Jewish News

Turkey says ‘yes’ to Israeli earthquake aid offer

Turkey on Tuesday finally accepted Israel’s earthquake aid, two days after a devastating temblor hit eastern Turkey, and following a number of rebuffed Israeli government offers of assistance.According to a Foreign Ministry spokesman, the Turks made a request through Israel’s embassy in Ankara for Israel to send mobile homes to the devastated Van province where the earthquake hit.The Defense Ministry ...

Turkey PM: Netanyahu has worst government in history of Israel

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyep Recep Erdogan on Thursday decried Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as the “worst” in the history of Israel.The once close ties between Israel and Turkey began faltering following the war in Gaza two years ago and spiraled to an unprecedented low following Israel’s deadly raid on a Turkish-flagged aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip last ...

Turkey: Israel-Palestinian peace will decide fate of Arab uprisings

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said in a New York Times editorial Thursday, that the fate of the Arab world uprisings will be determined by whether there is peace between Israel and the Palestinians.“Whether these uprisings lead to democracy and peace or to tyranny and conflict will depend on forging a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and a broader Israeli-Arab peace,” Gul ...

Turkey Backs Jews against German Circumcision Ban

Turkey’s European Union minister has swayed from Ankara’s anti-Semitic stance to fight the ban on religious circumcision in a German province. Turkish media have published and telecast numerous anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic films and programs since the “flotilla clash” between the IDF and Turkish IHH terrorists two years ago.A Cologne judge imposed the ban several weeks after a four-year-old Muslim child ...

Tunisian Jews say tensions in country calmer

The violent protests that have shaken Tunisia over the past few days calmed down on Tuesday – although the political situation in the Mediterranean country remains precarious, a Jewish leader there said.Roger Bismuth, president of the Jewish community in Tunisia, told The Jerusalem Post about the volatile atmosphere in the capital, Tunis, following riots that caused longtime president Zine el- ...

Tunisia Marks Annual Jewish Pilgrimage as an Achievement

The annual Jewish pilgrimage to the Tunisian island of Djerba should be maintained as a symbol of the North African nation’s openness to the world, Tunisia’s tourism minister said Tuesday..Elyes Fakhfakh’s remarks come at a time of uncertainty for Tunisia’s small Jewish minority, which has been alarmed by the rise of ultraconservative Islamist groups spouting anti-Semitic rhetoric since the country’s ...

Tunisia Jews report harassment from protesters

The Jewish community of Tunisia filed an official complaint with Tunisian Interior Minister Fahrat Rajhi after several of its members were harassed by protesters last Friday outside a synagogue in the capital, Tunis.“It was a small group of people on the way to the demonstration,” Roger Bismut, the leader of the Jewish community, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.“Passing before ...

Tunisia Expects 500 Jews for Revived Ghriba Pilgrimage

Some 500 Jews are expected to travel in May to Tunisia’s Ghriba synagogue, the oldest in Africa, reviving a pilgrimage scaled back last year amid security fears, the chief organizer said Tuesday.“This pilgrimage is going to have a very important impact on tourism and its success will attract thousands of Jews in the future,” Rene Trabelsi told AFP.Festivities around the ...

Tunisia decries Israeli call for Jews to emigrate

Tunisia’s government on Monday condemned an effort by Israeli officials to entice Tunisian Jews to emigrate to Israel over concerns about possible economic hardship in the North African country.The “ill-disposed” call from Israeli officials amounted to meddling in Tunisia’s domestic affairs, an effort to sow suspicion, and “an attempt by Israel to tarnish the post-revolutionary image of Tunisia,” wrote the ...

Tsunami hits Japan after massive quake

Japanese TV showed cars, ships and buildings swept away by a vast wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude quake.A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant but officials said there were no radiation leaks.At least 60 people have been killed by the quake, which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo.The region has been rocked ...

TSA Stop Abusing The Public, Start Terrorist Profiling

In light of the national debate surrounding body scanners at airports, Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) is planning to re-introduce his terrorist profiling legislation when the legislative session reconvenes in January.“There is a terrorist profile for a potential suicide bomber, and it’s not the 75-year-old grandmother,” Hikind said. “Political correctness won’t keep New Yorkers safe from terrorists.” Hikind, who called the ...

Trying to fill the void

It’s been 60 years since Ilana Raday and her mother fled the Lithuanian city of Kaunas, or Kovne as the Jews called it, just before the German army rolled into town.She was only a few years old, but her anger over the murder of almost all her relatives by the Nazis and their Lithuanian collaborators – including her beloved grandmother ...