(JTA) — The manager of a popular restaurant in Pittsburgh was fired after he shared an anti-Semitic post on Facebook. Yokoso Japanese Steakhouse owner Jeff Kim apologized in a Facebook post for the action of his employee, calling it “inexcusable.” He also wrote: “Please know that his comments and… Read more »
Tagged HEADLINES
British Society for Middle Eastern Studies passes Israel academic boycott resolution
(JTA) — The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies passed a resolution calling for an academic boycott of Israeli institutions. The boycott passed on Monday at the society’s annual general meeting in Leeds with almost 80 percent support, according to the Middle East Monitor. The society, known as… Read more »
Nearly 1 in 5 Americans say small businesses should be able to refuse service to Jews, survey finds
(JTA) — Nineteen percent of Americans think small business owners should be allowed to refuse service to Jews if doing so would violate their religious beliefs, a new poll shows. That is an increase from 2014, when 12 percent of respondents agreed with the statement, according to survey results published… Read more »
Dead Sea area rocked by earthquake
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An earthquake measuring 3.8 on the Richter Scale was felt in the area of the Dead Sea. The epicenter of the temblor that took place early on Wednesday afternoon was Ein Bokek in southern Israel, according to Israel’s Geophysical Institute. There were no injuries or damage… Read more »
Dutch railways to compensate Holocaust survivors it helped transport
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — The Netherlands’ national rail company said it will compensate hundreds of Holocaust victims for its role in the genocide. Dutch Railways announced its plan Wednesday in a statement, specifying one-time payments of about $17,000 to each living Holocaust survivor it helped ship to death camps when… Read more »
Germans protest neo-Nazi rock festival by buying up an entire town’s beer supply
(JTA) — A group of Germans found a new way to protest neo-Nazism: buying beer. A German court had already banned alcohol at the Shield and Sword Festival, a white nationalist rock music event held this past weekend in Ostritz, a German town near the border with Poland. The… Read more »
Dutch rapper drops Anne Frank stage name following outcry over anti-Semitism
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — The Dutch rapper who went by Anne Frank said Wednesday that she will change the name following an outcry and the revelation of past anti-Semitic statements. The 25-year-old performer, whose real name may be Anne van der Does, according to the GeenStijl website, said she was shortening… Read more »
Gary Rosenblatt stepping down as editor and publisher of The New York Jewish Week
(JTA) — Gary Rosenblatt, the editor and publisher of The New York Jewish Week for 26 years, is stepping down. Under his stewardship, the newspaper started Write On For Israel, an educational/advocacy program to prepare high school students for the Mideast debate on campus, in 2002; and The Conversation,… Read more »
UN marks 25th anniversary of AMIA bombing saying it will hold a global conference of terror victims
(JTA) — The United Nations said it will hold a global conference of terror victims while commemorating the 25th anniversary of the attack on the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The U.N. said the aim of the conference will be to come up with concrete recommendations on… Read more »
Jared Kushner launches Bahrain workshop on economic plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jared Kushner, the key architect of the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, launched a conference in Bahrain to advance the economic portion of his plan. “The Peace to Prosperity vision is a modern framework for a brighter and more prosperous future,” Kushner said Tuesday in the capital city… Read more »
Hoffman earns UA medical scholarship
Jacquelyn Hoffman, a second-year medical student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, has been awarded the two-year, Shirley D. Curson Medical Student Scholarship. The scholarship, of about $15,000 per year in a student’s third and fourth years of medical school, is awarded through the UA… Read more »
Adopt-A-Bee program at Tohono Chul to support National Pollinator Week
Tohono Chul is holding its fourth annual Adopt-A-Bee program. The whimsical program, which allows participants to “adopt” and name a native bee, helps Tohono Chul communicate its passion for preservation and conservation. Adopt-A-Bee aims to increase awareness of the various native bee species in Southern Arizona, and to promote… Read more »
Tucson natives, plus Italian chef, make Frost gelato a hit
It was a sunny afternoon this May with temps in the ’90s, a preview of this month’s triple digit coming attractions. After lunch at a local café, I craved a dessert that was at once scrumptious and refreshing and wouldn’t break the calorie bank. Light bulb moment! I hurried… Read more »
What the biblical Boaz can teach men in power in the age of #MeToo
I have ordered the men not to molest you.” (Ruth 2:9) With these words, Boaz, the wealthy landowner, tells Ruth, the destitute Moabite, a stranger in Bethlehem, that she is not only free to glean in his fields and to gather what the reapers may drop, but that she… Read more »
Rocket fired from Gaza strikes school building in southern Israel
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A rocket fired from Gaza hit a school building in the southern Israeli city of Sderot on Thursday evening. The building, identified as a Jewish religious school, was damaged but no injuries were reported. It was reported to be empty at the time of impact and… Read more »
Hundreds mark 90th birthday of Anne Frank in her birth city of Frankfurt
(JTA) — Several hundred people gathered at a church in Frankfurt, the city of Anne Frank’s birth, on the occasion of the teenage diarist’s 90th birthday. The event, organized Wednesday at the iconic St. Paul’s Church by the municipality of the German city and the Basel-based Anne Frank Foundation,… Read more »
U.S. Embassy branch in Tel Aviv decorated for Pride parade despite Trump ban
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The U.S. Embassy branch office in Tel Aviv decorated its building with rainbow flag banners for the city’s Pride parade, ignoring a Trump administration ban on flying the Pride flag at diplomatic missions. A photo of the building decked out in two rainbow banners and rainbow… Read more »
Truly Nolen volunteers pack food for JFSA’s Homer Davis project
On May 29, community volunteers from Truly Nolen Pest & Termite Control packed 240 bags of food to supplement nutrition for students at Homer Davis Elementary School over the summer break, when kids can’t get meals at school. The food program is part of the Jewish Federation of Southern… Read more »
UA’s Ruiz speaks at Mexican Consulate
Some 60 community members gathered on Tuesday, June 4, at the Mexican Consulate to hear Joaquin Ruiz, Ph.D., dean of the College of Science at the University of Arizona, speak about his life and work, highlighting Tucson’s geology, diversity, and extensive natural wonders. Ruiz is a member of both… Read more »
Neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin ordered to pay $4.1 million for defaming Muslim comedian
(JTA) — Andrew Anglin, the founder of neo-Nazi site the Daily Stormer, was ordered to pay $4.1 million in damages for having defamed a Muslim-American comedian. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Ohio ordered Anglin to compensate Dean Obeidallah for falsely accusing him of being behind a terrorist attack… Read more »