Turkey arrests ISIS members allegedly targeting Istanbul synagogues

ISTANBUL (JTA) — Istanbul police arrested 15 suspects connected to the Islamic State terror group who were allegedly plotting to target synagogues and churches here, Turkish media reported on Sunday. “15 people were detained on the grounds that the so-called Khorasan Province leadership of DAESH [ISIS] ordered an action against the Swedish and Dutch Consulate […]

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Germany celebrates UNESCO World Heritage listing for sites known as the birthplace of Yiddish and Ashkenazi culture

(JTA) — Germany held a ceremony to celebrate the first German-Jewish sites to be given UNESCO’s World Heritage designation on Wednesday. The sites in the upper part of the Rhine River valley are known as the origin point of Ashkenazi culture and where the Yiddish language first began to develop over 1,000 years ago. They […]

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Russian missiles reportedly damage a historic synagogue in southeastern Ukraine

(JTA) — Russian missile fire damaged a 113-year-old synagogue in the city of Huliaipole, Ukraine, last weekend. An unconfirmed photo of the synagogue on Twitter shows a massive hole in the building’s exterior; the state of the interior is unclear. 🤬💥Оккупационные войска ударили по синагоге в Гуляйполе Это здание постройки 1909 года регулярно страдает от […]

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UK Labour lawmaker calls Israel a fascist state in parliament, then apologizes hours later

(JTA) — A British Labour Party lawmaker apologized hours after calling Israel’s new far-right government “fascist” in parliament on Wednesday in a show of how the party is prioritizing a unified pro-Israel stance after years of antisemitism controversy. “Since the election of the fascist Israeli government in December last year, there has been an increase […]

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France’s updated plan to counter antisemitism will bring students to sites of attacks

(JTA) — The French government updated its plan for fighting antisemitism and racism, which will require teachers to receive training on the topic and all French schoolchildren to visit the site of an antisemitic or racist incident. Those visits could include Holocaust sites, and roving exhibitions about antisemitism and racism will also be set up […]

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‘Emotional and intense’: Douglas Emhoff’s trip to Poland and Germany brings him back to his Jewish ancestral roots

BERLIN (JTA) — For second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, the final hours of a five-day working trip to Poland and Germany brought everything into focus. It was here in the underground information center in Germany’s central Holocaust memorial that Emhoff sat down with several survivors, including two who had recently fled war-torn Ukraine. Sitting in a […]

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