A student council at the University of California-San Diego passed a nonbinding resolution calling for boycotting firms with business ties to Israel. The Associated Student Council of UCSD voted in favour of the motion on March 13, with 20 in favour, 12 against and one abstention, according to a press release by Students for Justice…
U.S. President Barack Obama visits Israel next week at the onset of spring – the “red line” previously drawn by his host, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to trigger an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites. But an Israeli-Iranian war, Washington’s nightmare as it tries to scale back defence commitments abroad and avoid a draining Gulf oil…
It’s rare that an Orthodox rabbi chooses to omit an important Jewish ritual in his holiday celebrations. But in the spring of 2000, Rabbi Yosef Lipsker cleared his living room of furniture, set up three large dining tables and invited dozens of people to a special seder that included all the standard Passover observances –…
One man died and 12 people suffered serious medical complications during a marathon held in Tel Aviv despite government warnings of extremely hot weather. The municipality cut the marathon short. According to Army Radio, the man, 37, died on Friday as a result of heat exhaustion and possibly dehydration – the two causes that sent…
Pope Francis reached out on Thursday to Rome’s Jewish community, saying he hoped he would be able to contribute to furthering good relations between Catholics and Jews. The new pope sent a message to Rome’s chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, inviting him to his inaugural Mass at the Vatican on March 19. “I sincerely hope…
Can you kick a 50-yard field goal against the wind? Can you block a 300-pound nose tackle in the mud? Are you gay? The first two questions are routinely asked during interviews with potential professional football players, but it appears that sexual orientation is also on the minds of National Football League general managers. Each…
President Barack Obama has said the United States has significant capabilities to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and he was keeping all options on the table. “We think that it would take over a year or so for Iran to actually develop a nuclear weapon but obviously we don’t want to cut it…
The Vatican, an age-old institution used to having almost everything done by the book, is bracing for the unscripted papacy. In less than 24 hours after he became the first non-European pope in some 1,300 years, Francis seemed to break more rules than his predecessor did in eight years. “We are going to have to…
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies lodged a complaint with the country’s Human Rights Commission over ”inflammatory remarks” made by Deputy Foreign Minister Marius Fransman. In a radio interview last month, Fransman claimed that Jewish businessmen in the Western Cape region have benefitted from contracts previously held by members of the local Muslim community….
Five years ago, a few months after a Palestinian rocket crashed through his kitchen ceiling, Pinhas Amar received a more welcome guest at his southern Israeli home – Barack Obama, then running for president of the United States. Amar holds up a picture he now keeps in a back room – unframed and glued to…
A British lawmaker has blamed a Jewish conspiracy for his conviction in connection with a fatal car crash. Lord Nazir Ahmed of the Labor party claimed that his legal problems following the 2007 crash resulted from pressure placed on the courts by Jews “who own newspapers and TV channels,” The Times reported on Thursday. The…
