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Fast Forward Swiss Government Wants Jews to Fund Their Own Security Costs
— Switzerland’s Jews need to fund their own security costs even though doing so is really the government’s responsibility, a Swiss government agency said in a report on anti-Semitism. The unusual assertion came in a report published last week by the Swiss interior ministry’s Service for the Fight against Racism. It prompted a mixed reaction…
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Israel News Seven Phrases: The Arabic That Israeli Jews Use Every Day
When it comes to making an emphatic point, Israeli Jews often reach for Arabic. From telling someone “Let’s go,” (“Yalla!”) to expressing surprise (“Walla!”) Arabic is a part of daily speech for Hebrew speakers. Modern Hebrew is heavily influenced by Arabic, borrowing both words and grammar from the language. Israeli musician Meir Ariel commented on…
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Opinion Get Inspired by the Muslim Woman Who Hid a Jew’s Yellow Star With Her Veil
In the wake of the election, hate crimes against Muslims have skyrocketed. Now more than ever, it’s our duty as Jews to stand in solidarity with and in defense of Muslim Americans. This is true because Islamophobic hatred is inherently an unacceptable injustice. It’s also true because we know what it is to feel targeted,…
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News Ottawa Synagogue Hit by Swastikas in City’s Second Anti-Semitic Incident This Week
For the second time in a week, anti-Semitic defacement has hit Ottawa, after a Modern Orthodox synagogue was tagged with swastikas, according to the Thursday story from the Canadian Broadcasting Company. “I think that this is far more than just regular graffiti vandalism,” Rabbi Idan Scher, spiritual leader of the Machzikei Hadas Modern Orthodox synagogue….
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News Jewish Civil Rights Leader Vows To Step Up Bigotry Fight After Spike in Hate Crimes
After Donald Trump’s election, and a spike in hate crimes against Jews, Muslims, blacks and other minorities, it’s a busy time for those in the world of anti-bias activism. Such is the case, too, at the Southern Poverty Law Center, a not-for-profit that tracks far-right hate groups. Richard Cohen, the SPLC’s leader, told a group…
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News Jewish Historians Ditch Ivory Tower to Denounce Donald Trump
Scholars usually avoid politics, content to plod around the stacks in the university library and write essays for obscure academic journals. But after Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential elections, hundreds of Jewish historians signed an open letter pledging their opposition to many of the new leader’s ideas. “We condemn unequivocally those agitators who have…
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Community All Jews Should Register as Muslims: Because We Know the Horrors Of Religious Registration All Too Well
In a German Prisoner of War (POW) camp in 1944, the American Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds called upon all of the captured soldiers to stand with the Jews of the camp despite Nazi orders to separate. Edmonds, a Christian, feared for the fate of the Jewish soldiers if the Nazis were able to identify them,…
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News Days After the Election, These 6 Jews Have Found Creative Ways to Resist the Result
American Jews voted against Donald Trump by more than a two-to-one margin. Now, less than a week after the election, some who opposed him are already figuring out clever ways to resist that go beyond street protests. 1. Amy Schumer: Donate to Planned Parenthood Trump has said that he will appoint justices to the Supreme…
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Opinion Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point
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News They texted about Torah and mitzvahs. Feds say they were insider trading
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Culture At Eurovision, Israel’s near triumph shows the limits of tolerance
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Opinion I run The Jewish Theological Seminary. Here’s the real story about President Isaac Herzog speaking at our commencement
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion The San Diego imam defended Oct. 7. His mosque still deserves our help
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Sports An op-ed compared an NBA team to Israel as underdog success stories. Then the threats poured in.
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Theater In ‘Waiting for Godot,’ the tragedy and comedy of the Jewish experience
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Fast Forward Rep. Jared Moskowitz becomes latest Jewish lawmaker to reveal antisemitic threats