The imprisoned Israeli

Egyptian sources said Monday night that Andrei Pashnichikov, the Israeli who has been imprisoned in Egypt since Friday, had snuck into Egypt with the intention of reaching Gaza – so he could join Hamas to fight against IDF soldiers.
Continue reading: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163748

Arrest made

Police in Paris reportedly arrested a man on suspicion that he participated in attacking a Jewish man outside a synagogue.

The suspect was apprehended shortly after he and three others who fled allegedly attacked the 47-year-old man on Dec. 20 as he was leaving a synagogue in the French capital’s 19th Arrondissement, the French daily Le Parisian reported.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/12/30/3115586/jew-ambushed-attacked-outside-paris-synagogue

Soviet Jewry remembered

Jessica Ravitz writes about Soviet Jewry in an article titled Decades-long fight for Jewish freedom remembered.

Stalin was paranoid about many things, including Jews. This was only compounded after the establishment of Israel in 1948, a development the Soviet Union initially supported. But when thousands showed up to hear Golda Meir, then an Israeli ambassador, speak in a Moscow synagogue in 1948, the Soviet leader was stunned - and threatened. By the time Stalin died in 1953, Beckerman says, he was reportedly planning large-scale deportations of Jews to Siberia.

The irony, Beckerman adds, is that Jews might have fully assimilated had Stalin not required every Soviet citizen to carry an internal passport. The passports listed nationality. And while most had descriptions such as Latvian or Ukrainian, Jews were listed as Jewish, and “this allowed Jews to stay Jews,” he says.

Hagel likely

A top Jewish leader said that former senator Chuck Hagel is likely to be nominated by the White House for the position of Defense Secretary on Monday, according to audio of an interview with a Jewish radio show obtained by The Algemeiner.
“It’s most likely that on Monday they will announce that Hagel will be the choice,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice President of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella group that represents 50 of America’s largest Jewish organizations, to Jewish talk show host Zev Brenner. The interview took place on Saturday night.
Read more: http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/12/30/breaking-top-jewish-leader-says-chuck-hagel-nomination-on-monday-is-most-likely/

Jews and Broadway

THE SHOW "Great Performances -- Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy"
WHEN | WHERE Tuesday night at 9:30 on WNET/13
WHAT IT'S ABOUT Remember how outrageous it felt in "Spamalot," when Sir Robin sang, "In any great adventure, if you don't want to lose . . . you won't succeed on Broadway if you don't have any Jews?" Well, no matter how one feels about sweeping cultural generalizations, Eric Idle's funny lyric turns out to be amazingly true about musicals.
Continue reading: http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/broadway-musicals-jewish-legacy-review-1.4384436

Top 10 anti-Semites

International human rights organization The Simon Wiesenthal Center announced on Thursday its list of the top 10 anti-Semites and haters of Israel.
Those dominating the annual list were mostly from Europe and the Middle East. The list reflected right-wing, left-wing and Islamist loathing of Jews and Israel.
Read more: http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishFeatures/Article.aspx?id=297625

Brian Schatz sworn in

Jewish lieutenant gov to replace Inouye

Hawaii's governor named his on Wednesday Jewish lieutenant governor, Brian Schatz, to replace the late Daniel Inouye in the U.S. Senate.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced the appointment after receiving a list of three candidates from the state Democratic Party earlier in the day. The other candidates were U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa and Esther Kiaaina, a deputy director in the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/hawaii-s-jewish-lt-gov-named-to-fill-u-s-senate-seat-1.490261

Ostreicher disappointed

New York businessman Jacob Ostreicher said that the reaction to his jailing by Bolivia's Jewish community was "quite disappointing."
Ostreicher, who had been jailed in Bolivia without charges for 18 months, said he believes that the Jewish community is afraid of the government.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/12/25/3115396/ostreicher-tells-bolivian-media-that-countrys-jewish-community-was-disappointing

Averting financial crisis

At a time of great financial strain on a Chabad-Lubavitch yeshiva in Australia, an influential community member and longtime supporter was able to avert financial crisis that threatened the closure of its Sydney headquarters.
Harry Triguboff, a venerable benefactor of the organization, purchased two Chabad buildings in Bondi for $6 million, enabling it to pay off debts and continue operating across Sydney.
Read more: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163476

Online petition to bar candidates

A Jewish Italian lawmaker has launched an online petition to bar “neo-fascist, neo-Nazi and racist” movements from fielding candidates in upcoming elections.
Milan Member of Parliament Emanuele Fiano launched the petition addressed to Italy’s Interior Minister, after the newly formed Italian section of Greece’s extremist Golden Dawn Party announced it wanted to run candidates in general elections scheduled for February.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/12/24/3115286/jewish-italian-lawmaker-launches-petition-against-neo-fascist-neo-nazi-and-racist-parties

124 years old

The oldest woman ever, died today in Israel, at the age of 124, according to press reports.

Miriam Amash of the Arab-Israeli village Jisr a-Zarka died Saturday morning. According to the population register of the Interior Ministry, she was 124 years old. The age is based on a birth certificate issued by Turkish authorities who ruled the region at that time.
Read more: http://www.yourjewishnews.com/Pages/24679.aspx

Calls for sterilization of Jewish women

An Islamic sermon broadcast on a popular Tunisian television station called for the sterilization of all Jewish women in order to extinguish the Jewish population, according to press reports.
Read more: http://www.yourjewishnews.com/Pages/24660.aspx

Scam artists

The family of Noah Pozner was mourning the 6-year-old, killed in the Newtown school massacre, when outrage compounded their sorrow.
Someone they didn't know was soliciting donations in Noah's memory, claiming that they'd send any cards, packages and money collected to his parents and siblings. An official-looking webssite had been set up, with Noah's name as the address, even including petitions on gun control.
Continue reading: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?storyid=144755

Phony bomb threats

Los Angeles police have arrested a man they believe made phony bomb threats against a Jewish temple in Koreatown on Tuesday, as well as an LAPD patrol car parked nearby, police said.

