Pro-Palestinians in Sweden plan another Gaza flotilla

STOCKHOLM (WJC)– Pro-Palestinian activists of the Ship to Gaza group who took part in the flotilla at the end of May have announced they would make a new attempt to reach the Gaza Strip before the end of 2010. “We are going to send a flotilla if the siege is not lifted,” spokesman Dror Feiler told the news agency ‘Agence France Presse’ in Stockholm.

A six-ship fleet first attempted to break the sea blockade of Gaza on 31 May but it was halted by the Israeli Navy. In the skirmish on one of the six ships, nine Turkish activists were killed. “We will go before the end of this year and we are quite sure that this flotilla will be more boats, bigger boats, it will be several passenger boats,” said Feiler, who took part in the flotilla’s first trip.

“And as determined before, we will not accept Israeli control, we will not accept Israeli inspections and we will go to Gaza,” the Israeli-born Swedish artist and activist said. “We hope that Israel and the international community will realize it is not possible to stop this and that it is not acceptable to continue with the siege [of Gaza],” he added.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in a statement it planned to enlarge the coalition “to include the various groups around the world that want to join us, as well as intensify our efforts to mobilize a new flotilla.”

*
Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress

U.S. judge sides with Chabad in demand that Russia return a Jewish library

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge has issued a ruling against the Russian government for its refusal to return a library of historic books and documents to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. The documents seized by the Nazis were transferred by the Soviet Red Army as war booty to the Russian State Military Archive.

In an order filed on 30 July and published on Wednesday, Justice Royce Lamberth told the Russian government to surrender to the US Embassy in Moscow, or to representatives of Chabad, the complete collection of religious books, manuscripts, documents and things that comprise the collection, and further ordered the defendants to assist and authorize the transfer of the collection and to provide whatever security and authorization is needed to insure prompt and safe transportation of the collection to a destination of the plaintiff’s choosing.

“This victory is a triumph for justice for the Jewish people and others who abhor the Nazi and Soviet exploitation of victims of genocide, and the unlawful and immoral suppression of religious faith by the current Russian government,” said Seth Gerber, one of the lawyers representing Chabad. 

Last year, lawyers for the Russian government argued that judges had no authority to tell the country how to handle the sacred Jewish documents. Under the US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, a sovereign nation is not immune to lawsuits in cases where property is taken in violation of international law. Lamberth found that the religious group had established its claim to the material.

According to court papers reciting the history behind the case, during the 1990s Russian President Boris Yeltsin gave an explicit assurance to then-US President George H.W. Bush’s emissary, Secretary of State James Baker, that the Russian government would return the library of religious books and manuscripts to Chabad-Lubavitch.

*
Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress

U.N. investigators say Lebanon at fault in cross-border firefight with Israel

NAKOURA CROSSING, Israel-Lebanon Border (WJC)–The peacekeeping force of the United Nations in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) has confirmed that Israeli forces were pruning trees located on Israeli territory before an exchange of fire with Lebanese troops. An UNIFIL statement largely vindicated Israel’s account of how the fighting, in which one Israeli and two Lebanese soldiers as well as a Lebanese journalist died, began.

“The UN established that the trees being cut by the Israeli army are located south of the Blue Line on the Israeli side,’’ it said, referring the internationally recognized border demarcated by the UN in 2000 when Israel withdrew its forces from Lebanon. But both sides committed themselves to respecting the line as identified, the UN peacekeeping force added.

On Wednesday, UNFIL convened a ‘tripartite’ meeting on the Israeli-Lebanese border, in which UN officials as well as IDF and Lebanese army officers took part.

“Israel and Lebanon have agreed to respect the UN’s resolutions,” UNIFIL’s commander Alberto Asarta Cuevas said Wednesday night following the meeting at the Nakoura crossing. In Washington, US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the UN finding was conclusive. “The firing by Lebanese armed forces was totally unjustified and unwarranted,” he said. Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, told ‘Israel Radio’ that the IDF response to what he termed a “provocation” by the Lebanese army had been correct and measured. However, Barak said there was a need to ensure that the incident did not turn into a new conflict.

