Page 2 - Jews

Start drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish students into military: Israeli court

Netanyahu's Likud party said the Supreme Court's ruling was 'perplexing', given ongoing efforts in parliament to agree on a new conscription law that would address the problem

Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion, says Trump

Former President Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats hate Israel" and hate their religion, igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders. Trump, in an interview, had been asked about Democrats' growing criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the war in Gaza as the civilian death toll continues to mount. I actually think they hate Israel, Trump responded to his former aide, Sebastian Gorka. I think they hate Israel. And the Democrat party hates Israel. Trump, who last week became the Republican Party's presumptive nominee, went on to charge: Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion. They hate everything about Israel and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed. The comments sparked immediate backlash from the White House, President Joe Biden's campaign and Jewish leaders. The vast majority of Jewish Americans identify as Democrats, but Trump

Jewish students file lawsuit against Harvard for violation of civil rights

Several Jewish students have filed a lawsuit against Harvard University, accusing it of becoming a bastion of rampant anti-Jewish hatred and harassment. The lawsuit filed Wednesday mirrors others filed since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, including against The Art Institute of Chicago, New York University and the University of Pennsylvania. In the Harvard lawsuit, the plaintiffs include members of the Students Against Antisemitism, Inc. They accuse Harvard of violating Jewish students' civil rights and allege that the university tolerated Jewish students being harassed, assaulted and intimidated behavior that has intensified since the Oct. 7 attack. "Mobs of pro-Hamas students and faculty have marched by the hundreds through Harvard's campus, shouting vile antisemitic slogans and calling for death to Jews and Israel," according to the lawsuit. Those mobs have occupied buildings, classrooms, libraries, student lounges, plazas, and study halls, often for days or weeks at a time,

World battling a wave of hate crime unleashed by Israel-Hamas war

Reports of crimes targeting Jews, Muslims and Arabs have risen in the US, Germany, Canada and beyond since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, and the Israeli military's retaliatory operation in Gaza

Putin claims that airport riots targeting Israelis were staged from Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday charged without offering evidence that Western spy agencies and their Ukrainian agents have helped engineer a riot in the southern region of Dagestan, where a mob stormed the airport after a flight from Israel landed there. More than 20 people were hurt none Israelis in clashes that Putin cast as part of US efforts to weaken Russia. Hundreds of angry men, some carrying banners with antisemitic slogans, rushed onto the tarmac of the airport in Makhachkala, the capital of the predominantly Muslim region, on Sunday night, looking for Israeli passengers on the flight from Tel Aviv. Police officers and civilians were injured and two of them were in critical condition, regional health authorities said. More than 80 people were detained in the unrest, according to police. Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal probe on charges of organizing mass unrest. Russia has issued carefully calibrated criticism of both sides in the war ..

Reaction to Hamas attack leaves some Jews in Hollywood feeling unmoored

For the most part, people in the entertainment world could trust that they were on the same political page

Hundreds storm airport in Russia in riot over arrival of plane from Israel

Hundreds of people stormed into the main airport in Russia's Dagestan region and onto the landing field on Sunday, chanting antisemitic slogans and seeking passengers arriving on a flight from Tel Aviv, Israel, Russian news agencies and social media reported. Russian news reports said the crowd surrounded the airliner, which belonged to Russian carrier Red Wings. Authorities closed the airport in Makhachkala, the capital of the predominantly Muslim region, and police converged on the facility. Dagestan's Ministry of Health said more than 20 people were injured, with two in critical condition. It said the injured included police officers and civilians. Video on social media showed some in the crowd waving Palestinian flags and others trying to overturn a police car. Antisemitic slogans can be heard being shouted and some in the crowd examined the passports of arriving passengers, apparently in an attempt to identify those who were Israeli. In a statement Sunday night, Israeli Prime

What is Zionism?

