Archive for Jewish News

| July 11, 2013
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Nazi officer’s grandson returns books stolen 70 years ago

After Christoph Schlegel finds books that were stolen from a Jew during the Holocaust at his grandmother’s house, his search to return them leads him to Moshe Hofstadter, in Israel, the surviving son of the books’ owner.

By Yori Yalon

 

Four books stamped with his name, the only tangible keepsake that Moshe Hofstadter has of his father Abraham, who was murdered by the Nazis, were returned to him in a moving ceremony at Yad Vashem on Wednesday.

Avraham Hofstadter (ז”ל), who was killed in the Holocaust – Photo Courtesy of Yad Vashem

The return of the books marked the culmination of an unusual sequence of events.

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| July 10, 2013
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Hundreds of ancient Jewish tombstones discovered in Vienna

Community leaders says trove of Jewish tombstones date back to 16th century.

Vienna city officials estimate up to 800 headstones.

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Vienna’s Jewish community says a historically important trove of hundreds of ancient Jewish tombstones have been recently unearthed, including some dating back to the 16th century.

Tombstones at a small Jewish Cemetery in Vienna, Austria, July 10, 2013.

Tombstones at a small Jewish Cemetery in Vienna, Austria, July 10, 2013. – Photo: AP

Senior Jewish community official Raimund Fastenbauer said Wednesday that the headstones have “high historical value.” He describes their significance as comparable to that of the ancient Jewish cemetery in Prague, the oldest known graveyard of its kind and one of the Czech capital’s most visited tourist sites. Continue Reading »

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| July 9, 2013
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Arab MK Hit With Kabbalistic Curse for Disrespecting Hatikvah

An American Jewish group slapped Arab MK Masoud Ganaim with the “pulsa dinura” curse, an ancient Kabbalistic ritual to hasten his demise.

By David Lev

 

An American rabbinical group on Monday declared that it was placing a “pulsa dinura” (“lashes of fire”) curse on Arab MK Masoud Ganaim (Ra’am-Ta’al). The group, calling itself “the Great Pulsa Dinura Committee,” said that Ganaim deserved the curse because he refused to stand when Israel’s national anthem, Hatikvah, was played at a recent event, and for ripping up in the Knesset a copy of a law to regulate Bedouin settlement of the Negev.

In a statement, the “Pulsa Dinura Committee” said that it had deliberated on Ganaim’s actions, and had determined that it had no choice but to impose the curse. Continue Reading »

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| July 7, 2013
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Female Muslim student in Germany vandalizes Israeli art exhibit

The University says they reserve option to take legal action against female Muslim vandal who ripped down parts of an Israeli graphic novel art exhibit.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
 

 

BERLIN – A female Muslim student at the University of Duisburg-Essen ripped down parts of a graphic novel exhibit, which included the work of the internationally known Israeli artist Rutu Modan.
Rutu Modan’s graphic novel ‘Exit Wounds,’ the target of vandalism in Germany.

Rutu Modan’s graphic novel ‘Exit Wounds,’ the target of vandalism in Germany. – Photo: Drawn & Quarterly

In a commentary in the left-liberal website Taz on Thursday, journalist Pascal Beucker attributed the June 24 attack on the exhibit “to an anti- Israel, if not anti-Semitic, motive.”

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| July 5, 2013
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Latvian memorial: Celebrating the ’rounding up of Jews’ to protect their village

 

The Simon Wiesenthal Center blasts Latvia nationalists’ plan to commemorate WWII event that facilitated the massacre of town’s entire Jewish population ‘absolutely disgusting & a terrible insult to all Holocaust victims’

By AFP

The Simon Wiesenthal Center on Wednesday condemned plans by Latvian nationalists to mark a World War II event that led to the massacre of a town’s Jewish population.

