Section: Jewish Telegraphic Agency (USA)
Marc Chagall’s Belarus hometown celebrates first synagogue opening in a century
(JTA) — The hometown in Belarus of the late artist Marc Chagall saw its first opening of a synagogue in over a century. The Jewish community of Vitebsk, which is located 155 miles northeast of the Belarusian capital of Minsk, last month celebrated the inauguration of the new synagogue at an event attended by city officials and faith community...
4 Jewish things you need to know about Catalonia
Independence supporters gather outside the Palau Catalan Regional Government Building in Barcelona, Oct. 30, 2017. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) (JTA) — After simmering for decades, national aspirations in the region of Catalonia in northeast Spain plunged that country into a major crisis with far-reaching international implications. The current...
Kiev’s American-style JCC gives low-income Jews the millionaire treatment
Head of the volunteer department, Alla Shakhova, left, with volunteer Adrianna Golubka, right, at the Halom Jewish Community Center in Kiev, Ukraine, Sept. 8, 2017. (Cnaan Liphshiz) KIEV (JTA) — This city of 2.5 million residents may be the capital of one of the poorest countries in the Former Soviet Union, but it offers a dazzling selection of...
Honoring of anti-Semites a ‘problem,’ says Israel’s ambassador to Ukraine
(JTA) — In a rare public statement on the honoring of anti-Semites in Ukraine, Israel’s ambassador to that country called the phenomenon a “problem” that is “not in line” with Israel’s interests. Eliav Belotzercovsky said this Friday during a conference of the Limmud FSU group in the southern city of Odessa, according to a translation...
Teens arrested in vandalism at Jewish cemetery in Romania
(JTA) — Police in Romania arrested three teenagers accused of destroying 10 headstones at a Jewish cemetery. The incident occurred over the weekend, police said in a statement Monday about the arrests near the northern city of Reghin, located 200 miles north of Bucharest, the capital. The suspects allegedly smashed the headstones and drew a...
Ukraine honors nationalist leader blamed for Jewish pogroms
(JTA) — Ukraine unveiled a statue for a nationalist leader who guided a regime that killed tens of thousands of Jews in pogroms during the Russian Revolution. The memorial for Symon Petliura was unveiled Saturday in Vinnitsa, a city in the western part of the nation, on Defender of Ukraine Day, a national holiday, the RT news site reported. It is...
Jewish coach leads Colombia national soccer team into World Cup
Jose Nestor Pekerman coach of Colombia gesturing during a match between Colombia and Ecuador in a FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifiers match at Roberto Melendez Stadium in Barranquilla, Colombia, March 29, 2016. (Gal Schweizer/LatinContent/Getty Images) BUENOS AIRES (JTA) — Led by its Jewish Argentine coach, Jose Pekerman, Colombia’s national...
Activist threatened for opposing Ukraine city’s honoring of Nazi SS officer
(JTA) — An activist against fascism who sued a Ukrainian municipality for naming a street for a Nazi SS officer has come under a campaign of intimidation, he said. Mikhail Voroniak, a Red Army veteran, in summer sued the western municipality of Kalush near Lviv for deciding to name a street for Dmytro Paliiv, a commander of the 14th Waffen...
Ukraine teens arrested in vandalism at Jewish cemetery
(JTA) — Authorities in Ukraine have identified several teenagers whom police said desecrated at least 20 Jewish graves in August. The teens, all males younger than 18, were detained last month in connection with vandalism in Svalyava, a city in Western Ukraine that is located approximately 100 miles southwest of Lviv, the news site reported last...
Holocaust revisionism in Croatia not just a Jewish fight, Jewish group says
(JTA) — In an unusual plea, the World Jewish Congress urged international bodies to oppose what it calls “brazen attempts” to whitewash Holocaust crimes in the European Union’s newest member, Croatia. The call came in a 4,000-word position paper published Monday in Tablet magazine by Menachem Rosensaft, the WJC’s general counsel. The...
