Uncategorized
In long-isolated Australia, festivals bring out Jewish celebrants in Sydney and Melbourne
When things finally began returning to normal in Australia after nearly three years under one of the world’s strictest Covid protocols, Australian Jews didn’t hesitate to celebrate.
In November, Jews with the roots in the former Soviet Union who live in Australia heralded their heritage with a pair of long-awaited festivals in the country’s two biggest cities, Nov. 6 in Sydney and Nov. 13 in Melbourne. Each event attracted about 200 people. Limmud FSU Australia hosted both festivals in close partnership with the Zionist Federation of Australia or ZFA, marking the FSU Jewish community’s first in-person, large-scale events since 2018.
“For a while, we couldn’t travel more than 5 kilometers from our homes,” said Ukrainian-born Inna Polura, who worked logistics for Limmud FSU’s first Sydney festival back in 2015 and now volunteers at the Sydney Jewish Museum. “This last event was very successful, and at least 50 kids attended. We see a huge potential here.”
Moscow-born real estate agent Elena Sladkova, 25, added, “Finally we were able to do it, and this was one of the best festivals our community has seen in a very long time.”
About a quarter of Australia’s 120,000 Jews were born in the former Soviet Union or are children of immigrants from the former USSR. Limmud FSU organizes gatherings all over the world to strengthen Jewish identity and a sense of Jewish community among Jews with roots in the USSR.
At the Limmud festivals in Australia, which were held in both English and Russian, representatives of three nonprofit groups — the Blue Peony Foundation, the Svoboda Alliance and the Russian-Speaking Jewish Community Association — shared tips on how to assist Ukrainians suffering from the war that has devastated their country.
The Sydney event, held at New South Wales University, featured such presenters as Amir Maimon, Israel’s new ambassador to Australia; Leon Goltsman, Waverley Councillor for Bondi Ward, Sydney; Ron Weiser, former president of the ZFA; Diana Ulitsky of the social service agency JewishCare NSW; and Rabbi Yehoram Ulman of the Sydney Beth Din. The Melbourne event took place at the Crowne Promenade Conference Centre, with such prominent speakers as MP David Southwick, deputy Victorian Liberal Party leader; and Sebastian Inwentarz, ZFA Birthright’s Australia director.
Some of the festivals’ sessions focused on uniquely Australian themes, such as Professor Ludmila Stern’s history lecture on the World War II-era prosecution of two elderly Ukrainians and a German in the Australian city of Adelaide for atrocities against Jews. Jeremy Jones, director of international and community affairs at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, spoke of local efforts to secure the emigration of Soviet Jews to Australia in the 1970s and ’80s. In Melbourne, Simon Holloway, head of education at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, spoke on the dramatic emergence of Holocaust research in the former Soviet Union.
There were plenty of lighter sessions among the three dozen or so at each festival. At the Melbourne event, Orthodox psychotherapist Miriam Dolnikov talked about myths and facts about Orthodox sex. Rabbi and chef David Trakhtman spoke about “spiritual gastronomy.”
Volunteers, like these ones in Melbourne, are an indispensable part of those who organize Limmud FSU conferences. (Yuri Peress, PY-PHOTO)
In between sessions, entertainment was provided by the Russian School Lider Dance Ensemble as well as students from the AMS Music Centre and VulgarGrad, a seven-piece, Melbourne-based band that plays unique funk and punk renditions of traditional folk songs from the former Soviet Union. A special performance was held in Sydney by Ukraine-born Israeli singer Vladi Balyberg, and both events featured a unique concert by a prominent Israeli actor and singer, Vladimir Friedman. There were also workshops on challah baking and martial arts for kids.
“The last three years have shown that everything in the world can change overnight. But the fact that Limmud FSU continues to work and be active is priceless,” said Marina Rozenberg Koritny, head of the World Zionist Organization’s Aliyah Promotion Department. “This organization does wonderful, significant work in Jewish education in the Diaspora, and continues to remind us all the time that we are all one people.”
This year alone, Limmud FSU has held festivals in New Jersey; Niagara Falls, Canada; Baku, Azerbaijan, and Boston. A Dec. 1-3 gathering in Tiberias, Israel, was the year’s biggest event, with some 1,100 participants.
“It has been a long time since we last gathered in Australia,” said Limmud FSU founder Chaim Chesler. “But the post-Covid Australian Jewish community, whose roots lie in the countries of the FSU, is just as vibrant and hungry for community and learning opportunities as before. We are delighted to return.”
Events for children were part of the Limmud FSU conference in Sydney, Austrlia, on Nov. 6, 2022. (Veda Kucko)
Among Limmud FSU Australia’s key supporters are the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, the ZFA, the World Zionist Organization, Genesis Philanthropy Group, the Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemet LeIsrael and Wilf Family Foundations. Since Limmud FSU’s first conference in 2006, the group has hosted more than 80 events worldwide, drawing over 80,000 participants. The group’s co-founder is Sandra Cahn; Matthew Bronfman is its chairman; and Aaron Frenkel is president.
