A man wearing a swastika armband was spotted riding a bicycle on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville Tuesday, setting Jewish students on edge. The Alligator, the independent student paper, reported that coinciding with the incident, the Jewish Student Union was finishing up a day of Jewish Heritage Month promotion. Avichaim Snyder,…
Does Jared Kushner’s Shabbat observance lead father-in-law Donald Trump to go off the rails? It’s an open question after this weekend, when the new leader picked a fight with the media as his top adviser and crisis manager unplugged for the day. “He wasn’t rolling calls on Saturday when this happened,” an unnamed source told…
An impending visit by controversial New Jersey rabbi Steven Pruzansky has the Israeli town of Modi’in up in arms, according to a report in Haaretz. Pruzansky, who leads Teaneck, N.J.’s Congregation Bnai Yeshurun, has a long track record of inflammatory statements. In 2014, he was condemned by a chorus of Orthodox Jewish leaders for a…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A public campaign raised $120,000 to pay the ransom for a dual citizen of Israel and Canada imprisoned in an unnamed Arab country. The Jewish man, Ben Hassin, 21, has been under arrest since June 2015 in the Arab country for the murder of a taxi driver, who he shot in self-defense,…
(JTA) — Israel is willing to accept 100 orphaned Syrian refugee children, a news report said. Israel’s Channel 10 reported Wednesday night that Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri approved the plan, which has not yet been put into action. Government offices reportedly will now work with international organizations in order to receive the refugees. The children…
(JTA) — A driver threatened to shoot a crossing guard and a child outside a Jewish day school in Crown Heights, New York. The school crossing guard, 55, had asked the driver to move his car, which was blocking the sidewalk outside the Beth Rivkah Elementary School. The driver then asked the guard: “Why are…
Actor Shia LaBeouf was arrested early on Thursday after a scuffle outside a New York museum where he was chanting “He will not divide us” during a live-streamed protest against President Donald Trump, police said. The “Transformers” and “American Honey” star allegedly pulled a 25-year-old man’s scarf, scratched his face and shoved him at about…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — One or more Democratic senators are holding up a resolution condemning last month’s United Nations Security Council condemnation of Israel’s settlement expansion in the West Bank. Jewish Insider reported Wednesday that Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., was behind the hold. It cited Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who told the newsletter that the Senate resolution’s…
Israel plans to decriminalize personal marijuana use, Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan said on Thursday, adopting an approach similar to some U.S. states and European countries. Erdan said that if the government approves his new policy, those caught smoking marijuana would be fined rather than arrested and prosecuted. Criminal procedures would be launched only against…
A massive cut in American funding for the United Nations could be in the works if President Trump signs an executive order prepared by his aides. The order, first reported by the New York Times on Wednesday, will cut at least 40% of funding for the international body and its agencies, if they grant full…
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said he is reconsidering efforts to force the sale of land tracts belonging to native Hawaiians that fall within a large estate he bought on the island of Kauai, after facing harsh criticism. Zuckerberg filed to secure parcels of land within his $100 million seafront property on the island of…
