Iraqi suspect confesses to German Jewish teen's murder

A failed Iraqi asylum seeker has admitted murdering a Jewish teenage girl in Germany after being arrested back in his homeland, authorities in Iraq's Kurdistan region said on Saturday.

Ali Bashar, 20, is believed to have strangled 14-year-old Susanna Maria Feldman after raping her in the German city of Wiesbaden.

He was detained early Friday in northern Iraq following an outcry in Germany after police hunting the fugitive admitted he had fled with his family.

"During interrogation following his arrest, the young man originally from Kurdistan confessed to killing the German girl," said Tariq Ahmad, police chief for the Dohuk area of Iraqi Kurdistan. "He said that the two of them were friends but that they had a dispute, and that he killed her when the girl threatened to call the police," Ahmad said. On Friday a senior official in the autonomous Kurdistan region told AFP that authorities were working to transfer Bashar quickly back to Germany to face trial. That process could prove tricky as there is no official extradition treaty between Iraq and Germany.

The case has put renewed pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel's government over the decision to open Germany's borders at the height of Europe's refugee crisis in 2015, resulting in the arrival of more than a million asylum seekers. Bashar arrived in Germany in 2015 along with his parents and five siblings. He should have been deported after his request for asylum was rejected in December 2016, but he obtained a temporary residence permit pending his appeal. During this time, he got into trouble with the police on several occasions, including for fights, alleged robbery and possession of an illegal switchblade. He was also among the suspects for the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl living in the same refugee shelter.

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An American pioneer: A Jew in the middle of nowhere

It’s Friday. The sun is setting and Shabbat is about to start. At a time when traditional and religious Jews light candles and welcome Shabbat in synagogue, then say the kiddush and share a family meal, these Jews and non-Jews gather for a special ceremony at a remote farm in Manchester, Vermont.

Oliver Levis, a Jewish farmer on the isolated Earth Sky Time Farm, hosts the weekly reception that manages to attract not only the few Jews who live in the area, but also non-Jewish families and visitors, exposing them to a unique event that includes original music based on Shabbat prayers. The Levis family fosters an original type of communal Jewish life, open to different Jewish lifestyles and beliefs.

A bar mitzvah in the middle of nowhere. Oliver Levis with his son Guv

How can one live a Jewish life in the middle of nowhere?

“I grew up in Vermont, and we were never an isolated family,” says Oliver Levis. “My family always tried to celebrate Jewish holidays in an unconventional way, including, for example, when one of my sisters had a bat mitzvah. My parents organized a journey around the farm that spanned the biblical history of civilization and family.”

“My mother came up with Jewish dances and we wrote plays with a Jewish background. There was no traditional Jewish community around us, so my family invented its own way to realize our Judaism."

Bar mitzvah on a remote farm (Video: 70 Faces Media)    (צילום: 70 Faces Media)

What does your special Kabbalat Shabbat (welcoming the Sabbath) look like?

“We sit together in front of a wood stove in the winter, drink wine and play music, tell jokes about the week, and try to raise our spirits in any way. Sometimes it becomes a dance party. We don’t have a set program and we adapt. We take time out of our busy schedules to dedicate to just being togehter, without any defined goal.

“We also light Shabbat candles, sing ‘Shalom Aleichem’ and play musical instruments, and we’ve been having traditional Shabbat meals for 12 years – and everyone is invited.”

Levis is one of seven Jews from across the United States whose unique story was recorded as part of a special campaign for Israel’s 70th anniversary. As part pf the project, 70 Faces Media, together with UJA-Federation of New York, produced short videos that reflect a wide range of Jewish identities, both in Israel and the United States.

Oliver Levis on his farm (Photo: Oliver Levis)

“These documentaries are an opportunity for both American and Israeli audiences to learn from our often different experiences as Jews, and to come together over our common experiences and triumphs,” said UJA-Federation of New York CEO Eric S. Goldstein.

