Pope says beatification of Pius XII not hostile to Jews

VATICAN CITY (WJC)–The Vatican has defended the planned beatification of the late Pope Pius XII against criticism from Jewish groups, including the World Jewish Congress. A spokesman said that the decision by Pope Benedict XVI in December which recognized Pius XII’s “heroic virtues” did not concern the war-time pope’s “operative choices” but his “witness of […]

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Travel and Food

Iranian soccer official forced to resign for sending New Year's greeting to Israeli counterpart

TEHRAN (WJC)–The head of Iran’s soccer federation was forced to issue a public apology and a member of his staff resigned after the federation mistakenly sent a New Year’s greeting to its counterpart in Israel. “It was a big mistake sending an e-mail to Israel’s football federation,” Ali Kaffashian, president of the Iran Football Federation,

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Middle East

Israeli children launch balloons with peace messages for children of Gaza

SDEROT, Israel (WJC)–Residents of southern Israel and the town of Sderot have held a March of Freedom to mark the first anniversary of Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. Organizers of the rally expressed hope that the new decade would be one of “hope, security and peace”. Students attending the annual congress of the

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Middle East

If left-wing Israelis should answer to a higher law, how about right-wing rabbis?

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–Professor David Shulman of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, commenting on the by now almost notorious Goldstone report – and sort-of agreeing with much of it – writes nostalgically in the December 17 issue of The New York Review of Books:             I remember a time when charges of war crimes

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Middle East

Elena Bonner tells Norwegians about their double standard

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson  MEVASSERET ZION, Israel–“You must read this,” a friend said, thrusting some typed pages into my hand. They contained the text of a speech given by Elena Bonner, the Jewish widow of former Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, at the Freedom Forum held in Oslo, Norway, in May 2009. I read the typescript with

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, USA

Cantor Pomerantz-Boro to join Los Angeles area cantors in concert tonight

PASADENA, California—Cantor Alisa Pomerantz Boro, former cantor at Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego, will be back in California tonight to participate in a benefit concert for the Cantors Assembly. The concert is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center, 1434 North Altadena Drive.  It will include Jewish music in solo, ensemble and choral

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Travel and Food

National Intelligence Director Blair vows agencies will 'close the gap'

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–Following is the text of a “dear colleague” letter National Intelligence Agency director Dennis Blair sent to members of the intelligence community in the wake of the attempted Christmas bombing of an airliner by a Nigerian man believed to be an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist: It has been an especially challenging week for the

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USA

Constitutional Rights advocacy group says attempted airline bombing should not delay closure of Guantanamo

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) — In the wake of the recent attempted attack on Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight 253, several elected officials have renewed their politicized claims that closing the prison at Guantánamo would be dangerous and premature. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) urges the President to reject the use of this incident as fodder to

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USA

Obama stresses Yemen's importance in fight against al Qaeda

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–Following is the transcript of President Barack Obama’s regular Saturday morning radio address dealing this week with his administration’s efforts to fight terrorism: THE PRESIDENT: It has now been more than a week since the attempted act of terrorism aboard that flight to Detroit on Christmas Day. On Thursday, I received the

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USA

Soft-pedalling external opposition to Iran to help the internal opposition

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM—Perhaps Prime Minister Netanyahu’s stress on the Iranian threat may not only reflect the grim reality of Israel being in the firing line but also a ploy to avoid dealing with the Palestinian issue by arguing that Iran is a more urgent and immediate problem and must be dealt with before

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Middle East