The Algerian government has nationalized the 92-year-old Kanaoui Synagogue of Oran, one of the last remaining synagogues in Algeria. It is being used as a public meeting hall, leaving Oran without a synagogue, Two hundred Jews live in Oran, which had a Jewish population of 15,000 before Algeria’s independence.
The Algerian authorities announced their intention to nationalize the synagogue, which was built in 1880, last May. Jewish community leaders negotiated an agreement providing for the dismantling of the synagogue’s religious articles and their shipment to former Oran Jews now living in Paris. The Jewish community asked that the building not be used for political purposes or to house a mosque.
The Jerusalem Municipality has put a permanent padlock on the local sex boutique after operators of the “Eros” shop lost a court battle in which they maintained that they did not require a license.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
