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allthebrazilianpolitics · 2 months

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Trumps of the Tropics: Brazil’s Far Right Plots Its Return

As president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro was often called the Trump of the Tropics, an association the Bolsonaro family actively cultivated. From the moment he was elected in 2018, he loudly celebrated the United States — in his first year in office, he even saluted the U.S. flag — but he saved his most intense loyalty for one American. When he met President Trump at the United Nations in 2019, he told him: “I love you.”

Before assuming power, Bolsonaro was an anti-democratic ideologue and former military man with a decades-long career in politics; Trump was a real estate developer and a media personality. But over the six years that Bolsonaro drove the news cycles in Latin America’s largest nation, he gave journalists a long list of reasons to equate the two men. Both made a show of praising authoritarian leaders, past and present, and liked to style themselves as defenders of law and order while acting as if the rules didn’t apply to them. Both formed an alliance with the religious right late in their careers and enlisted their sons to help push their respective agendas. Both frequently took to Twitter to attack their enemies, troll traditional media and rile up their supporters. And both retreated to Florida when things got tough.

For decades, the Brazilian right had looked to the United States, and when Donald Trump began to transform the rules of political discourse, it took note. “We learned to have the courage to speak up,” says Damares Alves, an evangelical pastor who served as Bolsonaro’s minister of human rights, families and women. “We began to be more incisive on the question of abortion. We learned we could be more direct about the question of arming the population. We realized we could take a tougher stand against the left-wing transformation taking place across our continent.”

As president, Bolsonaro seemed eager to import as much of the MAGA movement to Brazil as possible. So when Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to protest a “stolen” election, many Brazilians worried that Bolsonaro supporters might try something similar. That’s exactly what happened. On Jan. 1, 2023, when Bolsonaro’s opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, leader of the left-wing Workers’ Party, took office, Bolsonaro skipped the ceremony, holing up instead in the Orlando suburbs, at the home of a mixed-martial-arts fighter. For weeks, Bolsonaristas had been camping out around the country, under banners calling for an “intervention.” In an echo of Jan. 6, they chose Jan. 8 to occupy and attack government buildings in the capital, Brasília, even though the transition had already taken place and the buildings were largely empty. Military police officers arrested more than 1,000 people, and Lula quickly reasserted control of the country.

Bolsonaro, like Trump, now faces a host of criminal charges for trying to impede democratic elections. Trump has been convicted in one case, but only Bolsonaro has been deemed ineligible to run for president. In June 2023, Brazil’s electoral court ruled that his attacks on the voting system disqualified him from running for any political office until 2030. He is now facing hundreds of other court cases. In February of this year, authorities confiscated his passport after arresting several former aides accused of plotting a coup, making another escape to Florida impossible. Bolsonaro took refuge for two nights in the Hungarian Embassy in São Paulo, perhaps hoping to leverage his relationship with Prime Minister Viktor Orban (one of many friends he shares with Trump) if flight became necessary.

While Bolsonaro is barred from the political arena — at least for now — the movement that he unleashed is very much alive. Bolsonaristasdid well in the election that he lost, demonstrating that the movement was bigger than the man, and they now have real power at federal and state levels. Because congressional politics in Brazil are byzantine — there are 23 parties in Congress, and members can shift allegiances quickly — it would be difficult for Lula to govern even if Bolsonaro’s right-wing Liberal Party were not the largest party in the legislature. As things stand, the Bolsonaristas routinely complicate things for Lula, as they try to pull the country back to the far right.

In 2023, Bolsonaro’s allies began working to create a kind of Bolsonarismo sem Bolsonaro, or Bolsonaro-style politics without Bolsonaro. In interviews in the capital late last year, a rough philosophical and tactical division emerged. One group wants to show that it is moderating its positions and committed to responsibly governing the country; another is doubling down on the kind of fiery rhetoric that drives engagement online and reproduces tropes familiar to observers of right-wing media in the United States.

