Gabe Friedman (JTA) Archives

Gabe Friedman (JTA)

Grzegorz Braun seen shortly after using a fire extinguisher on a Hanukkah menorah in Poland's parliament building in Warsaw, Dec. 12, 2023. JTA: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

December 13, 2023, 10:38 am

Far-right MP Grzegorz Braun shocks Polish parliament by using fire extinguisher on chanukiah

A rabbi described the scene to the Jewish Telegraph Agency as the Catholic church issued a statement apologising to “the entire Jewish community in Poland.”

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

Leonard Bernstein, left and Bradley Cooper, right.

September 6, 2023, 10:50 am

Makeup artist apologises over prosthetic nose in Leonard Bernstein film

“My goal was and Bradley’s goal was to portray Lenny as authentic as possible,” Kazu Hiro said.

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

George Simion, president of Romania's right-wing AUR party, attends a protest about COVID-19 rules in Bucharest, Dec. 21, 2021. (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images)

August 30, 2023, 9:11 am

This Romanian party called the Holocaust a ‘minor topic.’ Israel’s envoy just met with its leader

Last year, the nationalist AUR party issued a statement calling Holocaust education, which had been recently mandated in Romanian high schools, a “minor topic.”

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

Ben Kingsley participates in a Q&A after a screening of "Dalíland" at Landmark's Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles, June 10, 2023. (Elyse Jankowski/Getty Images)

August 15, 2023, 9:08 am

Actor Ben Kingsley reveals why he stars in so many Holocaust films

Kingsley picked the roles because his “vigorously antisemitic” grandmother motivated him to want to speak out on the issue of antisemitism.

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

A helicopter flies over Limassol, Cyprus, June 21, 2023. (Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)

June 27, 2023, 9:23 am

Israel: Iran planned terror attacks on sites popular with Jews and Israelis in Cyprus

Iran funds terrorist activity around the world and has long called for violence against Israel. In 2021, Israel publicly accused Iran of planning an attack in Cyprus.

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/JINIPIX)

June 17, 2023, 8:57 pm

Putin: ‘My Jewish friends say Zelensky is not Jewish’

Russian President also said Zelensky has “Jewish blood” but puts “neo-Nazis, Hitler’s disciples” on “a pedestal as heroes of Ukraine.”

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

A fence in Vienna surrounds the statue of Karl Lueger, the antisemitic former mayor of the Austrian capital, Oct. 6, 2020. (Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images)

June 7, 2023, 10:33 am

Vienna to tilt statue of antisemitic mayor 3.5 degrees to the right to shift ‘perspective’

Karl Lueger served as mayor for 13 years until his death in 1910. He was known for antisemitic rhetoric that is said to have inspired Hitler, who lived in Vienna as a young man.

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

Elon Musk looks at a business summit at the Chateau de Versailles, outside Paris, May 15, 2023. (Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

May 31, 2023, 9:38 am

Israeli health ministry calls out Elon Musk for sharing ‘fake news’ on COVID-19

Musk had replied to a tweet from Zero Hedge, claiming Israeli data showed “zero young healthy individuals died of COVID-19.”

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

Brandon Uranowitz, left, as Nathan, and Arty Froushan as Leo. The latter character is a stand-in for Stoppard. (Joan Marcus)

May 23, 2023, 8:14 am

Spielberg involved in possible TV adaptation of ‘Leopoldstadt,’ Tom Stoppard’s Holocaust play

'Leopoldstadt' follows a Viennese Jewish family through multiple generations before and after the horrors of the Holocaust.

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

Roger Waters at a news conference in Rome, Jan. 16, 2018. He is a leading celebrity in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. (Ernesto S. Ruscio/Getty Images)

April 26, 2023, 10:37 am

Frankfurt can’t cancel Roger Waters concert over his antisemitism record, court rules

The Frankfurt court ruled that because Rogers “did not glorify or relativise the crimes of the Nazis or identify with Nazi racist ideology” in past concerts, it was not appropriate to cancel the upcoming one.

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

April 26, 2023, 10:31 am

Tens of thousands of Chasidic Jews flood tiny town for ‘miracle rabbi’ pilgrimage

Since the fall of communism in 1989, Jewish pilgrims have been visiting Bodrogkeresztur in April, timed to the death of Rabbi Yeshaya Steiner whom some believe had special powers.

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

A Credit Suisse building is seen in Geneva, Switzerland, April 4, 2023. (Lian Yi/Xinhua via Getty Images)

April 20, 2023, 9:12 am

Credit Suisse is impeding probe into Nazi bank accounts, US lawmakers say

In 1999, the Swiss bank paid Jewish groups and Holocaust survivors a settlement of £1 billion in restitution for withholding money from Jews who had tried to withdraw their funds.

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

Dudu Tassa, left, shown with Jonny Greenwood. (Shin Katan)

April 18, 2023, 10:24 am

Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood made an album with Israeli rocker Dudu Tassa

Radiohead have been the targets of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, especially in the lead-up to their 2017 concert in Tel Aviv.

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, left, meets with Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau in Warsaw, March 22, 2023. (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

April 11, 2023, 10:58 am

Yad Vashem denounces Poland’s demanded additions to Israeli student trips as ‘inappropriate’

Leading historians have condemned the development, arguing that the new trip rules advance what they call Poland’s track record of obscuring its Holocaust record.

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

Agatha Christie in 1964. (Joop van Bilsen/Anefo/Wikimedia Commons)

March 28, 2023, 1:10 pm

Agatha Christie novels edited to remove offensive references to Jews

Comments deleted include Hercule Poirot’s description of a character as “a Jew, of course” in crime caper, 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles'

By Gabe Friedman (JTA)

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