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Jewish Groups: Rebuke Libyan Envoy for Nazi Comments

05/23/2010 | JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Jewish and international groups called on the United Nations' Secretary General to rebuke the Libyan envoy, who currently leads the General Assembly, for likening Israel to Nazis.

Ali Abdussalam Treki’s "comments are an outrage, a blight upon the United Nations and his high office, and an impediment to historical truth and to peace," B’nai B’rith International President Dennis Glick and Executive Vice President Daniel Mariaschin wrote Tuesday in a letter to Ban Ki-moon.

ADL: Comedy Central Video Game Encourages Anti-Semitism

05/21/2010 | JTA

(JTA) -- A video game and clips on Comedy Central's Web site "play into and encourage offensive anti-Semitic and anti-Israel stereotypes," the Anti-Defamation League said.

The game in the "Drawn Together" section of the Web site, based on an animated series that previously ran on Comedy Central, features a character called Jew Producer, and a robot called “the Intelligent Smart Robot Animation Eraser Lady” (I.S.R.A.E.L.), which murders children and wreaks destruction.

Germany’s First Post-war Reform Synagogue Breaks Ground

05/21/2010 | JTA

(JTA) -- The Reform community of Hameln, Germany has begun building what it says will be Germany’s first post-war Reform synagogue.

Jüdische Gemeinde Hameln broke ground earlier this month for its new synagogue and community center. It will stand on the site of the former Buerenstrasse synagogue, which was destroyed by the Nazis on Kristallnacht in November 1938.

House Approves 'Iron Dome' Funding for Israel

05/21/2010 | Ron Kampeas | JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved President Obama's request for an additional $205 million in assistance to Israel for a short-range missile defense system.

The vote approving funding for "Iron Dome" passed Thursday 410-4. The money is above the $3 billion in annual defense assistance Israel already receives from the United States.

Germany Recognizes U.S. Holocaust Museum Official

05/21/2010 | JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Germany awarded its highest civilian honor to a Holocaust scholar at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Germany presented Paul Shapiro, the director of the museum's Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, with the Cross of the Order of Merit for his role in negotiating the terms that in 2007 made accessible to the public the extensive Holocaust-era archives at Bad Arolsen, Germany.

The award was presented Tuesday to Shapiro in a ceremony at the German Embassy in Washington. The museum announced the award on Thursday.

Students Across U.S. Invite Israel Ambassador Oren to Speak

05/21/2010 | JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Dozens of presidents of university student bodies invited the Israeli ambassador to speak in the wake of his controversial appearances on two campuses.