? A public high school in Florida has pulled an illustrated adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary from its library shelf, calling the graphic novel “not age appropriate.” A Texas school district that ordered the same book removed last year reversed its decision after public criticism. (JTA)
?️ Dozens of highly classified U.S. intelligence reports appeared on social media sites Friday and were the subject of a blockbuster report this weekend in The New York Times. Among other things, the documents claim that the Mossad encouraged its spies and Israeli citizens to protest Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary, and that the U.S. may compel Israel to send lethal weapons to Ukraine to help against the Russian invasion. (NYT, Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post)
? More information is coming to light about Harlan Crow, the conservative billionaire who lavished Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas with luxury vacations. Crow’s Dallas home is filled with historical collections featuring Hitler artifacts and other Nazi memorabilia, including a signed copy of Mein Kampf. (Washingtonian)
? Police are searching for a group of teenagers in connection with two separate antisemitic attacks on Friday in Queens, New York. They are accused of shouting antisemitic remarks, throwing rocks and brandishing a knife at a man in front of a synagogue during the second day of Passover, and then, about 9:30 p.m., berating and pushing a man. (Times of Israel)
? A Texas man whose journals were filled with antisemitic statements pleaded guilty on Friday to setting a fire at an Austin synagogue in 2021. He faces up to 20 years in prison. (Dept. of Justice, JTA)
?? Documents have come to light showing that Poland’s government is requiring Israeli teens visiting the country to see Holocaust sites like Auschwitz to also visit at least one memorial or museum that highlight crimes committed by the Germans against non-Jewish Poles. One scholar denounced the decision as “a dream come true for Holocaust deniers” that glorifies “Poles who were involved up to their necks in the murder of Jews.” (Haaretz)
? World Wrestling Entertainment apologized Friday, a week after it used footage of Auschwitz in a promotional video hyping a match. The Auschwitz Memorial museum had called the video “shameless.” (AP)
? Alex Edelman, who grew up Orthodox and whose Jewishness is core to his comedy, will be bringing his one-man show, Just for Us, to Broadway in June. The show, which Edelman performed to sold out crowds off Broadway as well as in Washington and London, centers around a meeting of white nationalists Edelman attended. (JTA, Plus: Read our 2021 interview with Edelman)
Shiva calls ➤ Benjamin Ferencz, an American soldier who liberated concentration camps and who was the last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor, died at 103 … Mimi Sheraton, the renowned Jewish food critic, book author and Forward contributor, died at age 97 … Michael Lerner, a character actor who starred in dozens of films, and earned an Oscar nomination for his role in Barton Fink, died at 81.
