National

Specter's Jewish Backers Pull Out All the Stops

By:

With U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) trailing his erstwhile GOP primary opponent Pat Toomey in several recent polls and seemingly facing a difficult path to re-election in 2010, a number of longtime Jewish backers are vowing to stand by their man. They are actively raising funds for Specter, whom they hail as a stalwart supporter of Israel and one of...

National

Facebook Faces a Quandary

By:

Aaron Passman, JE Feature

A quiz on the popular social-networking site Facebook asking "What Religion Are You?" contains results for Jews that could be labeled offensive and anti-Semitic. Respondents can fall into one of seven "faith" categories, including Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Buddhist or Wiccan. The quiz contains seven multiple-choice questions, many of which have the option of anti-Semitic responses. For example, one question...

National

Crush of People Helps, Hinders Mood in D.C.

By:

Aaron Passman, JE Feature

WASHINGTON, D.C. — When the buses left around four in the morning, most people were only sure of two things -- that lines would be long, and it would be cold. Among the lines, the craziness, the crowds and the festive environment, the 56th presidential inauguration often felt like a trip to Disneyland -- only the theme park was the...

Israel

Peering Into the Minds of Suicide Bombers and Their Dispatchers

By:

Bryan Schwartzman

Israeli criminologist Anat Berko, a slightly built mother of three who favors putting her knee-length hair into a ponytail, readily compares herself to the fictional character Clarice Starling, the FBI agent who memorably came face to face with sociopathic evil in the form of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. (Jodie Foster won an Oscar for portraying Starling in the film version of...

National

Good-Friday Prayer Sparks Team of Theologians to Take Some Action

By:

Aaron Passman, JE Feature

Relations between Germany's Catholics and Jews have seen real progress over the past few decades, a German reverend and theological scholar said last month to a Philadelphia audience. Much of that progress had to do with the groundbreaking work of Pope John Paul II, whose papacy was dedicated to undoing some of the anti-Jewish rhetoric that was long embedded in...