The suspect was identified as Wan Ryung Song, a.k.a Patrick Song, a 46-year-old naturalized citizen who is a native of South Korea. Police say they believe Song also vandalized the Wilshire Boulevard Temple with graffiti of a Swastika and anti-Semitic comments on Dec. 6.
Continue reading: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/12/man-arrested-in-hoax-threat-against-jewish-temple-lapd-squad-car.html

Jewish appointments

Five members of the Jewish community in Yemen have been appointed to the country's National Dialogue Conference.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/12/19/3114946/jewish-yemenis-included-in-countrys-national-dialogue-conference

Funeral rites' rights

An Orthodox rabbi and the state government filed a federal court settlement Monday that assures religious groups of their right to perform certain funeral rites.
A court document said the state Board of Funeral Directors and the Department of State will not apply the Funeral Director Law to clergy and others who are carrying out their religious functions and beliefs.
Read more: http://www.ydr.com/state/ci_22209016/pa-rabbi-wins-right-perform-funeral-rites

Jewish war veterans

Highland Park residents Bill Harris and Albert Miller say every military veteran has a story to tell, and their goal is to capture as many of them on film as they can.
Harris, 70, and Miller, 90, are members of the Jewish War Veterans North Shore Post 29, and for the past six months they have been documenting the stories of their group's members, putting together a one-hour video for each and airing the episodes on the local cable access channel.
Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/highland_park_highwood/ct-tl-highland-park-jewish-veterans-20121217,0,1187789.story

Evidence of Noah's flood

Renowned underwater archaeologist Robert Ballard is used to big discoveries. He tracked down the wreckage of the Titanic, the German battleship Bismarck, and a number of other famous lost ships around the world.
Now, Ballard claims he’s found something even bigger.
He’s been hunting for “mother of all floods — the flood that the Bible says carried Noah’s ark. And he says he’s beginning to find evidence that it really did happen.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/explorer-bob-ballard-finds-proof-ancient-flood-article-1.1220407#ixzz2FALbnqXa

Jewish boy among the victims

YNet reports that a 6-year-old Jewish boy was among the victims of the US school shooting.

Noah Pozner, a 6-year-old boy who belongs to the Jewish community in Newtown, CT was among the victims. Noah's twin sister, also a student at the school, survived.

A family friend said that that the first grader was shot from a very short range, "execution-style."

 "His tiny body couldn't handle it," the friend said.

Rabbi Shaul Praver of Newtown convened the town's Jewish congregation at the Adath Israel Synagogue on Saturday and urged worshipers to react "with love and positivity in the wake of this tragedy."
Read more: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4320192,00.html

Lipa Gangnam Style

Many "Gangnam Style" parodies have popped up around the web, after the official PSY video was released. Now Ultra-Orthodox Jewish famous singer Lipa Schmeltzer made a "Gangnam Style” video for a concert for the benefit of the Oorah organization.
Continue reading: http://www.yourjewishnews.com/Pages/jv1459.aspx

Jordan warning about Jewish rituals

The Jordanian tourism ministry warned Israelis not to wear Jewish symbols when visiting the country.
The ministry also suggested that visitors to Jordan not perform any Jewish rituals there.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/12/13/3114446/jordanian-tourism-ministry-warns-israeli-tourists-on-jewish-symbols

Warning to Jews in Denmark

Jews in Denmark have been warned by officials not to appear publicly in Copenhagen wearing Jewish religious symbols such as yarmulkes or stars of David in order to avoid increasing anti-Israel and anti-Semitic altercations.
Read more: http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/12/12/israeli-ambassador-to-denmark-warns-jews-to-hide-heritage-in-public/

Sale of debris from concentration camps

The Dutch Central Jewish Board condemned two recent incidents involving the sale by museums of debris from Nazi concentration camps.
On Sunday, the board issued a statement slamming the sale of debris from Camp Vught, which was a transit camp for Jews located in the southern Netherlands.
Continue reading: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/12/10/3114096/dutch-jews-slam-sale-of-debris-from-nazi-camps

Jewish wedding in Delhi

When Delhi girl Shulamith Ezekiel Malekar married Mumbai-based Sharon Pinhas Phalkar on November 18, it was an occasion more special than any other wedding in the country. It was the first Jewish wedding in Delhi after 50 years. Not surprising considering that Indian Jews in the Capital are restricted to only 10 families.
Continue reading: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/stoi/special-report/Do-come-for-the-mehndi-at-my-Jewish-wedding/articleshow/17540262.cms

Running the gauntlet of hate

The delegitimisation campaign against Israel, comprising the obsessional lies and blood libels promulgated by the media and intelligentsia week in, week out, has produced this result: Jewish students in Britain are being forced to abandon their university courses out of fear.
Continue reading: http://phillipsblog.dailymail.co.uk/2012/12/jewish-students-running-gauntlet-of-hate-welcome-to-21st-century-britain.html

Polish Conservative MP calls on Ashton to take firm stance

Polish Conservative MEP Michal Tomasz Kaminski has called on EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to take a firm stance on European Parliament calls for EU-led action on so-called “violent settlers”, as he insisted it was imperative that Israel should be allowed to deal with it as an “internal matter”.
Disputing the legitimacy of claims by the parliamentary Maghreb-Mashreq committee last month, which recommended the “possibilities of denying access of known violent settlers to the EU”, Kaminski appealed to Ashton in writing to verify “how would a person be defined as a ‘violent settler’ if he hasn’t been convicted?". Read more: http://www.ejpress.org/article/63780

Swedish artist accused of using ashes

A Swedish artist has been accused of desecrating the bodies of Jewish Holocaust victims after it emerged that he used ashes taken from the crematoria at Majdanek concentration camp to paint a picture, the British Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, the artist, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, mixed the ashes from the infamous Nazi facility with water to compose a small painting of grey streaks. The work now hangs in a gallery in the Swedish city of Lund.
Continue reading: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/162891

Brubeck's Jewish cantata

Legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck died of heart failure on Dec. 5, 2012, one day before his 92nd birthday.

One of Brubeck's contributions in particular stands out in terms of its Jewish themes.

In 2004, The Record in In Stockton, Calif., explained the meaning behind the Brubeck's "Jewish Cantata" as an effort to bridge the Black and Jewish communities:
Continue reading: http://blogs.jta.org/thearchiveblog/article/2012/12/05/3113731/dave-brubecks-jewish-cantata

Dreaming of blowing up synagogues

He'd dreamed of blowing up ten synagogues -- simultaneously, on the same remote detonator. He called himself a "mastermind," yearned for "chaos and ruckus," and grinned like an excited child moments before his Midtown arrest, as he purchased what he thought was a live grenade and then held it in his hand.

slamic bomb plotter Ahmed Ferhani pleaded guilty to all ten of the hate and terror felonies lodged against him today -- giving Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., the first state-level terror conviction in New York state.
Continue reading: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan_plea_set_for_first_terror_E9gJ0itdYBLORJxtBC4jOP

More French arrests

French police on Tuesday arrested two alleged accomplices of gunman Mohamed Merah, whose Al-Qaeda-inspired shooting spree in and around the southern city of Toulouse left seven people dead.
A man, described by police as a member of the traveller community, was arrested in the southern town of Albi, while his former partner was arrested in Toulouse, a police source said.
http://www.france24.com/en/20121204-france-toulouse-shootings-mohamed-merah-police-arrest-two-suspected-accomplices

Australia summons Israeli ambassador

Another traditional ally of Israel joined Tuesday in high-level diplomatic criticism of the Jewish state over plans to build new settlements on Palestinian territory.

Australia's Foreign Minister Bob Carr had the Israeli ambassador to his country summoned Tuesday to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade over Israel's decision on new construction in East Jerusalem and on the West Bank, according to a statement on the ministry's website.

Continue reading: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/04/world/meast/israel-settlements/

Menorah and dreidel vandalized

A sad story will have a happy ending in Miami Beach. Over the weekend a giant menorah and dreidel—both covered in seashells— on display in Miami were vandalized;
Read more: http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/12/03/giant-menorah-and-dreidel-vandalized-in-miami-wont-ruin-holiday-spirit-video/

Anti-Semitic chants

Protesters in Vienna reportedly called out “death to the Jews” at a demonstration near the Austrian chancellor’s office. About 400 people participated in the demonstration on Nov. 30, according to reports by the Coordination Forum for Countering Anti-Semitism, an international organization, and Judische.at, an Austrian-Jewish news site. The demonstrators chanted “Ithbakh al yahud” (“Kill the Jews” in Arabic) and “Free Palestine,” as well as “Freedom for Syria” and “Destroy Israel.” The report said Viennese police did not intervene in the procession, which took place in the center of the Austrian capital. Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/12/03/3113416/protesters-reportedly-chant-kill-the-jews-in-central-vienna

Asking Russia to return religious items

Hungarian Jews have asked Russia to return scrolls and valuable religious items looted by Nazis and the Red Army in World War II and their claim has been backed by the Budapest government.

Some 300 to 400 Torah scrolls and thousands of vestments, crowns and other articles are being held in museums and storage in Russia, said Slomo Koves, executive rabbi of the Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4314080,00.html

Jewish treasures

When Simon Isenberg was forced to leave his home in Nazi Germany in 1939, he took his family’s exquisite mizrach, a Jewish devotional image. It was folded up and placed in his pocket as a keepsake of his heritage.
On Sunday, more than 70 years later, his granddaughter, Ellen Hoffman, brought the mizrach to an heirloom appraisal program in Rockville. The image is framed, conserved, but with the creases from her grandfather’s flight still evident.
Continue reading: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/jewish-treasures-under-the-eyes-of-experts/2012/12/02/8a4ae088-3cbf-11e2-bca3-aadc9b7e29c5_story.html

Finnish lawmaker dismisses criticism

Finnish lawmaker Pertti Salolainen reportedly dismissed criticism of his references to “Jewish control” over U.S. politics as “a pure analysis of foreign policy.”
According to YLE, Finland's national broadcaster, Salolainen in an email sent to the broadcaster on Saturday denied that he had made anti-Semitic statements when he said a day earlier in a television interview with YLE that the U.S. had ”a large Jewish population who have a significant control of the money and the media. The U.S. for internal political reasons is afraid to become adequately involved. This is a sad truth about U.S. politics.”
Continue reading: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/12/02/3113326/finnish-lawmaker-defends-jews-control-us-media-squib

Jews need not apply

Fliers that were distributed this week at the Harvard University, states that “Jews need not apply”, according to press reports.

Students at Harvard University, awoke on Friday to find that inflammatory and highly anti-Jewish invitations had been pushed under the doors of their bedrooms.
Read more: http://www.yourjewishnews.com/Pages/24270.aspx

November 29

It was no accident that Mahmoud Abbas chose November 29 to seek a United Nations General Assembly vote recognizing Palestine as a state, albeit as a non-member "observer" state at the U.N. November 29 is the 65th anniversary of the General Assembly's Resolution 181, which partitioned British-Mandated Palestine into Jewish and Palestinian states.
Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324705104578149462995228692.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

No wonder

Stevie Wonder is set to pull out of a performance at a fundraiser for the Israel Defense Forces, a source told JTA.
Wonder's representatives will claim that he did not know the nature of the group, the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, and that he believes such a performance would be incongruent with his status as a U.N. "Messenger of Peace," according to a source who has read email exchanges between Wonder's representatives and organizers of the event.
Continue reading: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/11/28/3113081/petitions-do-not-find-wonder-lovely

Sitting on the fence

A prominent Jewish community leader will seek an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Julia Gillard with the hope Australia will yet oppose a Palestinian seat in the United Nations.
Philip Chester, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, said time was of the essence before the Palestinian bid is put to the vote in New York on Thursday (around 7.30 am Friday).
''We’re exploring that right now,'' Mr Chester said.
''Our aim is to talk to the Prime Minster at the first instance, others we have to think about.''

Advertisement

Ms Gillard’s decision on Tuesday for Australia would abstain in the contentious plan to give Palestinians a greater say in the UN caught many observers by surprise.
She was forced to abandon her personal opposition to the plan after a heated cabinet discussion where at least 10 ministers warned she faced a caucus revolt unless Australia at least sat on the fence.
Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/gillard-under-jewish-pressure-over-palestine-20121128-2ad9t.html#ixzz2DVaHZnhh

Politician condemned for racist comments

Lawmakers wore yellow stars and hundreds of protesters rallied on Tuesday to condemn a far-right politician who called for the screening of Jews for national security risks, part of a wave of incendiary racist comments from a populist party.
Marton Gyongyosi, a Jobbik party deputy, on Monday criticized Hungary's foreign ministry for what he said was siding with Israel and said the Middle East conflict presented an opportunity to carry out his plans for background checks.
"I think now is the time to assess ... how many people of Jewish origin there are here, and especially in the Hungarian Parliament and the Hungarian government, who represent a certain national security risk for Hungary," Gyongyosi said. Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/27/3115394/hungarian-politician-denounced.html

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/27/3115394/hungarian-politician-denounced.html#storylink=cpy

Toy store donations

An Orthodox Jewish store owner announced a donation of $10,000 worth of toys to Hurricane Sandy victims, according to press reports.


Toys To Discover, an Orthodox Jewish owned toy shop located on 18th Avenue in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, New York, gave more than $10,000 of toys to children affected by Hurricane Sandy.
Read more: http://www.yourjewishnews.com/Pages/24160.aspx

Fresh acts of vandalism in France

French police reportedly are investigating fresh acts of vandalism in two Jewish cemeteries and a municipal building.
On Monday in Paris, police arrested two men suspected of digging up two corpses at the Pantin cemetery, according to a statement from the municipality.
Continue reading: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/11/26/3112851/two-jewish-cemeteries-municipal-building-vandalized-in-france

Norwegian police apologize

The Norwegian Police for the first time have apologized for rounding up Jews and sending them to their deaths during the Holocaust.
“On behalf of the Norwegian police and those involved in the deportation of Norwegian Jews to concentration camps, I wish to express regret,” Norway’s newly appointed police commissioner, Odd Reidar Humlegard, told the newspaper Dagsavisen.
Continue reading: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/11/26/3112811/norwegian-police-apologizes-for-deportating-jews-to-auschwitz

Quebec radio host blasted

Members of Quebec’s Jewish community are calling for the firing or yanking off the air of a Cogeco radio talk-show host who appeared to condone a caller’s anti-Semitic statements.
At the same time, they say they are hopeful the incident was an isolated one, particularly with the recent ascension to power of Montreal’s first Jewish mayor.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec-radio-host-blasted-for-comments-about-jewish-community/article5656854/

Deplorable

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday deplored the "high level of anti-Semitism" in her country, speaking after a meeting with the Central Council of Jews.
Touching on a heated debate on male religious circumcision, she stressed the importance of religious tolerance, while also reiterating Berlin's support for Israel in the recent Gaza conflict.
Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/merkel-deplores-anti-jewish-sentiment-in-germany-1.480511

Fading cemetery

Headstones are pockmarked, their inscriptions faded. Stone slabs that have covered tombs for centuries are crumbling. White marble has turned grey, likely from the acrid smoke that spews from a nearby oil refinery.

One of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the Western Hemisphere, Beth Haim on the island of Curacao, is slowly fading in the Caribbean sun.
Continue reading: http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/Historic-Jewish-cemetery-in-Caribbean-fades-away-4065207.php

Slogan at a synagogue

In the wake of mounting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents, Italy’s Jewish leadership has “forcefully denounced” a “spiral of violence” that has erupted in the country over the past few weeks.

“It would be too long to enumerate the individual episodes, but we cannot refrain from drawing attention to a climate of tension that is increasingly worrying,” said a statement by Renzo Gattegna, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities.

Apparently prompted by Israel’s recent rocket attacks on Gaza, anti-Semitic slogans were scrawled on synagogues in several cities – the latest was in Genoa, where the slogan “Israel is a Nazi state” was discovered on the front door of the synagogue on Saturday.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/11/25/3112711/italys-jewish-leaders-denounce-mounting-anti-semitism

Canadian talk show hosts calls Jews annoying

The Jewish organization B'nai Brith Canada is demanding an apology from a Quebec talk show host who sympathized on the air with anti-Semitic statements.
A woman, who called herself Maria, phoned into Jacques Fabi's late night radio talk show on 98.5 FM last week.
She started by criticizing Israel for last week's bombings. Then she began to attack Jewish people and even lauded the Holocaust.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/11/24/montreal-anti-semetic-radio.html

Hidden Jewish past

From Colombian evangelicals to Jews in region with a hidden Jewish past

Courier for Jewish resistance dies

Vladka Meed, a weapons smuggler and courier for the Jewish resistance in Poland during World War II who published a haunting early chronicle of the Warsaw ghetto uprising and remained for six decades a leading force in efforts to remember the plight of European Jewry during the Holocaust, died Nov. 21 at her daughter’s home in Paradise Valley, Ariz. She was 90.
Continue reading: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/vladka-meed-courier-for-the-jewish-resistance-during-wwii-dies-at-90/2012/11/22/96518e5c-34c9-11e2-bfd5-e202b6d7b501_story.html

Anti-Semitism

Five fans of England’s Premier League soccer team Tottenham Hotspur were injured, one reportedly stabbed, in Rome Wednesday in an apparent anti-Semitic attack.
Continue reading: http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/11/22/tottenham-spurs-fan-stabbed-five-victim-of-anti-semitic-attack-in-rome/

Reverend Justin Welby, the new Archbishop of Canterbury (as of the new year) will certainly bring an interesting perspective to his relations with the Jewish community. According to a biography on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s official website Reverend Welby’s “father’s family were German Jewish immigrants who moved to England to escape anti-Semitism in the late 19th century, and integrated quickly.”
Read more: http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/11/22/new-archbishop-of-canterbury-descendant-of-jewish-family/

Two attacks

Students and faculty of a predominantly Jewish school near Paris have reported two attacks and one break-in in the space of 48 hours.

The first attack against students of the ORT high school in Montreuil, an eastern suburb of the French capital, occurred on Nov. 19 just outside the institution’s gates, according to a statement issued by the school. Six young men started hitting a small group of students “in a very determined way and without any provocation or even exchanging words.”
Continue reading: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/11/22/3112606/jewish-pupils-attacked-outside-school-in-paris

Disguised as journalists

Hamas love hiding behind the skirts of women and children, now they are pretending to be media to avoid having their sinuses cleared with a Hellfire:
Continue reading: http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/tag/muhammed-shamalah/

The miracle of Israel

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird hailed the "miracle" of a Zionist Israel Tuesday, as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began the hard diplomatic work of brokering an end to the violence.

Speaking to a glittering Jewish community fundraising gala, Baird called the birth of Israel a "miracle to behold," describing it as "a phoenix-like rising ... from a barren desert to the dynamic country we see today."
Continue reading: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/11/21/pol-cp-baird-israel-speech.html

Burning prayer books

French police reportedly arrested two teenagers on suspicion that they burned prayer books at a Jewish cemetery near Lyon in eastern France.
Continue reading: http://www.timesofisrael.com/teens-arrested-after-prayer-books-burned-in-french-jewish-cemetery/

Gravestones destroyed

More than 20 gravestones were destroyed at the Jewish cemetery in Lodz, Poland.
The damage was discovered on Tuesday; it is believed the vandals entered the cemetery on Monday.
Continue reading: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/11/20/3112446/gravestones-destroyed-at-polish-jewish-cemetery

Kosher food legislation

A New York senator and congressman on Monday announced that they introduced new legislation in Congress to try to ensure that kosher food pantries receive enough food.
The legislation, sponsored by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressman Joe Crowley, both Democrats, requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make sure it ends up at kosher food banks, according to a press release.
Read more: http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new-york-news/gillibrand-crowley-announce-kosher-food-supply-bill

Failure to warn

The BBC intentionally failed to warn Jews about the imminent Nazi threat they face, according to newly discovered evidence, the news media reported.
Read more: http://www.yourjewishnews.com/Pages/23988.aspx

Facing a backlash

Queen's University in Canada is facing a backlash from some Jewish alumni over its decision to confer an honorary degree to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, a strong critic of Israel.
Shimon Fogel, head of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, told the National Post newspaper that his organization has received about 50 "angry and frustrated inquiries" from Queen's graduates concerned that the university in Kingston, Ontario, will confer the degree on Carter, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who has described Israel as an apartheid state.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/11/18/3112256/queens-u-alumni-angry-over-honorary-degree-for-carter

Murdoch tweets

Taking to Twitter Saturday night media mogul Rupert Murdoch asked, “Why Is Jewish Owned Press so Consistently Anti-Israel In Every Crisis?”
Continue reading: http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/11/17/rupert-murdoch-tweets-why-is-jewish-owned-press-so-consistently-anti-israel-in-every-crisis/

Alan Gross' wife suing

Alan Gross' wife sued the U.S. government and the company that contracted his work in Cuba, alleging that their training was inadequate and a factor in his imprisonment.
A media release issued by Scott Gilbert, the family's lawyer, said that the lawsuit he filed Friday on behalf of Judith Gross in a federal court in Washington D.C. seeks to "hold Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) and the United States Government accountable for their role in Mr. Gross’ detention and imprisonment, including their abject failure to advise, train and protect him."
Ciontinue reading: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/11/16/3112176/judith-gross-sues-government-contractor-on-husband-alans-behalf

Reunion with a holocaust survivor

Some 67 years ago, a broken, emaciated boy looked up and saw an American soldier sitting astride a tank outside the gates of Dachau, the 10th concentration camp the boy had endured during the long war.

The hazel-eyed soldier hopped down and handed the boy rations he was eating. The boy ate with his fingers before dropping to his knees and kissing the soldier’s boots. A radio crackled with orders for the soldier to move on as part of the liberation effort. But first, the soldier hoisted the boy up and handed him a handkerchief decorated with a 48-star American flag.

Yesterday, clutching that flag in a velvet pouch, the boy, now an 81-year-old man of Newton, thanked the family of the soldier in person for the first time.
Continue reading: http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/11/12/veterans-day-dachau-concentration-camp-survivor-thanks-family-who-liberated-him/cbkhMQZDqQWkahy0rUN2aI/story.html

Liev Schreiber and the Shomrim

Jewish superstar Liev Schreiber has not suddenly frummed out, although you might think so after seeing paparazzi photos of the actor sporting peyos and tzistzis in the middle of Brooklyn. However, it’s not because he’s suddenly rediscovered his Jewish roots (Halevai…); Schreiber was actually on the set of the film “Fading Gigolo”, in which he plays Ode, a Chassidish, baseball-cap-sporting volunteer for the Williamsburg Shomrim – a neighborhood watch for Chassidish communities.
Continue reading: http://www.jewocity.com/blog/hollywood-star-liev-schreiber-digs-up-jewish-roots/5738

Here's what he looks like as a Shomrim member.

Beinart Banned alliteration

AJC reports: Peter Beinart: Banned from the Atlanta Jewish Book Festival.

The 99-year-old's bar mitzvah

A 99-year-old man living in Australia celebrated his bar mitzvah.
Isaac Volinsky joined a group of about 40 Jews from the former Soviet Union at a Chabad house near Sydney’s Bondi Beach last week for the first time.
Continue reading: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/11/12/3111691/jewish-australian-99-celebrated-hiis-bar-mitzvah

Sacked and suing

A FORMER principal of one of Melbourne's top Jewish schools, Bialik College, is suing the school for millions of dollars over his abrupt and mysterious sacking last year. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/former-principal-sues-jewish-school-for-millions-20121112-298g4.html#ixzz2C39fViQU

Wheaton College anti-Semitic graffiti

Authorities are investigating anti-Semitic graffiti found this morning on a residence for Jewish students at Wheaton College in Norton, according to a campus-wide e-mail from school President Ronald A. Crutcher.

“Crude and hateful graffiti” was found on the back door of the Jewish Life House at 17 Howard St., Crutcher wrote. Students at the house have reported being targeted before, including derogatory remarks shouted from the street as recently as Friday evening. http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/11/11/authorities-investigate-anti-semitic-graffiti-jewish-students-residence-wheaton-college/uC3FVQ82K4Tobo9FiewvGO/story.html

Radicalization begins at home

The radicalisation of the French gunman who killed seven people in March began at home, his brother has said in a new book and documentary.

Mohamed Merah killed three Jewish children, a rabbi and three paratroopers in and around Toulouse over eight days in March before dying in a standoff with police. Merah said he had links to al-Qaida and that he had received training at an Islamist paramilitary camp in Pakistan.
Continue reading: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/11/french-gunman-mohamed-merah-racist

Chanting "yid"

Tottenham Hotspur defended their fans after a second warning from the Society of Black Lawyers that they will face charges for chanting “yid” at Spurs games.

Peter Herbert, the society’s chairman, has set a deadline of Nov 20 for Spurs fans to stop using the word. He warned his organisation will then make complaints to police under the Public Order Act.
Continue reading: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/tottenham-hotspur/9668468/Tottenham-Hotspur-defend-fans-after-fresh-race-warning-from-Society-of-Black-Lawyers.html

New Jewish museum dedicated in Russia

Israel's president has joined Russia's foreign minister in Moscow to dedicate a new museum that explores the history of Jewish culture. The occasion marks a step forward in Israeli-Russian relations. A formal inauguration ceremony took place in the new Jewish Museum for Tolerance in the Russian capital on Thursday, a day before its doors are to open to the public. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Israel's president, Shimon Peres, were among the first to tour the museum, which spans over 8,500 square meters. The many interactive exhibitions detailing Jewish culture and history in Russia evoked many memories, Peres said. Read more: http://www.dw.de/jewish-russian-leaders-inaugurate-jewish-museum/a-16366822

Rectifying an injustice

A collection of rare posters stolen by the Nazis in 1938, including 19th century advertisements and propaganda, is being sold by the owner's son. Peter Sachs won a battle in a German court last March to retrieve his father's collection of some 4,000 posters from the German Historical Museum. Berlin’s Federal Court of Justice ruled at the time that Sachs, who now lives in the U.S., is the rightful owner of the posters. The judges said that not returning the posters “would perpetuate Nazi injustice.” Read more: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/161853

Pleading guilty

Detroit Tiger and accused anti-Semite Delmon Young pleaded guilty in Manhattan today to a random, drunken bias attack on a male Midtown tourist from back in April. It's a deal that keeps the free agent outfielder out of jail and will eventually leave him with no criminal record.

The $6.7 million-a-year player had lost $250,000 in salary after being suspended by Major League Baseball for the attack, a bizarre sidewalk beatdown during which he was overheard shouting "F---ing Jews!"
Continue reading:http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/tigers_young_pleads_guilty_tourist_WgA1cktGSmEF5XpilffPvI

Skullcap advisory

Finland's Jewish community has advised its members not to wear a skullcap in public for fear of anti-Semitic attacks.  

The recommendation was revealed by the security officer of the Jewish community in Helsinki in an interview to Yle, Finland's national public service broadcasting company in the Swedish language.
Read more: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4302376,00.html

Seeking volunteers

Just before Shelly Fine went to sleep Tuesday night, he posted his contact information and an appeal seeking volunteers for the Hurricane Sandy relief effort on a popular Upper West Side blog. When the 63-year-old woke up the next morning, he had 163 responses. Together with other volunteers, Fine is helping to orchestrate a grassroots effort to help out at the city's local shelters.
Continue reading: http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/news/national_world/article_319f2758-279a-11e2-928b-001a4bcf887a.html

Jewish organizations' office closings

A Manhattan office building that houses the Jewish Daily Forward and several Jewish organizations may be closed for several months due to flood damage sustained from Hurricane Sandy.

Citing an unnamed disaster recovery company official involved with the building, where the newspaper has an office on the eighth floor, The New York Times reported Monday that 125 Maiden Lane may remain closed for months while transformers, boilers and other equipment are replaced.
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/11/05/3111111/sandy-flooding-closes-office-of-the-forward-limmud-ny-several-jewish-organizations-for-months

A survivor

Morris Sorid has survived colon cancer and the loss of his family to Hitler. And now, a few months shy of turning 101 , he has survived Hurricane Sandy.

“I was nearly destroyed six or seven times in my life,” said Sorid, wheelchair-bound, as he rested in his temporary quarters – the basement library of the New Hempstead retirement home in Kew Gardens, Queens.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/holocaust-survivor-overcomes-sandy-article-1.1196550

Jewish family assauted over parking space

French police have arrested two men accused of assaulting members of a Jewish family in the family’s home in Nice in a dispute over a parking space.
...“You are only good for killing Palestinian children,” one of the men reportedly shouted. The family was also called “dirty Jews.”
Read more: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/11/04/3110996/french-jewish-family-accosted-at-home

Littered with errors

The GCSE religious studies text book on Judaism is so littered with errors that a school has produced its own four-page leaflet of corrections.

It includes picture of a Muslim kneeling in prayer, described as a Jew. One pupil said: "It was so bad, the teacher kept telling us, 'don't listen to this, ignore this, half of this is wrong'."

Continue reading: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/9650954/School-text-book-that-mixed-up-Jews-and-Muslims-withdrawn.html

 

QANTAS reassures

QANTAS has moved to reassure members of the Australian Jewish community that they will be able to fly to Europe and Britain on partner airlines without travelling through the United Arab Emirates after the airline's landmark deal with Dubai-based Emirates.

Senior figures in the Jewish community are believed to have been initially angered by Qantas's decision to sign a joint venture with Emirates in September because of the problems it would cause Israeli passport holders and due to the UAE being a participant in the Arab League boycott of Israel.
Read more: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-soothes-jewish-concerns/story-e6frg95x-1226509510991

Punishment for U.S. support

The Algemeiner reports Saudi Cleric Calls Hurricane Sandy Punishment for U.S. Support of Israel, Jews .

Preacher deported

France says it has deported a radical Muslim preacher known for his anti-Semitic speeches and calls for violent holy war.

Mohamed Hammami, who preached at the Omar Mosque in Paris, was expelled to his home country of Tunisia on Wednesday.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/31/mohamed-hammami-expelled_n_2051923.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Noah's ark may have been damaged

Noah’s Ark may have been sunk by a modern day storm of biblical proportions.

The replica of the Old Testament boat to be used in filming of Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah” may have been severely damaged at its Oyster Bay, Long Island, set by Hurricane Sandy, a source close to the production told the Hollywood Reporter.

“There are so many fallen trees [blocking the roads], we can’t get any confirmation [of its condition] yet,” said the source.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/noah-ark-movie-replica-damaged-storm-article-1.1195313#ixzz2AyXh9Y35

Netanyahu set to visit Toulouse Jewsh school

PM Binyamin Netanyahu is set to visit a Toulouse Jewish day school where a radical Islamist terrorist slaughtered a rabbi and three children this year. Al Qaeda-linked Muslim extremist Mohammed Merah's murderous rampage at the Otzar HaTorah school wounded several others. In the prior week, he had killed three French paratroopers of North African ancestry.
Read more: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/161590

Kidnapping plot foiled

A network plotting to kidnap and ransom members of a southern Tunisia town's Jewish community was broken up by the country's national guard, a Tunisian newspaper reported.
The network was started by a police officer who was formerly responsible for protecting the Jewish community, according to the report in Al Hacad, a Tunisian weekly. The officer was reportedly recruiting young Tunisians to take part in a kidnapping operation that aimed to force Tunisian Jews to leave the country. He had a car registered in Libya as well as firearms stockpiled.
Continue reading: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/10/31/3110786/kidnapping-plot-against-tunisian-jewish-community-reportedly-foiled

