Short Hiatus; Texting

Hi all--I'm taking a hiatus from posting current events for the next month, until after the New Year. Things are just a bit too busy right now...Thanks for understanding and please check back in 2015! 

For a final hurrah: speak with your kids about texting/using mobile devices. When is it safe/unsafe to do so and why? When is it rude to do so and why? When is it appropriate? Then watch the following two videos to help generate discussion.  

Video #1: Texting during dinner.

Video #2: Texting while driving

Happy Chanukah, Happy New Year and see you again in 2015!

Commemorating Jews from Arab Lands

Article: Yesterday, history was made in Israel. November 30 is now the official day commemorating the plight of Jewish refugees from Arab lands and Iran. Kids: do you know someone whose family originates from an Arab land/Iran? Ask them how and why their family left and how long they had been there (likely thousands of years). Nov. 30 was chosen because it is the day after the anniversary of the UN resolution partitioning Palestine (Nov. 29, 1947), after which Arab states basically expelled their Jewish populations that had been living there since the 1st Temple's destruction thousands of years ago. In 1948, close to 1 million Jews lived in Arab lands. After 1948, Algeria Jews went from 135,000 to 0, Tunisia Jews went from 90,000 to 1000, Libyan Jews went from 40,000 to 0, Egyptian Jews went from 75,000 to less than 100, Iraqi Jews went from 125,000 to 0, Yemenite Jews went from 45,000 to 200, Syrian Jews went from 27,000 to 1000, etc. Kids: find each of these lands on a map. Because of this new heritage day, the history of Jews from Arab lands will become part of the school curriculum and the commemorated history of the Jewish people. Kids: why is this important?

Here is a film on the history. PARENTS: I would cut it off at 5.00 minutes because it gets graphic (killings, pogroms, etc.)

Yemenite Jews arriving in Israel around 1948

 

Nazi-Looted Paintings: Who Owns It?

Article: The German son of a Nazi-era art dealer, who hoarded hundreds of artworks looted from Jews during WWII, has died. What does it mean to loot? (= steal) Give an example. In his will, he left all the art to teh Bern Art Museum. His familial heirs have pledged to immediately return the works to their rightful owners, should they inherit. What does it mean to inherit? The museum has agreed to accept all the works but if their Board of Trustees refuses, they will go to the family heirs. The art is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Ronald Lauder, head of the World Jewish Congress, has told the museum not to accept the art. Why would the museum choose to accept or not to accept it? What do you think is the right thing to do? 

Vote Scheduled for Today on CA Tuition Increase

Article: Today, the CA Board of Regents is voting on whether to increase tuition to California's 10 state universities by 25% over the next 5 years. That is a big hike. What does "tuition" mean? Why do some schools require tuition? Ask your parents if they pay tuition for you to go to school and why? Students have been protesting this idea. Some say it is necessary because of budget cuts; others say it is a formidable increase for students. What do you think? Students say their loans are already too much. What are student loans? Ask your parents if they had to pay student loans. Pretend you are the students or the head of the university system. Discuss why you think tuition should go up or not and why.

Jordanian Citizen Begins Trial in Jordan for Attempting to Hurt Israel

Article: A security court in Jordan (find Jordan on map) started proceedings this week for a trial involving a Jordanian citizen who is suspected of having attempted to sneak into Israel from the Northern Jordanian border to commit a terrorist attack. He was caught by Jordanian border police as hew as trying to cross into Israel. Anas Awamra, 21, has been arrested and in Jordanian jail since August, and has pleaded not guilty. Awamra was charged with (1) performing actions that harm the Jordanian kingdom's relations with a foreign state and (2) for attempting to enter Israel illegally. If convicted, he will be in jail for 3 to 10 years.

Further Questions: 

1. Why do these criminal charges mean? Break them down. 
2. Why does Jordan have these crimes? What purpose are they meant to serve (keep relations good with Israel and help Israel)
3. Why would Jordan want to help Israel and keep relations good? (1994 peace treaty between Jordan and Israel; good for economy; for politics; Jordan has billion dollar oil deal in place with Israel, etc.) What does it mean to be an ally? 
4. You can be an ally as a nation or as a person in school or really anywhere. What is an example of a time when you were an ally or saw someone being an ally? 

Jerusalem Today and Alternate Current Event

Parents: this morning, there was a terrorist attack at a synagogue in Jerusalem (Haf Nof), where four rabbis were murdered while praying and many others wounded. The attack left behind four widows and 24 fatherless children. While PA President Abbas and many others in the Arab world condemned the attack for targeting people at prayer, people in Gaza handed out candies and celebrated the news. It's up to you whether to share any of this with your kids; I'm not sure I will. Here's an alternate article for tonight's current event that is empowering for kids: 

Article: In the tiny Tunisian island of Djerba (kids: find on map) where Jews have lived since the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem (three thousand years), a Jewish boy testified that a bearded man and accomplice entered the Jewish neighborhood, approached the boy and told him to get into a waiting taxi. The boy used a child's most powerful weapon (Kids: what is your most powerful weapon?)--his voice. He started shouting for help and refused to get in the taxi. The men fled. This incident is a great example of how kids can be empowered, even in scary situations. You can role play with your kids, telling them to scream, shout and run away at first chance.

Follow up: Chicago Immigration Trial Case

Article; Last week, I posted about the guilty verdict in the Rasmieh Odeh immigration case. A new article has filled in some new information about the case, answering some questions my kids had about the case (and maybe yours did too):

Odeh faces 10 years in prison and is expected to lose her US citizenship. 

Odeh immigrated to the U.S. from Jordan, so if she is deported, it will be to Jordan, not Israel. 

When first arrested on charges, Odeh claimed "mistaken identity;" this means that she said the police had the wrong woman; the terror charges did not relate to her but to someone else. How do you think this later impacted whether the judge/jury felt Rasmieh was an honest person who didn't lie? 

An Israeli NGO, Shurat Hadin, helped the US prosecutors find documents from the IDF, proving that Odeh was the right woman who had spent time in Israeli jail for terrorism. Without this information, do you think Rasmieh still could have been convicted?