#brazil #brazilian politics #politics #image description in alt #mod nise da silveira

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peachiseas · 6 months

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okay i am very new here, so i need a through introduction to your mcs! like eve for example, pls post his whole biography o(╥﹏╥)o

fr tho, tell me anything and everything :D

TOOK SO DAMN LONG SINCE I WANTED TO DRAW A STEP ONE REF OF EVE BUT ITS GONNA TAKE A MINUTE so here are the sketches,,, Anyways- gonna introduce the main two mcs/ocs you'll see here: Eve Cortez Williams and Aaliyah Dubious

(dont mind my ipad scribbles on the screenshot iofqiowogi) Lemme put this under a readmore actually so yall dont get slammed with a long ass post:

Starting with Eve:

He's my Tamarack MC, but I figured since uh. all my art that was a given

He has a strained relationship with Qiu in step 1 but they become besties by step 2 and by step 3, they are like family to each other. If no one got Eve, Eve knows Qiu got them, amen 🙏

He comes out as transmasc by step 2, and by step 3 he gets top surgery and starts taking testosterone and firmly identifies as a butch lesbian

He's from the southern part of Miami, Florida. He's Golden Grove's residential florida man

He practices martial arts religiously, he's a big fan of Goku and Dragonball in general so he wants to be like his idol

His story deviates a bit from the OL2 generic mc story, he did have a dad! Opal and his dad wanted a kid but they both didn't want to get married and since the two of them were best friends, they decided to have a kid together (or well two but we'll talk about that later)

What's important to note from above is that his dad isn't around anymore because his father passed away a few months ago due to a car accident and Eve was hospitalized as a result

So by the time he's at Golden Grove, he's in anger stages of his grief and he doesn't want to be bothered. Which sucks cause hes neighbors with the two loudest kids on the block

Doesn't help he's a ESL speaker (English as a Second Language) and Golden Grove's population is majorly white so he has even harder of a time adjusting to it

He gets into fights in step 1... a Lot. Someone will look at him funny and they'll get punched in the face

He does adjust but he still doesn't like Golden Grove by step 3 but funnily enough, he moves away at the end of step 3 for treatment but moves back in step 4, crazy how that shit works huh

He has two emotional support bunnies; Bulma and Chi-Chi! He gets them in step 2, Qiu and Eve bond over them LMFAO

As for Aaliyah:

She's my Qiu MC, to the shocker of no one. Tamarack is also her best friend <3

Aaliyah is from New Orleans, Louisiana! She's full blooded Haitian and she has family in Haiti

She's also transfem! She passes for cis in step 1 thanks to hormone blockers and some makeup and then starts taking estrogen in step 2 and onwards

Her being black and transfemme is integral to her character and how she navigates around Golden Grove, she doesn't tell anyone she's trans until near the end of step 1. By step 3, the girl gang and Qiu knows shes trans

^^ That's because she had a very negative experience coming out to her community who previously loved her but flipped on her just as fast

So moving to Golden Grove was supposed to be a fresh start for her as herself but by that point she feels like she has to keep up her "cis-sona" lest she gets bullied again

She still gets bullied for other reasons in step 2 though (being a pretty black girl and the one person who has a crush on her is the most popular kid in school... its rough! 😭)

By step 4 though she is proud to call herself trans and will let people know!

She lovessss animals! And the animals love her back! She feeds them all the time and keeps animal food on her for that purpose when she goes to the park to read by herself, she got a flock of crows and stray cats that like to follow her

She has a cat named Kiki!!! Kiki loves everyone except Qiu though, Aaliyah doesnt know that though-

I hope that was enough of a info-dump! If anyone has anymore questions please ask i have so much lore please-

#candy girl answers #our life 2 #our life: now and forever #our life mc #aaliyah dubois #eve cortez williams

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brokehorrorfan · 4 months

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Invasion U.S.A. will be released on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on July 30 via Vinegar Syndrome. Produced by Cannon Films, the 1985 action movie features reversible artwork.

