Harvard students receive club invitations excluding Jews, welcoming ‘coloreds’
(JNS.org) Harvard University students received flyers from a supposed “Harvard’s Newest Final Club” explicitly stating that Jews should not apply but “coloreds” are welcome to do so.
The flyer invited students to an introductory club event, listing three virtues: “inclusion,” with the footnote of “Jews need not apply”; “diversity,” followed by the words “Seriously, no f*ing Jews. Coloreds OK”; and “Love,” which directed students to the word “Rophynol,” a misspelled version of the date rape drug rohypnol, according to the Harvard Crimson.
Although some at the Ivy League school in Cambridge, Mass., believe the flyers intended as a satire of Harvard’s exclusively male “final clubs,” many condemned their language.
“As Dean of the College, and as an educator, I find these flyers offensive. They are not a reflection of the values of our community. Even if intended as satirical in nature, they are hurtful and offensive to many students, faculty and staff, and do not demonstrate the level of thoughtfulness and respect we expect at Harvard when engaging difficult issues within our community,” the dean of Harvard College, Evelynn M. Hammonds, said in a statement.
Eight all-male and five all-female Harvard final clubs—organizations not officially recognized by the university—have been accused of potentially distributing the flyers, according to Crimson, but officials are still investigating.
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Gay couple granted divorce in Israel
(JNS.org) In a decision that could reverberate for the issue of gay marriage in Israel and beyond, an Israeli family court approved the divorce of a gay couple and ordered the interior ministry to officially register them as divorced.
The state of Israel does not recognize civil marriages unless they take place outside the country—Jewish marriages in Israel, instead, are normally performed by rabbinical courts.
Uzi Even, a professor at Tel Aviv University and a former Meretz Member of Knesset, and Amit Kama, a lecturer at the Academic College of Emek Yezreel, got married in Canada in 2004, and fought a lengthy legal battle with Israel’s interior ministry to recognize their marriage in the Jewish state. The High Court of Justice finally registered the couple in 2006.
Three years later, the couple decided to divorce but realized they could not do so in Canada because that country only recognizes divorce between Canadian nationals. In Israel, marriage and divorce are still managed by a religious court, which had never recognized their marriage. Through a lawyer, the partners submitted a request, now approved by the Ramat Gan Family Court. “Once the High Court of Justice ordered the registration of the marriage, the possibility cannot be considered that petitioners who have agreed to end their marriage should remain tied to each other,” the court said, according to the Times of Israel.
Secular political parties in Israel have long been trying to take control over Jewish marriage and divorce from the chief rabbinate. Another group frequently affected by the issue is the Russian-Israeli community—which has many members who are not Jewish, according to the halakha, and therefore must marry outside of the Jewish state.
Allies turn on Israel over construction decision
(JNS.org) Israel’s relations with some of its strongest friends in Europe took a dramatic downturn on Monday when Britain, France, and Germany publicly berated Jerusalem’s decision to expand construction in the wake of the Palestinian Authority’s statehood bid at the United Nations.
“We appeal to the Israeli government to desist from this procedure (for building more),” German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference, according to Israel Hayom.
The U.K., France and Sweden summoned the Israeli ambassadors in London, Paris and Stockholm to explain their government’s position in the wake of Israel’s decision to build some 3,000 housing units in the West Bank, as well as plans to build in the E1 section between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim.
“The Israeli ambassador to London, Daniel Taub, has been summoned to the Foreign Office this morning for a meeting with the minister for the Middle East, Alistair Burt, to discuss this further,” a UK Foreign Office statement said. The foreign office said it expects Israel to reverse its decision to build in E1.
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Clinton accuses Israel of lacking generosity, empathy for Palestinians
(JNS.org) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Nov. 30 accused Israel of being suspicious of Palestinians and showing a “lack of generosity” and “lack of empathy” to them, saying there is “more that the Israelis need to do to really demonstrate that they do understand the pain of an oppressed people in their minds.”
“I’m not making excuses for the missed opportunities of the Israelis, or the lack of generosity, the lack of empathy that I think goes hand-in-hand with the suspicion,” Clinton said at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy in Washington, DC.
Reacting to Israel’s new construction plans in E1, a crucial strategic area just east of Jerusalem, Clinton said, “In light of today’s announcement, let me reiterate that this administration—like previous administrations—has been very clear with Israel that these activities set back the cause of a negotiated peace.”
Regarding the 2010 Israeli concession of a partial construction freeze in the West Bank, Clinton said she was not fully satisfied with that move.
The secretary of state said “there are more and more Israelis and Palestinians who just reject that idea out of hand: Why bother? Why try? We’ll never be able to reach an agreement with the other.” Clinton did acknowledge that over the last 20 years, she has “seen Israeli leaders make an honest, good-faith effort and not be reciprocated in the way that was needed.”
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How low can you go? Dead Sea mall in the works
(JNS.org) International real estate firm Bercleys has announced plans to build the first-ever shopping mall at the Dead Sea, Ynet reported.
The mall will be a single-story, 10,000-square-meter structure and cost NIS 200 million to build. It will feature a number of global brands as well as a several restaurants, cafes and a museum featuring the history of the region.
