Culture -

Hugh Laurie rejects ‘Zionist’ label after his tribute to Israeli ‘Tehran’ producer sparks social media firestorm

February 23, 2026February 23, 2026Jesse Orine

British actor Hugh Laurie pushed back against being labeled as a “Zionist” after facing a wave of online criticism for posting a tribute to the Israeli producer of the hit television show “Tehran.” “Dana Eden, who co-created and produced ‘Tehran’, died on Sunday, seemingly by her own hand,” Laurie, who played a nuclear inspector in […]

At Berlin screening, former Israeli hostages see film about their captivity rewritten after redemption

February 22, 2026February 22, 2026Jesse Orine

BERLIN — They stood outside Berlin’s Babylon theater, bundled against the cold, laughing and dragging on cigarettes: the Cunio twins David and Eitan, and their younger brother Ariel. David and Ariel were among the last Israeli hostages released in October from Hamas captivity, after 738 days. Their presence in Berlin — for a screening of […]

South Africa pulls out of Venice Biennale — because its selected artist wanted to focus on Gaza

February 20, 2026February 20, 2026Jesse Orine

South Africa will not participate in this year’s Venice Biennale following a dispute between its culture ministry and the artist it had selected, whose planned installation focused on Gaza. Gabrielle Goliath, a South African artist selected to represent the country at the international culture exhibition, had planned to showcase a performance piece titled “Elegy” that […]

U2’s first album in a decade includes Yehuda Amichai poem and a song about the slain Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen

February 19, 2026February 19, 2026Jesse Orine

U2 frontman Bono delivered sharp criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and lavish praise on Jewish tradition in an interview released Wednesday alongside the band’s new EP, titled “Days of Ash.” The album — the first from U2 in TK years — includes a song memorializing Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen, who was killed by […]

With co-parenting on the rise in Israel, an advocate aims to export the model to American Jews

February 18, 2026February 18, 2026Jesse Orine

TEL AVIV — In playgrounds around this city, it’s no longer unusual to meet a child who splits time between two homes, not because their parents divorced, but because they were never a couple in the first place. In a society where having children is widely seen as non-negotiable, co-parenting, in which two people decide […]

Spike Lee says his pro-Palestinian NBA All-Star Game outfit wasn’t meant as a dig against Deni Avdija

February 18, 2026February 18, 2026Jesse Orine

The director Spike Lee says he was not targeting the first Israeli NBA All-Star when he wore a pro-Palestinian outfit to the All-Star Game on Sunday. Lee’s outfit featured a keffiyeh-patterned sweater and a bag strap with images of the Palestinian flag. Some of his critics charged that he had chosen the outfit especially because […]

Eli Sharabi’s ‘Hostage’ memoir named Jewish book of the year

February 17, 2026February 18, 2026Jesse Orine

Eli Sharabi’s memoir “Hostage,” recounting his experience in Hamas captivity after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, has been named Book of the Year by the National Jewish Book Awards, organizers announced Wednesday. The awards, presented by the Jewish Book Council and considered among the most prestigious honors in Jewish literature, recognize outstanding English-language books of […]

Frederick Wiseman, documentarian whose antisemitism experiences led to a career examining social institutions, dies at 96

February 17, 2026February 17, 2026Jesse Orine

Frederick Wiseman became a globally celebrated documentary filmmaker by capturing the inner workings of a wide range of social institutions, from governments to schools, small towns, and cultural centers. But years before they opened their doors to his cameras, institutions were shutting Wiseman out — because he was Jewish. “I’m very aware of my Jewish […]

Olympics committee defends sale of T-shirt commemorating 1936 Nazi-era Games

February 14, 2026February 14, 2026Jesse Orine

The governing body for the Olympics is defending its sale of a limited-edition T-shirt commemorating the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin under Adolf Hitler’s Germany. The $42 shirt, which was condemned by Jewish organizations, has already sold out from the official Olympics online store. A spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee acknowledged the Games’ Nazi […]

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 […]