Border disorder: Palestinian terrorists open fire at IDF soldiers operating within Israeli territory near the security fence with north Gaza. No injuries are being reported
Equal rights: Israel’s High Court rules that the onus is on employers to explain why they pay women lower salaries than men
Listening in: Justice Ministry proposes a bill that would expand the state’s power to tap phones and almost double the number of state agencies allowed to access the data while conducting investigations
Earphone law: Lawmakers are mulling new legislation that would forbid bicycle riders to listen to music with earphones while on the road
Anti-US assistance: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says US military assistance to Israel, including the recent decision to grant Israel an additional USD 70 million for the Iron Dome missile defense system, is encouraging the Jewish state to commit war crimes
Emergency landing: a London-bound El-Al jet makes an emergency landing at Ben-Gurion International Airport shortly after takeoff on Friday after the jet’s flaps malfunctioned and the plane dumped its fuel the sea
Equal rights: Israel’s High Court rules that the onus is on employers to explain why they pay women lower salaries than men
Listening in: Justice Ministry proposes a bill that would expand the state’s power to tap phones and almost double the number of state agencies allowed to access the data while conducting investigations
Earphone law: Lawmakers are mulling new legislation that would forbid bicycle riders to listen to music with earphones while on the road
Anti-US assistance: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says US military assistance to Israel, including the recent decision to grant Israel an additional USD 70 million for the Iron Dome missile defense system, is encouraging the Jewish state to commit war crimes
Emergency landing: a London-bound El-Al jet makes an emergency landing at Ben-Gurion International Airport shortly after takeoff on Friday after the jet’s flaps malfunctioned and the plane dumped its fuel the sea
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European Jewish Parliament Convenes for Second Day
In the command center of pan-European politics, the European Jewish Parliament convened for a second day… At the European Parliament, panel discussions were held on the economic crisis in Europe and its impact on extremism, populism and anti-Semitism … Dr. Antonyia Parvanova, a member of the European Parliament from Bulgaria, moderated… Parvanova says she and her colleagues are aware that baseless hatred for Jews is rearing its ugly head again in violent acts, in anti-Israeli sentiment and in politics…
Igor Kolomoiskiy , the President of the European Jewish Union, was the guiding light behind the first-ever Parliament for Jews and forging ties with other European leaders is one of its priorities. The European Jewish Parliament was modeled in some ways after the European Parliament. Its members are elected osein contrast to how other Jewish leaders in Europe are chosen which is usually by those inside existing organizations. The European Jewish Parliament hopes its system can attract young, unaffiliated Jews with fresh ideas.
A Jewish woman from Washington joined the EJP’s meetings…but she’s not an American working for President Obama or Republican candidate Mitt Romney …Her boss is King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain… Hoodah Nunu is the Bahraini Ambassador to the US, a Jewish woman who represents her Muslim country. EJP members also expressed hope that they can help build bridges between Jews and Muslims wherever they clash. Nunu’s colleague – the Bahraini Ambassador to the EU – attended the panel discussions. Tomorrow these new Jewish reps of Europe will head back to their home countries after two days of sharing ideas, solutions and meeting like-minded politicians.
Jordana Miller, JN1 , Brussels
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Sephardic Jewish Cuisine Celebrated in Germany
The gruene sosse or green sauce festival marks the beginning of spring, and celebrates Frankfurt’s most popular dish which in turn is a symbol of Frankfurt ’s Jewish heritage. For more than six centuries Frankfurters have indulged in green vegetables and herbs – a custom that also ties in with the arrival of Sephardic Jews in the Frankfurt region.
About 30,000 Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 came to Germany. The Sephardic kitchen was characterized by the absence of garlic and a very generous use of herbs. The seven herbs found in the Frankfurt green sauce certainly do justice to the old Sephardic cuisine. Nowadays, there are of course countless varieties of the original Jewish green sauce recipe .
Jews not only provided the original recipe for green sauce, for centuries they also made the herbs available to the public. Many became peddlers, buying the products directly from the farmers and selling them in the streets of Frankfurt . At the beginning of the 20th. century in Frankfurt the Jewish peddler were members of the Jewish community living in the East End of the city, the home of about four thousand Jews who immigrated from Russia and Poland.
The East End had the largest synagogue in Frankfurt, boasting 1600 seats. It was destroyed on November 9, 1938, when the Nazis unleashed a wave of pogroms against Germany's Jews . Today in Frankfurt's East End on the site of the destroyed synagogue, the Place of Remembrance documents a facet of National Socialist viciousness: In 1942 a civil defense bunker was erected by French prisoners of war on the foundation of the destroyed Synagogue. The bunker now contains a permanent exhibition on Jewish life in Frankfurt ’s East End in the pre- Nazi period. It’s a place of learning and reflection about the site and it’s past.
Seventy years after Festival the Holocaust Jewish heritage and culture is once again thriving in Frankfurt … and Frankfurters of all ethnic backgrounds are discovering the centuries old Jewish recipe for green sauce.
Wilson Ruiz, JN1 , Frankfurt
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EJP Holds General Assembly in Brussels
The newly elected European Jewish Parliament held its first general session in Brussels… The 120 members were elected last fall in an online vote that drew over 400,000 Jews across western, central and eastern Europe. Now the representatives of 47 countries are meeting to set their agenda…it’s a diverse group of men and women, religious and secular, old and young…
The alarming political gains of far right-wing nationalist parties is one of the newest and most pressing issues. EJP Co-Presidents Vadim Rabinovich and Joel Rubinfeld say the Parliament will build ties with the European Parliament , the EU and others to defend the needs of the Jewish community.
The European Jewish Parliament , for the first time is bringing Jews from the East and West together under one umbrella organization. The hope is that some of the more established communities – like in France and England – can help some of the smaller struggling communities in the east with the challenges they face… After the opening remarks, the Parliamentarians broke into committee groups on topics ranging from foreign affairs to education to culture.
Jordana Miller, JN1 , Brussels