(JTA) — The U.S. Justice Department has filed a discrimination lawsuit against a New Jersey township over zoning restrictions that allegedly target the Orthodox Jewish community. The lawsuit accuses the Township of Jackson and its Planning Board of violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and the Fair Housing Act by passing zoning…
(JTA) — The National Lawyers Guild has settled a lawsuit with an Israeli organization for refusing its ad in the annual dinner journal. The guild, a public interest association of legal professionals, based its refusal on an official “resolution barring us from accepting funds from Israeli organizations,” according to The Lawfare Project, citing an email…
Shaaban Amer’s souvenir shop in Jerusalem’s Old City has seen hard times. His business weathered two intifadas, but the current coronavirus crisis, he said, has by far been the worst. “From March 21 until today, maybe I’ve sold 200, 300 shekels ($85),” Amer said, surrounded by shelves of menorahs, chess sets, crucifixes and oil lamps…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The ban on non-Israelis entering the country in order to stop the spread of COVID-19 has been extended at least two weeks into mid-June. The Israel Airports Authority notified airlines on Wednesday that non-citizens would be barred until at least June 15, the business daily Globes reported. The order had been set…
(JTA) — A senior police officer in Ukraine has been suspended for asking a Jewish community for a list of its members. Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov announced the suspension in a letter he sent to the head of the Jewish community of Kolomyya, in the country’s west. The suspended officer, Myhaylo Bank, wrote the…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Palestinian Authority rejected a humanitarian shipment of medical supplies sent by the United Arab Emirates because it coordinated the shipment with Israel. The Etihad Airways flight that landed Tuesday night in Israel carrying 14 tons of medical aid to deal with the coronavirus was reported to be the first publicly acknowledged…
(JTA) – Despite Wednesday’s announcement that New York state will now allow religious services to resume with up to 10 people, some Orthodox rabbis are saying not so fast. A group of 27 Orthodox rabbis on suburban Long Island announced last night that they will not immediately resume in-person services. “Please continue to show the…
(JTA) — Two Orthodox overnight camps have canceled their 2020 summers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They appear to be the first two of that denomination to do so. Camp Morasha in Pennsylvania, a Modern Orthodox camp, announced in an email Wednesday that it had come to the decision following “months of deliberation, alternative planning,…
Dr. Vladimir “Zev” Zelenko, the Hasidic doctor who came to national prominence for treating presumptive Covid-19 patients with an unproven drug regimen, announced that he is leaving the area where he treated mostly Hasidic clients, in a clinic in Monroe, N.Y., near the Hasidic enclave of Kiryas Joel. “It’s with a broken heart that I…
Former Vice President and presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he opposes Israeli annexation of the West Bank, as part of his general opposition to “unilateral steps” that would “undercut the prospects for peace.” Biden, speaking at a virtual fundraiser with Jewish supporters, explained that he opposes calls by other…
(JTA) – In the latest dustup between New York authorities and Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn, police broke up a gathering of at least several dozen men at a Hasidic synagogue on Wednesday morning. Videos circulating on the messaging app WhatsApp showed police officers holding the doors of a synagogue on South 8th Street in Williamsburg…
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