Weekly roundup of world briefs

The first ‘Harry Potter’ book is now available in Yiddish

By Gabe Friedman

(JTA)—As of today, the first book in the Harry Potter series is available in Yiddish.

“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”—or “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” as it is known in the United States—was released in Yiddish by the Swedish publisher Olniansky Tekst Farlag on Friday. (Yiddish is an official language in Sweden.)

It was translated by Arun Viswanath, 29, the son of an Indian-American father and Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, author of the “Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary.” Her father was a professor of Yiddish at Columbia University.

Yair Rosenberg chronicles the story behind the translation in Tablet—from how Viswanath renamed Quidditch as the equivalent of “shoot-broom” to how he felt about the book’s goblins, which some have called anti-Semitic.

Quentin Tarantino and Israeli wife Daniella Pick welcome baby boy in Tel Aviv

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)—Director Quentin Tarantino and his Israeli wife, the model and singer Daniella Pick, welcomed a baby boy at a hospital in Tel Aviv.

The baby, the couple’s first, was born on Saturday afternoon and will be an Israeli citizen. No name has yet been announced, though reports say he will have a ritual circumcision and the couple could be waiting until then to make the name public.

The couple currently live in Israel. In November, they rented a home in an affluent neighborhood in the northern part of Tel Aviv for nearly $23,000 a month.

Tarantino, 56, and Pick, 20 years his junior, started dating in 2009 when the director was in Israel promoting his movie “Inglorious Basterds.” They later broke up but began dating again in 2016.

The couple married under a huppah, or Jewish wedding canopy, in 2018, shortly after Tarantino finished filming “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.” A Reform rabbi participated in the ceremony and Tarantino wore a yarmulke.

Pick is the daughter of the popular Israeli singer and composer Svika Pick.

74 Jewish groups condemn racism against Chinese Americans amid coronavirus outbreak

By Josefin Dolsten

(JTA)—Seventy-four Jewish groups have expressed solidarity with Chinese Americans amid the coronavirus outbreak, saying in a letter that they are “concerned about rising xenophobia aimed at Chinese people in this country and abroad.”

On Friday, the groups sent the letter with those sentiments in English and simplified Chinese to hundreds of Asian-American leaders and organizations, including America China Public Affairs Institute, OCA-Asian Pacific Advocates and United Chinese Americans.

Chinese business owners say they have seen a significant decrease in customers, which the message noted. It said “we will strongly encourage our own community not to give in to such fears.”

The Jewish Council for Public Affairs organized the letter, which was signed by rabbinical groups representing the major Jewish denominations—Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative and Orthodox—the Anti-Defamation League and organizations representing Jewish communities across the country.

The rise of the coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has led to a rise in racism against Asian Americans, including incidents of harassment and assaults.

The letter referred to recent remarks by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Heath’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in which he warned against “outlandish extrapolations of fear” and said Americans should not avoid Chinese people or businesses owned by them here.

Coronavirus scare paralyzes Milan and its Jewish community

By Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA)—The institutions of the Jewish community of Milan are in lockdown, along with other faith communities and others, following the discovery of coronavirus cases in the Italian city.

“Schools are out, including ours,” Claudia Bagnarelli, a founder of Milan’s Jewish school, which has 500 students, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “There are no synagogue services, no activities.”

Authorities in Italy announced closures across the country’s north in an effort to contain Europe’s largest outbreak of the coronavirus. More than 130 cases—two in Milan—and three deaths have been confirmed in Italy.

In Milan, the home of several thousand Jews, schools, many offices and restaurants have shut down and commerce has ground to a halt as employees stayed home in what the government has called a mandatory curfew.

“The only place where people go is to the supermarkets, some of which are already empty because people are stocking up for a long time,” Bagnarelli said.

If the closure continues, the community will “have to send food to elderly people’s homes,” she added.

“It seems like excessive measures, but I suppose they’re meant to stop the spread of the virus,” Bagnarelli said.

The virus, first observed in China earlier this year, has spread to 28 countries, with over 76,000 infected, according to Forbes. The death rate of the coronavirus is 2.8 percent in males and 1.7 percent death rate in females, according to an analysis of cases prepared by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

4 New York City infants have contracted herpes from Jewish circumcision rite in past 6 months

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)—At least four infants have contracted herpes in New York City in the past six months after undergoing a circumcision rite in which the ritual circumciser, or mohel, cleans the circumcision wound by oral suction.

