JERUSALEM (JTA) — For the first time, a Diaspora Jew will be invited to light one of the torches honoring Israeli Independence Day. Minister of Sports and Culture Miri Regev announced earlier this week that one of the 12 torch lighters will be a representative of Diaspora Jewry as a symbol of Jewish unity. Selecting…
TEL AVIV (JTA) – They’re both named Tamar. They’re both 19. And they both refuse to perform mandatory service in the Israeli army because of their opposition to Israel’s actions in the West Bank. But after back-to-back hearings at the Tel Hashomer army base Monday, the army deemed only Tamar Zeevi a conscientious objector. She…
(JTA) — A Holocaust survivor known for speaking to schools about his experiences confronted federal and local officials about immigration arrests. Bernard Marks earned loud cheers on Tuesday after he confronted the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Thomas Homan, at a public forum in Sacramento, California. “When I was a little boy in…
After weeks of heightened unease over the stance of the United States under the new administration of President Donald Trump, Arab leaders reaffirmed on Wednesday their commitment to a two-state solution to the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict. They called for a new round of peace talks based on a two-state solution and renewed a 2002 offer…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Some 230 new immigrants from Ukraine arrived in Israel. The immigrants landed Tuesday at Ben Gurion Airport on a flight organized by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. There were 78 families in the group, as well as four Holocaust survivors and more than 40 children. Some of the new arrivals left war-torn areas…
The university arm of the dovish Jewish American group J Street called on Wednesday for the Jewish community to take “a new approach” and stop “demonizing” the movement to boycott, divest and sanction Israel. J Street U said efforts made by the Israeli government and its supporters to counter BDS are “unhelpful and counterproductive.” These…
It’s spring in Williamsburg and that means one thing: Hasidic groups and New York City are gearing up for another fight over single-sex swimming hours at public pools. The city originally granted the single-sex swimming hours at two area pools as an accommodation to the area’s Hasidic women, whose code of modesty precludes them from…
A black former journalist charged with making a wave of bomb threats to Jewish organizations says he was framed by racist authorities. “Make no mistake: this is a modern-day lynching,” Juan Thompson, 31, said in a telephone interview from the Warren County jail in Missouri. “The allegations are false.” Thompson, who said he holds no…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Defense Ministry said it would not remove recognition from a pre-military yeshiva in the West Bank over comments by its leader that disparaged female soldiers. The ministry made the announcement Wednesday after Israel’s attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, said that the defense minister lacks the authority to withdraw recognition of the yeshiva’s programs, Ynet reported. Defense Minister Avigdor…
Democrats could chalk up a much-needed win after a bruising electoral loss this past November, as voters head to the polls in a few weeks to elect a new representative in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District. Jon Ossoff, a former Capitol Hill aide and documentary producer, has a real chance of winning the usually red district…
A placard bearing a notorious anti-Jewish “alt-right” slogan was waved by Trump supporters at a California rally over the weekend. At a Huntington Beach pro-Donald Trump demonstration, one supporter waved a sign reading “Da Goyim Know.” The slogan comes from an “alt-right” online meme. “Goyim” is a pejorative term for non-Jews. The second phrase of…
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