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Sarah Silverman posts pro-Sanders video on YouTube

Comedian Sarah Silverman has released a YouTube video in support of Bernie Sanders’ bid for the Democratic nomination for president.

“Bernie Sanders is the one for me,” a five-minute monologue backing the Vermont senator, was posted on March 27.

Silverman says in the video that she has been a Hillary Clinton supporter because the idea of a Democratic female president appeals to her, and that she viewed Clinton’s receipt of donations from big-money interests as a “necessary evil.”

“I’m not against Hillary,” Silverman said. “I’ve just met someone I have more in common with.”

Silverman points out that Sanders has managed to run a successful campaign on small donations, calling his effort a “giant [expletive] you to the above-the-law billionaire class.”

The video encourages viewers to get out and vote, no matter whom they vote for.

In 2008, Silverman made “The Great Schlep” video in support of Barack Obama to convince her grandparents and other grandparents to vote for the then-Illinois senator for president. — jta

Jewish PAC endorses Hillary Clinton 

A Jewish political action committee endorsed Hillary Clinton for president and pledged to help get out the vote for her.

The Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs, known as JACPAC, cited Clinton’s work as secretary of state in trying to bring about Israeli-Arab peace and her embrace of pro-Israel positions, as well as her commitment to maintaining abortion rights.

“A Hillary Clinton presidency will be an important step to safeguarding JAC’s issues; the women’s vote will be critical to Hillary’s success and JAC will be working hard to get the vote out,” the group said in a statement.

JACPAC focuses on Israel, abortion rights, gun control and church-state separation. It has endorsed Democrats and moderate Republicans for Congress. — jta

 

Republican Jewish Coalition targeting four Senate races

The Republican Jewish Coalition named four incumbent GOP senators as at risk in a fundraising drive.

The fundraising email sent March 28 listed Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Portman of Ohio and Mark Kirk of Illinois as needing RJC assistance in winning re-election.

Republicans are defending 24 seats in this year’s Senate race and Democrats 10.

Democrats need to win four Senate seats and the presidency to regain control of the body, giving a Democratic president a leg up in advancing legislation and approving Supreme Court judges. — jta

 

Poll shows Sanders, Clinton tied among Jewish voters

Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have virtually the same high approval ratings among American Jews.

Gallup said in a March 24 article on its website that an aggregation of Jewish respondents to its daily polling showed Jewish voters favor Sanders, an Independent Vermont senator, at 61 percent favorable, and Clinton, a former secretary of state, at 60 percent. Sanders’ unfavorable ratings are 30 percent and Clinton’s are 35 percent.

Among Republican presidential candidates, only Ohio Gov. John Kasich has higher favorable than unfavorable ratings among Jewish voters, 45 percent to 28 percent. Kasich is last among candidates with delegates accumulated in the primaries.

The GOP front-runner, Donald Trump, a real estate magnate, scores 72 percent unfavorable to 24 percent favorable, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, 72 percent unfavorable to 20 percent favorable. — jta

 

Georgia becomes 6th state to pass anti-BDS legislation

Georgia became the sixth state to pass a law targeting the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, and the fifth to include settlements as protected from boycott.

The bill was approved March 24 by the Georgia Senate in a 41-8 vote. Two days earlier, the Georgia House of Representatives passed the measure in a 95-71 vote.Lawmakers from both parties supported the bill, which is expected to be signed into law by Republican Gov. Nathan Deal.

Under the measure, the government is forbidden from contracting with individuals or companies that fail to certify for the pact’s duration that they are not boycotting Israel or businesses in Israeli-controlled territories.

In addition to Georgia, states that have passed anti-BDS legislation over the last year include Florida, Illinois, South Carolina, Indiana and Arizona. All but South Carolina extend the anti-boycott protections to Israeli settlements.

Similar bills are under consideration in another dozen or so states, as well as in Congress. Additionally, Tennessee, Massachusetts and Maryland in recent years have passed nonbinding resolutions opposing Israel boycotts. — jta

 

Supremacist claims responsibility for anti-Semitic hacking

A white supremacist computer hacker said he was behind anti-Semitic, racist fliers that appeared on printers at more than a dozen colleges last week, including U.C. Berkeley.

Andrew Auernheimer, who goes by the name “Weev,” exploited network printers at the colleges to produce the swastika-covered fliers, he claimed.

Auernheimer, 30, was part of a group that in 2010 hacked AT&T’s servers and accessed the data of 114,000 customers. His conviction on identity fraud and conspiracy to access a computer without authorization was overturned on appeal.

The self-described “white nation­al­ist hack­tivist” sent the fliers to every publicly accessible printer in North America and did not specifically target college campuses, he told various media outlets.

The fliers read: “White man … are you sick and tired of the Jews destroying your country through mass immigration and degeneracy? Join us in the struggle for global white supremacy at The Daily Stormer.” A pair of large swastikas appear alongside the address of the neo-Nazi website.

Among the colleges hit by the fliers were U.C. Berkeley, Princeton University, Smith College, Brown University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Mount Holyoke College. At least seven campus Hillels also were affected, according to the Anti-Defamation League New England.

In an October 2014 feature on the Daily Dot, Auernheimer described himself as “a longtime critic of Judaism, black culture, immigration to Western nations and the media’s constant stream of anti-white propaganda,” according to the Anti-Defamation League. The article said he has a “giant swastika tattoo.”

That same month, the ADL noted, Auernheimer ranted about “the Jews” and their unprecedented “empire of wickedness” on the Daily Stormer.

Universities have notified the police and launched investigations, but it was unclear if Auernheimer broke any laws, according to the New York Times.

Anti-gay and anti-transgender fliers appeared March 28 on printers at Berkeley and Amherst, the Times reported. Auernheimer said he was not involved.  — jta