Meanwhile, IDF Lt.-Col. (res) Dov Harari, 45, who was killed in the incident, was buried in his hometown Netanya. He is survived by his wife and four children.

 *
Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress

Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, November 12, 1954, Part 4

Compiled by San Diego Jewish World staff

Three Synagogues Observe Tercentenary Sabbath
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 12, 1954, Page 9

In accordance with the call issued to all Synagogues by the Synagogue Council of America, the official voice of all Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Congregations, Rabbi Morton J. Cohn has invited the Rabbis and members of Congregations Beth Jacob and Tifereth Israel to join his congregation in Sabbath worship on Friday evening, November 26^th, 8:15 p.m., in the Temple.

Rabbis Monroe Levens and Baruch Stern have accepted the invitation in behalf of their congregations, and thus San Diego Jewry will unite with their brethren throughout the nation in religious observance of the 300^th Anniversary of the first American Jewish community.

A special worship service prepared by the Synagogue Council of America to be used nationally on this date, will be conducted at the Temple.  The musical portions of the service will be under combined supervision of Cantors Julian K. Miller and Joseph Cysner.

Rabbi Levens and Rabbi Cohn will deliver short messages on the Tercentenary theme, and the joint congregation will be welcomed by officers of the congregation. A social hour of Oneg Shabbat will follow the worship service.

The presidents of the three congregations are Morris Kraus, Beth Jacob; Edward Breitbard, Tifereth Israel, and Mack Esterson, Beth Israel. The entire Jewish community is invited to attend this unique and significant service of Thanksgiving for the blessings which this beloved land has given to the Jewish community of America.

*

Adult Study Institute At Beth Israel
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 12, 1954, Page 9

Member and friends of Temple Beth Israel are invited to participate in the special Tercentenary courses being conducted every Wednesday evening at 7:39 in the Temple House, Third and Maple.

The Adult Institute of Jewish Studies is open to all who wish to attend.  Rabbi Morton J. Cohn teaches the two courses, one entitled “Adventure in Freedom – the Jew in America,” and the other on the subject, “The Greatest Story Ever Told—Your Bible.”  The Temple urges you to take aedvantage of this service to the entire Jewish community.

*
Beth Jacob News
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 12, 1954, Page 9

A gala Thanksgiving luncheon will be given by the Beth Jacob Sisterhood at the Beth Jacob Center on Tuesday, Nov. 23. There will be entertainment and gifts for members and guests following a short business meeting.

For reservations, call AT-4-8107 or AT-4-3363.

Beth Jacob Youth League –“This is Show Business,” a show sparking with talent, will be presented by the Beth Jacob Youth League Saturday, Nov. 20, at 8:00 p.m, at the Beth Jacob Center.  It’ll be a show you won’t want to miss. Dancing, and refreshments will follow.  Everyone, adults as well as teenagers, are cordially invited to attend. There will be a donation of fifty cents. For further information call CY-6-2905.

*
Temple Sisterhood To Hear Mr. Samsom
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 12, 1954, Page 9

Temple Beth Israel Sisterhood is having for its November meeting Reverend Peter H. Samsom of the First Unitarian Church who will review the book, “A Fable,” by William Faulkner.  The meeting will be held on November 24 at 11:45 at the Temple Center.  Mrs. Sidney Goldstein is luncheon chairman, and her co-chairmen are Mmes. William Richartz and Jules Levin. Luncheon reservations are being taken by Mrs. Richartz, BE 9-5447 and Mrs. Rose Hillman, CY-5-4309.

*
Members meet every Monday morning to work together making the beautiful “Originals” which will be a feature of the February Country Fair. Sisterhood asks women to attend the Monday morning “Kaffee Katsches” as assistance is needed even from women who do not knit or sew. They are asked to bring a sandwich, coffee will be served.

*
Synagogues To Join With Churches In Joint Thanksgiving Service Nov. 25^th
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 12, 1954, Page 9

The Annual Joint Thanksgiving Service of Beth Israel Temple, Beth Jacob Synagogue and Tifereth Israel Synagogue, will take place Thanksgiving morning, November 25, at 11;00 a.m. at Tifereth Israel Synagogue.

In the true American spirit of brotherhood, recognizing Thanksgiving as a basic American holiday, with vital religious import, the Synagogues this year have invited several churches to join with them in worship. Ministers of the churches will participate in the conduct of the service. 

Sepaker for the occasion will be Chaplain E. H. Rickel of the Naval Training Center.  Chaplain Rickel, who holds the rank of Lt. Commander in the Navy, has distinguished himself in the Chaplaincy, receiving numerous awards, citations and commendations from high ranking military and government officials.  He was formerly Rabbi of Temple Beth El, Buffalo, New York.

A social hour and refreshments will follow through the courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Goldberg, Mr. and Mrs. Maury Novak and Mrs. Leo Brett.

*
Noted Veteran Passes
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 12, 1954, Page 9

We regret the report the passing of Harry Isadore Mankus, brother of Mrs. Frances C. Berenson, who died in Veterans Hospital in Long Beach Nov. 1.

A long time Naval veteran, Mr. Mankus was a member of the crew of destroyers which escorted President Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Paris Peace Conference after World War I.

He was buried with highest military honors at the Navy Cemetery at Sawtelle.

*
City of Hope Auxiliary
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 12, 1954, Page 9

Nomination and Election of Officers will take place at our next meeting Tuesday, Nov. 1th. Bob Adler, Regional Director of Auxiliaries, met with member of the two auxiliaries this week and spoke for City of Hope at the Allocations Meeting of U.J.F.

President Ethel Berwin will lead a discussion group at the Lake Arrowhead Conference this month.

*
Noted Labor Leader To Speak Here Nov. 21
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 12, 1954, Page 10

The San Diego branch of the Jewish Labor Committee is sponsoring a dinner and concert honoring Benjamin Tabachinsky, National Campaign Director of the Jewish Labor Committee, Sunday evening, November 21 at Beth Jacob Synaogue.

Feigele Panitz, soprano, the beloved nationally known artists, will delight the audience with her exquisite interpretation of Yiddish and Hebrew songs, accompanied by the talented Miss Eugena Bruman at the pinao.

San Diego is looking forward with eager anticipation to this affair.

A home-cooked chicken dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. for $2.00. For reservations call: B. Feinberg – BE 2-3524; Mrs. Ira Gordon – BE 3-3648; or Herman Sonabend—AT 1-7380.

A large delegation will leave San Diego Saturday, November 13 to attend the Annual Conference of the Jewish Labor Committee, which will be held in Los Angeles. The conference will end ith a banquet dinner Sunday evening, November 14.

*
Jewish Center To Hold Bingo Party
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 12, 1954, Page 10

The Women’s League of the San Diego Jewish Community Center, a recently formed auxiliary to the J.C.C. is planning a bingo party Thursday, November 18^th, 1:30 p.m. at the Community Center, 3227 El Cajon Blvd.

There will be cash prizes and gifts for the lucky winners, also a lovely8 door prize. Home-made refreshments will be served. A cordial welcome is extended to all J.C. C. members and their friends. Ida Beck, chairman, and her committee are planning an enjoyable afternoon for your pleasure.

The purpose of this affair is two-fold – to acquaint the community at large of the Women’s Legue of the J.C.C. and, secondly, to raise some money to get bare necessities for the so-called “kitchen” in the center (ladies, do you know there isn’t even a dish towel on the premises at present?)

This affair will benefit your child.  So, come and bring a friend. There will be an admission charge of 50 cents.

*
U.J.F. Annual Meet Set For Dec. 12^th
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 12, 1954, Page 10

Milton Roberts, vice president of the United Jewish fund of San Diego, has accepted appointment as chairman of the 21^st Annual Meeting according to an announcement by Louis Moorsteen, president.

To be held on Sunday, December 12, 6:30 p.m. at the San Diego Hotel, the dinner meeting will be dedicated, not only to the work of the Jewish community of San Diego but to the tercentenary of Jewish settlement in America which is now being celebrated throughout the country.

