Jewish Federation of NEPA Non-profit Organization 601 Jefferson Ave. U.S. POSTAGE PAID The Scranton, PA 18510 Permit # 184 Watertown, NY Change Service Requested Published by the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania VOLUME IX, NUMBER 19 OCTOBER 6, 2016 Shimon Peres, last of Israel’s founders, dies BY BEN SALES of the country’s resilience TEL AVIV (JTA) – – able to survive, thrive Shimon Peres, the former and remain optimistic – no defense hawk turned Nobel matter the challenges. Peace Prize winner and the “Shimon devoted his last of Israel’s founders, life to our nation and to the died in September 28 at 93, pursuit of peace,” Israeli Israel Radio reported. Prime Minister Benjamin The phoenix of Israeli Netanyahu said in a state- politics, Peres continually ment. “He set his gaze on reinvented himself as the Shimon Peres in New York the future. He did so much country changed. He began City on October 24, 2014. to protect our people. He his career in the Defense (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty worked to his last days for Ministry and was the ar- Images) peace and a better future for chitect of Israel’s nuclear all. As Israel’s president, program, but in his later years Peres was Shimon did so much to unite the nation. more closely identified with the quest And the nation loved him for it.” for peace with the Palestinians. He was Born Szymon Perski in Wiszniewo, instrumental in negotiating the Oslo Ac- Poland, in 1923, Peres moved with his fam- ily to Tel Aviv in 1934. At 20, he became cords, the landmark Israeli-Palestinian Shimon Peres, left, walked with David Ben-Gurion, center, and an unidentified peace agreement, and was present on the the head of a Labor Zionist youth group, through which he met David Ben-Gurion, man in Kibbutz Sde Boker, Israel, on January 3, 1969. (Photo by Government White House lawn for its signing in 1993. Press Office) Though he served as prime minister who would become Israel’s first prime three times without ever winning an elec- minister. In 1945, Peres married Sonya rival party and then rejoining Mapai when coalition. He lost his party’s chairmanship tion outright, and shared the 1994 Nobel Gelman, who had just returned from World it became the Alignment in 1968. to Rabin in 1992, and again became foreign Peace Prize for a peace that has yet to War II service in the British Army. After serving in several minor min- minister when the party, now renamed materialize, Peres emerged late in life as The couple was married for 67 years, isterial positions, Peres became defense Labor, won elections that year. Israel’s beloved elder statesman and a rare though they separated after Peres became minister in 1974 under Prime Minister Under Rabin, Peres was the architect of figure capable of uniting a fractious society. a presidential candidate. Sonya Peres had Yitzhak Rabin. Peres was a territorial the Oslo Accords, which gave the Palestin- Following the signing of the Oslo long refused to play the part of political hawk, opposing early proposals for West ians autonomy in parts of the West Bank Accords, Peres emerged as Israel’s global wife and, after Peres moved to the presi- Bank withdrawal and supporting settle- and Gaza. He shared the Nobel Peace Prize ambassador for peace, predicting the emer- dent’s residence in Jerusalem, she changed ment expansion. When Rabin resigned with Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser gence of a “new Middle East” in which con- the name on her Tel Aviv mailbox to Sonya amid scandal in 1977, Peres briefly be- Arafat. “Israel’s role in the Middle East flict was supplanted by shared prosperity. Gal, a Hebraicized version of her maiden came acting prime minister, then lost the should be to contribute to a great, sustained Elected to the largely ceremonial role of name. Sonya Peres died in 2011 at 87. post when the Alignment was defeated in regional revival,” Peres said upon accepting president in 2007, talk of peace pervaded In 1947, Peres joined the Haganah, the 1977 election by Menachem Begin’s the prize. “A Middle East without wars, nearly every speech he gave. Well into his managing arms purchases and personnel. Likud party. without enemies, without ballistic missiles, 90s, Peres still insisted he would live to see After Israel gained independence the Peres headed the Alignment – the without nuclear warheads.” the day when peace would come. following year, he continued working precursor to today’s Labor Party – for After Rabin was assassinated in 1995, Peace, however, doomed his political in the Defense Ministry, becoming its the next 15 years, contesting three more Peres became acting prime minister, but career. After middling political success youngest-ever director-general in 1952 at close elections with Likud. The two parties lost the post again in a close race with in the 1980s, the Oslo Accords debilitat- 29. In that capacity, he expanded Israeli formed a unity government following the