A crowd of angry pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Melbourne marred the annual celebration of Israel’s independence. Attendees at Tuesday night’s high-profile gathering of politicians, diplomats, bureaucrats and Jewish leaders were forced to walk past the 100-strong crowd who were held back by police, the Australian Jewish News reported. Among the banners brandished by the protesters were…
Police have identified a Jewish family from Tempe, Ariz., the Butwins, as the subjects of a suspected murder-suicide. Police said that James Butwin, a board member of his local synagogue, Temple Emanuel, was the primary suspect in the killing of his wife and three daughters. The bodies were found in a burning S.U.V. on Saturday…
Dutch Agriculture Minister Hans Bleker signed an agreement with Jewish and Muslim religious leaders and slaughterhouses that will prevent a ban on ritual slaughter. Under the agreement signed Tuesday, animals can continue to be ritually slaughtered as long as they lose consciousness within 40 seconds of their throats being cut. After 40 seconds they must…
Two suspects have been arrested in connection with an attack on three Jewish teens in Lyon in southeastern France. The two suspects reportedly turned themselves in to police on Wednesday, the French news agency AFP reported. The “main perpetrator” of the attack has not yet been apprehended, local police chief Albert Doutre said, according to…
In a new report released on Wednesday, Amnesty International demanded Israel end the practice of holding Palestinians under administrative detention, calling on Israel to either release or properly charge Palestinians held in custody. The report titled: “Starved for Justice: Palestinians Detained without Trial by Israel,” list what the human rights organization considers a violation of…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded on Wednesday to the Knesset meeting in which a bill aimed at legalizing homes on the Ulpana Hill neighborhood in the West Bank settlement of Beit El – which were built on privately owned Palestinian land – was voted down. In a preliminary reading, 69 Knesset members voted against…
Three Jewish educators have received 2012 Covenant Awards for excellence in Jewish education and innovation. The recipients of one of the most coveted honors in the field of Jewish education are Peter Geffen, founder and executive director of KIVUNIM: New Directions in New York; Gitta Jaroslawicz-Neufeld, director of education at Allegra Franco School of Educational…
Limmud Oz, an offshoot of the international festival of Jewish learning, cancelled a panel featuring several controversial Jewish speakers for its upcoming conference in Melbourne. The Jewish panelists no longer speaking, though they initially appeared on the Limmud Oz website, include Vivienne Porzsolt, a spokeswoman for Jews Against the Occupation who was detained in Israel…
The House Foreign Affairs human rights subcommittee will hold a hearing about the plight of a Chasidic Jew from Brooklyn being held in a Bolivian jail. New York businessman Jacob Ostreicher has been on a hunger strike for nearly two months until he is either put on trial to defend himself against money laundering charges…
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called on Israel to withdraw from all lands it occupied in 1967, warning that the two-state solution may not be on the table for much longer. “I would like to address our Israeli neighbors and say we are seekers of peace and freedom and our people made a major sacrifice…
Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.), a veteran Jewish member of the U.S. House of Representatives, lost his primary election bid against another incumbent, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.). Rothman, who has served the 9th district in northeastern New Jersey since 1997, conceded late Tuesday night. He said he would not run for political office in the foreseeable…
