Participants on the UJA mission to Saudi Arabia

Against the backdrop of sweeping changes in Israel-Arab relations, a group of 13 American Jewish leaders toured Saudi Arabia earlier this month to learn about Islam and teach the Saudis about Judaism, the first trip of its kind for federation leaders and clergy to the Arab kingdom, Jewish Insider’s Jacob Miller reports. The four-day trip, which ended on June 16 and was organized by American philanthropist Eli Epstein, comes weeks before President Joe Biden’s upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia and Israel, where he is expected to push for relations between the two countries in an attempt to expand the number of Arab nations that have normalized ties with Israel over the last two years as a result of the Abraham Accords. The visitors were hosted by the Muslim World League, a Saudi-funded nonprofit dedicated to promoting peace and tolerance.

Talking Points: Eric Goldstein, CEO of UJA-Federation of New York, told JI that he thinks the trip achieved its goal of dialogue, referencing a conversation between one of the trip’s rabbis and a Saudi photographer, in which the two discussed shawarma toppings. “You have a Saudi photographer, who has literally never, ever spoken to a Jew, and the warm interconnection, and the sense of common worldview, where they came together around the best way to eat shawarma with the best topping is something that, you know, will inform his sense of Jewishness forever,” Goldstein said. “And it’s real. It’s amazing.”

Connected Countries: UJA-Federation Executive Vice President Mark Medin commented on the degree of openness in Saudi Arabia. “What struck many of us was our ability to take our phone out of our pocket and read the Times of Israel, or read Jewish Insider, or read the Jerusalem Post or Haaretz,” Medin told JI. “[They have] a totally open web system where any Saudi will connect to the web and any traveler to Saudi Arabia has the ability to follow the news in Israel.” During the trip, Goldstein said he received a phone call from his son who lives in Tel Aviv, and noted that communication between Saudi and Israeli civilians was easy. Goldstein left the country cautiously optimistic about prospects for relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. “This is not inevitable,” he said, “but you can’t walk away [anything] but excited by the potentially tectonic transformation.”

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NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks onstage during Global Citizen Live, New York on September 25, 2021, in New York City.

Bill de Blasio drew criticism from the Congressional Black Caucus on Monday over recent comments in which the former New York City mayor said he wished a friend and former two-time Democratic House candidate in Cleveland, Nina Turner, had been elected to Congress, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

Caucus comment: The caucus viewed de Blasio’s remarks as dismissive of a fellow member, freshman Rep. Shontel Brown, who defeated Turner in two consecutive cycles in Ohio’s 11th Congressional District, most recently in last month’s Democratic primary. The CBC’s political action committee endorsed Brown over Turner, a former Ohio state senator and progressive stalwart who had cast herself as a future Squad member. “We don’t agree with the comments made by former Mayor de Blasio and think that it diminishes the amazing work that Rep. Brown is doing,” Yolonda Addison, the CBC PAC’s executive director, told JI on Monday. “However, due to her decisive win, she’s able to continue her working on behalf of the people of Northeast Ohio.”

One New Yorker to another: Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), a CBC member who stumped for Brown in the lead-up to last month’s Democratic primary, was even more critical of de Blasio, who is now running for Congress in New York’s redrawn 10th Congressional District. “I find it striking that he would lament the defeat of Nina Turner and, by implication, the victory of Shontel Brown,” Torres said. “He is doing himself no favors by implicitly denigrating a well-regarded member of the House Democratic Caucus, a CBC member for whom the majority whip and the caucus chair campaigned in person.”

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Teacher reading her pupils a story at the elementary school

Last fall, Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin put a bull’s-eye on Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved. It came in the form of an ad that his opponent saw as an attempt to get the book banned in schools because of its vivid portrayal of slavery. Now, the nationwide book-banning debate has come for the Holocaust, but with a twist. A Saturday afternoon panel at last weekend’s conference of the American Library Association in Washington, D.C., sparked controversy over the panelists’ approach to Holocaust denial, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

Tweet storm: “Today there was a sentiment made by panelists that we even must include Holocaust denial books. Holocaust denial is harmful misinformation,” Kelsey Bogan, a Pennsylvania-based high school librarian, tweeted from the conference, setting off a flood of angry responses from conferencegoers and others who work in the field.

