Weekly roundup of world briefs

New York police search for attacker who tried to choke Jewish woman at subway

(JNS) — The New York Police Department’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating an antisemitic attack on a Jewish woman that took place at a subway station on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, reported the New York Post. 

The 44-year-old victim, whose identity was not revealed, was choked by an unidentified male suspect, who made antisemitic remarks while she waited on the subway platform of the No. 6 train at around 11:20 a.m. on Tuesday, according to police. 

The attacker approached the Jewish woman and reportedly made anti-Jewish remarks while attempting to choke her by putting his hands around her neck and squeezing. The victim was taken to a hospital to be treated for injuries she suffered from the incident, police sources told the New York Post. 

The NYPD is asking anyone with information related to the incident to call its Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS or to submit information online or via Twitter.

Palestinian prisoner on prolonged hunger strike moved to hospital

(JNS) — A Palestinian prisoner who has been on a prolonged hunger strike was transferred from an Israeli jail to a hospital on Thursday due to his deteriorating health.

Under legal restrictions, a representative of the Israeli prison service who would not be named confirmed the development, reported the AP.

According to his family, Khalil Awawdeh has resisted eating for more than 160 days in an effort to draw attention to the fact that Israel has been holding him on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist group.

As a condition of the ceasefire put into place on Monday that put an end to fighting between Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Israel over the weekend, Gaza terrorists demanded his release. It is unclear if the ceasefire includes his release.

Israel asserts that administrative detention is necessary to prevent attacks or to detain dangerous suspects without sharing evidence that could endanger vital intelligence sources, according to the report.

Major Chinese online retailer AliExpress expands to Israel

(JNS) — In recent weeks, the Chinese online retail giant AliExpress has established warehouses in Israel in Airport City near Ben-Gurion International Airport.

today. There has been a pilot project in recent weeks, and it is happening on a very small scale. Israel is an important market for them, and they have been examining this for over two years.”

Porat does not work for AliExpress though markets its products and receives fees from the company.

Customers can order items already in Israel’s warehouses online, which will shorten delivery wait times and lower costs. Currently, AliExpress is preparing to increase operations and broaden the selection of goods stored in Israel.

As Porat explains, “I am not an employee of AliExpress. I work with them and receive information from them. I know they have made this move in many countries like France, Russia, the United States and more.”

Justin Bieber sparks outrage after being accused of doing Nazi salute at concert

(JNS) — The president of the Conference of European Rabbis is calling out pop-star Justin Bieber for performing what some thought was a Nazi salute during a concert in Helsinki.

During his Aug. 9 show, Bieber marched high with his knees across the stage holding a microphone with his arm stretched out in a manner that some claimed was similar to the “Sieg Heil” gesture of the Nazi Party. The concert was part of Bieber’s world tour, which includes a performance in Israel in October.

“Bieber has been filmed at other concerts marching in a similar way, and the move is part of an apparent in-joke between the singer and his legion of ultra-loyal fans,” according to The Times of Israel.

However, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, was enraged by Bieber’s actions.

“The famous singer slapped millions of Jews around the world in the face when he chose to make the ‘Sieg Heil’ gesture, which symbolizes identification with the values ​​of the Nazi Party and its leader, murder of the Jewish people, Adolf Hitler,” he said in a statement to Israel’s Arutz Sheva.

The rabbi demanded an explanation from the singer and called on Israel to cancel Bieber’s Oct. 13 concert in Tel Aviv in response to his “humiliating” actions.

“It is unthinkable that a singer with tens of millions of fans and followers around the world allows himself to adopt such conduct on European soil soaked with the blood of millions of Jews and other minorities, who were brutally murdered by the Nazi oppressor,” said Goldschmidt. “Using this movement on such a large platform is a symbol of victory for antisemites and provides an incentive for future oppressors.” 

The company promoting Bieber’s upcoming concert defended the singer and said his actions should not be compared to those of the Nazis.

“These are dance moves … [they] are meant to entertain,” said a representative of Nidar Oz Communications, according to The Times of Israel. “Not everything has to do with the Jewish people, with all the love we have for ourselves.” 

The Creative Community for Peace, a nonprofit entertainment industry organization that seeks to educate about antisemitism in the arts, similarly denounced similarities between Bieber and the Nazis. 

A Nazi salute “is not at all what Bieber appears to be doing and labeling it as such is wildly unhelpful,” the group wrote on Twitter. “There is a huge problem of antisemitism in entertainment and sports but this is not it. Let’s stick to fighting the real battles.”