Three cases of herpes have been reported since December and four since September from the rite called “metzitzah b’peh,” WPIX-11 reported, citing the city’s Health Department.

The infants were hospitalized, received intravenous antiviral drugs and are now recovering, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“The spread of neonatal herpes through ritual circumcision is a public health risk,” a Health Department official told WPIX. “To address this risk, we will continue to work with providers and families across our city to keep our youngest New Yorkers safe.”

Adults’ saliva can carry a type of herpes that causes minor symptoms in adults, but potentially serious symptoms in newborns. A herpes infection in a newborn baby can cause brain damage and death.

The custom is rarely practiced outside the haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, community. Other mohels use a sterile pipette for the practice.

It has been a political football in New York City with its large haredi population. In February 2015, the city eliminated a parental consent form mandated by former mayor Michael Bloomberg. The form was replaced with an educational brochure in 2015.

Six families in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, had children contract herpes between 2015 and mid-2017 from metzitzah b’peh. None of the families would give the name of the mohel to the Health Department.

At least 11 boys contracted herpes from the practice between 2004 and 2011. Two died and two suffered brain damage.

Harvey Weinstein convicted on rape and sexual assault charges

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)—Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein was found guilty Monday on two counts of rape and sexual assault, but was acquitted on more serious charges.

A New York State Supreme Court jury found Weinstein, 67, guilty of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree. He was acquitted of the more serious charge of first-degree rape, and of the most serious charges in the case, two counts of predatory sexual assault.

He was ordered straight to jail to await sentencing, which is scheduled for March 11.

Weinstein appeared unmoved as the verdict was read in the Manhattan courtroom, The New York Times reported. He had pleaded not guilty and said that any sexual activity was consensual.

His defense team has already launched the appeals process, Deadline reported, citing sources.

Weinstein still faces charges in a separate case in Los Angeles. His indictment in that case was announced on the first day of his Manhattan trial.

Weinstein faces a maximum of 25 years in prison on the charge of sexually assaulting production assistant Miriam Haley at his Soho apartment on July 10, 2006. He was convicted of third-degree rape against Jessica Mann, an aspiring actress who accused him of assaulting her at a DoubleTree Hotel in New York on March 18, 2013.

Six women testified at trial that he had sexually assaulted them, though Weinstein was charged with crimes in connection with only two. The others were allowed to testify to establish a pattern of behavior.

Dozens of women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct that took place over decades, including actresses such as Rosanna Arquette, Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Auschwitz Memorial condemns Amazon’s Nazi-hunting series ‘Hunters’ as ‘dangerous’

By Katarzyna Markusz

WARSAW, Poland (JTA)—The Auschwitz Memorial has condemned the new Amazon mini-series about Nazi hunters.

The museum said in a tweet that the human chess game invented for “Hunters,” in which the inmates of the Auschwitz camp were the game pieces and were killed when their piece was removed, is “Dangerous foolishness & caricature.”

“Hunters,” which stars Al Pacino, became available on Friday and tells the story of a group of people trying to stop Nazis living in New York City in the 1970s.

“Auschwitz was full of horrible pain and suffering documented in the accounts of survivors,” the museum tweeted. “Inventing a fake game of human chess for ‘Hunters’ is not only dangerous foolishness & caricature. It also welcomes future deniers. We honor the victims by preserving factual accuracy.”

The creator of the series, David Weil, refutes the allegations, telling Deadline that a few years ago he visited Auschwitz and saw the gate through which his grandmother was forced to pass and the barracks where she lived. Defending the chess scene, Weil emphasized that is it “to most powerfully counteract the revisionist narrative that whitewashes Nazi perpetration by showcasing the most extreme—and representationally truthful—sadism and violence that the Nazis perpetrated against the Jews and other victims.”

” I am forever grateful to the Auschwitz Memorial for all of the important and vital work that they do, for keeping the memory of victims and survivors like my grandmother, Sara Weil, alive. I believe we are very much on the same side and working toward the same goals. And I hope we can continue a dialogue on how to achieve those goals.”

