Jerusalem Controversy

JERUSALEM (AP) — Religious authorities cancelled or limited weekly prayer gatherings across the Middle East on Friday to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus as they encouraged the faithful to pray for those afflicted by the global pandemic. Iran, which is mired in the worst outbreak in the…

JERUSALEM (AP) — Religious authorities cancelled or limited weekly prayer gatherings across the Middle East on Friday to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus as they encouraged the faithful to pray for those afflicted by the global pandemic.Iran, which is mired in the worst outbreak in the region,…

After finishing up his prayers at the Western Wall on Tuesday, 22-year-old Mendel Leib puckered up and pressed his lips against the cold, ancient limestone, holding contact for three slow seconds as he wrinkled his eyes shut in one last personal plea. The gesture is customary among spiritually overwhelmed worshipers…

Israel’s chief rabbis, David Lau and Yitzhak Yosef, issued religious edicts on Thursday instructing observant Jews to obey health officials’ instructions to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. “No halachic instruction exists that would overrule the instructions of the Health Ministry,” wrote Yosef, the Sephardi chief rabbi. “The halachic…

NAZARETH—So far, 58 Israelis have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus illness, but close to 400,000 out of this country’s 9 million citizens are being affected by the new quarantine imposed to fight it.As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced new strictures on all arrivals, no matter from where, only a…

The movie featured a key sequence set in Jerusalem, in which the Israeli authorities quarantine healthy people in the courtyard of the Western Wall compound. Jews gather at the Western Wall on February 16 under the slogan, ’The Nation of Israel prays for China,' calling for the eradication of the…

Posted: 03/05/20 | March 5th, 2020Home to incredible historical and religious sites, the mineral-rich Dead Sea (which is also the lowest point on Earth), a lively nightlife, and a world-class food scene, Israel has a lot to offer visiting travelers.Though a small country that doesn’t take too long to drive…

Marc Tirl/ DPA Picture Alliance/Alamy) “Jerusalem seemed quiet and thoughtful that winter,” Amos Oz writes in his final novel, Judas (2016). “From time to time, church bells rang out. A westerly breeze stirred the tops of the cypresses.” It’s a lovely image, but Jerusalem wasn’t at all quiet and thoughtful…

This week’s carnival procession in the Belgian town of Aalst, which featured Nazi uniforms, costumes of Jews as vermin and several other anti-Semitic tropes, was widely condemned by Jewish groups, Israeli officials and even the government in Brussels. But Michael Freilich, the only Orthodox Jew currently serving in Belgium’s national…

AALST, Belgium (Reuters) - A satirical Belgian carnival parade decried by Israel’s foreign minister as “hateful” went ahead on Sunday despite being withdrawn from the United Nation’s list of recognized cultural events over accusations of racism and anti-Semitism. Revellers in costumes attend a carnival parade in Aalst, Belgium February 23,…