Wednesday, March 04, 2015
Suspects identified in deadly 1982 Paris Jewish deli attack
More than 32 years after a deadly terror attack in Paris’ old Jewish quarter, French authorities have at last identified three suspects and are seeking their arrest.BDS activists interrupt Palestinian speaker in South Africa
Grenade-throwing Palestinians burst into the Jo Goldenberg deli on August 9, 1982, and sprayed machine-gun fire. Six people, including two Americans, were killed, and 21 injured. The restaurant, which has since closed, was a centerpiece tourist attraction in the famed Marais neighborhood.
Paris prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre said Wednesday that international arrest warrants have been issued for the three suspects — now aged in their late 50s and early 60s — who were believed to be members of the Abu Nidal group.
She says they are believed to be in the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Norway but declined to identify them by name, citing protocol.
A lecture by Palestinian human rights activist Bassem Eid at the University of Johannesburg was discontinued Wednesday after students barged into the venue and interrupted the speaker, calling him “a liar and a sell-out,” according to witnesses at the scene.Israeli Christian wearing a cross in the streets of Haifa, Israel
The protesters were said to be associated with the BDS movement in South Africa, which urges boycotts, divestment and sanctions against the Jewish state as a means to end Israeli control of the West Bank.
Eid was threatened with a finger to his face, at which point he was evacuated by campus security and was escorted to a waiting car outside the lecture hall, according to a press release issued by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.
What happens when you wear a cross in a major city in Israel?
With recent ‘apartheid week’ in mind, You've all seen the video showing what happens when you are a Jew in Paris with a kipa on top of your head... CEC Israel and Father Gabriel Naddaf pages joined hands with Jonathan Elkhoury, an Israeli Christian, to show you what happens when a Christian takes his cross to the main streets of Haifa.
Israeli Ambassador in Berlin reads hate letters
The Israeli embassy receives about 20 hate letters every day. We met embassador Yakov Hadas-Handelsman and let him read some of the letters to us.
PMW: PA responds to US court ruling that PA must pay $655 million to victims of terror
PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi:At meeting with WJC leader, UNESCO chief condemns Iranian Holocaust cartoon contest
"We will appeal the ruling, and we wholeheartedly believe that we will win the appeal"
"The PLO and the PA had absolutely nothing to do with these actions"
"We were denied [the status] known as 'sovereign immunity' to which we are entitled as a sovereign state"
"The PA and the PLO lack the funds necessary to pay"
"The US State Department issued a warning not to visit Israel at that time (2000-2004)... What were they [Americans] doing in a region about which there is a warning?"
MP and Commission of Prisoners' Affairs Director Issa Karake:
"The recent ruling of the American court... sets a dangerous precedent that contradicts international law"
"[It is] forbidden to deal with or appear before these courts, since their objective is to harm the PLO's standing"
PA government:
"We will continue to cast out extremism and violence from our midst, and to preserve our strong commitment to peaceful popular resistance and international, political, legal and moral justice. As always, we are absolutely prepared to be partners in the peace process."
Robert Singer, CEO of the World Jewish Congress, met in Paris with Irina Bokova, the director-general of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization.Czech President at AIPAC: World Must Unite to Destroy Muslim Brotherhood
Bokova criticized the upcoming second Iranian Holocaust cartoon contest, saying it went against UNESCO's values. The competition was launched in Iran last month in response to French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo’s decision to publish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.The winner of the contest will receive a cash prize of $12,000, the runner up $8,000 and third place $5,000, according to Iranian media reports.
The meeting came on the heels of Bokova’s veto of the inclusion of a collection of Palestine-themed posters into UNESCO’s world heritage register on the grounds that the documents could fuel anti-Semitism.
Last month, Bokova wrote in a letter to Singer, who had criticized the register’s initial acceptance of the Palestinian poster collection: “It is my conviction that UNESCO should not associate itself with such documents whose inscription could fuel hatred and anti-Semitic perceptions.” Bokova and Singer both expressed appreciation today for the other's support on this issue. Bokova stressed that some of the posters undermined UNESCO's values.
