Jeff Sessions Meets With JCC Leaders To Discuss Bomb Threats
— Representatives of the umbrella organization of Jewish community centers discussed recent bomb threats against their institutions with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Officials from the JCC Association of North America met with Sessions on Thursday, a week after an Israeli teenager was arrested on charges of calling in over 100 bomb threats to…
Israel Bars Entry To British Activist Because Of Boycott Support
Israel denied entry to a British pro-Palestinian activist a week after the Knesset passed a law banning entry to foreigners who support boycotting the Jewish state.
University Of Illinois, Ohio State Reject Divestment Measures
— Students at the University of Illinois and Ohio State University voted down measures urging their schools to divest from companies complicit in Palestinian human rights violations. The Illinois referendum was rejected late last week by a margin of 56.8 to 43.2 percent, according to media reports. The Ohio State measure failed by a…
Pope Francis Meets ADL Leaders, Condemns Anti-Semitism
(JTA) — Pope Francis received a delegation from the Anti-Defamation League and said the church feels “particularly obliged” to help fight anti-Semitism. Francis met with the delegation Thursday at the Vatican, according to a report from Vatican Radio. “The Catholic Church feels particularly obliged to do all that is possible with our Jewish friends to repel anti-Semitic…
Israel Apologizes for Airport Questioning of New Israel Fund Leader
(JTA) — The agency that manages Israel’s border crossings apologized for any “anguish” caused by the questioning of the leader of the New Israel Fund at Ben-Gurion Airport. The Population and Immigration Authority said Thursday that its interim director general, Amnon Shmueli, had spoken to the New Israel Fund’s president after the group’s vice president, Jennifer Gorovitz,…
Islamic State Affiliate Claims Responsibility for Eilat Rocket Attack
(JTA) — An affiliate of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat. The Sinai Province group, which pledged its allegiance to ISIS in 2014, said Thursday it was responsible for the firing of four rockets from the Egyptian-controlled Sinai peninsula into Israel. Three of the rockets…
HIAS Sues To Block Trump’s Ban on Refugees
(JTA) — The Jewish resettlement agency HIAS has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on refugees. The complaint, filed Tuesday by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union in U.S. District Court in Maryland, alleges that the order violates the Constitution by discriminating against one religion and favoring others….
Steve Bannon Compared Occupy Protesters to Nazi Brownshirts
(JTA) — Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump’s senior strategist, compared left-wing protesters to Nazi Brownshirts in 2012. In interviews to promote his film “Occupy Unmasked,” Bannon made several comments likening the Occupy Wall Street protests against income inequality and financial industry predation to the actions of Nazi paramilitaries, CNN reported. “The Occupy movement is really a…
Republicans Block Measure Slamming White House Holocaust Statement That Left Out Jews
(JTA) — House Republicans blocked a Democratic effort to vote on a resolution slamming the White House for its International Holocaust Remembrance Day statement that did not specifically mention Jews. Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., sought to force a vote Tuesday on a resolution he introduced last week emphasizing that the Nazis targeted Jews during the…
Ticketmaster Launches in Israel
(JTA) — The U.S. entertainment company Live Nation announced it has acquired a stake in an Israeli concert promotion business and launched Ticketmaster Israel. The Los Angeles-based company purchased a majority stake in Tel Aviv’s Bluestone Entertainment, Billboard reported Tuesday, and the two companies have partnered on the launch of the popular ticketing site in…
