BRIEFS FRANCE JOINS US AND OTHERS IN BOYCOTT OF UN ‘DURBAN’ CONFERENCE OVER ANTISEMITISM France has joined a growing list of countries that will boycott a United Nations anti-racism conference next month over concerns that the gathering will promote antisemitism. The United States, Israel, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia are among the others that have announced a boycott of the Sept. 22 event, according to The Times of Israel. The conference is being held to mark the 20th anniversary of a 2001 conference on racism in Durban, South Africa. The United States and Israel walked out of that forum due to accusations of racism against Israel. The countries saying they will not attend this year’s conference have cited concerns that it will have an anti-Israel and antisemitic tenor. France made its announcement on Friday, August 13. “Concerned by a history of antisemitic remarks made at the U.N. conference on racism, known as the Durban conference, the President of the Republic has decided that France will not participate in the follow-up conference to be held this year,” a statement from the office of President Emmanuel Macron said. (JTA) LA LOSES CENTURY-OLD JEWISH DELI AS GREENBLATT’S SHUTTERS Los Angeles’ Greenblatt’s Deli and Fine Wine Shop shuttered abruptly on Wednesday, August 11, ending nearly a century-long run for a fixture of Jewish food on Sunset Boulevard. Opened in 1926 and run by a single family since the 1940s, Greenblatt’s described itself as a “wine merchant that fronts as a deli.” Eater reported that the restaurant was struggling amid the pandemic-induced labor shortage and that the owner wanted to close now rather than risk closure during the Jewish holidays. Some Greenblatt’s fans reportedly rushed to the restaurant to order their final sandwiches after hearing the news, while others posted tributes online. Tobin Mitnick, an actor whose online moniker is “A Jew Who Loves Trees,” posted a line from the play Our Town on his Instagram account. “Do any human beings ever
realize life while they live it? Every, every minute?” he wrote, before supplying his own answer: “Every minute there I did.” Two other Jewish delis in Los Angeles have closed since the beginning of the year: Label’s Table, a 46-year-old deli in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood, and Jerry’s in Marina Del Rey. Meanwhile, the city has also seen several new businesses serving Jewish deli food open recently, mostly in the form of pop-ups that emerged in response to the pandemic’s volatility for restaurants. (JTA)
CITING QUARANTINE RULES, BIRTHRIGHT CANCELS REMAINING SUMMER TRIPS TO ISRAEL Birthright, the program that brings young Jews to Israel for free, is canceling its remaining 42 trips this summer because of new Israeli rules that require Americans arriving in Israel to quarantine for a week. The tours last just 10 days—although participants may stay longer on their own—and most participants are American. Participants whose trips are canceled may sign up for new trips, said Haaretz, which first reported the cancellation. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says there is a “very high level” of COVID-19 in Israel, and that even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants. “We anticipate that the seven-day quarantine rule will be temporary, and we look forward to resuming trips as soon as possible,” the newspaper quoted a Birthright spokesman as saying. Birthright resumed travel in May following a 14-month hiatus. (JTA) JFNA CANCELS IN-PERSON GENERAL ASSEMBLY CITING COVID The Jewish Federations of North America has canceled the in-person portion of its signature annual event, the General Assembly, citing the coronavirus. The umbrella group for local federations had planned to combine online and in-person events, but told participants this month that it was canceling the latter for the expected 500 participants. Events last year were held online only, but Jewish Federations until the recent spike in coronavirus cases had hoped to reemerge into in-person events. Instead,
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the events Oct. 4–5 will take place online. “The health and safety of our participants is of the utmost importance to us, and we believe canceling the in-person component of the GA is the best and most prudent decision at this time,” said an email sent to participants pledging reimbursements to those who had already paid. Two years ago, Jewish Federations pivoted from the come-one, come-all model that had characterized the General Assembly for decades, drawing about 3,000 participants, to an invitation-only “lab” template that would focus more intensely on two or three issues. Other Jewish organizations are proceeding cautiously as well. AIPAC, the pro-Israel powerhouse, canceled its annual policy conference in March and also in March next year. (JTA)
ARIZONA IS THE 8TH STATE TO LAUNCH REVIEW INTO POSSIBLE BEN & JERRY’S SANCTIONS Arizona has become the eighth state to begin reviewing whether Ben & Jerry’s plans to withdraw from doing business in the West Bank merits sanctions under its law targeting the Israel boycott movement. In emails obtained by the JTA, the state’s treasurer earlier this month asked Unilever, the ice cream manufacturer’s parent company, to comply with its 2016 law. It requires state entities, including pension funds, to divest from companies boycotting Israel or businesses in territories under Israel’s control, explicitly including the West Bank. The treasurer’s office gave Unilever 90 days to do so. Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s have said they are not observing the movement to boycott, divest, and sanction Israel, or BDS, because they are only seeking to pull out of the West Bank, and plan to continue sales in Israel. There are 34 states in total that require their governments to stop doing business with companies that boycott Israel— and 21 of those, like Arizona, include West Bank settlement boycotts in their definitions. So far, eight states are known to have triggered similar reviews that could result in divesting from Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever. In addition to Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Maryland,
and Rhode Island have launched formal proceedings. “This is significant because Arizona is a major trade partner with Israel,” IAC For Action, the legislative and policymaking arm of the Israeli-American Council, which initiated the review with a formal request, said in a statement. (JTA)
DAILY BEAST TO REVIEW EDITORIAL STANDARDS AFTER WRITER CALLS ISRAELI ARMY ‘GENOCIDAL’ The Daily Beast has edited an article to remove the word “genocidal” as a description for Israel’s military. Criticizing the choice of Mayim Bialik as a host of the game show Jeopardy!, the article, published Thursday, August 12, said that in 2014, the Jewish actor had “proclaimed her donation toward bulletproof vests for the genocidal Israeli Defense Forces.” Accusations that Israel is committing a genocide of the Palestinians spiked during the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, despite the objections of human rights lawyers. The story drew condemnation from Jews and Jewish organizations on social media, including the American Jewish Committee. Appearing to respond to the criticism, the article’s author, Tirhakah Love, who recently joined the Daily Beast as an entertainment reporter, tweeted, “the Zionists should really stop emailing me cus girl I do not care.” In a subsequent tweet, Love said Zionism was “an articulation of white supremacy.” After the word was removed, a subsequent sentence was added about the April 2021 Human Rights Watch report that said some of Israel’s actions in the West Bank and Gaza “amount to the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.” “The story has been updated to replace the word genocidal in reference to the IDF,” the Daily Beast said in response to a request for comment from JTA. The website added, “The Daily Beast is developing an editorial standard for future use of the word.” The Daily Beast did not immediately respond to a follow-up question about Love’s tweets, which are still up as of press time. (JTA)
