Family of ‘starved’ child to seek refuge in Britain

The family of the three-year-old boy allegedly starved by his mother in Jerusalem plan to move to London and be supported by British taxpayers “as soon as possible”, according to the toddler’s grandmother.

The woman said her son and pregnant daughter-in-law would “run to Stamford Hill” with their five children as soon as legal proceedings against the mother are concluded.

Once in Britain, the grandmother said the couple, both in their 30s, would seek housing benefits and the help of the Charedi community in Stamford Hill, where she and other family members already live.

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Stolen scroll sheds light on exile days

A 2,000-year-old papyrus fragment offering rare evidence of early Jewish history was seized by police in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Two men were arrested.

The 15 lines of Hebrew, written in the style of the Dead Sea Scrolls, contains a the phrase “year four to the destruction of Israel” — a reference possibly to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70CE or the Roman defeat of the Bar Kochba revolt nearly 70 years later.

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Jews and Muslims vow to protest against the Pope

Muslim and Jewish protesters are planning to disrupt the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Israel next month.

Residents of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City are planning a demonstration against the closure of the area around the Western Wall for 12 hours during the visit. Protesters have vowed to flock to the Wall and remain there for the duration of the stay.

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Jerusalem: Yad Vashem cash woe

Holocaust research and commemoration programmes have been hit by the global recession and Israel’s security problems.

Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, which opened a new $50m museum four years ago, has been forced to freeze some of its main programmes. Among them was an initiative to collect the names of all the Jews murdered in the Holocaust — with 3.5 million gathered so far; to record survivors’ testimonies; and to compile an encyclopedia of Jewish communities.

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Jerusalem murder is solved

Clues to a mystery that is more than 60 years old will be revealed next week at an intriguing Jerusalem press conference.

On May 6 1947, a 16-year-old volunteer for the hard right-wing Stern Group in pre-state Palestine, Alexander Haim Rubowitz, was distributing political leaflets on a Jerusalem street corner. The teenager was abducted by men who identified themselves as British police officers — and was never seen again.

He was presumed to have been murdered by his abductors, but his body

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Manchester minister dies in Jerusalem

A well-known Manchester personality has died in Jerusalem from a brain tumour. Rabbi Ephraim Groundland, 76, was the minister of Higher Prestwich Synagogue for 17 years from 1959 and was the major fundraiser for its first building.

He also served as the rabbi of Stockport and Southport congregations, and after moving to Israel, travelled the globe raising money for the Israeli anti-missionary organisation, Pe’ilim. Rabbi Groundland has additionally officiated at festival services in Marbella.

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Lauder remains WJC head

Ronald S. Lauder has been re-elected as president of the World Jewish Congress at the 13th Plenary Assembly in Jerusalem. Eduardo Elsztain of Argentina was elected chairman of the WJC Governing Board, while the UK’s Flo Kaufmann was re-elected as a vice-president.

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