Egyptian police have blocked the border between Egypt and the Gaza strip, after Islamists kidnapped seven members of the force. [Forward] Morocco’s King Mohammed VI is funding the restoration of his country’s Jewish burial sites. [IJN] The London Jewish Cultural Center in Golders Green will host the country’s largest Jewish food festival, Gefiltefest. [Times] South Africa’s chief rabbi, Warren Goldstein, defends Israel amongst his country’s widespread support for the anti-Israel …More

A Jewish burial plot in the island state of Cape Verde was rededicated with help from the king of Morocco. About 100 people attended the rededication ceremony Thursday. “The support of King Mohammed VI to this project is representative of Morocco’s attachment to the preservation of its patrimony--Arab, Jewish or Berber,” Andre Azoulay, the king’s Jewish advisor, said in a statement read during a ceremony hosted by Abdellah Boutadghart, a Moroccan diplomat. Several hundred Moroccan Jews …More

Some 200 people celebrated the restoration of a synagogue in the Moroccan city of Fes. Wednesday's ceremony marked the conclusion of a two-year project undertaken by Mohammed VI, the king of Morocco, the website of the magazine Jeune Afrique reported. Among those attending the rededication ceremony of the Slat Alfassiyine synagogue in Fes was Norbert Lammert, the president of the Bundestag, the German parliament. Germany contributed much of the funding for restoring the building, which dates back to the 17th …More

The US has blocked a press statement by the UN Security Council from publication, as the document failed to blame Hamas’ incessant rocket fire as cause for the conflict. "The draft press statement failed to address the root cause of the current escalation — the continuing barrage of rocket attacks from Gaza against Israel," said U.S. Mission to the U.N. spokesperson Erin Pelton. "We made clear that we would measure any action by the Security Council based on whether it supported the ongoing diplomacy …More

A French-Jewish scientist has won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in quantum systems. Serge Haroche, born in Morocco but living and working in France, called the honor "overwhelming." “I was in the street [when I got the news] and passing a bench so I was able to sit down,” he said at a news conference Tuesday. Haroche, 68, was awarded the honor with David Wineland of the US, for their “groundbreaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum …More

Nearly 5,000 Jews gathered in Morocco over the weekend, for a yearly tradition honoring the community's beloved rabbis. The pilgrimage centers around the gravesites of scholarly rabbis buried in the North African country, which is home to 3,000 Jews. An estimated 1,200 "leading light," or respected rabbis, are buried in Morocco. North Africa has a historical tradition of a rich Jewish community, including in neighboring Tunisia. Tunisia celebrated a pilgrimage of its own last week, though the event was clouded …More

The Palestinian Authority has rejected a letter from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, aimed at furthering peace talks. The letter was a response from a previous note sent to Netanyahu from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. [Jewish Journal] Meanwhile, a Palestinian was arrested in a rape case in Tel Aviv. The man was illegally employed at the restaurant where the attack took place. [Times of Israel] Elsewhere, thousands of Jews gathered in Morocco for an annual pilgrimage. [Israel National News] A Tablet …More

Pro-Palestinian protests forced the evacuation of an Israeli diplomat from Morocco. David Saranga, Israel's senior liaison to the European Parliament, traveled from Brussels to Rabat over the weekend for an international conference of lawmakers. But the event was overshadowed by a mass pro-Palestinian rally organized by Islamists opposed to Morocco's monarchy, which has fostered low-key ties established with the Jewish state in 1994. As tens of thousands of protesters converged on the parliament building in …More

An elderly Jewish man was murdered in the Northern city of Fez, Moroccan media reported Monday. The 74-year-old victim, referred to only as Benjamin, died in transit to the hospital after being struck in the head with a hammer. The assailant fled the scene, and had not yet been apprehended. Initial police investigations showed that the victim was in charge of several Jewish properties. Officials have not yet determined whether the attack as nationalist or criminal in motivation. …More

Frankfurt has elected a Jewish mayor, marking the first time a German city has voted in a Jewish mayor since the Holocaust. [Haaretz] Thousands have signed a petition urging Israeli President Shimon Peres to use Barack Obama’s awarding of the Presidential Freedom of Honor as leverage to free an imprisoned Israeli agent. [Jerusalem Post] An Israeli diplomat has been evacuated from Morocco following an anti-Israel protest. [Israel Hayom] An initiative to fight female unemployment has helped 50 Bedouin women …More

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz leaves for the US and Canada tonight, to conduct discussions focused on Iran. Gantz was meant to leave earlier in the week, but stayed in Israel due to the continued rocket fire in southern Israel. [Jerusalem Post] A Moroccan man living in Italy was arrested for allegedly planning an attack on a Milan synagogue. [The Times of Israel] Meanwhile, Yayo Avraham hopes to bring awareness to the plight of the Israeli community in Ethiopia, walking barefoot from Natanya to Jerusalem this …More

Marie-Yvonne "Maguy" Kakon would be just another candidate contesting Morocco's parliamentary elections on Friday - if it were not for one detail. The 57-year-old real estate consultant is the only Jew among a total of more than 7,000 candidates in the staunchly Muslim country. Jewish politicians are rare in the Arab world, but Kakon says it is her Moroccan rather than her Jewish identity that counts. Her presence in the elections symbolizes the diversity of the North African country where Arabs, Amazigh (Berbers) …More