The sixth annual observance of anti-Israel activism, “Israel Apartheid Week,” is in full swing across the United States and around the world; a schedule of IAW events has been planned in Duluth, Minnesota.
Jewish pundits are weighing in about the consequences of these activities. Should Jews actively confront what they see as anti-Zionist and sometimes anti-Semitic [...]
Ahead of the publication of a story in its Sunday magazine, Haaretz reported today that the son of a “leading Hamas figure who famously converted to Christianity, served for over a decade as the Shin Bet security service’s most valuable source in the militant organization’s leadership.”
The story specifies that Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Sheikh Hassan [...]
Israeli police questioned a prominent Reform movement activist in connection with the wearing of prayer shawls by women at the Western Wall, JTA reported today.
Anat Hoffman, the director of the Israel Religious Action Center, said she was fingerprinted Tuesday and that her case was being referred to the attorney general for prosecution.
Anat Hoffman
Hoffman was brought in [...]
Egypt is preventing some 1,300 protesters from around the world from entering the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing, according to JTA.
Here’s the JTA news brief:
The protesters, from more than 40 countries, are part of the Gaza Freedom March, which was organized to protest Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
Some protesters, including a group of grandmothers, began [...]
Jerusalem police arrested a woman praying at the Western Wall for wearing a tallit, according to JTA.
The woman, who was participating in Rosh Chodesh services, was arrested Wednesday based on an Israeli Supreme Court ruling that the public must dress according to the customs of the site, Israel Radio reported.
Police came to the site after [...]
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs issued a statement on Tuesday expressing official disapproval of plans to build 900 additional units in Jerusalem’s Gilo neighborhood. Here’s the White House statement:
We are dismayed at the Jerusalem Planning Committee’s decision to move forward on the approval process for the expansion of Gilo in Jerusalem. At a time when [...]
Yaakov Teitel admitted to planting pipe bomb that wounded left-wing professor Ze’ev Sternhell last year
With the recent lifting of a gag order, details of attacks by a Jewish settler against both Palestinians and Jews are being widely reported. Yaakov Teitel, 37, who was arrested last month, ”is alleged to have killed two Palestinians.
The resident of the [...]
JTA reported on Wednesday that the Obama administration would quash action on the Goldstone report, which found both Hamas and Israel guilty of war crimes during warfare in Gaza.
Richard Goldstone
However, later on Wednesday, JTA reported that another White House source said that an official “misspoke” when he said the Obama administration would not allow the Goldstone [...]
The international movement to boycott, divest and sanction (BDS) — which evokes the sexual practices known as bondage and discipline — have concentrated their efforts in laser-like fashion on Leonard Cohen, the bard of Montreal who quickly sold out 47,000 tickets for his Sept. 24 Tel Aviv concert.
Blogs and social networking sites have been campaigning [...]
Haaretz reports today that a prisoner swap deal for the release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier abducted by Hamas in 2006, could be concluded prior to the High Holidays.
Gilad Shalit
Sources told Haaretz that “Syria and a number of uncited states have agreed to take in prisoners who Israel wants exiled from the West Bank and Gaza.”
The [...]