Latvian nationalists. 'Old-fashioned anti-Semitism' (archives) - Photo: AFP

Latvian nationalists. ‘Old-fashioned anti-Semitism’ (archives) – Photo: AFP

Efraim Zuroff, director of the Nazi-hunting center in Jerusalem, called the commemoration planned Thursday in the northern town of Limbazi “absolutely disgusting and a terrible insult to the victims of the Holocaust in Latvia.” Continue Reading »

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| July 2, 2013
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Jewish War Veterans: U.S. Army ‘seriously’ understates sex abuse in it’s military

Jewish veterans group calls for outside independent body to review & prosecute reported cases of sexual misconduct in U.S. Military.

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Jewish war veterans are calling for meaningful action to be taken to combat sexual abuse in the U.S. military.

U.S. soldiers

Illustration: U.S. soldiers. – Photo by AP

“The Jewish War Veterans of the USA (JWV) condemns the continued prevalence of reported and unreported male and female sexual misconduct in the military and calls for an independent process to review and prosecute these cases,” the group wrote in its Spring 2013 Jewish Veteran magazine.

The magazine called the number of unwanted sexual contacts reported by the Pentagon “alarming” and “seriously understated.” Continue Reading »

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| July 1, 2013
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UK Customs Official Denies Entry to American Jewish Student

The UK customs official  said Chip should have lied to the (first) customs agent, adding, “A Jewish kid would find that easy,”

36 hours after leaving Kansas City, Chip Cantor was back home.

By Barbara Bayer, Editor

 

A local Jewish student was denied entry into the United Kingdom late last month. After being detained for more than nine hours, he was put back on a plane to the United States by customs officials. During that time he was never told why he was being denied entry. He was told his photo and fingerprints have now been placed in a database that will make it difficult for him to obtain entry into the U.K. Continue Reading »

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| June 30, 2013
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26% of European Jews were targeted by anti-Semites last year

Israel, sensing antisemitism will only worsen, Knesset recommends easing absorption of threatened Jewish communities

By Yossi Aloni

 

One-in-four European Jews (26 percent) experienced anti-Semitic harassment at least once over the past 12 months, and one-in-three (34 percent) were targeted in the last five years.

1-in-4 European Jews targeted by anti-Semites – Photo courtesy of Israel Today

Five percent of the victims reported that their property had been destroyed because they are Jewish, and seven percent suffered physical injury or were threatened with physical harm.

Forty-to-fifty percent of Jews in France, Belgium and Hungary said they are considering emigration because they now feel unsafe. Continue Reading »

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| June 30, 2013
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Group of Orthodox Jews Promise to Protect London Mosque

The local Shomrim group, numbering 22 Jews, was set up in 2008 in part as a reaction to anti-Semitic incidents, have agreed to include the local mosques & other buildings as part of their routine patrols.

By JTA

 

 

An Orthodox Jewish patrol group in London said it would protect a mosque after a rise in hate crimes against Muslims.

North London Community Centre Mosque at Cazenove Road, London - Photo Courtesy

North London Community Center Mosque at Cazenove Road, London – Photo Courtesy

The Shomrim patrol group accepted a request for protection by the North London Community Centre in Cazenove Road, an Islamic institution situated in the heavily-Jewish Borough of Hackney in northern London.

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| June 29, 2013
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France’s soaring anti-Semitism brings Jewish Defense League into the light

The French JDL number some 300 members & is now on a collision course with France’s Jewish community, which has condemned its activities & even threatened a lawsuit.

PARIS (JTA) — With scooter helmets in hand, a man called Yohan and six buddies stroll around Paris’ 20th arrondissement. The seven look much like a typical group of French students — until they locate a group of Arab men they suspect of perpetrating an anti-Semitic attack the previous day.

French Jewish Defense League activists demonstrating in Paris, 2011. (Ligue de Defense Juive)

French Jewish Defense League activists demonstrating in Paris, 2011. Photo: Ligue de Defense Juive

Using their helmets as bludgeons, members of France’s Jewish Defense League, or LDJ, set upon the Arabs and beat them.

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| June 29, 2013
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New Jewish Newswire Challenges JTA for Piece of Jewish Media Market

A new, more Right-leaning Jewish News Service (JNS) is trying to replace center, pro-Israel and established JTA.

By Josh Nathan-Kazis

 

A new, right-leaning Jewish newswire is seeking to displace the Jewish Telegraphic Agency as the Associated Press of the Jewish media.

