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