfurled a banner saying “This is London, not Tel Aviv”.

The far-right activists last week held a demonstration in the heart of London’s Jewish community.

The protest, apparently against the Jewish neighbourhood watch group Shomrim, took place in Golders Green, north-west London, on Shabbat. Nine demonstrators unfurled a banner proclaiming that the area “is London, not Tel Aviv”.

Police were in attendance but no arrests were made.

The Community Security Trust said that although the demonstration was small, many people would find it shocking that it took place in the capital’s Jewish heartland.

It was particularly sickening, CST said, that the activists had demonstrated at the area’s war memorial “for those who had died fighting against Hitler and Nazism”.

Last year, a planned far-right rally at the same location was moved by police to a site in central London, after concerns about communal safety. – Jewish Chronicle, London

NSW Premier has full agenda for Israel

SYDNEY – Medical cannabis, cutting-edge technologies and Israeli breakfasts… just some of the items on the agenda for NSW Premier Mike Baird when he visits Israel this week.

Baird, the first NSW premier in living memory to visit the Jewish State, will lead a delegation of business, research and public sector leaders as part of the mission, organised by the Australia–Israel Chamber of Commerce and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.

Speaking ahead of his visit, Baird, said he was “very excited” about this “long overdue” trip.

“Where Israel sits in terms of the start-up world, it’s right at the top. What can we learn in an area that is growing here? Obviously medical cannabis is again an area that Israel has been a world leader in for a long time. It’s a space that we’re new in, but obviously very committed to making a difference in,” he said.

Stating that medical cannabis, the technology and start-up sector and cyber-security are “all critical issues for us right now”, he said, “learning from a lot of the opportunities and experience that is already on the ground in Israel is a key part of the trip.”

During the visit, Baird will meet with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Health Minister Yaakov Litzman .- Australian Jewish News

Enthusiasm for Senator Bernie Sanders in LA

LOS ANGELES – Enthusiasm among Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ supporters appears to be able to weather any political storm.

The self-described Independent socialist senator from Vermont, running on a Democratic Party ticket, brought his campaign to Los Angeles following wins in Idaho and Utah and a loss in Arizona.

Sanders was greeted by thousands of supporters at the Wiltern Theatre in Koreatown, most of them young, who had lined up for hours, covering more than five blocks of sidewalk, hoping for tickets to hear him speak.

“We have a lot of momentum, and a lot of people who have been wanting this for a long time,” said Cristina Donastorg, a 25-year-old aerospace engineer standing near the front of the line. She had been waiting for nearly three hours.

Donastorg said that if Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton wins the nomination, she would vote for her rather than either Republican frontrunner Donald Trump or his main challenger, Senator Ted Cruz, but would also be open to considering Ohio Governor John Kasich, depending on how debates went.

Next to Donastorg was Aaron Reveles, 21, a UC Santa Barbara student. Reveles said he would vote for Jill Stein of the Green Party if Sanders loses, but said he still likes Sanders’ chances. “I feel like it’s gonna be neck-to-neck until the end,” Reveles said, raising his voice over the din of honking car hooters of passing drivers expressing their support for Sanders.

Clinton has implicitly attacked Trump and Cruz, both of whom called for more vigorous law enforcement and national security monitoring of Muslim neighbourhoods in the US. “We need to rely on what actually works, not bluster that alienates our partners and doesn’t make us any safer.”

The difference in Sanders’ and Clinton’s appeal among young Americans was evident at the two candidates’ LA. appearances. At USC, approximately 100 students gathered outside the Ronald Tutor Campus Centre to try to see Clinton as she left. And the event itself, which was limited to press and a handful of invited guests, was formal, calm and largely uneventful.

The gathering for Sanders outside The Wiltern had the feel of a rally well before the actual rally even began, with vendors selling Bernie Sanders shirts, hats and pins; two women were arrested for disorderly conduct for walking around topless.- Los Angeles Jewish Journal

Healing children’s hearts in Tanzania

DAR ES SALAAM – Shadia Jirani, an 18-month-old Tanzanian girl, was born with a giant hole in her heart. Without surgery her chances of survival were grim.

Shadia was the first child wheeled into the operating room at Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, during a week-long medical mission undertaken by a team of cardiologists, nurses and volunteers from the nonprofit Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) at Wolfson Medical Centre in Holon, Israel.

“It would seem the SACH team arrived just in time,” remarked Randi Weiss, SACH Young Leadership director in her daily blog about the mission.

Shadia is doing well after a three-hour operation by SACH lead surgeon Dr Lior Sasson and Dr Godwin Godfrey, Tanzania’s first paediatric cardiac surgeon, who trained with SACH specialists for six years in Israel. Assisting them was Dr Yayehyirad Mekonnen, currently training in Israel through SACH to become Ethiopia’s first paediatric cardiac surgeon.

While Shadia’s surgery was underway last month, Dr Akiva Tamir and Dr Sagi Assa were leading a team performing cardiac catheterisations one floor below. – Israel 21c