(JTA) — The Democratic Party platform drafting committee is top heavy with veterans of political battles over Israel — some friendly, some critical, and including at least one major backer of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The Democratic National Committee named the committee on Monday, a day after reports emerged that Bernie Sanders, an…
An attorney running for a judgeship in Georgia apologized for referencing his Jewish opponent’s religion as “not Christian” in his campaign literature. Roderick Bridges apologized on Saturday to Dax Lopez, the incumbent on the DeKalb County State Court, for literature that listed Bridges as Christian with a thumbs-up sign and Lopez as “not Christian” with…
(JTA) — The city of Amsterdam will give its Jewish community $11 million as compensation for taxes imposed on Holocaust survivors who returned home to the city following World War II. Upon their return, according to an in The Telegraph Monday, the survivors were made to pay a tax because their homes were left empty during the Holocaust. They…
(JTA) – European Jewish groups reacted with relief to the victory by a left-wing politician over a far-right candidate in Austria’s presidential elections. Alexander van der Bellen, an environmentalist with a pro-refugee agenda, won with 50.3 percent of the vote on Sunday, despite early reports predicting victory for Norbert Hofer of the Austrian Freedom Party party, or…
A military affairs commentator interrupts his broadcast to deliver a monolog: I’m alarmed by what’s happening in Israel, he says, I think my children should leave. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak warns of “the seeds of fascism.” Moshe Arens, who served as defense minister three times, sees it as a turning point in Israeli politics…
(JTA) — On one hand, most Israelis say their financial situation is good and getting better. On the other hand, they’re worried they won’t be able to provide for their children. On one hand, they want significantly more government spending in a wide range of public services. On the other hand, they say they pay…
— British Jewish groups and British lawmakers have called on the Labour Party to suspend a Member of Parliament who compared Israel to the Nazis. The Labour Party said last week that Afzal Khan had been “reminded of his responsibilities as a Labour representative,” but that he would face no disciplinary action, the Jewish Chronicle…
Israeli police officers in civilian clothes savagely assaulted an Arab supermarket worker in central Tel Aviv on Sunday after he refused to identify himself because he didn’t know who they were, according to eyewitnesses. The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon at the Super Yuda supermarket on Ibn Gabirol Street, opposite the Tel Aviv municipality. The…
A woman was attacked by a shark off the Florida coast on Sunday, swimming back to shore for help with a bite in her thigh, ABC News reported. Mary Marcus, 57, was listed in stable condition at a hospital, ABC reported, citing Vero Beach police. Representatives for the Vero Beach Police Department and the hospital…
Prominent cultural historian Prof. Catherine Hall of University College London declined to receive the prestigious Dan David Prize, which was due to be awarded on Sunday in a ceremony at Tel Aviv. “This was an independent political choice, undertaken after many discussions with those who are deeply involved with the politics of Israel-Palestine, but with…
Chaos erupted last week at the upstate New York graveside of Yitzhak Rosenberg after leaders decided to bury the powerful Hasidic businessman next to Grand Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum, which some in the ultra-Orthodox community denounced as a sacrilege. Explosive video depicts scuffles that broke out at the Wednesday burial of Rosenberg, a controversial businessman who…
