Julie Wiener RSS

is the managing editor of MyJewishLearning. Follow her on Twitter @Julie_Wiener

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• Abbas being urged to cancel Palestinian elections over fears of landslide Fatah loss

  August 26, 2016 2:18pm

  (JTA) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly is being urged to cancel upcoming elections in the West Bank and Gaza for fear that his Fatah party will be trounced. Citing Israel’s Channel 2, The Times of Israel reported Friday that Fatah officials are worried the party’s more militant rival, the terrorist group Hamas, could win…

• Anti-Semitic graffiti found at playground across from Lakewood yeshiva

  August 26, 2016 2:05pm

  (JTA) — Several swastikas and other anti-Semitic messages were spray-painted on equipment at a playground across the street from an Orthodox yeshiva in the heavily haredi Orthodox township of Lakewood, New Jersey. The graffiti discovered Thursday included the words “Hail Hitler,” the Asbury Park Press reported. A spokesman for the Lakewood police said the department received a report…

• Roseanne Barr calls Hillary Clinton ‘anti-Semitic,’ says top aide is ‘filthy nazi whore’

  August 26, 2016 1:31pm

  (JTA) — Jewish actress-comedian Roseanne Barr repeatedly slammed Hillary Clinton on Twitter, saying the Democratic presidential nominee “will be the absolute death of Israel.” Barr posted numerous inflammatory remarks, videos and articles about Clinton this week, including one that refers to her as “Hitlery Clinton” and another that labels her “anti-Semitic Hillary.” Graphic Footage of…

• Hasidic Jew charged in beating of gay black man opts to have judge try his case

  August 25, 2016 4:25pm

  NEW YORK (JTA) — A Hasidic Jew charged in the brutal beating of a gay black man opted to have a judge try his case rather than a jury trial. Mayer Herskovic, one of five Hasidic men indicted in the December 2013 beating that left the victim blind in one eye, will have his case heard by…

• UN says employee accused of helping Hamas has diplomatic immunity

  August 25, 2016 4:15pm

  (JTA) — The United Nations “demanded” the release of an employee being held by Israel on suspicion of working for Hamas, saying its employees have diplomatic immunity. In a letter issued this week seeking the release of Waheed Abd Allah Bossh, the U.N. legal department also said U.N. officials should be allowed to meet with…

• Egyptian Olympian lashes out after Israeli flag photobombing

  August 25, 2016 2:13pm

  (JTA) — An Egyptian Olympian who appears in a viral photo featuring an Israeli flag said on Facebook that she was photobombed by “dirty” people and there will “never be peace between me and these people in my life.” Doaa Elghobashy, 19, a volleyball player, has been harshly criticized on Arab social media since the…

• Putin, Netanyahu speak by phone on Israeli-Palestinian peace process

  August 24, 2016 3:43pm

  (JTA) — President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel spoke by phone about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process two days after Putin reportedly offered to hold direct talks in Moscow. Putin and Netanyahu also addressed other Middle East concerns, according to Haaretz. Egypt’s president, Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, said Putin was willing to host…

• Hezbollah rocket victims lose US suit against Lebanese bank

  August 24, 2016 3:33pm

  (JTA) — A U.S. appeals court ruled against victims of Hezbollah rocket attacks in Israel who wanted to hold a Lebanese bank liable. Wednesday’s 3-0 ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York stymied efforts to hold the Lebanese Canadian Bank SAL responsible for financing the Lebanon-based Islamic terrorist group through…

• Israeli army closes 13 investigations of alleged misconduct during ’14 Gaza war

  August 24, 2016 3:21pm

  (JTA)— The Israel Defense Forces has closed 13 criminal investigations of alleged misconduct during Israel’s 2014 war in Gaza “without undertaking any criminal or disciplinary proceedings.” Among the cases closed by the IDF’s Military Advocate General noted in an update released Wednesday was an investigation of a widely condemned strike near a Rafah school, which…

• NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio: Fighting BDS ‘consistent with progressive values’

  August 24, 2016 3:04pm

  NEW YORK (JTA) — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that defending Israel from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is “consistent with progressive values.” Speaking Saturday at the Hampton Synagogue on Long Island, de Blasio, a Democrat known as a progressive, said he plans to challenge “people who support BDS … who…