The governing body of English soccer announced that fans could face criminal charges for using the term “yid.” In a statement issued Wednesday, the English Football Association’s general secretary, Alex Horne, wrote that the association believes the term “is likely to be considered offensive by the reasonable observer and considers the term to be inappropriate…
Close to 700 rabbis and other Jewish communal officials were briefed by a top White House aide on President Obama’s Syria plans. The call Tuesday with Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, was organized by the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center and the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly and attracted 691 callers from all religious…
Brooklyn’s controversial District Attorney failed to win reelection on September 10, despite support from nearly all of Orthodox Brooklyn’s political leaders. Charles Hynes, who has served as District Attorney since 1989, lost to challenger Kenneth Thompson by a wide margin. Hynes had been under fire for extending special treatment to Orthodox sex abusers and a…
The Al Aksa Martyrs’ Brigades called on followers to launch attacks against Israel. The Fatah-aligned Al Aksa Martyrs’ Brigades on Tuesday distributed a leaflet calling for its “units and sleeping cells” to start launching attacks against “the Zionist enemy” beginning on Friday, the eve of Yom Kippur. The attacks are a protest against the effort…
The U.S. National Security Agency is routinely sharing American citizens’ private data with Israeli intelligence services, a secret document leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden shows, the Guardian reported on Wednesday. According to the report, intelligence being passed to Israel by the U.S. agency is likely to include American citizens’ phone calls and emails. The revelations…
The Hamas Islamist group ruling Gaza sought to ease tensions with Cairo on Wednesday by ordering Muslim preachers to mute their criticism of the Egyptian government over what some of the clerics have called its war on Islam. “Preachers should avoid speaking of the internal affairs of Egypt and focus on our Palestinian national issues…
Americans will commemorate the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with solemn ceremonies and pledges to not forget the nearly 3,000 killed when hijacked jetliners crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field. The 12th anniversary on Wednesday may not capture the same attention as others, such as two years…
Heirs of four German-Jewish art dealers are gearing for a fight over a treasure they say was forced from their families’ hands on orders of Hitler’s deputy Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering. But lawyers for the heirs hope a Sept. 17 hearing in Berlin will obviate any legal battles over the fortune in medieval gold artifacts –…
Israel will pay $1.1 million to the family of alleged Mossad spy Ben Zygier, a dual Australian-Israeli national who hanged himself in prison three years ago, the Justice Ministry said on Wednesday. Zygier, a Jew from Melbourne who moved to Israel, became a citizen and joined its army, was detained in 2010 but his case…
Updated 7:50am Jewish voters in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary overwhelmingly backed Bill de Blasio, who has a large lead over his opponents, the Edison Research exit poll reports. With 97% of the city’s precincts reporting, de Blasio has received 40.16% of the overall vote in the September 10 primary. Opponent Bill Thompson received…
The newly elected president of the International Olympic Committee heads a German-based organization that helps companies to guarantee that their products do not contain anything from Israel. Thomas Bach, a German who was elected Tuesday at an IOC session in Buenos Aires, is chairman of Ghorfa, the Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which was…
