Britannia Radio

Daily Briefing

Thursday, May 19, 2011

FEATURED STORY Israel watching closely as Obama addresses the Mideast There are a few hints about what President Obama will say when he delivers a speech today on the Middle East, scheduled to begin at 11:40 a.m. Eastern time: new incentives for Egypt and Tunisia, new sanctions for Syria.Read more » EDITORS' PICKS Mideast on the Potomac Check out JTA's rundown of Mideast-related events scheduled in Washington over the next few days. Was Rahm first? Rahm Emanuel wasn't the first Jew at Chicago's municipal helm, Adam Soclof discovers after searching the JTA Jewish News Archive. Obama and the Jews, 2012 The Wall Street Journal reports that the Obama campaign team is working to head off potential problems with Jewish donors unhappy with the president's handling of Israel-related issues. Israel can go unilateral, too If Palestinian leaders push for U.N. recognition of statehood, Israel should annex the Jewish communities of the West Bank, the deputy speaker of the Knesset, Danny Danon, writes in The New York Times. Sympathy for Demjanjuk Many Ukrainian Americans feel that John Demjanjuk was wrongly convicted, the Forward reports. Remembering Koby Mandell On the 10th yahrzeit of his son's murder near the West Bank community of Tekoa, Seth Mandell writes in The Jerusalem Post about his family's efforts to further his son's memory. The Islamist from Westchester A new book tells the story of Margaret Marcus, "a middle-class Jewish girl from a Westchester suburb who, in the early 1960s, changed her name to Maryam Jameelah, moved to Pakistan, and became an important voice of radical Islamism," Tablet's Michelle Goldberg writes. NEWS A measure seeking to ban male circumcision will appear on the November ballot in San Francisco. President Obama extended a freeze on Syrian assets to the country's government and its entire leadership. The Cannes Film Festival sanctioned director Lars von Trier for his expressions of sympathy for Hitler and Nazis. Russian government claims that Israel's military attaché to the country was spying are unfounded, the Israeli army said. A court in Buenos Aires has ordered Google to stop recommending anti-Semitic and racist websites to users. Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned as managing director of the International Monetary Fund following his arrest and imprisonment on charges of sexual assault. A Manhattan grand jury has indicted a man who police say was plotting attacks against synagogues and other targets in New York. A number of Jewish groups are planning wide-reaching ads in time for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington. The "Arbeit Macht Frei” sign stolen from Auschwitz and cut into three pieces has been repaired. Rabbi Joyce Newmark of New Jersey failed to defend her title on the television game show "Jeopardy!" Limmud-Oz, the Australian arm of the global festival of Jewish learning, has barred presenters who advocate a boycott of Israel.