(JNS.org) Israel’s Channel 2 on Wednesday aired a recording of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri, who is based in Turkey, claiming responsibility for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens in June. The recording is the strongest evidence to date for Hamas’s involvement in that crime. “I praise the brave action that the al-QassamContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, The Jewish Sound At the same time rockets were falling on Israel during the height of its devastating conflict with Hamas, the single biggest wildfire in Washington State’s history ripped through Eastern Washington, consuming some 550 square miles and traveling up to an acreContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, The Jewish Sound The vast difference between the deep green valley outside of Mt. Vernon and the dusty Jerusalem hills these two-dozen 12-year-olds call home was the first clue they had entered something potentially life-changing. For these kids, divided evenly among Jews, Muslims and Christians, theirContinue Reading
By Jack Wertheimer, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) — With the new school year nearly upon us, Jewish educational leaders are scrambling to prepare their teachers to discuss this summer’s Gaza War. The most pressing challenge is to design age-appropriate conversations: At which grade level might classroom discussionsContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, The Jewish Sound Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant’s letter to President Obama and Congress to denounce “Israel’s siege and blockade of Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank” and to end “all U.S. government and military aid for Israel” was met with staunchContinue Reading
By Boris Kurbanov, Special to The Jewish Sound Any time the word “music festival” is thrown around, people typically think of events like Sasquatch!, SXSW, or Bumbershoot. On August 31, Jewish music from around the world comes to Seattle for the city’s first-ever outdoor Jewish music festival, SPARK. Middle Eastern rock,Continue Reading
(JTA) — A white supremacist convicted of killing four people in three states — one because his name sounded Jewish — was sentenced to two life sentences for two of the murders. David “Joey” Pedersen, 34, was sentenced Aug. 4 in a federal court in Portland, Ore., for the murderContinue Reading
By Ed Harris, Jewish Sound Columnist On a recent trip with my now-adult daughter to see family in Florida, I reminisced about her initial visit to the Sunshine State, when she hadn’t even reached her first birthday, and wondered where all the time went. One minute, she was an adorableContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Correspondent There’s a new leader for Friends of AKIM USA headquartered in New York City, whose experience in Israeli military intelligence and in business working with his many high level Arab contacts is bringing a fresh vision to the National Association for the Habilitation ofContinue Reading
By Joel Magalnick, Editor, The Jewish Sound When there are so many of us in our Jewish community that don’t worry about where our next meal is coming from, we can easily forget there are plenty who do. That’s why so many local Jewish organizations have come together to offerContinue Reading
By Janis Siegel, Jewish Sound Correspondent The United States has little to worry about when it comes to the possibility of an Ebola virus outbreak here, according to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ebola researcher Dr. Leslie Lobel: It’s not airborne, it requires direct contact with an infected human or animal,Continue Reading
(JTA) — The United States is tightening controls on military sales to Israel in the wake of the conflict in Gaza.On July 20, days after Israel began its ground invasion in Gaza, Israel requested and received a shipment of munitions from the Pentagon without prior approval from the White House,Continue Reading
By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA World News Service (JTA) — My friend Alain Azria gave me a puzzled look when I told him, with some indignation and disbelief in my voice, that I had just heard talk of killing Jews at an unauthorized anti-Israel demonstration last month in Paris. A youngContinue Reading
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israel extended immigration benefits to non-Jewish spouses in same-sex marriages.On Tuesday, Interior Minister Gideon Saar instructed the government to extend the benefits of the Law of Return to all married couples.The law affords non-Jewish spouses of Jewish immigrants full citizenship and immigration benefits, but Israel hadContinue Reading
By Rafael Medoff, JNS.org This year marks the 100th anniversary of the expulsion of thousands of Jews from Turkish-ruled Palestine to Egypt, in a dramatic reversal of the historic exodus from the Land of the Pharaohs to the Land of Israel. But from that tragic episode in 1914 would emergeContinue Reading
(JTA) — Palestinian rocket crews fired dozens of rockets at Israel as a 72-hour cease-fire came to a close, and Israel renewed its attacks on Hamas targets in Gaza. The Israeli strikes were carried out by aircraft over Gaza on Friday morning, Army Radio reported. The strikes resulted in the death of a 10-year-old boy,Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The print version of JTNews notes that a rally being held on Sun., Aug. 10 would be taking place at Westlake Center. The rally will be held at Seattle Center. We apologize for any inconvenience. One week after approximately 600 people turned out for a peaceful demonstration inContinue Reading
By Abdullah H. Erakat, The Media Line WEST BANK — Prior to the outbreak of the 29-day war between Israel and Hamas and despite the failure of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace initiative, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly was a happy camper having survived unscathed in theContinue Reading
By Rabbi Jack Riemer, JNS.org Sara Davidson’s “The December Project” is a new book that should be read by all senior citizens, and by those who hope to live a long life, for it raises a question that most of us have not been taught how to answer: What shouldContinue Reading
By Rivy Kletenik, Jewish Sound Columnist Here I am in June of 1964, about to turn 6, holding my first Matryoshka doll. I am standing next to my twin, who is proudly displaying his cosmonaut. That wooden “little matron,” a gift from my parents’ trip to Russia, kicked off aContinue Reading
