World Roundup: Farewell to Afghanistan’s final Jew

From Chanukah celebrations in a Havana prison to an Austrian mayor calling for journalists to be “hanged like Jews”, its our patented World Roundup, dated 09/12/2013.[divider]

Cuba

Leaders of Cuba’s Jewish community have said they celebrated Chanukah in a Havana prison with jailed Jewish American subcontractor Alan Gross. The 64-year old was detained four years ago after installing illegal communications equipment for the island’s Jewish community.

Canada

The ultra-Orthodox group Lev Tahor continues to defy investigators after moving from Quebec to Ontario last month. The secretive sect is subject to a child welfare probe, with authorities looking into “squalid living conditions, cases of neglect, psychological abuse and health problems”.

Australia

The child sex scandal engulfing Australia’s Jewish community took another turn this week, when a former leader at Melbourne’s Yeshiva College was arrested on allegations that he raped a student in the school’s synagogue. Rabbi Abraham Glick, the former principal, has now been “stood down”.

Ukraine

Some Ukrainian Jewish groups have expressed their fears that huge anti-government protests in Kiev are leading to a surge in support for nationalist groups. The Svoboda party, whose leaders are frequently cited as anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi, has been prominent in organising the rallies.

Austria

The mayor of the Austrian town has resigned after saying that journalists should be “hanged like Jews”. During a council meeting, Gföhl city mayor Karl Simlinger said: “I don’t give a shit about asylum seekers, but the journalists are to be blamed. They should be hanged; they are like the Jews.”

Afghanistan

The last Jew in Afghanistan may be leaving, it has been revealed. Zabulon Simintov, who has now become a minor celebrity through, said his café faces closure because the deteriorating security in Kabul. Simintov’s rivalry with the next-to-last Jew, who died in 2005, inspired a play.