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Badar Khan Suri, Georgetown researcher married to former Hamas official’s daughter, is ordered freed from ICE detention

May 14, 2025May 16, 2025Sara Wood

A federal judge has ordered that a Georgetown University researcher accused by the Trump administration of “spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media” be freed from detention while the government pursues efforts to deport him. Bader Khan Suri, an Indian national, was arrested in March amid the Trump administration’s early crackdown on pro-Palestinian […]

Judge cites Betar US in releasing Massachusetts student from immigration detention

May 14, 2025May 14, 2025Sara Wood

A militant pro-Israel group’s recommendation appears to have led directly to the arrest of a foreign student activist, according to a recent ruling by a federal judge. The ruling, freeing the student from immigration detention, names Betar US and offers the clearest answer yet to a question that has revolved around the Trump administration’s campus […]

Man burns library books on Jewish history, including Anne Frank’s diary, in Jewish suburb of Cleveland

May 14, 2025May 15, 2025Sara Wood

A man checked out dozens of books on Jewish history and other marginalized topics from a public library in a heavily Jewish Cleveland suburb before filming himself apparently setting fire to them, local authorities said. Local Jewish leaders decried the incident at the Beachwood Public Library, appearing alongside other interfaith leaders at a press conference […]

Half of American Jewish voters believe Trump is antisemitic, poll finds

May 13, 2025May 14, 2025Sara Wood

About half of American Jews describe President Donald Trump as antisemitic, while only a minority think his campus crackdown is reducing antisemitism, according to a new survey. American Jews are also broadly critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and fewer of them say they feel an attachment to Israel than before the current Israel-Hamas […]

JNF allocates $100,000 to support NYC Israel Parade for the first time

May 13, 2025May 19, 2025Sara Wood

Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, the Jewish National Fund, will be allocating $100,000 to support New York City’s Israel parade for the first time. The annual parade, known as Israel Day on Fifth, will take place on Sunday with the theme “Hatikvah,” the name of Israel’s national anthem, which means “the hope.” The parade is expected to […]

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s daughter Ramona Sarsgaard reportedly arrested at Columbia library protest

May 12, 2025May 12, 2025Sara Wood

Ramona Sarsgaard, daughter of Jewish actress Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, was reportedly one of the more than 70 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Columbia University last week. During the protest on May 7, demonstrators occupied the school’s main library for several hours, with some vandalizing it, until Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, authorized the NYPD […]

In Tenafly, NJ, a crowd awaits the release of local son Edan Alexander from Hamas captivity

May 12, 2025May 12, 2025Sara Wood

The call went out over email, text and WhatsApp on Sunday night: Come to Huyler Park in downtown Tenafly at 5 a.m. to celebrate — Edan Alexander was coming home. Born and raised by Israeli parents in Tenafly, Alexander, 21, joined the Israel Defense Forces after graduating from Tenafly High School. He was taken hostage […]

Federal security grants to synagogues are resuming after two-month Trump freeze

May 9, 2025May 9, 2025Sara Wood

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has lifted a freeze on security funding for religious institutions this week, ending a months-long pause that drew alarm from Jewish groups that had advocated for expanded federal security funding. The Nonprofit Security Grant Program provides funding for synagogues, schools and Jewish community centers to pay for security measures to […]

NY state budget weakens yeshiva oversight in blow to secular education advocates

May 9, 2025May 10, 2025Sara Wood

New York lawmakers voted to weaken oversight over yeshiva education as part of the state budget deal struck under Gov. Kathy Hochul and approved Thursday evening. The outcome represents a dramatic victory for the state’s Hasidic leaders, who have been fighting for more than a decade against efforts to ensure that Hasidic all-boys schools provide at […]

Rumeysa Ozturk ordered free on bail, after judge says op-ed criticizing Israel is insufficient to justify detention

May 9, 2025May 10, 2025Sara Wood

A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts University doctoral student who was detained by ICE agents on the street in Somerville, Massachusetts, in March amid a crackdown on pro-Palestinian students on visas. As with Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian protest leader at Columbia University who was freed last month after […]