Egypt is considering granting the release of Ilan Grapel, a dual US-Israeli citizen arrested in June on suspicion of being a Mossad spy, AFP reported on Saturday, citing the Egyptian media."Cairo is considering the release of Ilan Grapel, a US citizen accused of spying for Israel during the 25 January revolution, especially after promises from the US of offering more political and economic support in return," AFP quoted Egypt's official news agency as saying. According to the report, Grapel's parents were allowed …More

Turkey's leaders have called Israel the "West's spoiled child," and the "bully" of the eastern Mediterranean. When a Tel Aviv soccer team showed up in Istanbul recently for a match, the welcome was less than warm. In September, Turkey kicked out the Israeli ambassador, suspended military and trade deals and threatened legal and naval action to challenge Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip. As roars of approval went up around the Arab world, few noticed another announcement quietly slipped in by Ankara: Turkey …More

The United States Congress has blocked nearly $200m in aid to the Palestinians, the U.Ks Independent newspaper reported on Saturday. The aid, which was destined for projects related to food aid, health care, and state building efforts, was to have been transferred to the Palestinian Authority during the U.S. fiscal year that ends today, according to the report. However, following what the Independent described as an “unpublicized block” imposed on funding to the Palestinians since August this year, in …More

Approximately 350,000 people hiked in nature sites and preserves across Israel during the Rosh Hashanah holiday weekend, according to estimates by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Jewish National Fund. On Saturday, over 30,000 hikers enjoyed the last day of the holiday weekend in places such as the Yarkon National Park near Tel Aviv and the Caesarea National Park.  …More

 these In the walled old city of Tripoli, Libya's independence flag pokes through crumbling buildings and a gang of children wielding toy pistols tear through dusty alleyways. In these run-down streets stands the empty, faded peach-colored Dar Bishi synagogue.   The interior can only be seen by climbing up the rubble of a collapsed house and the ark, which would normally shelter the sacred Torah scroll, is instead stuffed with a mattress. The Hebrew inscription above it "Hear, O Israel" is barely …More

Two leaders of Cuba's tiny Jewish community have visited an imprisoned U.S. government contractor, celebrating the Jewish New Year with him in a small private room near his cell.     The Jewish leaders, Adela Dworin and David Prinstein, said in an email sent to journalists Friday that they spent two hours with Maryland-native Alan Gross on Wednesday and found him to be in good spirits and health. As host, Gross led the three in a traditional toast "to life," and the three shared sweets and coffee. …More

Bryan Greenberg, has his own New York story to tell. "I'm in love with New York. I always have been," says Greenberg. "I grew up in St. Louis, and I just couldn't wait until I turned 18 because I wanted to move to New York. I feel like I'm myself here more than any other place in the world. Our show is such a tribute to the city. We shoot on location in every borough." Even Greenberg's favorite East Village hole-in-the-wall egg cream joint, Ray's Candy Store, will be featured in an upcoming episode, "a serious …More

UNITED NATIONS - A UN Security Council panel on admitting new members to the United Nations met on Friday for the first time on the Palestinian bid to join the world body as Palestinians lobbied council members for support.After the closed-door meeting of the council's standing committee on admitting new members, which comprises all 15 council members, Lebanese UN Ambassador Nawaf Salam said the committee unanimously agreed to continue meeting at the expert level next week. …More

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad al Malki said Thursday that he would soon visit Bosnia, while PA President Mahmoud Abbas would visit Colombia and Portugal in October, as part of efforts to secure the necessary nine votes in the UN Security Council to pass a resolution recognizing a Palestinian state as a full member in the world body,The Telegraph reported. Bosnia, Colombia and Portugal are three of the 15 nations currently sitting on the UN Security Council that must make a determination on the …More

A 49-year-old resident of the UK was detained and tried in court after making a Nazi salute and singing the words Auschwitz and Birkenau to a Jewish teenager at a hospital in Wrexham, the Daily Telegraph reported Friday.Police discovered a Nazi flag draped on the banister and a swastika badge in Zbinigw Lebek's apartment in the city. "This is a case which exemplifies all that is decent in our society and all that is rotten in our society," the Telegraph quoted Judge Nicolas Parry as …More

The Seinfeld star caused quite a stir when photos from earlier this week showed the always-bald Alexander sporting a full head of hair. Middle-aged Jewish men everywhere leapt off their couches. "That's it!" they said. "We'll have what he's having." Well, what he's having is a wig. Alexander took to his Twitter to explain: "The way my hair has receded in the last two years was best defined as dorky. I started balding at age 17 and after first being sad, I really embraced it." Alexander and his wife came up with …More

On “a Thursday in October,” the committee in Stockholm willannounce the 2011 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. And if the bookmakers’ odds—not to mention recent history—are to be believed, it will almost certainly not be an American, probably not be a Jew, and quite possibly be someone you have barely heard of. Actually, Ladbrokes’ favorite is Adonis, the Syrian poet, who is of course well known and who would make sense in the year of the Arab Spring (and …More