FEATURED JOBS
Comments (0)A U.S. federal court has fined North Korea $300 million for financing a 1972 attack on Israel’s airport.
Twenty-six people were killed and more than 80 wounded in the attack on the Lod Airport, now called Ben Gurion Airport, carried out by the Japanese Red Army and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine with the financial support of North Korea.
The lawsuit was filed by the family of Carmelo Calderon-Molina, a U.S. citizen killed in the attack.
Judge Francisco Besosa of the U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico on July 16 reportedly fined North Korea $300 million, which the judge said is typical punitive damages for such an attack.
North Korea is unlikely to honor the judgment.
Two of the terrorists died in the attack; a third was sentenced by Israel to life in prison. He was released after 13 years as part of an exchange of 1,150 security prisoners for three Israeli soldiers captured in the First Lebanon War.
Israel Lifts Turkey Travel Ban
Israel has lifted an advisory warning its citizens against traveling to Turkey.
The warning was issued following Israel’s May 31 interception of an aid flotilla from Turkey bound for Gaza, in which nine Turkish passengers were killed.
Israel’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau canceled the warning Tuesday afternoon following “calm and a lack of massive rallies against Israel.”
Israelis in Turkey are still warned to stay away from rallies and avoid having political arguments with local residents.
Prior to the warning, Turkey was a popular vacation spot for Israelis.
Russian University Opens Jewish Culture Department
A Russian university has established a department for Jewish culture.
St. Petersburg University’s Academic Commission voted unanimously July 12 to establish a Department of Jewish Culture as part of the university’s faculty of philosophy. The department was formerly a center for biblical and Jewish studies with limited academic capacity.
St. Petersburg intellectuals and academics have made many attempts to establish a Jewish studies department since the university was established in 1724 by Peter the Great.
The university has plans to create a large Judaica library, expand academic Jewish research opportunities and accept incoming undergraduate students to the department.
St. Petersburg universities, museums and libraries all reportedly have vast Judaica collections dating from pre-Revolution times.
The Avi Chai Foundation, Rothschild, Genesis, the Jewish Dutch Humanitarian Fund and others are providing support for the department, which will be headed by St. Petersburg scholar Igor Tantlevskij.