Dutch city renames square it had named for mayor who betrayed Jews to Nazis

By Cnaan Liphshiz

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — A Dutch municipality has renamed a park that had been named for a mayor who helped the Nazis hunt his city’s Jews.

The municipality of Hogeveen, a city of about 55,000 roughly 80 miles northeast of the Dutch capital of Amsterdam, last month renamed Mayor Tjalma Park, according to a report Thursday on the news site Jonet.nl. The new name is Municipal Park.

In 2020, a local historian discovered that Jetze Tjalma, who had been mayor of Hoogeveen for 30 years until 1958, was the first mayor in Nazi-occupied Netherlands to hand over a list of local Jews after the German army invaded in 1940.

There were about 250 names on the list. In 1951, Hogeveen had only 27 Jews, according to the Jewish Historical Museum of Amsterdam.

Tjalma shared the list voluntarily, according to Brand van Rijn, a local politician whose party, SGP, initiated the research into Tjalma’s wartime record. SGP had for years lobbied for a more critical approach to the legacy of Tjalma, whom many have considered a model mayor, according to the broadcaster RTV. The park was named for Tjalma shortly after his death in 1985.

Several years after World War II, the city under Tjalma took over part of the local Jewish cemetery and paved a road on it. That part of the cemetery was returned to Jewish hands in 2019.

The Amsterdam-based Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies earlier this year confirmed the research done in Hogeveen by local historian Albert Metselaar, prompting the municipality to change the park’s name on July 26, Jonet reported.

Israel Police report reveals Arab drivers responsible for 52 percent of fatal accidents

By Itsik Saban

(Israel Hayom via JNS) Despite being a minority population in Israel, Arab drivers are responsible for over half of fatal road accidents, an Israel Police report revealed this week.

On intercity roads, the numbers are even higher, with Arabs found to have been involved in 58 percent of all accidents and 60 percent of fatal ones, of which they were the cause 80 percent of the time, according to the report.

Arab drivers were found to be involved in 36 percent of all traffic accidents, despite comprising only 19 percent of drivers. According to data, the majority of accidents involve young drivers between the ages of 17 and 23.

“They [young Arab drivers] usually leave the village, go on a rampage, run amok and cause accidents,” said a law-enforcement official. “We are dealing with a serious problem that goes beyond the police. We need to make this a priority. Unlike in Jewish society, where for example when a driver is stripped of his license, he stops driving, In Arab society, many continue to drive and endanger the lives of all drivers on the road.”

The report cited a lack of public transportation, longer commutes and the poor condition of vehicles in the Arab sector as contributing factors.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.

British archaeologist awarded honorary medal for excavation work at Treblinka

(JNS) A British archaeologist was awarded an honorary medal on Aug. 4 by the Treblinka Museum for her work investigating Nazi crimes that took place at the concentration camp in Poland. 

Caroline Sturdy Colls, a professor of conflict archaeology and genocide investigation with a specialization in Holocaust studies at Staffordshire University in England, was presented with the award by the director of the Treblinka Museum Edward Kopówka.

The ceremony was also attended by 94-year-old Holocaust survivor Ike Alterman, whose mother and sister were murdered in the camp. 

The professor, who was previously awarded theEuropean Archaeological Heritage Prize, was thanked for her “extensive efforts to honor the victims who were murdered in the camps and to educate future generations,” reported the BBC. 

It is the second medal ever awarded by the Treblinka Museum. 

The professor’s findings formed the basis for the museum’s permanent exhibition titled, “Finding Treblinka.” During a 2013 excavation led by Sturdy Colls, more than 300 items were found, including ceramic tiles that were used to line gas chambers at the concentration camp.

It is far from the first time her work has been recognized. Sturdy Colls earned the European Archaeological Heritage Prize in 2016. She has authored five books and other related chapters, and numerous papers on archaeology and the Holocaust.

“I remain committed to uncovering the evidence that the Nazis tried to hide at the camps and to trying to uncover the stories of the people they tried to erase,” she said, according to the BBC.

As many as 800,000 people were killed at the Treblinka concentration camp between 1942 and 1943, according to the Treblinka Museum.

Israel Police report reveals Arab drivers responsible for 52 percent of fatal accidents

BY Itsik Saban

(Israel Hayom) Despite being a minority population in Israel, Arab drivers are responsible for over half of fatal road accidents, an Israel Police report revealed this week.

On intercity roads, the numbers are even higher, with Arabs found to have been involved in 58 percent of all accidents and 60 percent of fatal ones, of which they were the cause 80 percent of the time, according to the report.

