Windows font with swastikas a mistake

new york (jta) | Microsoft is removing swastikas and the Star of David from one of its Windows fonts. Officials with the company are calling the inclusion of the swastikas in the “Bookshelf Symbol 7” font a mistake.

The Star of David was removed because it was so close to the swastika in the font set, a Microsoft official told PC Magazine. The Star of David is available in other fonts, the official said.

Hip-hop mogul to visit Israel

new york (jta) | Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons is planning to visit the Jewish state. Simmons, who also is chairman of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which promotes black-Jewish ties, will go to Israel on a “fact-finding mission” in the late spring, the foundation said.

The group’s president, Rabbi Marc Schneier, said Simmons, the founder of Def Jam Records who is widely credited with bringing hip hop into mainstream America, “feels it’s now time for African Americans to fight for the civil rights of Jews to combat the evil of anti-Semitism.”

Schneier, who pointed out that Israel is the only country in history to have taken blacks out of Africa for freedom, added that Simmons also is curious about the emergence of hip-hop culture in Israel.