This week in power: Zion Square, skinnydipping Congressmen, Austria cartoon, Western Wall women

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Violence erupts
Recently, a 17- year-old Palestinian boy was beaten unconscious by a group of Jewish teenagers, ” title=”http://972mag.com/the-holy-war-against-arab-jewish-relations-and-the-jerusalem-lynch/54198/” target=”_blank”>Reports indicate that the teenager was trying to speak to a Jewish girl. “Some commentators have suggested that the riot in Jerusalem may presage a new wave of terrorist acts carried out by Jews. I hope this prediction is wrong,” ” title=”http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2012/08/an-attack-in-zion-square.html” target=”_blank”>added Amy Davidson in The New Yorker. In an already charged area like Jerusalem, this calls more attention to the attack.

Romney gears up
Florida’s 639,000 Jews are up for grabs in the upcoming election, and both candidates are trying their best to appeal to them, ” title=”http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?q=node/92960″ target=”_blank”>said Jonathan S. Tobin at JNS.org. In response, Obama has stepped it up by forming a new list of “” title=”http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79865.html?hp=t1″ target=”_blank”>Politico reported that dozens of Congressmen last year went for a latenight swim, with some of them disrobed. “The fact that this incident happened in August 2011, and is only just now coming to light probably points out how embarrassing the Republican leadership found the whole episode,” ” title=”http://wvgazette.com/Opinion/Editorials/201208210102″ target=”_blank”>said a Charleston Gazette editorial. Others had a sense of humor about the incident. Conor Friedersdorf at The Atlantic ” title=”http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/120820/anti-semitic-cartoon-draws-criticism-austria-far-right-party” target=”_blank”>propaganda from the 1930s by Austrian Jewish leader Oskar Deutsch. Strache ” title=”http://www.dailydot.com/politics/facebook-austria-anti-semitism/” target=”_blank”>said Jordan Valinsky at The Daily Dot.

Women with tallits
Four women were ” title=”http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2012/05/cops-bust-3-women-for-wearing-tallits-at-western-wall-345.html” target=”_blank”>several were arrested back in May. “This morning’s arrests serve as an escalation and continuation of the wave of women’s exclusion with in the public sphere, a struggle which started at the Western Wall and has spread all over Israel,”