The JC - Jewish News, Comment & Culture

Westminster Magistrates' Court (Photo: Getty)

1 min read

Rabbi Naftali Schiff (left) with Hershel Herskovic, at the wedding of one of Hershel's great-grandchildren

Holocaust Memorial Day 2026

Rabbi tells miraculous story of 51 boys who escaped the gas chambers of Auschwitz

By Gaby Wine

3 min read

Repeated BBC broadcasts on Tuesday about Holocaust Memorial Day were accused of 'Holocaust distortion' after failing to use the word Jew (Photo: BBC Breakfast)

BBC

‘Shameful’ BBC accused of ‘Holocaust erasure’ after omitting word ‘Jew’ from HMD coverage

Corporation forced to apologise for ‘incorrect wording’

By Jane Prinsley

2 min read

Shechita UK has called on the RSPCA to withdraw its campaign (Photo: Getty)

Kosher

RSPCA campaign for compulsory pre-slaughter stunning ‘deeply flawed’, Shechita UK says

By Simon Rocker

3 min read

Tel Aviv

Infant dies after ‘incident’ at unlicensed Tel Aviv nursery

By Jacob Jaffa

1 min read

Jewish Labour Movement

‘Madness’ to block Burnham from by-election candidacy, says Jewish Labour MP

By Lorin Bell-Cross

3 min read

Shepping nachas from the joys of Yiddish

The last hostage: Ran Gvili’s return and Israel’s refusal to leave anyone behind

William Shakespeare was a ‘Jewish woman of north African descent’, new book claims

‘Never again’ is a more urgent message than ever

South Africa with a Jewish flavour

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Iran protests 2026

Trump claims Iran ‘wants to talk’ as ‘armada’ arrives in Gulf

The US has diverted an aircraft carrier to regional waters, with the vessel entering ‘ghost mode’ to avoid targeting satellites

By Jacob Jaffa

1 min read

US President Donald Trump gestures after holding a signing ceremony for the Board of Peace at World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 22, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland (Getty Images)

Iron Dome

Israel blocks US takeover of Iron Dome software firm

The proposed deal would have left the state-owned Rafael as a minority shareholder, but security officials are wary of foreign control.

By Yaakov Lappin

2 min read

The Iron Dome air defence system intercepts missiles fired from Iran over central Israel on June 19, 2025 (Flash90)

Kanye West

‘I am not a Nazi… I love Jewish people’: Kanye West apologises for past behaviour in Wall Street Journal advert

The rapper says he ‘lost touch with reality’ due to his bipolar-1 disorder

By Siam Goorwich

1 min read

Kanye West arriving at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in July 2025 (Picture HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Gaza Board of Peace

Canada booted from Board of Peace after Carney declines $1 billion fee

Spain, France and the UK have also expressed reservations over the organisation’s role and the prospective involvement of Russian President Putin

By Jacob Jaffa

1 min read

Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on January 20, 2026 (Getty Images)

World news

Manchester Jewish Museum

Manchester Jewish artist unveils new work to promote ‘harmony and cohesiveness’

By Gaby Wine

1 min read

JW3 Chief Executive Ray Simonson and Marcel Knobil removing padlocks on the Lovelock Bridge at JW3 (Credit: JW3)

Hostages

British Jewish communal leaders rejoice at return of the hostages

By Daniel Ben-David

5 min read

Damaged graves at the Jewish cemetery (Photo: Jewish Community of Barcelona)

Spain

Jewish cemetery in Spain vandalised in ‘despicable antisemitic act of desecration’

By Canaan Lidor

1 min read

Los Angeles, California, USA - April 30, 2016: The iconic Hollywood sign, originally Hollywoodland promoting a housing development in 1923, sits in Beachwood Canyon.

Arts

Theatre reverses cancellation and apologises to Israeli comedian

By Joshua Marks

3 min read

Survivor Dr Lydia Tischler, who received an MBE earlier this month, here sitting for her bust by the sculptor Frances Segelman

Holocaust survivors

Number of Shoah survivors drops below 200,000

By JC Reporter

1 min read

Tom Sas and Lori Dardikman, founders of Boker Tov (Image: Boker Tov)

Israeli restaurant

Exclusive: ‘They brought us to our knees’ – how anti-Israel activists closed down thriving Jewish restaurant chain

By Jamie Shapiro

3 min read

isis

A UH-60 Black Hawk flies during a mission in the US Central Command area of operations within designated areas of Iraq and Syria (Picture: Maj. Karl R. Cain II/U.S. Army)

