International

State Assembly denounces Polish gag order on Holocaust

SACRAMENTO, California (Press Release) – Responding to a disturbing spike in hate rhetoric and anti-Semitism, the State Assembly voted overwhelmingly with unanimous bipartisan support to demonstrate its commitment to Holocaust education Tuesday and called on Congress to urge Poland to abandon a gag rule that seems to encourage revisionist history. More than 60 Assembly members […]

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International, Jewish History, USA

U.S. releases religious freedom report for Israel, P.A., Gaza

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of a comprehensive  report on religious freedom around the world, the U.S. State Department on Wednesday issued its report and analysis of religious freedom issues in Israel and the Golan Heights as well as in the Palestinian Authority and Gaza.. ISRAEL AND THE GOLAN HEIGHTS Executive Summary A report on

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Jewish History, Middle East, USA

Jewish trivia quiz: Netta

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York —  Israeli singer Netta won this year’s Eurovision contest singing the song Toy. Though the song was primarily written by Israeli composer Doron Medalie, Netta added some lyrics including a Pokémon reference (according to Medalie, “that’s more her generation than mine”). Netta has spoken about Pokémon characters and what they

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Mark D. Zimmerman, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Cologne’s amazing Jewish culture

By Oliver B. Pollak COLOGNE, Germany — In 1933 Cologne counted 20,000 Jews. In 1989 it had 1,358 Jews. Today the city of over a million, with the influx of Jews from the Former Soviet Union, has about 4,600 Jews.The Holocaust produced catastrophic trauma. Post-war Germany maintains a leading position in rescuing people from persecution in their homelands, many from majority Moslem

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International, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak, Travel and Food

OpEd: Why Israelis resent U.S. Jewish Democrats

By Barry Shaw NETANYA, Israel — Want to know why Israelis have little patience for Jewish Democrats? First, none of their leaders accepted the invitation to attend the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel’s capital. Second, Bernie Sanders just agreed with Hamas that they have the right to return to Israel, which would spell

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Barry Shaw, International, Middle East, USA

California Assembly sets vote on Holocaust bill

SACRAMENTO, California (Press Release)– Amidst disturbing spikes in hate rhetoric and anti-Semitism, the State Assembly on Tuesday will consider a resolution by Assemblymember Marc Levine and the California Legislative Jewish Caucus to renew California’s commitment to Holocaust education and urge Poland to abandon a gag rule that facilitates revisionist history. Assembly Joint Resolution 35 calls

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International, USA

U.S. is not afraid to upset Iran’s mullahs

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –When Ronald Reagan proposed the “Zero-Zero Option” for no intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe, the pundits – and the Europeans – said, “The Russians will never agree to that.”  They demanded that Reagan put forward what the Russians could accept – or not aggravate the Russians by putting U.S. Pershing missiles

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International, Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USA

Royal wedding invoked Hebrew imagery

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — As befits an English woman living abroad, I watched the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on television, and reveled in the pomp and circumstance of each shot and every angle. I loved the sight of the beautiful mixed-race bride, her dress, the bridesmaids and page-boys, the various

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts