Britannia Radio

Daily Briefing

Thursday, November 10, 2011

FEATURED STORY At GA, new federation plan for overseas seen as blow to Jewish Agency In the name of preserving the embattled principle of Jewish collective action, North American Jewish federations are shaking up their longstanding policies on funding Jewish needs overseas -- to the chagrin of their main beneficiary abroad. Read more » EDITORS' PICKS On priests and Palestinians At New York festival, films focus on segments of Israeli society frequently overlooked. JTA's Dvora Meyers reports. A plea for Alan Gross In a speech to Jewish leaders in Denver, the wife of an American imprisoned in Cuba asks for help in securing his release. Obama's real Jewish problem (New York Jewish Week) If Obama has a Jewish problem in 2012, it won't be over Israel, James Besser writes. It'll be the economy, stupid. Behind the Shalit deal (New York Times) Journalist Ronen Bergman recreates the unlikely backroom negotiations that led to the release of an Israeli soldier abducted by Hamas. Israel's rightward turn? (Commentary) Conventional wisdom has it that Israel has become more right wing in recent years. Evelyn Gordon argues that the opposite is the case. Tired of being ignored (Haaretz) Young Russian-Jewish Americans, weary of a communal establishment they see as unresponsive, have begun to organize themselves. An offensive apology (Salon) Udi Aloni, the son of a prominent Israeli parliamentarian, assails Judge Richard Goldstone for absolving Israel of the apartheid charge in a recent Op-Ed. The Eulogizer: Nosson Finkel, led Mir Yeshiva JTA's appreciation blog remembers Nosson Finkel, the American-born rabbi who led the world's largest yeshiva. A Canadian Bris How do Jews in Canada welcome a son? On Kveller, Cara Paiuk writes about one Canadian bris that welcomed more than 400 guests. BREAKING NEWS Israel's Supreme Court upheld the rape conviction of former President Moshe Katsav. The gas pipeline between Egypt and Israel was blown up for the seventh time in less than a year. Automotive giant Volkswagen AG said it will donate $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League. Muslim graves in a small Jerusalem cemetery were vandalized. A temporary French passport issued to a dual citizen of Israel listed the holder's state of residence as Occupied Palestinian Territory. The successful fight to remove a circumcision ban from a San Francisco ballot cost the measure's opponents nearly $100,000. A Knesset committee will vote on two bills imposing restrictions on foreign funding to nongovernmental organizations in Israel. A record $44 million was pledged at the inaugural event of UJA-Federation of New York’s 2012 annual campaign. Twelve Hispanics leaders visit Israel on trip sponsored by the American Jewish Committee. An organization of Modern Orthodox rabbis that performs alternative religious wedding ceremonies for non-religious couples can continue to register the couples. Canada's federal government will help fund the safety of kosher food products. The estate of Holocaust survivor and philanthropist Eric Ross left $17.5 million to Ben-Gurion University through its American association. The Anti-Defamation League has condemned a film that compares abortion in the United States to the Holocaust. A conference focusing on Romania's Holocaust-era war crimes in Ukraine and Moldova called on Romania to acknowledge and apologize for the murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews.