By Cnaan Liphshiz Jewish Telegraphic Agency PRAIA, Cape Verde — A Portuguese rabbi and a Moroccan diplomat stood shoulder to shoulder in a Catholic cemetery here while 200 mourners howled in grief as they buried a resident of this island off the western coast of Africa. The foreigners had come to Cape Verde’s main cemetery [ Read More...]

Canadian PM defends support of Israel, questions arming Syrian rebels (JNS) Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper called Israel “the one stable, democratic ally in this part of the world” and expressed frustration with lack of current support for the Jewish state on a visit to New York City on Thursday. He also criticized the idea of [ Read More...]

By Shlomo Cesana and Israel Hayom JointMedia News Service An Israeli government review of the death of 12-year-old Muhammad al-Dura during the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 has officially debunked a French television report suggesting he was killed by direct Israel Defense Forces fire. The 36-page report, which was presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on [ Read More...]

By Alex Traiman JointMedia News Service The recently reported Israeli airstrikes on Syria, which were neither confirmed nor denied by the Jewish state, targeted weapons depots allegedly storing Iranian-made weapons intended for the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah. While the transfer of high-grade weapons may pose a direct threat to Israel’s security, there are greater questions [ Read More...]

Syria is target of reported Israeli airstrikes

By Alina Dain Sharon JointMedia News Service Since the Boston Marathon explosions in April, the largely Muslim Russian territory of the North Caucasus has come back to the forefront via Chechnya, where the family of the Boston bombers’ father originated, and nearby Dagestan, the native land of the bombers’ mother and where the elder Tsarnaev [ Read More...]

By Alex Traiman JointMedia News Service As tensions brewed along Israel’s northern border with Syria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left the country for highly anticipated talks with leaders of one of the world’s superpowers. To the surprise of many who closely follow Israeli geopolitics, that superpower is not the United States, but China. Netanyahu’s [ Read More...]

By Cnaan Liphshiz Jewish Telegraphic Agency DAKAR, Senegal – Struggling to be heard over a flock of bleating sheep, Israel’s ambassador to Senegal invites a crowd of impoverished Muslims to help themselves to about 100 sacrificial animals that the embassy corralled at a dusty community center here. The October distribution, held as French troops battled [ Read More...]

Iran, Egypt, other Muslim countries top violators of religious freedom, report finds (JNS) Iran, Egypt and several other Muslim nations are among the world’s top violators of religious freedom, particularly for their anti-Christian and anti-Semitic persecution, according to the 2013 annual report released by the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The report singled [ Read More...]

By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON – When it comes to the latest Arab peace initiative, two questions are circulating in Washington: Why Qatar? And why now? The three answers: Because Qatar is rich; it is scared; and why not? Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani, the Qatari prime minister and foreign [ Read More...]