National

American mayors’ group, ADL announce agreement to combat hate

NEW YORK (JTA) — The mayors of America’s largest cities are launching a partnership with the Anti-Defamation League to combat hate and bigotry. Nearly 200 mayors have joined the agreement, which was announced Friday, since it was first circulated Tuesday night among the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The mayors… Read more »

White House: Stephen Bannon is out as chief strategist

This is a developing story. (JTA) — Stephen Bannon is leaving his position as White House chief strategist. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Friday was Bannon’s last day in the role. “White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today… Read more »

Trump has decided to remove Stephen Bannon

(JTA) — President Donald Trump has decided to remove White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon. Two administration officials told The New York Times on Friday about Trump’s decision. However, they cautioned that the president might not act on his decision for “some time.” A source close to Bannon told the Times… Read more »

I am a rabbi, and my place was in Charlottesville

The scene at the entrance to Emancipation Park during the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

(JTA) — I was in Charlottesville on Saturday. I felt called to go because white supremacy is a hateful ideology that has murdered millions throughout history and continues to kill. I went because my family and ancestors suffered at the hands of anti-Semites throughout history, because I bear their… Read more »

OP-ED Our president just asked us to be fair to white supremacists

President Donald Trump speaking to the media at Trump Tower in New York City, Aug. 15, 2017. Looking on, from left, are Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council; Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin; Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao; and Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (JTA) — There was a moment in his “neo-Nazi, neo-Shmazi” news conference where you might have found yourself thinking, maybe President Trump is right. On the narrow question of who was responsible for the violence in Charlottesville, a prosecutor might note that punches were thrown by white… Read more »

What you need to know about antifa, the group that fought white supremacists in Charlottesville

Protesters and counterprotesters clashing at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

(JTA) — Is it OK to punch a Nazi in the face? That’s the question animating much of the discussion of Saturday’s white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which quickly devolved into a brawl between rally-goers and a contingent of anti-fascist counterprotesters known as antifa. Following the clashes, a… Read more »

Hate in Charlottesville: The day the Nazi called me Shlomo

White supremacists rally in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12, 2017. (Ron Kampeas)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (JTA) — The white supremacists, for all their vaunted purpose, appeared to be disoriented. Some 500 had gathered at a park here Saturday to protest this southern Virginia city’s plans to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the park. Pressured by the American Civil Liberties… Read more »

A guide to the far-right groups that protested in Charlottesville

White supremacists spar with counterprotesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

(JTA) — They believe the “white race” is in danger. They believe the United States was built by and for white people and must now embrace fascism. They believe minorities are taking over the country. And they believe an international Jewish conspiracy is behind the threat. These are the… Read more »

Charlottesville’s Jewish mayor is an expert on demagogues, and now on anti-Semitism

Charlottesville Mayor Michael Signer speaking on "Meet the Press," Aug. 14, 2017. (Screenshot from YouTube)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (JTA) — Michael Signer, the Jewish mayor of Charlottesville, has one thing in common with the white supremacists who descended on his southern Virginia city over the weekend: He also opposed the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Of course, Signer’s reasons for… Read more »

These Jewish women are running for office because of Donald Trump

Lisa Mandelblatt, center, campaigns in New Jersey's 7th district. (Courtesy of Mandelblatt)

  WASHINGTON (JTA) — Emily’s List, the organization that encourages women to run for office, reported in April that inquiries from women about running for office on the local, state and national level have skyrocketed — from 900 during the 2016 election cycle to 11,000 since Donald Trump’s election as president. How… Read more »

Former top national security officials urge Trump to stick to Iran nuclear deal

President Donald Trump, left, and Stephen Bannon at the swearing-in of senior staff at the White House, Jan. 22, 2017. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

(JTA) A bipartisan array of former top national security officials urged President Donald Trump to stick to the Iran nuclear deal, saying that war with Iran is “more imaginable” today than it has been in five years. The statement was published Tuesday on the website of the magazine of… Read more »

How volunteering becomes a way in for millennials distanced from the Jewish community

Repair the World volunteers assist with food preparation at Masbia Soup Kitchen in Brooklyn. (Alli Lesovoy)

NEW YORK (JTA) — As a college student, Jake Max assumed he would work in banking or consulting after graduation. That was the path favored by many of his classmates. But after experiencing the 2016 presidential campaign his senior year at Emory University, Max was spurred to action and… Read more »

Trump is thinking of breaking the Iran deal. Here’s how he could do it.

Donald Trump speaks with journalists at a rally against the Iran nuclear deal at the U.S. Capitol, Sept. 9, 2015. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

  WASHINGTON (JTA) — Campaigning last year for the presidency, Donald Trump said the Iran nuclear agreement was the “worst deal” he had ever seen. It was never exactly clear, however, what he intended to do about it: Appearing at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s policy conference in… Read more »

Jared Kushner on Israeli-Palestinian peace: ‘There may be no solution’

Jared Kushner speaks at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door to the White House, June 19, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

  NEW YORK (JTA) — If Jared Kushner is the only person who can deliver Middle East peace — as his father-in-law Donald Trump said — he comes off as a reluctant savior. In a speech delivered Monday to a group of congressional interns and leaked to the media, Kushner expounded… Read more »

Why more Israelis are moving to the US

Children wave Israeli and American flags at the Celebrate Israel parade in New York City, June 4, 2017. (Perry Bindelglass)

  NEW YORK (JTA) — Six years ago, the Israeli government released a series of controversial ads to show its expatriates that they would never feel at home in the United States. But last year, Israeli Cabinet members lined up to address a Washington, D.C., conference celebrating Israeli-American identity.… Read more »

OP-ED Jews once fought — and died — for voting rights. Here’s why some are still at it.

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party supporters demonstrate for voting rights outside the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, N.J. Some hold signs with portraits of slain civil rights workers Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. (Warren K. Leffler/Wikimedia Commons)

  NEW YORK (JTA) — Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner are about the closest American Jews have to secular saints. The two Jewish civil rights workers traveled south for the Freedom Summer campaign of 1964, joining the African-American activist James Chaney in canvassing black churches. All three were kidnapped and murdered by… Read more »

OP-ED America’s only nuclear-qualified, Navy veteran, transgender rabbi is not happy with the president’s tweets

Rona Matlow served in the Navy for 22 years before leaving to become what she calls "the only nuclear-qualified, transgender rabbi." (Photos courtesy of Maslow)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (JTA) — On Wednesday, in our offices near this city’s Dupont Circle, the staff at Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. were opening the mail when a request came in from a veteran asking that we change her first name on our records from Jaron to Rona. “I… Read more »

Israeli Arab transgender beauty queen opens up about her story

Talleen Abu Hana visited Washington, D.C., to speak about her experience being a transgender woman in Israel. (Ron Kampeas)

  WASHINGTON, D.C. (JTA) — Last month, the Israeli Embassy marked LGBT Pride Month with a reception for Jewish and Israeli activists and leaders. About 100 people attended the event, which featured an address by Talleen Abu Hana, an Arab Christian from Nazareth who won the first Miss Trans Israel… Read more »