Tagged Spain

4 Jewish things you need to know about Catalonia

Independence supporters gather outside the Palau Catalan Regional Government Building in Barcelona, Oct. 30, 2017. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
October 31, 2017 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

(JTA) — After simmering for decades, national aspirations in the region of Catalonia in northeast Spain plunged that country into a major crisis with far-reaching international implications. The current crisis began earlier this month when federal police clashed with voters over an illegal referendum on independence. But it came… Read more »

Barcelona chaos had this Israeli reporter-turned-lawmaker dodging bullets

Police dispersing a crowd in Sant Julia de Ramis, Spain, Oct. 1, 2017. (David Ramos/Getty Images)
October 2, 2017 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

(JTA) — Seeing armed police in riot gear outside a school in Barcelona, the Israeli lawmaker Ksenia Svetlova felt the instincts kick in from her days as a Middle East reporter for Russian-language media. “One look was enough to see these officers were preparing for something bad,” said Svetlova, a… Read more »

Email unlocks treasure chest of family history, new possibilities

Family members in Paris in April 2017 (L-R): Lauren Lederman, Amy Lederman, Ema Nachmani, Bella Bernard and Mariyam Nachmani (Courtesy Amy Lederman)
August 10, 2017 / Amy Hirshberg Lederman, Special to the AJP

It all began in 2001 with my mother’s insatiable desire to discover more about her background and family.  I had heard stories since I was a young girl about her parents who had tragically died within a month of each other, leaving my mother an orphan before her third… Read more »

Spain’s Jewish ‘ghost towns’ seek a boost from living Jews

A tourist walks down the historic Jewish quarter of the town of Ribadavia in Spain, Sept. 26, 2016. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
October 31, 2016 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

RIBADAVIA, Spain (JTA) – Overlooking the confluence of two rivers near the Spanish-Portuguese border, this small and picturesque town has more Jewish institutions than some European capitals. In the historic Jewish quarter of Ribadavia, the sounds of nearby waterfalls echo among cobblestone streets featuring attractions that are found nowhere… Read more »

The Matisyahu affair: In Europe, conflating Jew and Israel

Matisyahu performing at the Rototom Festival in Benicassim, Spain, Aug. 22, 2015. (YouTube)
August 27, 2015 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

(JTA) — A Spanish music festival’s recent decision to rescind its invitation to the American reggae singer Matisyahu, after he declined to endorse a Palestinian state, brought international attention to a phenomenon that many European Jews have been feeling for years: that they are being targeted for Israel’s actions.… Read more »

In Mallorca, a year of breakthrough for descendants of Jews
December 19, 2011 / Alex Weisler, JTA

PALMA, Spain (JTA) — A stone’s throw from the majestic Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma, commonly referred to as La Seu, is a dusty cobblestoned alleyway that serves as a hidden reminder of Mallorca’s complex Jewish past. Carrer de Monti-Sion, or Mount Zion Street, has borne witness to… Read more »

Spain builds monuments to Jewish past; motives quizzed
April 22, 2011 / Ben Harris, JTA
The Museum of Jewish History in Girona is housed in what is believed to be the Spanish city’s last known synagogue. (Ben Harris/JTA Photo Service)

Hidden among the maze of alleyways east of the Onyar River, the Museum of Jewish History stands as testament — if an inadvertent one — to the completeness of Spain’s destruction of its once-thriving Jewish population. Inside the museum, set in what is said to be Girona’s last known… Read more »