International News

European Jewry’s ‘Summer Of Change’

09/13/2011 | Sandee Brawarsky | Special To The Jewish Week

Uppsala, Sweden — Chaim Potok’s “The Chosen” changed Valentina Marcenaro’s life. The Italy-born Marcenaro read it in Italian as an undergraduate at the University of Trento. That book led her to study Jewish texts in order to better understand the novel, and eventually to study — and return to — her own Jewish roots. She eventually wrote her thesis about women in Potok’s work.

Jewish-Evangelical Alliance Fraying As UN Session Opens

09/13/2011 | Stewart Ain | Staff Writer

The controversial Jewish-Evangelical Christian alliance became frayed this week on the eve of the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, with mainstream Jewish groups refusing to participate in a rally against UN Israel-bashing for fear it would legitimize a co-sponsor, a reputed Messianic Jew.

Einat Wilf Q&A

09/07/2011 | Julie Wiener | Associate Editor

Just 40 and a relative newcomer to Israeli politics, Einat Wilf is quickly becoming one of the most visible members of the Knesset: she chairs the left-centrist Independence faction (formed as a breakaway from the Labor party last January) and is the incoming chair of the Knesset’s Immigration and Absorption Committee; after Passover she is slated to take over as chair of the Education Committee.

Israeli Philharmonic will play in London despite protest

09/01/2011

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra will perform at the prestigious BBC Proms in London despite calls for a boycott of its performance.

The orchestra is scheduled to play Thursday night at the Royal Albert Hall. Audience members will have their bags searched in order to keep out political protesters, according to the Evening Standard.

Ethiopian students protest segregated school

09/01/2011

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Some 300 Ethiopian students and parents protested against their segregation in a Petach Tikvah elementary school, as nearly 2 million Israeli children began the school year.

The protesters marched Thursday from the Nir Etzion School to City Hall carrying signs reading "Stop the ghetto" and "stop the segregation." The students refused to enter their classrooms at the school, which is made up of nearly all Israeli children of Ethiopian descent, according to Ynet.

Concern Over Al Jazeera English Network Here

08/09/2011 | Stewart Ain | Staff Writer

It has been called “terror television” and a “mouthpiece for al-Qaeda,” and critics say its anti-Israel bias only serves to further demonize Israel worldwide.