Wednesday, 18 April 2012



Daily Briefing

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

FEATURED STORY

Survivors' grandchildren feeling an obligation to share Holocaust memories

Members of the Third Generation say there is an urgency to carry on their grandparents' stories and the lessons of the Holocaust to the next generation. Read more »
Marion Achtentuch, 83, with her granddaughter, Shira Sheps, 25.

EDITORS' PICKS

Romney's Middle East approach

Mitt Romney's effective triumph in the Republican primaries means that when it comes to Middle East policy, sharp-edged rhetoric is out, replaced by a focus on managerial skill, JTA's Ron Kampeas reports.

From opera to cantor, and back

Depending on the week and day, soprano Sharon Azrieli-Perez may be performing in an opera or in shul in her native Montreal. Alexandra Halpern has the story for JTA.

Campaign button wars begin

The Republican Jewish Coalition is out of the gate with a Jewish-themed anti-Obama button. JTA's Ron Kampeas has a photo on our Capital J blog.

Performing on Yom Hashoah... in Germany

The Israeli band Balkan Beat Box decides to go through with a performance on Yom Hashoah in Germany but says the show will be different than other shows. JTA's Uri Fintzy has the story on our Telegraph blog.

On the move: Arab Israelis in Jewish cities (Tablet)

Tens of thousands of Arab citizens of Israel have migrated to traditionally Jewish cities in search of employment opportunities and a better quality of life.

Is Israel losing the Kurds? (Forward)

Relations between Iraq's Kurds and Israel are cooling over the issue of Iran.

The template for anti-Jewish persecution (Boston Globe)

In advance of Yom Hashoah, Jeff Jacoby finds a pattern in the history of anti-Semitism: "Jew-haters always see themselves as victims, and their victimhood becomes their license to persecute."

The haredi turn toward isolationism (N.Y. Jewish Week)

Rabbi Eugene Korn warns against "adopting the worldview that teaches that God is found only in isolation and personal contemplation, but not in the material world or in human striving within society."

Drake's Jewish pride (MTV)

The rapper Drake, who recently made a bar mitzvah-themed music video, said during the shoot that he is "a proud young Jewish boy" and noted that his real bar mitzvah reception was held in the basement of an Italian restaurant.

BREAKING NEWS

A Chasidic teenager who firebombed the home of a neighbor over a religious disagreement was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad refused to attend a scheduled meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu.
One woman was killed and several people were injured after a stage collapsed on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.
Lt.-Col. Shalom Eisner was dismissed from his command post following an investigation into an incident in which the Israeli soldier hit a Danish pro-Palestinian activist in the face with his rifle.
Former captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was released from the Israel Defense Forces.
More than 15 Iranian and foreign nationals reportedly were arrested for carrying out alleged terrorist missions for Israel in Iran.
Khader Adnan, a Palestinian who went on a 66-day hunger strike to protest his administrative detention, was released from an Israeli jail to his home in the West Bank.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie cautioned against Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, Jerusalem or the Golan Heights.
A Palestinian man and an Israeli teen were injured in clashes in Hebron.
The same vandal who apparently defaced the Avenue Z Jewish Center in Brooklyn several times may have struck again.
Israel's Cabinet increased the amount of money available for services for Holocaust survivors.
A Jewish assistant principal can go forward with a lawsuit against New York's Department of Education for anti-Semitic remarks directed against him by his superior.
Amnon Ben Ami was awarded the first Ilana Elovic Bezalel Prize for Painting, which was named in memory of a self-taught Israeli-American artist.