World Roundup: Restoring Karachi’s Jewish cemetery
From an ancient Order of the Knights Hospitallers to the snowy collapse of the State Jewish Theatre in Bucharest, it’s our patented World Roundup, dated 03/02/2014.
Country: Rwanda
A Rwandan youth village for child orphans from the 1994 genocide was this week mourning the death of its Jewish founder. South African Anne Heyman, 52, died late last week in a horse-riding accident in Florida. Together with her husband, she raised $12 million to build Agahozo-Shalom.
Country: Bolivia
The Jewish community of Bolivia has inaugurated the country’s first ever Jewish museum with financial help from Germany. The museum in Cochabamba, 250 miles southeast of the capital La Paz, commemorates the European Jews who fled the Nazis, founding a number of kibbutzim.
Country: Poland
A fashion label is being credited with making Jewish culture “sexy and cool” in Poland after launching a range of clothing with slogans designed to shock mothers. One shirt reads: “Oy oy, my boy is goy,” while in others the menorah is incorporated into the head of Cupid’s arrow.
Country: Pakistan
The tiny Jewish community of Karachi has asked the courts for permission to re-establish the synagogue and restore the city’s Jewish cemetery, in a bid to return a Jewish presence to Pakistan. The synagogue was demolished 25 years ago to make way for a new shopping centre.
Country: Romania
City officials have pledged to help fix the roof of the State Jewish Theatre in Bucharest, which collapsed after a heavy snowstorm last week. Nobody was injured, but the 19th century building has been closed as a result. Hundreds of people attend performances four nights a week.
Country: Malta
Israel and Malta have issued a joint postage stamp recalling the two countries’ shared history of the Order of the Knights Hospitallers that began in Jerusalem over 900 years ago. The stamp, celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties, features the Order’s refectory in the Israeli city of Acre.
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