FBI warning Iran could attack California one of ‘numerous’ received daily, governor’s office tells JNS
(JNS) — The FBI warned police departments in California that Iran could attack the state with drones if the United States launched strikes against Iran, ABC News reported on Mar. 11. An FBI spokesman declined to comment to JNS.
Diana Crofts-Pelayo, deputy director of communications for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, told JNS that the state’s Office of Emergency Services is “actively working with state, local and federal security officials to protect our communities.”
According to the Democratic governor’s office, the bulletin, about which ABC reported, “is one of numerous security updates the state receives from federal partners daily and disseminates to local law enforcement and emergency responders.”
The emergency services office “elevated its security posture since the start of the conflict in the Middle East to share around the clock updates and intelligence to keep Californians safe,” per Newsom’s office.
A spokesman for the state emergency services office told JNS that it is in “regular coordination with federal, state and local partners, sharing information on potential threats as part of security efforts.”
“While we can’t discuss sensitive details, Californians should know that this kind of coordination happens every day to keep people safe,” the spokesman said.
“California is prepared to protect its communities, and we’ll continue working closely with our federal partners, including the FBI, who is best positioned to speak to any specific intelligence,” the spokesman told JNS.
1,100+ rabbis sign onto letter supporting immigrant rights: ‘Do Not Oppress the Stranger’
(JTA) — Over 1,100 Jewish clergy from across the United States have signed onto a letter affirming their support for immigrant rights and calling on leaders not to “wrong or oppress the stranger.”
The letter published by the Jewish refugee aid group HIAS comes as Jewish communities across the country are grappling with the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policies.
“To be a Jew is to advocate for law to be just, compassionate, and fair, and cry out when power is wielded with cruelty,” the letter reads. “In every generation, the Jewish soul is marked by the memory of migration. In this moment, that memory calls us to courage: To reclaim and recenter our moral compass. … To declare to our leaders: Do not wrong or oppress the stranger.”
The letter follows one in January from Jewish organizations and synagogues in Minnesota opposing the “volatile” status of immigration enforcement operations in the area, writing, “There are too many stories of lives upended by what the government itself refers to as the ICE surge.”
Citing biblical passages and calling on leaders not to “wrong or oppress the stranger,” the new letter was signed by Jewish clergy from 45 states and released Mar. 11 in advance of HIAS’ annual “Refugee Shabbat.”
The letter’s signatories included Amy Eilberg, the first woman to be ordained by the Conservative movement; Irving Greenberg, the prominent Modern Orthodox rabbi, and David Wolpe, the rabbi emeritus of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.
Cornell Hillel breaks ground on long-awaited Jewish student center
(JNS) — Hillel International broke ground at Cornell University on March 8 on a long-planned Jewish student center designed to strengthen campus Jewish life.
The campus Hillel has operated since 1952 out of Annabel Taylor Hall, a university building shared with other faith communities. Rabbi Ari Weiss, executive director of the Grinspoon Hillel Center for Jewish Community at the private university in Ithaca, N.Y., told JNS that setting up at Harkavy Hall, a new building, has “been a dream of the Hillel and our community for at least 30 years.”
Weiss has been the director for 10 years. He told JNS that one of his children excitedly brought a construction hard hat from the groundbreaking to kindergarten to show his friends.
The $52 million capital campaign to fund the construction has thus far raised $37.2 million from 1,286 donors, Weiss said.
The name of the new Hillel building honors Harriet Harkavy, a Cornell alumna and “lead donor to the facility,” according to the university newspaper.
The first floor is intended to include a lounge centered around a fireplace and the kosher Herb’s Cafe. Additional spaces will include study areas, prayer spaces, meeting rooms for student organizations and a large kitchen for catering and initiatives, such as challah baking for charity.
Assault of Hebrew-speaking Israelis in San Jose, Calif., spurs outcry and investigation
(JTA) — Jewish leaders in California are condemning an assault of Hebrew-speaking Israelis outside a San Jose cafe on Mar. 8 that has sparked a viral video and a police investigation.
J. The Jewish News of Northern California obtained multiple videos of the assault and its immediate aftermath and spoke to the Israeli men, who said the two groups had not interacted before the incident. One of them said he recalled hearing one of the assailants say an antisemitic slur during the attack.
The videos show three men punching an older man as diners look on, some shouting but none intervening. One of the assailants loses his shoe and retrieves it before he and the other two men with him run off along Santana Row, a thoroughfare lined by outdoor dining. The videos do not show what happened immediately before the assault began.
The J. also spoke to multiple witnesses, including a retail worker whose parents were born in Iran and said he heard one of the assailants speaking Farsi, the language spoken there.
The incident comes at a time of high alert for Israelis and Jews because of the U.S-Israel war on Iran, which has a record of staging attacks on Jewish targets around the world. It also adds to a string of incidents, many in Europe, in which Israelis abroad say they have been assaulted because of their national identity when someone has heard them speaking Hebrew.
After JNS query, US Justice Dept amends statement, says ‘not recognizing Palestine as a country’
(JNS) — In response to a query from JNS, the U.S. Justice Department amended a press release on Mar. 11 that refers to “Palestine” as a country.
The department added an asterisk and affixed a disclaimer that “this designation shall not be construed as recognition of a state of Palestine and is without prejudice to the individual positions of the member states on this issue.”
Matthew Nies, a public affairs specialist at the Justice Department, told JNS that the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation drafted the press release. Europol, which led the international effort, added the same disclaimer to its release.
“The DOJ is not recognizing Palestine as a country,” Nies told JNS. “Europol led the operation and drafted the press release. We have updated our press release to include a disclaimer.”
The release is about a multinational operation against environmental crime and illegal waste trafficking, activities that authorities said are increasingly tied to organized crime networks. The U.S. Justice Department was on the steering committee of the effort and helped design and plan the operation, it said.
