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Israel trip helps Polish Jews in Jewish rediscovery

After Jerzy heard about frequent vandalism at an old Jewish cemetery in his home city of Gdansk, Poland, he decided to visit the graveyard. It had fallen into such disrepair that \”people would go there to drink beer,\” said Jerzy, who gave only his middle name due to fears of anti-Semitism.

Jews, Arabs, dolphins

Negative stereotypes can be numbing. One that has dulled our senses for years is that Jews and Arabs can’t get along. Many of us simply take it for granted. Read haaretz.com regularly, and you might even conclude that Israel’s Arab population is living miserably under an apartheid-like regime.

Tunisia condemns Israeli assistance offer to its Jews

Tunisia\’s government condemned an Israeli government decision to offer extra financial assistance to Tunisian Jews wishing to immigrate to Israel. The approval of the new program amounts to interference in Tunisia\’s domestic affairs and \”an attempt by Israel to tarnish the post-revolutionary image of Tunisia,\” Tunisia\’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, the Associated Press reported. Under the plan approved at a Cabinet meeting Sunday, Tunisian immigrants will receive special financial assistance of more than $9,000 in addition to the usual aid provided to new immigrants.

Iran downgrades tomb of Esther and Mordechai

Iranian authorities have downgraded the status of the tomb of Esther and Mordechai, while an official state news agency has publicized the Purim story as a Jewish massacre of Iranians. Officials recently removed the sign that identified the mausoleum of the biblical figures in the central Iranian city of Hamadan as an official pilgrimage site. The removal of the sign signifies that its status has been downgraded, according to reports. The actions come about two weeks after a group of about 250 militant students surrounded the tomb and threatened to tear it down. Their threats were in response to alleged Israeli excavations under the Al-Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Safed rabbi refuses police summons over anti-Arab letter

The Chief Rabbi of Safed, Shmuel Eliyahu, said he would refuse to respond to a police summons for questioning on suspicion of incitement to racism. Eliyahu reportedly did not present himself to Jerusalem police on Sunday, as ordered, over a letter signed by nearly 50 municipal rabbis calling on the Jewish public not to rent or sell homes to non-Jews, specifically Arabs. The official reason given for not answering the summons was time restrictions, the Jerusalem Post reported. But Eliyahu reportedly said, according to the Jerusalem Post that he “asked whether David Grossman, Yossi Sarid and Shulamit Aloni, who demonstrated against Jewish presence in the Shimon Hatzadik (Sheikh Jarrah) neighborhood, were also summoned for questioning. Were there summonses for the heads of the Jewish National Fund, whose constitution prohibits selling apartments to non- Jews? If not, double standards are being applied here, and I don’t intend on playing into the hands of a legal system that acts in a non-egalitarian manner.”

Conservative responsa approves selling, renting to non-Jews

Up to 50 Conservative rabbis signed on to a religious responsa that says it is permissible to rent or sell homes to non-Jews in Israel. The statement, issued Monday, counters a rabbinic ruling signed by about 50 Israeli municipal rabbis that prohibits the same. Written by Schechter Institute President Rabbi David Golinkin, it examines the issue from biblical sources to modern opinions.

Jewish teens arrested for attacks on Arabs

Israeli police have arrested nine Jewish teens suspected in a series of attacks on Arabs. The seven minors, including a 14-year-old girl, and two young men have been arrested over the last two weeks, police announced Tuesday after a gag order on the case was lifted. The Jewish teens reportedly had the girl seduce the Arabs and lead them to various meeting places, including Independence Park, where they would attack them with stones, glass bottles and pepper spray. Several of the Arabs required hospitalization. The suspects confessed to police that their acts were nationalistically motivated, according to reports. They are under house arrest; more arrests are expected.

Jewish officials meet with Italian leaders, pope

World Jewish Congress officials met with Pope Benedict XVI and separately with senior Italian officials, praising Italy for its support of Israel. WJC President Ronald Lauder told Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini in their meeting Friday that the Jewish world \”deeply appreciates\” its \”important and well-established friendship with the Italian government\” and also appreciates \”Italian attention to the safety of the people of Israel.\” Italy, Lauder later said, \”has a key role in advancing the peace process in the Middle East.\”\n

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