According Bercleys’ Israeli representative, Hagay Adoram, the company decided to build the mall at the Dead Sea after researched revealed that it was one Israel’s top tourist destinations and that a single tourist has the purchasing power of 17 Israelis.
Nearly “49% of Israeli tourists visit the Dead Sea as compared to 15% who visit Eilat,” Adoram said. “The purchasing power of the total number of tourists visiting the Dead Sea each year is equal to that of about 30 million Israelis.”
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Anti-Israel incitement on the rise among Palestinians
(JNS.org) Following on the heels of the fiery speech given by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the United Nations, Israeli officials say that anti-Israel rhetoric in the Palestinian Authority (PA) is at its worst level since record keeping began in 2009.
Strategic Affairs Minister Yossi Kuperwasser, who oversees a team tasked with monitoring anti-Israel incitement, briefed the Israeli cabinet on anti-Israel incitement by the Palestinians. In the presentation called “Culture of Peace and Incitement Index in the PA,” Kuperwasser said the PA is telling Palestinian civilians through its spokesman, media and education system that “the area between the River and the Sea would eventually be restored to the Palestinians.” The PA, according to Kuperwasser, also conveyed that “the demonization of Jews and Zionists in general, and Israelis and settlers in particular; and that all forms of struggle, including, the use of terrorism, are legitimate,” the Jerusalem Post reported.
Commenting on the anti-Israel incitement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “This is additional proof that this is not a dispute over land but a denial of the existence of the State of Israel.”
“As long as the Palestinian Authority educates the younger generation to hatred, how is it possible to even speak about peace?” Netanyahu asked.
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Israel withholds tax transfers to PA over UN upgrade
(JNS.org) In response to the unilateral Palestinian UN status upgrade, Israel has announced that it will withhold Palestinian tax revenue.
Israel’s Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said that the Israeli government will withhold approximately $100 million in taxes and customs collected monthly on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA). According to Steinitz, the withheld revenue will be used to pay off debt owed to Israel by the PA for unpaid electricity charges. It is unclear if Israel will withhold future transfers.
“The provocation is a Palestinian provocation, an effort to advance the establishment of a [Palestinian] state without recognizing Israel, without demilitarizing and without proper security arrangements,” Steinitz said in an Israeli Cabinet meeting, according to Israel Hayom.
“We warned that we would respond. I do not plan to transfer funds this month. I will subtract the sum from their debts,” Steinitz added.
Israel’s collection and transfer of Palestinian tax revenue is part of agreements signed by Israel and the PA under the Oslo Peace Accords. Israel maintains that unilateral Palestinian action violates these agreements and threatens the peace process.
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Christian groups seek to reconcile with Jews over anti-Israel letter
(JNS.org) Christian and human rights leaders met Nov. 29 in Washington, DC, to support a Christian initiative in October asking Congress to investigate U.S. aid to Israel. However, some in the group expressed a desire to reconcile with Jewish groups outraged by the letter.
Groups such as the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace came to the meeting to showcase tens of thousands of petition signatures they had gathered in support of the investigation request. Many cited the higher number of casualties among Palestinians than among Israelis in the conflict between the two as an example of how Israel misuses U.S. aid money.
But Rabbi Noam Marans, the interfaith director at the American Jewish Committee, said that many don’t “differentiate between Palestinian terrorists who target civilians and the Israeli military that employs extraordinary restrictions to avoid inadvertent damage to civilians while targeting terrorists,” according to the Religion News Service.
Some church leaders who signed the October letter have nevertheless accepted an invitation from Jewish members to a summit on the issue, though no date has been set. “We regret any distancing it put between us and our Jewish partners and we hope we can close that gap,” said The Rev. Gradye Parsons, the top official of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., who did not attend the Nov. 29 meeting.
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Australia, Canada say UN vote on Palestinians undermines negotiation
(JNS.org) Though the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to upgrade the status of “Palestine” in the international body to a “non-member observer state” Thursday, a number of world leaders voiced opposition to the unilateral move.
Joining the U.S. and Israel’s objections to the vote, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who had been one of three foreign ministers allowed to speak in opposition to the action at the assembly, added that the UN is abandoning “policy and principle” by ignoring its own rule that Middle East peace should be achieved through negotiation.
“This unilateral step will harden positions and raise unrealistic expectations while doing nothing to improve the lives of the Palestinian people,” Baird said in his speech before the vote, according to the Canadian Globe and Mail. Canada voted against the resolution.
Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr, whose country abstained from the vote, said that while his country supports a Palestinian state, “We wanted to send a reminder to the Palestinian Authority that the real gain is negotiations with Israel towards the creation of the Palestinian state because of the security guarantees that Israel could endure,” according to the Australian.
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Poll: More than half of Israelis say peace with Palestinians will not happen
(JNS.org) Israelis were pessimistic about prospects for peace even before the United Nations vote in favor of a Palestinian status upgrade.
More than half of Israeli respondents (51 percent) to a survey compiled from Nov. 21-26 by the Dahaf Institute and Dr. Shibley Telhami do not believe that a peace agreement between the Jewish state and the Palestinians will be reached, according to Yedioth Ahronoth. The UN vote that approved the Palestinians’ unilateral move took place Nov. 29.
The poll also revealed that 45 percent of Israelis believe neither their country nor Hamas won the recent conflict in Gaza, while 40 percent of
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