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South African Union Leader Ordered To Apologize To Jews For ‘Hell’ Remark
(JTA) — A senior trade union figure who threatened the Jewish community must offer an “unconditional apology,” a South African court ruled. The Equity Court said Bongani Masuku, the international relations spokesman for the Congress of South African Trade Unions, or COSATU, must offer the apology through the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, the…
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Philadelphia Ethnic Intimidation Law Signed Following Jewish Cemetery Vandalism
(JTA) — Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed into law an ethnic intimidation bill introduced after the vandalism of about 175 headstones at a local cemetery. The Ethnic Intimidation and Institutional Vandalism bill signed last week, says that fines for desecrating objects will be applied to each individual act of vandalizing a headstone, grave marker or…
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Hungary’s Squeeze On Jewish Center Sparks Outcry At Home And Abroad
Jewish groups in Hungary and abroad are speaking out following government sanctions against a popular center run by a Jewish youth organization. In New York, Rabbi Michael Paley of UJA-Federation of New York, told the Forward, “We, along with many other global Jewish organizations, are concerned with recent government actions against the Jewish community in…
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EXPLAINED: 5 Things About Israel’s Controversial Conversion Bill
(JTA) — Israeli politicians and Jewish leaders are fighting again over an age-old question: Who counts as a Jew? And who gets to decide? This week, Israel’s government inflamed simmering tensions over Jewish conversion when a Cabinet committee advanced a bill that would further empower the country’s haredi Orthodox Chief Rabbinate. The measure declares that…
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Budapest Shuts Jewish Center And Bar Favored By Opposition Activists
(JTA) — City officials in Budapest shut down the bar and cafeteria of a Jewish community center that is favored by opposition activists, following the discovery of illegal substances during a drug raid there. The closure notice on Wednesday reached the offices of the Aurora community center a little over two weeks after the raid,…
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Netanyahu Claims He Didn’t Kill Western Wall Prayer Deal — He’s Saving It
(JTA) — American Jewish leaders are calling it a betrayal. They say that 17 months after achieving a historic agreement to provide a non-Orthodox space at Judaism’s holiest prayer site, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reneged in a Cabinet vote Sunday, effectively canceling the deal and caving to the interests of his haredi Orthodox coalition…
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Pro-Israel And Queer? Why It’s Getting Hard To Be Both.
NEW YORK (JTA) — For years, Laurie Grauer had waved a rainbow flag emblazoned with a Jewish star at the Chicago Dyke March, sometimes marching near activists waving Palestinian flags. It had never been a problem. But this year, Grauer was confronted by the LGBT parade’s organizers, questioned about her support for Israel and asked…
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Israel’s Crisis With Diaspora Yields Plenty Of Words — But Little Action
JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israeli politicians rushed to condemn their government’s decision Sunday to freeze a plan promoting pluralistic prayer at the Western Wall. Voices from across the political spectrum, including members of the governing coalition, criticized the vote by the Cabinet as a reckless affront to American Jewry. They warned it could weaken the community’s support for Israel….
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Jewish Agency Vows No ‘Business As Usual’ With Israel After Western Wall Move
The Jewish Agency’s board of governors canceled a scheduled dinner with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli government decided to freeze a plan to create an egalitarian prayer section at the Western Wall. Also Monday, the heads of the Reform movement in the United States and Israel said they would cancel a meeting with…
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Chicago Dyke March Ejects Jewish Pride Flag Wavers
(JTA) — A parade in Chicago celebrating the lesbian community banned three Jewish women carrying Jewish Pride flags. Organizers of the 21st annual Chicago Dyke March told the women that the rainbow flags with a white Star of David in the center would be a trigger to people they found offensive. A Dyke March collective…
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Diaspora Jewish Leaders Feel Betrayed By Western Wall Prayer Debacle
(JTA) — They’ve tried strongly-worded statements. They’ve tried private meetings with the prime minister. They’ve tried negotiations, protest and prayer. But for the past five years, despite broad internal consensus and consistent pressure, the American Jewish establishment has been unable to persuade Israel’s government to create an equitable space for non-Orthodox prayer at the Western…
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