*
Retarded Children Get New Building
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 12, 1954, Page 10

San Diego Association for Retarded Children took a 5-year long step forward this week when it signed a lease for Valley View School, located on the former site of Anthony Home, with San Diego Board of Supervisors.  Here, after extensive remodeling, the association will establish a Day Center and Training Center for retarded pre=school children and young adults.

A preview of the Valley View plant and its proposed program will be given the public Sunday, Nov. 21sdt from 1 to 4:30 o’clock.

*
*
“Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” is sponsored by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg. Our “Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” series will be a regular feature until we run out of history.  To find stories on specific individuals or organizations, type their names in our search box.  

Jewish political roundup: Emerald votes for sales tax ballot measure; Block to open reelection headquarters

SAN DIEGO  (SDJW)– Marti Emerald has voted with the San Diego City Council’s majority to place a ½ cent sales tax increase on the city ballot—an increase, which boost the levy from 8.75 percent to 9.25 percent.

After doing so, the 7^th District Councilwoman issued a statement, explaining her siding with the majority in the 6-2 Council vote:

““We’re asking the voters of San Diego to tell us if they are willing to pay a little extra to restore core services,” she said.  “That includes public safety, libraries and plugging pot holes.”

She noted that the “Reform Before Revenue measure” calls for a host of pension and financial reforms which must be met before the temporary 5-year half-cent sales tax would be levied.

“Not one penny would be collected until pensions are reduced and managed competition is enacted as part of a comprehensive package of reforms,” she said.  “I take very seriously my constituents’ message that we need reform before revenue.”
By working together, the City Council and Mayor have enacted budget cuts totaling $335 million annually, she added.

Meanwhile, another public officeholder from San Diego’s Jewish community – state Assemblyman Marty Block—announced his campaign headquarters for reelection will be opened at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at 3717 Camino Del Rio South.

Block said that among expected attendees at the ceremony are Emerald;  Sweetwater Union High School District Trustee Arlie Ricasa;  and Lorena Gonzalez, San Diego & Imperials Counties  Labor Council Secretary-Treasurer

*
Preceding compiled from news releases from Councilmember Emerald and Assembly member Block

College Avenue Older Adult Center announces September activities

SAN DIEGO (Press Release)–The College Avenue Older Adult Center, operated by Jewish Family Service inside the Beth Jacob Congregation facility at 4855 College Avenue, announces the following activities for September 2010:

Mondays: Classes and Activities offered: Aerobics with Kara Anderson (8:30 – 10 am, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays); Feeling Fit with Kara Anderson (10 – 11:15 am, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays); Meditation with Jeff Zlotnik (11:15 am – 12 pm); Bridge – 12:45 pm; Movie Group (1 – 3 pm, new releases shown each Monday), no charge for members, $1 for non-members; Musical Comedy Group with Polly Columbo (1 pm – 3 pm). For more information on any of the classes or activities, call (619) 583-3300.
  
Tuesdays: Classes and Activities offered: Walking Group (9 – 10 am); Tai Chi with Leslie Johnson-Leech (9 – 10:30 am); Book Club (1st Tuesday of the month at 9:30 am); Arthritis Exercise (10:30 – 11:45 am); Film Class with Judith Levine 1 pm (no class during summer); Ballroom Dancing (2 – 4 pm); Trivia Tuesday (2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month at 12:15 pm). For more information on any of the classes or activities, call (619) 583-3300.
   
Wednesdays: Classes and Activities offered: Drawing class with Marsha Austin Rogers (8:30 am); Aerobics with Kara Anderson (8:30 – 10 am, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays); Feeling Fit with Kara Anderson (10 – 11:15 am, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays); Painting with Marsha Austin Rogers (12:30 – 3 pm); Writing class with Marsha Kay Seff (1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month at 12:45 pm); Bingo (12:45 pm); Music Experience with Pat Wakeman (1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month from 1 – 2:30 pm), $1 for members, $3 for non-members; Line Dancing with Luis Samaya (2:30 – 3:30 pm), $3 member per class, $5 non-member per class. For more information on any of the classes or activities, call (619) 583-3300.

Thursday: Classes and Activities offered: Painting with Marsha Austin Rogers (9 am – 12 pm); Mah Jongg (9:15 am); Laughter Yoga with Michael Coleman (10:30 am); Blood Pressure Check (2nd and 4th Thursdays at 10 am); Arthritis Group exercise class (10 am); Beginning Mah Jongg (12:30 pm); Special Weekly Lectures (12:45 pm, Please call for topic information); Meditation with Jeff Zlotnik (11:15 am – 12 pm). For more information on any of the classes or activities, call (619) 583-3300.

Fridays: Classes and Activities offered: Aerobics with Kara Anderson (8:30 – 10 am, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays); Feeling Fit with Kara Anderson (10 – 11:15 am, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays); Yoga with Shashi Pottathil (10:45 am), $5 for members, $7 for non-members; (11:15 am); History Today! – Weekly history series; Special Musical Programs (12:30 pm, Please call for music program information).

Ongoing:  Blood Pressure Checks: 10:00 am, 4th Thursday of every month
                 Poker Group: 10 am, every Monday, Wednesday & Friday
                 Craft Class: 9:30 am, 2nd and 4th Friday of every month
                 Book Discussion Group: 9:30 am, 3rd Tuesday of every month
                
Special Events, Lectures and Presentations:

College Avenue Cyber Café Grand Opening: Wednesday, September 1, 10 am – 3 pm; Ribbon Cutting Ceremony with Supervisor Ron Roberts, 11 am
Come see what the buzz is about. You’re invited to the Grand Opening of the College Avenue Cyber Cafe. Ribbon Cutting with Supervisor Ron Roberts at 11 am. We’ll have computer and internet demonstrations, practice tutorials, refreshments and giveaways. See demonstrations of the Posit Science Brain Fitness program, which we will be offering in October.

College Avenue Center – September Holiday Closures
The Center will be closed the following days in September:
Monday – September 6
Thursday & Friday – September 9 & 10
Thursday & Friday – September 23 & 24
Thursday – September 30

History Today! with Troy Jordan. Fridays, September 3 & 17 @ 11:15 am
September 3 – : Mission San Diego de Alcala: The birthplace of Western Civilization on the West Coast of the United States. Come and learn the fascinating and interesting history of the first mission in the chain of 23 California missions. You’ll hear about attacks by the Kumeyaay and Father Luis Jayne, Father Junipero Serra, presidio commanders, day to day mission life, and more.

September 17- : All about Adobe: This class is about adobe, its history and lore, facts and fables and about adobe houses and bricks. You will learn the basics of adobe construction and the history of some of old San Diego’s historic adobes such as La Casa de Estudillo, La Casa de Bandini, Ramona’s Marriage Place and the Machado-Stewart House.

Rosh Hashanah Celebration
Wednesday, September 8 @ 12 pm
Join us for an early Rosh Hashanah celebration and start off a sweet new year with a special lunch, apples & honey and musical entertainment by Doron Peisic.

HICAP: Understanding your Medicare Rights and Benefits
Thursday, September 16 @ 12:45
Jean Soderburgh of HICAP (Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program) will be presenting, Understanding your Medicare Rights and Benefits. Information will include:
• How to understand your Medicare benefits & rights and appeal denials of coverage
• Information on what to know before you purchase Long-Term Care (LTC) insurance and/or understanding the policy
• Information on Low Income Subsidy (LIS) or Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) and/or application assistance
• How Medicare works with other types of insurance coverage (Who Pays 1st?) 
• Help understanding your Medicare health and/or drug plan and understanding enrollment periods
• Any issue with Medicare; including understanding your Medicare Summary Notice (MSN)

Blood Pressure Checks
Thursday, September 16; from 10 – 11 am
Free blood pressure screenings

Lunch in the Sukkah
Monday, September 27 @ 12 Noon
Come celebrate Sukkot! Join us for a festive lunch out on our patio, under the Sukkah, with musical entertainment by Yochanan Sebastian Winston.