Likud’s Netanyahu. Following his defeat ed Peres’ Labor Party, which fell from arms purchases from France and later 1984 elections – Peres was prime minis- in ‘96, he founded the Peres Center for power in 2001 with the outbreak of the helped manage the 1956 Sinai Campaign. ter from 1984-86, then foreign minister Peace, which runs programs aimed at second intifada and has yet to win another He also founded Israel’s arms production under Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir regional reconciliation. election. When Peres won the presidency industry and led efforts to develop a nu- from 1986-88. Peres remained in the Labor Party in 2007, he was a member of Kadima, a clear weapon. As foreign minister in 1987, Peres through 2005, twice regaining the chair- short-lived centrist party. Peres was first elected to the Knesset conducted secret negotiations with King manship and serving another stint as As president, Peres rose again, this in 1959 with Ben-Gurion’s ruling Mapai Hussein of Jordan for Israel to withdraw foreign minister under Prime Minister time as Israel’s wise old man. Free to rise party, becoming deputy defense minister. from the West Bank as part of an Israe- Ariel Sharon. In 2006, following the Is- above the political fray, Peres trumpeted He would serve in the Knesset for an as- li-Jordanian peace treaty. But Shamir raeli withdrawal from Gaza, Peres joined Israel’s technological achievements and yet unmatched total of 48 years. Peres rejected the proposed agreement and Sharon’s new centrist Kadima party. articulated its hopes for a brighter future. remained a close Ben-Gurion ally, splitting the following year Jordan unilaterally The next year, he won a race for Is- More than anything, he became a symbol from Mapai with him in 1965 to form a relinquished its claim to the West Bank. rael’s largely ceremonial presidency. As After the Alignment lost the 1988 president, Peres stayed largely above the elections, Peres again joined a Likud-led political fray, though he conducted secret government as finance minister, but tried negotiations with Palestinian Authority to overthrow the government two years President Mahmoud Abbas in 2011, cul- later. In what became known as the Dirty minating in a peace deal that Netanyahu’s Trick, Peres assembled an Alignment-led government rejected. After leaving the coalition with leftist and haredi Orthodox presidency, Peres remained largely silent parties, only to see it fall apart after he on politics. received a mandate to form a governing See “Peres” on page 3 Federation on Candle lighting October 7 ......................................6:16 pm Facebook October 11 ................................... 6:09 pm The Jewish Federation of Northeastern October 14 ...................................6:04 pm Pennsylvania now has a page on Facebook October 16 ...................................6:01 pm to let community members know about L-r: Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin presented their Nobel Peace October 17 ........................ after 6:49 pm Prize certificates in Oslo, Norway, in 1994. (Photo by Government Press Office) upcoming events and keep connected. October 21 ..................................5:54 pm INSIDE THIS ISSUE October 23 ...................................5:51 pm October 24 ....................... after 6:49 pm Yom Kippur Jews in Uganda On the silver screen October 28 .................................. 5:44 pm B’nai Harim announces a break The Jewish community in Uganda Israel’s top film focuses on a the fast buffet; atoning for online builds a new synagogue and ties Bedouin family; Deborah Lipstadt’s PLUS sins; and recipes for a break-fast. with its non-Jewish neighbors. court win is recreated in “Denial.” Opinion .......................................................2 Stories on pages 3, 6 and 7 Story on page 4 Stories on pages 8-9 D’var Torah .............................................10 2 THE REPORTER ■ OCTOBER 6, 2016 A MATTER OF OPINION Anti-Israel bias in academia on campus BY DR. YVETTE ALT MILLER universities as well. While it would be, at Vassar, Michaela Pohl, a non-Jew- one-sided attacks on Israel, ridiculing Reprinted courtesy of www.aish.com rightly, unthinkable to call for the de- ish history professor, penned an open and encouraging students to ridicule ACADEMICS ARE INCREASINGLY struction of any other country, univer- letter describing the chilling effects of those who questioned his assertions. CALLING FOR THE END OF THE sities and academics are increasingly anti-Israel speech at her campus and One student reported breaking down in JEWISH STATE WITH IMPUNITY calling for the end of the Jewish state at campuses around the world that are tears and changing her major after being One of the latest offerings at the Uni- with impunity. increasingly hosting ever more virulent mocked in class. versity of California, Berkeley, is a course In the past two years, more than levels of anti-Israel discourse.