“I think the best way to expand your network is by volunteering and participating in the community, and that’s why I’m involved with Limmud,” said Russia-born Maria Gelvan, 38, who coordinated the activities of the 28 volunteers at the Melbourne festival. “It’s an absolutely amazing opportunity for unifying the Jewish community.”
Luiza Levenfus, 44, who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan at age 12 before moving to Melbourne when she was about 20, says Jewish identity is at risk in Australia’s multicultural society.
“There is a big risk of losing our connection to Judaism,” Levenfus said. “I feel like my kids don’t understand the Jewish side of things, even though their mom is Jewish and their dad is half-Jewish and half-Russian — especially in the suburb where we live.”
That’s why taking the time to go to the Limmud FSU festival was so important, she said.
“People there get me. I don’t have to explain to them why I have tears when I hear Hebrew songs,” Levenfus said. “We’re all on the same page.”
—
The post In long-isolated Australia, festivals bring out Jewish celebrants in Sydney and Melbourne appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
11-Year-Old Girl Succumbs to Wounds from Iranian Missile Strike
A photo of Nesya Karadi. Photo: courtesy of her family.
i24 News – An 11-year-old girl has died nearly three weeks after being critically injured by an Iranian missile strike on her family home.
Nesya Karadi passed away Friday at Sheba Medical Center, becoming the 21st civilian fatality in Israel since the current conflict began on February 28.
The attack occurred on April 1, just hours before the start of Passover. Officials confirmed the strike involved an Iranian missile equipped with a cluster warhead; a sub-munition directly hit the Karadi home, wounding 14 people.
Among the injured was Nesya’s father, a volunteer with the Magen David Adom paramedic service. In a final act of heroism before losing consciousness from his own injuries, he reportedly administered life-saving first aid to his daughter.
Hanoch Zeibert, the Mayor of Bnei Brak, expressed the city’s deep grief over the loss of a “pure child whose whole life was ahead of her,” pledging the municipality’s full support to the Karadi family during their ordeal
Uncategorized
Palestinian Local Elections Give Some Gazans First Chance to Vote in Years
A Palestinian woman votes during the municipal election at a polling station in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinians voted in local elections on Saturday that for the first time in two decades include Gaza and are a gauge of the political mood.
The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority has said it hopes the inclusion of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah will reinforce its claim to authority over the territory from which it was ousted by Hamas in 2007.
Some Gazans, who are struggling to meet their basic needs in the devastated enclave, welcomed the opportunity to vote.
“As a Palestinian and a son of the Gaza Strip, I feel proud that after this war the democratic process is returning,” said voter Mamdouh al-Bhaisi, 52, at the Deir al-Balah polling station.
Turnout, however, was low at 13.8 percent in Deir al-Balah by 1 p.m. (1000 GMT) and at 25.3 percent in the West Bank, according to official figures. Voting will continue in the West Bank until 7 p.m., while in Deir Al-Balah it ends an hour earlier due to electricity constraints.
Casting his ballot in a polling station in the Al-Bireh area, near Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said eventually elections will be held across the Gaza Strip.
“Gaza is an inseparable part of the state of Palestine. Therefore, we have worked by all means to ensure that elections take place in Deir al-Balah to affirm the unity of the two parts of the country together,” he said.
ISRAEL HAS EXTENDED CONTROL OVER GAZA AND WEST BANK
Since a US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza between Hamas and Israel took effect in October, intermittent talks led by the United States have made little progress towards a settlement that envisages international supervision of Gaza.
European and Arab governments broadly support an eventual return of Palestinian Authority governance in Gaza, together with the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. It would comprise Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule.
Western diplomats say local elections could be a step towards the first national elections in nearly two decades and advance reforms to increase transparency and accountability that the PA says are under way.
“We hope that the procedure carried out today will be crowned with legislative and presidential elections,” said Munif Treish, one of the candidates in the West Bank.
Saturday’s vote is the first of any kind in Gaza since 2006 and the first Palestinian elections to be held since the Gaza war started more than two years ago with a cross-border Hamas assault on southern Israeli communities. Municipal elections were last held in the West Bank four years ago.
STRUGGLE TO PAY WAGES AS ISRAEL WITHHOLDS FUNDS
The Palestinian Authority has struggled to pay wages as Israel withholds tax revenues it collects on its behalf, raising fears of economic collapse. Israel justifies withholding the funds in protest at welfare payments to prisoners and families of those killed by its forces, which it says incentivize attacks.
The Israeli government has also taken steps to help settlers acquire West Bank land. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has repeatedly said: “We will continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state.”
In Deir al-Balah, which has suffered less damage from Israel’s assault since 2023 than other Gazan cities, banners bearing candidate lists hang from buildings.
The Palestinian election committee cited widespread destruction among the reasons voting could not be held across the rest of Gaza, more than half of which is controlled by Israel, with the rest under Hamas rule.