The College Avenue Center also offers hot Kosher lunches served Monday – Friday @ 12 Noon Soup & Salad Bar offered Mondays – Wednesdays from 11:30am-12:30pm Suggested Donation: $3.50 for Seniors, $6 for all others.

*
Preceding provided by JFS Colleage Avenue Older Adult Center

ADL says Internet providers should define prohibited ‘hate speech’ in terms of service

NEW YORK (Press Release) — The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Wednesday  submitted recommendations to a trio of federal agencies on how the U.S. government can more effectively address the issue of bullying and cyberbullying.
 
The recommendations come in advance of an upcoming Federal Bullying Prevention Summit, scheduled to convene August 11-12 in Washington, D.C.

“The federal government can play a critical role in ensuring that our schools and communities are safe places for all students,” said David Waren, ADL Director of Education, who will represent the League at the summit. “Federal leadership on these important issues helps nurture a climate and a culture in which community members are willing to condemn bigotry, bullying and harassment. We look forward to working with Administration officials on this important issue.”

In letters to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, ADL called on the federal government to develop, fund and promote proactive strategies to confront bullying, cyberbullying and harassment in schools and communities.

The League also outlined a menu of specific strategies the government can adopt to counter bullying. ADL’s recommendations include:
 
* Develop a model anti-bullying policy, and promote the adoption of such a policy for schools in all states.
 
* Fund research into the nature and magnitude of the bullying problem in America and its impact on the social and emotional health of students and their academic achievement.
 
* Promote Internet media literacy – specifically programs to help develop students’ critical thinking skills for Internet, viral and wireless communications.
 
* Require Internet providers to clearly define prohibited hate speech in their Terms of Service agreements.

ADL is a leader in developing anti-bullying and anti-cyberbullying training and curriculum for teachers, parents and students; and has developed a model state bullying prevention policy which requires schools and communities to approach the issue of bullying with proactive, responsive and responsible measures.

*
Preceding provided by Anti-Defamation League

San Diego to get its own U.S. Passport Office

SAN DIEGO (Press Release)–A San Diego Passport Agency is scheduled to open to the public in the spring of 2011, according to the U.S. State Department.

“I’m very excited about expanding our presence to the San Diego area,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Passport Services Brenda S. Sprague. “As passports are required for cross-border travel to Mexico, the new agency will help us better serve U.S. citizens in the region and create jobs and contribute to the local economy.”

Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the San Diego Passport Agency will be centrally located downtown in Columbia Center at 401 West A Street, making it easily accessible by public transportation. The new agency will be capable of issuing U.S. passport books and passport cards onsite for U.S. citizens who plan to travel within 14 days.

The San Diego Passport Agency’s proximity to San Diego International Airport and the U.S.-Mexico border will help facilitate the travel needs of local residents affected by the border-crossing requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), which went into full effect June 2009..

For general passport information, to schedule an appointment at one of our other passport agencies, or to the check the status of a passport application, please contact the National Passport Information Center toll-free at 1-877-487-2778 or TDD/TTY at 1-888-874-7793. You may also visit the passport agency’s website.

*
Preceding provided by the U.S. State Department

How should we distinguish between anti-Semites and vehement opponents of Israel?

By Ira Sharkansky

Ira Sharkansky

JERUSALEM–Does it do more harm than good to describe Israel’s intense antagonists as anti-Semites?

No doubt it assures that any discussion will be heated. However, if it was appropriate to use the term, it was, most likely, already at a fever pitch. 

Is it a distortion of reality to accuse opponents of anti-Semitism?

No more than a substantial segment of current opponents distort reality by focusing on Israel as deserving censure, boycotts, or other punishment without considering Israel’s activities in comparison to those of other countries set upon by intense enemies.

To repeat what I have written previously: anti-Semitism differs from a reasonable posture against Israeli actions to the extent that individuals accuse Israel of violating standards of activity far more onerous than they use to judge other countries, including their own.

The A word does not cool things, but neither may it increase the heat above where it already is. It may serve to link current accusations with earlier stereotypes well defined as beyond the pale, and lead some people to stop going after Jews out of fear of being labeled with one of history’s most objectionable labels.
 
