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What is Zionism?

300 arrested in Capitol Hill demonstration urging Israel-Hamas cease-fire

More than 300 people were arrested for illegally demonstrating and three people were charged with assaulting police after protesters descended on Capitol Hill to call for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Hundreds of demonstrators from Jewish advocacy groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, poured into a congressional office building on Wednesday. They wore shirts that read Jews say cease fire now and they chanted let Gaza live and not in my name" before they were detained by Capitol Police. Demonstrations are not allowed inside Capitol buildings, and police said they warned the crowd gathered in the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building to stop before they began making the arrests. The 305 people arrested for illegally demonstrating were subsequently released and those charged with assault were held in custody pending an appearance before a judge. A few liberal members of Congress have been pushing for a resolution in the latest Hamas-Israel war, saying

Anne Frank: A betrayal theory

The Last Secret of the Secret Annex sheds light on a complex historical mystery

Synagogue in Berlin attacked while antisemitic incidents rise in Germany

A Berlin synagogue was attacked with Molotov cocktails early Wednesday as antisemitic incidents in the German capital have been rising following the violent escalation in the Middle East. The Kahal Adass Jisroel community said its synagogue in the city's Mitte neighbourhood was attacked with two incendiary devices. Police confirmed the incident. Unknown persons threw two Molotov cocktails from the street, the community wrote on X, formerly Twitter. On Wednesday morning, dozens of police officers were investigating in front of the synagogue. The entire street next to the building was cordoned off and blocked for traffic. Germany's leading Jewish group said two people were involved in the attack, but didn't give any further details. We are all shocked by this terrorist attack, the Central Council of Jews said in a statement. Above all, the families from the neighbourhood around the synagogue are shocked and unsettled. Words become deeds. Hamas' ideology of extermination against ...

Grateful to PM Modi for his support for Israel: Indian-American Jew leader

The Indian Jewish community is grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his robust statement of support to Israel following the Hamas attack, an Indian-American Jew leader has said. Speaking to PTI, Nissim Rubin, Assistant Director of the American Jewish Committee's Asia Pacific Institute based in Washington DC pointed out that the Indian Jewish community in Israel, like other inhabitants of the country, has been "severely affected" by Hamas' brutal attack on October 7 that killed over 1,300 people. We are very grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the robust statement of support, within a few hours of the attacks on October 7. And Prime Minister Netanyahu, on the following day, spoke with him, which shows the bond between the two countries and the two persons, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on October 10 that the people of India stand firmly with his country in this difficult hour, expressing strong and unequivocal .

Israeli rabbis work around the clock to count the dead from Hamas attack

Rarely do rabbis spend the Sabbath counting bodies. But on Saturday, a week after Hamas militants blew easily past Israel's fortified security fence and gunned down hundreds of Israelis at music festivals, in their homes, in cars while trying to flee Israel's military rabbinate made an exception. At Shura military base in central Israel, bodies have been coming in faster than the rabbis can identify them. Hundreds of soldiers, women, and children in body bags line shelves of refrigerated trucks, awaiting examination. Identification teams gather on plastic stools opposite the trucks to take smoke breaks between shifts. They wear heavy gas masks the smell of death is overwhelming. Generally, Jewish law says that you cannot break the Sabbath for a dead person, said Rabbi Israel Weiss, who is helping lead the operation. The exception is when a family is in doubt, and the death is so crippling that it may risk the family's lives. Then, you must work on the Sabbath to identify the body

Hamas attacks most murderous assault on Jews since Holocaust: US Congress

The brutal attacks by Hamas are the most murderous assault on the Jews since the Holocaust in Europe, influential lawmakers told eminent Indian-Americans who have rallied behind Israel. Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a barrage of air strikes in Southern Israel on last Saturday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in response launched multiple attacks targeting Hamas' key infrastructure. So far, over 2,000 people have been killed in Israel and the Gaza Strip in the biggest escalation in decades between the two sides. "The terrorist attacks in Israel committed by Hamas against Israeli civilians over the last week are the most sweeping, murderous assault on Jews that have taken place since the Holocaust in Europe," Congressman Jamie Raskin told a group of Indian-Americans at an event organised by the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS). Addressing a group of Indian-Americans from across the country, Ruskin said there is a need to distinguish between Hamas

France bans pro-Palestinian protests, vows to save Jews from antisemitism

France's interior minister on Thursday ordered local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid a rise in antisemitic acts since Hamas attacked Israel over the weekend. President Emmanuel Macron urged French people not to allow the war in the Mideast erupt into tensions at home. Soon before Macron spoke in a televised address to the nation about the Mideast conflict, Paris police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who had defied a ban and demonstrated Thursday against the Israeli government. "Let us not bring ideological adventures here (to France) by imitation or by projection. Let us not add national fractures ... to international fractures,?" Macron pleaded. "Let us stay united." With several French-Israeli citizens believed held hostage by Hamas, Macron pledged that France would protect its Jewish citizens and be 'ruthless toward all those who bear hate" and noted concerns about hostility toward France's Muslims too. Fighting i

Joe Biden calls Hamas attacks deadliest day for Jews since Holocaust

President Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned the weekend attack by Hamas militants on Israel as the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust as the number of U.S. citizens killed in the fighting ticked up to at least 22. This attack was a campaign of pure cruelty not just hate, but pure cruelty against the Jewish people, Biden told Jewish leaders gathered at the White House. Beyond the 22 known to have been killed, the State Department said at least 17 more Americans remain unaccounted for in a war that has already claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides. A handful of U.S. citizens are among the estimated 150 hostages captured by Hamas militants during their shocking weekend assault on Israel, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. Signs of U.S. support for Israel were seen across the administration, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelling there for meetings, Biden denouncing antisemitism in America and the U.S. military moving a second ..

