Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman promises Germany’s Jewish and Muslim communities that they will be free to carry out circumcision on young boys despite a court ban. [Chicago Tribune] Jewish billionaire Michael Moritz donates £75 million to Oxford University to be put toward scholarships. [The Algemeiner] Arabs participating in Israel’s national service struggle with their identity and loyalty. [The New York Times] State house candidate Sheldon Lisbon apologizes for calling the …More

Poland’s Jewish revival is thriving. [The Wall Street Journal] An Arab-driven car accidentally rammed into a car driven by a Jewish family. [Arutz Sheva 7] Meanwhile, the Israel Boxing Association hopes that boxing will build peace between Jews and Arabs. [Mercury News] A 17-year-old student from the Ozar Hatorah school is the victim of a violent train attack in Lyon. [ynet] “Spider-Man” weaves a Jewish web. [The Jerusalem Post] Online anti-Semitism in Spain doubled in the past year. [The …More

The Central Bureau of Statistics released its annual statistics roundup last week. “Israel in Figures 2011” tells the story of the Jewish State through details about population, education, labor, wages tourism and economy. According to the survey, almost half of the Jews in the world live in Israel. With a total population of about 7.7 million in 2010, Israel is home to slightly more females than males. The young, urban country enjoyed an upswing in almost all categories since 2009, illustrating a …More

Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews are among the poorest in Israel, but they are almost nowhere to be seen among the hundreds of thousands of people protesting the country's corrosive social inequality. Nearly 60 percent of Israel's ultra-Orthodox and half of Israeli Arabs live below the poverty line. But many ultra-Orthodox fear losing the stipends they survive on as they devote their lives to religious study and Arabs are generally more concerned with political issues including Israel's 44-year-old …More

Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews are among the poorest in Israel, but they are almost nowhere to be seen among the hundreds of thousands of people protesting the country's corrosive social inequality. Nearly 60 percent of Israel's ultra-Orthodox and half of Israeli Arabs live below the poverty line. But many ultra-Orthodox fear losing the stipends they survive on as they devote their lives to religious study and Arabs are generally more concerned with political issues including Israel's 44-year-old occupation of the …More

In the face of growing congressional concern over Middle Eastern extremism, some key Jewish Democrats are working to make sure President Obama has the leeway to dole out aid to Arab entities.The issue came to a head last week in the form of a State Department funding bill that makes clear the unhappiness of Congress. Through sharp exchanges and in subtle changes, Jewish members on the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee attempted to advance the bill while leaving Obama room to engage …More

Leaders of the Europe-based Friends of Israel Initiative on Wednesday released a statement calling on the Palestinians and the Arab world to seek peace with Israel for the sake of peace alone, and not in order to recover lost land. The organization lamented that the Middle East peace process has reached a point where only Israel is subjected to major demands, and that the failure of the peace process is always blamed on Israel for insisting on reciprocity. "If it is only one side that gives in, then there will be …More