Jesse Orine -

French, German, Jewish leaders call for resignation of UN’s Francesca Albanese over ‘common enemy’ comments

February 13, 2026February 13, 2026Jesse Orine

A slew of prominent voices, including the French foreign minister, have called for the resignation of United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese over her latest comments about Israel. Albanese, the U.N.’s Palestinian rights envoy, is a vocal critic of Israel who has drawn sustained rebuke from multiple U.S. administrations over comments seen as veering sharply […]

International social workers group set to vote on expelling Israeli union for ‘not acting to promote peace’

February 12, 2026February 12, 2026Jesse Orine

The Israeli Union of Social Workers could be booted from a global federation after at least three countries called for a vote on its expulsion on allegations of ethical breaches. The countries — Ireland, Spain and Greece — charged that the Israeli union should have moved to seek exemptions from military service for its members […]

ADL retracts suggestion that mass shooter at Canadian elementary school tweeted antisemitic content 2 days before attack

February 12, 2026February 12, 2026Jesse Orine

Update: The Anti-Defamation League has retracted its identification of a social media account it had attributed to the Tumbler Ridge shooter, a day after making it. In a statement to JR, a spokesperson for the ADL said, “A preliminary investigation uncovered an X account appearing to belong to the shooter. After further investigation, that X […]

Arrests and clashes with police as Australians protest Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s Sydney visit

February 9, 2026February 9, 2026Jesse Orine

Thousands of protesters demonstrated across Australia on Monday against Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who traveled to the country at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese following the Bondi massacre. Upon arrival, Herzog visited the site of the antisemitic terror attack in Sydney, where 15 people were killed while attending a Hanukkah event in […]

From ‘Hairspray’ to ‘South Park,’ composer Marc Shaiman tells a showbiz story shaped by Jewish humor

February 9, 2026February 9, 2026Jesse Orine

Marc Shaiman likes to joke that for half a century he’s been “the funny Jewish guy at the piano,” a role as old as vaudeville and as enduring as a well-timed joke. But behind the punchline is a career that traces a distinctly Jewish path through American show business: a bar mitzvah where he improvised […]

Bill Aron, photographer of Jewish countercultures, gets his due in a sweeping retrospective

February 9, 2026February 9, 2026Jesse Orine

I was late to the havurah movement — the egalitarian, counterculture congregations that blended grassroots spirituality, social activism and skepticism about mainstream synagogues and the Jewish establishment. By the time we joined Farbrengen in Washington, D.C. in the late 1980s, the founders of the movement were sprouting gray hairs and more than a few were […]

Credit Suisse had many more bank accounts with Nazi ties than previously known, investigation finds

February 6, 2026February 6, 2026Jesse Orine

The financial services company Credit Suisse had hundreds more bank accounts with Nazi ties than it had previously revealed, a new investigation reported this week. The findings were discovered when independent investigators audited UBS, the Swiss bank that acquired Credit Suisse in 2023. “What the investigation has found to date shows that Credit Suisse’s involvement […]

Protests roil Australia ahead of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s planned visit

February 6, 2026February 6, 2026Jesse Orine

Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s planned visit to Australia this weekend, which was scheduled in the wake of the Bondi massacre in December, has drawn widespread opposition and planned protests, including from some Jews. Following Herzog’s invitation to visit the country by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, some Labor party members and pro-Palestinian groups called for […]

Canadian Jewish groups decry axing of antisemitism envoy in favor of ‘rights, equality and inclusion’ advisory council

February 5, 2026February 5, 2026Jesse Orine

Canadian Jewish groups are denouncing a government decision to replace the country’s antisemitism and Islamophobia envoys with a new “Rights, Equality and Inclusion” council. The new advisory council, announced by the Canadian government on Wednesday, is billed in a press release as aiming to “foster social cohesion, rally Canadians around shared identity, combat racism and […]

Palestine Action activists acquitted in Israeli defense firm break-in, drawing criticism from British Jewish leaders

February 4, 2026February 4, 2026Jesse Orine

A British jury has acquitted six activists from the British group Palestine Action who were charged with breaking into the U.K. site of an Israeli defense company, eliciting criticism from British Jewish groups and leaders. The defendants — Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan […]