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Stock listing creating a buzz in Silicon Valley
18 may 2012
Facebook is on the brink of going public with a stock market listing . The company could raise as much as 16 billion dollars as investors are predicted to highly value shares in the world’s largest social network. Other Silicon Valley technology firms are hoping for a positive knock-on effect.
Silicon Valley worker Iris Borkovsky:
"Just in general, there will be more money in circulation around here and that will always have an uplifting effect. And I think it's kind of motivational as well for the start-ups in the Silicon Valley. We are known for our start-ups, so it's a new example. I know it's been real anticipated, almost as much as Google . Probably the biggest one since Google."
Founder Mark Zuckerberg and other company executives are expected to sharply increase their already substantial personal fortunes which some local residents believe will provide a boost to the local economy.
Silicon Valley worker Jake Jolis:
"I don't think the IPO itself will mean that much for the community of world Facebook users, but if you're talking about the Silicon Valley community start-up people, it fuels confidence in investors as long as it goes well and I think that's great for start-up people like myself."
Silicon Valley worker Ed Snyder:
"Sure, lots of people will be instant millionaires and billionaires , so that changes the economy around here when people will start spending that money, but in the grand scheme of the things, probably not as much as people might think."
Facebook has been valued at over USD 100b with investors hoping the company can make good on plans to generate more revenue from the website ’s more than 900m users.
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Euro falls to 1.27 against dollar amid Greek exit fears
17 may 2012
The shockwaves from Greece’s failure to form a coalition government have continued to reverberate around world markets, with the euro hitting a near four-month low against the dollar .
Equity Analyst for S & P Capital IQ Alec Young:
"I think 1.19 (US dollars) is the lowest we saw since the European sovereign debt crisis broke about two and a half years ago so that would be a level that would be worth watching, but I think at this point you know the weakness in the euro is frankly very logical and I think most people frankly are surprised it's not worse. I think it speaks to how little confidence people have in the US currency."
In New York, some European tourists are already complaining that prices are higher than at home. But for others things are not as bad as expected.
Finland tourist Juho Buononvirta :
"It has been better but now when I changed my euros to dollars when I came here, I got more than I thought I would get. So my own experience is that the exchange rate is good. When you compare the euro to dollar, but it has been better in the previous years, but we'll see what it's going to be like within the next few months or years. So I don't know what's going to happen."
The failure of Greek unity talks means that repeat parliamentary elections must now be held. With the country’s far-left parties recently growing in popularity, the vote its being seen by many as a chance for the Greek electorate to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to staying in the eurozone – a decision with potentially global consequences.
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900,000 Greek retail outlets close during debt crisis
17 may 2012
Austerity measures and the deteriorating domestic economic situation in Greece are having a disastrous effect on the nation’s small and medium –sized retailers.
Thirty percent of Greek store owners have been forced to close during the two-year debt crisis and on some of the busiest streets in Athens as many as 42 percent of the shops have gone bankrupt .
Garment store owner:
"Affected by the crisis , the number of old customers is on the decline. All shops on this street have suffered a shortage of fund and compared with previous years, sales turnover has declined by 50 to 80 percent."
There may be some signs of hope with the agreement of a new 15 billion euro loan plan to increase liquidity , however, the situation is likely to remain tough for the foreseeable future as Greece will have to cut government spending again in 2013 equivalent to 5.5 percent of the country's GDP in order to meet the conditions of the second financial rescue package .
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CEO of US’ largest bank offers apology for losses
16 may 2012
Shortly after the top investment officer at the US’ largest bank resigned over an embarrassing USD 2 billion trading scandal, JPMorgan Chase is coming under growing pressure from the public and within.
At an annual shareholder’s meeting, company CEO Jamie Dimon offered a quick but blunt apology.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon:
“This should have never happened. I can't justify it, unfortunately these mistakes were self-inflicted. We are fully engaged now in doing a thorough review of the issues that led to these losses . There are many lessons here and many changes in policy and procedures that have already been implemented. In addition all corrective action will be taken as necessary."
Four of the 10 shareholders supported replacing Dimon as chairman with an independent director, saying he wields too much influence over the company.
Outside, dozens, angered by yet another Wall Street scandal, gathered to protest the bank and call for tighter regulations . Some threw eggs at a poster with Dimon’s face on it.
The FBI has opened an investigation into whether the company committed any criminal wrongdoing, but some financial experts wonder how JPMorgan’s practices are any different from other banks .
Hofstra University Business Dean Patrick Socci:
"They were using the assets of the bank to hedge risk, which is something that every bank does. If it works well, nobody hears about it, and if it doesn't work well, well, then everybody jumps in and criticises."
The fiasco has rocked the financial world , sending JPMorgan shares tumbling in recent days and tarnishing its once stellar reputation among lawmakers.
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World’s leading social network to launch on stock market
16 may 2012
Facebook – the world’s favourite place to check out what your friends or acquaintances are doing online , or even in their real lives – is about to launch on the stock market.
Buzzfeed.com founder and CEO Jonah Peretti:
"What Facebook does is it takes real identity and all the connections between people and it makes a system where it has a global god's eye view of all this media being shared and it makes sure that if you ever see a thing a few times, you don't see it more times, so it can actually take this basic human impulse to share things with our friends and know what's going on in our friends' life and distill that and manage that into a product that actually works and that's a pretty amazing thing. It's tapping into something human and basic that people want to do and have tried to do with email and have tried to do with other services and haven't been able to do and it's actually solved that problem and I think that's why they're so successful."
The launch will potentially see the company valued at over a hundred billion US dollars, making it worth more than some of the best known names in American business – such as Ford and Disney – although analysts say that staying at the top isn’t as easy as you might think.
Greencrest Capital Management Analyst Max Wolff :
"We don't believe that the growth period for the company is in any way over. We do believe that there is a law of large numbers, that no matter how excited you are about Facebook , the law of large numbers holds, the bigger you are, the harder it is to grow.”
"The vast majority of what they make in revenue comes from people buying virtual goods inside Zynga games. That's also why Zynga is 15 percent of their revenue and probably more than 20 percent of their profit , or approaching 20 percent of their profit. And they need to do that in a whole lot of other areas."
Social media expert Peter Shankman:
"Facebook has a very large stickiness base. People come. They come back. They come back multiple times a day. That's what Facebook is counting on to drive the price of their IPO and I think they want to celebrate a little bit and they want to show off a little bit what they have."
Facebook has been going for 8 years, has getting on for a billion users worldwide, and turned in a neat profit of a billion US dollars last year.
Founder Mark Zuckerberg , who controls 57.3% of voting power over the company through shares and agreements with other shareholders , is said by some analysts to be taking a bet on the direction of digital business in the future.
Postano Sales Strategy Director Don Bell:
"I think Facebook is the social media environment to a degree. So it's whatever they do everyone else follows their lead to a degree. So we run in the wake of Facebook to a degree because that's where all the eyeballs are."
Facebook plans to sell 12.3 per cent of its shares on Thursday, and will begin trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Friday.
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Probing questions raised about huge JP Morgan losses
15 may 2012
Pressure is mounting on US bank JPMorgan Chase after its USD 2 billion loss trading blunder.
The disclosure of the loss at JP Morgan, the largest bank in the United States, has led lawmakers and critics of the banking industry to call for stricter regulation of Wall Street .
Chief Equity Strategist, Wells Fargo Advantage Fund John Manley:
"There is some question as to what the Volcker rule would have allowed them to do. In theory, they were hedging and the Volcker rule would allow them to hedge, maybe not to the degree they did. Ideally, you don't want FDIC-insured institutions speculating in very leveraged transactions. And it's very strange that it happened under Jamie Dimon's watch because Jamie's been very, very strict about keeping an eye on risk."
Many post-financial crisis rules governing risk-taking by banks are still being written and continually delayed leaving the US taxpayer exposed to another banking crisis.
President and CEO, Better Markets Inc Dennis Kelleher:
"Well, without the rules in place there's not much to stop the banks from doing their wild betting, and basically it's gambling with their money , because they get the upside and the taxpayers get the downside. So there's really no incentive to stop until the rules get put in place."
JP Morgan has been an outspoken opponent of some of the proposed regulation since the credit crisis began but has promised to get to the bottom of what happened and learn from the mistake.
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Anti-mining protests cast shadow over Gold Symposium
15 may 2012
Anti-mining protests in Peru are casting a shadow over the 10th International Gold and Silver Symposium underway in the country.
US-based Newmont Mining Corp is mulling over whether to move forward with its stalled $ 4.8 billion Conga gold project, after the Peruvian government backed down and promised to re-assess the project’s social and environmental impact , after violent protests which saw dozens injured after police opened fire on activists.
Speaking at the precious metals Symposium in Lima President of the Council of Ministers, Oscar Valdes, told the crowd of industry players and journalists that more regulation was needed and that Newmont should improve the project's environmental plan before the project could be approved.
Peru is Latin America's largest gold producer and the world's No. 2 copper and silver producer. Mining accounts for 60 percent of its exports.
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JPMorgan Chase CEO says ignoring warnings was wrong
14 may 2012
The CEO of the US’ largest bank, JPMorgan Chase , has admitted that he was wrong for dismissing warning signs that the company was pursuing bad trades that have so far led to USD 2 billion in losses.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon:
"So first of all, I was dead wrong when I said that. I obviously didn't know, 'cause I never would have said that. And one of the reasons we came public was because we wanted to say, "You know what? We told you something that was completely wrong a mere four weeks ago. And-we took a billion loss. . . I do-- I do want to put it in perspective, the company is gonna earn a lot of money this quarter. And so it's a very strong company. We made a terrible egregious mistake. There's almost no excuse for it."
The losses have been credited to bets made by London -based trader Bruno Michel Iksil, also known as the “London Whale.”
The scandal has rocked the financial world since JPMorgan emerged from the financial crisis with a strong reputation for avoiding unnecessary risk after buying out several banks that failed. The revelation has also reignited calls in Washington to increase regulations on big banks.
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Haiti miners: find USD 20 billion in precious metals
13 may 2012
Workers in Haiti as they dig for precious metals that some believe may be the answer to centuries of poverty in the island country.
Deep below the tropical ridges of the country’s mountains may lie massive amounts of gold , silver and copper which miners believe could total some USD 20 billion.
Haiti’s annual budget is a modest USD 1 billion, of which more than half is provided by foreign aid. A windfall from local resource could pay for roads, school and clean water.
Haitian engineer Michel Lamarre:
"It is fantastic for the country, fantastic. … So it will be a lot of money for the government , a lot of money, we hope, to help that region evolve, to get some people working around the area."
Though the windfall could be great for Haitians , the government has been repeatedly rated as one of the most corrupt in the world, and unless the resource is fairly managed, much of the profit could flow into the pockets of government officials.
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JP Morgan Chase announce loss of over USD 2 billion
13 may 2012
JPMorgan Chase has announced a trading loss of at least 2 billion US dollars from a failed hedging strategy.
The shock disclosure has hit financial stocks and the reputation of the bank and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, who admitted the bank had made a few errors.
JP Morgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon:
"We know we were sloppy. We know we were stupid. We know there was bad judgment. We don't know if any of that is true yet. Of course regulators should look at something like this, that's their jobs. So we are totally open to regulators and they will come to their own conclusions. But we intend to fix it and learn from it and be a better company when it's done."
It appears that the losses were linked to London -based trader Bruno Michel Iksil, who amassed an outsized position that prompted hedge funds to bet against it. Also known as the ‘London Whale’, Iksil has allegedly compared himself to Jesus by saying he could ‘walk on water’ according to his Bloomberg trading profile.
But critics of the alleged speculative trading have called for legislation to prevent government -insured banks taking big risks on the markets with their own money.
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Fiscal uncertainty forces nationalisation of Bankia
11 may 2012
Spain 's government has effectively nationalised one of the country's largest banks called Bankia after days of uncertainty over the lender's viability.
In a deal that will give the state a 45 percent indirect stake in Bankia, the conservative government of Mariano Rajoy will take control of its parent company BFA by converting into equity a 4.5 billion euro loan it had previously given the financial group.
Holding 10 percent of deposits in Spain's banking system, Bankia is by far the largest of eight banks that the government has rescued over recent years. With more than 30 billion euros of exposure to troubled loans and repossessed land and buildings , the government is expected to give Bankia up to 10 billion euros in additional aid.
Uncertainty over the final cost of the country's banking reform has forced down Bankia's share price by about 40 percent and driven up the price of Spanish debt. A huge rescue plan may put Spain's fiscal solvency into question and with the country in need of international aid, the survival of the euro zone could be at stake.
The Euro has been hovering near recent lows since the announcement of the results from the French and Greek elections .
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Iraqi currency keeps dropping against US dollar
10 may 2012
The Iraqi dinar exchange rate against the US dollar has dropped 10 percent in the last few months with experts attributing the trend to a rapid increase in demand for US dollars in Syria.
As Syria continues to grapple with economic sanctions applied by the international community, it remains hungry for US dollars, which flow readily across the border from neighbouring Iraq . Iraqi experts believe that the resulting scarcity of US dollars available in Iraq is the driving force behind the current downturn in the dinar exchange rate against the American currency.
The Iraqi government has intensified its monitoring of US dollar transactions, but with the violence and insecurity in Syria looking unlikely to end anytime soon, the outlook for economic stability in the region remains bleak.
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Unmanned planes and trains have existed for years
10 may 2012
For many years auto-pilot systems have existed to fly planes without pilots , and since 2002 driverless metro systems have been shifting people around cities like Copenhagen in Denmark.
Now, for the first time ever, the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles in the US has approved autonomous vehicles on the state’s public roads .
The state approved a licence application by Google to allow the testing of self-driving cars .
The vehicles use a laser radar on the roof of the vehicle to detect obstacles, pedestrians and other cars, and with the help of GPS and a bit of artificial intelligence, the car can drive itself with very little or no intervention from the human sitting inside.
Google was the first company to file an application to test their autonomous system and other auto manufacturers are said to be interested in testing in Nevada in the future, possibly opening a whole new test industry for the western state.
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Moody’s rating agency downgrades Israeli banks
9 may 2012
International credit rating agency Moody's has downgraded Israel's five biggest banks for fear of weak profitability compared to similar banks worldwide.
The downgrade follows a recent evaluation by Fitch credit rating agency that had set Israel's credit rating it to A, giving the economy a stable outlook and predicting growth of 3.5% in 2013.
According to Moody's, the rating downgrades are driven by expectations that the banks' underlying profitability will remain weak due to their rigid cost bases. Their moderate earnings-generating capacity prevents significant capital build-up which, in turn, hinders loss-absorption capacity within the context of highly concentrated loan books and concerns over the performance of the housing market .
The credit rating agency added that Israeli banks display healthy liquidity profiles and stable franchises operating in a well-regulated environment.
Israel is the only Western country in which not one bank has collapsed during and as a result of the global financial crisis .
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NYC demonstration targets Bank of America
9 may 2012
Demonstrators have taken to the streets of New York to protest against Bank of America.
Dozens attended the event which accused the bank of lending irresponsibly during the boom years and being excessively aggressive in recent years in forcing the sale of homes where the owner has fallen into mortgage payment arrears, a process referred to as foreclosure. Eight people were arrested during the event.
MoveOn.org protestor Noreen Connell:
"We really want Bank of America to change its lending practices because they're the biggest foreclosure machine in the United States. We want them to reduce the principal when homes are underwater, we want them to have a moratorium on foreclosures."
About 11 million American households are "underwater", more technically referred to as in negative equity , meaning residents owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. Bank of America and other leading lenders have promised to fast track new rules to ease the burden on homeowners who cannot meet their mortgage repayments. However it seems that the housing market , which was a key trigger for the financial crisis in 2008, remains one of the most emotionally-charged legacies of the financial crisis.
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Zuckerberg meets potential investors in New York
8 may 2012
Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has met with potential investors in New York as he kicked off a cross-country roadshow to promote the company's USD 10 billion initial public offering.
The 27-year-old chief executive passed through a throng of media as he arrived and later departed the IPO roadshow presentation which was attended by hundreds of investors but closed to the media.
The world's largest social network aims to raise about USD 10.6 billion, and current indications point to an IPO range of USD 28 to USD 35 a share, which would value the company at USD 77 billion to USD 96 billion.
The size of the IPO reflects the company's growth and bullish expectations about its money-making potential as a hub for everything from advertising to commerce. Many investors say they expect Facebook to raise its offer price-range as the roadshow progresses from New York to major cities such as Chicago, Boston and San Francisco.
