This story originally appeared in Jweekly.com. Reposted with permission. It has been updated. The Bay Area Book Festival has rescinded an invitation to author Alice Walker over incendiary statements she has made over the years about Jews and Israel. Walker had been invited to interview writer Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, at Jeffers’ request, as the headlining…
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has presented a plan that would amend the state’s controversial bail reform law in response to rising hate crimes as part of a legislative package ahead of a state budget deadline on April 1. In a 10-point safety plan sent to lawmakers last week, Hochul suggested tweaking the state’s new…
(JTA) – Iowa’s governor signed bills into law this week codifying a definition of antisemitism for the state and restricting state business with companies that boycott Israel. One of the two bills signed by Republican Kim Reynolds on Wednesday calls for the state to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism in discrimination…
(JTA) – A Jewish lawmaker in Ohio is deriding legislation to restrict race education in the state’s schools as the “draconian Holocaust censorship bill” after one of the bill’s Republican sponsors suggested that it is appropriate to teach about the Holocaust from the perspective of the Nazis. State Rep. Sarah Fowler Arthur, who co-sponsored the…
(JTA) — Israel is convening a summit of the top diplomats of the United States and three of the four Arab countries that normalized relations under the Abraham Accords, a sign that ties are getting closer. Yair Lapid, Israel’s foreign minister will meet with his counterparts from the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain during…
A New York congressman who has been taken to task by the left and faced social media harassment for his strong defense of Israel is cautioning the Jewish community to avoid complacency over bipartisan support for Israel in Congress. “We cannot afford to lull ourselves into a false sense of security,” Torres, a first-term Democrat…
(JTA) — Matchmaker, matchmaker — are you going on Netflix? The streaming giant announced a new “Jewish Matchmaking” series on Thursday, modeled after its hit “Indian Matchmaking.” Details are scant, and there is no premiere date, but Netflix’s companion site Tudum says it will feature “singles in the US and Israel as they turn their…
(JTA) — Mark Asher Goodman is beginning to imagine finishing paying off roughly $85,000 in student debt he incurred while training to become a rabbi — nearly two decades after he was ordained. So when his rabbinical school, the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, announced last week that it was slashing tuition by nearly 80%,…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — When Secretary of State Antony Blinken cited his family’s Holocaust-era history in explaining a matter of U.S. foreign policy on Monday, it was far from the first time he has done so. “One of my responsibilities as Secretary is determining, on behalf of the United States, whether atrocities have been committed,” Blinken,…
(JTA) – A new museum about the history of Hollywood will have a permanent exhibition devoted to the contributions of Jews after early criticism that Jews were omitted. The change was announced this week in the lead-up to this year’s Academy Awards, which features a slate of nominees more diverse than in the past. It…
(JTA) – Eight of the looted artifacts that billionaire philanthropist Michael Steinhardt must return to Israel as part of a deal with prosecutors in New York are still missing. That’s according to a press release on Tuesday from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office announcing that $5 million in stolen antiquities previously belonging to Steinhardt are…
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