A rising South African cricket star dedicated an award to Israel. Then he was investigated for hate speech.

(JR) — When 18-year old South African cricket player David Teeger was recognized with a “rising star” honor at a Jewish awards ceremony in October, he dedicated the accolade to Israel. “Yes, I’ve been [given] this award, and yes, I’m now the rising star, but the true rising stars are the young soldiers in Israel,” […]

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Dutch mayor refuses to be photographed with Israeli ambassador at Hanukkah event, setting off media frenzy

(JR) — A Hanukkah celebration in the Dutch town of Enschede took a bitter turn after its mayor refused to be seen near the Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands. Jaap Hartog, chairman of the Enschede synagogue, invited Mayor Roelof Bleker to a celebration of Hanukkah and the synagogue’s 95th anniversary on Monday night. He reserved […]

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Far-right lawmaker Grzegorz Braun shocks Polish parliament by using fire extinguisher on menorah

(JR) — In a shocking display, far-right Polish lawmaker Grzegorz Braun, a well-known antisemitic provocateur, used a fire extinguisher to blow out the candles of a menorah in Poland’s parliament building on Tuesday before calling Hanukkah “Satanic.” Videos from the scene showed white mist from the extinguisher filling much of a chamber in the building […]

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Berlin drops Mahmoud Abbas’ Holocaust hate speech case due to diplomatic immunity

BERLIN (JR) — Berlin’s attorney general dismissed incitement to hate charges against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, saying that the leader was protected by diplomatic immunity during a visit in 2022 even though Germany does not recognize the Palestinian Authority as a state. At issue was Abbas’ comments made during a press conference […]

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Barbra Streisand, Billy Crystal, Jamie Lee Curtis and more headline Claims Conference Hanukkah event for Holocaust survivors

(JR) — The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany hosted its seventh annual International Holocaust Survivors Night event Monday with a slate of Jewish celebrities, communal leaders and heads of state — many of whom drew connections between Holocaust memory, the ongoing war in Israel and subsequent rise of antisemitism around the world. The […]

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Javier Milei cites Hanukkah story, gives menorah to Zelensky during inauguration as Argentina’s president

(JR) — Javier Milei invoked the story of the Maccabees in his inaugural address as Argentina’s president on Sunday, extending the right-wing populist’s prominent fascination with Judaism as he celebrated his own improbable victory. “It is not by chance that this assumption takes place in the holiday of Hanukkah, the festival of light, and that […]

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