(JTA) — Five hundred rabbis and other Jewish leaders from around the world are calling for climate change action. The letter released earlier this month was signed by rabbis and leaders spanning the denominational spectrum — from Orthodox to Reform and secular — and from countries including the United… Read more »
National
Young people are responsible for most of New York City’s anti-Semitic attacks. Will Holocaust education help?
NEW YORK (JTA) — Jyrell McGriff, an African-American eighth-grader who lives in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, doesn’t interact much with the many Orthodox Jews who share his neighborhood. He sees them on the street or on buses. He also has fond memories of a Jewish teacher from years… Read more »
Jersey City kosher store shooters had powerful bomb and planned to target Jews and police
(JTA) — The two Jersey City kosher store shooters were carrying a bomb in the van they were using that had enough firepower to kill or wound people in an area the size of five football fields. Federal officials on Monday also said that David Anderson and Francine Graham… Read more »
Hanukkah at the White House
25,000 march against anti-Semitism in New York City
NEW YORK (JTA) — An estimated 25,000 people marched across the Brooklyn Bridge and held a rally on Sunday to protest rising anti-Semitism in and around New York City. The rally comes following a spate of attacks on Jews — including, most recently, a stabbing attack at a rabbi’s… Read more »
NAACP and ADL announce partnership to educate public officials against hate in New Jersey
(JTA) — The most prominent anti-discrimination organizations in the African-American and Jewish communities are partnering to combat hate in New Jersey. The Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-Semitism and bigotry, and the NAACP, which fights racism and discrimination, announced the partnership Thursday. It comes about a month after a shooting… Read more »
New York Times editorial calls for mass support for solidarity march against anti-Semitism
(JTA) — A New York Times editorial threw its support behind a planned solidarity march through New York City in the wake of a string of attack on Jews. The Sunday editorial noted that more than half of the 421 hate crimes reported in the city in 2019 were… Read more »
What is causing the rise in anti-Semitism in New York?
NEW YORK (JTA) — For weeks, anti-Semitic attacks have been surging in and around New York City — from assaults in Brooklyn to the shooting in Jersey City to the recent stabbing in Monsey on Hanukkah. What’s still unclear is why the spike is happening now — and whether… Read more »
U.S. kills Qassem Soleimani, Iranian Quds force cief
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A U.S. airstrike killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, which operates a number of regional militias and is allied with terrorist groups targeting Israel, including Hezbollah and Hamas. The strike early Friday morning hit a vehicle near Baghdad International Airport. The Quds Force… Read more »
New York City to launch 3 initiatives to combat anti-Semitism
NEW YORK (JTA) — New York City will launch three initiatives aimed at combating anti-Semitic hate crimes. Mayor Bill de Blasio made the announcement at a dramatic news conference Sunday afternoon at the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library following weeks of anti-Semitic assaults and vandalism that have… Read more »
Suspect in Monsey Hanukkah attack had journals with references to Hitler
NEW YORK (JTA) — Prosecutors filed federal hate crimes charges Monday against the man who allegedly attacked several individuals with a machete during a Hanukkah celebration at a Hasidic rabbi’s home in Monsey. “Officials said they had recovered handwritten journals expressing anti-Semitic views, including references to Adolf Hitler and… Read more »
Volunteer group Guardian Angels will patrol Brooklyn Jewish neighborhoods after spate of anti-Semitic attacks
(JTA) — The Guardian Angels said it would start patrolling in Brooklyn after an increase in anti-Semitic attacks in the area. The group’s founder, Curtis Sliwa, told NBC News that the patrols would start on Sunday, first at noon in Crown Heights and later in the day also in… Read more »
After a machete stabbing on Hanukkah, Monsey’s Orthodox Jews are defiant but searching for answers
MONSEY, N.Y. (JTA) — When a man wielding a machete burst into a Hanukkah party at a rabbi’s house in this New York City suburb, Joseph Gluck sprang into action. Seeing the attacker, Gluck, the administrator of the Orthodox synagogue next door, helped evacuate party guests from the house.… Read more »
The Jews who defined the 2010s
(JTA) — The 2010s were nothing if not turbulent. The decade brought us unprecedented political polarization, war and increasing conflict in Israel, dozens of horrific mass shootings, and a new age of election hacking and private data collection enabled by the proliferation of social media. It was capped by… Read more »
The top 10 Jewish stories of 2019
(JTA) — For many Jews around the world, there’s probably no love lost for 2019. As the year draws to a close, the Jewish community continues to grapple with the continued rise of global anti-Semitism — one major community in Europe is facing the possible election as prime minister… Read more »
A man entered the Chabad world headquarters and threatened to it shoot up
This is a developing story. NEW YORK (JTA) — A man wearing a hoodie entered the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters located at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn on Friday morning and threatened to shoot up the place, according to ABC 7. After approaching a congregant, the man reportedly left… Read more »
Vying for seats at World Zionist Congress, liberal newcomers like Peter Beinart hope to block Israeli settlements funding
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The list includes names like Peter Beinart, the liberal writer; Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of the liberal Middle East policy group J Street; and Sheila Katz, the CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women. No, it’s not an ad for a symposium on the Upper East… Read more »
Three assaults against Jews reported in New York in just over 24 hours
(JTA) — A Jewish man wearing a yarmulke was physically and verbally assaulted in Manhattan in one of three assaults against Jews in New York just over a 24-hour period. A Miami man was arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime for the attack late Monday morning… Read more »
Columbia University accused of anti-Semitic discrimination in first case related to Trump executive order
(JTA) — A federal complaint has been filed against Columbia University accusing the school of anti-Semitic discrimination. It is the first case filed since President Donald Trump’s executive order on combating anti-Semitism, which grants Jewish students the same protections as other minority groups. The complaint requests a formal investigation… Read more »
Holocaust survivor dies from injuries after being dropped in transit to White House Hanukkah party
(JTA) — Rosalee Glass, a Holocaust survivor recognized by President Donald Trump during the White House Hanukkah party, has died following injuries sustained during travel to Washington, D.C. Glass died in Los Angeles on Dec. 14 of a blood clot to her heart. She was three weeks shy of… Read more »