Search Results for: Tolles

US President Joe Biden signed HB 2882, called the “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024,” on Saturday. This act provides federal government funding through September 2024 and includes a provision that prohibits funds from being used for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The act also cuts funding to the UN International [...]

Russia and China vetoed a US-authored UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution Friday that called for a ceasefire in Gaza. The exact text of the UNSC Resolution is not currently available to the public; however, UN News provided a summary of its content. According to UN News, the resolution called the need for an immediate and [...]

The Supreme Court of Israel stopped a government plan to send a group of Palestinian patients to Gaza. The group, mostly cancer patients, will now be able to stay in East Jerusalem and Tel Aviv because of the Wednesday decision. Physicians for Human Rights—Israel (PHRI), a human rights advocacy group, filed a request with the [...]

In the wake of the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, many of Israel’s supporters, myself included, have succumbed to the understandable impulse for violent retribution. Israel is a land that I love, both culturally as a Jew — and third-generation Holocaust survivor — and spiritually as an ordained cantor. It follows that [...]

The UN’s International Labor Organization (ILO) stated in a report on Tuesday that forced labor in the private economy generates annual illegal profits of US$236 billion per year. This has risen by US$64 billion since 2014. Forced labor is a criminal offense and violation of fundamental human rights. It is defined in the Forced Labor [...]

Under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s leadership, the Sri Lankan civil war reached a brutal conclusion on May 18, 2009, ending a 25-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist rebel group. Rooted in longstanding grievances, including discriminatory policies against Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, the conflict saw the [...]

The UK government released a new definition of extremism on Thursday in response to a rise in extremist threats across the country. Groups that meet the new definition will be automatically barred from receiving government funding. The statement outlining this definition noted that the change is due to the increasing pervasiveness of extremist ideologies in recent [...]

Civil society is facing unprecedented challenges globally due to escalating conflicts and crises. In 2023, groups that were pivotal in advocating for human rights, offering humanitarian aid and giving a voice to the marginalized encountered increasing difficulties. Their work has become more challenging due to growing repression and conflict, yet they remain beacons of hope [...]

South Africa filed an urgent request with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday for additional provisional measures and/or adjustments to court’s January 26 order and February 16 decision in country’s case against Israel, alleging Israel is carrying out genocide in the Gaza Strip. South Africa claimed their Wednesday request is necessitated by the [...]

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced Wednesday his pledge to provide new funding aimed at safeguarding Jewish communities. The announcement came amidst a surge in antisemitic incidents in the country, following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. Sunak committed to providing more than £70 million over the next four years as part of the Jewish [...]