US to transfer up to 7,000 ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq

US Central Command say they are hoping to ‘ensure the terrorists remain in secure detention facilities’

By JC Reporter

1 min read

‘Peace in the world’: Trump leads Board of Peace signing in Davos Jewish family whose home was ‘squatted’ by French ambassadors ‘lost 14m euros in rent’, lawyer says

UK News

Holocaust

Let us choose hope, Heaton Park rabbi tells audience at Holocaust event

Rabbi Daniel Walker speaks at National Ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day after terror attack at his shul

By Daniel Ben-David

2 min read

Holocaust Memorial Day 2026

A royal reception at the palace for survivors on Holocaust Memorial Day

The King and Queen lit candles in remembrance of the millions who were killed

By Daniel Ben-David

3 min read

King Charles III speaks with Holocaust survivor Renee Salt during a reception to mark Holocaust Memorial Day at Buckingham Palace, January 27, 2026 (Credit: Aaron Chown - Pool/Getty Images)

Department for Education

Government opens bids for new education programme to tackle antisemitism

Recent events ‘remind us that antisemitism is still a stain on our society’ says Education Secretary

By JC Reporter

1 min read

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson (Photo: Getty Images)

Birmingham

West Midlands Police pause use of AI following Maccabi match ‘hallucination’

‘Bespoke antisemitism training’ will be rolled out for the entire workforce as police attempt to repair community relations

By Jane Prinsley

2 min read

Acting chief constable Scott Green was questioned by West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster on Tuesday morning (WMP PCC)

Opinion

What Israel’s return of Ran Gvili reveals about Jewish peoplehood

The hostages are home, both living and dead. At heart, it is about family. We feel each other’s pain, grieve each other’s losses, do our best to support each other however we can

By Jake Wallis Simons

2 min read

Israelis light the 8th candle of Hannukah in Hostage Square holding placards bearing the face of Ran Gvili in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2025 (Image: Getty)

By Yaakov Katz

Ran Gvili’s return reaffirms Israel’s promise and changes its war calculus

With the last hostage brought home, the Jewish state closes a painful chapter and paves the way for a new reality which has the potential to change the trajectory of the Middle East

3 min read

By Andrew Fox

Why cutting military ties with Israel would cost British soldiers’ lives

Do not pretend that refusing to learn battlefield trauma lessons from the IDF is some noble stand. It is a luxury belief that would be paid for by 19-year-olds

6 min read

By Melissa Langsam Braunstein

Can New York keep hate at safe distance from shuls?

Democrats should support a proper buffer to protect synagogues from aggressive protests. But what may matter most under Mayor Zohran Mamdani is the willingness to enforce the law

3 min read

By Emanuele Ottolenghi

Israel’s weakening of Iran is driving a Saudi realignment

As Riyadh is edging closer to Doha and Ankara, Abu Dhabi is deepening its alliance with Jerusalem – breaking ranks with pan-Arab sentiment

4 min read

By Kemi Badenoch

Kemi Badenoch: ‘Never again’ is a promise we must truly keep

The Leader of the Opposition writes for the JC ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day

1 min read

By Sir Keir Starmer

Starmer: I will deliver the National Holocaust Memorial

The prime minister’s message ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day

1 min read

Life

‘The strange and beautiful love story of the Maori and the Jews’

By David Cohen

8 min read

Laura Dern (left) and Andra Day in Is This On? (Photo: Searchlight Pictures)

Film

‘Is This Thing On?’ Review: ‘Will Arnett is a revelation’ ★★★★

In his latest role, the actor plays a middle-aged man contemplating his crumbling marriage – and a new career in stand-up

By Ben Felsenburg

2 min read

Books

A timely reminder for all those anti-Israel hysterics: this is what genocide looks like

Robert Low welcomes a robust history of the Holocaust in an era in which the facts are under threat

By Robert Low

3 min read

Jews queuing at the Glass House in Budapest hoping to get documentation that would allow them to leave Hungary

Jewish students

‘I understand antisemitism because I was born in Russia’

Nicole Lampert talks to the author of a new guide for students on how to fight Jew-hatred on campus

By Nicole Lampert

5 min read

Back in the USSR: Izabella Tabarovsky and refuseniks with Natan Sharansky on the right

Holocaust Memorial Day

Holocaust Memorial Day: One man’s mission to capture the faces of survivors for eternity

Portrait photographer John Balsom was accustomed to snapping celebrities – until, as Lianne Kolirin writes, he developed a devotion to taking pictures of those who lived through the Holocaust

By Lianne Kolirin

6 min read