In a case that has captivated Germany and reignited public debate on criticism of Israel and on antisemitism, a German court is expected to rule in early September on a defamation lawsuit brought by a prominent anti-Zionist against a well-known maverick columnist. The politically charged case pits Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, a staunch critic of Israel whose…
Los Angeles — The most powerful Orthodox Jewish umbrella group has thrown its support behind a ballot initiative that aims to overturn California’s historic decision to legalize same-sex marriage. In late August, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America joined a coalition of faith-based groups supporting Proposition 8, which, if passed come November, would…
If pre-convention polls are to be believed, John McCain enters the convention poised to pull in a greater percentage of the Jewish vote than any Republican candidate in the past two decades. There are many possible explanations — his long record on Israel, his image as an independent political moderate, lingering concerns about Barack Obama…
Denver — As Democrats work to shore up support of Jewish voters, and Republicans do all they can to tear it down, Iran is emerging as a pivotal foreign policy issue in the presidential campaign, and an indirect test by many Jews of the candidates’ full commitment to Israel’s security. Senator Barack Obama’s campaign has…
Denver — Jewish voters had much to be proud of in 2000. So did the state of Connecticut. The state’s senator, Joe Lieberman, the first American Jew nominated to a major political party’s presidential ticket, stood up at Los Angeles’s Staples Center and spoke of a “new frontier” in American politics. “We had front-row seats,”…
Tel Aviv — Israel’s latest fair-housing campaign is not aimed at changing the fact that some towns are considered Jewish and others Arab, nor that some neighborhoods are religious and others secular, or some streets Sephardic and others Ashkenazic. It is out to halt a new phenomenon: apartments exclusively for high-tech workers. Under construction in…
Democrat Barack Obama is set tonight to make history by becoming the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party. Hours earlier Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, will do his part to make history as the first rabbi to deliver the invocation on the night of a…
Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman rejected a request by former presidential aide Karl Rove to withdraw his name from consideration as John McCain’s vice presidential pick, according to a report by Politico. Three sources confirmed the effort by the controversial architect of President Bush’s election and one person told the news organization that Lieberman refused to…
One of the first images in Jennifer Callahan’s documentary “The Bungalows of Rockaway” is a close-up of a woman’s wrinkled face wearing an expression of amazement and delight. The face belongs to Maxine Marx, daughter of Chico, and we see that she is watching a black-and-white film reel of a family carousing on the beach….
Religion and national culture can make for strange bedfellows. And as evidenced by the availability of items like the political-themed yarmulkes the McCippah and the Obamica, American Jews have come a long way in blending the two. Mexican Jews, on the other hand, are still working on their balancing act. In his soon-to-be released film,…
Barack Obama is under-performing in his support among Jewish voters compared to Democratic candidates’ historical performance, according to pollsters. Yet Jewish leaders in Congress predict the soon-to-be Democratic presidential nominee will exceed Democrats’ usual support within the Jewish community. “We believe there is broad, deep and enthusiastic support for Barack Obama in the Jewish community,”…
