Your Daily Spiel is The CJN‘s daily roundup of trending stories in the Jewish world
CANADA
Jews in particular were proud when it was revealed that a 112-year-old Holocaust survivor living in Israel is the world’s oldest man, but many are unaware of a Montreal genealogist’s assistance in officiating the matter.
At a recent panel discussion in Toronto, three Jewish groups offered their input on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, agreeing that the current prospects for Mideast peace are poor.
UNITED STATES
Anti-Semitic graffiti, discovered recently on a stall of the men’s bathroom at a University of Buffalo student residence, reportedly threatened violence against Jews. “I’ve never seen any form of anti-Semitism like that before,” Andrew Meyer, president of the campus Jewish Student Union, told the student newspaper. “I’ve seen swastikas in the past, but that is nothing compared to this.”
In a new interview, GOP senator Lindsey Graham said that Republican front-runner Donald Trump would be “worse” than Obama for U.S. foreign policy and Israel, specifically. It should be noted that Graham has been a fierce critic of Obama’s policies.
The U.S. has validated years of Israeli research on medical marijuana, with American firms recently investing around $50 million (US) in licensing Israeli medical marijuana patents, cannabis agro-tech start-ups, and companies developing delivery devices such as inhalers, scientists say.
ISRAEL
New details have emerged surrounding the highly-publicized court case of an unnamed IDF soldier who shot dead a prone Palestinian attacker. According to Ynet, the details strengthen suspicions against the soldier, who could be facing manslaughter charges.
An Arab woman who delivered her baby at the Israel-Jordan border crossing was so grateful to the IDF soldier who helped her that she named her baby after him.
Israel’s Gett, the Jewish answer to Uber, has purchased Radio Taxis, a British black cab service, for at least “several million pounds,” according to a source.
WORLD
In a first, Russia opened a Jewish prayer space for women in prison. Jewish convicts were apparently thrilled to learn of the news.
A Belgian hotline operator was fired after he told a Jewish caller that Israel doesn’t exist. The caller was a volunteer with Antwerp’s Jewish community, and was calling on behalf of people who were injured during the March 22 attacks in Brussels.
EgyptAir hijacker Seif Eddin Mustafa reportedly boasted about killing Israelis, his ex-wife said in an interview. She also said that, contrary to reports, Mustafa did not ask to see her.
Newly released documents indicate that the U.K. denied compensation to thousands of Holocaust survivors who were unable to prove they were detained in concentration camps.
A Jordanian basketball tournament was organized for this week to promote the BDS movement against Israel. “We organized the competition to explain to Jordanian sportsmen the importance of supporting the boycott and refusing to participate in sports competitions that promote peace and normalization of relations with Israel,” the Jordanian BDS movement posted on its website.
The story of how two men were able to track the diary of Nazi theorist Alfred Rosenberg (who is believed to have helped shape Hitler’s position on the Jewish people) is the focus of a new book, The Devil’s Diary: Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich.
CULTURE
Jewish Family & Child Services is hosting a cringe-worthy event in Toronto next Wednesday, with proceeds going to children either in its care or part of families below the poverty line. The event will feature real people telling real and embarrassing stories from their adolescence. You won’t want to miss it.
Microsoft’s Twitter bot Tay Tweets is back after a failed experiment that saw it (or her?) turn into a Hitler-loving xenophobe. Sadly, despite modifications, Tay’s return to the fray this time around saw her (it) become a weed-smoking, alcoholic rebel. Work on the AI bot is reportedly ongoing.
So Debra Messing and Susan Sarandon are apparently feuding over Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and who’d they vote for. Warning: there’s a lot of back and forth here….
.@DebraMessing if it weren’t for Sanders & whose interests HC doesn’t represent, it is a dilemma. (2/2)
— Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) March 30, 2016
Archer, the hilarious animated television show starring Jewish voice actor genius H. Jon Benjamin launches its seventh season tonight. Stoked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhaEowME4T0
Click here for yesterday’s edition of Your Daily Spiel
Send ideas, news items to [email protected]