My discussion of this issue has angered one person who is–or used to be–a friend. He wrote that I should butt out of the controversy about the proposed boycott of Israeli products by the Olympia Food Coop. According to him, I do not understand Olympia, and I may inflame efforts to deal with the issue by temperate people like him who live in the community. He urges me to, “open your eyes and look in the mirror. Israel is its own worst enemy which comes from blaming everybody else and taking no responsibility for its own actions.”

Butt out I will not do. It is my business every bit as much as it is that of the good people of Olympia. Israel is the country where I live. I am among the targets of Olympian madness. It is me and my colleagues whose work has not been considered by professional journals for reasons that appear fabricated, and built upon the same logic as that of the Food Coop. It is me and my family who may be subject to delay or even prohibition when we seek entry into a country aroused against Israel. On several occasions we have decided not to speak in Hebrew in a foreign city, in order to avoid what might happen.

Another correspondent wrote that “accusations of anti-Semitism inflame passions and prompt defensiveness rather than highlighting the error of boycott and divestment” This came from someone who also lives in the area of the Food Coop. The note when on to say  that “this campaign is a much more serious threat than Israelis (or certainly the Israeli government) realize, and should be considered and addressed with the attention and resources typically devoted to conventional military threats (Iran, Syria, Hezbollah) and terrorism threats (Hamas and others).”

When I responded that the issue might not warrant Israel’s air force staging a bombing raid over Olympia, the follow up was 

Not bombing – different types of resources, but a similar level of attention and consideration, talent, money, high-level visibility, etc….  Some of this is already underway; I understand that the Foreign Ministry has an “inquiry commission” (probably by another name) looking at the media and public-diplomacy aspects of the Gaza flotilla fiasco.

This is one way of calling for better Israeli explanations of what it does, and better campaigns to defend itself against outrageous accusations.

That would be nice. Maybe ideal. However, the proposal has been around for a long time. It surfaces whenever there is a perceived loss to those who accuse Israel of abominations.

I doubt that it is doable.

Governments know how to build cities and other physical structures, and armies know how to destroy them. The delivery of health, education, and other services responds to money and administrative detail. Changing attitudes in a democratic setting with freedom of expression is another matter. Intensity resists persuasion. A popular fashion that demonizes some distant people may be even more resistant. This may be especially the case when the campaign is widespread, financed by wealthy countries, and when the target of the hostility is a people who have served time and again as a scapegoat.

We have traveled back to anti-Semitism.

It is not a charge that should be used casually. Remember that I viewed Barack Obama’s Cairo speech as balanced, and I have ridiculed those who consider him anti-Semitic, or a Muslim and born somewhere that would disqualify him from being the President of the United States. I also ridiculed his demand that Jews not build in neighborhoods of Jerusalem. I seek to avoid madness while I identify other faults are ill-advised.

The campaign against the Olympia Food Coop will remain with local people, most likely focusing on changing the views of individuals who are not firmly committed to the boycott. I will not try to dictate the vocabulary of those working in my interests. But neither will I desist from concluding that fomenters of the boycott, and others like them fit a pattern best described by the “A” word. 

*
Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University

Plan for mosque two blocks from Ground Zero advances

NEW YORK (WJC)–The city’s Landmarks Commission has cleared the way for the construction of a controversial US$ 100 million mosque and Islamic center near Ground Zero in Manhattan. The commission voted unanimously to deny landmark status to the building located on the site, clearing the way for the construction project. However, court challenges could still stall the construction two blocks from where the World Trade Center stood until the September 2001 terrorist attacks.

“To cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is Jewish, said following the vote. Signs of protestors against the project were brandished at the commission meeting and read “This mosque celebrates our murders” and “Don’t glorify murders of 3,000.”

The Anti-Defamation League issued a statement opposing the construction of the 13-story Cordoba House. “The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found.”

In contrast, the American Jewish Committee issued a statement in support of the mosque, but urged the leaders of the proposed center “to fully reveal their sources of funding and to unconditionally condemn terrorism inspired by Islamist ideology.

*
Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress