LLX News

By: Michael Gryboski – The Christian Post; christianpost.com

More than 50 public libraries have not accepted an offer for a Kirk Cameron story hour featuring his new children’s book, even though they allow drag queen story hours, according to his publisher.

In an interview with Fox News, Brave Books said over 50 public libraries have either not responded to their request for a Cameron story hour or declined.

The publisher cited the example of Rochambeau Public Library of Providence, Rhode Island, which declined the story hour offer. The library described itself as a “very queer-friendly library.”

“You can fill out the form to reserve space, to run the program in our space — but we won’t run your program,” said a representative of the library, according to Brave Books. “Our messaging does not align.”

Rochambeau offers a “Queer Umbrella” program for youth, according to Fox News, which describes itself as a “club and safe space where teens can learn, discuss and connect over queer history, art, community resources, and more.”

Another example cited by Brave Books was City Heights/Weingart Branch Library of San Diego, California, which had a representative reportedly tell the publisher that given “how diverse our community is, I don’t know how many people you would get.”

For his part, Cameron told Fox News Digital that he believed the rejections were “proof that more than ever, we are getting destroyed in the battle for the hearts and minds of our children.”

cont’d…

https://www.christianpost.com/news/drag-queen-story-hour-ok-but-not-kirk-cameron-public-libraries-say.html

Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

“I repeat clearly and unambiguously: Jerusalem is the capital of Israel,” says Conservative Party head Pierre Poilievre.

Canadian Opposition Leader and Conservative Party head Pierre Poilievre vowed on Tuesday to move the Canadian Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem if he is elected prime minister.

“I announced my recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital [while campaigning] and now, as opposition leader and head of the Conservative Party, I repeat clearly and unambiguously: Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and when I am elected prime minister of Canada, I will ensure that our embassy is relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” said Poilievre.

He made the comments to fellow Canadian lawmakers and Israeli diplomats during a gathering on Parliament Hill in Ottawa organized by the Keep Jerusalem–Im Eshkachech group, which educates communities about the centrality of Jerusalem in Jewish life and the importance of maintaining the city united and secure under Israeli sovereignty.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/canadian-opposition-leader-vows-to-move-embassy-to-jerusalem-if-elected-prime-minister/

By: Howard Blas – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

American Judaica artist Jeanette Kuvin Oren is well-known for her work in many media. She designs unique Torah mantles, ark curtains, chuppah wedding canopies, ketubah marriage contracts, papercuts, stained glass and nearly any ritual object or decoration a synagogue, Jewish home or family would ever need.

On Oct. 20, Kuvin Oren added “designer of a U.S. Postal Service stamp” to her impressive résumé. The “Hanukkah Forever” postage stamp is based on one of Kuvin Oren’s works.

“Jeanette’s art came to my attention several years ago and I am very happy to be able to bring her work to a very wide audience,” Ethel Kessler of Kessler Design, who serves as art director for stamps at the USPS, says enthusiastically. “Her work has a glowing and joyful spirit and that’s what I wanted to add to our U.S. Hanukkah series.”

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/us-postal-service-celebrates-hanukkah-with-forever-stamp/

By: John Waage – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – Before the FIFA World Cup soccer championships began in Qatar 10 days ago, Israelis were optimistic that the event could break cultural barriers in sports and within the Muslim world at large. After all, the government in Doha allowed direct flights from Israel and was even setting up a Kosher kitchen to accommodate Jewish tourists.

Qatar is the first Muslim country to host the world cup, and although protests against the Gulf nation’s funding of terrorism and other issues were prevalent before the games. Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, built an entire studio to cover the matches in Doha despite the Israel team’s failure to qualify for the final 32 teams. In the afterglow of the Abraham Accords and given Israel’s passion for soccer, it seemed like a solid decision.

Since then, the talk of Kosher kitchens has given way to darker accounts. The Associated Press describes an incident before the matches began when an Israeli Kan journalist was wandering through the venue and found a Qatari man in a traditional headdress and white robe, and approached him for an interview:

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/november/israelis-in-qatar-jarred-by-hostile-reception-from-fans-residents

By: Daniel Copeland – CBN News; cbn.com

ANALYSIS

Barna Group isn’t new to generational research—and the discouragement that sometimes comes with it. In research of Christianity and the Church, in particular, the news of declining faith and engagement, especially among young people, can tend to overshadow any bright spots in the data.

In this piece, however, I want to share some of those rare bits of good news: Our most recent (and largest) study to date shows that, for Gen Z, there is much reason to be hopeful and optimistic.

I want to address just one area here: their perceptions of the Bible.

We surveyed nearly 25,000 teens ages 13 to 17 from 26 nations. Those surveyed came from all faith backgrounds, including teens of no faith. We discovered the Church may have a launching point from which to begin authentically discipling this next generation.

