world report

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (JTA) -- An anti-tank missile near the Prague airport may have been meant to shoot down an Israeli plane.

The missile, discovered two days after Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres passed through Prague, may have been intended for a civilian flight to Tel Aviv, according to the Czech daily newspaper Pravo.

"We maintain the theory that the weapon got near the airport in connection with a planned attack against an Israeli target," the daily quotes a "well-informed source" as saying. Interior Minister Stanislav Gross refused to confirm the information, saying investigations are continuing.

Documentary examines Jewish moms in movies

SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) -- The Jewish mother stereotype is relatively new to the movies, according to an Australian documentary that looks at the way Jewish mothers have been represented in film over the years.

"Mamadrama" finds that the stereotypical Jewish mother defined as "emasculating and overbearing" was mainly featured in films made in the 1970s and 1980s.

Director Monique Schwarz demonstrates how older films depict mothers as strong, lovable characters at the moral center of families. One historian in the film, which was released in October, suggests that the Jewish-mother stereotype of more recent times is a fantasy figure of male writers and directors.

Ex-Nazi hangout now site for Shoah exhibits

BERLIN (JTA) -- A documentation center about the Nazi era opened Sunday in Nuremberg, Germany. The center is located in an unfinished meeting hall that Hitler had planned in the city that hosted massive Nazi rallies.

The center's first exhibit, "Fascination and Force," explores the allure of Nazi propaganda and its role in the Shoah. The exhibit includes educational materials and photographs of the rallies, and focuses on the 1935 Nuremberg anti-Jewish "race laws" that paved the way for the Holocaust.