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NJ township will pay $575,000 to settle lawsuit alleging discrimination against Orthodox Jews

(JTA) — New Jersey’s Jackson Township has settled a state lawsuit alleging that it used local ordinances to discriminate against Orthodox Jews, after settling both a federal complaint and a private lawsuit based on similar claims.

In the settlement with the state attorney general, Jackson Township will pay $575,000 in penalties and restitution funds, repeal the ordinances that allegedly target Orthodox Jews and adopt new policies and procedures that protect religious freedom. It will also form a multicultural committee composed of residents that will meet quarterly to combat discrimination, and local officials will undergo anti-discrimination training.

“No one in New Jersey should face discrimination for their religious beliefs,” Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement. “We are firmly committed to eliminating discrimination and bias across our state, and we expect local leaders to comply with our robust anti-discrimination laws.”

The settlement comes after years in which officials and community groups in and around Jackson have been accused of trying to push out Orthodox residents. Jackson borders the heavily Orthodox city of Lakewood, and Orthodox Jews have moved into the surrounding towns as Lakewood’s population has swelled.

Activists organized to oppose the arrival of the new residents, including one group that repurposed a famous anti-Nazi poem to cast Orthodox Jews as a threat to the area’s quality of life. In 2019 and 2020, there were multiple instances of swastika graffiti on Jewish-owned property in Jackson.

Local Jewish leaders accused the activists as well as local officials of antisemitism, with a synagogue suing Jackson in 2014 for barring it from building a girls high school. In 2020, the U.S. Justice Department sued Jackson, alleging that it banned religious boarding schools to keep out Orthodox residents. Jackson settled the federal suit last year for $200,000 and a repeal of the boarding school ban. It settled the synagogue’s suit in January for $1.35 million.

The state attorney general filed its suit in 2021, alleging that the township had adopted discriminatory zoning and land use ordinances as well as enforcement practices that targeted Orthodox Jews. The suit said those practices violated New Jersey’s anti-discrimination law.

According to the complaint, which was filed by the the previous state attorney general and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, the township engaged in discriminatory surveillance of the homes of Orthodox Jews, hoping to spot prayer gatherings that contravened local ordinances. (The city of Miami Beach in Florida recently agreed to pay a single congregation $1.3 million after facing a lawsuit over similar allegations.)

The complaint alleged that the township applied land use laws and zoning ordinances unfairly to inhibit the construction of yeshivas and dormitories as well as sukkahs, the temporary huts built for the fall festival of Sukkot. And it said the town effectively banned the creation of an eruv, or symbolic boundary made of string that allows observant Jews to carry items outdoors on Shabbat.

Under the terms of the settlement, Jackson is required to notify the state of any decision or regulation that would affect local religious land use or practice. The state will monitor the township’s compliance with the settlement requirements for three years.

“Religious freedom is a bedrock principle of American democracy, and we are deeply committed to protecting it here in New Jersey,” Sundeep Iyer, director of the state Division on Civil Rights, said in a statement. “As hate and bias – including against the Jewish community – continue to rise, it is critical that we call out religious discrimination when we see it, and it is especially important that we hold public officials accountable when they treat people differently based on their faith.”


The post NJ township will pay $575,000 to settle lawsuit alleging discrimination against Orthodox Jews appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy

Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.

“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”

The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.

“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.

Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.

The post Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.

Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.

Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”

The post Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool

i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.

The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.

The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.

The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.

The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.

The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.

The post Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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