Czech Republic President Miloš Zeman told the crowd that the world must stand with Israel and the worldwide Jewish community.Child Firebomb Victim Ayala Shapira Speaks for the First Time
“The Czech Republic is the best friend of Israel all over Europe,” said Zeman. “Sometimes it is important to remember the history,” he added, before discussing how the Czech people have been friends to the modern state of Israel since its inception in 1948.
Zeman revealed his prognosis for the future battles against worldwide terrorism, and gave recommendations on how to defeat the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalism.
“But now we face the future, and it is more important,” the Czech President stressed. “There is [a] growing wave of so-called international terrorism, that I always say [is] Islamic terrorism.”
Ayala Shapira, the 11-year-old girl who was critically burned in a firebomb attack by Arab terrorists on the family car she was in with her father outside Ma'ale Shomron in Samaria late last December, has given her first interview since the attack that nearly took her life.Border Police Foil Stabbing Near Jenin
Speaking to the children's magazine "Otiot" in an interview that is to be published next week, Ayala spoke about the night that rudely shifted her life from the pleasant routine of school and play into a struggle of life and death, and which has left her in a hospital bed to this day.
The Arab terrorists lobbed Molotov cocktails at the car from out of the darkness; describing the harrowing event, Ayala recalled "we didn't see anything before, it was dark. I just saw something burning fly at us and suddenly everything exploded."
Despite the blaze which turned the car into a lethal inferno, Ayala managed to break free and save her own life.
"It's kind of funny, because I'm usually not a hero. I'm even relatively a bit of a coward," Ayala admitted. "The moment the fire caught I knew what I had to do in order to live. I put my right hand into the flames to free the seatbelt. I was on automatic."
When asked what she thinks should be done to prevent such attacks, the young girl said "I don't know what I would do, but there are much better ways than to sit in quiet and wait for them to attack us."
"We need to deal with terror. If they don't deal with the problem of the terror of the Arabs it will not stop," she emphasized.
Border Police foiled a stabbing attempt near Jenin, in Samaria, Wednesday morning.24 Firebomb and Rock-Throwing Attacks in One Day
No one was hurt in the incident.
An Arab man approached the Border Police force and aroused suspicion. The policemen detained him and found a knife in his possession. Under interrogation, he admitted that he had intended to stab a soldier or Border Policeman.
A 17-year-old terrorist youth arrived at the Gush Etzion Junction Thursday, pulled out a knife and began slashing at soldiers. A soldier standing next to the terrorist aimed and cocked his weapon, while other soldiers gained control over him.
The suspect was taken into custody for further interrogation.
Palestinian Authority and Jerusalem Arabs carried out 24 rock-throwing and Molotov cocktail attacks on Tuesday, according to the 0404 website.Haaretz Headlines, From Rock-Throwing 'Incidents' to Water-Pouring 'Attacks'
Several victims suffered light wounds, and there was no scarcity of damage to vehicles.
Security forces also foiled a terrorist attack in Samaria when Border Polices in the Jenin area in Samaria spotted a Palestinian Authority Arab who was acting suspiciously.
They searched the 25-year-old man, who turned out to be a terrorist with a knife that he admitted he planned to use to kill a Border Police officer.
Overnight, security forces arrested eight other suspects in the area of Ramallah and Hebron. Two of them were suspected terrorists.
When a Haaretz English edition page-one headline last month referred to the rock-throwing attack which left a toddler permanently, gravely disabled as a "stone-throwing incident,"Temple Mount Police Openly Defy Court Ruling on Jewish Prayer
The online headline for the same article was: "Toddler dies two years after stone-throwing incident left her critically injured." (Only the subheadline online refers to the "attack which also left her mother and two sisters wounded.".)
The article itself also adopts the term "incident" to describe the attack which left Adele Biton permanently wounded and which apparently led to her death. It began: "Adele Biton, the 4-year-old who was critically injured in a stone-throwing incident . . ."
Frantzman's criticism is particularly relevant again in light of the front-page headline in Haaretz's English edition today about an event yesterday in which right-wing protesters dumped a cup of water on the head of MK Haneen Zoabi. The headline is: "MK Haneen Zoabi attacked by right-wingers at political panel."
