France Shocked by Beating of Jewish Teen

Nuptials spark anti-Semitic debate

(NEWSER) - Jean Sarkozy, the 22-year-old son of France's president, married his childhood sweetheart last night in a ceremony so under wraps that guests were informed via text message. A possible reason for the secrecy? His bride, the heiress to a huge electronics company, is Jewish—and the marriage has set off a wave of soul-searching in the French press about the country's legacy of anti-Semitism. More»

(NEWSER) - French authorities are investigating the sale of T-shirts bearing anti-Semitic slogans that date to 1940, the BBC reports. The shirts carry the slogan "Jews not allowed in this park" in German and Polish, reproduced from signs posted in Lodz, Poland, during World War II. Almost all of Lodz's Jews perished in the Holocaust. More»

Prez wants each 5th grader to study a victim

(NEWSER) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked a new controversy: The maverick leader is now defending his plan to have every fifth grader study a French youth killed in the Holocaust. Critics, including Jewish analysts, warn the move could traumatize students. But one historian applauded Sarkozy's "courage" and said what children "see on television or in a horror film is much worse." More»

'The older ones are refusing to leave,' priest says

(NEWSER) - Baghdad's few remaining Jews are being warned to flee after WikiLeaks published cables including their names last month, McClatchy reports. An Anglican priest working with the US embassy is trying to persuade the city's last Jewish members—all nine of them—that they are in danger. "Most want to stay," says Rev. Canon Andrew White. "The older ones are refusing to leave. They say: 'We're Iraqis. Why should we go? If they kill us, we will die here.'" More»

His camp tells TMZ he has no anti-Semitic leanings

(NEWSER) - So why would Mel Gibson decide to produce a movie about a famed Jewish warrior given his, er, Jewish problem? Easy, explains TMZ . Gibson doesn't think he has a Jewish problem. It quotes sources "very close" to Gibson as insisting that he doesn't hate Jews and that, wait for it, he has many Jewish friends and business associates. Gibson feels that he's made enough mea culpas for his infamous anti-Semitic rant in 2006 and that the movie should not be seen as a bid to mend ties because none need mending. Jewish groups beg to differ. More»