But there are persistent concerns about Facebook’s longer-term growth.
Greencrest Capital Management Analyst Max Wolff:
"We don't believe that the growth period for the company is in any way over. We do believe there is law of large numbers and that no matter how excited you are about Facebook , the law of large numbers holds and the bigger you are the harder it is for you to grow. That being said we still think the company is a growth story."
With 900 million users, Facebook is challenging established Web businesses such as Google and Yahoo for consumers' online time and advertising dollars.
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Black returns to Canada after release from US prison
5 may 2012
Vilified former press baron Conrad Black has arrived back at Toronto home after his release from prison in the US, where he had spent almost four years after being convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice .
Black was found guilty in 2007 of scheming to siphon off millions of dollars in proceeds from the sale of newspapers as they unwound Hollinger International, once the world's third-largest publisher of English-language newspapers .
It operated the Jerusalem Post , London's Daily Telegraph among dozens of other newspapers.
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The Arab Spring has boosted UAE’s tourism market
5 may 2012
The 19th Arabian Travel Market fair held this week in Dubai has shown strong growth in UAE's tourism market.
Figures from the tourism industry are highlighting a reinvigorated confidence in the UAE market, as the fallout from the Arab Spring has given a boost to tourism to the UAE. More tourists are now seeing the UAE as an alternative to regional destinations with ongoing political turmoil and unrest.
Al-Maha Desert Resort Manager Patrick Antaki:
"Tourism here in the UAE is on the increase. We had an amazing start to 2012. A great 2011. As long as Emirates Airline keeps expanding and as long as other countries in the region don't get their internal politics right, there will be more and more people coming here."
Events and Promotions have played a big part in enticing tourists to Dubai, with shopping festivals like the Dubai Shopping Festival and Dubai Summer Surprises have attracted an influx of tourists into the country.
CEO of Dubai Events and Promotions Laila Suhail:
"We had over 3 million to Dubai during the shopping festival in 2011. And we look forward to achieving similar numbers this year."
Dubai has seen 2.9 million hotel guests in the first quarter of this year, up nine percent from last year. At the same time, Abu Dhabi is also aggressively expanding its tourism industry. From sporting events and venues to luxurious hotels, it seems to be paying off with hotel guests up 17 percent from last year.
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Facebook IPO aims to raise about USD 10.6 billion
5 may 2012
Facebook aims to raise about USD 10.6 billion in Silicon Valley's largest initial public offering, dwarfing the coming-out parties of tech companies like Google and granting the world's largest social network a market value close to Amazon.com.
The eight-year-old social network that began as Mark Zuckerberg 's Harvard dorm room project indicated an initial public offering price range of between and USD a share, which would value the company from billion to billion USD.
The size of the IPO reflects the company's growth and bullish expectations about its money-making potential as a hub for everything from advertising to commerce .
Social media expert Peter Shankman:
"The Facebook IPO is definitely being considered by most people within the industry as sort of the benchmark of all amazing IPOs to ever hit the market. Everyone's saying it's going to be the world's largest. There's no doubt it's going to be it. In the very beginning there's going to be a frenzy like which we've never seen."
Facebook's stock could begin trading as soon as May 18. The offering's price range can be adjusted depending on Wall Street 's response.
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Samsung unveils latest challenger to Apple
4 may 2012
South Korean manufacturer Samsung has released its latest offering on to the smartphone market. The SIII boasts a bigger screen and faster processor than its predecessor, the SII, but the real measure of its success will be in whether or not it can dent the market share of Apple ’s dominant iPhone.
Research Director At CCS Insight Ben Wood:
"It's the Galaxy SIII. It's the biggest bet Samsung's every made in smartphone and they're building on the heritage they've got with the Galaxy brand and they're combining this with their massive sponsorship of the Olympic Games . This is a big play, Samsung chasing after Apple's iPhone."
Apple and Samsung have a near duopoly in high-end smartphones, but most analysts say that whilst the South Korean manufacturer can turn out top-quality hardware, it lags behind its rival in terms of software and apps.
With a joint project between Nokia and Microsoft not expected to make any significant impression on the market anytime soon, it remains to Apple and Samsung to battle it out for the title of “top smartphone” for the foreseeable future.
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
Business
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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