Category: World News

(JR) — For the first time in more than 20 years, the Austrian government has agreed to pay every living Austrian Holocaust survivor an additional direct compensation payment of approximately 5,000 euros ($5,290) each in 2023. The decision, which will affect an estimated 2,500 survivors living worldwide, followed extensive deliberations between the Conference for Jewish […]

(JR) — The presidents of Chile and Colombia both summoned their ambassadors to Israel on Tuesday, in a move that moves them closer to severing diplomatic relations over their fury at Israel’s retaliation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “Chile strongly condemns and observes with great concern that these military operations — which at this […]

(JR) — When Shevan arrived in the Netherlands as a refugee of the Syrian Civil War, he picked up running. The habit helped him combat traumatic memories from his home country, where he was arrested for participating in peaceful demonstrations against the Assad regime in 2011. During six months in prison, Shevan says he was […]

(JR) — Police in at least three European countries have arrested people they said were threatening or planning terror attacks related to the Israel-Hamas war. The arrests come amid a global spike in antisemitic incidents following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that has spurred an ongoing Israeli military response in Gaza. While police have […]

(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 […]