Britannia Radio

Featured Stories Toronto film fest calls Israeli PR strategy into question Jane Fonda, left, and Natalie Portman are on opposite sides of a controversy surrounding the decision by a Canadian film festival to highlight Tel Aviv filmmakers. (Otter Freak / Mirah John / Creative Commons) As Israeli envoys try to change the subject, a film festival in Toronto triggers a high-profile Hollywood fight over Israel. Read more » 5769 in Israel: War in Gaza, Bibi returns, Iran threat looms For Israel, the Jewish year 5769 was dominated by two events with far-reaching regional repercussions: the return of Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister and the 22-day military operation against Hamas in Gaza. Read more » Editors' Picks Why is Israel being treated differently? Ha'aretz's Ari Sharvit wonders if the international community is going to charge the United States and its NATO partners with war crimes for the German-ordered U.S. airstrike two weeks ago in Afghanistan that killed 30 civilians, and then points out that such a notion is "absurd." Conservative Jews reorganizing Plans for a reorganization of the Conservative movement's synagogue arm prompted articles from the Forward and The New York Jewish Week. But some say the moves are too little, too late. Federation moves in L.A. and S.F. The Fundermentalist keeps up with the latest reports on Daniel Sokatch's decision to leave the S.F. federation for the New Israel Fund and Jay Sanderson's decision to leave JTV for the L.A. federation. The Gaza facial The French news agency AFP profiles the only spa in Gaza, where one can get a facial, a massage or work out despite Israel's blockade on non-essential imports. Goldstone's ideas about a Hamas investigation The author of the U.N. report on Israel's wartime conduct in Gaza writes in an Op-Ed in The New York Times that "both Israel and Hamas have dismal records of investigating their own forces." Breaking News The Israeli army began dismantling 100 roadblocks in the West Bank. Pursuing justice was essential, the author of a U.N. commission report on last winter's Gaza war wrote in The New York Times. Jewish Television Network CEO Jay Sanderson was named president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. Pope Benedict XVI said he would visit the main synagogue in Rome after the High Holidays. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a New Year's message called for unity inside and outside of Israel. A 99-year-old woman who died last week left behind at least 1,400 descendants, an Israeli newspaper reported. A Rosh Hashanah package for abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was passed to Gaza. Three Palestinians armed with knives were arrested trying to infiltrate a West Bank settlement. An Australian legislator who described Israel's policies as "ethnic cleansing" and Gaza as a "concentration camp" is quitting politics.