Britannia Radio

Daily Briefing

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Today's Daily Briefing Sponsored by: You! For only $180, you can use this prominent spot to announce an honor or celebrate a milestone. To make your announcement, click here. FEATURED STORY New Zealand quake kills Israeli, destroys Chabad house An Israeli backpacker is believed to be among the dead, and the destruction in the city of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island included the city’s Chabad house. Another synagogue in the city reportedly suffered damage but was not destroyed.Read more » EDITORS' PICKS Pushing a new view of Reform Reform movement leaders are pushing a new image of a strong and growing Israel movement, JTA's Sue Fishkoff writes. Bahrain Jewish envoy stays mum Houda Ezra Nonoo, Bahrain's Jewish envoy to Washington, has remained silent as street protests have shaken her country's streets for the past week, The Jerusalem Post reports. New dictatorship for Egypt? U.S. News and World Report editor Mortimer Zuckerman writes that democracy in Egypt may well be an interim phase en route to a new dictatorship predicated on extremist Islam. Indie minyans Conservative Judaism is embarking on an effort to draw prayer groups from the burgeoning independent minyan scene into the movement's fold, but are the prayer groups interested in what the movement is selling? The Forward reports. From memorializing to teaching The story of Auschwitz needs to be retold in a different way for a different age, Auschwitz officials contend, according to The New York Times. The Eulogizer: Lenora Berson and Edmond Israel JTA's Appreciation column remembers Philadelphia liberal activist Lenora Berson and Luxembourg banker Edmond Israel. JEWISH IDEAS DAILY Sponsored Content The Athens & Jerusalem Two-Step Greece continues to suffer from pervasive anti-Semitism. So what accounts for the country's recent overtures of friendship toward Israel? Read more »

BREAKING NEWS Two Iranian warships reportedly entered the Suez Canal, the first to pass through since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. The American Jewish Committee called on the United Nations General Assembly to suspend Libya’s membership in the U.N. Human Rights Council. A federal judge in Seattle ruled that King County, Wash., did not violate the First Amendment rights of a pro-Palestinian group when it refused to run an Israel 'War Crimes' ad campaign. The two organizational arms of the Reconstructionist movement are set to merge. The Knesset has passed a bill requiring nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations to disclose funding from foreign governments. The establishment of panels of inquiry to look into the funding and activities of left-leaning nongovernmental organizations could violate basic human rights, Israel's attorney general said. Germany's first newly built Reform synagogue since World War II was dedicated during ceremonies in the city of Hameln. James Tisch, who has held several key positions in the Jewish world, has been elected as chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel's board of governors. The city of Oslo, Norway, has ordered the Israeli embassy to relocate to a new site within a year. Ugandan Rabbi Gershom Sizomu said he will contest last week's Ugandan elections, saying the vote was fixed. A German pro-Israel watchdog condemned Germany's vote for a failed U.N. Security Council resolution against Israel's settlement policy, calling it part of a worrying trend. Philanthropist Yitzchak Shavit, a leader in the federation movement and the Jewish Agency for Israel, has died.