A Republican congressman from New Jersey and a Democratic congresswoman from New York are in Bolivia to press for the release of a businessman who has been jailed without charges of 18 months. Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) arrived this week to seek the release of Jacob Ostreicher, a haredi Orthodox father…
Jewish groups praised the U.S. Senate for graduating Russia and Moldova out of Jackson-Vanik provisions that restricted trade. A joint statement from NCSJ and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations “applauded” the Senate for the 92-4 vote Thursday to approve the removal of the two countries from the trade restrictions. “In the…
Fifteen years after Israel tried to assassinate him in Jordan, Islamist leader Khaled Meshaal says the Jewish state would not risk trying again on his triumphant return to Palestinian land. Not only has his Hamas movement which runs Gaza gained popularity among Palestinians from a recent war with Israel, it has begun to overcome its…
The Dutch government said it would stop funding the country’s Jewish broadcasting network in 2016, possibly leading to its closure. The announcement came earlier this week in a letter from Dutch Culture Minister Sander Dekker and drew angry reactions from Dutch Jewish well-known figures. Willem Koster, chairman of the Central Jewish Board (CJO) said in…
Human Rights Watch urged Israel on Friday to provide a full account of its air strike on a house in the Gaza Strip that killed 12 civilians last month, saying the action appeared to have been illegal. The Nov. 18 attack on the three-storey home of the Dalu family was the bloodiest of the eight…
Austria’s official Jewish organisation has banned billionaire Ron Lauder, head of the World Jewish Congress and a former U.S. ambassador, from its property over complaints he meddled with its elections. A spokesman for Lauder on Thursday dismissed the allegations as “a distortion of the truth”. The move by IKG, Austria’s official representative of Jews, is…
More than 1 million people have signed on to join a “virtual march” commemorating the Washington rally 25 years for the Soviet Jewry movement, according to a coalition marking the 1987 event. Freedom 25, a coalition of 20 organizations, was aiming to attract 1 million people online to remember Freedom Sunday, when some 250,000 demonstrators…
More than 275 rabbis signed on to a letter to Congress urging the lawmakers to end tax cuts for those earning more than $250,000 a year. As part of the ongoing campaign by Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, community advocacy events also will be held in homes and community centers throughout the…
The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved legislation to punish Russian human rights violators as part of a broader bill to expand U.S. trade with Washington’s former Cold War enemy. Passage of the bill, by a 92-4 vote, drew an immediate angry response from Moscow, which had been warning that the human rights provisions would damage…
The father of a woman killed by a falling tree at the height of Hurricane Sandy himself died on Thursday, according to reports. Jon Kest, a prominent social justice activist, died on December 5 at the age of 57. News reports said that he was diagnosed with cancer over the summer. His daughter, Jessie Streich-Kest,…
The Jewish National Fund will distribute free Christmas trees to local churches, monasteries, convents, embassies and foreign journalists. Private individuals can also buy trees for a token fee, the organization said this week. Distribution will occur in mid-December. Some of the Arizona cypress trees are grown in a grove adjacent to the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish…
