Tagged HEADLINES

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israeli society has been gripped over the past week by the killing of Solomon Tekah, an unarmed 19-year-old Ethiopian Israeli. On June 30, an off-duty Israeli police officer shot and killed Tekah under highly contested circumstances. While emerging evidence seems to indicate that the policeman was not… Read more »

(JTA) — A prosthetic leg that belonged to a Russian Jewish immigrant to Lake Providence, Louisiana. An 8-foot neon sign from a hotel that advertised itself as the only establishment with an “up to date kosher kitchen” in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Two synagogue organs from the now-shuttered Temple B’nai… Read more »

World leaders and celebrities praised the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe on the 25th anniversary of his death. Rabbi Menachem Schneerson led the Chabad-Lubavitcher Hasidic movement through a period of revival and spread its influence through Jewish outreach centers in dozens of cities and countries. An estimated 50,000 people… Read more »

On Saturday, June 15, Tucson Jews for Justice hosted the Tucson Jewish Summer Arts Festival at the Jewish History Museum. The event raised over $500 for local migrant shelters, which will be matched by Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. About 75 people attended, enjoying music from Joyce Luna with… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) – At the annual Christians United for Israel conference, Vice President Mike Pence lambasted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for comparing U.S. migrant detention centers to concentration camps. “This slander was an insult to the 6 million killed in the Holocaust, and it should be condemned by every American… Read more »

This story originally appeared on Alma. After I came out as a lesbian, my mother embraced me with open arms. She loved me, and this didn’t change that. But she knew — and I knew — that I had to leave my gayness at the door when entering Bukharian… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Tel Aviv suburb has approved operating public transportation on Shabbat. The City Council of Ramat Gan, a municipality in central Israel, approved the measure on Tuesday by a vote of 15-6. In a harbinger of the religious freedom debate that will infuse the campaign for… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a point of reminding a conference of Christian Zionists that Israel permits conversions to Christianity, just weeks after his department reported on the difficulties converts face there. Pompeo, speaking Monday to the annual Washington summit of Christians United For Israel,… Read more »

(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has come under fire in recent years for allegedly failing to confront anti-Semitism and revisionism in Central and Eastern Europe, met Wednesday with the head of a European political party whose membership includes ultranationalists and neo-Nazis. Oleh Lyashko of the Ukrainian… Read more »

(JTA) — Israeli actress Gal Gadot will star in the biggest feature film ever made by Netflix. “Red Notice,” also starring Ryan Reynolds and Duane Johnson, will have a production budget of about $130 million. The action thriller, set for release in late 2020, is centered around the pursuit of… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The central Israel city of Petah Tikvah inaugurated a city square in honor of President Donald Trump. Donald Trump Square was inaugurated on Wednesday to thank Trump for his support of Israel, especially the president’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The square is… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A leading religious-Zionist rabbi in Israel rejected the possibility of asking former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to head the Union of Right Wing Parties because “politics is not for women.” Rabbi Shlomo Aviner was one of dozens of rabbis who signed a letter objecting to seeing… Read more »

(JTA) — Forty-one percent of young Jews in Europe have considered emigrating because of safety concerns, according to the findings of a survey published Thursday. Some 2,700 respondents aged 16-34 said they wanted to leave “because they did not feel safe living there as a Jewish person,” the European… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A Republican running for the Virginia state legislature removed from his Facebook campaign page a meme that mocked comparisons of migrant camps to concentration camps. Paul Milde, running to be a delegate in Virginia’s 28th district, encompassing the town of Fredericksburg about halfway between Washington, D.C.,… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Thirty-six protesters from a new Jewish group were arrested at a demonstration in front of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The arrests Sunday afternoon followed a protest outside the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility organized by a group called Never… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Thousands of Ethiopian Israelis and their supporters demonstrated in cities across Israel on Tuesday night to protest the killing two nights earlier of an Ethiopian teen by an off-duty police officer. At least 60 protesters were arrested and at least 47 police officers were injured as… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Ethiopian-Israeli teen was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer who said he felt in danger after he tried to break up a street fight in a Haifa suburb. Solomon Tekah, 19, was killed Sunday night in Kiryat Haim, in northern Israel. Eyewitnesses to… Read more »

Arizona State Rep. Tony Rivero spearheaded the new legislation to establish a trade office in Israel. (Gage Skidmore)

Arizona lawmakers approved an $11.8 billion budget last month that will include funding for the establishment of an Arizona trade office in Israel. Gov. Doug Ducey signed the budget on Friday, May 31. The budget includes nearly $500,000 dedicated to three trade offices: one in Israel and two in… Read more »

Tucson Police Officer Rob McCusker delivered a community training on suspicious package recognition at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona on June 13. With about 25 in attendance, the explosives and hazardous device technician discussed ways to recognize potential dangers and manage bomb threats, and suggestions for managing lockdowns… Read more »

Visiting Israel or other parts of the Middle East this summer? The University of Arizona Center for Middle Eastern Studies is seeking photo submissions for its 29th annual exhibit, “Ordinary and Extraordinary.” Each year, the UA Center for Middle Eastern Studies organizes a photography exhibit featuring images from the… Read more »