From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Record-breaking French aliyah dwarfs immigration from North America
(JTA) — Jewish immigration from France to Israel reached an all-time record of 6,655 newcomers, in the first 11 months of 2014.
The figure, which appears in a Jewish Agency document compiled this month, may guarantee that France will be this year’s number one source for aliyah, or immigration by Jews and their relatives to Israel.
The previous record was set in 2013, with 3,293 French newcomers.
Aliyah in the first 11 months of 2014 from France, which has a Jewish community of 500,000, was more than double the 3,191 olim who came to Israel during the whole of 2013 from North America, where over six million Jews live. The figure from North America for this year so far is 3,225.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
At White House Hanukkah party, Obama emphasizes freedom and food
A Washington tradition started by President George W. Bush, the party has actually expanded (to meet demand) to two: one in the afternoon and one in the evening.
This year’s mood was particularly festive, given that the parties were on Wednesday, the same day that Alan Gross was released from five years in a Cuban prison.
President Obama, who earned enthusiastic cheers at both parties, is still a smart enough pol to have played that to the hilt.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Despite passionate reactions, EU ruling on Hamas is a small legal glitch
A European court ruling to remove Hamas from the European Union’s list of terrorist groups evoked passionate reactions, but the text actually makes for drab reading material.
The Luxembourg-based General Court of the European Union said its ruling on Wednesday was procedural and in no way an assertion of whether Hamas merits the terrorist designation. In a statement, the court explained the EU’s blacklisting of Hamas had been based on “factual imputations derived from the press and the internet” instead of “on acts examined and confirmed in decisions of competent authorities.” Stating that the European Council, which placed Hamas on the terrorism list in 2001, “did not produce the obligatory judicial effects for the designation,” the court scrapped it but kept sanctions in place for another three months pending appeal.
The procedural nature of the ruling dampened neither the indignation of its detractors nor the grandiloquent celebration of its supporters. Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, said it heralded ”an incredibly dark day for Jewish communities across Europe.” Hamas called it a “moral victory over colonialism.”
Others, however, saw the ruling as a technical and easily reversible legal kink, which may nonetheless serve Hamas’ propaganda machine in Europe and encourage other terrorist groups to dispute their own blacklisting.
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From PressTV
Israel’s Lieberman to shun Sweden FM meeting
Irked by an EU decision to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state, Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman is set to shun a planned meeting with his Swedish counterpart in the occupied lands.
Israeli media reported on Wednesday that Lieberman would refuse to meet with Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem during her visit to Israel next month after the European Parliament (EP) voted in favor of a motion to recognize Palestine as an independent state.
Lieberman slammed Sweden for becoming the first EU member state to voice support for the Palestinians’ statehood bid, saying Stockholm refused to hear Tel Aviv’s arguments against what he called a “bad” decision to recognize the Palestinian state.
Sweden’s move to officially recognize an independent Palestine in October set off a domino effect among other European parliaments, which in quick succession voted in favor of similar motions.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Rabbi Wesley Gardenswartz Backs Off Controversial Plan for Intermarriages
Prominent Cleric Would’ve Been Conservative Trailblazer
By Uriel Heilman
From the Jewish Daily Forward
‘The Interview’ Shows That Comedy Can Still Be Dangerous
Despite Threats and Cancellation, ‘The Interview’ Is a Victory
Editor’s Note: On December 17, Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that it was cancelling the December 25 theatrical release of “The Interview,” following threats by a group called “Guardians of Peace.” Fortunately, we had the opportunity to see the movie at a press screening held before the cancellation. What follows is our previously scheduled review of the movie, updated to reflect these developments.
Jokes at the expense of injustice are a guilty pleasure for most people — an opportunity to take a break from political correctness and indulge in a little bad behavior. Witness the popularity of “Cards Against Humanity,” the party game that encourages players to match questions like “What did the US airdrop to the children of Afghanistan?” with answers like “Kids with ass cancer.”
But in this most serious of morally serious times, such pleasures seem less benign. “How many feminists does it take to screw in a light bulb?” goes the old joke. “That’s not funny.” And how many bullets does it take to kill an unarmed black teenager? Well, that’s not funny either, and it’s no joke.
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From PressTV
Palestinian statehood bid at UN act of aggression: Israel FM
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has criticized a UN bid for statehood by the Palestinians, describing the move as an “act of aggression.”
“The submission of the draft resolution to the UN Security Council (UNSC) is another act of aggression on their part,” Lieberman said in a statement on Thursday.
“Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is adopting measures whose sole aim is to attack Israel, with no benefit for the Palestinians,” Lieberman said.
The remarks came a day after the Palestinians submitted a draft resolution to the UNSC that requests a 12-month deadline to reach a peace deal with Israel, and designated the end of 2017 as the final date for completing an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Swedish lawmaker: Jews must assimilate to become true Swedes
(JTA) — The party secretary of the far-right Sweden Democrats party said Jews cannot be “true Swedes” if they continue to identify as Jews.
Bjorn Soder said in an interview this week with the Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter that minority groups such as Jews, Kurds and Sami, or Laplanders, must “assimilate in order to become Swedish.”
“We are for an inclusive society where everybody who wants to can fit in. We have an open Swedishness which also includes people with foreign roots,” Soder said. “But you have to adapt to the Swedish and assimilate in order to become Swedish.
“I think that most people with Jewish origin who have become Swedes leave their Jewish identity behind. But if they don’t it doesn’t have to be an issue.” He noted that “Sami and Jews have lived in Sweden for a long time.”
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Harvard president calls for probe into halting of SodaStream purchases
(JTA) — Harvard University’s president has requested an investigation into the decision by the university’s dining service to stop buying SodaStream equipment.
Drew Faust asked for an investigation into the decision, Provost Alan Garber told The Harvard Crimson student newspaper on Wednesday night.
The request came following an article written earlier in the day by the newspaper reporting that the university’s dining service agreed in April to halt buying the equipment following protests by Palestinian students and their supporters.
The dining service agreed to remove the SodaStream labels on existing water machines and purchase new ones from American companies after university officials met in April with members of the Harvard College Palestine Solidarity Committee and the Harvard Islamic Society, the newspaper reported Wednesday.
From the Jewish Daily Forward
Stephen Colbert’s Best Jewish Moments
By Hadas Margulies
Tonight marks the last episode of “The Colbert Report,” before Stephen Colbert takes his possibly Jewish self to “The Late Show.” So, as we wait for a Hannukah miracle to keep Colbert at his post, let’s look back on some of his most memorable Jewish moments.
April 8, 2009 was the day Colbert drew our attention to Birchat Hachama, “the moment when Jews believe the sun returns to the same position it had when God first created it 6,000 years ago…At which point, I assume, it collects $200.” Birchat Hachama had occurred only three times prior, each one before a Jewish victory. Fittingly, Colbert decides the time has come to free his Jews, and three actors in ancient Hebrew garb ascend from behind his desk to wander out of the studio in post-slavery stupors.
