Leader pledges to fight hate crimes

Scottish Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland has assured Jewish community members that hate crime will be taken seriously on his watch.

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Rabbi back after abuse comments

A senior Sydney rabbi who removed himself from the presidency of the Rabbinical Council to "clear his name" following controversial comments he made about child abuse has resumed his role.

Rabbi Yosef Feldman stood aside from his post after the July 29 edition of the Australian Jewish News called for his resignation following the publication of blistering extracts of a leaked email exchange abo

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This case should send a clear message on the law

Chanan Reitblat, a normally confident, outgoing student, contacted me late at night about a "vile hate-crime" that he had suffered. For me, this was a clear welfare issue - a student going through a traumatic time, needing support, space and time.

After he had finished with the police, he came to stay with me.

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Ebay book arrives with hate graffiti

Police are investigating after antisemitic graffiti and swastikas were discovered on an invoice for books sent from Britain to Israel via eBay.

Israeli Faith Romano said she was shocked to discover the words "Hitler", "SS" and "Jude" on an invoice sent to her son Michael, 24, who lives in Roash Hay'ayin.

The invoice, which accompanied the book Sumo: From Rite to Sport, was sent from eBay sal

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Jersey MP gets more hate mail

Jersey's deputy chief minister, Freddie Cohen, has once again been the victim of antisemitic hate mail just weeks after announcing he would step down following a racist death threat.

Senator Cohen, the former president of Jersey's 65-family Jewish community, said he and his family were left "deeply upset" after receiving the letter at his home address.

"The content is traditional, deep-roote

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Ranting taxi-driver gets year community order

A taxi driver who screamed "all Jewish children must die," at Jewish mothers outside Manchester's King David School, has been found guilty of religious harassment by a jury and sentenced to community service.

Taha Osman, 36, from Blackley in north Manchester, was stuck in traffic outside the school last October when he became involved in an argument with one parent who was collecting her two yo

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Three on hate crime charge

Three men have been charged with racially aggravated harassment against two Jews in Golders Green.
Krisztian Sandor Kovacs, 32, from Harrow, Gabor Nehez, 34, from Wembley and Mark Minoricz, 33, from Wembley, were arrested last month after an incident involving a 35-year-old and 14-year-old in Golders Green Road. They pleaded not guilty and will appear before Hendon magistrates next month.

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Inquiry into sex abuse at boys' school

Police have launched an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at an Orthodox boys' school in Australia by a former teacher serving a seven-year prison term in the US.

David Kramer fled in the early 1990s after accusations he had sexually abused boys at Yeshivah College in Melbourne between 1989 and 1993.

Kramer, 50, was jailed in 2008 after pleading guilty to molesting a 12-year-old

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Racist 'sorry' to victim

A 20-year-old man who held a lighter to the face of a 12-year-old Jewish boy and told his friends to "get to the gas chambers" has been made to apologise to the victim, via the Community Security Trust.

The incident occurred as a group of Jewish boys played on a new sports pitch in Prestwich, north Manchester, last Monday evening, and were approached by five young men.

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Pig's head left at Scots doorway

Police have said that the leaving of a pig's head outside the home of a Jewish woman in Aberdeen is not a racial incident.

The head, reportedly with a knife stuck in it, was left on the doorstep of the woman on Friday evening the week before last.

But Grampian Police stated this week: "Following our initial inquiries we can confirm the incident is being treated as a breach of the peace and n

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Car hooligans sentenced

Two men who sped their car around north Manchester Jewish neighbourhoods, screaming hard-core antisemitic abuse, have escaped jail terms and received community orders.

Aaron Hanson, 20, pleaded guilty on May 9 to racially-aggravated intentional harassment, while Liam Martin, 21, admitted to intentional harassment. They risked prison terms after two witnesses testified against them.

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Rabbi sex conviction in doubt

The high-profile conviction of a Brooklyn rabbi on sex abuse charges has been thrown into doubt amid allegations of witness tampering and blackmail.

Baruch Lebovits, 60, was jailed for up to 32 years after being convicted by a Brooklyn court last year of sexually abusing a teenage boy.

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Overcome abuse? Yes we can

So anyway, I want to tell you about two encounters I had this week with the community. Encounters that don't seem to be related, but are.

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'Bang, my mum would cop it'

One reader contacted the JC after enduring a lifetime of abuse from his father. After confronting his mother two weeks ago and having his concerns rejected, the 31-year-old from Essex wrote a 10,000-word account of his abusive childhood.

Although we know his identity, we have kept it hidden to protect his mother, who still lives with his father.

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Charedim report antisemitic abuse

Anti-social behaviour targeted against Manchester's strictly Orthodox community is to be investigated by local councillors and police.

Prestwich councillor Vic D'Albert told a local area partnership meeting that town planners had been "taken aback" by the large number of Charedim who reported anti-social behaviour at a consultation event designed to gauge public feeling about a proposed sports pitch. A key concern was instances of antisemitic abuse from drunken youths.

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Survey on violence against women

Experiences and perceptions of domestic abuse will be sought in the first survey into violence against women in the Jewish community.

Jewish Women's Aid will survey both service users and other Jewish women about domestic violence and the way it is perceived.

It will be conducted by Dr Sarah Abramson, senior policy researcher at the Board of Deputies, who said: "Whatever we might think, no research has ever found that domestic violence is more prevalent in any race, ethnic group or religion. It will affect one-in-four Jewish women.

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Help for children who witness domestic abuse

Jewish Women's Aid has expanded its services to children who have witnessed domestic abuse.

The charity, which provides advice, counselling and refuge to abused women, has recruited Nicola Wilson, a specialist children's worker.

Now JWA will offer children one-to-one support, group sessions and after-school activities, and mothers support to deal with the effect on children of being in an abusive household.

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