Tagged Muslims

Anti-Semitism unleashed by Trump followers chills Jewish voters

Bend the Arc protesters demonstrate outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City, Sept. 29, 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Pieties? Out. Passports? In. Paranoia? On its way. Jewish Americans have never been ones to sit out an election, whether it comes to voting, political fundraising or dinner table punditry. But even for a community grown used to the political fray, the 2016 campaign was different.… Read more »

Russia’s kosher kingpin aims to launch halal-meat empire

Pinhas Slobodknik center, with staff at a Moscow event serving kosher food in 2014. (Courtesy Pinhas Slobodnik)

MOSCOW (JTA) — At Russia’s largest kosher food factory, owner Pinhas Slobodnik welcomes his Muslim workers with a greeting in Arabic that he pronounces in a thick Russian accent. Some 120 workers, most from the predominantly Muslim republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, are employed at the factory — a sprawling… Read more »

In Senegalese bush, Bani Israel tribe claims Jewish heritage

Dougoutigo Fadiga outside the Bani Israel clinic near the Senegalese village's sacred tree, May 2013. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

BANI ISRAEL, Senegal (JTA) — He will welcome you into his earthen-floor home, introduce you to his three wives, and let you sample their cooking. But Dougoutigo Fadiga does not want foreigners to come near the sacred tree of his village deep in the Senegalese bush. “The tree is… Read more »

Down under, a furor over a Jewish publisher’s attack on boat people, Muslims

Australian Jewish News publisher Robert Magid stirred controversy with his article arguing that Muslim boat people deprive sanctuary to legitimate refugees. (Australian Jewish News via AJDS)

SYDNEY (JTA) – An article on illegal boat people by the publisher of Australia’s main Jewish newspaper has ignited a storm of protest, with some critics savaging it for “vilifying Muslims” and promoting “xenophobic, Islamophobic and heartless sentiments.” Titled “Curb your compassion,” Robert Magid’s article published in the Aug.… Read more »

Amid security concerns in Tunisia, a smaller Hiloula celebration

Pilgrims enjoying the Hiloula celebration at the El Ghriba Synagogue in Tunisia, May 2012.

DJERBA, Tunisia (JTA) — Two thousand years ago, a mysterious woman who was unable to talk arrived on this island. Every sick person she touched was healed. Although she died when her wooden house caught fire, her body remained intact and did not burn. That’s a local legend. Another… Read more »

In Dutch shechitah ban, Jews see sign they’re unwanted

Luuk Koole, the manager of Holland’s only kosher butcher, says a proposed shechitah ban would make doing business more expensive. (Alex Weisler/JTA)

(Amsterdam) – A few streets over from the bookstore where Anne Frank bought her famous diary, the only kosher butcher shop in Holland is bustling. Two employees man the long counter at Slagerij Marcus, pausing from chopping meat to sell customers a bit of this or that for Shabbat… Read more »