Al Qaeda is working to build up its presence in countries bordering Israel, fueling fears that the international terrorist network eventually will find a way to strike inside the Jewish state. The group is blamed for the October 8 bombings of hotels in Sinai, a stone’s throw from Israel. American and Israeli officials say it…
New Leader for Russian Body The Russian Jewish Congress is likely to have a new president in an apparent attempt to restructure one of Russian Jewry’s leading organizations. During a closed-door meeting Tuesday, the group’s leading donors approved Vladimir Slutsker to replace the current president, Yevgeny Satanovsky. A banker and member of Russian Parliament’s upper…
JERUSALEM — The leader of Iraq’s Kurdistan Democracy Party appeared on television this week to deny widespread rumors that the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan is harboring Israelis. “There are none,” Masoud Barzani assured millions of viewers on Al Arabiya satellite television. “If there were to be, it would only be with the approval of…
In an emerging national conversation about the future of Jewish-Muslim relations, several experts this week debated the appropriate conditions under which Jewish community officials should break bread with Islamic groups. The issue is a growing concern for Jewish leaders across the country as Islamic groups are increasing their visibility in national and local politics in…
About 50 pro-Palestinian students gathered at Duke University’s main quad last Sunday, chanting, “Divest from apartheid Israel.” About 20 pro-Israel students who, channeling John Lennon, chanted “All we are saying, condemn terror now,” met them. So ended the fourth annual national conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement, which gathered about 500 pro-Palestinian participants to various…
Leading Ladies: First lady Laura Bush and would-be first lady Teresa Heinz Kerry both spoke to United Jewish Communities’ Lion of Judah conference this week, a gathering that brought 1,300 of the nation’s top female Jewish philanthropists to the capital. Both women were asked to speak about philanthropy, and did. Bush, however, gave a full-blown…
Mothers-in-law have for ages been a matter of concern to folk who are marrying off a daughter. Will the mekhuteneste move in and try to dictate the behavior of her daughter-in-law? Apparently, this is not uncommon. Rarely, however, has anyone tried to write a song depicting the troublesome relationship between a bride’s parents and her…
Cheney Claim Debated Vice President Cheney raised eyebrows in some circles with his claim last week that Saddam Hussein’s removal was a factor in the decrease in terrorist attacks in Israel. “I personally think one of the reasons that we don’t have as many suicide attacks today in Israel as we had in the past…
The Egyptian government has decided to ask Israel to amend the peace treaty between the two countries to allow the deployment of trained Egyptian military forces into eastern Sinai to boost security in the area. The move comes in the wake of last week’s deadly car bombings at the Red Coast resorts of Taba and…
Nice Save: During the presidential debate in St. Louis, President Bush made a comment about Israel that cheered his neoconservative Jewish supporters, who prefer his thumb-in-the-eye approach to the Europeans to the multilateralism supported by Senator John Kerry. “You know, I’ve made some decisions on Israel that are unpopular,” Bush said. “I wouldn’t deal with…
With relations between Jewish organizations and mainline Protestant churches arguably at their lowest point in nearly four decades, representatives of both communities are hoping to defuse the increasingly bitter feelings at a two-day interfaith summit in Washington, D.C., next week. The meeting, which for the first time will include both interfaith experts and Middle East…
