Sydney's Jewish and Muslim communities are set to share burial space. [Haaretz] Christian churches back Jews facing anti-Semitism in Hungary. [Yahoo] A swastika was found painted on a New Zealand Jewish center. [Times of Israel] Venezuela's "anti-Semitic leader" admits Jewish ancestry. [Times of Israel] Britain's Lord Ahmed resigns over "Jewish conspiracy" controversy. [Algemeiner] Jewish groups honor US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice. [Arutz Sheva] A look at the new English translation of the Samaritan …More

The life of Sir Julius Vogel got off to a rather inauspicious start. Born in London in 1835, Vogel’s childhood was not a happy one. The son of Phoebe Isaac, from a well-known Jewish merchant family, and Alpert Leopold Vogel, a Christian from Holland, Vogel was abandoned by his father and his younger brother died before he turned six. Some accounts, like the 1875 Otego Witness’ report reprinted in New Zealand’s Star newspaper, claim that Julius was orphaned as a young child and left in the care …More

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, whose mother escaped Europe on the eve of the Holocaust, launched an exhibition to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Key officially opened "Shadows of the Shoah" in Auckland at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre last Friday, two days before the remembrance day, in front of Holocaust survivors and Israel's ambassador to New Zealand, Shemi Tzur. Key, who rarely talks about his Jewish upbringing, told about 200 people of his mother's escape from Nazi-controlled Austria in …More

Benjamin Netanyahu has plans to visit the Jewish day school in Toulouse that was violently attacked last March. [Arutz Sheva] A middle school football player speaks out after being attacked for his Judaism. [WCNC] Three suspects have been named in the Jewish grave decimation in New Zealand. [TVNZ] Israel was a key topic in last night's presidential debate. [Jewish Week] Who are the greatest Jewish baseball players of all time? [Huffington Post] A look at the Ohio Jewish vote. [Forward] Arab media …More

Dozens of Jewish graves were defaced at a New Zealand cemetery, a crime discovered early this morning. Auckland’s Karangahape Road Cemetery is the resting place of graves dating back to the 1880’s, with this marking the first occurrence of anti-Semitic vandalism. The tombstones were defaced with swastikas and the number 88, a code for HH, or Heil Hitler. Two grave stones were also graffitied with “F*** Israel” and “Don’t f*** with us.” The crime has rocked the small …More

A couple that hid a Jewish baby during the Holocaust has been posthumously named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. In World War II, Johanna and Godefridus Hakkens raised little Elli Mantegari in their home in Amsterdam, after the girl’s father died at Mathausen and her mother fled to Switzerland. Ultimately, the Hakkens became citizens of New Zealand while an adult Elli moved to the US, and the families lost touch. Gloria Hakkens, the now-deceased couple’s daughter in law, took up the cause …More

Officials say the attack on a student in Michigan--who was asked if he was Jewish then beaten when he said yes--is "probably not" a hate crime. [Washington Post] An Israeli Foreign Ministry campaign calls on Arab Jews to share their stories. [Ynet] The California legislature denounces anti-Semitism in colleges. [Miami Herald] India's Jewish community condemns the "Hitler" clothing shop. [Telegraph] Aly Raisman and a Munich 11 member will be inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. [Jewish Week] The …More

Past Israeli PM Ehud Olmert struck a Syrian reactor in 2007, right after George W. Bush refused to do so. [Times of Israel] Democrat Jews are sweating and it shows. [New York Post] A Forward writer tries to pick the Jewish candidate for the upcoming election. [Forward] A controversial rabbi pushes back against Republican Jewish Committee claims. [Jewish Week] Jewish community softball tournament to fund grants to aid Detroit. [Detroit Free Press] Olympic gold medalist's family beats the odds in more ways …More

The Tuvalu government has agreed to deregister any Iranian-linked vessel following pressure from the United States, New Zealand and Australia. The Tuvalu Ship Registry issued a statement late last week saying it has been notified by its government to deregister the National Iranian Tanker Company’s vessels that carry the South Pacific island government's flag. The work has begun and is expected “to be completed in the shortest time practicable.” The owners of a ship are masked when that ship …More

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London ended as a disappointment for Israel, which went without a medal in the competition for the first time in 20 years, despite sending a record number of athletes. Two Israeli citizens, however, found greater success under other flags, along with the daughter of two Israelis. Perhaps the Israeli athlete getting the most high-profile success at these Olympic Games was Sue Bird, the starting point guard on the US women's basketball team that tore through the competition in London …More

Jo Aleh, the New Zealand Jewish Olympian who won gold in the sailing regatta, said part of her medal “belongs to Israel.” Aleh, the New Zealand-born daughter of dual Israeli and Kiwi citizens Shuki Shukrun and Daniella Aleh, clinched gold last week in the women’s 470 sailing event with her partner Olivia “Polly” Powrie. Her parents were on hand to witness the triumph. The new Olympic champion -- whose father lives in Moshav Yinon near Kiryat Malachi and whose mother served in the …More

Polls show that Mitt Romney can steal the Jewish vote from Obama. [Policymic] Romney won’t move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem if he is elected president. [The Jewish Week] Authorities say nine men are recovering from injuries after their minivan collided with a tractor-trailer while returning home from praying at MetLife Stadium. [NJ.com] Aly Raisman has a fan club back home in Massachusetts. [Haaretz] Jewish rower Nathan Cohen and his partner Joseph Sullivan won New Zealand’s first …More