Shorts: World

El Salvador to move embassy

san salvador (jta) | El Salvador said it will move its embassy in Israel to Tel Aviv, leaving Jerusalem without any embassies.

In a written statement late last Friday, Aug. 25, the El Salvadoran government said the move was aimed at helping the Middle East peace process.

The move comes 10 days after Costa Rica, the only other country with an embassy in Israel's capital, announced it was moving its embassy to Tel Aviv.




Ukraine elects Jewish mayor

odessa, ukraine (jta) | Odessa's mayor, Edward Gurvitz, prides himself on never hiding his Jewish background to help his career. "All my life I was a Jew, and had 'Jew' stamped in my passport," he said, referring to the notorious "fifth line" on Soviet passports that stated the bearer's ethnic identity.

Gurvitz, 58, was one of four Jews to win Ukrainian mayoral elections recently, despite what many describe as a steady increase in anti-Semitic attitudes in the country.

Gurvitz acknowledged that he never took an active part in Jewish communal life, but said Jewish issues and Israel are important parts of his life.




Hitler restaurant changes name

mumbai, india (ap) | A restaurant named Hitler's Cross Cafe that enraged India's small Jewish community has been renamed The Cross Cafe, its owner said Tuesday, Aug. 29.

Owner Puneet Sablok said Nazi swastikas that adorned signs advertising the eatery and its menus would be removed and the new name would appear on billboards and the menu.

The restaurant opened Aug. 18, quickly drawing the ire of India's Jewish community. Jewish leaders met with Sablok and demanded that the name be changed.




Canada won't block Internet hate

ottawa (jta) | Canadian Jewish Congress officials are disappointed that Canada's telecommunications authority ruled that Internet service providers may not block access to Web sites that contain hate messages.

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission denied an application last week from Richard Warman, an Ottawa human-rights lawyer. Warman had sought to block a Web site that encourages violence against him and even gives his home address. The site is maintained by Bill White, described in the application as a neo-Nazi and white supremacist in Roanoke, Va.




Laos gets Chabad emissary

new york (jta) | Chabad-Lubavitch now has a representative in Laos.

Rabbi Shalom Ber Marzel and his wife are expected to serve Israeli backpackers and other tourists who visit the Southeast Asian country. Laos is the 73rd country to have a Chabad emissary.




Wartime camp gets peace pole

prague (jta) | A Japanese peace group erected a monument at the former Terezin transit camp.

A giant peace pole with the inscription "May Peace Prevail on Earth" in Czech, Japanese, German and English was dedicated Monday, Aug. 28 at the camp, now a museum in the Czech Republic, by members of the Japanese branch of the World Peace Prayer Society.

The peace group said they had chosen Terezin because it is a symbol of wartime suffering. The Nazis set up a ghetto in Terezin in 1941 and brought there some 155,000 Jews from all over Europe, most of whom were deported to death camps, particularly Auschwitz. Some 35,000 Jews died in the ghetto from disease and hunger due to the horrible conditions. There are more than 200,000 peace poles in 190 countries.