About his relationship with Israel, Levis says, “My family and I have been to Israel several times. My wife’s aunt has a vegetarian restaurant in Safed, and we may bring our children to Israel next year. At the farm we have a baker named Ziv, who arrived in Vermont from Israel a few years ago. He came to help out on the farm, but quickly realized that his real talent is baking, and he prepares challah with chocolate, cinnamon, honey, oranges, and raisins every week. It’s sticky—but it’s the best challah in the world.

Bonnie Levis working on the farm (Photo: Oliver Levis)

“For me, Israel is the best example of Jewish life today, and it is undoubtedly the center of world Jewish life,” Levis said. “We visited Greece once and saw only remnants of a Jewish community. It emphasized how well off Israel is, and how important it is to strengthen and preserve it.”

How do you see Judaism as a certain value? As a way of life?

“I would not consider myself part of any specific Jewish stream—I’m just trying to do what I feel is right. I am definitely in a more liberal-progressive region of the religious spectrum, and happy to do anything that brings people closer to being Jewish.

Eliza Levis. ‘I don't impose anything on my children’ (Photo: Oliver Levis)

“Our father was originally from the Greek Jewish community, and we were able to meet with distant relatives and visit the towns and villages where my family and Jewish communities lived for hundreds of years. I have tremendous respect for Jewish traditions, but I also feel comfortable with different interpretations of Jewish tradition and religion.

“I hope that I am giving my children enough intellectual openness to encourage them to enjoy the contrast in life and the different aspects of Judaism, not to dwell too much on the details—unless they want to. My children are still young and they live with me. I want them to be part of the Jewish world, but, in the same breath, I also take care not to impose anything on them.”

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Iraqi suspect in murder of German Jewish teen detained

BERLIN - Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq detained a 20-year-old Iraqi man on Friday on suspicion of raping and murdering a 14-year-old Jewish girl in Germany, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said.

Seehofer told reporters the Kurdish security forces had taken him into custody early on Friday at the request of the German police, who identified him as Ali Bashar. He had been living in Germany as a refugee since 2015, German media said.

The case has galvanized Germany at a time when its decision to take in large numbers of migrants and asylum seekers during Europe's 2015 migrant crisis is already stirring a political backlash. Many politicians are calling for new rules to make it easier to deport immigrants thought to be violent.

Victim Susanna Feldman, right

The victim, Susanna Feldman, was Jewish, although police said there was no evidence her religion had been a factor in the crime, and the Central Council of Jews in Germany cautioned against attributing any anti-Semitic motive to her attacker. "I am pleased to announce a successful manhunt in the case of Susanna F.," Seehofer told reporters after a meeting with state interior ministers. The teenager, from the city of Mainz near Frankfurt, was reported missing on May 22. She was found dead on Wednesday in a wooded area near train tracks in Wiesbaden on the opposite bank of the Rhine, near a refugee center where the suspected attacker had lived, police said. An autopsy showed she had been the victim of a sexual and violent attack.

Ali Bashar

Police told reporters on Thursday that Bashar had likely fled with his family to Erbil, Iraq, several days ago. They said they had set up a special call center for tips from the public, and had issued releases in Arabic and Turkish. The Iraqi suspect was already under investigation for a suspected robbery. He was appealing a December 2016 decision by German authorities to reject his asylum application. Germany does not have a general extradition agreement with Iraq but must negotiate such moves on an individual basis, said foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr. She declined to comment on the specific case of Bashar.

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German Jewish family 'destroyed' after daughter raped, murdered

The 1,000-strong Jewish community of Mainz in Germany has expressed shock over the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Jewish girl by a suspected Iraqi asylum seeker, which has left her family "destroyed." Susanna Feldman was found dead on Wednesday in a wooded area near train tracks in Wiesbaden on the opposite bank of the Rhine, near a refugee center where the suspected attacker lived, according to police. An autopsy showed she had been the victim of a sexual and violent attack. “Our community is in shock. We are trying to help the girl’s family,” said Mainz’s community Rabbi Aharon Ran Vernikovsky in an interview with Ynet.

