World News
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Jewish Dems in Congress oppose plans to merge Holocaust and antisemitism envoys
(JTA) — Nearly two dozen Jewish Democrats in Congress signed a letter opposing plans to fold the State Department’s standalone Holocaust envoy office into the office of Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the Trump administration’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism. Kaploun has been pushing for the merger for months, and his efforts have divided Jewish…
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A Jewish teacher in Philadelphia pretended to be Palestinian for years
(JTA) — A Jewish public school teacher and pro-Palestinian advocate in Philadelphia has admitted to fabricating Palestinian, Tunisian and Black heritage to her colleagues for years, in a case that some online commenters are dubbing “the Palestinian Rachel Dolezal.” Hannah Gann posted confessions and apologies to social media this week, following confrontations from local pro-Palestinian…
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Son of Israel’s US Ambassador seriously injured in West Bank ramming attack
(JTA) — A Palestinian assailant seriously wounded the son of Israel’s ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter on Wednesday in a car-ramming attack in the West Bank, where he was serving as an IDF reservist at a checkpoint. Neria Leiter, 38, was struck at the Maccabim checkpoint on Route 443 by a Palestinian driver who…
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Iran won’t bow to military action or sanctions and will retain nuclear program, country’s president tells UNGA
(JTA) — Iran won’t be bullied by military action or economic sanctions into giving up its nuclear program, the country’s President Masoud Pezeshkian pledged to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday as the United States deliberates whether to resume the war it joined Israel in launching. “We will never bow our head or bend…
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Merz warns that Jews are not safe in Germany, as voters choose parties linked to antisemitism
(JTA) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s warning this week that Jewish life in his country “is no longer safe” reflects concerns voiced by some Jews in Berlin. They are alarmed by the success of the left-wing socialist Left Party in Sunday’s municipal election, which coincides with the rising power of the far-right Alternative for Germany…
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Germany’s far-right victory in eastern state election portends ‘disaster’ for centrists
(JTA) — The far-right Alternative for Germany’s victory in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, its second in the region in as many weeks, underscores the growing popularity of the anti-immigration, nationalist party at the expense of the country’s political center. The center-right Christian Democratic Union, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s party, had its worst result…
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Coexistence is the only way and one state is a fantasy
For some time now, right-wing Zionists and left-wing Anti-Zionists have been mirror images of one another, both insisting on a one-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. To be sure, the visions are different: one is of a Jewish-dominated ethnostate with a permanently subjugated non-Jewish minority, the latter either a utopian democratic fantasy or a violent,…
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Ontario Jewish community saddened, but not shocked, by shootout outside synagogue
(JTA) — TORONTO – Doug Warren, 56, was attending Kol Nidre services at the Sons of Jacob synagogue in Belleville, Ontario on the eve of Yom Kippur on Sunday. Prayers were just about to begin when he heard the gunshots. “The rabbi had just started to call us into the sanctuary. We were stepping inside,…
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Albert Axelrad, Brandeis Hillel rabbi who championed pluralism and social justice, dies at 87
(JTA) — Rabbi Albert S. Axelrad, a Reform rabbi, community leader and political activist who headed Brandeis University’s Hillel Foundation for 34 years, died on Sept. 18. He was 87. Starting in 1965, Axelrad sought to ensure that students and faculty from all Jewish streams received the logistical support and resources needed to live the…
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Stanford Gaza protesters avoid felony charges in community service deal
(JTA) — (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — State prosecutors are preparing to drop charges against five current and former Stanford University students accused of felony vandalism during the 2024 occupation of the university president’s office in protest against the war in Gaza. Each of them will be required to complete…