HAMAS BOYCOTTS VOTE BUT SOME CANDIDATES ARE ALIGNED
Some Palestinian factions are boycotting the elections in protest at the PA’s request that candidates back its agreements, which include recognition of the state of Israel.
Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, has not formally nominated any candidates but one list in the Deir al-Balah election is widely viewed by residents and analysts as aligned with it.
Analysts say the performance of candidates linked to the militant group could gauge its popularity. Most candidates, including in the West Bank, are running under Fatah, the main political movement behind the PA, or as independents.
Hamas has said it would respect the results. Palestinian sources told Reuters ahead of the vote that the group’s civil policemen would be deployed to safeguard polling stations in Gaza.
The Palestinian Central Elections Committee said more than one million Palestinians, including 70,000 in Gaza, are eligible to vote, with results expected late on Saturday or on Sunday.
Uncategorized
Iran Says It Won’t Accept ‘Maximalist Demands’ as Islamabad Hosts Peace Push
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi meets with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, as Pakistan prepares to host the US and Iran for the second phase of peace talks, in a location given as Islamabad, Pakistan, released April 25, 2026. Photo: ESMAEIL BAQAEI VIA X/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi laid out Iran’s demands and its reservations about US positions on Saturday as Islamabad hosted a new push to end a war that has killed thousands and roiled global markets.
Though details of the talks were scant, Araqchi met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other high-ranking officials. The White House had earlier announced that President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner would travel to the Pakistani capital on Saturday, but Iran has so far ruled out a new round of direct talks.
Washington and Tehran are at an impasse as Iran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries one-fifth of global oil shipments, while the US blocks Iran’s oil exports.
IRAN SETS OUT ITS ‘PRINCIPLED POSITIONS’
The conflict, in which a ceasefire is now in force, began with US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28. Iran has since carried out strikes against Israel, US bases and Gulf states, and the war has pushed up energy prices to multi-year highs, stoking inflation and darkening global growth prospects.
Araqchi “explained our country’s principled positions regarding the latest developments related to the ceasefire and the complete end of the imposed war against Iran,” said a statement on the minister’s official Telegram account.
Asked about Tehran’s reservations about US positions in the talks, an Iranian diplomatic source in Islamabad told Reuters: “Principally, Iranian side will not accept maximalist demands.”
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had earlier told reporters that Iran had a chance to make a “good deal.”
“Iran knows that they still have an open window to choose wisely,” he said. “All they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways.”
Araqchi arrived in Islamabad on Friday. But an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson posted on X that Iranian officials did not plan to meet US representatives and that Tehran’s concerns would be conveyed to mediator Pakistan.
Trump told Reuters on Friday that Iran planned to make an offer aimed at satisfying US demands but that he did not know what the offer entailed. He declined to say who Washington was negotiating with, “but we’re dealing with the people that are in charge now.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US had seen some progress from the Iranian side in recent days and hoped more would come this weekend, while Vice President JD Vance was ready to travel to Pakistan as well.
CEASEFIRES IN PLACE, FEW SHIPS CROSSING HORMUZ
Days after Trump extended the ceasefire, international flights resumed from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport on Saturday, Iranian media said. The first passengers had departed for Medina, in Saudi Arabia, Muscat and Istanbul, with operations expected to accelerate in the coming days.
“Well, it’s a good feeling. When flights resume, trade is done, and people can do their jobs. It’s a good feeling,” said one passenger at the airport, where passengers were queuing at check-in desks.
Iranian airspace has been largely closed since the start of the war. Tens of thousands of flights have been canceled, rerouted and rescheduled worldwide, shutting much of the Middle East’s airspace because of missile and drone threats.
Trump unilaterally extended a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday to allow more time to reconvene the negotiators.
Oil prices surged this week, with Brent crude futures soaring 16 percent, on uncertainty over the fate of the peace talks and as violence flared in the region.
Shipping data on Friday showed that five ships had crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the previous 24 hours, compared to around 130 a day before the war. The ships included an Iranian oil-products tanker but none of the vast crude-carrying supertankers that normally feed global energy markets.
Data analytics firm Vortexa said this week it had recorded 35 total transits through the US blockade from April 13 to 22, involving Iran-linked or sanctioned vessels for inbound and outbound journeys.
“The enemy, whose objective of crippling Iran’s missile and military capabilities has failed, is now seeking an honorable exit from the quagmire of war,” Iranian media quoted a defense ministry spokesperson as saying. “Iran is today in firm control of the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iranian state TV quoted the country’s top military command as reiterating that Iran would react if US forces continued their “blockade and piracy” in the region.
On Thursday, Israel and Lebanon extended their ceasefire for three weeks at a White House meeting brokered by Trump, but there was little sign of an end to the fighting in southern Lebanon.
Israel invaded its northern neighbor last month to root out Iran’s Hezbollah allies after the militant group fired across the border in support of Iran. Tehran says a ceasefire there is a precondition for talks.
Four people were killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, Lebanon’s state news agency reported, and Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel, the Israeli military said, in the latest challenge to the ceasefire there.