Historically, Zionism wasn't always widely accepted among Jews. Originating in the 19th century, it met resistance from many within the Jewish community. Watch the video to know what Zionism is. >

300 arrested in Capitol Hill demonstration urging Israel-Hamas cease-fire

More than 300 people were arrested for illegally demonstrating and three people were charged with assaulting police after protesters descended on Capitol Hill to call for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Hundreds of demonstrators from Jewish advocacy groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, poured into a congressional office building on Wednesday. They wore shirts that read Jews say cease fire now and they chanted let Gaza live and not in my name" before they were detained by Capitol Police. Demonstrations are not allowed inside Capitol buildings, and police said they warned the crowd gathered in the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building to stop before they began making the arrests. The 305 people arrested for illegally demonstrating were subsequently released and those charged with assault were held in custody pending an appearance before a judge. A few liberal members of Congress have been pushing for a resolution in the latest Hamas-Israel war, saying

Anne Frank: A betrayal theory

The Last Secret of the Secret Annex sheds light on a complex historical mystery

Synagogue in Berlin attacked while antisemitic incidents rise in Germany

A Berlin synagogue was attacked with Molotov cocktails early Wednesday as antisemitic incidents in the German capital have been rising following the violent escalation in the Middle East. The Kahal Adass Jisroel community said its synagogue in the city's Mitte neighbourhood was attacked with two incendiary devices. Police confirmed the incident. Unknown persons threw two Molotov cocktails from the street, the community wrote on X, formerly Twitter. On Wednesday morning, dozens of police officers were investigating in front of the synagogue. The entire street next to the building was cordoned off and blocked for traffic. Germany's leading Jewish group said two people were involved in the attack, but didn't give any further details. We are all shocked by this terrorist attack, the Central Council of Jews said in a statement. Above all, the families from the neighbourhood around the synagogue are shocked and unsettled. Words become deeds. Hamas' ideology of extermination against ...

Grateful to PM Modi for his support for Israel: Indian-American Jew leader

The Indian Jewish community is grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his robust statement of support to Israel following the Hamas attack, an Indian-American Jew leader has said. Speaking to PTI, Nissim Rubin, Assistant Director of the American Jewish Committee's Asia Pacific Institute based in Washington DC pointed out that the Indian Jewish community in Israel, like other inhabitants of the country, has been "severely affected" by Hamas' brutal attack on October 7 that killed over 1,300 people. We are very grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the robust statement of support, within a few hours of the attacks on October 7. And Prime Minister Netanyahu, on the following day, spoke with him, which shows the bond between the two countries and the two persons, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on October 10 that the people of India stand firmly with his country in this difficult hour, expressing strong and unequivocal .

Israeli rabbis work around the clock to count the dead from Hamas attack

Rarely do rabbis spend the Sabbath counting bodies. But on Saturday, a week after Hamas militants blew easily past Israel's fortified security fence and gunned down hundreds of Israelis at music festivals, in their homes, in cars while trying to flee Israel's military rabbinate made an exception. At Shura military base in central Israel, bodies have been coming in faster than the rabbis can identify them. Hundreds of soldiers, women, and children in body bags line shelves of refrigerated trucks, awaiting examination. Identification teams gather on plastic stools opposite the trucks to take smoke breaks between shifts. They wear heavy gas masks the smell of death is overwhelming. Generally, Jewish law says that you cannot break the Sabbath for a dead person, said Rabbi Israel Weiss, who is helping lead the operation. The exception is when a family is in doubt, and the death is so crippling that it may risk the family's lives. Then, you must work on the Sabbath to identify the body

Hamas attacks most murderous assault on Jews since Holocaust: US Congress

The brutal attacks by Hamas are the most murderous assault on the Jews since the Holocaust in Europe, influential lawmakers told eminent Indian-Americans who have rallied behind Israel. Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a barrage of air strikes in Southern Israel on last Saturday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in response launched multiple attacks targeting Hamas' key infrastructure. So far, over 2,000 people have been killed in Israel and the Gaza Strip in the biggest escalation in decades between the two sides. "The terrorist attacks in Israel committed by Hamas against Israeli civilians over the last week are the most sweeping, murderous assault on Jews that have taken place since the Holocaust in Europe," Congressman Jamie Raskin told a group of Indian-Americans at an event organised by the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS). Addressing a group of Indian-Americans from across the country, Ruskin said there is a need to distinguish between Hamas