Susanna Feldman

While Feldman was Jewish, police said there was no evidence her religion was a factor in the crime, and the Central Council of Jews in Germany cautioned against attributing any anti-Semitic motive to her attacker. Police said the Iraqi suspect, whom they identified as Ali Bashar, appears to have left abruptly with his family last week, flying to Erbil, Iraq via Istanbul using fake names. He was a suspect in a string of previous offenses in the area, including a robbery at knifepoint. A Turkish man who wasn't previously known to police was also arrested in the latest high-profile case involving migrants. Feldman went out with her friends two week ago in Wiesbaden 17 kilometers from Mainz, which is located near Frankfurt, and was not seen since. According to initial police assessments, she was sexually assaulted and then choked to death by Bashar, who is believed to have been in a relationship with Feldman. “Susanna was a member of the community,” said Rabbi Vernikovsky. “Her father is not Jewish. He left the family at some stage and now her mother lives with a partner who is also not Jewish. I have come to comfort the family and I have found that it is destroyed. The mother is in complete shock. “The religious community here is a minority. Generally Jews in the city lead quiet lives. There are immigrants in the city as there are in all other cities in Germany, and there were never any problems with them. Susanna had no Jewish appearance,” he noted

Ali Bashar

Officials involved in the ongoing investigation say that the teenager text her mother shortly before she was reported as missing, telling her that she was alright and that she should not come looking for her. The girl was last seen alive at the refugee center, broadcaster ARD reported. ARD said Bashar was known to police because he had become violent with officials over his asylum status, and had previously been suspected in the rape of an 11-year-old girl at the refugee home, although an investigation was inconclusive. The Central Council of Jews in Germany said: "Many of the details of the case are still unclear. We expect a rapid and comprehensive investigation from the prosecutorial authorities, and hard consequences for the perpetrator or perpetrators."

The Council has warned in recent months about an increase in anti-Semitic incidents, and the German government has created a new post to fight anti-Semitism.

Some German Jews have expressed concern about a perceived rise in anti-Jewish prejudice with the influx of mainly Muslim migrants, although German police blame most anti-Semitic incidents on followers of the German far-right.

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Dallas-area church targets 'dangerous isms,' such as Judaism

A Dallas-area church recently distributed flyers advertising a series of weekly seminars it plans to host condemning "dangerous isms" like Judaism, Islamism and liberalism.

Greenville Avenue Church of Christ in Richardson says in the flyers that the Wednesday seminars, being held through August, will "provide a proper response for the Christian."

Pulpit minister Shelton Gibbs III told The Dallas Morning News that while the wording used in advertising could have been better, other faiths run counter to God's order to follow Jesus Christ.

Church says will be more careful of phrasing when promoting future events (Photo: Visual/Photos)

The flyers prompted a social media backlash but Gibbs said the predominantly African-American church doesn't mean to condemn others.

"We're not here to criticize or be antagonistic toward people and to beat them down," he told the newspaper. "There's no threat. The people in the community should not feel a threat."

Atheism, alcoholism and "emotionalism" are some of the other seminar topics. Gibbs said topics such as racism or sexism won't be discussed because "there are only so many Wednesdays in a summer."

The church will be more careful of phrasing when promoting future events, he said.

"We're living in an age where every word means something, and you have to be very careful about the words that you use," Gibbs said. "And I think going forward, I'm sure we'll be able to phrase it where people are drawn in, and not that we have somehow marginalized them and caused them to fear."

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UN releases first education guide on fighting anti-Semitism

The United Nations has released its first ever guidelines on fighting anti-Semitism in education.

UNESCO, the UN's cultural body, launched the publication on Monday in Paris in collaboration with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the OSCE.

The guide, aimed to be used by young people, the teaching world, as well as political leaders, was presented by Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO's first Jewish director general.

Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO's first Jewish director general (Photo: Reuters)

Azoulay said that the need for an educational guide has become imperative in today's schools, universities, and other educational institutions.

"Many Jewish communities across the world are facing increasing threats. (Jews) have become targets for terror attacks in Paris, Brussels, and Copenhagen," she elaborated.

"Fear of anti-Semitism, harassment, and even physical assault has grown particularly near Jewish culture centers, religious sites including synagogue, museums, and schools," Azoulay lamented.

"This is a warning call for those who survived the Holocaust. Europe's Jewish communities sense a renewed danger of anti-Semitic attacks," UNESCO's first Jewish director general warned.

"Anti-Semitism is neither the problems of the Jewish communities, nor it requires the communities to deal with it. Anti-Semitism exists in religions and diverse political groups ranging across the entire political spectrum. It is a symptom of a wider social or political problem that indicates tendencies of (social) regression which dangerously harms the social fabric," she added.

UNESCO's director general also underlined that anti-Semitism is usually accompanied by additional displays of hatred, which are based on differences between the sexes as well as on fear of homosexuality.

UNESCO (Photo: AP)

Azoulay added that training educators who are capable of dealing with live discriminative phenomena in educational institutes with the help of the practical guidelines presented in the guide, is the way to fight it online as well.

UNESCO said the guide provides tools to strengthen the resilience of young people to anti-Semitic ideas and violent extremism, such as how to respond to anti-Semitic acts and words in school settings.

It also familiarizes educators with anti-Semitic stereotypes and conspiracy theories as well as developing media skills to help students resist manipulation.

The guide's focuses on three main issues—the connection between anti-Semitism and other human rights matters, encouragement of critical thinking as a means to deal with anti-Semitic contents, and the connection of anti-Semitism and other discriminative groups on the backdrop of religion, ethnic origin, sex and sexual tendency.

In the chapter of "Fighting anti-Semitism through education—guidelines for policy makers," applicable specific instructions of how to battle anti-Semitism as part of human rights promotion are presented as well as ways to protect the young generations from being influenced by anti-Semitic ideas.

Diaspora Jews exposed to anti-Semitism (Photo: EPA)

Personnel from the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and the Simon Wiesenthal Center in the United States were among those who advised the UN on writing the guide.

The guide is about 100 pages long and is displayed on the UN's website.

Israel had declared its desire to withdraw from UNESCO in 2017 claiming the organization is biased against it following the controversial statements about the Western Wall and the Cave of the Patriarchs issued by UNESCO.

The US was the first to announce it is leaving UNESCO in the wake of the ongoing discrimination against Israel.

UNESCO's initiative to release an education guide meant to fight anti-Semitism seems as an attempt to turn over a new leaf on its relationship with Israel.

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Danes seek to limit male circumcision to those 18 and over

A Danish group says petition seeking to set a minimum age of 18 for non-medical male circumcision in the country has gathered the required 50,000 signatures to send the proposal to Parliament for debate later this year.

Lena Nyhus of the group Intact Denmark told The Associated Press on Saturday that her children’s welfare organization believes “we need to respect a person’s right to decide for themselves” on a possible circumcision when they become an adult.

Circumcision ceremony. 'We need to respect a person’s right to decide for themselves' (Photo: Shutterstock)

The ritual of removing an infant boy’s foreskin is common among Jews and Muslims for religious reasons.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says the health benefits of male circumcision outweigh the risks but not by enough to recommend universal male circumcision. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says doctors should educate infant boys’ parents about the health benefits of circumcision, which it says reduces the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

A recent poll commissioned by Danish TV2 broadcaster found that 83 percent of respondents supported such an age limit on circumcising boys.

However, the proposal is unlikely to pass since none of Denmark’s main political parties support it.

Earlier this year, Icelandic lawmakers initially backed a plan to ban circumcisions for minors and to give those who performed the procedure possible jail sentences. But after an outpouring of criticism, including from European Jewish leaders, the proposal was dropped.

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