Britannia Radio

Daily Briefing Thursday, February 17, 2011 FEATURED STORY Egypt uprising carries echoes of Poland's Solidarity movement 30 years ago The uprising in Egypt carried echoes of another protest movement 30 years earlier -- Poland's Solidarity movement, which helped pave the way for the fall of the Iron Curtain and resulted in the arrest, interrogation and expulsion of JTA's Ruth Ellen Gruber.Read more » EDITORS' PICKS Multi-front war on Israel's mind Although it's still far from clear how the uprising in Egypt is going to play out, the volatility there is raising questions in Israel about the country's readiness for a war on multiple fronts, JTA's Leslie Susser writes in a news analysis. Fight the power A new generation in the Middle East could challenge unresponsive authoritarian rule in ways their parents thought impossible, The New York Times reports. Honest, he loves Abe With Presidents Day approaching, JTA columnist Edmon J. Rodman tells the tale of a Chicago Jewish clothing manufacturer executive named Alfred Whital Stern, one of the greatest private collectors of works about Abraham Lincoln. A monumental shift Fallen Jewish chaplains may yet be memorialized at Arlington cemetery, the Washington Jewish Week writes. Hebraic harmonizers A growing number of Jewish a cappella groups have been springing up across America in recent years, mostly on college campuses, the Forward reports. Rugelach king of Harlem Alvin Lee Smalls, a self-taught baker from South Carolina, has a devoted following of customers who love his rugelach and helped save his Harlem bakery, the New York Daily News reports. The Eulogizer: Gerry Faier and Meyer O'hayon Tapiero JTA's Appreciation column remembers Gerry Faier, a longtime gay activist, and Meyer O'hayon Tapiero, the founder of a new Jewish community in Spain, as well as salutes fallen American soldiers via the Forward. JEWISH IDEAS DAILY Sponsored Content The Riddle of the Satmar No post-Holocaust community has preserved its religious and cultural traditions more faithfully than Satmar—and none is as alienated from the rest of world Jewry. Read more » BREAKING NEWS Backed by Arab states, the Palestinians are pressing ahead with a United Nations Security Council resolution that slams Israel for settlement building. The majority of Republican freshmen in the U.S. House of Representatives have signed on to a letter committing to current levels of defense assistance to Israel. Two Iranian warships bound for Syria withdrew a request to sail through the Suez Canal. A number of Jewish groups have joined two senators in an appeal to the U.S. House of Representatives to renew a provision that fast-tracks religious refugees. African migrants trying to cross from Egypt into Israel have been abused and held for ransom by Bedouin smugglers in the Sinai Desert, according to a new report. Jewish leaders and political groups in Germany condemned a proposed national day of remembrance for the 12 million ethnic Germans expelled from Eastern Europe after World War II. Allan Houston, a former All-Star with the New York Knicks and now their assistant general manager, was awarded State of Israel Bond's 2011 Martin Luther King Award. Israeli soldiers shot and killed three Palestinians in Gaza who were approaching the security fence in an attempt to plant explosive devices, the Israeli military said. A soccer team was suspended from a Jewish-only league in London after fielding non-Jewish players under false names. Nine out of 10 investigations of Israeli attacks against Palestinians are closed with no resolution, an Israeli human rights group said. Ten scientists and a German artist were named recipients of Israel's 2011 Wolf Prize.