Chuck Norris stars and co-wrote the script with James Bruner (The Delta Force). Joseph Zito (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) directs. Richard Lynch, Melissa Prophet, and Billy Drago co-star.

Invasion U.S.A. has been newly restored in 4K from the 35mm original camera negative with HDR. Special features are listed below.

Special features:

Audio commentary by director Joseph Zito

Audio commentary by The Cannon Film Guide author Austin Trunick

Audio commentary by director Joseph Zito, moderated by film historian Michael Felsher

Interview with director Joseph Zito

Interview with screenwriter James Bruner

Interview with editor Dan Loewenthal

Interview with composer Jay Chattaway

Interview with actress Melissa Prophet

Interview with actor James Pax

Archival interview with screenwriter James Bruner

Cannon Carnage - Featurette on the film's make-up effects

Original trailer

youtube

Matt Hunter thought he had put his fighting days behind him when he retired from the C.I.A., preferring to live in the serene solitude of the Florida Everglades. But when notorious Soviet terrorist Mikhail Rostov decides to exact revenge against Matt, this one-man-army has no choice but to dust off his martial arts skills and face off, Uzis in hand, against his deadliest enemy. However, as Matt tries to remain one step ahead, the insidiously evil Rostov begins deploying bands of guerrilla fighters across the state to terrorize innocent civilians and force Matt out into the open and compel him to face off for one final, bloody showdown.

Pre-order Invasion U.S.A.

#invasion usa #chuck norris #richard lynch #billy drago #cannon films #80s action movies #80s movies #1980s movies #vinegar syndrome #dvd #gift #joseph zito #cult classic #cult movies #friday the 13th #Youtube

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themartialartsleader · 7 days

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How Martial Arts Classes for Adults Can Improve Your Lifestyle

In today’s fast-paced world, maintaining a balanced lifestyle is often a challenge. Between work, family, and social obligations, it can be difficult to find time for self-care and personal growth. This is where martial arts classes for adults can be a game-changer, offering not only physical fitness but also mental clarity and emotional resilience. Whether you're a beginner or someone looking for a new challenge, martial arts training can significantly improve various aspects of your life. At Florida Sports Martial Arts Academy, we offer tailored martial arts classes for adults that help you build strength, discipline, and confidence.

#florida martial arts #florida sports martial arts #martial arts fl #martial arts florida #martial arts in florida #florida sports martial arts academy #martial arts center #martial arts tampa florida #family martial arts center #martial arts classes for adults

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cardonasacademydelray · 9 months

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Kids Martial Arts Program in Delray Beach by Cardonas Academy Delray Florida

Checkout our fun and effective Kids Martial Arts Program in Delray Beach today. Our After School Program is a fantastic way for students to continue their learning outside of the classroom, make new friends, and have fun in a safe and supportive environment. We would love to welcome your child to our program and help them reach their full potential. Get started today by hitting the Register Now button or keep reading to learn more below.

Ignite your child's passion for discipline and confidence with our Kids Martial Arts Program in Delray Beach. At Cardona's Academy, we blend expert instruction with a fun and supportive environment. Our program focuses on building essential life skills through martial arts, fostering physical fitness, respect, and self-esteem. Register with us today for an exciting journey where your child learns valuable lessons while enjoying the benefits of martial arts in a safe and encouraging setting.

Check out our website https://cardonasacademydelray.com/after-school/ for more details.

#Kids Martial Arts Program #Florida #Cardona's Academy

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miamitkd · 2 years

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Why Taking Taekwondo Classes Is Important In 2022

Taekwondo is a martial art form emerging in the 1940s in Korea. Learning any martial art tends to offer a lot of value to the person, and if it's Taekwondo, there is no confusion.