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2022/november/study-shows-much-of-gen-z-believes-the-bible-is-true-ndash-heres-the-good-and-the-bad-news

By: Jerusalem Post Staff; jpost.com

The West Bank “is not occupied territory, it is disputed territory,” DeSantis told the RJC. “I don’t care what the State Department says.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis defended Israel’s claim to the West Bank in his speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s (RJC) annual leadership meeting on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

According to the 2024 presidential hopeful, the West Bank “is not occupied territory, it is disputed territory,” he claimed. “I don’t care what the State Department says.”

The Floridian was one of a host of Republican leaders who spoke at the convention, including former US president Donald Trump and likely the next speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, who told Jewish Republicans he plans to remove outspoken anti-Israel Democrat Ilhan Omar from the US House Foreign Affairs Committee.

cont’d…

https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/article-722930

By: Paul Strand – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – A German Jewish leader in Brandenburg state is making Aliyah to Israel and has called for his fellow Jews to flee the German nation because of rising anti-Semitism.

Semen Gorelik fled the former Soviet Union when he was young. Now he is calling for a mass exodus from the former Nazi nation that committed the Holocaust. In an interview with CBN News in Jerusalem, prominent Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said he understands why Gorelik would leave.

“It’s not safe for him. He doesn’t like hiding his Jewish identity in public,” Cooper explained. “He’s urging all other Jews to follow him and come to Israel.”

In a public letter on The Axis of Good website, Gorelik announced, “I recommend everyone who professes Judaism to leave this country as soon as possible.”

He wrote of Germany, “With its anti-Jewish foreign and domestic policies, the country has proven that anti-Semitism is an inseparable part of the state political ideology of this country. You can’t live in this country as a Jew!   And I don’t want to live in this country anymore.”

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/november/rise-in-anti-semitism-prompts-german-jewish-leader-to-leave-for-israel-urges-other-jews-to-get-out-while-they-can

By: Etgar Lefkovits – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

Congressional Israel Allies Caucus members call on 27 countries to help shutter organizations that exist solely to delegitimize the Jewish state.

In a renewed push of faith-based diplomacy, three heads of the U.S. Congressional Israel Allies Caucus have written to the leaders of more than two dozen countries urging them to vote to shutter two anti-Israel U.N. institutions in a vote that will come before the General Assembly later this year.

The appeal comes as the Palestinians pushed through a draft resolution at a U.N. committee Friday over the objections of the U.S. and Israel calling on the International Court of Justice to issue a legal opinion on Israel’s “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of Palestinian territory.” The unilateral move is expected to be approved by the General Assembly by the end of the year.

The letter, which was signed by Reps. Doug Lamborn (R.-Colo.), Chris Smith (R.-N.J.) and Steve Chabot (R.-Ohio), urges 27 world leaders to join the U.S. in opposing the annual resolutions that approve the continued function and activities of two anti-Israel UN bodies, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) and the Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR). The signatories said the two bodies exist solely to delegitimize and defame the State of Israel.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/congressmen-urge-world-leaders-to-terminate-anti-israel-un-bodies/

Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

The former U.S. president was honored with the Theodor Herzl Gold Medallion at the Zionist Organization of America’s 2022 Gala in New York City.

Israel is a modern-day “miracle” and its relationship with the United States is deep-seated and multi-dimensional, former U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday.

Speaking at the Zionist Organization of America’s 2022 Gala in New York City, Trump said, “The United States and Israel are not just allies on a military basis, but economically and politically; we’re allies morally, culturally and spiritually and we always will be—at least if I have anything to do about it.”

The former president spoke after being honored with the organization’s Theodor Herzl Gold Medallion.

Founded in 1897, the Zionist Organization of America played a key role in the Jewish state’s re-establishment, and today is a leading American Jewish organization dedicated to defending Israel and the Jewish people; fighting against all forms of antisemitism, including anti-Jewish boycotts; and promoting the Jewish people’s lawful right to live in and settle historic Jewish lands.

Notable attendees among the 700 guests on Sunday night included the Trump administration’s chief Middle East peace negotiator Jason Greeblatt, Israeli parliamentarians Amir Ohana (Likud) and Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism), and law expert Alan Dershowitz.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/trump-israel-is-a-miracle-but-some-american-jews-not-doing-the-right-thing-by-it/

By: John Waage – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – The vote counting is finished following Tuesday’s Israeli elections, and Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc won a solid 64-seat majority in the Knesset, opening the door for the nation’s longest-serving prime minister to return to office after 17 months in the opposition.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid conceded defeat and called to congratulate Netanyahu Thursday evening while assuring Israelis of an orderly transition. In a statement, Lapid said, “The State of Israel is above political considerations. I wish Netanyahu success, for the people of Israel and the State of Israel.”

Tom Nides, the US Ambassador to Israel, also called Netanyahu and said he looked forward to working with him to help maintain the “unbreakable bond” between the two countries.

The final count gave Netanyahu’s Likud Party 32 seats in the next Knesset. Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party finished second with 24 seats, followed by the Religious Zionist Party with 14 seats, and Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party with 12.

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/november/its-official-netanyahu-bloc-wins-israeli-elections-with-64-seats-pm-lapid-concedes