NEW YORK — Herman Wouk was a prize-winning, million-selling author never quite in fashion. He was a religious Jew among secular peers, a respecter of authority in a field of rebels. He didn't brag like Norman Mailer and was spared the demons driving the madness of Philip Roth's "Portnoy's Complaint."...
Hate Crime Charges Filed Against Poway Synagogue Shooting Suspect
SAN DIEGO — Federal officials announced Thursday that they have filed 109 hate crime charges against the man suspected of opening fire in a Poway synagogue and said he called a 911 dispatcher afterward to report that he had done it to "defend my nation" against the Jewish people. The...
Report: Violent Anti-Semitic Attacks in US Doubled in 2018
Violent attacks against the Jewish community in the United States doubled last year, while overall attacks that also include vandalism and harassment remained near record-high levels, the Anti-Defamation League reported Tuesday. The Jewish civil rights group released its annual census of anti-Semitic incidents three days after a gunman opened fire at a...
Pro-Equality Group: Israel Questions US Activist at Airport
JERUSALEM — Israeli authorities extensively interrogated a Jewish American activist leaving the country about her work with a non-profit organization, the group said Tuesday. Israel has come under scrutiny in the past for detaining and interrogating pro-Palestinian activists and prominent critics at its borders, but the Abraham Initiatives called this...
Dems Struggle to Respond to Omar Over Israel, Bigotry
WASHINGTON — House Democrats are struggling with how to declare they are against bigotry, bias and racism after progressives challenged an effort to rebuke freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar for her remarks on Israel. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged during a closed meeting on Wednesday that her caucus faces "internal issues"...
Trump Tweets That Omar’s Israel Remarks Mark a ‘Dark Day’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday that Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar's newest remarks about Israel mark a "dark day" for the Jewish state. His comment came as House Democrats prepared a resolution by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats, declaring that the House opposes anti-Semitism and bigotry. Some Republicans...
Iranian-American Nurture New Generations After Revolution
IRVINE — Minoo Sharifan came to the United States from Iran in the 1970s for graduate school, and like many others, wound up settling in America, starting a career and raising her family while a revolution upended her homeland and fractured relations with the U.S. The two countries remain bitter...
Germany: Merkel Warns of Modern Racism on Kristallnacht 80th
BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel and Germany's main Jewish leader warned against tolerating modern-day anti-Semitism and racism as they marked the 80th anniversary Friday of the Nazis' anti-Jewish Kristallnacht, or "Night of Broken Glass," pogrom. On Nov. 9, 1938, Jews were terrorized throughout Germany and Austria. At least 91 people...
Fresno Vigils Tonight Will Remember Pittsburgh Synagogue Victims
Two Fresno synagogues will hold vigils Tuesday night (Oct. 30) to honor the memories of the 11 people murdered in Pittsburgh on Saturday. Temple Beth Israel (6622 N. Maroa, Fresno) will hold “A Gathering of Peace and Understanding” event led by Rabbi Rick Winer. The Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno will...
Immigrant, Muslim Groups Lead Fundraising Efforts for Synagogue Victims
Following Saturday's massacre at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue, two crowdfunding appeals have raised close to $725,000 to assist the victims as of Monday morning. Since launching, a campaign on the GoFundMe site had collected nearly $600,000 in donations as of Monday morning while a separate effort on the LaunchGood...