Struggling to be heard over a flock of bleating sheep, Israel’s ambassador to Senegal invited a crowd of impoverished Muslims to help themselves to some 100 sacrificial animals that the embassy had corralled at a dusty community center. That event, which was broadcast last October on national television and takes place every year to mark Tabaski, the local name of the Muslim Eid al-Adha feast, provides Israel with a powerful platform to burnish its image in a country that is 95 percent Muslim. “It …More

Letters written by a young J.D. Salinger give hints of his future works, literary ideas, and flirtatious personality. [NY Times] Beyonce wears a new dress specifically designed for her by Israeli designer and "Project Runway" winner, Alon Livne. [Times of Israel] Israel honors a Muslim man, Selahattin Ulkumen, for rescuing 50 Jews from being deported from Rhodes to concentration camps in 1944. [Times of Israel] An archaeological dig in Cologne, Germany has uncovered 2,000 years worth of Jewish artifacts. …More

A Jewish school and an Islamic school in Manchester, England, have entered into a twinning relationship. The King David High School and the Manchester Islamic High School for Girls plan to hold exchange trips and lessons. The Islamic-Jewish schools twinning project, which took more than two years to launch, is the first program of its kind in Manchester, though similar initiatives exist in London, the BBC reported. Ten of the Muslim students attended a school assembly in a recent visit to King David High and …More

Jewish rates of birth grew in Israel in 2011, while Arab birth rates declined. The news was announced this week by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, which also stated that 75.4 percent of Israel’s nearly 8 million population is Jewish. Jewish women averaged 2.98 births in 2011, as compared to 2.53 in 1995. Among Muslim women, the figure was at 3.51 in 2011, as opposed to 4.74 in 2000. The CBS reported the Druze birthrate to have dropped even more drastically than the Muslim rate—down to …More

A Jewish-Iranian woman was murdered and mutilated by Muslim extremists, several reports revealed last week. Tuba N., whose last name was concealed by her family, was tied up and stabbed by unknown attackers who entered her home while her husband was away on business. The 57-year-old woman was allegedly killed over a property dispute, as the assailants wished to confiscate land and appropriate it for an adjoining mosque. “The religious radicals even expropriated part of the house and attached it to the …More

A group of Jewish and Muslim volunteers put their differences aside in the days leading up to Thanksgiving to work together to help those in need. While the tense political situation between Israel and Hamas still looms heavy in the minds of many, volunteers brought together by New York-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding focused not on the fighting, but instead on helping to improve the lives of others and forging new friendships. “In this time of warfare it was a beautiful experience to see the two …More

Germany’s Justice Ministry has put together a proposal that seeks to protect circumcision. The move comes after months of controversy, as several lawmakers sought to ban the religious rite outright. High ranking officials promised German Jewry that a nationwide motion would be set in place to uphold the practice, and last week’s proposal is the first piece of national legislation to that end. The amendment would allow the practice, so long as a rabbi or mohel receives parental consent beforehand. The …More

Cartoons published in a satirical French magazine today threaten to escalate the contentious anti-West riots taking place in the Middle East. The Charlie Hebdo publication ran an illustration of an Orthodox Jew pushing the Muslim prophet Mohammad in a wheelchair on its front cover Wednesday, while the back cover depicted Mohammad naked from the waist down. Several other cartoons were also included in the inside pages. The Web site for the magazine crashed this morning as news spread of the drawings. Last year, …More

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

A Gaza sniper’s bullets shatter the back screen of a car, leaving broken glass on the car seat of a seven-month-old baby. [The Jerusalem Post] The “Birthright Bump” is responsible for young American Jews becoming more attached to Israel, but it isn’t responsible for increased support for the Israeli government. [Haaretz] Israeli parliament says the German circumcision ban infringes upon religious freedom and evokes memories of the Holocaust. [CBS News] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu …More

Interfaith dialogue has been a central theme throughout the AJC Global Forum. Several of the speakers have emphasized the important of facilitating interfaith relations between young adults. One such organization trying to revolutionize this movement is the Muslim-Jewish Conference. For the last two years, Jewish and Muslim students from around the world have worked together to put on an annual conference, which according to its website “aims to initiate as well as maintain a platform for discussion and …More

A group of Latin American rabbis and imams met with US government officials. The group of seven rabbis and seven imams from seven nations met Tuesday with officials in the White House and the State Department under the auspices of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which has organized similar encounters for rabbis and imams from the United States and Europe. The group is also meeting with Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Andre Carson (R-Ind.), who are Muslim, and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who is …More