International

Rabbi calls for protests in behalf of Falun Gong

By Aryeh Savir JERUSALEM (TNA) — Under the title “Why does the Chinese Government abuse many of his citizens?” Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, one of Israel’s leading rabbis, attacked on his website the Chinese Government for its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Rabbi Aviner writes that he believes that even though this persecution is carried […]

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International, Middle East

JNS news briefs: April 9, 2014

International Monetary Fund: Israel’s economy will grow 3.5% in 2015 (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Israeli economy will grow by 3.5 percent in 2015, up from 3.2 percent in 2014 and 3.4 percent in 2013, the International Monetary Fund said in its World Economic Outlook mid-year report. The IMF’s outlook is more optimistic than that

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International

Aliyah from France increases as anti- Semitism grows

By Josh Hasten/JNS.org PARIS — Against the backdrop of studies revealing rising anti-Semitism both in France and across all of Europe, as well as one particularly brutal attack in Paris last month, French Jews are flocking to Israel. On March 30, the Jewish Agency for Israel released figures showing that aliyah from France increased dramatically

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International, Middle East

Parties try to get Mideast talks back on track

By Dmitriy Shapiro/JNS.org/Washington Jewish Week WASHINGTON, D.C. —  With only weeks left before the planned April 29 deadline to reach an agreement in the U.S. brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, the Obama administration has been working overtime to salvage talks that unraveled early last week. Despite the effort, experts are bearish on whether any progress can be

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Middle East

JNS news briefs: April 8, 2014

Russian bill against denial of Holocaust and Nazi crimes gains initial approval (JNS.org) Russian legislators have given initial approval to a bill against the “rehabilitations of Nazism” that will punish historians for denying Nazi crimes, including the Holocaust, Voice of Russia reported. “Our country has not simply defended itself. We have defended the whole world

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International

Self- described former terrorist wants peace with Israel

By Aryeh Savir JERUSALEM (TNA) — Tawfik Hamid, Ph.D., is a unique and solitary voice in the Islamic world. A self-described former terrorist, he was a member of the militant al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya with Dr. Ayman Al-Zawaherri who later on became the second in command of Al-Qaeda and now heads it. He stresses he has never actually committed an

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Middle East

Jobbik gains in Hungary worrisome to Jews

BUDAPEST (WJC) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party narrowly defended its two-thirds majority in elections for the country’s legislature, but significant gains the extreme-right Jobbik party caused concern. With over 98 percent of the votes counted, Hungary’s National Election Office said Fidesz had won 133 seats in the 199-seat legislature. The right-wing Fidesz and

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International

Kaifeng Jewish descendants to observe Pesach

KAIFENG, China (Press Release)  – Nearly 100 members of the ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng, China, are expected to attend a first-of-its-kind traditional Passover Seder that will take place next Monday, April 14, at the start of the holiday in Kaifeng. The Seder, which is being sponsored by the Jerusalem-based Shavei Israel organization, will be conducted

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International, Jewish Religion

JNS news briefs: April 7, 2014

Samaria-based Ariel University left out of Israeli universities heads’ conference (JNS.org) Representatives from Ariel University—the first accredited Israeli university located beyond the Green Line—were absent from the invitation list to Sunday’s Committee of University Heads conference on the future of higher education in Israel. Ariel University said in a statement, “The Committee of University Heads

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International