News

Business Brief 1.10.20

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, area synagogues, and community members recently conducted the annual Project Isaiah food drive, collecting more than 3,636 pounds of food and $512 in donations for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. Many other donations were collected directly from local synagogues.… Read more »

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

New Jersey leaders from the NAACP and ADL announcing a joint initiative to combat hate among public officials. (Courtesy of the ADL)

(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 »

What is causing the rise in anti-Semitism in New York?

MONSEY, NY - DECEMBER 29: A member of the Ramapo police stands guard in front of the house of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg on December 29, 2019 in Monsey, New York. Five people were injured in a knife attack during a Hanukkah party and a suspect, identified as Grafton E. Thomas, was later arrested in Harlem. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

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 »

In France, a killer’s successful insanity defense sparks outrage

French Jews at a march protestic anti-Semitic violence in Paris, France on March 28, 2018. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

(JTA) — An appeals court ruling that a man who killed a Jewish woman in her home while shouting Quranic verses is unfit to stand trial is prompting outraged reactions from French Jews who fear it sets a dangerous precedent that will undermine the fight against anti-Semitism. Kobili Troare admitted… Read more »

New York City to launch 3 initiatives to combat anti-Semitism

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at a news conference on anti-Semitism at a branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, Dec. 29, 2019. (Adi Eshman)

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 »

After a machete stabbing on Hanukkah, Monsey’s Orthodox Jews are defiant but searching for answers

Joseph Gluck, who witnessed the attack on Dec. 28, 2019, speaks to reporters the day after. (Ben Sales)

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 »

Geert Wilders calls for kicking out ICC prosecutor over Israel ‘bias’

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — The leader of the second-largest party in the Netherlands called for expelling from the country an International Criminal Court prosecutor for attempting to try Israelis for war crimes. Geert Wilders called Thursday for the expulsion of Fatou Bensouda over her Dec. 20 report alleging that both… Read more »

The top 10 Jewish stories of 2019

Police vehicles gather around the synagogue where a shooting took place in Poway, Calif., April 27, 2019. (Xinhua/ via Getty Images)

(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 »

Vying for seats at World Zionist Congress, liberal newcomers like Peter Beinart hope to block Israeli settlements funding

Jewish Israelis seen in the West Bank settlement of Shavei Shomron, Nov. 19, 2019. (Amir Levy/Getty Images)

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 »

Flood damages Beirut’s only Jewish cemetery

(JTA) — Four graves were destroyed and others covered by rubble as a flood swept through Beirut’s only Jewish cemetery. The flood in the Lebanese capital on Thursday destroyed a retaining wall in the city’s only Jewish cemetery, whose graves date back to the 1820s, according to Agence France-Presse.… Read more »