Likewise, the online headline is "MK Haneen Zoabi attacked at political panel."
The Israeli courts may have once again ruled in favor of Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, but a senior Jerusalem police officer made it clear to Jews visiting the holy site that the police would not be following that ruling.Abbas refuses to drop ICC lawsuits against Israel
The officer, who is well known to Jewish visitors and responsible for clearing Jewish visits (amid severe restrictions), told a group Wednesday morning that as far as he and the police force as a whole were concerned "this court ruling doesn't exist."
Rabbi Chaim Richman, International Director of the Temple Institute and long-time advocate for Jewish rights on the Temple Mount, recounted the "astonishing" conversation to Arutz Sheva after returning from his visit. The fact that a police officer was willing to so brazenly deny the court's authority "reveals the depths of the subterfuge" involved in banning Jews from worshipping at their holiest site, he said.
Rabbi Richman was part of the first group of Jews to ascend the Mount Wednesday morning, and recounted the sense of excitement felt by many younger Temple Mount activists in light of the ruling.
The Palestinian Authority will not go back on its demands for an International Criminal Court investigation into war crimes allegedly committed by Israel, despite the fact that the Israeli government offered to return hundreds of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax revenues in exchange for dropping the lawsuits, PA President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday.Khaled Abu Toameh: PLO to hold talks in Ramallah on possibly suspending security ties with Israel
“The International Criminal Court is the only place where we can raise complaints about the occupation,” Abbas said at a meeting of the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization. “They told us that if we do not go to The Hague they will return us the money. We are against barter in return for us not appealing to the court,” he said.
“How are they allowed to take away our money? Are we dealing with a state or with a gangster?” Abbas added, according to Reuters
The PLO’s Central Council is scheduled to hold a meeting in Ramallah on Wednesday to discuss the future of relations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, Palestinian sources said.Khaled Abu Toameh: PA slams Kerry for supporting Israel at UN
The 124-member council consists of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip and several countries. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are not participating in the discussions.
The sources said that the PLO representatives would discuss the possibility of suspending or cutting security, economic and political ties with Israel.
The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday criticized US Secretary of State John Kerry for defending Israel at the United Nations Human Rights Council.Al-Aqsa Mosque Address: May the Muslims Wage War on America, and Raid It on Its Own Land
On Monday, Kerry accused the Council of being obsessed by allegations of Israeli abuses and said the US would defend Israel against efforts to isolate it.
Kerry’s remarks came during a speech to the Council in Geneva.
In response, the PA Foreign Ministry called on Kerry to stop dealing with Israel as if it were a state “above the law.” The ministry said that Kerry’s remarks contradicted the principles and mission of the Human Rights Council.
In an address at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on February 18, 2015, Palestinian political researcher Ahmad Al-Khatwani, aka "Abu Hamza", said that Muslims should pray that Allah will enable them to wage war on America and vanquish it. He expressed his wish that the Muslims "raid America on its own land"
Free Stuff for Palestinians
Being a Palestinian Arab gets you all sorts of things these days.Israel to double amount of water entering Gaza
In addition to longstanding bonus perks such as sympathetic international media coverage and endless handouts from various United Nations agencies, it now turns out that among the benefits of being a Palestinian is free electricity.
The only reason we know about this remarkable Middle Eastern freebie is that the New York Times finally had an opportunity to accuse Israel of withholding it. Without Israel as the villain, the story just wasn’t fit to print.
But last week the Times dutifully reported that the Israel Electric Corporation “briefly reduced the power supply to two Palestinian districts in the northern West Bank on Monday because of a ballooning debt, according to company officials.”
The size of that ballooning debt? Nearly half a billion dollars.
Israel will double the amount of water entering the Gaza Strip, Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, said Wednesday.PreOccupied Territory: Israel Sending Deadly Electricity Through Gaza Power Lines (satire)
In an interview published with Al-Quds newspaper, Mordechai said Gaza will receive 10 million cubic meters of water per year instead of the current 5 million cubic meters.
The increase comes following a need to improve the water supply to Gazan residents, Mordechai said, adding that he hoped "Hamas does not steal water from civilians as it steals construction material for rebuilding homes in the Strip."
