News with sources, dates and context.

Michigan: Stevens backs Rogers, dividing Jewish Democrats

Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens announced her endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race on November 1, breaking with her party’s nominee, Abdul El-Sayed. JTA and JNS report the announcement two days before the November 3 election. This is a political endorsement, not an election result.

Stevens linked her decision to disagreements over Israel and antisemitism, including El-Sayed’s earlier campaign appearances with streamer Hasan Piker. These are her stated reasons, not Kivunah’s judgment about a candidate. Both outlets also report that El-Sayed had distanced himself from Piker and condemned his comparison of a heavily Jewish Michigan suburb to a Ku Klux Klan neighborhood.

Jewish Democratic voices are not unanimous. In a follow-up report on November 1, JTA describes Jeremy Moss and former Rep. Andy Levin supporting El-Sayed and rejecting Stevens’s decision. Other Jewish voters and leaders voiced different preferences. El-Sayed rejected the suggestion that backing Rogers meant standing against hate. These are attributed political positions; Kivunah recommends no candidate and does not project a winner.

London police report 139 arrests at a protest outside the U.S. Embassy

The Metropolitan Police reported 139 arrests during the October 31 demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Nine Elms, according to The Independent’s updated coverage. The event organized by Defend Our Juries expressed support for Palestine Action, a proscribed organization in the United Kingdom.

The figures reflect different stages of an ongoing operation: JNS initially reported 48 arrests; The Independent later included the figure of 139 and the police statement that arrests were continuing. Neither figure is presented here as a closed final total.

In its advance statement, the Met announced enforcement concerning alleged support for the proscribed organization. That is the police explanation, not a judicial finding about each person detained. Arrests do not amount to convictions, and this report does not claim that every pro-Palestinian demonstration is unlawful.

Illinois: local advisory votes reopen debate over the anti-Israel-boycott law

A JTA report dated October 31 examines local advisory votes scheduled for November 3 concerning the Illinois law restricting public pension-fund investments in companies that boycott Israel. The questions are advisory: they do not themselves repeal state law and are not election results.

Illinois Public Media reported on October 20 on the questions in Champaign and Cunningham and confirmed that they are nonbinding. The Illinois Investment Policy Board maintains an official prohibited-investment page under the Pension Code. That page provides regulatory context; it does not announce a repeal.

JTA reports Jewish communal leaders’ opposition and repeal supporters’ free-expression arguments. These are attributed positions, not judicial findings by Kivunah. This report recommends no ballot response and does not predict the result.

The RAE retains a meaning of “Jewish” labeled offensive or discriminatory

A JTA report published on October 29 revisits Jewish organizations’ criticism of a meaning of “judío” in the Dictionary of the Spanish Language. Kivunah’s direct check on October 30 found that the entry still included “avariciosa o usurera” (miserly or usurious), with the warning “U. como ofensivo o discriminatorio” (used offensively or discriminatorily). Reporting the entry and its label does not endorse the stereotype.

JTA reports the Latin American Jewish Congress’s objection that recording this meaning can help perpetuate discrimination. For context, in an EFE interview dated October 19, 2024, RAE director Santiago Muñoz Machado defended the dictionary as a record of language use rather than its inventor. That explanation dates to 2024; it is not a new response today.

The new development is the October 29 reporting and the current check of the entry. The controversy and Argentine court order discussed by JTA date to 2024; this report announces no new ruling and makes no determination about its enforcement or legal reach in Spain.

Belgrade: officer wounded and attacker killed outside Israel’s embassy

An officer guarding Israel’s embassy in Belgrade suffered a minor cut to his face in an attack involving two knives shortly after midnight on October 28, according to Serbia’s Interior Ministry. JTA reports that the officer shot the attacker dead. Caretaker Interior Minister Ivica Dačić described the incident as a terrorist attack and announced a red-level alert, with increased police presence at locations of particular security significance.

Authorities said the attacker’s identity had not yet been established. Statements about his age, origin and alleged support for Islamic State are the minister’s claims, not independent judicial findings; this report does not present them as proven facts. Confirmed information about the attack is distinguished from claims in the ongoing investigation.

Berlin welcomes back Jewish ritual textiles preserved by an Arizona synagogue

A parochet, a Torah ark curtain, and a wimple, a sash used to bind a Torah scroll, have returned to Berlin’s Jewish community after decades in the care of Temple Chai in Arizona. JTA reported on October 27 on the handover held on October 22 at the New Synagogue Berlin–Centrum Judaicum. The receiving community publicly confirms the return of the two objects, looted during the November 1938 pogroms and later rescued.

According to JTA’s report, Holocaust survivor Moishe Saksenhaus acquired the textiles in postwar Germany and brought them to the United States; his family donated them to Temple Chai after his death. The account of the looting comes from that family history. Berlin’s community told JTA that it has been unable to confirm which synagogue the curtain originally came from. That specific provenance is not presented as resolved.

New York: hate-crime charges after attacks on two Jewish men

A woman was arraigned on Sunday, October 25, over two allegedly antisemitic attacks on Jewish men in Midtown Manhattan. CNN, citing police and court records, reports assault and menacing charges as hate crimes, alongside other charges. JTA reported the court development on October 26. The attacks under investigation occurred on October 21; these are not new assaults today.

According to the complaint described by CNN, the victims wore visibly Jewish clothing and reported injuries after feeling sharp stings. The alleged circumstances and motive form part of the prosecution’s case; charges are not a conviction. This summary does not establish guilt or anticipate the outcome of the proceedings.

Lula wins reelection in Brazil; JTA examines implications for Israel

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil’s presidential runoff on Sunday, October 25, defeating Flávio Bolsonaro, according to Agência Brasil and JTA. The victory gives him a fourth presidential term. The sources consulted reflect different stages of the count, so this summary does not present a final vote percentage.

In reporting published on October 26, JTA examines the implications for relations with Israel: Bolsonaro had pledged closer ties and to move Brazil’s embassy to Jerusalem, while Lula has remained critical of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. These are political positions and campaign promises; they do not confirm new diplomatic measures adopted after the election.