France bans pro-Palestinian protests, vows to save Jews from antisemitism

France's interior minister on Thursday ordered local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid a rise in antisemitic acts since Hamas attacked Israel over the weekend. President Emmanuel Macron urged French people not to allow the war in the Mideast erupt into tensions at home. Soon before Macron spoke in a televised address to the nation about the Mideast conflict, Paris police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who had defied a ban and demonstrated Thursday against the Israeli government. "Let us not bring ideological adventures here (to France) by imitation or by projection. Let us not add national fractures ... to international fractures,?" Macron pleaded. "Let us stay united." With several French-Israeli citizens believed held hostage by Hamas, Macron pledged that France would protect its Jewish citizens and be 'ruthless toward all those who bear hate" and noted concerns about hostility toward France's Muslims too. Fighting i

Joe Biden calls Hamas attacks deadliest day for Jews since Holocaust

President Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned the weekend attack by Hamas militants on Israel as the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust as the number of U.S. citizens killed in the fighting ticked up to at least 22. This attack was a campaign of pure cruelty not just hate, but pure cruelty against the Jewish people, Biden told Jewish leaders gathered at the White House. Beyond the 22 known to have been killed, the State Department said at least 17 more Americans remain unaccounted for in a war that has already claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides. A handful of U.S. citizens are among the estimated 150 hostages captured by Hamas militants during their shocking weekend assault on Israel, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. Signs of U.S. support for Israel were seen across the administration, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelling there for meetings, Biden denouncing antisemitism in America and the U.S. military moving a second ..

Jewish diaspora mourns attack on Israel, carries on by celebrating holidays

The Jewish diaspora awoke to horror Saturday in what was supposed to be among the most festive times on the Jewish holiday calendar. The attacks by the militant group Hamas came after the end of Sukkot, a weeklong celebration to commemorate the harvest season and the time Jews lived in the desert after being freed from slavery in Egypt. It also came as Jews in the United States were gearing up to celebrate the holiday of Simchat Torah, which marks the beginning of a new annual cycle of the reading of the scrolls and is celebrated in Israel a day earlier. At synagogues around the globe, the attacks brought a somber tone. Rabbi Felicia L. Sol opened the morning at B'nai Jeshurun in New York City by telling congregants of the devastating toll from an Hamas attack that came from the air, from the sea and from the land. At a time that was supposed to be filled with joy, so many were instead entering the holiday knowing that we can't possibly celebrate in the same way that we would if .

Donald Trump omits dinner with white nationalist in speech to Jews

Speaking at a conference of Orthodox Jews on Friday, Donald Trump did not address a widely criticized private meal he shared last month with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and a rapper who has spewed antisemitic conspiracies. The former president told the audience he was the best ally you've ever had. Over and over, Trump heaped praise on the Jewish people and highlighted his support for Israel as he addressed the annual President's Conference of Torah Umesorah at his National Doral club in Miami. He alleged Congress was almost anti-Israel and said without evidence that some Democrats in Washington hate Israel with a passion. Trump is struggling for political momentum a month after becoming the first official candidate to enter the 2024 presidential contest. He hoped the early announcement might scare off potential challengers, but a series of political setbacks have instead left him deeply vulnerable as he ramps up his third presidential campaign. The 76-year-old Republica

Jewish Americans fear collision with emerging far-right Israeli government

Israel's ties to the Jewish American community, one of its closest and most important allies, are about to be put to the test, with Israel's emerging far-right government on a collision course with Jews in the United States. Major Jewish American organisations, traditionally a bedrock of support for Israel, have expressed alarm over the far-right character of the presumptive government led by conservative Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Given American Jews' predominantly liberal political views and affinity for the Democratic Party, these misgivings could have a ripple effect in Washington and further widen what has become a partisan divide over support for Israel. This is a very significant crossroads, said Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a liberal, pro-Israel group in Washington. The potential for specific actions that could be taken by this government, these are the moments when the relationship between the bulk of American Jews and the state of Israel begins to really

Kanye West urges Jews to 'forgive Hitler', stop forcing pain on others

Rapper Kanye West once again made another round of anti-Semitic comments