KAMPALA, Uganda (Press Release)–At the behest of his Jewish, Muslim and Christian supporters, Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, a native of Uganda, is peacefully challenging the official results in the election to national parliament. The frontrunner leading up to the election, Rabbi Sizomu lost in the official count to the opponent Yahaya Gudoi the candidate from the [...]
KAMPALA, Uganda (Press Release)–Rabbi Gershom Sizomu is running for National Parliament in Uganda. If elected to parliament Rabbi Sizomu would not only be the first Jew elected to national office in Uganda, but also the first rabbi to be seated in nationally elected government outside of Israel. Candidate Sizomu sees his political mission as [...]
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)– The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a resolution (H. Res. 1538) introduced by Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) condemning the World Cup bombings in Kampala, Uganda and recognizing San Diego activist Nate “Oteka” Henn who died in the terrorist attacks. Henn was a volunteer with Invisible Children Inc., a non-profit organization based [...]
SAN FRANCISCO (Press Release)–The Helen Diller Family Foundation and The Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties has announced the 2010 recipients of the prestigious Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award. Now in its fourth year, the award has significantly increased in awareness, tripling its visibility by drawing more than 175 exceptional [...]
By Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO — One recalls July 4, 1976—the great Bicentennial—with much nostalgia and affection. America was exactly 200 years old, had survived the Watergate scandals and a presidential resignation without bloodshed or constitutional tremors. The dreadful Vietnam War was over after some fifteen years of entanglement, though we struggled (and [...]
By Judy Lash Balint JERUSALEM, July 4–Today marks the 34th anniversary of Operation Yonatan, Israel’s dramatic rescue of 103 hostages that took place on July 4, 1976 at Entebbe, Uganda. As a college student in the US, I vividly remember watching events unfold as most of the rest of the nation was focused on the [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Israel is usually in the headlines about war, terror, great power efforts to make peace, or some other bloody or politically charged issue. This note is not about any of that exciting stuff, but deals with the way others and Israelis often view themselves. That may have something to do [...]
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–Two Algerian detainees, Hasan Zemiri and Adil Hadi al Jazairi Bin Hamlili, have been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the custody and control of the Government of Algeria. As directed by the President’s Jan. 22, 2009 Executive Order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of [...]
WA SHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)—U.S. Senators Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, both Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 10 other Senators today urged Ugandan President Yoweri Musseveni to block enactment of a law that would criminalize homosexuality and codify prejudice against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered and HIV-positive Ugandans. The [...]
LONDON (WJC)–The eminent historian Andrew Roberts has said that the British government had a de facto ban in place on state visits by Queen Elizabeth II to Israel. “The true reason of course, is that the FO [Foreign Office] has a ban on official royal visits to Israel, which is even more powerful for its [...]
