RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — The mayor of Rio de Janeiro spoke up for Israel before some 2,000 people during a celebration of Israel’s Independence Day which made news on Brazil’s main weekly primetime TV show. Marcelo Crivella, whose four-year term started in January, has been a longtime friend of the Jewish community and an enthusiast of…
When a Jewish sports and social club in Rio de Janeiro hosted Jair Bolsonaro, a rising far-right politician known for his open bigotry, he didn’t disappoint. As some 200 protesters outside Hebraica chanted, “those who incite torture have forgotten the Shoah,” Bolsonaro, who has indicated he intends to run for president next year, faced some…
RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) – A few days before they read from the Passover Haggadah about how God split the Red Sea waters, Brazilian Jews have never felt so split between right and left. At the center of the divide, although hardly in the Moses role, is Jair Bolsonaro, a 61-year-old conservative lawmaker who appears…
RIO DE JANEIRO — The mayor-elect of Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Crivella, declared that Brazil’s second largest city should surround itself with walls like Jerusalem. The major-elect, who is also an evangelical bishop, said the walls could prevent the entry of arms and drugs. “We are living during a deep moral crisis,” he said, referring to…
RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — Israeli athlete Doron Shaziri won a bronze medal at the Rio Paralympic Games, Israel’s second medal at the games so far. Shaziri won the medal Monday in men’s R7-50m Rifle 3 Positions, coming behind Laslo Suranji of Serbia, who took gold, and Abdulla Sultan Alaryani of the United Arab Emirates,…
At age 17, Pascale Bercovitch was running for a train to school in Angers, France when she slipped onto the tracks and was run over, eventually losing both of her legs. But she refused to wallow in depression — and 32 years later the Israeli woman is competing for the third time at the Paralympics,…
This year, the Rio Olympics marks 20 years since Palestinians first participated in the international games in Atlanta. With six athletes competing in swimming, running, dressage (horse training), and judo (a martial art) this is the largest Palestinian delegation ever. Just two of the Palestinian contestants — XXX — actually qualified for their events at…
NETANYA, Israel (JTA) – Andrea Murez steps on the diving board, adjusts her goggles, swings her long arms and propels herself into the water at the Wingate Institute athletic complex here. Murez is training with a dozen other swimmers. She is the one preparing for the Summer Olympics a few weeks later. The 24-year-old Los…