In denial: Bogan was referring to an exchange between Nancy Pearl, a writer and librarian, and New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds, in which the two literary figures appeared to argue that opposing book bans means that no book — even one that promotes false claims about the Holocaust — can be banned, according to a livestream of the panel.

Hate speech “As librarians we’re trained to develop a collection that provides multiple perspectives on a subject or on a topic. So when you’re talking about something like the Holocaust, denial isn’t a perspective. That’s a form of antisemitism, a form of hate speech,” said Matthew Good, a middle school librarian and Holocaust and human rights educator in Lancaster, Pa. “​Libraries have very finite budgets to begin with, and so wanting to spend money on something that denies a factual historical event is, in my view, unconscionable.”

Bigger picture: The discussion at the ALA conference came one year after April Powers, the Jewish diversity chief at a prominent publishing nonprofit, stepped down from her position following a barrage of criticism from anti-Israel writers over a statement she wrote condemning antisemitism, sparking a conversation about bias against Jewish authors in the world of children’s literature, or “kidlit.”

Change of heart: Pearl later walked back her remarks, telling JI in a statement: “If I were buying books for a library I would not buy books that deny the Holocaust.” A spokesperson for Reynolds did not respond to a request for comment. Liza Wiemer, an award-winning author whose book The Assignment addressed the teaching of the Holocaust, told JI that she had a productive conversation with him about his comments. “Under no circumstances does Jason Reynolds support inclusion of Holocaust denial books for Holocaust education, nor does he support including Holocaust denial books in libraries,” she said.

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Reps. Sean Casten (D-IL) and Marie Newman (D-IL)

After high-profile spending in a few early primary races that garnered headlines — and controversy — United Democracy Project and Democratic Majority for Israel PAC, both pro-Israel super PACs, have turned their focus to a few upcoming primaries, injecting significant capital into a new set of Democratic races, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Illinois intrigue: Ahead of Tuesday’s primaries in Illinois, Democratic Majority for Israel has spent $540,000 opposing Rep. Marie Newman (D-IL) and supporting Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL). The group also spent $157,000 on digital ads and mailers supporting Chicago City Council member Gilbert Villegas and opposing Illinois House member Delia Ramirez.

Ethics attack: DMFI’s ad against Newman highlights the ongoing congressional ethics investigation into the first-term Chicago-area congresswoman, which is focused on her alleged effort to keep a potential primary rival out of the race by offering him a highly paid job. That individual, who remains an advisor to Newman’s campaign, had also demanded broad control over her Middle East policy. DMFI also sent a mailer touting Casten’s accomplishments in office.

Maryland matters: Next month’s Democratic primary in Maryland’s 4th Congressional District between former Rep. Donna Edwards and former Prince’s Geoge’s County state attorney Glenn Ivey is emerging as the next major battleground between the United Democracy Project super PAC, an AIPAC-linked group, and J Street PAC. The two groups clashed in a number of high-profile races in May, with UDP spending $6.4 million in Democratic primaries that month, and more than $10 million total this year.

Big money: As of June 23 — nearly a month ahead of the July 19 primary — UDP had spent nearly $1.9 million on attack ads targeting Edwards. J Street is spending $100,000 on digital ads supporting Edwards, but a J Street spokesperson told JI that the ads have not yet gone live. Pro-Israel America and DMFI have also lent their support to Ivey, and AIPAC’s PAC has directed at least $160,000 in donations to him.

Up next: As for UDP’s future plans: “We are assessing a significant number of races, including Republican primaries, to ensure that Congress has the broadest possible bipartisan pro-Israel coalition,” the group’s spokesperson, Patrick Dorton, said.

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