(JTA) — The world population of those who self-identify as Jews stands at about 15.2 million — an increase of 100,000 over last year — with the number in the U.S. differing measurably from this year’s Pew survey. Israel has 6.9 million Jews and the United States has “about 6 million,” according to the estimate […]
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(JTA) — Zebulon Simantov, the last remaining Jew in Afghanistan, has finally left the country for fear of persecution by the Taliban, an Israeli television channel reported. Simantov, the 62-year-old former keeper of Kabul’s lone remaining synagogue, left the country for the United States in recent days with several other exiles, the Kan broadcaster in […]
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(JTA) — Police in London have arrested a man in connection with a series of six assaults on Jews in areas of the city with large Jewish communities. The assaults began Aug. 18, when somebody struck Jews on the street during the day in the northern neighborhood of Hackney, then kept walking briskly away. The […]
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(JTA) — The law school of the University of Buenos Aires has launched a watchdog institute to monitor antisemitism. The Observatory on the Fight Against Antisemitism will advise local and international institutions, educate legal professionals and provide legal tools to combat antisemitism. It aims to find and analyze antisemitism in the press, social media, public […]
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(JTA) — Tahera had fallen down in the crush of Afghans pressed against the gate of Kabul’s airport. Her son, 3 years old, was uncontrollable. Her husband’s breathing was uneven. She also had to consider her four other children. She had a lifeline on the phone: Her supervisor at Jewish Family Services in Seattle. Cordelia […]
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(JTA) — Greece has appointed a health minister who defended the antisemitic writings of his father in court more than a decade ago. Thanos Plevris, who was named to his post as part of a government reshuffle, said Wednesday in a statement that he did not mean to offend anyone with his 2009 defense. In […]
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BUDAPEST (JTA) — Jewish communities in Hungary opened two new synagogues as part of the annual Jewish Cultural Festival in this capital city. One is situated in the bustling center of Budapest, while the other is a 50-seat synagogue in an apartment building. The latter — the Vorosmarty Street Synagogue — is owned by MAOIH, […]
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(JTA) — Last month, Francois Amalega Bitondo was standing on a Montreal street, megaphone and cellphone in hand, protesting against COVID-19 vaccines. A bright yellow six-pointed star stood out against his black T-shirt. The star, which read “unvaccinated,” was an explicit reference to the yellow Stars of David that Jews were forced to wear during […]
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(JTA) — Jewish American Ian Seidenfeld upset the world No. 1 to win gold in table tennis at the Tokyo Paralympics on Saturday. The 20-year-old has now followed the footsteps of his father Mitchell, a four-time Paralympic table tennis medalist who won gold in Barcelona in 1992. The elder Seidenfeld now coaches the Team USA […]
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(JTA) — Iran’s new government includes two men who have been implicated in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. On Wednesday, the parliament approved Ahmad Vahidi as interior minister and Mohsen Rezai as vice president of economic affairs among the 19 nominations by President Ebrahim Raisi. […]
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