Russel Pergament says his Jewish News Service is growing fast because Jewish newspapers appreciate its stridently pro-Israel tone - and its lower cost. - Photo by Courtesy of Boston Phoenix

Russel Pergament says his Jewish News Service is growing fast because Jewish newspapers appreciate its stridently pro-Israel tone – and its lower cost. – Photo by Courtesy of Boston Phoenix

 

Nearly two years after its launch, Jewish News Service is growing fast by promoting its pro-Israel perspective, offering ad-friendly special sections — and by giving it all away cheap. Continue Reading »

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| June 28, 2013
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Madonna may be house hunting in Tel Aviv

Madonna was photographed with a brochure for the Meier on Rothschild tower, a luxury housing development going up in Tel Aviv.

Is Madonna putting down roots in the Holy Land? According to Israel’s Channel 10, the answer is a resounding maybe.
Madonna at the 2013 Billboard Music Award in Las Vegas, May 19, 2013. - PR PHOTOS

Madonna at the 2013 Billboard Music Award in Las Vegas, May 19, 2013. – PR PHOTOS

While the Kabbalah devotee was not actually seen looking at properties, she was photographed holding a white folder. What, if anything, does that reveal, you might ask?

Users of a Facebook page for Israeli Madonna fans wondering the very same thing blew up the shot and discovered that this wasn’t just any white folder, but a brochure for the Meier on Rothschild tower, a luxury housing development going up in Tel Aviv. 

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| June 25, 2013
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Pope slams anti-Semitism at Vatican meeting with Jewish delegation

“Because of our commons roots, a true Christian cannot be anti-Semitic,” Pope Francis I said.

By JTA

 

 

Pope Francis condemned anti-Semitism during a meeting with representatives of the international Jewish community at the Vatican.

Pope Francis I in Vatican City, April 2013 – Photo: Franco Origlia, Getty

“Because of our commons roots, a true Christian cannot be anti-Semitic,” Francis said Monday at a meeting with a delegation of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations, or IJCIC.

He added that the Catholic Church “firmly condemns hatred, persecution and all manifestations of anti-Semitism.”

While Francis has met with several Jewish leaders since becoming pope, he said Monday’s meeting was the first time he has spoken with an official group of representatives of Jewish organizations and communities.

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| June 25, 2013
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Prince Charles concerned over rise in anti-Semitism in United Kingdom

Britain’s Prince Charles says he’s worried by “poisonous, debilitating intolerance.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

Charles Prince of Wales has warned that Britain is suffering from an “apparent rise in anti-Semitism,” in a speech that praised the work of Britain’s outgoing Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, the Guardian reported on Monday.

Britain's Prince Charles at the opening of the Jewish Community Center in Krakow April 29, 2008.

Britain’s Prince Charles at the opening of the Jewish Community Center in Krakow April 29, 2008. – Photo: REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

Prince Charles also expressed concern at the rise of “forms of intolerance.”

“I sometimes fear not enough recognition is given to the role of the faith communities in the life of our country in promoting such a critical principle, and I join with you, in mounting anxiety, at the apparent rise in anti-Semitism, along with other poisonous and debilitating forms of intolerance,” Prince Charles was quoted by the Guardian as saying.

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| June 24, 2013
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Anti-Semitism rampant throughout Europe

New report presented to the gov’t says 1 of every 4 European Jews was harassed in the past year, many considering making aliyah as they no longer feel safe. 

By Itamar Eichner

A troubling report presented to the government on Sunday verifies what many in Europe have been feeling in recent months – anti-Semitism in the continent is on the rise, and is breaking new records.

Protest against anti-Semitism in Hungary - Photo AFP

Protest against anti-Semitism in Hungary – Photo: AFP

The anti-Semitism survey was conducted on behalf of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in nine countries in Europe.

According to its main findings, 26% of Jews have suffered from anti-Semitic harassment at least once in the past year, 34% experienced such harassment in the past five years, 5% reported that their property was intentionally vandalized because they are Jewish, about 7% were physically hurt or threatened in the past five years. Continue Reading »

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