Demand for a Monet

The grandson of a wealthy Jewish businessman is demanding that a Swiss foundation return a Monet masterpiece that the family was forced to sell for a fraction of its value as they fled Europe during World War II, a Swiss newspaper reported Wednesday.
Juan Carlos Emden, the Chilean grandson of Max Emden who bought French master Claude Monet's "Poppy Field near Vetheuil" in the 1920s, is seeking to recover the painting from the Swiss Buehlre collection, the Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) reported.
Read more: http://acn.liveauctioneers.com/index.php/features/art-design/8502-former-jewish-owners-want-return-of-monet-masterpiece#ixzz2Au7Ijg1T

Institutional anti-Semitism

The UK’s trade union for academics, the University and College Union, is “institutionally anti-Semitic,” a London employment tribunal heard Monday.

The claim was made on the opening day of a potentially landmark case, which partially revolves around UCU’s resolutions concerning an academic boycott of Israel.

The claimant, freelance mathematics lecturer Ronnie Fraser, is alleging that the union harassed him by creating a hostile environment for him as a Jew, which “derives from a culture and attitude which is informed by contemporary anti-Zionism. Complaints about anti-Semitism are met with either bald denials or accusations that the complainant is attempting to stifle legitimate debate. As a result of the role which the State of Israel plays in contemporary Jewish identity, the hostile environment necessarily has an adverse impact on Jewish members of the union, making them feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.”
Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/uk-academic-union-to-face-claims-of-institutional-anti-semitism/
  

Ensuring Ukranian Jews' safety

The head of the European Jewish Association has called on the Ukrainian government to ensure the safety of the country's Jews in the wake of the election to parliament of an anti-Semitic party.
"We are not presuming of course, to interfere in internal Ukraine affairs and its voters' decisions, however we are very concerned about the safety of Ukrainian Jews and are seeking to prevent expansion of anti-Semitism in Europe," Rabbi Menachem Margolin said in a statement.
Read more: http://www.jspace.com/news/articles/european-jewish-association-calls-for-protection-of-ukrainian-jews/11451

The vote

On June 6, Paul Ryan had a visitor in his House of Representatives’ office in Washington, D.C. Mr. Ryan was not yet the vice-presidential nominee, but was already a rising star in the Republican Party and well known in America’s capital as author of the fiscally conservative “Ryan Budget.”

Ezra Friedlander knew he had the ear of somebody important. As a non-partisan political consultant and Orthodox Jew, he wanted the Wisconsin politician to know not everyone who accepts entitlements are moochers or “professional schnorrers,” as he put it in Yiddish during an interview at his Brooklyn brownstone. Some Orthodox Jews, he explained, rely on food stamps because they spend thousands of dollars sending their five, six or seven children to religious schools rather than taxpayer-funded ones.
Continue reading: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/30/jewish-support-could-hand-election-to-republicans/

Haunted

These chilling images of a young Jewish girl at Auschwitz are among thousands that have haunted a Nazi photographer all his life.
Wilhelm Brasse was forced to take photographs of frightened children and victims of gruesome medical experiments moments from their death at the extermination camp where some 1.5million people, mostly Jewish died in the Holocaust.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2224026/The-photographer-Auschwitz-Man-forced-chilling-images-Jewish-prisoners-haunted-death-94.html#ixzz2AcRUGqUC

Warsaw Jewish museum

The box-like glass building rises from soil marked by tragedy in the heart of Warsaw’s former Jewish district. At certain angles, its luminous facade reflects the outlines of a dark memorial to those who fought and died in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising against the Nazis.

Yet despite reminders of Jewish suffering all around, the modern building will soon open as a key remembrance site of a mostly upbeat Jewish story, becoming home to the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, a major new museum dedicated to the 1,000 years of Jewish existence in Polish lands.

Read more: http://www.boston.com/travel/destinations/2012/10/28/warsaw-museum-celebrate-jewish-life-poland/YHSOkeFh2yZNXGZalQK1ZI/story.html

Calls for removal

Canada has joined Israel and the US in calling for the removal of the UN special investigator on human rights in the Palestinian territories, who on Thursday presented a report calling for a boycott of all companies that have dealings with Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem until they adhere to international rights standards and practices.
A spokesman for Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Richard Falk’s report was “offensive and unhelpful.”
Read more: http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/10/26/canada-israel-us-call-for-removal-of-un-human-rights-investigator-falk/

Israeli flag provocation

A city hall request that the Israeli flag not be displayed at a street festival intended to promote diversity has Jewish community leaders wondering what “diversity” really means to some city leaders.

During planning meetings for September’s Smag Verden – Mangfoldighedsfest, a celebration of the foods and cultures of different countries, Jewish participants were warned that some would interpret the flying of the Israeli flag as a provocation.
Read more: http://cphpost.dk/news/local/jewish-groups-angered-absence-israeli-flag-diversity-festival

Bungled attempt

The three Birmingham men accused of plotting a huge terror attack in the UK discussed storming a synagogue armed with guns had they been unable to make a bomb, a court heard today.
The would-be suicide bombers made a bungled attempt to destroy blueprints for a terror attack more deadly than 7/7, the court heard.
Read more: http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/88157/terror-trial-would-be-suicide-bombers-discussed-gun-attack-synagogue’

Olive grove destruction

A Jewish farmer went to harvest olives Tuesday morning from an olive grove he owns in the Shilo region, but on arrival he found that the grove had been stripped of olives, and dozens of trees had been destroyed.

All that farmer Erez Ben-Saadon was left with were broken branches, cloth olive sacks with Arabic writing on them, and spilled olives on the ground.

...“It’s outrageous that next to my home in Rechelim, Arabs harvest olives without being disturbed, and yet they attack us in the media, as if we’re plotting against them, while Arab attacks and thefts targeting Jewish farmers in Samaria are met with silence,” he declared.
Read full article: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/theft-and-destruction-at-jewish-owned-olive-grove/2012/10/25/

New Jewish cultural center

The intended king of the Netherlands, Prince Willem-Alexander, officiated at the dedication of the new Jewish cultural quarter in Amsterdam.
Several hundred people attended the dedication ceremony on Tuesday, the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Dutch Jewish Historical Museum. The museum is one of seven Jewish institutions situated within the square kilometer that constitutes the new Jewish quarter.
Continue reading: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/10/24/3110226/dutch-crown-prince-dedicates-amsterdam-jewish-cultural-quarter

Schoolboy threatened

Two men hit and threatened a Jewish schoolboy at a Paris bus stop, according to the security unit of France’s Jewish community, SPCJ.
The two men, both in their 40s, hit the 12-year-old boy with a belt on Oct. 22 and told him to remain silent, SPCJ wrote in a statement on Wednesday. The boy was waiting for a bus to take him to school.
The attackers also hurled insults in Arabic at the boy, the report said. The incident, which SPCJ defined as "an anti-Semitic act of aggression," took place in northeast Paris, in the city's 19th arrondissement.
Continue reading:  http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/10/24/3110156/two-men-attack-jewish-schoolboy-in-paris

Paramedic credited

Ramapo Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence and Police Chief Peter Brower both described the actions of Paramedic Jacob Goldmunzer as “absolutely heroic” in saving a young girl’s life on Monday afternoon. They credited him with performing life saving measures that revived a nine-year-old girl who was not breathing and did not have a pulse after being hit by a van that jumped a curb. Goldmunzer, who arrived minutes after the accident, performed triage on all five victims hit by the vehicle.
Read more: http://nyack.patch.com/articles/paramedic-credited-with-saving-girl-s-life-after-accident

Dragged through the gutter

The reputation of the Jewish community was dragged through the gutter at last night’s book launch of The Battle for Public Opinion in Europe: Changing Perceptions of the Palestine-Israel Conflict.
The event was staged by anti-Israel pressure group Middle East Monitor at the University of London’s Senate House.
Read full article: http://honestreporting.com/zionists-are-scattered-throughout-british-business/

Swastika painted in elevator

A swastika was found painted in the elevator of a building in a Jewish section of Brooklyn Tuesday, sources said.
The graffiti was discovered in a building on Clymer St. near Wythe Ave. in South Williamsburg, the sources said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/police-investigating-swastika-symbol-painted-building-article-1.1190017#ixzz2A9GSdZi3

Killed in a car accident

One of the leading figures in British Zionist history has been killed in a car accident at the age of 97.
Jack Sklan, who had lived in Israel for nearly 40 years, was crossing King George Street not far from the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem on Shabbat morning when he was hit by a car.
Despite the best efforts of a volunteer medic from the aid group United Hatzalah – a man who interrupted a Shabbat service honouring his own forthcoming wedding – Mr Sklan's injuries were too severe.
Continue reading: http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/87602/leading-british-zionist-killed-jerusalem-crash

Film festival overlaps Jewish holidays

The Toronto International Film Festival announced its 2013 dates, Sept. 5-15, 2013, which overlap with the Jewish High Holy Days and could leave some filmmakers, agents and executives to face a tough decision - to pray or to go.
The dates for the festival, one of the fall’s premiere events, overlap with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year (Sept. 4 - Sept. 6), and Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar (Sept. 13-14).


Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Toronto+Film+Festival+sets+2013+dates+that+overlap+with+Jewish+holy+days/7428843/story.html#ixzz2A5tvwlHz

Strong condemnation

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which monitors anti-Semitic incidents worldwide, has made a strong condemnation of Egypt's new President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, after he attended a sermon where the preacher called for the "destruction and dispersal of the Jews."
Continue reading: http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019498288_apmlegyptisrael.html

Charges dropped

Brooklyn prosecutors have dropped all charges against a Jewish man videotaped getting pummeled by two cops at a Crown Heights synagogue.
Ehud Halevy, 21, was sleeping in the back room of the ALIYA youth center on East New York Ave. Oct. 8 when he was confronted by two police officers. After an argument about evacuating the premises — which the shirtless man refused to do — he was punched repeatedly by Officer Luis Vega.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/charges-jewish-man-beat-cops-dropped-article-1.1189621#ixzz2A4E6uDeN

Prayers of destruction

Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi participated in prayers over the weekend in which the preacher urged Allah to “destroy the Jews and their supporters.”
Click here to see MEMRI clip of the President.
Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-morsis-presence-egyptian-preacher-urges-allah-destroy-the-jews/

Rwanda plans Tel Aviv embassy

Rwanda plans to open an Embassy in Tel Aviv within six months The Algemeiner has learned. Speaking to a small group of reporters at a press conference on Friday hosted by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo said, “We are going to open an embassy in Tel Aviv,” in video footage seen by The Algemeiner, “I should say in the next six months.”
Read more: http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/10/21/rwandan-foreign-minister-pledges-to-open-israel-embassy-within-six-months-credits-rabbi-2/

Restaurant discrimination

It’s unortho-docks!
The iconic River Café on the Brooklyn waterfront in DUMBO — famous for its floating-barge dining room that offers sweeping views of lower Manhattan — discriminates against Jews dressed in religious garb by requiring them to pay a minimum of $25 per person to sit at the bar, according to one current and one former employee.
The reservationists — who stand at the entrance to the popular wedding venue and tourist destination — are instructed to use code words to alert the maitre d’ if anyone wearing a yarmulke, “religious hat” or “strings” asks to be seated at the scenic bar, the workers say.
Continue reading: http://5tjt.com/?p=11353

Professor murdered

A well-known Jewish orthopedist and professor in Lviv, Ukraine, was reportedly murdered on Saturday morning near his home by three young Muslim men, who were later captured by the police. According to the Jewish Press and ultra-Orthodox Israeli website bhol.co.il, the perpetrators were former students of Leon Freifeld’s who had been expelled from university due to poor grades. Read full story here.

Two arrests

Police have arrested two men following the desecration of dozens of Jewish graves at a cemetery in Auckland, New Zealand last week.
A 19-year-old and 23-year-old will be charged with willful damage and are set to appear at Auckland District Court this week, police said. About 20 gravestones at the historic Symonds Street Cemetery were vandalized with anti-Semitic obscenities, including Nazi swastikas.
More INN news: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/161144

Anti-Jewish violence

A wave of anti-Jewish violence has taken place in France and Sweden over the past few weeks. The difference in government response is notable, and yet there is something similarly disquieting about their actions.
Continue reading: http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/10/21/honing-anti-semitism-in-france-sweden/