US House Speaker Johnson heckled and booed at Columbia, centre of Gaza protests
New York/Los Angeles Reuters Columbia University students heckled House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday as he visited the flashpoint of nationwide student demonstrations over the Israeli war in Gaza, even as the New York school agreed to 48 more hours of negotiations to end a protest encampment. Johnson’s visit, which he said was meant to […]
Pro-Palestinian encampments spring up on more US college campuses
New York, US Reuters Pro-Palestinian students have set up tent encampments at more campuses across the US to protest Israel’s incursion into Gaza, after mass arrests at similar demonstrations at a handful of mostly East Coast colleges in recent days. The expanding protests include plans by a coalition of Jewish groups opposing Israel’s actions to […]
London police to meet with Jewish leaders as protests spark concerns about the safety of Jews
London, UK AP London’s police commissioner will meet with senior members of the Jewish community on Monday after the force bungled its apology for suggesting an “openly Jewish” man’s presence along the route of a pro-Palestinian march risked provoking the demonstrators. Amid calls for his resignation, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley is also expected to […]
US antisemitic incidents hit record high in 2023 amid war in Gaza, report says
Reuters The number of antisemitic incidents of assault, vandalism and harassment in the US hit a record high in 2023 as anti-Jewish sentiment spiked after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to a report released this week. The Jewish advocacy group Anti-Defamation League (ADL) tallied 8,873 antisemitic incidents in 2023, a 140 per cent […]
Gallup poll: More than half of Americans rarely go to church
United States RNS The most popular church in America might be St Mattress, followed by Bedside Baptist. Those two – euphemisms for sleeping in on Sundays – increasingly describe the attitude of many Americans toward attending churches or other houses of worship. Mark Galli kneels in prayer before Mass at St Michael Catholic Church, on […]
UK unveils new extremism definition amid rise in hate crimes against Jews, Muslims
London, UK Reuters Britain unveiled a new definition of extremism on Thursday in response to an eruption of hate crimes against Jews and Muslims since the 7th October Hamas attacks on Israel, although critics said the change risked infringing on freedom of speech. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned that Britain’s multi-ethnic democracy […]
Postcards: A new Holocaust Museum shows how three-quarters of Dutch Jews were deported and killed
AP reports ahead of the official opening of the Netherlands’ new National Holocaust Museum on Sunday…
Sight-Seeing: The radical inclusion of Jesus
NILS VON KALM looks at how what he once thought was exclusive about Jesus is actually inclusive…
Antisemitism and safety fears surge among US Jews, survey finds while UK records worst year for antisemitism
United States AP Nearly two-thirds of American Jews feel less secure in the US than they did a year ago, according to a new national survey. The American Jewish Committee, a prominent advocacy organisation, conducted the survey last fall just as the Israel-Hamas war began on 7th October. The number of American Jews who say they feel […]
The Explainer: When is criticism of Israel antisemitic? A scholar of modern Jewish history explains
JOSHUA STAINES, professor of Jewish Studies at the Collage of Charleston, looks at definitions of antisemitism and its history as well as anti-Zionism in an article first published on The Conversation… There has been a sharp increase in antisemitism around the world since the 7th October, 2023, massacre by Hamas and Israel’s subsequent military attacks […]