Hannah Rosenthal didn’t just fight anti-Semitism—she wrote the definition. Rosenthal, the state department’s anti-Semitism monitor for the last three years, resigned from the post earlier this month. During her tenure, she helped identify rising anti-Jewish sentiment in Europe, brought Muslim leaders into the fold of Holocaust education, and put together a streamlined definition of what anti-Semitism actually means. That definition, thanks to Rosenthal, can be conveniently printed on an 8 by 10 …More

The State Department issued an official apology to passengers of the MS St. Louis, a German steamer carrying nearly 1,000 Jewish refugees that were denied entry into the US 73 years ago. A ceremony was held to remember those passengers, who were turned away from Cuba, America and Canada in 1939. The ship was forced back to Germany, where one-third of the refugees perished at Auschwitz. The State Department ceremony was attended by 200 guests, including 30 Holocaust survivors. Survivors from the St. Louis were in …More

Rob Lattin is Jspace News' Foreign Affairs Correspondent. In addition to covering foreign affairs for Jspace, Rob is a blogger on Israeli and Middle Eastern foreign policy for the Foreign Policy Association, as well as a freelance writer. He can be reached by email at rob@jspacecorp.com. The US State Department recently released the 2011 International Religious Freedom Report. The usual suspects were all given their fair share of the spotlight. Bahrain, Russia, Iraq, and Nigeria were singled out for their …More

The U.S. State Department’s report on religious freedom described a “global increase” in anti-Semitism and said the “rising tide of anti-Semitism” was among the key trends of last year. The executive summary of the report for 2011, released Monday, also detailed the “impact of political and demographic transitions on religious minorities” and “the effects of conflict on religious freedom.” The increased anti-Semitism was “manifested in Holocaust denial, …More

The Obama administration said it "does not accept the legitimacy" of announced plans for up to 851 new housing units for West Bank settlements. "We’re very clear that continued Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank undermines peace efforts and contradicts Israeli commitments and obligations, including the 2003 'road map,'" Mark Toner, the State Department spokesman, said Wednesday. "Our position on settlements remains unchanged. We do not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement …More

Cutting off assistance to the Palestinian Authority and to the Lebanese government would create a void that radical forces could fill, a top Obama administration official said. Andrew Shapiro, the assistant secretary for political military affairs at the State Department, said Friday that the Obama administration was "working with Capitol Hill" to prevent aid cuts to the Palestinians. …More

The United States has been pumping millions of dollars into Israel to help overcome the Jewish state's distrust of President Barack Obama. Share This A State Department report said the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv has been facing rising Israeli distrust in the Obama administration. The department's Office of the Inspector-General reported that the embassy was given nearly $7 million a year to influence public opinion in the Jewish state. "A fragile Israeli coalition government leans toward the views of its members …More