Combatting Antisemitism, Saving Abigail, Fighting Back

Alyza Lewin is the recently appointed President of U.S. Affairs for the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), where she leads strategic engagement with government, educational and civic institutions nationwide. She previously served as President of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, where she spearheaded landmark legal efforts protecting the civil rights of Jewish students and employees across the U.S. We examine the spate of antisemitism today with a particular focus on Australia and the emergence of virulent antiZionism - an especially insidious form of antisemitism. (0:27-25:07) Liz Hirsh Naftali is the author of "Saving Abigail: The True Story of the Abduction and Rescue of a Three-Year-Old Hostage," which chronicles the harrowing ordeal her great-niece endured after being orphaned and taken hostage in Gaza for 51 days. The unimaginable tragedy struck her family on October 7, 2023, when her niece and nephew were murdered in front of their three young children in Kfar Aza. Liz’s commitment as a hostage advocate and humanitarian began in those agonizing hours and grew more impactful from her strenuous efforts to see all the hostages freed from the clutches of Hamas. (25:07-42:31) In 1948, Stan Andrews left a comfortable postwar life in Los Angeles to travel to the war-torn Middle East, where a four-front Arab invasion threatened to destroy the newly-declared State of Israel. There he joined the Israeli Air Force and became one of its first fighter pilots. Andrews was an unexpected volunteer for the fight for a Jewish state. He was many things-an artist, writer, assimilated Jew, ladies' man, pilot, and combat veteran of the Pacific War. He had previously been aloof from the struggle for Jewish independence but found himself so roused by the anti-Semitism of 1940s America that he decided to go to Israel and risk everything. Jeffrey and Craig Weiss have documented Stan's extraordinary story and I will speak with Jeffrey Weiss about Stan Andrews, a Jewish hero who has become the stuff of legend. (42:31-57:29) Support the show: https://www.j-air.com.au/get-involved/membership/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.