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Germany celebrates UNESCO World Heritage listing for sites known as the birthplace of Yiddish and Ashkenazi culture
(JTA) — Germany held a ceremony to celebrate the first German-Jewish sites to be given UNESCO’s World Heritage designation on Wednesday.
The sites in the upper part of the Rhine River valley are known as the origin point of Ashkenazi culture and where the Yiddish language first began to develop over 1,000 years ago. They were recognized by UNESCO, the United Nations’ education and cultural body, in July 2021, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed Germany’s celebration of the designation.
UNESCO recognized the Speyer Jewry-Court, a synagogue and yeshiva complex in the city of Speyer; the Worms Synagogue Compound; the Old Jewish Cemetery of Worms, the oldest known in-situ Jewish cemetery in Europe; and the Old Jewish Cemetery of Mainz.
“The unique community centres and cemeteries have had a lasting impact on the material Ashkenazic culture and are directly and tangibly associated with the creative achievements of the early Ashkenazic scholars,” UNESCO’s listing explains.
President Frank Walter-Steinmeier visited a synagogue in Mainz on Wednesday.
“Before July 27, 2021, there were 49 World Heritage sites in our country, from Roman Trier to the old Hanseatic cities of Stralsund and Wismar, from Aachen Cathedral to Wartburg Castle near Eisenach. The list reflected the diversity of culture and nature, but it had a large gap: there were no Jewish cultural monuments,” Steinmeier said in his address.
The mikvah, or ritual bath, in Speyer, Germany, seen Jan. 24, 2023, dates back to the 12th century. It’s known as the oldest remaining intact mikvah in Europe. (Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)
He was joined at the celebration by Audrey Azoulay, the director general of UNESCO. Azoulay, a French Jew, is the daughter of Andre Azoulay, a Moroccan-born Jewish banker who currently serves as an advisor to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.
Steinmeier stressed how the sites give evidence that Jewish history in Germany, both good and bad, stretches far beyond the Holocaust. The cities of Speyer, Mainz and Worms were the sites of large scale massacres of Jews during the Crusades and the 14th-century bubonic plague epidemic, but they were also the home of some of the greatest leaders of European Jewry, such as the famed Torah commentator known as Rashi.
“For centuries, Jews in Germany were seen as strangers, as others. They were repeatedly humiliated, excluded, deprived of their rights, persecuted, murdered — even before the National Socialists and their willing executors almost completely wiped out Jewish life in Germany and Europe,” Steinmeier said. “The monuments and gravestones in Speyer, Worms and Mainz tell of the deep roots of the Jews in our country, of the flourishing of their culture, of self-assertion and emancipation, of times of peaceful coexistence with the Christian majority.”
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UK Police Charge Two Men in Connection with Filming Antisemitic TikTok Videos
The TikTok logo is pictured outside the company’s US head office in Culver City, California, US, Sep. 15, 2020. Photo: REUTERS
British police have charged two men with religiously aggravated harassment offenses after they were alleged to have traveled to a Jewish area of north London to film antisemitic social media videos.
The two men, Adam Bedoui, 20, and Abdelkader Amir Bousloub, 21, are due to appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court, a statement from the Crown Prosecution Service said on Saturday.
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US Imposes Sanctions on Companies It Accuses of Aiding Iran’s Weapons Sector
A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, Jan. 20, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The US Treasury on Friday announced sanctions against 10 individuals and companies, including several in China and Hong Kong, over accusations they aided Iran’s efforts to secure weapons and the raw materials needed to build its Shahed drones and ballistic missiles.
The Treasury move, first reported by Reuters, comes days before US President Donald Trump plans to travel to China for a meeting with President Xi Jinping and as efforts to end the war with Iran have stalled.
In a statement, Treasury said it remained ready to take economic action against Iran’s military industrial base to prevent Tehran from reconstituting its production capacity.
Treasury said it was also prepared to act against any foreign company supporting illicit Iranian commerce, including airlines, and could impose secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that aid Iran’s efforts, including those connected to China’s independent “teapot” oil refineries.
Brett Erickson, managing principal at Obsidian Risk Advisors, said Treasury’s actions were aimed at cracking down on Iran’s ability to threaten ships operating in the Strait of Hormuz and regional allies.
Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow chokepoint between Iran and Oman through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas passes, after the US and Israel attacked a large number of targets in Iran on February 28. Shipping through the crucial waterway has ground to a near halt since the war began, sending energy prices sharply higher.
Iran is a major drone manufacturer and has the industrial capacity to produce around 10,000 a month, according to the British government-fund Center for Information Resilience.
Erickson said the sanctions were still narrowly focused, giving Iran more time to adapt and reroute procurement to other suppliers. Treasury was also not yet going after Chinese banks that were keeping Iran’s economy going, he added.
The companies facing sanctions include:
• China-based Yushita Shanghai International Trade Co Ltd for facilitating acquisition efforts for Iran to purchase weapons from China.
• Dubai-based Elite Energy FZCO for transferring millions of dollars to a Hong Kong company to aid the procurement effort.
• Hong Kong-based HK Hesin Industry Co Ltd and Belarus-based Armory Alliance LLC for working as intermediaries in the procurements.
• Hong Kong-based Mustad Ltd for facilitating weapon procurement by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
• Iran-based Pishgam Electronic Safeh Co for procuring motors used in drones.
• China-based Hitex Insulation Ningbo Co Ltd for supplying materials used in ballistic missiles.
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Gaza Flotilla Activists to Be Released From Israel Detention and Deported
Brazilian Activist Thiago Avila, who was detained aboard the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters, appears at a court in Beersheba, southern Israel May 6, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
Two activists arrested last month when Israeli forces intercepted the Gaza-bound flotilla they were traveling on are expected to be deported in the coming days after being released from security detention on Saturday, their lawyers said.
Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were detained by Israeli authorities on April 29 and brought to Israel.
The activists were part of a second Global Sumud Flotilla launched from Spain on April 12 to try to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by delivering aid to the enclave.
Israel’s foreign ministry said Abu Keshek was suspected of affiliation with a terrorist organization and Avila was suspected of illegal activity. Both denied the allegations.
BRAZIL AND SPAIN SAID THE DETENTION WAS UNLAWFUL
The governments of Spain and Brazil said Abu Keshek’s and Avila’s detention was unlawful, but Israel’s Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court remanded them in custody until May 10.
Human rights group Adalah, which has assisted in their legal defense and also said the detention was unlawful, said that Abu Keshek and Avila were informed that they will be released from detention on Saturday and handed over to immigration authorities’ custody until their deportation.
“Adalah is closely monitoring developments to make sure that the release from detention goes ahead, followed by their deportation from Israel in the coming days,” the group said. Israeli officials were not immediately reachable for comment.
Israeli authorities held them under suspicion of offenses that included aiding the enemy and contact with a terrorist group.
Gaza is largely run by Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.