Although most martial arts share similar benefits, the exact effectiveness differs due to different approaches, techniques, and philosophies. However, you can say which martial art is better as they all have different ideologies.

This post will discuss Taekwondo and how classes for modern sport Taekwondo in South Miami can benefit you.

The Substance Of Taekwondo

At the core, Taekwondo facilitates moral development. It promotes your child's physical development, self-awareness, and abilities in self-defense. It is one of the most popular and fastest-growing martial art forms in the world currently.

The act in itself is physically demanding. The sport involves kicking and punching, which requires strength and stamina. Young athletes must be able to manage their own movement patterns without the assistance of a coach when the course is over. These qualities make Taekwondo exciting and worth investing in.

The Benefits Of Undertaking Taekwondo Classes

* Boost In Cardiovascular Health

Taekwondo helps in improving your cardiovascular health. While it does not involve complete involvement in cardiovascular activities, Taekwondo does contain certain aspects which train your cardio. It would be best if you had good cardio strength to become a good Taekwondoin. Practicing it daily helps you improve your cardiovascular health, giving you a longer and healthier life.

* Enhance Cognitive Abilities

Science has recently discovered the connection between physical activity and cognitive functionality. Essentially, staying physically active and working towards a dedicated discipline. This aspect tends to carry a positive impact on our cognitive abilities.

* Boost In Concentration

All martial arts, including Taekwondo, are initially a practice of building discipline. A high degree of concentration is an evergreen requirement whether you are learning a new move or even in a self-defense situation. A lot of people that go through Taekwondo classes reveal that they got a great focus and concentration because of the practice.

* Self Esteem

Practitioners who have experienced the thrill of Taekwondo are aware of how it helps in developing self-esteem. Practicing Taekwondo means learning various kinds of postures, moves, and strikes. Perfecting each and every step gives you confidence and raises your self-esteem.

Because Taekwondo is entirely based on kicking and punching, it helps students develop their muscles and also tone them. Having such drills helps keep the focus on the mind and the body, making you more focused and streamlined with your thoughts.

Conclusion

Practicing the martial art forms, significantly Taekwondo, would benefit you physically and mentally. Apart from toning your muscles and improving body coordination, it also gives you mental clarity.

Author’s Bio - The author is a blogger, and this article discusses the way of taking Taekwondo classes.

#modern sport taekwondo south miami #taekwondo schools in miami #Miami Taekwondo Schools #taekwondo class miami florida #Miami Taekwondo Classes #South Miami Martial Arts

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aikidoofgainesville · 1 year

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If you are interested in martial arts classes in Florida. Visit here: http://www.aikidoofgainsville.com/iaido.html. Our facilities are equipped with modern equipment, and we offer a variety of lessons for students of all ages and skill levels.

#Martial Arts Classes in Florida

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beardedmrbean · 11 months

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“To be honest with you, I hate guns,” Peter, 76, shouted over the sound of gunshots Saturday afternoon as his wife took aim at a target at Gun World in Deerfield Beach. “But it’s better us than someone else.”

The Jewish couple had arrived for their Intro to Handguns lesson with Florida Firearms Training about noon. Peter, who asked to keep his last name private for safety reasons, had shot a rifle decades ago; his wife had never shot a gun before. By the end of the day they would be returning home with one.

So would Justine Youngleson, 58, and Sandi Lazar, 65, a South African Jewish couple from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, and Jackie Rubin, 64, a former orthodox Jew who converted to Christianity, who wore a T-shirt with a giant heart on it and described herself as a “very peaceful person.”

Across South Florida, Jewish residents are buying guns and learning to use them, many of them older, more liberal-leaning people who never thought they’d touch a gun in their lives. Spouses are dragging each other to lessons, children are going with parents. Introductory shooting classes are booked up months into the future, even on the Sabbath, because people are so desperate for slots.

Still others are buying security cameras, taking self-defense classes like Krav Maga, the Israeli martial arts that focuses on surviving real-life scenarios, contemplating leaving jewelry at home, and removing mezuzahs from their doors, as they speak of a fear they have not felt before.

