The JC - Jewish News, Comment & Culture

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - SEPTEMBER 19: Ed Sheeran fan Daria Smith holds a sign reading "We Know Your Heart" before a concert on September 19, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ed Sheeran is facing a backlash after rapper Macklemore was removed from the US tour after making a pro-Palestine comment on-stage. (Photo by Joe Lamberti/Getty Images)

3 min read

Leeds

Leeds lights up blue for Yom Kippur

By Jane Prinsley

1 min read

Resilience: Heaton Park Synagogue with insets of Rabbi Daniel Walker and police officers outside the shul in October 2025, and floral tributes laid for Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby

Manchester

Yom Kippur in my beloved Manchester, one year on

Twelve months after the terrorist attack on Heaton Park synagogue, Angela Epstein reflects on marking the Day of Atonement in her home city

By Angela Epstein

6 min read

Heaton park synagogue attack

Who is your mensch? Celebrate goodness in memory of Melvin Cravitz, says Rachel Riley

By Jane Prinsley

3 min read

Coleen Rooney and Wayne Rooney (Getty Images)

Auschwitz

Wayne and Coleen Rooney took sons to Auschwitz after learning about war at school

By Jane Prinsley

1 min read

The "Stitch The Names Together" tapestry (Image: Stitch The Names Together)

Leeds

Leeds Minster closes exhibition that commemorated ‘at least 18 known terrorist fighters’

By Jane Prinsley

4 min read

Opinion

Ms Rachel pledges $1m to Palestinian children’s charity and calls on ‘wealthy white celebrities’ to do the same

Austrian far-right leader apologises for Holocaust as Israel backs ‘trust-building’

A mental reset: the therapy of Yom Kippur

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Latest US news

New York Times

New York Times deletes claim Israelis ‘view themselves as the victims of October 7’

The paper also rejected allegations of bias in its coverage of Israel, claiming that a peer-reviewed study of the topic had ‘cherry picked’ data

By Jamie Shapiro

1 min read

Front view of the New York Times Building on the west side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City (Image: Getty Images)

Mahmoud Abbas

Trump administration bars Palestinian Authority President from entering US ahead of UN General Assembly

US authorities reportedly accused the Palestinian leader of ‘glorifying terrorism’

By Jamie Shapiro

1 min read

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Image: Getty Images)

JD Vance

US Middle East policy must not be ‘subservient to Israel,’ says JD Vance

Vance also praised President Trump for his ‘willingness to actually part ways with Bibi Netanyahu’

By Hayley Cregor

1 min read

JD Vance during a campaign rally at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 6, 2024 (Getty Images)

Pro-Palestine

Ed Sheeran support acts boycott tour after Macklemore dropped due to pressure from ‘Zionist lobby’

One of the acts said he could not ‘stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up against Israeli genocide’

By Jamie Shapiro

2 min read

World News

Nina atop the podium in Banyoles in July (photo: courtesy)

Athletics

World Championships beckon for busy triathlete and Board deputy

By Ben Conway

3 min read

Paloma Faith attends an event in Paris, France, September 17, 2026 (Getty Images)

Music

Paloma Faith reveals she says ‘free Palestine’ to her children every night

By Daniel Ben-David

1 min read

Mousa Abu Marzouk, the former chairman and deputy chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau (Credit: MEMRITV/X)

Israel-Hamas War 2023

Senior Hamas official admitted tunnels were to protect fighters, while Gaza civilians were not their ‘responsibility’

By Daniel Ben-David

1 min read

Pope Leo

Pope Leo says Middle East conflicts ‘weigh heavily’ on Jewish-Christian relations

By Hayley Cregor

1 min read

Lena Dunham at the 2025 Tribeca Festival at Spring Studios, New York, on June 14, 2025 (Getty Images)

Jewish surrogacy

Lena Dunham welcomes first baby via surrogacy

By Ella Bloom

1 min read

Eurovision Song Contest

Ireland drops out of Eurovision 2027 over Israeli involvement

By JC Reporter

1 min read

Israel

Israel and Morocco agree to upgrade diplomatic ties

The two nations will now send ambassadors to each other’s capitals for the first time

By Melanie Swan

1 min read

UK News

Heaton park synagogue attack

Chief Rabbi issues memorial prayer for Heaton Park victims

Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz will be remembered on the first anniversary of the Yom Kippur attack

By JC Reporter

1 min read

Congregants of Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation comfort each other in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on Yom Kippur (Photo: Getty)

Court and Crime

Student cleared of supporting Hamas in speech outside college

Sarah Cotte publicly offered her ‘unconditional solidarity’ with the ‘Palestinian armed resistance’ just two days after October 7

By JC Reporter

2 min read

The 'Lady of Justice', the 12-foot high statue on top of the dome of the Central Criminal Court, commonly known as the Old Bailey (Photo by NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP via Getty Images)

East End

Plan to convert East End’s last purpose-built synagogue into a mosque paused

Muslim group buying century-old East End shul considers legal action after building was granted Grade II listed status

By Jane Prinsley

3 min read

Nelson Street synagogue's interior (Photo: Amy Schreibman Walter)

September 11

Archbishop of Canterbury retracts award for Muslim cleric who suggested honouring Osama bin Laden

Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi was given an award on the anniversary of 9/11 by Dame Sarah Mullally for interfaith co-operation

By JC Reporter

3 min read

Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi and his wife being presented with The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation by Dame Sarah Mullally, Archbishop of Canterbury (Image: Neil Turner/Lambeth Palace/PA Wire)

Opinion

Read on for the best-laid plans of mice, men and Maureen

An actor named McCarthy withdrew from the reading because he could not countenance my political views. I couldn’t resist wondering whether this might be the “New McCarthyism”

By Maureen Lipman

4 min read

Joseph Welch (left) questioned by Senator Joe McCarthy (right) on June 9, 1954. (Image: Wikipedia)

By Harry Saul Markham

The campaign to ban kosher and halal slaughter hides a very dangerous agenda

This is less about animal welfare than making Britain inhospitable to anyone who isn’t white and Christian. More disturbing still is the silence of genuine animal-rights activists as their cause is hijacked

5 min read