Mordechai said Gaza is suffering from a severe water supply problem due the overuse of ground water on the coast.
Reliable statistics on the number of Gaza Strip residents killed or injured annually by electricity are unavailable; the Hamas-run Ministry of Health often conceals the true nature of many deaths in keeping with its propaganda goals, such that an electrocution victim might easily be listed as a casualty of an Israeli sniper attack. United Nations health officials, however, estimate that several dozen people are electrocuted in Gaza each year, a statistic that illustrates the clear and present danger Israel’s policy creates for the territory’s 1.4 million inhabitants.Hamas Leader: We'll Respond to Egypt as We Do to Israel
The disproportionate nature of the Israeli-Palestinian relationship is manifest in this dynamic as well. While the Gaza Strip has the capacity to generate electricity and send it into Israeli civilian areas, the cross-border electrical infrastructure is built and maintained by Israel, which effectively blocks reciprocal jolts of electricity from Gaza. Israeli officials have accused Hamas of investing in combat operations and infrastructure instead of in civilian infrastructure, even as Israel continues to pump electricity in the other direction with seeming impunity.
Within Israel the parties involved have objected to the practice, though the reasons they cite do not explicitly include the physical danger it poses to Gaza residents. The Israel Electric Corporation has begun to demand compensation for electricity sent into Palestinian areas, indicating the misgivings that Israelis feel over it.
Earlier this year UN environmental officials warned of the waves that lap Gaza’s shoreline as a result of Israeli patrol craft. Over time, say the officials, waves erode the coast, further reducing the area available for habitat. If left unchecked, the waves from Israeli naval vessels will erode the entire Gaza Strip in as little as 24 million years, further exacerbating the territory’s acute housing crisis.
Days after a court in Egypt declared Hamas a terrorist organization, one of its leaders on Monday issued a threat against Cairo.Al-Zahhar Defends Relations with Iran: We Maintain Ties with Countries that Believe in Our Ideology
The leader, Salah Bardawil, declared that Hamas will not allow the Egyptian regime to touch the Palestinian people and will react to any aggression in the same way it reacts to Israel.
“Hamas will not allow the Egyptian regime to assault the Gaza Strip and it will resist against it like it resists against Israel,” he was quoted by the Alresalah newspaper as saying.
Bardawil warned that Hamas “will not be subject to the mercy of the Egyptian judges or politicians” and added, "Gaza is not like Libya, and those threatening us will lose their people and nation.”
In a recent TV interview, Hamas Leader Mahmoud Al-Zahhar said: "We have maintained that countries that believe in our ideology and can help us - countries like Iran that believe we are capable of liberating Palestine... These are the countries with which we must develop relations." The interview aired on the Lebanese Palestine Today TV channel on February 18, 2015.
Report: Egyptian army given green light to strike Gaza
The Egyptian military has received authorization from the government to carry out strikes in the Gaza Strip, Egyptian media reported on Sunday.Belgian university warned against hosting PLFP member
According to the reports, the Egyptian government's legal adviser sanctioned the legitimacy of an attack in Gaza following the Supreme Court's decision to label Hamas a terrorist group on Saturday.
Senior Egyptian officials believe the likelihood of an Egyptian military attack in Gaza is slim, and that the decision was likely made as a deterrent measure and to hint that the military option is on the table in light of Hamas involvement in terrorist attacks in Egypt.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh el-Sissi arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Sunday and met with King Salman as part of efforts to create a united Arab front against Islamist extremism.
A Belgian watchdog on anti-Semitism urged a Brussels university to ban students from having a dialogue with a representative of a Palestinian group that the European Union considers a terrorist entity.UK bans ad for implying Jerusalem’s Old City part of Israel
The Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism made the appeal this week in the media and in direct talks with faculty of the Free University of Brussels, or VUB, over the students’ plan to allow Khalida Jarrar of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to speak via a video uplink at an event devoted to promoting a boycott of Israel.
Organizers called Israel an apartheid state in invitations.
