nation / world
Turkey, Israel to Restore Full Diplomatic Relations
Turkey and Israel will return ambassadors to their countries, ending a four-year
rupture, as each country seeks to expand ties and influence in the Middle East,
JTA reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu announced the news on Aug. 16 after Lapid spoke with Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The agreement follows a visit to Ankara in March by Israeli President Isaac
Herzog, who met with Erdogan.

It was Erdogan who initiated a suspension of ties after violence flared on the
Israel-Gaza border following the Trump administration’s decision to move the
U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in 2018.

Ties were previously strained in 2010 after Israel’s deadly raid on a Turkish ship,
the Mavi Marmara, which sought to breach Israel’s blockade of Gaza, but Israel
and Turkey reconciled in 2016.

Israel seeks to build on the 2020 Abraham Accords, which normalized relations
with four Arab countries.

Illustrated Version of Anne Frank’s Diary Removed from Texas Shelves
A school district in suburban Fort Worth, Texas, ordered its librarians to remove
an illustrated adaptation of “The Diary of Anne Frank” from their shelves and
digital libraries, along with the Bible and dozens of other books challenged by
parents last year, JTA reported.

The book purge at the Keller Independent School District in Keller, Texas, was
requested on Aug. 16 by a district executive in an email.

It was the latest in a string of book removals being implemented at schools at
the behest of conservative activist parents and school board members who are
challenging a slew of texts on grounds ranging from their LGBT-friendly content
to their supposed connections to “critical race theory.”
“Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation,” by Israeli filmmaker Ari
Folman and illustrator David Polonsky, is a 2019 illustrated adaptation of the
bestselling diary by the teenage Holocaust victim.

Later in the week, Superintendent Rick Westfall said the illustrated adaptation
and other removed books would be back on shelves “very soon.”
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Fire Destroys Building at Grossinger’s, ‘Dirty Dancing’ Inspiration
An abandoned building on the site of the late Grossinger’s Catskill Resort Hotel
was consumed by fire on Aug. 16, New York Jewish Week reported, citing the
Liberty, N.Y. Fire Department.

The resort, which closed in 1986 after 70 years of operation, was demolished in
2018. It was one of the largest and best-known destinations in the “Borscht Belt,”
the Catskill Mountains region that served as a popular Jewish vacation destina-
tion well into the 1960s.

It was not immediately clear what the building was used for, the Associated
Press reported, although comments on the Facebook post suggested it was the
former house of Elaine Grossinger-Etess, the daughter of the resort’s celebrated
hostess. The resort is often cited as the inspiration for Kellerman’s Mountain House
resort in “Dirty Dancing,” the 1987 period rom-com starring Jennifer Grey.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, though police received reports of a
teenager running into nearby woods, the Mid Hudson News reported.

Sierra Club Reschedules Israel Trips Canceled Under Pressure
Five months after canceling its planned trips to Israel, and then — following
outrage from Jewish organizations — apologizing days later and saying the trips
would be reinstated, the Sierra Club has quietly posted a new excursion to Israel
for next year, J. The Jewish News of Northern California reported.

Called “Natural and Historical Highlights of Israel,” the two-week trip in
March will include many of the same activities the Sierra Club offered before
activists convinced the environmental nonprofit to cancel two Israel outings:
snorkeling, bird watching, nights on a kibbutz and a visit to Tel Aviv. JE
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