Jimmy Carter says an 'Al Het' if any of his words stigmatized Israel

ATLANTA (WJC)–Former US President Jimmy Carter has asked the Jewish community for forgiveness for any offense he may have caused when criticizing Israel. In a letter release by the news agency JTA, Carter sent season’s greeting and wished peace between Israel and its neighbors. He concluded: “We must recognize Israel’s achievements under difficult circumstances, even

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Middle East, USA

Auschwitz sign thieves apolitical, may have been commissioned by collector

KRAKOW, Poland (WJC)–Polish police have interrogated the five professional thieves who stole the infamous ‘Arbeit macht frei’ sign from the entrance of the former Nazi death camp in Auschwitz. According to rumors, a foreign collector might have commissioned the gang to steal the wrought-iron sign which was recovered 72 hours after being stolen from the

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Travel and Food

WJC provides background on its doubts about Pius XII sainthood

VATICAN CITY (WJC)–Pope Benedict XVI has moved his controversial war-time predecessor, Pius XII, a step closer to sainthood, declaring that Pius had displayed “heroic virtues” throughout his life and thus been a Christian worthy of imitation. Pius was one of 17 people approved by Benedict on Saturday in a list that also includes Pope John

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Middle East

This Jewish single dad wonders what to do on Christmas Eve

By Gary Rotto SAN DIEGO-I did my neighborly duty and helped my neighbors celebrate Christmas on Sunday night.  For our immediate neighborhood, we have an annual “Holiday Lights” judging party, in which families get together for an hour, roam the neighborhood together and judge the light displays.  Yes, holiday lights as several neighbors tried to

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Travel and Food

ZOA reports poll finds Americans favoring military action to stop Iran's nuclear program

 NEW YORK (Press Release)–A new poll has revealed that 61% of Americans support the United States coming to the military defense of Israel if it strikes Iranian nuclear facilities and Iran retaliates. The December Survey of The Israel Project, carried out during December 14-16, also found that 51% of Americans favor military strikes by the

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Middle East, USA

Two recipes from the Israeli shlicha at United Jewish Federation

SAN DIEGO — Shoshi Bogoch, the new Israeli emissary or shlicha assigned to the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County submitted some recipes reflecting her mixed Ashkenazic-Sephardic background to A Taste of Hebrew Day School recipe book now on sale for $18. One recipe,  which might have been made by the German Jewish side

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Travel and Food

Climate Change Summit long on rhetoric, short on action

By Gary Rotto SAN DIEGO–The Guardian of Great Britain called the recently completed Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, “the biggest environmental meeting in history.”  But the final result is an agreement that calls for monitoring emissions but neither sets a target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and no deadline for reaching a formal international climate treaty. 

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Middle East, USA

Propagandists trying to conflate Abu Kabir experience with false charges of harvesting Palestinian organs

NEW YORK  (Press Release)—Recent press reports rehashing an interview from 10 years ago regarding the practices at Abu Kabir forensic institute have no relation to the false accusations that appeared this past August in the Swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet. In the 2000 interview, Dr. Yehuda Hiss, then head of the Abu Kabir facility, acknowledged that body

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Middle East, USA

Wiesel, Gov. Patterson join celebration of Kermaier installation as president of the New York Board of Rabbis

By Jeanette Friedman NEW YORK–Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Prof. Elie Wiesel and New York Governor David Patterson participated in the installation of Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier, spiritual leader of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, to his new post as President of The New York Board of Rabbis. Congregants and well-wishers packed the East 62th Street sanctuary on the seventh night

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Middle East

Neo-nazis promoting white supremacy through music downloads

NEW YORK… In an effort to lure young people into the white supremacist movement, neo-Nazis are using deceptive new tactics to appeal directly to high school and college students through advertisements in their school newspapers, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which actively monitors neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups. One scheme hatched by neo-Nazi Kevin

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Travel and Food

University of Haifa students mount video campaign for Gilad Shalit's release

HAIFA, Israel (Press Release) — Students of the School of Political Sciences at the University of Haifa have produced a series of short videos campaigning for the release of Gilad Shalit and to enroll volunteers in “Gilad’s Army of Friends”. The campaign, which can now be viewed on the Internet, was carried out as part

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Middle East

An unusual story of a family's self-preservation during the Holocaust

By Randy Fadem POWAY– Holocaust Survivor and Jewish Educator Rita Ross recently told an audience at Temple Adat Shalom that her entire nuclear family was able to survive the Nazi invasion and occupation of Poland, which was a highly unusual outcome for those caught up in the Shoah. Ross was concluding a speaking tour to

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Travel and Food