Jewish Telegraphic Agency

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s warning this week that Jewish life in his country “is no longer safe” reflects concerns voiced by some Jews in Berlin. They are alarmed by the success of the left-wing socialist Left Party in Sunday’s municipal election, which coincides with the rising power of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in several state elections this month. Leaving the Left in charge of the country’s capital would be “like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse,” Berlin Jewish Community President Gideon Joffe said in an email press statement this week. The Party “bears a special responsibility for the consequences” of tolerating Islamic extremism, left-wing antisemitism and what German authorities call “clan crime,” organized criminal activity involving extended-family networks in the capital, said Joffe, who represents some 9,000 registered Jewish community members, out of an estimated 30,000 Jews in the nation’s capital. Full story here: https://www.jta.org/2026/09/23/global/merz-warns-that-jews-are-not-safe-in-germany-as-voters-choose-parties-linked-to-antisemitism

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A Jewish public school teacher and pro-Palestinian advocate in Philadelphia has admitted to fabricating Palestinian, Tunisian and Black heritage to her colleagues for years, in a case that some online commenters are dubbing “the Palestinian Rachel Dolezal.” Hannah Gann posted confessions and apologies to social media this week, following confrontations from local pro-Palestinian groups she had worked with. In her apologies, she identified herself as “a white woman with significant privilege and wealth” who has “no Palestinian or Tunisian heritage.” A Jewish Telegraphic Agency request for comment to Gann was not immediately returned. Two local activist groups Gann had been involved with, Philly Educators for Palestine and Racial Justice Organizing Committee, said in their own statement that Gann was also “of Jewish heritage and [part of] an Israeli settler family.” They further accused Gann of falsely claiming to be Black at various points, until they confronted her about her background days ago. Full story here: https://www.jta.org/2026/09/23/united-states/a-jewish-teacher-in-philadelphia-pretended-to-be-palestinian-for-years

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Pop star Ed Sheeran expressed sympathy for “centuries of Jewish pain” while calling what is happening in Gaza “catastrophic and unjustifiable” at a largely solo performance before about 50,000 people at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. It was the tour’s first stop since Macklemore was dropped following pro-Palestinian remarks and the display of images from the Gaza war during his opening set. “I’ve tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind because I want my music and shows to be about unity not division, about humanity not politics,” he said in a speech before the music began. “But this is a humanitarian issue and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore. What happened in Israel at a … music festival on Oct. 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate,” he added. Full story here: https://www.jta.org/2026/09/20/united-states/ed-sheeran-expresses-sympathy-for-both-jews-and-palestinians-at-first-tour-stop-since-macklemore-was-dropped

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