‘A huge blip’

On the door leading into owner Kim Waltuch’s office at Gun World, a picture of a menorah reading “Happy Chanukah” sits adjacent to a sticker of a Glock.

Her office is similarly cluttered: Piles of papers, a mug reading “Boss Lady,” sound-canceling headphones, and a box of chocolate ammo cover her desk. On the wall are children’s drawings next to a framed picture of Hebrew word for love. The kids make the drawings while they wait for their parents to be done shooting, Waltuch explained.

In the last month, Gun World has had a “surge” in interest in guns, Waltuch said. So many people want lessons, they began offering double the amount per week.

“As soon as the guns have been going in, they’re going out,” she explained.

As she spoke, people kept popping in to say hello; the store was crowded. One of the customers was Broward County Commissioner Michael Udine, an outspoken supporter of Israel who reiterated the same motives as everyone else: “I just thought, with everything going on in the world, it’s better to be educated.”

Florida Firearms Training has had so many requests for the Introduction to Handguns course that it is booked all the way into December, said Will Farrugia, the company’s director of training, who led Saturday’s lesson, which was also on the Jewish Sabbath.

In an average week, FFT sees about 40 students in its intro class, Farrugia said. Now they’re looking at 80 to 90 students.

“There’s definitely a blip on the graph, a huge blip of just an influx of new shooters,” he said. “Of which I would say fifty to sixty percent are Jewish.”

The students are not gun nuts, or even necessarily conservative. Many know little to nothing about guns.

These are “people that have never thought of buying a gun, that are now saying ‘I need a gun,'” Farrugia said. “It’s all for the same reason. There’s that concern of, ‘Can something happen here? Can something happen to my family? I need to have a way of defending my family and my home.’ Sad, but that’s where we’re at.”

On Saturday, students spoke of their dislike for guns at the same time as they prepared to buy them, their own shooting targets in their hands.

Lazar said that she still thinks guns are bad, and she does not believe she should have them while driving around or in the supermarket, an opinion that did not change Saturday.

“She’s the neurotic one,” Lazar said, gesturing to Youngleson. It was Youngleson’s idea to buy the gun, and Youngleson said that she was going to do just that, but Lazar needed to know how to use it if it was going to be in the house.

“This is not what you think you’ll be doing at 58,” Youngleson said.

Need for self-defense is critical

The heightened fears aren’t present only in gun-training classes.

Lazar and Youngelson have bought Ring cameras and lights for their home. Growing numbers of Jewish residents are looking for situational awareness or self-defense classes like Krav Maga, said Carson Nightwine, the director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County.

“Never has the need for self-defense been more critical,” reads a Facebook post from the Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services, advertising a Krav Maga class in early November.

The owner of AIKMO Krav Maga in Oakland Park, who asked not to be named for safety reasons, said that he had seen a small uptick in the number of students in his own classes, as well as a larger increase in synagogues asking for workshops.

While they’re warming up, students trade stories of having their cars slapped at stoplights or being told to “burn in hell” for putting up posters of Israeli hostages, he said.

He tries to keep the class positive but practical, in the spirit of Krav Maga, which is meant to address real-life threats. At synagogues, AIKMO teaches kidnapping prevention, self-defense, knife and gun defense, forced entry and active shooter drills.

“I hate to say it’s become necessary and timely,” the owner said. “If we lived in a better world I’d be happy to be put out of business. This would be the new yoga; we’d do this for fun.”

Rising antisemitism threat

Since Hamas terrorists massacred over 1,400 Israelis on Oct. 7, national and local officials began warning the public of the heightened potential for antisemitic incidents and hate crimes. But those early statements turned increasingly ominous as hatred brewed and the Israel-Hamas war stretched on with a bombing campaign that has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians.

