Benjamin Brafman, the New York criminal defense attorney representing Harvey Weinstein, has had his fair share of famous clients, from mafia members to Martin Shkreli. But only one ever tried to get him to break Shabbat. At a 2015 conference, Brafman, a religious Jew, told some fellow lawyers about a time when Sean Combs, the…
(JTA) — A French-Muslim news outlet and a prominent anti-colonialism activist published on Twitter alleged hit lists featuring Jewish groups and individuals. Sihame Assbague, the activist, posted the first list of eight items last week. It included the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities; the Socialist Jewish politician Julien Dray; former prime minister Manuel…
(JTA) — British Labour Party head Jeremy Corbyn holds “anti-Semitic views” which could drive Jewish Britons out of the country if he becomes prime minister, a senior Jewish leader said. Jonathan Arkush, the outgoing president of the Board of Deputies of British Jewry, told the British newspaper the Daily Telegraph that British Jews are for…
Movie producer Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on charges of rape in the first and third degrees, and criminal sexual act in the first degree, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement on Wednesday. Weinstein’s indictment by a grand jury follows his arrest and court appearance last Friday. Weinstein has been accused of…
Following months of talks, Kim Kardashian West visited the White House on Wednesday to discuss prison reform with Jared Kushner and President Trump, Vanity Fair reported. The Oval Office meeting centered around the reality star’s plea for the president to pardon Alice Marie Johnson, a black woman from Mississippi who was sentenced in 1996 to…
Following Tuesday’s cancellation of her ABC sitcom, Roseanne Barr returned to Twitter— and made sure everyone knew she is a Jew. “I’m a Jew, bigot,” Barr tweeted on Wednesday morning, adding that she was “making fun of Hitler.” The actress was responding to a tweet which called her out for a previous tweet in which…
The California Republican Party has distanced itself from a candidate running under its party banner over charges of anti-Semitism for the second time this year. John Fitzgerald is the only Republican running in the heavily-Democratic 11th District, northeast of Oakland. His campaign website includes false claims that 9% of U.S. government officials are dual citizens…
(JTA) — A handwritten manuscript penned by author Franz Kafka fetched nearly $175,000 at an auction in Germany. The text sold Saturday in Hamburg to a private collector is an introduction to a novel that Kafka, a Jewish writer from Prague whose work is widely considered one of the most influential literary oeuvres of the…
(JTA) — LGBT activist Constance Kurtz, whose lawsuit against the New York City Board of Education led eventually to domestic partner benefits for all New York City employees in 1994, has died. Kurtz, known as Connie, died in the West Palm Beach, Florida, home that she shared with her life partner, Ruthie Berman, on Sunday. She…
About two years ago, Roseanne Barr’s Twitter feed had a pretty different tone. Rather than erratically responding to the backlash over the racist tweet she posted Tuesday, she took to social media to share her newfound identity as a Jewish priestess. At the time, Barr became a vocal advocate for a movement that some called…
(JTA) — A 1957 letter written by Eleanor Roosevelt in which the former first lady vigorously defends Israel’s actions during the Suez Crisis is being auctioned off. Nate D. Sanders Auctions in Los Angeles will start the bidding on Thursday at $22,500. The letter, written on her personal “Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt” letterhead, responds directly…
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