Shorts: World

Millions visit Berlin Holocaust memorial

berlin (ap) | Germany's national Holocaust memorial has drawn an estimated 3.5 million visitors in the year since it was inaugurated, officials said this week.

The memorial — a vast field of more than 2,700 gray slabs in the heart of Berlin — opened to the public May 12 last year.

Although the slabs are covered with an anti-graffiti coating, in the first year, five swastikas, four Stars of David and one other piece of graffiti had been reported.




British union to vote on Israel boycott

new york (jta) | Britain's largest union for college teachers will vote later this month on an Israel boycott.

The National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education, which has 65,000 members, will take up the issue at its May 27-29 conference, Ha'aretz reported. The boycott would apply to Israeli lecturers and academic institutions that don't publicly declare their opposition to Israel's presence in the West Bank.

Another British teachers union, the Association of University Teachers, voted to boycott Israeli academics last year, but rescinded the decision in the face of international criticism.




French Jewish leader honored

paris (jta) | A French Jewish leader received one of the country's highest honors.

Claude-Gerard Marcus, a longtime French legislator, was made an officer of the Legion of Honor in a ceremony last week in Paris, the European Jewish Press reported.

Marcus is leader of the Judaism and Liberty group, which once worked to help Soviet Jews emigrate, and more recently has been fighting anti-Semitism in France.




First Chinese mikvah since WWII

beijing (jta) | A Chabad center in China is building the country's first mikvah since World War II.

The ritual bath in Beijing will include some distinctive Chinese touches, including a pagoda. A Chinese architect worked closely with rabbis to ensure that the mikvah was in line with Jewish law.




Sweden offers Hamas visa

stockholm (jta) | Sweden broke with European Union policy by granting a visa to a Palestinian Authority Cabinet minister from Hamas.

Minister for Refugees Atef Adwan was given a visa to attend a conference last week in Sweden. It was the first time an E.U. member state allowed entry to a member of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority since the terrorist group took power in March.