Anti-Semitic Graffiti Scrawled Near Lakewood Yeshiva
(JTA) — Several swastikas and other anti-Semitic messages were spray-painted on equipment at a playground across the street from an Orthodox yeshiva in the heavily haredi Orthodox township of Lakewood, New Jersey. The graffiti discovered Thursday included the words “Hail Hitler,” the Asbury Park Press reported. A spokesman for the Lakewood police said the department received a report…
Brooklyn Hasid Charged in Beating of Gay Black Man Wants Non-Jury Trial
NEW YORK (JTA) — A Hasidic Jew charged in the brutal beating of a gay black man opted to have a judge try his case rather than a jury trial. Mayer Herskovic, one of five Hasidic men indicted in the December 2013 beating that left the victim blind in one eye, will have his case heard by…
Orthodox Synagogue Hires Female ‘Rabbanit’ in First for Israel
(JTA) — In a first for an Orthodox congregation in Israel, a woman has been hired as a spiritual leader at a Jerusalem synagogue. Karmit Feintuch will serve at the Ramban Synagogue in the Old City alongside Rabbi Benny Lau, The Jerusalem Post reported Monday. She will have the title “rabbanit.” A committee of the religious Zionist synagogue…
Former Israeli Minister: Israel-Saudi Peace ‘In the Cards’
(JTA) — In a conference call Tuesday with British media hosted by the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre, Rabbi Michael Melchior said he expected normal travel from Israel to Saudi Arabia to start “very soon.”
Natalie Portman Heads to HBO With ‘Homeland’ and ‘Friends’ Producers in Tow
(JTA) — Natalie Portman will star in and executive produce an HBO miniseries adaptation of Karen Joy Fowler’s 2014 novel “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.”
‘We Killed 11,000 Israelis,’ Palestinian Leader Boasts on Facebook
(JTA) — On Facebook, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party cited killing 11,000 Israelis as an example of its many achievements.
As Rio Olympics Starts, Israelis of Munich ’72 Officially Commemorated
(JTA) — More than four decades after they were held hostage and then murdered, the 11 Israeli victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre were commemorated in an official International Olympic Committee ceremony on Thursday. The ceremony was held at a memorial site in the Olympic Village in Rio, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Wisdom of the Israeli Teen Injured in London Stabbing
(JTA) — The Israeli teen injured in a London stabbing attack in which an American woman was killed said she plans to continue her visit in the UK capital and will not “start worrying.” Yovel Lewkowski, 18, of Tel Aviv, was one of five people injured when a Norwegian citizen of Somalian ancestry went on a stabbing…
Black Lives Matter Platform Says Israel An ‘Apartheid State’ Committing ‘Genocide’
The wide-ranging new platform of a coalition growing out of the Black Lives Matter movement includes harsh criticism of Israel, which it describes as an “apartheid state” that, it claims, perpetrates “genocide” against the Palestinian people.
Anti-Semitic Oberlin Prof Suspended From Teaching
(JTA) — An Oberlin professor whose anti-Semitic social media posts outraged many alumni and faculty earlier this year has been placed on paid leave. Joy Karega, an assistant professor of rhetoric, will not teach any courses at the Ohio liberal arts school until an internal investigation is completed, Oberlin President Marvin Krislov announced, the Cleveland…