(JTA) — Responding to legislation deemed harmful to efforts to return privately owned Jewish property in Warsaw, a major restitution group said it was building a database to facilitate claims. The World Jewish Restitution Organization, or WJRO, announced the new tool Monday, three months after regulations went into effect that drastically limited the window for filing claims for…
— The Orthodox Union has started an online petition calling on President-elect Donald Trump to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. The move would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s “chosen capital,” the O.U. petition on Change.org says. It also notes that June 2017 will mark the 50th anniversary of the reunification…
(JTA) — Hillel International is receiving $38 million, its largest gift ever, from a foundation established by the co-founder of Home Depot. The Marcus Foundation, established by Bernard Marcus and his wife, Billi, said Monday it would make the multi-year donation to a new Hillel staffing initiative, Talent Grants. The initiative seeks to “recruit, train…
BERLIN — The firing of the director of the Polish Cultural Institute in Berlin has led to a diplomatic brouhaha in the German capital after some assert that she focused too much on Jewish topics. The Jewish Museum also has become involved in defense of Katarzyna Wielga-Skolimowska, who was let go last week by the Polish Foreign Ministry, ostensibly…
A gilded statue of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, dubbed “King Bibi” by its creator, stirred condemnation from Israel’s culture minister and was toppled by an onlooker after a brief public appearance on Tuesday. Sculptor Itay Zalait told reporters he had placed the four meter (13 foot) tall effigy of Netanyahu on a white pedestal in…
Poland’s supreme court on Tuesday upheld an earlier verdict that Oscar-winning filmmaker Roman Polanski cannot be extradited to the United States over a 1977 child sex conviction, bringing a definitive end to the Polish case. The top court’s verdict marks a defeat for Polish Prosecutor General and Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who wanted to hand…
NEW YORK (JTA) — The New York Police Department said it has seen a dramatic rise in hate crimes following the election of Donald Trump, with the majority of incidents directed at Jews. There has been a 115 percent increase in bias crimes in New York City following Election Day, with Jews being targeted in 24…
— Google has removed some of its search suggestions, including the phrase “are Jews evil,” which had been automatically generated by its search algorithm. As of Monday, the phrase was no longer suggested to a user who typed in only the words “are Jews,” The Guardian reported. Google also removed suggestions for other offensive search…
Former Vice President Al Gore said he discussed climate change with Ivanka Trump Monday, in another sign that the first daughter will have an outsized role in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. “I had a lengthy and very productive session with the president-elect. It was a sincere search for areas of common ground,” the former vice…
A Jewish visual artist from Berkeley was among at least 36 people who perished Friday night in a converted warehouse during a dance party in Oakland, California. Friends of Jonathan Bernbaum, 34, are gathering today to remember him, according to Berkeleyside. Bernbaum graduated from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts in 2008….
Israel’s parliament gave initial approval on Monday to a revised bill that would legalize Israeli settlement homes built on private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. The proposed law has already drawn sharp international condemnation and strained relations within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing right-wing coalition. Israeli critics and Palestinians have called it a…
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