“It is unthinkable that a podium will be offered to terrorist groups that specialize in killing Jews at a university of a city where a terrorist killed four people at a Jewish museum just a few months ago,” Joel Rubinfeld, the league’s president, told JTA about the plan to have Jarrar speak on Wednesday.
Britain’s advertising watchdog banned an Israeli government tourism advertisement for suggesting that the Old City of Jerusalem is part of Israel on Wednesday.AFP Rewrites Netanyahu's Speech
The newspaper brochure showed a panorama of the walled Old City with the text “Israel has it all”, and was ruled misleading by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which said it implied the UNESCO World Heritage Site was part of Israel.
Israel, which has controlled all of Jerusalem since 1967, considers the Old City as part of its capital, which the international community mostly rejects.
The dispute is an emotional subject as the area contains places precious to Christians, Jews and Muslims, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Western Wall and al-Asqa Mosque.
Following a complaint, the ASA ruled the title of the brochure “Israel Land of Creation” and references to Old City attractions was misleading and banned the ad from appearing again in its current form.
This time, AFP flubs Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech yesterday in Congress. An article about continuing negotiations between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, filed today in Switzerland, begins ("Kerry, Iran FM in new nuclear talks"):Thomas Friedman: Congress is Sheldon's World
The US and Iran ignored a passionate plea from the Israeli prime minister to ditch their nuclear negotiations. . . .
Further down, the article reiterates:
In a dramatic speech to the US Congress on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the US administration to halt the talks . . . .
In fact, Netanyahu did not urge the sides to halt or ditch their talks. Rather, he urged the US to abandon this particular "bad deal" in favor of a "better deal."
Friedman sees long term danger for Israel in what he says is the politicizing the Iran debate. “Here's what's new, and this I haven't seen before: we see Israel, at the official level, siding with one party over another. That, we haven't seen before. Where it feels like AIPAC now is the Republican pro-Israel lobby, and J Street is the Democrat pro-Israel lobby. That is a really unhealthy situation.Raif Badawi, the Saudi Arabian blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes, may now face death penalty
“And let's remember something else – there is a bit of a bubble there. Netanyahu comes to Washington, he gets a standing ovation from AIPAC, and he gets a standing ovation from Congress. I wish he had taken a day to try and give that speech at the University of Wisconsin. And we would have seen what kind of real feedback he would get from middle America.
“He was speaking in Sheldon's world, in the US Congress. Outside of Congress is not Sheldon's world. It's the real America. And there you'll find many many views about Israel but there is a common denominator. And that is that there is a deep concern by people who love Israel, who support Israel all along, there's just a lot of Americans asking 'le'an zeh?' Where is this going? How does this work? And that is a long term danger to Israel as well.”
Raif Badawi, the Saudi Arabian blogger whose punishment of 1,000 lashes has prompted international condemnation, may now face the death penalty.Pius XII film sparks new debate of old controversy
Mr Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, told The Independent in a series of messages that judges in Saudi Arabia’s criminal court want him to undergo a re-trial for apostasy. If found guilty, he would face a death sentence.
She said the “dangerous information” had come from “official sources” inside the conservative kingdom, where Mr Badawi has already been sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes – administered at a rate of 50 per week – for criticising the country’s clerics through his liberal blog. In 2013, a judge threw out the charge of apostasy against the 31-year-old blogger after he assured the court that he was a Muslim. The evidence against him had included the fact that he pressed the “Like” button on a Facebook page for Arab Christians.
Written and directed by Italian Liana Marabini, “Shades of Truth” was shown for the first time at the Catholic Institute Maria Bambina on March 2, the day that marks both the anniversary of the birth of Eugenio Pacelli in 1876 and of his appointment as pope Pius XII in 1939.Israeli firm boasts new cystic fibrosis treatment
The film will be released in movie theaters all over the world in April and screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May. A September screening in Philadelphia at the Catholic World Meeting of Families will be attended by Pope Francis.
Pope Pius XII is a divisive figure, described by some historians as “Hitler’s pope,” and by others as “the Schindler of the Vatican.” The movie, full of inaccuracies and unlikely characters, portrays Pius XII as saving over 800,000 Jews all over Europe.
“No true historian in the world would support such a statement,” historian Marcello Pezzetti told the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera.
“How can anyone claim that Pius XII saved 800,00 Jews? It cannot even be considered a misinterpretation; it is simply an ideological statement,” said Pezzetti, the president of the Foundation of Shoah museum of Rome.
“Shades of Truth” features the actor portraying Pius XII wearing the infamous yellow star sewn on the white papal vest. This scene, which will likely be considered offensive by many, has also been chosen for the film’s poster.
The nitric oxide treatment developed by Israel’s Advanced Inhalation Therapies Ltd (AIT), has been granted Orphan Drug designation by the FDA. This designation is granted to development-stage novel therapeutics that offer potential value in the treatment of rare diseases and medical conditions that affect fewer than 200,000 patients in the US, which describes CF.Israeli radiation disease treatment passes major hurdle
But with its technology, AIT is developing treatments for other lung-related conditions, such as pneumonia and asthma, the company said.
CF is a incurable, hereditary genetic disease that causes the body to develop a mucus (usually in the lungs) that acts as a sponge for bacteria. Germs thrive in the mucus, and lung infections – often life-threatening – are common. Antibiotics, as well as CF-specific drugs, are usually used to treat infections and to keep the body’s airways clear.
As the West negotiates with Iran over its nuclear program, the United States National Institutes of Health has been testing an Israeli treatment that offers protection from the ravages of radiation sickness, which occurs after exposure to high levels of radiation.Stem-cell therapy for ALS, diabetes
With the successful conclusion of the latest of a series of tests, Pluristem‘s placenta-based PLX-R18 stem cells to treat bone marrow damaged by exposure to high levels of radiation took a giant step toward FDA approval and government procurement. Currently, Pluristem has the only viable treatment to stop the spread of radiation sickness.
“Our PLX-R18 cell product was developed and targeted to become a strong candidate for government procurement programs designed to protect the population in the case of exposure to dangerous levels of radiation,” said Zami Aberman, chairman and CEO of Pluristem. “PLX-R18 cells are an off-the-shelf cell therapy product with a long shelf life. They do not require matching before use and can be administered through intramuscular injection. These features are important to facilitate rapid initiation of treatment on a large scale.”
A new stem-cell technology with the potential to treat neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is now in development by the Israel Prize laureate responsible for the blockbuster multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Rebif.HBO gobbles up Israeli TV drama
Prof. Michel Revel’s company, Kadimastem, recently announced successful results ofa preclinical trial in which itslab-produced central nervous system support cells (astrocytes) demonstrated significant motor function and survivability improvement in a mouse model of ALS.
Revel based his approach on scientific evidence that ALS is characterized by malfunctioning astrocytes. Producing and then injecting healthy, functioning astrocytes into a patient’s nervous system seems to provide support for damaged motor neurons, slowing the progression of the disease, improving quality of life and even extending survival. Globally, 90 percent of ALS patients die of respiratory failure within three to five years after the onset of symptoms.
American cable network HBO acquired Israeli television show “Beit HaMishalot,” or House of Wishes, Israel Hayom reported Tuesday, joining a list of other popular Hebrew shows being reproduced for American audiences.Italian city celebrates reopening of medieval synagogue
The drama follows a clinical psychiatrist who fulfills his patients’ fantasies, with a different client featured on each show.
The Israeli version is written and directed by Haim Bouzaglo, who was nominated and won awards for previous work at the Jerusalem Film Festival and Israeli Film Academy.
The Italian city of Trani celebrated the reopening of the medieval Scolanova Synagogue.
The reopening on Monday following some seven months of restoration efforts took place during the Lech Lecha Jewish culture festival in southern Italy’s Apulia region.
Built in the 13th century, the synagogue was confiscated by the Catholic Church a few decades later during a wave of anti-Semitism and converted for use as a church. The synagogue, which had been empty and disused since the 1950s, was desanctified as a church in 2006 and returned to the Jewish community.
The Trani Jewish community was founded in the 12th century and quickly flourished religiously and culturally. Spanish conquerors took over between 1510 and 1541 and forced the Jews to convert or leave southern Italy. Today, a few dozen Jews live in the Apulia region.
