Monday, October 2nd 2023   |

International

Lipstadt report takes ‘big picture’ look at worldwide antisemitism

(JNS.org) – The office of Deborah Lipstadt, U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, released an index on Wednesday of more than 40 international efforts to fight Jew-hatred.

“Tackling antisemitism at home means appreciating how this hatred is addressed around the world,” per theU.S. State Department. “It requires a common understanding of the urgency of countering this scourge with partners everywhere.”

The index addresses “more than 40 programs, policies...

Memorials to Ukrainian Nazi allies in Detroit, Philadelphia enter spotlight after Canadian Parliament scandal

(JTA) – Over the past few weeks, tributes to Ukrainian Nazi collaborators in North America have led to local and international upheaval.

On Tuesday, the speaker of the Canadian House of Commons resigned after saluting a 98-year-old man who had fought for one such unit, commonly referred to as as the Waffen SS or SS Galichina. And in Philadelphia, a controversy surrounding the same unit played out on a smaller...

Man in Peru charged with making recent bomb threats to US synagogues, FBI says

By PHILISSA CRAMER

(JTA)— Authorities in Peru have arrested a 33-year-old man who the FBI has charged with making a string of bomb threats targeting U.S. Jewish institutions, including synagogues on Rosh Hashanah.

Jewish groups expressed gratitude for the FBI’s efforts to track down the person behind the bomb threats. But one group that has been monitoring disruptions at U.S. synagogues said it did not appear that the man arrested was responsible...

85 years after Kristallnacht, Germany to begin rebuilding grand synagogue in Hamburg

By JACKIE HAJDENBERG

(JTA) — More than 80 years after one of Germany’s most prominent synagogues was destroyed on Kristallnacht, the Jewish community of Hamburg has taken ownership of the building’s site and is set to begin rebuilding it.

The site of the Bornplatz Synagogue, a neo-Romanesque building dedicated in 1906 that had a 1,200-seat sanctuary and was once the largest synagogue in northern Germany, was officially handed over to...

Full text of Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the General Assembly

(JNS.org) – Ladies and gentlemen,

Over three millennia ago, our great leader Moses addressed the people of Israel as they were about to enter the Promised Land.

He said they would find there two mountains facing one another: Mount Gerizim, the site on which a great blessing would be proclaimed, and Mount Ebal, the site of a great curse.

Moses said the people’s fate would be determined by...

Claudia Sheinbaum is on track to become Mexico’s first Jewish and woman president

By JACOB KESSLER and GABE FRIEDMAN

(JTA) — The way things stand now, Mexico is headed to elect its first woman president next year. The two leading candidates in the polls for the 2024 election are Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico City’s former mayor, and Xóchitl Gálvez, a senator representing the c enter-right opposition bloc.

The polls point to another first: Sheinbaum, currently the frontrunner, could become the country’s first Jewish president,...

A Polish director with Jewish heritage made a movie about the migrant crisis. The government compared it to Nazi propaganda.

By ANDREW LAPIN

(JTA) — Poland’s justice minister is embroiled in a feud with one of the country’s best-known filmmakers after comparing her award-winning new movie about Europe’s migrant crisis to Nazi propaganda.

The director, Agnieszka Holland, is the daughter of a Catholic mother and Jewish father, both of whom were part of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Her paternal grandparents died in the ghetto. 

Holland’s latest film, “The Green Border,”...

Member of Goyim Defense League extradited to Netherlands after allegedly projecting antisemitic message onto Anne Frank House

By ANDREW LAPIN

(JTA) – A prominent member of an American neo-Nazi group has been extradited to the Netherlands, where he will stand trial for projecting an antisemitic message onto the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.

Robert Wilson is accused of being behind a February incident in which a message was laser-projected onto the house where Anne Frank hid during the Holocaust. The message read “inventor of the ballpoint pen,”...

Moroccan Jews and Israelis reportedly all safe in devastating quake that killed at least 2,100

By PHILISSA CRAMER and ELIYAHU FREEDMAN

(JTA) — Jews and Jewish sites appear to have largely been spared following the devastating earthquake that struck Morocco late Friday, killing at least 2,100 people and plunging some of the poorest areas of the Northwest African country into ruins.

The export of etrogs, the citrus fruit harvested locally and used ritually in the upcoming festival of Sukkot, also appears to be continuing largely unabated.

...

Porto’s Jewish community unveils memorial to 842 local victims of Portuguese Inquisition

By SHIRA LI BARTOV

PORTO, Portugal (JTA) — In this city on Portugal’s northwestern coast, a small Jewish community has dedicated years to identifying its predecessors who were killed or expelled in the Portuguese Inquisition of 1536 to 1821.

Drawing on newly digitized records, the community was able to identify 842 people, ranging from 10 to 110 years old, who were victims of the Inquisition locally. On Sunday, it inaugurated...