Arab drivers were found to be involved in 36 percent of all traffic accidents, despite comprising only 19 percent of drivers. According to data, the majority of accidents involve young drivers between the ages of 17 and 23.

“They [young Arab drivers] usually leave the village, go on a rampage, run amok and cause accidents,” said a law-enforcement official. “We are dealing with a serious problem that goes beyond the police. We need to make this a priority. Unlike in Jewish society, where for example when a driver is stripped of his license, he stops driving, In Arab society, many continue to drive and endanger the lives of all drivers on the road.”

The report cited a lack of public transportation, longer commutes and the poor condition of vehicles in the Arab sector as contributing factors.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.

Israel, Jordan agree to allow workers daily access to Eilat

(JNS) — Beginning this month, as many as 2,300 Jordanian workers will again be permitted to enter and exit Eilat to go to work on a daily basis.

According to a statement by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which announced the agreement between Jordan and Israel on July 17, the Jordanians will no longer be required to stay in Eilat for extended periods of time, as was previously necessary due to the limitations imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Up to 2,000 Jordanian hotel workers and 300 others employed in construction, industry and general sectors will now be allowed access to the Eilat region each day via the Yitzchak Rabin Crossing.

Oded Joseph, deputy director general for the Middle East at the MFA, said: “The project allowing the employment of Jordanian workers in Eilat is one of the civilian flagship projects between Israel and the Kingdom of Jordan.”

Iran responds to European Union’s ‘final’ nuclear deal offer

(JNS) — Iran reportedly sent a response on Monday night to the European Union’s “final” draft text to save the 2015 nuclear agreement, known also as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian had announced that its leaders would respond by midnight, urging the United States to be flexible in resolving the three outstanding issues.

“Our answer will be given to the E.U. tonight at 12 midnight. … There are three issues that, if resolved, we can reach an agreement in the coming days,” he said, according to Reuters.

“We have told them that our red lines should be respected. … We have shown enough flexibility. … We do not want to reach a deal that after 40 days, two months or three months fails to be materialized on the ground,” said Amirabdollahian. “Like Washington, we have our own ‘Plan B’ if the talks fail.”

Diplomats and officials told Reuters that whether Tehran or Washington accepts the E.U.’s supposed final offer, neither side is likely to declare the pact dead because keeping it alive serves both the interests of both parties.

Israel’s inflation rate hits 14-year high

(JNS) — Israel’s Consumer Price Index hit a 14-year high last month, with an annualized rate 5.2 percent higher than in the same period last year, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported on Monday.

The CPI, a measure of inflation based on the changing cost of household goods, increased by an unexpected 1.1 percent from June to July 2022 alone, according to CBS data.

The overall inflation rate is well above the upper range of 3 percent previously predicted by the Bank of Israel.

The CBS on Monday also released its newest housing figures, showing that prices climbed 17.8 percent in May-June 2022 compared to the same period last year, the highest annualized increase in a decade.

The Bank of Israel will reportedly raise its benchmark interest rate by at least 0.5 percent to 1.75 percent in an effort to tamp down consumer spending and cool the real estate market.

Israel’s inflation rate remains lower than those of the United Kingdom (9.4 percent), United States (8.5 percent) and Germany (7.5 percent).

A recent survey by the Israel Democracy Institute found that 44 percent of Israelis will vote in the upcoming Nov. 1 elections for the political party they believe has the best economic plan for curbing the rising cost of living.

Abbas calls Holocaust the ‘most heinous crime’ after drawing criticism for accusing Israel of ‘Holocausts’

By Ron Kampeas

(JTA) — Under fire for accusing Israel of “50 Holocausts,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas walked back his statement, calling the Holocaust “the most heinous crime in modern human history.”

Abbas released the statement on Wednesday through the Palestinian Wafa news agency.

He had come under sharp criticism from U.S., Israeli and German officials for accusing Israel of carrying out “50 Holocausts” against the Palestinians during a press conference in Germany on Tuesday, standing alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

A German reporter had asked Abbas whether the Palestinian Authority would apologize on the 50th anniversary of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. The Palestine Liberation Organization, which is intertwined with the Palestinian Authority, carried out the massacre.

Abbas’ statement came after Hussein Al-Sheikh, the current PLO secretary-general had a “difficult” conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, according to Israeli reporter Noga Tarnopolsky.

Scholz drew criticism for not calling out Abbas in real time but subsequently decried the comment.