Israel taxi app sued for alleged discrimination against Arab drivers

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)—An Israeli taxi service app is being sued by human rights lawyers in Jerusalem over its feature that allows riders to be almost sure they will not get an Arab driver.

Gett riders can request the Mehadrin service, which provides a taxi that is not driven on the Jewish Sabbath. Since Arab drivers are Muslim or Christian, their cabs usually are driven on Saturdays. There is no such religious requirement that would prevent someone from riding in a car driven by someone else on Saturday.

The class-action suit filed earlier this month in Jerusalem and first reported last week by The Guardian alleges that the Mehadrin designation is a cover for discrimination against Arab drivers.

“They give it a religious title. But, in fact, this is a proxy for a racist service that provides taxis with Jewish drivers,” Asaf Pink, a lawyer working on the case, told The Guardian. “Of course, they can’t just say ‘we don’t want Arabs.’”

Gett counters that any driver can register to provide the Mehadrin service if they meet the requirements. Gett did not provide any documentation on how many, if any, Arab drivers were registered with the Mehadrin service.

Before filing the suit, Pink and the Israel Religious Action Center, which is part of the lawsuit, commissioned a private investigation that they said proved the service was tailored to be discriminatory.

Americans think Bernie Sanders is the least religious of 4 Democratic front-runners

By Josefin Dolsten

(JTA)—Americans view Bernie Sanders as the least religious of four Democratic presidential front-runners, a survey released Thursday found.

Sixty percent of the 6,395 respondents to the online poll described the Jewish Vermont senator as “not too religious” or “not at all religious.” according to the Pew Research Center. A subgroup of 303 Jewish respondents viewed Sanders as even less religious, with 75 percent saying he is “not too religious” or “not at all religious.”

The respondents, adults 18 and older, were asked about how they saw the religiosity of Sanders, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg. Biden, who is Catholic, was seen as the most religious, with 55 percent of respondents saying the former vice president is “very religious” or “somewhat religious.”

If he is nominated, Sanders would be the first Jewish presidential candidate on a major party ticket. He said in 2016 that he is “not actively involved with organized religion,” but in recent appearances Sanders has spoken about how his Jewish roots shaped him. The senator recently released a campaign video in which he said he is “very proud to be Jewish.”

The Pew survey was conducted Feb. 4-15 and has a margin of error of 1.6 percentage points. The Jewish subgroup has a margin of error of 7.9 percentage points.

Facebook removes 30 fake accounts designed to keep Arab Israelis from voting

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)—Facebook removed 30 fake accounts that were designed to keep Arab Israelis from voting in next week’s national elections.

The Arabic-language accounts were uncovered by the nonprofit organization Democratic Bloc and were confirmed removed on Tuesday, Haaretz reported. The pages encouraged the Arab community to boycott the March 2 election or encouraged social polarization.

Nearly half the fake accounts posted responses on the Facebook page of Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint List Party, which is comprised mostly of Arabs.

Prior to Israel’s national election in September, Facebook removed 82 fake accounts following a study by the Democratic Bloc.

Iran coronavirus death toll hits 26; infection continues to spread in the region

(JNS)—Twenty-six people have died so far from coronavirus in Iran, reported the Iranian news agency IRNA on Thursday.

Iranian authorities have closed schools, universities and other educational centers across the country, and have restricted public gatherings such as concerts and sporting events, according to the report.

The virus’s death toll in Iran is the highest outside of China, where the current outbreak began, and is beginning to be spread from Iran to other countries in the region. Iranian officials on Wednesday said there were 139 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, but many in Iran believe the true figure is much higher.

As a result of the crisis, Iran’s rial dropped to a one-year low of 158,500 against the dollar on Wednesday as the country was forced to close most of its borders, threatening non-oil exports, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Saudi Arabia suspended until further notice travel to the holiest Islamic sites, just months before the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

There have been no reported cases of the virus in Saudi Arabia so far, according to Reuters, but the infection continues to spread to other Middle Eastern countries. Lebanon confirmed its second case on Wednesday, in a traveler returning from Iran.

Qatar’s ruler Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Wednesday ordered the evacuation of Qatari and Kuwaiti citizens from Iran.

Also on Wednesday, Pakistan confirmed its first two cases, also recent returnees from Iran, according to Reuters.