In one week, a Jewish cemetery in Vienna was sprayed with swastikas and set on fire. Stars of David were spray-painted outside of buildings in Paris. And in Dagestan, Russia, a mob of protesters stormed a plane from Israel and searched a hotel, looking for Jews.

On Tuesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray told members of Congress that the terrorism threat to Americans, already elevated in 2023, had increased “to a whole other level” due to the war and warned of “historic” levels of antisemitism.

For residents of South Florida’s predominantly Jewish neighborhoods and cities, already on alert, a different kind of fear followed Oct. 7.

“This is the first time I really feel unsafe in the U.S.,” said Michele Lazarow, a Hallandale Beach city commissioner who is Jewish. “Maybe it’ll finally be when I get a firearm.”

The chabad houses that pepper Hallandale Beach always used to make her feel safe. Now she wonders if, like herself, the city is a target.

“I don’t even want to say it,” she told the Sun Sentinel on Tuesday. “There’s a very large Jewish community.”

Already, stirrings of hate have emerged in South Florida; in Parkland last Saturday, a group of masked minors shouted threats at Jewish congregants as they left synagogue, according to deputies and Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who belongs to the synagogue.

Palm Beach County has seen an uptick in reported incidents since Oct. 7, said Nightwine, the community security director. At the same time, rumors, false threats and hate speech have exploded online, which add to people’s fears.

He spends much of his time trying to distinguish misinformation from real threats.

“Just getting to what is actually credible and providing the community with a sense of safety, and the amount of just utter hate speech, and these threats, it’s a colossal work,” Nightwine said.

Islamophobic incidents and hate crimes have also risen nationwide since the attacks. In Illinois, a landlord is accused of stabbing a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy to death, shouting “you Muslims must die.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations has reported the largest wave in incidents since 2015, when then-presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.

But as home to one of the nation’s largest Jewish populations, South Florida has long contended with antisemitism. Over the two years prior to 2023, antisemitic incidents had already sharply increased in South Florida, though they were largely perpetrated by right-wing, neo-Nazi groups, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Almost 60% of all religion-based hate crimes in the U.S. in 2020 targeted Jews, more than any other group, despite the fact that they account for only 2% of the U.S population, according to the FBI.

Since the Oct. 7 attacks, antisemitic incidents across the country have increased nearly 400%, mostly attributed to pro-Palestine and anti-Israel sentiment and protests. Antisemitic rhetoric has also increased on the right; the ADL reported an over 1,000% increase in “the daily average of violent messages mentioning Jews and Israel” on right-wing extremist Telegram channels.

On Thursday, when Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody visited the Florida Department of Law Enforcement office in Boynton Beach for a confidential security meeting, a reporter asked whether she thought Palm Beach County was vulnerable.

“It’s no coincidence we chose to come to South Florida to make sure we’re imploring our communities to stay on guard,” Moody replied.

‘We’re Jewish, we don’t feel safe’

Kayla, 22, went to a gun range with her parents last month at her mother’s request. Her family had shot guns once, in Israel, where the recent college grad, who asked to keep her last name private for safety reasons, was supposed to move on Oct. 10. The plans are now delayed indefinitely, though that has not spared her family worry as antisemitic incidents unfold across the world, including the U.S.

“We were like ‘okay, we don’t really feel safe anymore,'” said Kayla, who lives in Hollywood. “We want to arm ourselves, especially because we’re visibly Jewish and we go to synagogue. Every aspect of our daily lives is Jewish: The supermarket, the restaurants we go to, and the neighborhood we live in.”

Crime and Public Safety | Antisemitism reportedly spikes in US amid Israel-Hamas war

Soon after submitting her request, she got a call from Steve Triana, a local firearms instructor who works for Florida Defense Training and runs his own company, Triana Training Concepts.

When Kayla, her mother, and her 63-year-old father arrived at the range for their lesson, he asked them for their back story and why they chose to learn, as he does every lesson.

