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As Slovenia takes a hard line against Israel, its tiny Jewish community feels increasingly isolated

JL;DR SUMMARY Slovenia's increasingly pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel policies have left its small Jewish community feeling marginalized and isolated. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish HistoryJewish CommunityPalestineMiddle East ConflictMedia PerceptionEurovisionPolitical StanceSlovenia

Places mentioned

Ljubljana, Slovenia
"Waltl spoke to JTA from his office at the Mini Theater, which since 2013 has also housed the Jewish Cultural Center and Slovenia's only active synagogue."
Maribor, Celje, Slovenia
"During the Middle Ages, the most important community was in Maribor, though Jews were expelled from that town in 1496, and then from Ljubljana in 1515."
Murska Sobota, Hrastnik, Slovenia
"By the early 20th century, Slovenia's Prekmurje region had become home to two-thirds of the country's 1,400 Jews, mostly in the towns of Murska Sobota and Lendava."
Lendava, Celje, Slovenia
"By the early 20th century, Slovenia's Prekmurje region had become home to two-thirds of the country's 1,400 Jews, mostly in the towns of Murska Sobota and Lendava."
Croatia
"Unlike neighboring Croatia whose center-right government has pursued a stridently pro-Israel policy despite a rising, homegrown fascist movement Slovenia has veered sharply to the left in recent years."
Zagreb, Croatia
"We were not merely ignored. What happened to us is something no other government in the world has done ever in the long history of the WJC, said Samakovlija, who is based in Zagreb, Croatia."
Trieste, Friuli–Venezia Giulia, Italy
"In 1991, the Liberal Jewish Community was established, and in 2002, local Jews contracted with a Chabad rabbi from Trieste, Italy, to conduct High Holiday services."
Vienna, Austria
"Christian antisemitism was very visible here before World War II, Waltl, 60, explained as his dog, Umbra, repeatedly barked at passersby. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was no university here, so people studied in Vienna and the mayor of Vienna was very antisemitic."
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
"Currently, liberal rabbis Alexander Grodensky of Luxembourg and Tobias Moss of Vienna visit Slovenia for special occasions."
Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
"Steve Oberman, an attorney in Knoxville, Tennessee, and past president of that city's Arnstein Jewish Community Center, visited Slovenia in 2024 to teach a law class at the University of Ljubljana."
Sarajevo, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
"A graphic designer, she lives in Ljubljana with her husband Igor, who's from Sarajevo, Bosnia."

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Retrieved 2025-10-08 18:00:24 UTC
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