Category: World News

(JR) — In 1941 Sarajevo, a Muslim woman hid her Jewish friend from fascist roundups. Half a century later, that same Muslim woman was trapped in the besieged capital during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War — and her Jewish friend made sure she got out. These real events inspired “Sevap/Mitzvah,” a short film directed by Sabina […]

(JR) — Bolivia’s foreign ministry announced Tuesday that it is severing diplomatic ties with Israel over what it called Israel’s crimes against humanity in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Bolivia had previously cut ties with Israel in 2009 under President Evo Morales over another violent conflict in Gaza, but President Jeanine Anez […]

(JR) — Hundreds of people stormed onto the tarmac at the airport in Russia’s Dagestan republic on Sunday as a flight from Israel arrived, reportedly yelling antisemitic slogans and forcing officials to shut the airport down. There were no reports of violence or arrests at the Makhachkala airport, the Associated Press reported. Various videos circling […]

(JR) — Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7 was thousands of miles away for Jewish teens in the United States — yet they have found themselves caught in a crossfire of opinions, misinformation and anger about the situation ever since. JR Teen Journalism Fellows interviewed their peers about what they have been hearing […]

(JR) — The Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen has earned acclaim for his films focused on the struggles of minorities, from “12 Years a Slave” to the BBC’s “Small Axe.”  Now, McQueen — who is British and not Jewish — is releasing a Holocaust-themed documentary titled “Occupied City” that earned rave reviews at film festivals earlier […]

TIRANA, Albania (JR) — Hidden behind a wooden gate in Tirana’s Toptani district, construction workers are busy converting a 19th-century Ottoman mansion into the Besa Museum — a long-planned shrine to Albania’s embrace of Jews fleeing Nazi persecution during World War II. About 100 miles south, in the Adriatic port city of Vlora — nestled […]

(JR) — French President Emmanuel Macron visited Jerusalem on Tuesday, attempting to balance his solidarity with Israel alongside his calls for humanitarian aid in Gaza and a political peace process with the Palestinians. Thirty French citizens were killed in the Hamas incursion into Israel on Oct. 7, which left over 1,400 people in Israel dead […]

(JR) — Italian officials are reportedly investigating dozens of antisemitic incidents in Milan tied to the Israel-Hamas conflict, including one in which called for killing Jews in the bathroom of a nightclub. Messages translated in Italian media to “Jews to death, rats we are coming to get you in your sewers” and “Nazi Jews you […]

(JR) — London’s Metropolitan Police Service said that antisemitic offenses are up 1,353% in the city since fighting erupted between Israel and Hamas. Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 18, antisemitic crimes surged from 15 to 218 incidents compared with the same period last year, police said on Friday. Islamophobic crimes went from 42 to 101, […]

MADRID (JR) — Political tensions escalated between Israel and Spain this past week as Spanish Jews reeled from a series of incidents outside synagogues. Ione Belarra, Spain’s acting social rights minister, called to “urgently suspend diplomatic relations with the state of Israel” on Wednesday, citing Israel’s response in Gaza to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks that […]