International News

Munich Tragedy, Security Loom Over Olympics

07/17/2012 | Steve Lipman | Staff Writer

Separated by 40 years and 569 miles, the shadow of Munich — and the bloody terrorism that took place in the Bavarian city in 1972 — falls over London this year.

On the eve of the 30th Olympic Games, increased concerns about security, about a commemoration for the 11 Israelis who were murdered in 1972 at the Summer Olympics in Munich, and about athletes who may refuse to compete against Israelis (all a legacy of the 1972 Games) mark an increasingly politicized Olympic movement.

Egyptian Election Promises Uncertainty

05/29/2012 | Ron Kampeas / JTA

Washington — The Egyptians stunned even themselves in the vote to elect their next president — and observers are warning that the U.S. and Israel should be ready for continued uncertainty in their relations with Egypt.

French Jews’ Fears Rising

04/24/2012 | Stewart Ain | Staff Writer

French Jews fear that the odds-on favorite to win the French presidential run-off election May 6 will do so by reaching out to the far left, among whom are rabid anti-Israeli activists who favor the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement that seeks to delegitimize Israel.

The Jewish community’s favorite candidate, incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, remains behind in the polls after coming in second in a 10-candidate race in the first round of balloting last Sunday.

‘Voices’ Divided Over Israel

04/17/2012 | Helen Chernikoff | Staff Writer

Just a few weeks ago, the Park Slope Food Co-op became ground zero of the global movement to boycott Israel. A whirl of pamphlets, “The Daily Show” cameras and citizen journalists descended upon the Brooklyn neighborhood’s chic streets for a few days, and most of the area’s synagogues were swept into the melée.

American-Style JCC Thriving In Krakow

04/17/2012 | Steve Lipman | Staff Writer

Krakow — At four crowded tables in the ground-floor meeting room of the Jewish Community Centre here, some hundred people attended the first-night seder during Passover last week.

It was the “biggest community seder in Poland,” says Jonathan Ornstein, the JCC’s New York-born director.

It’s another sign that the only such American-style JCC in the country is succeeding.

Righteous Gentile Or Nazi Supporter?

04/10/2012 | Steve Lipman | Staff Writer

In the late summer of 1942, 7-year-old Leon Chameides accompanied his father on an hour-long truck ride. As the Nazis tightened their grip over the Ukraine, the two journeyed from a village in the western part of the country where the Chameides family, Jews from Poland, had found refuge with relatives, to Lvov, the major city in that region. After stepping down from the truck, father and son walked to a towering building on Mount Jur, in the center of the city, where they knocked on the door of Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Church headquarters.