JTA
By JTA
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Fast Forward Haredim Protest Jailing of Yeshiva Student Refusing IDF Draft
Hundreds of haredi Orthodox protesters took part in a second day of demonstrations against the jailing of a yeshiva student who refused to present himself at an IDF enlistment center. The yeshiva student was imprisoned on Sunday for two weeks. During Thursday’s demonstrations in Kikar HaShabbat in Jerusalem, protesters set trash bins alight and threw…
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Fast Forward Arab-Israeli Knesset Members Call Bedouin Resettlement Plan ‘Ethnic Cleansing’
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Arab-Israeli members of the Knesset called the plan to resettle Bedouin in the Negev an “ethnic cleansing” and said it violates international law. The letter was delivered to Kerry on Thursday, during the U.S. official’s visit to the region to meet with Israeli Prime Minister…
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Fast Forward Ukrainian Jewish Community Goes on ‘High Alert’ During Protests
Widespread protests in Ukraine have prompted the country’s Jewish communities to up security arrangements, a community leader from Kiev has said. “Now that streets across Ukraine are full of civilians, the community’s safety is becoming our primary concern,” Oleksandr Feldman, a Ukrainian lawmaker and president of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, wrote in statement published Wednesday…
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Fast Forward Obama Hosts Two Hanukkah Parties To Accommodate Large Guest List
President Obama is for the first time hosting two White House Hanukkah parties to accommodate the high demand for attendance at such events. The identical parties will take place consecutively, Thursday afternoon and evening, the last day of Hanukkah. Obama’s predecessor, President George W. Bush, launched the tradition of annual formal Hanukkah parties amidst the…
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Fast Forward Hanukkah Candle-Lighting Ceremony Held at Former Prison in Italy
A Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony was held in the Steri Palace Prison in Palermo in Italy, which served as a prison during the Spanish Inquisition. The candle lighting Wednesday was sponsored by the Shavei Israel organization and led by Rabbi Pinchas Punturello, the organization’s emissary to the Bnei Anousim, or Crypto-Jews, in southern Italy and Sicily….
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Fast Forward ‘Knockout Attacks’ Caused by Black-Jewish Tension Says Incoming Councilwoman
An incoming New York City councilwoman said the wave of so-called knockout attacks is caused by tension between blacks and Jews. Councilwoman-elect Laurie Cumbo, who was elected to represent the Crown Heights neighborhood and will take office next month, made the statement in a Facebook post on Tuesday calling for a zero-tolerance policy toward the…
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Fast Forward First Rabbi Sworn Into Argentine Parliament With Tanach
Rabbi Sergio Bergman was sworn in to Argentina’s National Parliament on a Tanach. Bergman, the first rabbi to take office as a national legislator, wore a colorful yarmulke and swore the oath of office Wednesday before “God, the motherland and the sacred scriptures of the Bible, the Tanach” in an original and unprecedented formula that…
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Fast Forward Home of Women of the Wall Board Member Vandalized in Jerusalem
Graffiti calling Women of the Wall “scum” was painted outside the Jerusalem apartment of one of the group’s board members. The graffiti discovered Thursday morning in the public stairwell of the apartment of Peggy Cidor, in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Talpiyot, also read “Peggy, watch out ” and “Women of the Wall are villains.” Cidor…
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