Jewish diaspora mourns attack on Israel, carries on by celebrating holidays

The Jewish diaspora awoke to horror Saturday in what was supposed to be among the most festive times on the Jewish holiday calendar. The attacks by the militant group Hamas came after the end of Sukkot, a weeklong celebration to commemorate the harvest season and the time Jews lived in the desert after being freed from slavery in Egypt. It also came as Jews in the United States were gearing up to celebrate the holiday of Simchat Torah, which marks the beginning of a new annual cycle of the reading of the scrolls and is celebrated in Israel a day earlier. At synagogues around the globe, the attacks brought a somber tone. Rabbi Felicia L. Sol opened the morning at B'nai Jeshurun in New York City by telling congregants of the devastating toll from an Hamas attack that came from the air, from the sea and from the land. At a time that was supposed to be filled with joy, so many were instead entering the holiday knowing that we can't possibly celebrate in the same way that we would if .

Donald Trump omits dinner with white nationalist in speech to Jews

Speaking at a conference of Orthodox Jews on Friday, Donald Trump did not address a widely criticized private meal he shared last month with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and a rapper who has spewed antisemitic conspiracies. The former president told the audience he was the best ally you've ever had. Over and over, Trump heaped praise on the Jewish people and highlighted his support for Israel as he addressed the annual President's Conference of Torah Umesorah at his National Doral club in Miami. He alleged Congress was almost anti-Israel and said without evidence that some Democrats in Washington hate Israel with a passion. Trump is struggling for political momentum a month after becoming the first official candidate to enter the 2024 presidential contest. He hoped the early announcement might scare off potential challengers, but a series of political setbacks have instead left him deeply vulnerable as he ramps up his third presidential campaign. The 76-year-old Republica

Jewish Americans fear collision with emerging far-right Israeli government

Israel's ties to the Jewish American community, one of its closest and most important allies, are about to be put to the test, with Israel's emerging far-right government on a collision course with Jews in the United States. Major Jewish American organisations, traditionally a bedrock of support for Israel, have expressed alarm over the far-right character of the presumptive government led by conservative Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Given American Jews' predominantly liberal political views and affinity for the Democratic Party, these misgivings could have a ripple effect in Washington and further widen what has become a partisan divide over support for Israel. This is a very significant crossroads, said Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a liberal, pro-Israel group in Washington. The potential for specific actions that could be taken by this government, these are the moments when the relationship between the bulk of American Jews and the state of Israel begins to really

Kanye West urges Jews to 'forgive Hitler', stop forcing pain on others

Rapper Kanye West once again made another round of anti-Semitic comments

Israelis, Palestinians clash over Jewish nationalists' march in Jerusalem

The Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement that at least 62 Palestinians were injured by rubber-coated bullets, beatings and pepper gas

Survivors unite to deliver message on Israel's Holocaust remembrance day

The call to action these survivors put forth today is not only one of remembrance, but one of action, a reminder that we do not have to be bystanders

Ukraine's only woman rabbi among the many Jews fleeing war-torn nation

On her first Shabbat away from the fighting in Ukraine, Rabbi Julia Gris twice led services to welcome the Jewish holy day. A week earlier, Ukraine's only woman rabbi had been fleeing the war that scattered her Odesa congregation from Moldova to Romania and Israel. Some stayed behind, braving the Russian shelling. She first led an online service for those congregants scattered abroad. Then, she officiated one in person for a small group in Poland, taken in by a Christian couple near Warsaw. Gris lit sabbath candles that she had carried from Ukraine, while her 19-year-old daughter Izolda played the guitar and sang, just as she had during services back home in the her Reform community, Shirat ha-Yam. There were so many stories, so much crying and so much pain, Gris said. For those who are here, and even more so for those still in Ukraine. Gris and her daughter found safety after a 30 kilometer (20 mile) walk lugging suitcases and their two cats, reaching the border with Poland where

Investigation sheds new light on Anne Frank's betrayal after 77 years

The Jewish family of Anne Frank hiding in Amsterdam during World War Two was most likely betrayed by a notary in Amsterdam, says a new cold case investigation

Israeli police allow over 120 Jewish visitors to flashpoint Jerusalem site

Israeli police denied there was any age restriction and said they arrested five suspects who "violated the public order."

Israel-Palestine's bloody history: Guide to world's longest-running dispute

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the world's longest-running and most controversial one. Here's a comprehensive guide to the world's most controversial conflict

44 killed, over 150 injured in stampede at Israeli religious festival

In one of the worst peacetime tragedies in Israel, at least 44 people were crushed to death and about 150 others injured in a stampede overnight at an overcrowded Jewish religious gathering