BMA at Lexington Market, ICE in Columbia and National HIV Testing Day
BMA to open branch at LexingtonMarket
The Baltimore Museum of Art announced the June 27 opening of a branch location at Lexington Market, the world’s oldest continually operating public market, in a press release this week. BMA Lexington Market is a 250-square-foot space that will host a variety of art programs and collaborative activities. BMA Lexington Market is located near the arcade in the East Market. It will have regular hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Admission is free. According to the release, every season, “BMA Lexington Market will focus on a broad theme that acts as an umbrella for programs, activities and events presented in partnership with other organizations and individuals. In honor of the historic market, the first theme will be a focus on food, including nutrition, issues of access, local food ways, and more throughout the summer.”
ICE agents in Columbia
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were seen stopping Hispanic residents in a Columbia neighborhood June 25, according to Baltimore Fishbowl. Police have confirmed ICE reached out to let the department know about enforcement activity in the area. “The Howard County dispatch center received notification this morning that ICE would be in the Columbia area,” spokeswoman Sherry Llewelyn said via email. “This was a courtesy call to advise our personnel that there may be some activity, which is standard operating procedure. …ICE did not request HCPD assistance, nor did we offer. Howard County police were not involved in the operation in any way.” HCPD policy dictates that officers do not stop individuals to question them about their immigration status, and do not call ICE to arrest an immigrant for civil violations of federal law.
It’s National HIV Testing Day
Greater Than AIDS has partnered with Walgreens to provide free HIV testing on National HIV Testing Day, June 27. There are at least 10 participating stores within the Baltimore area. HIV testing is a recommended part of routine health care, yet many Americans are not getting tested as often as advised. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in seven HIV positive individuals in the United States are unaware of their status. To find a participating store near you, go to greaterthan.org.
Nearly 1 in 5Americans say small businesses should be able to refuse service to Jews –Survey
Nineteen percent of Americans think small business owners should be allowed to refuse service to Jews if doing so would violate their religious beliefs, a new poll shows. That is an increase from 2014, when 12 percent of respondents agreed with the statement, according to survey results published June 25 by the Public Religion Research Institute. The survey found increased support for business owners to refuse service to a number of other groups as well, including gays and lesbians, transgender people, atheists, Muslims and African Americans. The proportion of Americans who think small businesses should be able to refuse service to gays and lesbians was the highest among all the minority groups, at 30 percent. The other groups ranged from 15 percent for African Americans to 29 percent for transgender people. A significantly higher proportion of Republicans approved of service refusals in all categories than Democrats did. Twenty four percent of Republicans thought small business owners should be allowed to refuse service to Jews based on religious grounds. That number was 17 percent for Democrats. PRRI surveyed 1,100 adults via phone with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent. —JTA
Securityconcerns may end Malmo’s Jewish community by 2029
The Jewish Community of Malmo, Sweden, may need to dissolve itself by 2029 unless its current circumstances change. Community spokesman Fredrik Sieradski confirmed to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on June 25 that the shutdown was a “possible scenario” following a report June 21 in Expressen in which a local politician said the Jewish community had said it may “die out” in the coming decade, partly because of alleged indifference by authorities to the community’s security needs. The debate was about a donation of more than $4 million by two philanthropists to cover security costs. The donation followed the objection of the city government’s ruling coalition, comprising the local chapter of Prime Minister Stefan Lofven’s Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Liberals, to allocate the funds from the municipal budget, Expressen reported. Malmo’s Jewish community has declined amid frequent threats and attacks, mostly by Muslims, from 1,200 several years ago to an estimated 800 or fewer members today. Malmo has about 300,000 residents in total, of whom more than a third were either born in Muslim countries or to immigrants from such countries, according to the municipality’s own data.
Read more: Security concerns may end Malmo’s Jewish community by 2029
HBO seriesabout events leading to 2014 Gaza War to premiere
“Our Boys,”a 10-part series about the events that led to the 2014 Gaza War, will bescreened on HBO in August. The series was filmed in Israel and is aco-production of HBO and the Israeli production company Keshet International. Itwas directed by Joseph Cedar and created by Hagai Levi. The series picks upafter the kidnapping on June 12, 2014, of three Jewish teenagers, Gil-ad Shaar,Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Fraenkel, by members of the Hamas terrorist group.They were found dead in a shallow grave near Hebron at the end of that month. Theseries follows the investigation of the murder of Palestinian teen Muhammad AbuKhdeir, an apparent revenge attack, and tells the story of all those involved,both Jews and Arabs. The Gaza War, which Israel called Operation ProtectiveEdge, was launched by Israel on July 8, in part to halt the barrage of rocketsfired from Gaza on Israel. It is the first HBO series to be filmed in Hebrewand Arabic, according to the Jerusalem Post. The premiere on HBO is scheduledfor August 12, with two one-hour episodes, and then single episodes for thenext eight Mondays.–JTA
70 Faces Mediawins Awards for Excellence in Jewish Journalism
70 Faces Media won five awards, including first and second place in the digital storytelling category, in the annual Simon Rockower Awards for Excellence in Jewish Journalism. The American Jewish Press Association presented the awards on June 25 at its annual conference, which this year was held in St. Louis. The awards are for work in 2018. 70 Faces is the parent company of JTA as well as several other brands: Kveller, My Jewish Learning, The Nosher, Alma and Jewniverse. The first-place awards went to JTA Europe correspondent Cnaan Liphshiz, videographers Marissa Roer and Grace Yagel; editor in chief Andrew Silow-Carroll; and Rebecca Phillips and the team behind JTA’s website redesign and digital outreach strategy. 70 Faces won first place for outstanding digital outreach for the JTA website redesign; for excellence in writing about Jewish heritage and peoplehood in Europe for an article by Liphshiz on Russian-speaking Jews in Germany; and for multi-media storytelling for the “Israel @ 70” videos by Roer and Yagel. Rob Eshman won a second place award in writing about food and wine for his appreciation of the late food critic Jonathan Gold. Roer, Yagel and Silow-Carroll shared the second-place award for a multi-media stories for the “Shtick: Jewish jokes explained” video series.–JTA
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