“If you’re coming and you’re over twenty-one, my question is, ‘why now?'” he explained, referring to the legal buying age in Florida. There’s always a reason, something that makes the person feel unsafe in a way they hadn’t before.

Reluctantly, Kayla shared hers.

“It’s always kind of scary to tell people ‘We’re Jewish, we don’t feel safe,'” she told the Sun Sentinel. “I told him anyways, ‘We’re Jewish, we’re really not feeling safe.'”

Triana, it turned out, was also Jewish. He told Kayla’s family that they were not the first to call.

His evenings have been booked with students like them since Oct. 7. In the last two-and-a-half weeks, he told the Sun Sentinel on Tuesday, he has had 18 students, 14 of whom are Jewish, what he estimates is a 90% increase in Jewish students since before the war.

He knows they’re Jewish because he asks, but also because many are openly orthodox. Some have told him they’re rabbis; others come in with yarmulkes on. Like those in Saturday’s class, many are older, often couples.

For Triana, the influx began four days after the war broke out, when the company he works for, Florida Defense Training, began sending a large number of new students his way.

The fact that most of them were Jewish and Triana is also Jewish was a coincidence, said Carlos Gutierrez, the company’s co-owner. But word has since spread to others in the community; Kayla told Triana she’d share his contact information with her synagogue.

For Gun World, word-of-mouth in the Jewish community has also brougth new business. People in the community want to support a Jewish-owned business, Waltuch explained, even though, she added, “as a nice Jewish girl who owns a gun range, I like to go under the radar.”

A political shift?

The new interest in guns perhaps signals a broader shift since Oct. 7 and its aftermath as Jewish South Floridians re-examine their politics.

On the right, Gov. Ron DeSantis has used his pro-Israel stance as a selling point, sending law enforcement officers to protect synagogues and schools, decrying left-wing protests on college campuses and criticizing the Biden administration for sending aid to civilians in Gaza.

Rabbi Mark Rosenberg of Miami-Dade, a chaplain for Florida Highway Patrol, thanked DeSantis publicly on “behalf of the Jewish community” at the news conference in Boynton Beach on Thursday, saying that “Florida has emerged as a leader during troubled times.”

But many of South Florida’s Jewish voters have leaned away from DeSantis and the right, where antisemitism has also mobilized extremists.

“A lot of my friends who are liberal Jews are very, very confused right now,” said Triana, the firearms instructor. “They are struggling to make sense of the world. The world they saw on 10/6 is not what they’re realizing is the way the world worked.”

Commissioner Lazarow, a self-proclaimed liberal, said that she, too, had recently begun to question her political leanings.

“I used to say I vote Democrat, woman, Jewish,” she said. “Now I vote woman, Jewish, maybe Democrat.”

Before the war, Lazarow’s Jewish identity was rarely foremost in her mind. She would have mezuzahs on her door and wear a Star of David around her neck and think nothing of it. Now they are conscious decisions.

“This is the first time in my life I’ve ever worried about wearing the Jewish star,” she said incredulously. “Now I’m wearing it as a resistance. As a symbol of resistance.”

By the end of class on Saturday, some students described a sense of empowerment mixed into their fear and aversion to guns.

“That’s good, honey!” Peter said Saturday, as his wife hesitantly lifted her paper target, the bullet holes a bit off from the center, but still very much within the silhouette. “Don’t worry, you would stop them.”

Each time Rubin finished her turn shooting, she was so nervous that her hands shook. But as class neared an end, she appeared more determined.

“I think I know what I want,” she said, walking over to where some of the other students were sitting, repeating it out loud as she scrawled it on the back of her target: “A Smith and Wesson, nine millimeter.”

The 64-year-old says her friends think she’s crazy for buying a gun, but her Jewish family doesn’t. And even though she no longer practices the religion, Rubin said, she is still a Jew, she doesn’t know what is coming next, and she wants to protect herself.

#nunyas news

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