Blaming Israeli rightwingers for frozen peace efforts is for the intellectually simple

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It is easy to blame Binyamin Netanyahu’s right of center coalition for the failure of the American peace initiative. Examined in isolation, it seems clear that five parties with 61 seats in the 120 member Knesset are standing in the way of that 90 day extension of the building freeze, […]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

ARZA condemns Israeli rabbis who forbid renting homes to non-Jews

NEW YORK (Press Release)– ARZA (Association of Reform Zionists of America) reacts with alarm to a recent report that 50 leading Israeli municipal chief rabbis, all employed by the State of Israel, have signed on to a religious ruling that forbids renting homes to Gentiles–a move particularly aimed against Arabs. This ruling comes just months

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Middle East

Germany doubles its support for ailing Holocaust survivors

BERLIN (Press Release)–Germany has agreed to double to € 110 million (US$ 147m) its annual funding for home care provided to Holocaust survivors. The change takes into account “the sharply increased need for home care”, the Federal Finance Ministry said. The money paid by the German government to Holocaust survivors is distributed to 32 countries

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Travel and Food

Bill would extend housing access to LGBTs, others, under U.S. Civil Rights laws

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) – Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), and Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY) have introduced the Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) Act in order to extend critical federal civil rights protections

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USA

House approves continued funding of Iron Dome, Israel’s advanced anti-rocket system

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)– Representative Steve Rothman (D-NJ), a member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, released the following statement on the $205 million allocated toward Iron Dome, an advanced Israeli anti-rocket system, that has been included in the continuing resolution (H.R. 3082) to fund the rest of Fiscal Year 2011 that passed Wednesday evening,

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Middle East

Helen Diller Family Foundation to award five $36,000 scholarships to teens

SAN FRANCISCO (Press Release)–For the fifth consecutive year, the Helen Diller Family Foundation wants to reward California’s most philanthropically minded young Jewish teens with a significant financial recognition of their commitment to social action.  Five California teens will be named recipients of the 2011 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award and each will receive an honorarium

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USA

Yemin Orde school in Carmel Mountain region 40 percent destroyed by recent fires; students return

YEMIN ORDE, Israel (Press Release)– Embers still smolder in Israel’s Carmel Mountains.  Yemin Orde Youth Village, home to more than 400 at-risk immigrant youth ages 8-19, sustained considerable damage as a result of the worst fire in Israel’s history.  Forty percent of the buildings are in ashes.  The library is lost.  The fire devastated the

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Middle East

NJDC calls on Republican leadership to disassociate itself from anti-Jewish rhetoric in Texas House Speaker contest

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–Marc R. Stanley of Dallas, Texas, chairman of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) and David A. Harris, President and CEO of NJDC, today jointly issued the following statement calling on national Republican leadership – including Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA) – to condemn the actions of key leaders of the Republican Party

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USA

Casuto to be honored at San Diego’s annual MLK breakfast Jan. 17

SAN DIEGO (Press Release)– The living legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be recognized and celebrated at the 23rd Annual All People’s Breakfast at 7 a.m., Monday, Jan. 17 at the San Diego Convention Center. Hosted by Equality Allliance of San Diego County, the theme of the Breakfast is “The Media and

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San Diego Calendar, San Diego County

Ros-Lehtinen criticizes Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay’s decisions to recognize Palestine

WASHINGTON, D.C (Press Release) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, commented Tuesday, Dec. 7,  on the news that Argentina and Uruguay have recognized a Palestinian state, joining Brazil, which did so formally last week. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen: “It is incomprehensible that these nations who seek t be viewed

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Travel and Food

Wikileaks expose America’s waning influence in the Midle East

By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — The Washington Post’s editorial, “Mr. Mubarak vs. Mr. Obama,” has two passages especially worthy of notice. Among U.S. daily city newspapers, the Post has been the best generally at understanding the serious trouble created by the Obama Administration’s mistakes and misunderstandings. In this editorial, it urges the U.S government to

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Middle East, USA

ADL denounces call by Israeli rabbis for religious tests in housing

JERUSALEM (Press Release)–Calling it a “perversion of Jewish and democratic values,” the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Tuesday, Dec. 7, condemned a petition signed by dozens of rabbis in Israel prohibiting their followers from renting homes to gentiles. ADL’s Israel Office issued the following statement:  “It is outrageous and unacceptable that rabbis across Israel are promoting

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Middle East