B”H
So, why don’t we use Google as a target tool? It is obvious we don’t want to use any of the expensive hardware and software that has been provided to the IDF and the IAF to win a war against these terrorists.
Perhaps the Israeli government doesn’t want to look like the bully, so we should just ratchet down our abilities to the same level, but still fight back. How’s that for a compromise?
We could send some kids with rocks over to Gaza, or perhaps throw some flaming jars of gasoline at them. At least we would be showing we have some fight in us and lot let them walk all over us.
By the way, where EXACTLY did Olmert get all that money he was supposedly bribed with . . . ?
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124036
by Hana Levi Julian
(IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority terrorists are using the cutting-edge technology of Google Earth to home in on targets in Israel.
The Gaza commander of the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades gang was quoted Thursday in The Guardian as saying his operatives use the virtual mapping internet technology to identify their targets.
"We obtain the details from Google Earth and check them against our maps of the city center and sensitive areas," said Khaled Ja'abari, whose nom de guerre is Abu Walid.
One internet site, Flash Earth, consolidates at least five such mapping sites, all of which offer satellite imagery across the globe, albeit of different qualities. Google Maps tops the list and features the sharpest imagery.
Google also allows one to draw closer to the targeted area of interest than the other services, although recently that ability has been blunted.
Type in even a small Israeli city with little military significance, such as Arad, and the technology enables one to find a specific house.
That is not the case with cities such as Sderot, Jerusalem, Ashdod and Dimona; it is possible to approach the cities in enough detail to get a general sense of where things are, but not close enough to obtain specific details.
Magnify the resolution too high, and numerous international STOP signs (the circle bisected with a diagonal bar) appear on a filmy white background that blurs the "sensitive" image.
Several cities are altogether inaccessible, such as Tel Aviv, Kiryat Shmona, Tzfat, Haifa and Ashkelon. "Please try another location," politely suggests the service.
The latitude and longitude of each requested location are obligingly provided, despite the lack of visual detail.
"We have paid close attention to concerns that Google Earth creates new security risks," said Google in a company statement, but contended that "commercial high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery of every country in the world is widely available from numerous sources."
Abu Walid showed the Guardian an aerial image of Sderot, the terrorists' favorite target for Kassam rockets.
However, the Kassam has no guidance system and the terrorists can only aim it in the general direction of Sderot without the ability to pinpoint an impact site.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Speaker Itzik: Amir's Family Has No Place in Israel
-----
B”H
Damned right I don’t have the same G-d as Dalia Itzik. I have the G-d of Israel to pray to, and she has the memory of Rabin to pray to. My G-d says Israel is an inheritance, a Holy Land. Her god says, “Give Israel away to terrorists for a fake promise of peace.”
Israel is more important than the Knesset, more important than Kadima, more important than the United States, the UN, and the rest of the world combined. Those who want to free Amir understand that he believed he was saving Israel from the destruction of Rabin’s “peace” initiatives—initiatives that would give away our Holy sites, our Holy cities, our Holy land to the terrorists in exchange for the fake promises of Arafat. He was not trying to be a thug, he was trying to be Pinchas.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/135262
(IsraelNN.com) Yigal Amir's family "has no part or inheritance with the people of Israel," Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik (Kadima) told the Knesset Wednesday night in a special session in memory of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin." Your G-d is not ours," she charged in a bitterly sharp speech.
She also called on the media to stop giving publicity to efforts to work for the release of Amir, who is serving a life prison term for killing Rabin 12 years ago. She argued that disseminating news of the campaign has nothing to do with the freedom of expression or democracy.
"Drop Amir into the trashcan of history," the Speaker declared. "The media's chasing after him and his family only helps the flow of oxygen to crime."
B”H
Damned right I don’t have the same G-d as Dalia Itzik. I have the G-d of Israel to pray to, and she has the memory of Rabin to pray to. My G-d says Israel is an inheritance, a Holy Land. Her god says, “Give Israel away to terrorists for a fake promise of peace.”
Israel is more important than the Knesset, more important than Kadima, more important than the United States, the UN, and the rest of the world combined. Those who want to free Amir understand that he believed he was saving Israel from the destruction of Rabin’s “peace” initiatives—initiatives that would give away our Holy sites, our Holy cities, our Holy land to the terrorists in exchange for the fake promises of Arafat. He was not trying to be a thug, he was trying to be Pinchas.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/135262
(IsraelNN.com) Yigal Amir's family "has no part or inheritance with the people of Israel," Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik (Kadima) told the Knesset Wednesday night in a special session in memory of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin." Your G-d is not ours," she charged in a bitterly sharp speech.
She also called on the media to stop giving publicity to efforts to work for the release of Amir, who is serving a life prison term for killing Rabin 12 years ago. She argued that disseminating news of the campaign has nothing to do with the freedom of expression or democracy.
"Drop Amir into the trashcan of history," the Speaker declared. "The media's chasing after him and his family only helps the flow of oxygen to crime."
Stink over Smelly Kosher Fish
-----
B”H
Kosher or not, the Herring that so many of our brethren love to chow down on stinks to high heaven (pun intended).
I doubt it had anything to do with how he was dressed and everything to do with how the fish smells. I would have complained too. It makes me sick. I can’t stand to be around it.
Perhaps his daughter wasn't crying--her eyes may have been watering from the stench.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/135278
(IsraelNN.com) United Air Lines has apologized to an observant Jewish passenger who was threatened with being thrown off the plane if he did not throw away the kosher fish he had brought with him to eat. A flight attendant, responding to complaints of passengers about the smell from the fish, told Robert Blum, "If you don’t trash the food, I'll trash you. You'll get off the plane--you and your wife and your kids."
The pilot then joined in and made the same threat. "Are you going to give us any more trouble because I have to worry about 220 passengers smelling your stinking food," the pilot asked. Blum relented and threw away the food, leaving his nine-year-old daughter crying.
Blum claimed he was singled out because he was wearing a skullcap (kipa) and that the fringes of his undergarment were hanging out, as is traditional among orthodox Jews. The airline said the pilot and flight attendant did not act properly towards Blum.
B”H
Kosher or not, the Herring that so many of our brethren love to chow down on stinks to high heaven (pun intended).
I doubt it had anything to do with how he was dressed and everything to do with how the fish smells. I would have complained too. It makes me sick. I can’t stand to be around it.
Perhaps his daughter wasn't crying--her eyes may have been watering from the stench.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/135278
(IsraelNN.com) United Air Lines has apologized to an observant Jewish passenger who was threatened with being thrown off the plane if he did not throw away the kosher fish he had brought with him to eat. A flight attendant, responding to complaints of passengers about the smell from the fish, told Robert Blum, "If you don’t trash the food, I'll trash you. You'll get off the plane--you and your wife and your kids."
The pilot then joined in and made the same threat. "Are you going to give us any more trouble because I have to worry about 220 passengers smelling your stinking food," the pilot asked. Blum relented and threw away the food, leaving his nine-year-old daughter crying.
Blum claimed he was singled out because he was wearing a skullcap (kipa) and that the fringes of his undergarment were hanging out, as is traditional among orthodox Jews. The airline said the pilot and flight attendant did not act properly towards Blum.
Israel broke law by allowing Temple dig?
-----
B”H
Wouldn’t it be interesting if Olmert’s teflon armor were to finally be pierced with this scandal?
It would be a direct link between Olmert getting sacked and Hashm’s Holy Temple. I know I would see it as Hashm directly taking down the one who has threatened Jewish presence in the land most directly. Of course, many of us believe that Hashm also took out Sharon for the same reasons.
You would think Olmert would have heeded the warning when Sharon was stricken down. But, it is hard to accept a warning from Hashm when one thinks of himself as greater and more powerful than Hashm, isn’t it Olmert?
M
-----
Islamic authorities used bulldozers at Judaism's holiest site
Posted: October 24, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58300
By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the government agency here charged with overseeing excavations may have violated Israeli law when they permitted Islamic authorities to conduct a massive dig on the Temple Mount using a bulldozer, WND has learned.
The Waqf, the Muslim custodians of the Temple Mount, are accused of destroying Temple Mount antiquities, including a possible wall from the Second Jewish Temple.
Israel's Antiquities Authority agreed to allow bulldozers and other heavy equipment to dig a massive trench on the Temple Mount the Waqf claimed was necessary to replace electrical cables outside mosques on the site. The dig, which extended to most of the periphery of the Mount, was protected by the Israeli police and was supposed to be supervised by the Israeli government's Antiquities Authority.
According to Israeli and Palestinian diplomatic sources, the directive to allow the dig originated from Olmert's office.
Allowing the use of bulldozers at any sensitive archaeological site is extremely unusual, particularly at the Temple Mount, which experts say contains sealed layers of artifacts as shallow as two to three feet below the surface. The Mount has never been properly excavated. Heavy equipment could easily damage any existing artifacts, say experts, who assert the area should be excavated slowly and carefully by hand.
According to informed diplomatic sources, the Antiquities Authority did not grant the Waqf any official permit or written document allowing the Muslim custodians to dig on the Mount.
The sources said all agreements with the Wafq were oral, contravening Israeli law.
Further, according to Knesset regulations, any excavation on the Temple Mount requires the approval of a Knesset committee established in 2000 specifically to oversee digs on the sensitive Mount site.
But the committee was not consulted prior to the Waqf dig.
The Antiquities Authority and its director-general, Shmuel Dorfman, admitted it didn't seek the required Knesset approval before allowing the Waqf to dig. He claimed Olmert's office was not involved in the decision.
Dorfman further claimed no damage was done to any Temple antiquities during the dig, a statement dismissed as "absurd" by leading Mount archaeologists here.
""The [Israeli government] Antiquities Authority clearly and obviously allowed the destruction of antiquities," charged third-generation Temple Mount archaeologist Eilat Mazar, speaking to WND. "What they did is the exact opposite of any proper archaeological supervision. Allowing a bulldozer to dig on the Mount is scandalous."
Echoing Mazar's comments, prominent Temple Mount archaeologist Gabriel Barkai told the Jerusalem Post: "The use of a bulldozer was like putting an elephant in a china shop. In such a sensitive spot, you cannot allow workers to use bulldozers. They should have dug by hand using special brushes and recorded every find scrupulously. I believe that serious damage was caused the moment they removed the earth, which was saturated with archeological findings."
Muslims caught red handed
In September, after bulldozers dug a trench 1,300 feet long and five feet deep, the Muslim diggers came across a wall Israeli archaeologists believe may be remains of an area of the Second Jewish Temple known as the woman's courtyard.
Israel, though, blocked leading archeologists from surveying the massive damage Islamic authorities are accused of causing to the purported wall. It refused to allow up Mazar and other prominent archaeologists during many attempts by the experts to inspect the Muslim dig.
In September, WND obtained a photo of the Waqf trench. In view in the picture, obtained in conjunction with Israel's Temple Institute, are concrete slabs broken by Waqf bulldozers and what appears to be a chopped up carved stone from Jewish Temple-era antiquity.
Mazar confirmed the slabs were antiquity evidencing Temple-era attributes. She said inspection of the slabs was required to verify its authenticity.
The Waqf repeatedly denied it found or destroyed any Temple artifacts.
But on Sunday the Antiquities Authority released antiquities discovered by its archaeologists during what it said was an excavation coordinated during the Waqf dig. The released discoveries included fragments of bowl rims, bases and body shards, the base of a juglet used for the ladling of oil, the handle of a small juglet and the rim of a storage jar.
Mazar and other leading archaeologists speaking to WND today said they were "dumbfounded" the Antiquities Authority claimed any excavation was done during the Islamic dig.
"Perhaps finds were discovered in between the teeth of the Waqf bulldozers, but it's ridiculous to say the Antiquities Authority supervised or conducted any proper dig," said Mazar of Hebrew University. "No proper excavation is conducted with bulldozers. No one saw or reported any excavation. How can an excavation be conducted in secret? Such work is a big job. They are trying to hide their failure to stop the Islamic destruction."
Mazar is also a fellow at Israel's Shalem Center and a member of the Public Committee for Prevention of the Destruction of Antiquities on Temple Mount. Her much-discussed discovery in the City of David, a neighborhood just south of Jerusalem's Old City Walls, is a massive building dating to the 10th century B.C. It is believed to be the remains of the palace of biblical King David, the second leader of a united kingdom of Israel, who ruled from around 1005 to 965 B.C.
The last time the Waqf conducted a large dig on the Temple Mount – during construction 10 years ago of a massive mosque at an area referred to as Solomon's Stables – the Wafq reportedly disposed truckloads of dirt containing Jewish artifacts from the First and Second Temple periods.
After media reported the disposals, Israeli authorities froze the construction permit given to the Wafq, and the dirt was transferred to Israeli archaeologists for analysis. The Israeli authorities found scores of Jewish Temple relics in the nearly disposed dirt, including coins with Hebrew writing referencing the Temple, part of a Hasmonean lamp, several other Second Temple lamps, Temple-period pottery with Jewish markings, a marble pillar shaft and other Temple period artifacts. The Waqf was widely accused of attempting to hide evidence of the existence of the Jewish Temples.
B”H
Wouldn’t it be interesting if Olmert’s teflon armor were to finally be pierced with this scandal?
It would be a direct link between Olmert getting sacked and Hashm’s Holy Temple. I know I would see it as Hashm directly taking down the one who has threatened Jewish presence in the land most directly. Of course, many of us believe that Hashm also took out Sharon for the same reasons.
You would think Olmert would have heeded the warning when Sharon was stricken down. But, it is hard to accept a warning from Hashm when one thinks of himself as greater and more powerful than Hashm, isn’t it Olmert?
M
-----
Islamic authorities used bulldozers at Judaism's holiest site
Posted: October 24, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58300
By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the government agency here charged with overseeing excavations may have violated Israeli law when they permitted Islamic authorities to conduct a massive dig on the Temple Mount using a bulldozer, WND has learned.
The Waqf, the Muslim custodians of the Temple Mount, are accused of destroying Temple Mount antiquities, including a possible wall from the Second Jewish Temple.
Israel's Antiquities Authority agreed to allow bulldozers and other heavy equipment to dig a massive trench on the Temple Mount the Waqf claimed was necessary to replace electrical cables outside mosques on the site. The dig, which extended to most of the periphery of the Mount, was protected by the Israeli police and was supposed to be supervised by the Israeli government's Antiquities Authority.
According to Israeli and Palestinian diplomatic sources, the directive to allow the dig originated from Olmert's office.
Allowing the use of bulldozers at any sensitive archaeological site is extremely unusual, particularly at the Temple Mount, which experts say contains sealed layers of artifacts as shallow as two to three feet below the surface. The Mount has never been properly excavated. Heavy equipment could easily damage any existing artifacts, say experts, who assert the area should be excavated slowly and carefully by hand.
According to informed diplomatic sources, the Antiquities Authority did not grant the Waqf any official permit or written document allowing the Muslim custodians to dig on the Mount.
The sources said all agreements with the Wafq were oral, contravening Israeli law.
Further, according to Knesset regulations, any excavation on the Temple Mount requires the approval of a Knesset committee established in 2000 specifically to oversee digs on the sensitive Mount site.
But the committee was not consulted prior to the Waqf dig.
The Antiquities Authority and its director-general, Shmuel Dorfman, admitted it didn't seek the required Knesset approval before allowing the Waqf to dig. He claimed Olmert's office was not involved in the decision.
Dorfman further claimed no damage was done to any Temple antiquities during the dig, a statement dismissed as "absurd" by leading Mount archaeologists here.
""The [Israeli government] Antiquities Authority clearly and obviously allowed the destruction of antiquities," charged third-generation Temple Mount archaeologist Eilat Mazar, speaking to WND. "What they did is the exact opposite of any proper archaeological supervision. Allowing a bulldozer to dig on the Mount is scandalous."
Echoing Mazar's comments, prominent Temple Mount archaeologist Gabriel Barkai told the Jerusalem Post: "The use of a bulldozer was like putting an elephant in a china shop. In such a sensitive spot, you cannot allow workers to use bulldozers. They should have dug by hand using special brushes and recorded every find scrupulously. I believe that serious damage was caused the moment they removed the earth, which was saturated with archeological findings."
Muslims caught red handed
In September, after bulldozers dug a trench 1,300 feet long and five feet deep, the Muslim diggers came across a wall Israeli archaeologists believe may be remains of an area of the Second Jewish Temple known as the woman's courtyard.
Israel, though, blocked leading archeologists from surveying the massive damage Islamic authorities are accused of causing to the purported wall. It refused to allow up Mazar and other prominent archaeologists during many attempts by the experts to inspect the Muslim dig.
In September, WND obtained a photo of the Waqf trench. In view in the picture, obtained in conjunction with Israel's Temple Institute, are concrete slabs broken by Waqf bulldozers and what appears to be a chopped up carved stone from Jewish Temple-era antiquity.
Mazar confirmed the slabs were antiquity evidencing Temple-era attributes. She said inspection of the slabs was required to verify its authenticity.
The Waqf repeatedly denied it found or destroyed any Temple artifacts.
But on Sunday the Antiquities Authority released antiquities discovered by its archaeologists during what it said was an excavation coordinated during the Waqf dig. The released discoveries included fragments of bowl rims, bases and body shards, the base of a juglet used for the ladling of oil, the handle of a small juglet and the rim of a storage jar.
Mazar and other leading archaeologists speaking to WND today said they were "dumbfounded" the Antiquities Authority claimed any excavation was done during the Islamic dig.
"Perhaps finds were discovered in between the teeth of the Waqf bulldozers, but it's ridiculous to say the Antiquities Authority supervised or conducted any proper dig," said Mazar of Hebrew University. "No proper excavation is conducted with bulldozers. No one saw or reported any excavation. How can an excavation be conducted in secret? Such work is a big job. They are trying to hide their failure to stop the Islamic destruction."
Mazar is also a fellow at Israel's Shalem Center and a member of the Public Committee for Prevention of the Destruction of Antiquities on Temple Mount. Her much-discussed discovery in the City of David, a neighborhood just south of Jerusalem's Old City Walls, is a massive building dating to the 10th century B.C. It is believed to be the remains of the palace of biblical King David, the second leader of a united kingdom of Israel, who ruled from around 1005 to 965 B.C.
The last time the Waqf conducted a large dig on the Temple Mount – during construction 10 years ago of a massive mosque at an area referred to as Solomon's Stables – the Wafq reportedly disposed truckloads of dirt containing Jewish artifacts from the First and Second Temple periods.
After media reported the disposals, Israeli authorities froze the construction permit given to the Wafq, and the dirt was transferred to Israeli archaeologists for analysis. The Israeli authorities found scores of Jewish Temple relics in the nearly disposed dirt, including coins with Hebrew writing referencing the Temple, part of a Hasmonean lamp, several other Second Temple lamps, Temple-period pottery with Jewish markings, a marble pillar shaft and other Temple period artifacts. The Waqf was widely accused of attempting to hide evidence of the existence of the Jewish Temples.
Bill Calling For Jew-Free Hevron Met With One to Evict Arabs
-----
B”H
If there is no such thing as hell, may Hashm create such a place for those who would work to destroy Jewish homes and Jewish presence on Jewish land.
I wish I could say that Meretz was an aborration, but there are too many people right now in the Israeli government that regard our Holy places and our people with distain. They think that by destroying our homes, they will destroy our hopes. They think that it is possible to distance us from the land and make us think of Israel like one would think of any other place on earth—as just a place to live and make a living.
May G-d give us the strength to defeat our enemies—both non-Jews and Jews. May our Holy land be restored to us completely, and may Hashm judge those who wish to destroy us, and expell them from our presence.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124023
by Ezra HaLevi and Gil Ronen
(IsraelNN.com) The far-left Meretz party submitted a bill Wednesday calling for removing all Jews from Hevron, the city of the Biblical Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs. The National Union threatened to respond with a bill calling for removing the Arab residents.
The first bill was submitted by Meretz Chairman MK Yossi Beilin.
Speaking on behalf of the government, Minister Ruhama Avraham said that the government opposes the bill because the matter is "a diplomatic issue and only the government will decide upon it."
MK Beilin said he was pleased with the government's position because it did not rule out the eviction of Jews from Hevron, but stated that such a decision must be made by the government.
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) told the Knesset plenum that he has presented a bill that calls for the expulsion of all Arabs from Hevron. He said the law mirrored the wording of the MK Beilin's bill.
When Arab MKs began shouting at him angrily, Eldad reassured them that he would not be bringing the declarative bill before the Knesset because he agrees that it is racist, just as Beilin's bill is.
MK Avraham gave a similar response to MK Eldad's proposal, saying the transfer of Hevron's Arabs is a "diplomatic issue" as well.
The bill was rejected by a vote of 47 to 11 and MK Eldad did not submit his bill to vote.
Hevron Jewish Community Responds
"It is ironic that during the very weeks we are reading about Abraham, Hevron, and purchase of the Machpelah Cave, the Knesset should be dealing with a bill promoting expulsion of Jews from Hebron, following in the footsteps of Nazi Mufti Haj Amin el-Hussainei and the British in 1929," community spokesman David Wilder told Arutz-7.
Wilder also took issue with the government's response to the bill: "The response should have been: 'Hebron, the first Jewish city in the land of Israel, home of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs, site of the second holiest place to Jews in the world, is part of the eternal essence of the Jewish people, the Jewish state and Jewish heritage. Such a subject should even be broached. Hebron will remain an integral part of the State of Israel forever.' The fact that this was not the response strengthens the fact that this government must be toppled as soon as possible and a new government, recognizing Hebron's significance, should take power."
The Hevron community has hosted over 70,000 visitors since Rosh HaShana and expects tens of thousands next Sabbath, when the Torah portion documenting the purchase of the Machpela Cave by Abraham will be read by Jews around the globe.
B”H
If there is no such thing as hell, may Hashm create such a place for those who would work to destroy Jewish homes and Jewish presence on Jewish land.
I wish I could say that Meretz was an aborration, but there are too many people right now in the Israeli government that regard our Holy places and our people with distain. They think that by destroying our homes, they will destroy our hopes. They think that it is possible to distance us from the land and make us think of Israel like one would think of any other place on earth—as just a place to live and make a living.
May G-d give us the strength to defeat our enemies—both non-Jews and Jews. May our Holy land be restored to us completely, and may Hashm judge those who wish to destroy us, and expell them from our presence.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124023
by Ezra HaLevi and Gil Ronen
(IsraelNN.com) The far-left Meretz party submitted a bill Wednesday calling for removing all Jews from Hevron, the city of the Biblical Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs. The National Union threatened to respond with a bill calling for removing the Arab residents.
The first bill was submitted by Meretz Chairman MK Yossi Beilin.
Speaking on behalf of the government, Minister Ruhama Avraham said that the government opposes the bill because the matter is "a diplomatic issue and only the government will decide upon it."
MK Beilin said he was pleased with the government's position because it did not rule out the eviction of Jews from Hevron, but stated that such a decision must be made by the government.
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) told the Knesset plenum that he has presented a bill that calls for the expulsion of all Arabs from Hevron. He said the law mirrored the wording of the MK Beilin's bill.
When Arab MKs began shouting at him angrily, Eldad reassured them that he would not be bringing the declarative bill before the Knesset because he agrees that it is racist, just as Beilin's bill is.
MK Avraham gave a similar response to MK Eldad's proposal, saying the transfer of Hevron's Arabs is a "diplomatic issue" as well.
The bill was rejected by a vote of 47 to 11 and MK Eldad did not submit his bill to vote.
Hevron Jewish Community Responds
"It is ironic that during the very weeks we are reading about Abraham, Hevron, and purchase of the Machpelah Cave, the Knesset should be dealing with a bill promoting expulsion of Jews from Hebron, following in the footsteps of Nazi Mufti Haj Amin el-Hussainei and the British in 1929," community spokesman David Wilder told Arutz-7.
Wilder also took issue with the government's response to the bill: "The response should have been: 'Hebron, the first Jewish city in the land of Israel, home of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs, site of the second holiest place to Jews in the world, is part of the eternal essence of the Jewish people, the Jewish state and Jewish heritage. Such a subject should even be broached. Hebron will remain an integral part of the State of Israel forever.' The fact that this was not the response strengthens the fact that this government must be toppled as soon as possible and a new government, recognizing Hebron's significance, should take power."
The Hevron community has hosted over 70,000 visitors since Rosh HaShana and expects tens of thousands next Sabbath, when the Torah portion documenting the purchase of the Machpela Cave by Abraham will be read by Jews around the globe.
Jews in the Firezone
B"H
Here are three items. The first is a youtube video which is very touching--men saying prayers with Tefillin for the fire victims:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPoFuwecAW0
The second is a story about how Chabad is helping the victims, and how you can help.
The third is an overview of what is happening with the Jewish community.
It's a good time to pray.
I have my own ideas about why the arson happened. I think if you look at the fact that many people are going to lose their homes to foreclosure (especially in that area), and the fact that all those homes are insured with the bank, it is probably not too hard to envision a scenario where someone might want to burn some homes (especially a contractor who can't sell new homes in this market and finds himself holding the financial bag, or a mortgage lender who can't cover the losses . . . ).
Of course, it could also just be a mentally disturbed person--or a terrorist. However, I think the terrorists would have been on the internet bragging by now . . . don't they always??
M
-----
Chabad mobilizes to help San Diego fire victims
Updated 11:04 p.m. October 23, 2007
From staff reports
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18372
Fire video and prayers from Malibu:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPoFuwecAW0&eurl=http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18372
More than 20 Chabad centers in Southern California have been evacuated due to the raging fires around the region, said Rabbi Chaim Cunin, spokesman for the West Coast Chabad.
West Coast Chabad has organized truckloads of food and clothing to be sent to Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, site for many of the area evacuees.
Many efforts here and in the region are still underway, involving helping families evacuate, find shelter, food and clothing and relocate children to other Chabad
Chabad's camp, Running Springs-CGI has been devoted as a base for the local fire efforts there in Big Bear, Rabbi Cunin said. For Angelenos who want to help, there are more volunteers down there than needed, said Rabbi Moishe Leder, of Chabad of University City in San Diego, which has not been evacuated.
"If you have any relatives in San Diego, call them and invite them," Leder said.
Rabbi Mendel Cohen of Chabad's Crisis Intervention Center is coordinating
Chabad's efforts, and if you would like to provide assistance or housing, please contact him at 310 770-9220.
Contributions for San Diego victims can be made to the Red Cross of San Diego, the Jewish Federation of San Diego, or to Chabad Fire Relief (Rancho Santa Fe), among other organizations.
To donate to The (Los Angeles) Jewish Federation's Fire Emergency Relief Fund call 323 761-8200 or send a check to The Jewish Federation, 6505 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90048, made payable to The Jewish Federation with the words “Fire Relief Fund” in the memo line. Donations will also be accepted online at www.jewishla.org.
##
Torah Scrolls Evacuated as Fire Threatens Chabad of Malibu
schools.http://crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=8601
MALIBU, CA — A wildfire fueled by 50 mph Santa Ana winds and rising temperatures burned about 1,000 acres in the Malibu Hills area on Sunday, claiming several area businesses and landmarks, including Castle Kashan and Malibu Presbyterian Church, as well as threatening Pepperdine University.
Area homeowners were under mandatory evacuation, and Chabad of Malibu at 22933 Pacific Coast Highway removed its four Torah scrolls as shifting winds caused the fast-moving fire to crisscross a ridgeline above the synagogue in Sweetwater Canyon.
Fire officials put the start of the Canyon Fire started at 4:55 a.m., but several residents say they smelled smoke a few hours earlier. Three homes, the church and three business at Malibu Colony Shopping Center were destroyed, according to Los Angeles Fire Department officials.
Other areas reporting fires Sunday include Porter Ranch, Chatsworth, Santa Rosa Valley, Placerita Canyon, Castaic and Fontana. The National Weather Service has issued red-flag warnings for Los Angeles and Ventura counties until 4 p.m. Tuesday.
The fire in the canyon above Chabad of Malibu had yet to be contained as of Sunday afternoon. Strong winds destroyed a Chabad of Malibu sign, but no other harm had come to the synagogue or its adjacent kosher restaurant, recently renamed B.B.C. By the Sea (at left in photo.)
Rabbi Levi Cunin, spiritual leader of Chabad of Malibu, said he smelled smoke and called the fire department shortly after 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
“The first thing I did was get my wife and kids out,” said Cunin, 36. “A lot of our people who come to Chabad — many of them live in the area — and they had to evacuate.”
In addition to assisting congregants and neighbors, Cunin also ensured that Chabad
“Living here in Malibu, knowing how quickly fires [can spread], it's better to be safe than sorry,” he said. “We took out the Torah, the chumashen, the siddurs, we took them all out.”
Just north of Pepperdine, the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue was abandoned save for a few residents watching the fire from the shul's parking lot.
Dawn Cunnion, who has lived at Malibu Country Estates for about 10 years, was evacuated at 6:30 a.m. Her home was visible from the parking lot.
“We're keeping an eye on it. We found a shady place ... where we could get out quickly. From this vantage point at least we've got a perspective as to what's going on,” she said.
Cunnion said she's been through several fires, but this is her first mandatory evacuation.
“The one across the street ... was pretty scary too,” she said, referring to a fire in January that destroyed four homes, including one that belonged to Suzanne Somers. “We had winds, but not these kinds of winds.”
Residents have been evacuated to Zuma Beach and Agoura Hills High School.
As at Malibu Jewish Center was Michael Brown, 46, who found himself trapped in Malibu when MTA cancelled Line 534, which serves Pacific Coast Highway. The Los Angeles resident had spent the weekend at a campground across the street from the Reconstructionist congregation adjacent to the Pepperdine campus.
“They shut down the buses, and I needed some water ... so I seen the synagogue. I thought, well I'll get some water, charge up my laptop and be stranded at the beach,” said Brown, who took shelter from the wind outside the locked sanctuary as he used an outlet for his computer.
About 15 miles north of Pepperdine at Camp JCA Shalom, religious educator Casey Krebs said there are no plans to evacuate.
“They said if we want, we could get things ready,” she said. “We're just waiting and seeing what's happening. We smelled the smoke a lot last night, but we don't really smell it today.”
All of Malibu's four Torahs were safe; each was strapped into the backseat of his sedan.
Here are three items. The first is a youtube video which is very touching--men saying prayers with Tefillin for the fire victims:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPoFuwecAW0
The second is a story about how Chabad is helping the victims, and how you can help.
The third is an overview of what is happening with the Jewish community.
It's a good time to pray.
I have my own ideas about why the arson happened. I think if you look at the fact that many people are going to lose their homes to foreclosure (especially in that area), and the fact that all those homes are insured with the bank, it is probably not too hard to envision a scenario where someone might want to burn some homes (especially a contractor who can't sell new homes in this market and finds himself holding the financial bag, or a mortgage lender who can't cover the losses . . . ).
Of course, it could also just be a mentally disturbed person--or a terrorist. However, I think the terrorists would have been on the internet bragging by now . . . don't they always??
M
-----
Chabad mobilizes to help San Diego fire victims
Updated 11:04 p.m. October 23, 2007
From staff reports
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18372
Fire video and prayers from Malibu:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPoFuwecAW0&eurl=http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18372
More than 20 Chabad centers in Southern California have been evacuated due to the raging fires around the region, said Rabbi Chaim Cunin, spokesman for the West Coast Chabad.
West Coast Chabad has organized truckloads of food and clothing to be sent to Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, site for many of the area evacuees.
Many efforts here and in the region are still underway, involving helping families evacuate, find shelter, food and clothing and relocate children to other Chabad
Chabad's camp, Running Springs-CGI has been devoted as a base for the local fire efforts there in Big Bear, Rabbi Cunin said. For Angelenos who want to help, there are more volunteers down there than needed, said Rabbi Moishe Leder, of Chabad of University City in San Diego, which has not been evacuated.
"If you have any relatives in San Diego, call them and invite them," Leder said.
Rabbi Mendel Cohen of Chabad's Crisis Intervention Center is coordinating
Chabad's efforts, and if you would like to provide assistance or housing, please contact him at 310 770-9220.
Contributions for San Diego victims can be made to the Red Cross of San Diego, the Jewish Federation of San Diego, or to Chabad Fire Relief (Rancho Santa Fe), among other organizations.
To donate to The (Los Angeles) Jewish Federation's Fire Emergency Relief Fund call 323 761-8200 or send a check to The Jewish Federation, 6505 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90048, made payable to The Jewish Federation with the words “Fire Relief Fund” in the memo line. Donations will also be accepted online at www.jewishla.org.
##
Torah Scrolls Evacuated as Fire Threatens Chabad of Malibu
schools.http://crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=8601
MALIBU, CA — A wildfire fueled by 50 mph Santa Ana winds and rising temperatures burned about 1,000 acres in the Malibu Hills area on Sunday, claiming several area businesses and landmarks, including Castle Kashan and Malibu Presbyterian Church, as well as threatening Pepperdine University.
Area homeowners were under mandatory evacuation, and Chabad of Malibu at 22933 Pacific Coast Highway removed its four Torah scrolls as shifting winds caused the fast-moving fire to crisscross a ridgeline above the synagogue in Sweetwater Canyon.
Fire officials put the start of the Canyon Fire started at 4:55 a.m., but several residents say they smelled smoke a few hours earlier. Three homes, the church and three business at Malibu Colony Shopping Center were destroyed, according to Los Angeles Fire Department officials.
Other areas reporting fires Sunday include Porter Ranch, Chatsworth, Santa Rosa Valley, Placerita Canyon, Castaic and Fontana. The National Weather Service has issued red-flag warnings for Los Angeles and Ventura counties until 4 p.m. Tuesday.
The fire in the canyon above Chabad of Malibu had yet to be contained as of Sunday afternoon. Strong winds destroyed a Chabad of Malibu sign, but no other harm had come to the synagogue or its adjacent kosher restaurant, recently renamed B.B.C. By the Sea (at left in photo.)
Rabbi Levi Cunin, spiritual leader of Chabad of Malibu, said he smelled smoke and called the fire department shortly after 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
“The first thing I did was get my wife and kids out,” said Cunin, 36. “A lot of our people who come to Chabad — many of them live in the area — and they had to evacuate.”
In addition to assisting congregants and neighbors, Cunin also ensured that Chabad
“Living here in Malibu, knowing how quickly fires [can spread], it's better to be safe than sorry,” he said. “We took out the Torah, the chumashen, the siddurs, we took them all out.”
Just north of Pepperdine, the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue was abandoned save for a few residents watching the fire from the shul's parking lot.
Dawn Cunnion, who has lived at Malibu Country Estates for about 10 years, was evacuated at 6:30 a.m. Her home was visible from the parking lot.
“We're keeping an eye on it. We found a shady place ... where we could get out quickly. From this vantage point at least we've got a perspective as to what's going on,” she said.
Cunnion said she's been through several fires, but this is her first mandatory evacuation.
“The one across the street ... was pretty scary too,” she said, referring to a fire in January that destroyed four homes, including one that belonged to Suzanne Somers. “We had winds, but not these kinds of winds.”
Residents have been evacuated to Zuma Beach and Agoura Hills High School.
As at Malibu Jewish Center was Michael Brown, 46, who found himself trapped in Malibu when MTA cancelled Line 534, which serves Pacific Coast Highway. The Los Angeles resident had spent the weekend at a campground across the street from the Reconstructionist congregation adjacent to the Pepperdine campus.
“They shut down the buses, and I needed some water ... so I seen the synagogue. I thought, well I'll get some water, charge up my laptop and be stranded at the beach,” said Brown, who took shelter from the wind outside the locked sanctuary as he used an outlet for his computer.
About 15 miles north of Pepperdine at Camp JCA Shalom, religious educator Casey Krebs said there are no plans to evacuate.
“They said if we want, we could get things ready,” she said. “We're just waiting and seeing what's happening. We smelled the smoke a lot last night, but we don't really smell it today.”
All of Malibu's four Torahs were safe; each was strapped into the backseat of his sedan.
Rabbinate's shmita decision overturned
-----
B”H
I guess this is as good a time as any to recognize that the Rabbinate is not religiously appointed, they are POLITICALLY APPOINTED. Because they are government appointments, it is only natural that they would come under the direction of the courts.
M
-----
Oct 24, 2007 11:45 | Updated Oct 24, 2007 18:18
By MATTHEW WAGNER
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380640483&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
In a ruling that strikes a blow to Orthodox religious hegemony in a state where Judaism and democracy often clash, the High Court of Justice on Wednesday overruled the Chief Rabbinate in a quarrel over fruits and vegetables grown by Jews during the shmita [Sabbatical] year.
Haredi consumers are careful to buy produce only from non-Jewish farmers or from abroad during the shmita year.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski
RELATED
* The truth about shmita
The court ruled that that it was illegal for the Chief Rabbinate to allow Yechiel Ya'acobovitz, Chief Rabbi of Herzliya, to deny kosher certificates to restaurants, hotels and other food-serving venues that sell vegetables that were grown in Jewish-owned soil inside the borders of the Land of Israel during the shmita year.
Instead, Ya'acobovitz, a haredi rabbi who adopted a stringent interpretation of Jewish laws governing shmita, must either provide kosher certificates himself or allow more lenient rabbis to do so.
Rabbi Ratzon Arussi, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Ono and a member of the chief rabbinate's governing body who supported the chief rabbinate's decision, said in response that it was another example of the High Court's unjustified intervention in purely religious matters.
"The High Court over the years has gradually chiseled away at the religious establishment's autonomy," said Arussi. "The court has intervened in cases dealing with divorce law, conversions and now it is overruling the chief rabbinate on the issue of shmita.
"This decision is another serious blow to the chief rabbinate."
On August 21, "Asif Yinov", a wholesale produce provider, petitioned the High Court to force Ya'acobovitz and the chief rabbinate to grant kosher supervision to vegetables grown by Jewish farmers.
Eyal Yisraeli, the owner of Asif Yinov, argued before the court that he would sustain serious financial losses as a result of Ya'acovbovitz's decision since all of the fruits and vegetables he markets would not be considered kosher according the rabbi's stringent standards. Local restaurants, hotels and caterers interested in maintaining the religious consumer market would not buy fruits and vegetables from Asif Yinov.
"Today's decision is a victory for democracy," said Yisraeli. "I have nothing against religious people," added Yisraeli. "I am even willing to fight for their right to live in accordance with their beliefs. But rabbis have no right to force their beliefs on others."
According to Orthodox Jewish law, every seventh year Jews are commanded to refrain from working the land of Israel. During this year plowing, sowing, planting, trimming and other field chores are forbidden. As a result, no annual crops, such as wheat, corn, tomatoes and cucumbers can be grown in land owned by Jews during the shmita year.
Perennial crops are subject to numerous restrictions.
Still, starting at the end of the 19th century, when a critical mass of Jewish farmers, many of whom were religious, immigrated to Israel and established a burgeoning agricultural industry, some rabbis have permitted "heter mechira," literally meaning a permitted sale.
According to heter mechira, farmers were permitted to temporary "sell" their land to non-Jews.
Transferring the land from Jewish to non-Jewish hands abrogates the inherent holiness of the land, thus permitting all types of work.
This legal solution eased the plight of farmers with field crops who could not afford to go an entire year without income. Heter mechira also enabled consumers to obtain fruits and vegetables.
In addition to the economic incentives, adherents of heter mechira also had a clear political goal. They wanted to make sure Jewish-owned farmland continued to be worked by Jews during the shmita year thus preventing Arab squatters from taking control of land left fallow. They also wanted to support Jews over Arabs.
However, heter mechira has always been controversial with a large, vocal group of rabbis bitterly opposed to what they call "a desecration of the Holy Land". These rabbis argue that the sale is purely fictitious and, therefore, non-binding. As a result, all the annual crops grown on this land during the shmita year are forbidden for consumption, enjoyment or profit.
Haredi consumers are careful to buy produce from Arab farmers who own land in Israel or in Judea and Samaria. In the wake of the Hamas takeover, frequent closures and curfews make growing risky for Gazan farmers since they cannot be sure they will be able to export what they grow.
Haredim also buy produce that is imported from outside Israel.
Ya'acobovitz adheres to this stringent view. As a result, he refused to sign off on kosher certificates for businesses that sell produce that come from heter mechira fields.
In contrast, the Chief Rabbinate officially recognizes heter mechira as a legitimate solution for farmers unwilling, or unable, to leave their land fallow. The Chief Rabbinate even set up a special body, headed by Rabbi Ze'ev Weitman, chief rabbi of the Tnuva Dairy concern, and Rabbi Avraham Yosef, chief rabbi of Holon and son of Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, to implement heter mechira.
In fact, heter mechira represents 85% to 90% of the local produce market, according to Yerachmiel Goldin, who is in charge of shmita in the Agriculture Ministry.
Still, though the chief rabbinate officially recognizes heter mechira it also has an interest in doing everything in its power to reduce the use of heter mechira and to encourage more stringent approaches to shmita year produce.
Permitting Ya'acobovitz to adopt a more stringent approach was part of this policy of the chief rabbinate.
But the High Court rejected the chief rabbinate's policy of encouraging more stringent kosher supervision methods arguing that it was an unjustified infringement on non-haredi individuals' rights.
B”H
I guess this is as good a time as any to recognize that the Rabbinate is not religiously appointed, they are POLITICALLY APPOINTED. Because they are government appointments, it is only natural that they would come under the direction of the courts.
M
-----
Oct 24, 2007 11:45 | Updated Oct 24, 2007 18:18
By MATTHEW WAGNER
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380640483&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
In a ruling that strikes a blow to Orthodox religious hegemony in a state where Judaism and democracy often clash, the High Court of Justice on Wednesday overruled the Chief Rabbinate in a quarrel over fruits and vegetables grown by Jews during the shmita [Sabbatical] year.
Haredi consumers are careful to buy produce only from non-Jewish farmers or from abroad during the shmita year.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski
RELATED
* The truth about shmita
The court ruled that that it was illegal for the Chief Rabbinate to allow Yechiel Ya'acobovitz, Chief Rabbi of Herzliya, to deny kosher certificates to restaurants, hotels and other food-serving venues that sell vegetables that were grown in Jewish-owned soil inside the borders of the Land of Israel during the shmita year.
Instead, Ya'acobovitz, a haredi rabbi who adopted a stringent interpretation of Jewish laws governing shmita, must either provide kosher certificates himself or allow more lenient rabbis to do so.
Rabbi Ratzon Arussi, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Ono and a member of the chief rabbinate's governing body who supported the chief rabbinate's decision, said in response that it was another example of the High Court's unjustified intervention in purely religious matters.
"The High Court over the years has gradually chiseled away at the religious establishment's autonomy," said Arussi. "The court has intervened in cases dealing with divorce law, conversions and now it is overruling the chief rabbinate on the issue of shmita.
"This decision is another serious blow to the chief rabbinate."
On August 21, "Asif Yinov", a wholesale produce provider, petitioned the High Court to force Ya'acobovitz and the chief rabbinate to grant kosher supervision to vegetables grown by Jewish farmers.
Eyal Yisraeli, the owner of Asif Yinov, argued before the court that he would sustain serious financial losses as a result of Ya'acovbovitz's decision since all of the fruits and vegetables he markets would not be considered kosher according the rabbi's stringent standards. Local restaurants, hotels and caterers interested in maintaining the religious consumer market would not buy fruits and vegetables from Asif Yinov.
"Today's decision is a victory for democracy," said Yisraeli. "I have nothing against religious people," added Yisraeli. "I am even willing to fight for their right to live in accordance with their beliefs. But rabbis have no right to force their beliefs on others."
According to Orthodox Jewish law, every seventh year Jews are commanded to refrain from working the land of Israel. During this year plowing, sowing, planting, trimming and other field chores are forbidden. As a result, no annual crops, such as wheat, corn, tomatoes and cucumbers can be grown in land owned by Jews during the shmita year.
Perennial crops are subject to numerous restrictions.
Still, starting at the end of the 19th century, when a critical mass of Jewish farmers, many of whom were religious, immigrated to Israel and established a burgeoning agricultural industry, some rabbis have permitted "heter mechira," literally meaning a permitted sale.
According to heter mechira, farmers were permitted to temporary "sell" their land to non-Jews.
Transferring the land from Jewish to non-Jewish hands abrogates the inherent holiness of the land, thus permitting all types of work.
This legal solution eased the plight of farmers with field crops who could not afford to go an entire year without income. Heter mechira also enabled consumers to obtain fruits and vegetables.
In addition to the economic incentives, adherents of heter mechira also had a clear political goal. They wanted to make sure Jewish-owned farmland continued to be worked by Jews during the shmita year thus preventing Arab squatters from taking control of land left fallow. They also wanted to support Jews over Arabs.
However, heter mechira has always been controversial with a large, vocal group of rabbis bitterly opposed to what they call "a desecration of the Holy Land". These rabbis argue that the sale is purely fictitious and, therefore, non-binding. As a result, all the annual crops grown on this land during the shmita year are forbidden for consumption, enjoyment or profit.
Haredi consumers are careful to buy produce from Arab farmers who own land in Israel or in Judea and Samaria. In the wake of the Hamas takeover, frequent closures and curfews make growing risky for Gazan farmers since they cannot be sure they will be able to export what they grow.
Haredim also buy produce that is imported from outside Israel.
Ya'acobovitz adheres to this stringent view. As a result, he refused to sign off on kosher certificates for businesses that sell produce that come from heter mechira fields.
In contrast, the Chief Rabbinate officially recognizes heter mechira as a legitimate solution for farmers unwilling, or unable, to leave their land fallow. The Chief Rabbinate even set up a special body, headed by Rabbi Ze'ev Weitman, chief rabbi of the Tnuva Dairy concern, and Rabbi Avraham Yosef, chief rabbi of Holon and son of Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, to implement heter mechira.
In fact, heter mechira represents 85% to 90% of the local produce market, according to Yerachmiel Goldin, who is in charge of shmita in the Agriculture Ministry.
Still, though the chief rabbinate officially recognizes heter mechira it also has an interest in doing everything in its power to reduce the use of heter mechira and to encourage more stringent approaches to shmita year produce.
Permitting Ya'acobovitz to adopt a more stringent approach was part of this policy of the chief rabbinate.
But the High Court rejected the chief rabbinate's policy of encouraging more stringent kosher supervision methods arguing that it was an unjustified infringement on non-haredi individuals' rights.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
OU Educates Congress on Indivisbility of Jerusalem
OU Educates Congress on Indivisbility of Jerusalem
October 23, 2007
UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS OF AMERICA EDUCATES CONGRESS ON INDIVISIBILITY OF JERUSALEM AS SECRETARY RICE TESTIFIES TO HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the nation's largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, is delivering educational materials to every Member of Congress regarding the centrality of Jerusalem in the religion and history of the Jewish people.
The effort, organized by the Union's Institute for Public Affairs, is a component of the Union's campaign in the wake of public statements by American, Israeli and Palestinian officials calling into question the fate of Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of the Jewish People, in advance of a meeting of these parties being planned for Annapolis.
The distribution of the materials is particularly being done to coincide with the Wednesday appearance of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Under a cover memo entitled: "Jerusalem: Keep it One, Keep it Safe", the Union is distributing copies of the book - "Jerusalem, Eye of the Universe" - authored by the eminent scholar Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan. The distributed materials also contain a copy of the provision of Public Law 104-45, enacted in 1995 which contains the following:
"Statement of the Policy of the United States. (1) Jerusalem should remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected. (2) Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel."
Union public policy director Nathan Diament stated:
With political leaders stating or implying that Jerusalem might be redivided for the sake of a 'peace process,' we must remind them of basic principles. The holy city of Jerusalem has been central to the spirituality and destiny of Jews for millennia. Forty years ago, Jerusalem was rescued from languishing as a divided city. During the period of 1948-1967, when the city was under Arab jurisdiction, Jews and Christians were barred from their holiest sites. Many holy sites were damaged or destroyed. Western Jerusalem was subjected to daily sniper fire. The duly enacted policy of the United States of America is the recognition that the holy city of Jerusalem as the indivisible capital of the State of Israel. We will be reminding our friends on Capitol Hill of these basic truths with the materials we are delivering this week and we pray this will empower and enable them to help us protect Jerusalem from being torn asunder again for the sake of an ephemeral 'peace process'.
October 23, 2007
UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS OF AMERICA EDUCATES CONGRESS ON INDIVISIBILITY OF JERUSALEM AS SECRETARY RICE TESTIFIES TO HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the nation's largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, is delivering educational materials to every Member of Congress regarding the centrality of Jerusalem in the religion and history of the Jewish people.
The effort, organized by the Union's Institute for Public Affairs, is a component of the Union's campaign in the wake of public statements by American, Israeli and Palestinian officials calling into question the fate of Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of the Jewish People, in advance of a meeting of these parties being planned for Annapolis.
The distribution of the materials is particularly being done to coincide with the Wednesday appearance of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Under a cover memo entitled: "Jerusalem: Keep it One, Keep it Safe", the Union is distributing copies of the book - "Jerusalem, Eye of the Universe" - authored by the eminent scholar Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan. The distributed materials also contain a copy of the provision of Public Law 104-45, enacted in 1995 which contains the following:
"Statement of the Policy of the United States. (1) Jerusalem should remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected. (2) Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel."
Union public policy director Nathan Diament stated:
With political leaders stating or implying that Jerusalem might be redivided for the sake of a 'peace process,' we must remind them of basic principles. The holy city of Jerusalem has been central to the spirituality and destiny of Jews for millennia. Forty years ago, Jerusalem was rescued from languishing as a divided city. During the period of 1948-1967, when the city was under Arab jurisdiction, Jews and Christians were barred from their holiest sites. Many holy sites were damaged or destroyed. Western Jerusalem was subjected to daily sniper fire. The duly enacted policy of the United States of America is the recognition that the holy city of Jerusalem as the indivisible capital of the State of Israel. We will be reminding our friends on Capitol Hill of these basic truths with the materials we are delivering this week and we pray this will empower and enable them to help us protect Jerusalem from being torn asunder again for the sake of an ephemeral 'peace process'.
COLLUSION AMONG ARAB COUNTRIES IN 1948 TO PERSECUTE JEWS
NEWLY-DISCOVERED DOCUMENTS FROM U.N. ARCHIVES REVEAL COLLUSION AMONG ARAB COUNTRIES IN 1948 TO PERSECUTE JEWS IN STRUGGLE AGAINST ISRAEL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shira Dicker (917.403.3989)
New York City (October 23, 2007) - They have been called the 'forgotten refugees' of the Middle East but after a landmark summit and press conference in New York early next month, the narrative and plight of displaced Jews from Arab lands will be difficult to forget.
On Nov. 4 -5, 2007, 40 delegates from 8 countries and 5 cities across the United States will travel thousands of miles to attend the groundbreaking New York Summit, organized by Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC).
The highlight of JJAC's New York Summit will be a press conference on Monday, November 5th at the offices of the American Jewish Committee (165 East 56th St. Manhattan, 12:30pm). At the conference, the Hon. Irwin Cotler, former Justice Minister of Canada, will release documents from 1948, recently discovered in U.N. archives, that reveal collusion among Arab countries to use their Jewish populations as virtual hostages in their struggle against the creation of the State of Israel.
The proof of such documentation broadens the narrative of the Jewish refugees from Arab Lands, revealing gross human rights violations.
When the issue of refugees is raised within the context of the Middle East, people invariably refer to Palestinian refugees. Neither the mass violations of human rights, nor the displacement of up to one million Jews from Arab countries, have ever been adequately addressed by the international community.
Rectifying this moral injustice is one of the goals of the New York Summit, said Stanley A. Urman, executive director of JJAC. "It is about recognizing the fundamental reality that Jews were an indigenous people that lived in North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf region for 2,600 years…1,000 years before Islam, before Mohammed walked the face of the earth."
The New York Summit of JJAC will also address other legal and political issues with potentially far-reaching implications. Highlights include:
* The US Report that will focus on two resolutions now before the US Congress that would require the US to ensure that "…any explicit reference to the required resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue is matched by an explicit reference to the resolution of the issue of Jewish, Christian and other refugees from Arab countries"
* A Colloquium on Europe will focus on how to secure broad-based European support for the rights of Jews displaced from Arab countries.
One of the most controversial items on the agenda, will be JJAC's adoption of a public policy declaration in advance of the upcoming U.S. sponsored Middle East 'Annapolis Conference.'
Advance media registration for the November 5th press conference hosted by JJAC is required and space is limited. To reserve a place, to attend any other portion of the program, to arrange advance interviews or for anything else related to JJAC's November 4-5 program, please contact Shira Dicker at 917.403.3989 or by e-mail at shira.dicker@sd-media.com. Please visit www.justiceforjews.com for further information about JJAC and to obtain an electronic press kit.
ABOUT JUSTICE FOR JEWS FROM ARAB COUNTRIES
JJAC is a coalition of 73 Jewish communities and organizations in 20 countries that is dedicated to raising public awareness of the little-known plight and flight of up to one million Jewish refugees from Arab countries that took place since the turn of the twentieth century.
Justice for Jews from Arab Countries | JJAC c/o CJH 15 West 16th St. (6th FL.) | New York | NY | 10011
Monday, October 22, 2007
Repairs would empty U.N.
-----
B”H
While they are out, let’s sell the property and use it for something more beneficial for human kind—like a Starbucks or a Walmart or something.
M
-----
Article published Oct 22, 2007
http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071022/FOREIGN/110220063/1001&template=printart
October 22, 2007
By Betsy Pisik - NEW YORK — Authorities are considering emptying the massive U.N. headquarters building for at least three years to get a long-delayed renovation project back on track and on budget, according to people who have been briefed on the plan.
Member states' deliberations and security considerations have left the $1.8 billion renovation a year behind schedule, with every month adding roughly $10 million to the overall cost of the project.
Now the construction officials are considering emptying and rehabbing the 39-story Secretariat building on New York's East River all at once, abandoning a controversial plan to do the work in 10-floor sections of an otherwise occupied building.
Critics have long complained about the plan's risks, noting that the tower is 44 years old, riddled with asbestos and lacking a sprinkler system.
Moving approximately 4,500 people out of the glass-and-marble landmark will increase the cost of temporary office space, according to diplomats briefed on the plan, but significantly cut down on construction costs and speed up the work.
"I think we are doing well," said Michael Adlerstein, the newly hired executive director of the Capital Master Plan, as the renovation effort is known.
"The architects and engineers are on it. We have 90 percent of the construction documents. We are going to tweak [the plan] again for value engineering. We'll see where you can change systems or phasing to save money."
Skanskia Building USA, an internationally known construction behemoth, has been hired to oversee the construction, which is to end by 2014.
Mr. Adlerstein refused to discuss specifics before they have been vetted by U.N. management committees, but in a recent interview he seemed optimistic that he could bring the project back to budget and make up for lost time.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has affirmed the need to overhaul the U.N. buildings, and there has been little resistance, in principle, from member states. However, the costs associated with the project have been difficult to resolve, leading to painful and protracted discussions that participants describe as both fiscal and political.
The estimated $1.8 billion costs will be borne by U.N. members, with the U.S. slated to pay $396 million over five years. The U.S. share is in proportion to its share of overall U.N. operating costs.
The architect and historian said architectural and design elements from the iconic building will be salvaged, refurbished and reinstalled after the demolition.
"We're going down to concrete slab and steel beams," Mr. Adlerstein said, promising that when the building is reopened, the public will not notice a change.
But those who work inside the building certainly will: Modern office layouts, new furniture and 21st-century heating and cooling will make the space more comfortable. The windows — originally clear but now covered with blue-green blast film to reduce the danger of flying glass shards — will be restored to the symbolic transparency intended by the original team of architects.
The windows — a 39-story curtain exposed to wind, rain, pollution and terrorist threats — pose some of the trickier elements of the renovation.
When architects began designing glass curtain walls in the 1950s, they were not worried about terrorist attacks or the high cost of energy.
Triple-glazed thermal windows with proper safety glass and efficient systems will reduce the organization's annual $13 million utility bill by as much as 40 percent, Mr. Adlerstein said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told presidents and prime ministers last month that he has been losing sleep over the renovation, but was optimistic that it will be safer and greener, and finished in half the time originally allotted.
Another challenge will be to find enough affordable office space in the drum-tight Manhattan real estate market.
The organization has secured space in Queens for the U.N. Library and some of the back-office functions. An empty midrise building near the U.N. compound will be renovated to house another 750 employees.
Authorities are negotiating to lease a former bank headquarters to house another 2,200 staffers, U.N. officials confirmed.
The central domed General Assembly building will be among the first buildings in the 17-acre compound to be renovated. If construction starts in the spring as planned, world leaders will convene next autumn in a hangerlike temporary building with few frills.
Mr. Ban and his closest aides will be moved into temporary quarters inside the U.N. compound, at the request of the Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York Police Department.
B”H
While they are out, let’s sell the property and use it for something more beneficial for human kind—like a Starbucks or a Walmart or something.
M
-----
Article published Oct 22, 2007
http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071022/FOREIGN/110220063/1001&template=printart
October 22, 2007
By Betsy Pisik - NEW YORK — Authorities are considering emptying the massive U.N. headquarters building for at least three years to get a long-delayed renovation project back on track and on budget, according to people who have been briefed on the plan.
Member states' deliberations and security considerations have left the $1.8 billion renovation a year behind schedule, with every month adding roughly $10 million to the overall cost of the project.
Now the construction officials are considering emptying and rehabbing the 39-story Secretariat building on New York's East River all at once, abandoning a controversial plan to do the work in 10-floor sections of an otherwise occupied building.
Critics have long complained about the plan's risks, noting that the tower is 44 years old, riddled with asbestos and lacking a sprinkler system.
Moving approximately 4,500 people out of the glass-and-marble landmark will increase the cost of temporary office space, according to diplomats briefed on the plan, but significantly cut down on construction costs and speed up the work.
"I think we are doing well," said Michael Adlerstein, the newly hired executive director of the Capital Master Plan, as the renovation effort is known.
"The architects and engineers are on it. We have 90 percent of the construction documents. We are going to tweak [the plan] again for value engineering. We'll see where you can change systems or phasing to save money."
Skanskia Building USA, an internationally known construction behemoth, has been hired to oversee the construction, which is to end by 2014.
Mr. Adlerstein refused to discuss specifics before they have been vetted by U.N. management committees, but in a recent interview he seemed optimistic that he could bring the project back to budget and make up for lost time.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has affirmed the need to overhaul the U.N. buildings, and there has been little resistance, in principle, from member states. However, the costs associated with the project have been difficult to resolve, leading to painful and protracted discussions that participants describe as both fiscal and political.
The estimated $1.8 billion costs will be borne by U.N. members, with the U.S. slated to pay $396 million over five years. The U.S. share is in proportion to its share of overall U.N. operating costs.
The architect and historian said architectural and design elements from the iconic building will be salvaged, refurbished and reinstalled after the demolition.
"We're going down to concrete slab and steel beams," Mr. Adlerstein said, promising that when the building is reopened, the public will not notice a change.
But those who work inside the building certainly will: Modern office layouts, new furniture and 21st-century heating and cooling will make the space more comfortable. The windows — originally clear but now covered with blue-green blast film to reduce the danger of flying glass shards — will be restored to the symbolic transparency intended by the original team of architects.
The windows — a 39-story curtain exposed to wind, rain, pollution and terrorist threats — pose some of the trickier elements of the renovation.
When architects began designing glass curtain walls in the 1950s, they were not worried about terrorist attacks or the high cost of energy.
Triple-glazed thermal windows with proper safety glass and efficient systems will reduce the organization's annual $13 million utility bill by as much as 40 percent, Mr. Adlerstein said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told presidents and prime ministers last month that he has been losing sleep over the renovation, but was optimistic that it will be safer and greener, and finished in half the time originally allotted.
Another challenge will be to find enough affordable office space in the drum-tight Manhattan real estate market.
The organization has secured space in Queens for the U.N. Library and some of the back-office functions. An empty midrise building near the U.N. compound will be renovated to house another 750 employees.
Authorities are negotiating to lease a former bank headquarters to house another 2,200 staffers, U.N. officials confirmed.
The central domed General Assembly building will be among the first buildings in the 17-acre compound to be renovated. If construction starts in the spring as planned, world leaders will convene next autumn in a hangerlike temporary building with few frills.
Mr. Ban and his closest aides will be moved into temporary quarters inside the U.N. compound, at the request of the Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York Police Department.
US pressing to stop Turkish incursion into Iraq
-----
B”H
Israel has already become the eunuch of the US. Now Turkey also knows what it feels like to be attacked by their enemy and castrated by the US administration.
If the US has its way, anyone who comes up against the Islamic fascists will lose their ability to retaliate.
Who is the US working for, anyway??
M
-----
Oct 22, 2007 16:34 | Updated Oct 22, 2007 16:50
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380623809&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The United States has opened a diplomatic "full court press" to urge Turkey not to invade northern Iraq, the State Department said Monday, as tensions between the two countries soared following an ambush by rebel Kurds that killed 12 Turkish soldiers and left eight missing.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the leader of Iraq's Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, on Sunday to press the US case for restraint from Turkey and Iraqi action against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
"We do not believe unilateral cross-border operations are the best way to address this issue," he said, describing Rice's call to Erdogan, whose government has threatened military incursions into Iraq to deal with the PKK.
"In our view, there are better ways to deal with this issue," McCormack said, stressing that the United States regards the PKK as a terrorist organization.
He said Rice had told both Erdogan and Barzani that "we are going to do everything we can to encourage Turkey and Iraq to work together to address what is a common threat."
"She underlined to President Barzani the importance of Iraq working actively with the Turkish government to counter what is a real threat to Turkish citizens," he said, adding: "It's important that there be action to counter the PKK."
Erdogan said earlier that he had told Rice that Turkey expected "speedy steps from the US" in cracking down on Kurdish rebels and that Rice had asked "for a few days" from him.
McCormack did not dispute the account of the conversation but declined to comment on what Rice had meant by asked for "a few days."
As Rice was speaking to Erdogan and Barzani, the US Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, was making similar points in Baghdad with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani - himself a Kurd - who ordered the PKK to lay down their arms or leave Iraq, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, McCormack said.
The spokesman added that he "would not be surprised" if White House officials, including possibly President George W. Bush, followed up the Rice and Crocker conversations with Turkish and Iraqi officials.
"From our perspective, this is a diplomatic full-court press," McCormack. "We want to see an outcome where you have the Turks and the Iraqis working together, and we will do what we can to resolve the issue without a Turkish cross-border incursion."
B”H
Israel has already become the eunuch of the US. Now Turkey also knows what it feels like to be attacked by their enemy and castrated by the US administration.
If the US has its way, anyone who comes up against the Islamic fascists will lose their ability to retaliate.
Who is the US working for, anyway??
M
-----
Oct 22, 2007 16:34 | Updated Oct 22, 2007 16:50
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380623809&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The United States has opened a diplomatic "full court press" to urge Turkey not to invade northern Iraq, the State Department said Monday, as tensions between the two countries soared following an ambush by rebel Kurds that killed 12 Turkish soldiers and left eight missing.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the leader of Iraq's Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, on Sunday to press the US case for restraint from Turkey and Iraqi action against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
"We do not believe unilateral cross-border operations are the best way to address this issue," he said, describing Rice's call to Erdogan, whose government has threatened military incursions into Iraq to deal with the PKK.
"In our view, there are better ways to deal with this issue," McCormack said, stressing that the United States regards the PKK as a terrorist organization.
He said Rice had told both Erdogan and Barzani that "we are going to do everything we can to encourage Turkey and Iraq to work together to address what is a common threat."
"She underlined to President Barzani the importance of Iraq working actively with the Turkish government to counter what is a real threat to Turkish citizens," he said, adding: "It's important that there be action to counter the PKK."
Erdogan said earlier that he had told Rice that Turkey expected "speedy steps from the US" in cracking down on Kurdish rebels and that Rice had asked "for a few days" from him.
McCormack did not dispute the account of the conversation but declined to comment on what Rice had meant by asked for "a few days."
As Rice was speaking to Erdogan and Barzani, the US Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, was making similar points in Baghdad with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani - himself a Kurd - who ordered the PKK to lay down their arms or leave Iraq, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, McCormack said.
The spokesman added that he "would not be surprised" if White House officials, including possibly President George W. Bush, followed up the Rice and Crocker conversations with Turkish and Iraqi officials.
"From our perspective, this is a diplomatic full-court press," McCormack. "We want to see an outcome where you have the Turks and the Iraqis working together, and we will do what we can to resolve the issue without a Turkish cross-border incursion."
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Yoav Yitzchak: PM Olmert's Crimes Worse Than Previously Reported
-----
B”H
Wait a minute. Crimes so bad that the government prosecutors can’t find a way out of them? Impossible!
Don’t worry. Like a snake in a noose, Olmert will slip free to destroy Israel once more.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123981
by Ezra HaLevi
(IsraelNN.com) Investigative journalist Yoav Yitzchak reports that the ongoing investigation against Prime Minister Olmert in the Bank Leumi Affair is yielding damning evidence of crimes punishable by active jail time. The report contradicts recent assertions by PM Olmert's associates that he is unlikely to be charged with crimes.
Yitzchak, Israel’s most prominent investigative journalist, says police investigators have unearthed evidence implicating Olmert not only in fraud, as was originally publicized, but also "fraud in aggravated circumstances," which carries an additional two year jail sentence.
Yitzchak said that police sources had revealed to him that Olmert was questioned on additional charges of fraud and breach of trust.
If Olmert is convicted, Yitzchak says, he could serve from three to five years of active jail time for each of his crimes. Yitzchak quoted the sources as saying that police “without question” have enough evidence to indict Olmert on both charges.
But, the final decision is in the hands of Head of Police Investigations Yochanan Danino. It is known what position Danino will take despite the mounting evidence against Olmert. Yoav Yitzhak says that Danino has earned the title "the Weak Link" in the Israeli Police Investigation department.
According to allegations, then-Finance Minister Olmert intervened on behalf of two of his friends who were interested in buying controlling shares of Bank Leumi, which was undergoing privatization in 2005. The men involved, Frank Lowy and Daniel Abrams, eventually dropped out of the bidding and are not suspected of any wrongdoing.
Worse Than ‘Conflict of Interest’
According to evidence unearthed by police and reported by journalist Yitzchak, Prime Minister Olmert was not just working to advance the interests of billionaire associate Frank Lowy in the Bank Leumi sale – but of his friend attorney Tami Ben-David, who represented Lowy.
Tami Ben-David is a personal friend of Ehud Olmert and his wife, Aliza. A central partner in the law firm where she works is Attorney Yosef Gross, Ehud Olmert's father-in-law. The evidence against the Prime Minister points to an attempt on his part to arrange for Lowy to win the bid, which would in turn significantly benefit Tami Ben-David in legal fees and a percentage of the Leumi stocks. Olmert was serving as Finance Minister at the time of suspected crime.
Lowy himself testified that Olmert, Ben-David, and others in Israel were “using his good name to make themselves rich,” Yitzchak reported. Lowy was interviewed as a witness in the case in his home country of Australia by Israeli police. It was based on his testimony that the fraud aspect of the case was uncovered – as police presented him with documents seized from Ben-David's office written in his name and ostensibly signed by him that he denied ever seeing, much less signing.
B”H
Wait a minute. Crimes so bad that the government prosecutors can’t find a way out of them? Impossible!
Don’t worry. Like a snake in a noose, Olmert will slip free to destroy Israel once more.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123981
by Ezra HaLevi
(IsraelNN.com) Investigative journalist Yoav Yitzchak reports that the ongoing investigation against Prime Minister Olmert in the Bank Leumi Affair is yielding damning evidence of crimes punishable by active jail time. The report contradicts recent assertions by PM Olmert's associates that he is unlikely to be charged with crimes.
Yitzchak, Israel’s most prominent investigative journalist, says police investigators have unearthed evidence implicating Olmert not only in fraud, as was originally publicized, but also "fraud in aggravated circumstances," which carries an additional two year jail sentence.
Yitzchak said that police sources had revealed to him that Olmert was questioned on additional charges of fraud and breach of trust.
If Olmert is convicted, Yitzchak says, he could serve from three to five years of active jail time for each of his crimes. Yitzchak quoted the sources as saying that police “without question” have enough evidence to indict Olmert on both charges.
But, the final decision is in the hands of Head of Police Investigations Yochanan Danino. It is known what position Danino will take despite the mounting evidence against Olmert. Yoav Yitzhak says that Danino has earned the title "the Weak Link" in the Israeli Police Investigation department.
According to allegations, then-Finance Minister Olmert intervened on behalf of two of his friends who were interested in buying controlling shares of Bank Leumi, which was undergoing privatization in 2005. The men involved, Frank Lowy and Daniel Abrams, eventually dropped out of the bidding and are not suspected of any wrongdoing.
Worse Than ‘Conflict of Interest’
According to evidence unearthed by police and reported by journalist Yitzchak, Prime Minister Olmert was not just working to advance the interests of billionaire associate Frank Lowy in the Bank Leumi sale – but of his friend attorney Tami Ben-David, who represented Lowy.
Tami Ben-David is a personal friend of Ehud Olmert and his wife, Aliza. A central partner in the law firm where she works is Attorney Yosef Gross, Ehud Olmert's father-in-law. The evidence against the Prime Minister points to an attempt on his part to arrange for Lowy to win the bid, which would in turn significantly benefit Tami Ben-David in legal fees and a percentage of the Leumi stocks. Olmert was serving as Finance Minister at the time of suspected crime.
Lowy himself testified that Olmert, Ben-David, and others in Israel were “using his good name to make themselves rich,” Yitzchak reported. Lowy was interviewed as a witness in the case in his home country of Australia by Israeli police. It was based on his testimony that the fraud aspect of the case was uncovered – as police presented him with documents seized from Ben-David's office written in his name and ostensibly signed by him that he denied ever seeing, much less signing.
Campaign Against Govt's Anti-Aliyah Decision
-----
B”H
If they were “white” anti-religious gentile Russians, the government would welcome them with open arms.
But these are “dark” religious people—both groups the government would rather not see in Israel. On top of it, most of them go to live over the green line.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123987
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) "This is an immoral decision, motivated by ignorance and based on post-Zionist and racist considerations." So says Michael Freund, chairman of Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based organization working to bring long-lost Jews home to Israel from India.
He was referring to a government decision of last week that appears to be tailor-made to preventing the Bnei Menashe tribe from moving to Israel. The government ruled that the Interior Minister could issue entry permits to groups of people for the purpose of conversion and citizenship only with full Cabinet approval.
Until now, the Interior Minister - currently Meir Sheetrit of Kadima - was able to issue such permits on his own authorization. It appears, however, that Sheetrit, who initiated the new ruling, no longer wishes to issue such permits, and has therefore transferred the onus to the full Cabinet. It can be assumed that the government will not rush to deal with such matters. Therefore, groups of ten or more Bnei Menashe who wish to revive their long-lost Jewishness and immigrate to Israel will, for all intents and purposes, no longer be able to do so.
Some 1,200 Bnei Menashe - members of Indian tribes who are widely believed to have descended from Jews exiled from the Holy Land 2,500 years ago - are now full-fledged Jews in Israel, and another 7,000 of their family members and neighbors are waiting in India to join them.
"The Chief Rabbinate is willing to convert them," Freund told Arutz-7, "but the government is essentially intervening and saying it does not wish to allow these people to be candidates for conversion. This is an unconscionable act, and we will fight in the Knesset, in the public arena and wherever else necessary to make sure it is rescinded."
"Requiring full cabinet approval every time a group of 100 or 200 people wish to move here and undergo conversion," writes Freund, "is a recipe for bureaucratic inertia, as there is little chance of getting such an item onto the busy agenda of the entire government. Hence, by creating a virtually insurmountable obstacle to approval, [Sheetrit] hopes to bury the issue once and for all."
Conversion in India, which was once the practice under the auspices of Israel's Chief Rabbinate, is no longer an option, in accordance with a new Indian government law.
"Why, you might be wondering, would Sheetrit and his cabinet colleagues do such a thing?" Freund writes. "The answer is really quite simple. It is post-Zionism of the ugliest sort, tinged by prejudice and sheer ignorance."
Freund told Arutz-7 that the decision could have other repercussions as well. "Let's say there is a non-Jewish family - two parents and eight children - living abroad that has become close to a Jewish community and wishes to convert to Judaism and move to Israel," he said. "With this decision, the family would be able to do so only if the entire Israeli Cabinet votes to allow it... It's quite obvious that the intention is to create a bureaucratic obstacle that cannot be overcome."
Tzvi Khaute, of Kiryat Arba, a Bnei Menashe member who immigrated to Israel in 2000, has parents and five siblings anxiously awaiting to join him here. "But because of this purely racist decision," he now says, "they may have to wait years - or even more."
Khaute, 33, is married, and two of his three children were born here. Many of his friends are soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces - yet their families may now not be able to join them here for years to come.
"When I came to Israel," Tzvi said, "there was a quota of only 24 Bnei Menashe - out of more than 7,000! - who were allowed to come that year. With G-d's help, my family was able to choose one representative. They chose me, hoping that I would prepare the ground for them to come and join me at a later date. I am very happy that I was able to come here and reconnect to our people, and our Torah, here in the Holy Land - but it is always tinged with sadness in that my family, and thousands of others, are not able to be here as well."
B”H
If they were “white” anti-religious gentile Russians, the government would welcome them with open arms.
But these are “dark” religious people—both groups the government would rather not see in Israel. On top of it, most of them go to live over the green line.
M
-----
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123987
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) "This is an immoral decision, motivated by ignorance and based on post-Zionist and racist considerations." So says Michael Freund, chairman of Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based organization working to bring long-lost Jews home to Israel from India.
He was referring to a government decision of last week that appears to be tailor-made to preventing the Bnei Menashe tribe from moving to Israel. The government ruled that the Interior Minister could issue entry permits to groups of people for the purpose of conversion and citizenship only with full Cabinet approval.
Until now, the Interior Minister - currently Meir Sheetrit of Kadima - was able to issue such permits on his own authorization. It appears, however, that Sheetrit, who initiated the new ruling, no longer wishes to issue such permits, and has therefore transferred the onus to the full Cabinet. It can be assumed that the government will not rush to deal with such matters. Therefore, groups of ten or more Bnei Menashe who wish to revive their long-lost Jewishness and immigrate to Israel will, for all intents and purposes, no longer be able to do so.
Some 1,200 Bnei Menashe - members of Indian tribes who are widely believed to have descended from Jews exiled from the Holy Land 2,500 years ago - are now full-fledged Jews in Israel, and another 7,000 of their family members and neighbors are waiting in India to join them.
"The Chief Rabbinate is willing to convert them," Freund told Arutz-7, "but the government is essentially intervening and saying it does not wish to allow these people to be candidates for conversion. This is an unconscionable act, and we will fight in the Knesset, in the public arena and wherever else necessary to make sure it is rescinded."
"Requiring full cabinet approval every time a group of 100 or 200 people wish to move here and undergo conversion," writes Freund, "is a recipe for bureaucratic inertia, as there is little chance of getting such an item onto the busy agenda of the entire government. Hence, by creating a virtually insurmountable obstacle to approval, [Sheetrit] hopes to bury the issue once and for all."
Conversion in India, which was once the practice under the auspices of Israel's Chief Rabbinate, is no longer an option, in accordance with a new Indian government law.
"Why, you might be wondering, would Sheetrit and his cabinet colleagues do such a thing?" Freund writes. "The answer is really quite simple. It is post-Zionism of the ugliest sort, tinged by prejudice and sheer ignorance."
Freund told Arutz-7 that the decision could have other repercussions as well. "Let's say there is a non-Jewish family - two parents and eight children - living abroad that has become close to a Jewish community and wishes to convert to Judaism and move to Israel," he said. "With this decision, the family would be able to do so only if the entire Israeli Cabinet votes to allow it... It's quite obvious that the intention is to create a bureaucratic obstacle that cannot be overcome."
Tzvi Khaute, of Kiryat Arba, a Bnei Menashe member who immigrated to Israel in 2000, has parents and five siblings anxiously awaiting to join him here. "But because of this purely racist decision," he now says, "they may have to wait years - or even more."
Khaute, 33, is married, and two of his three children were born here. Many of his friends are soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces - yet their families may now not be able to join them here for years to come.
"When I came to Israel," Tzvi said, "there was a quota of only 24 Bnei Menashe - out of more than 7,000! - who were allowed to come that year. With G-d's help, my family was able to choose one representative. They chose me, hoping that I would prepare the ground for them to come and join me at a later date. I am very happy that I was able to come here and reconnect to our people, and our Torah, here in the Holy Land - but it is always tinged with sadness in that my family, and thousands of others, are not able to be here as well."
HATE CRIME VS. JEWS ON RISE IN CITY
-----
B”H
I hate to say it, but it isn’t just in NYC. There are articles about Ukraine, Uzbekistan, France, England, Germany . . .
We are being attacked. First they said “It’s all about Israel, we don’t hate Jews.”
But it wasn’t just about Israel. It was just about Jews. Now, it is all about Jews. We knew from the start what it was, but no one wanted to hear it.
They can say what the want about it being “connected to the visit of the Iranian president”--but that’s not what it is about at all.
It is about the world ganging up on Israel to make us cede our land to terrorists. It’s about emboldening hate by rewarding it. It’s about the never-ending quest for a Chamberlain “peace” with the Islamic fascists.
Condi? Bush? Olmert? Are you listening to me?
Probably not.
After all, I’m just a JEW.
M
-----
By ANGELA MONTEFINISE
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10212007/news/regionalnews/hate_crime__vs__jews_on_rise_i.htm
October 21, 2007 -- The number of bias crimes against Jews in New York City soared 15 percent this year, with some blaming the spike on last month's controversial visit from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Through Oct. 7, there were 94 reported hate crimes against Jews - making up almost half of the city's 209 total bias incidents, NYPD stats show.
Over the same period last year, 82 anti-Jewish crimes were reported.
Those stats don't even include two incidents after Oct. 7 - a swastika painted on a Columbia University wall and 22 swastikas scrawled in green chalk on the walls of Murry Bergtraum HS in Manhattan.
"We have certainly noticed a surge in the number of such incidents recently," said Joel Levy, New York director of the Anti-Defamation League.
"I don't think it's a coincidence that many of the incidents in the recent surge occurred immediately after the visit from Ahmadinejad. We had a hater, a Holocaust denier, a man who has said he wants to destroy the state of Israel and has built a nuclear weapon for that purpose, visit the city. I think that brought out some of the hate."
One of the ugliest anti-Semitic incidents happened only days after Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University. Swastikas and other hate graffiti were sprayed in 24 separate places in Brooklyn Heights, including two synagogues and several private homes, at the end of September.
There have been no arrests.
B”H
I hate to say it, but it isn’t just in NYC. There are articles about Ukraine, Uzbekistan, France, England, Germany . . .
We are being attacked. First they said “It’s all about Israel, we don’t hate Jews.”
But it wasn’t just about Israel. It was just about Jews. Now, it is all about Jews. We knew from the start what it was, but no one wanted to hear it.
They can say what the want about it being “connected to the visit of the Iranian president”--but that’s not what it is about at all.
It is about the world ganging up on Israel to make us cede our land to terrorists. It’s about emboldening hate by rewarding it. It’s about the never-ending quest for a Chamberlain “peace” with the Islamic fascists.
Condi? Bush? Olmert? Are you listening to me?
Probably not.
After all, I’m just a JEW.
M
-----
By ANGELA MONTEFINISE
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10212007/news/regionalnews/hate_crime__vs__jews_on_rise_i.htm
October 21, 2007 -- The number of bias crimes against Jews in New York City soared 15 percent this year, with some blaming the spike on last month's controversial visit from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Through Oct. 7, there were 94 reported hate crimes against Jews - making up almost half of the city's 209 total bias incidents, NYPD stats show.
Over the same period last year, 82 anti-Jewish crimes were reported.
Those stats don't even include two incidents after Oct. 7 - a swastika painted on a Columbia University wall and 22 swastikas scrawled in green chalk on the walls of Murry Bergtraum HS in Manhattan.
"We have certainly noticed a surge in the number of such incidents recently," said Joel Levy, New York director of the Anti-Defamation League.
"I don't think it's a coincidence that many of the incidents in the recent surge occurred immediately after the visit from Ahmadinejad. We had a hater, a Holocaust denier, a man who has said he wants to destroy the state of Israel and has built a nuclear weapon for that purpose, visit the city. I think that brought out some of the hate."
One of the ugliest anti-Semitic incidents happened only days after Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University. Swastikas and other hate graffiti were sprayed in 24 separate places in Brooklyn Heights, including two synagogues and several private homes, at the end of September.
There have been no arrests.
Friday, October 19, 2007
MKs threaten to topple Chief Rabbinate kashrut monopoly
-----
B”H
Yes, he is right—on all accounts. Everything is about who benefits from the issuing the kasrut—and I’m not talking spiritual benefits.
This is big business! Whomever controls the kashrut controls the money.
M
-----
Last update - 16:32 19/10/2007
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/914886.html
Legislators from Kadima and the National Religious Party threatened the Chief Rabbinate Council Thursday that unless a solution is found to the crisis over shmita produce in secular communities, they would initiate a bill to remove the Chief Rabbinate's monopoly over kashrut licenses.
The crisis emerged following what appears to be a decision by rabbis in secular cities to strictly enforce a ban on produce produced by Jews during the shmita year, a sabbatical year in which the land in Israel is supposed to lie fallow. The rabbis demand that shops and restaurants wishing to retain their kashrut license must offer only imported fruits and vegetables with the strictest kosher approval (Mehadrin).
Representatives from the Chief Rabbinate Council met Thursday with Kadima and NRP MKs to discuss the crisis. The MKs warned that unless the rabbinate provides a solution to the impasse, which reached a crisis point when kashrut licenses were withdrawn from shops, the Knesset would propose a bill to remove the council's monopoly on the issuing of kashrut licenses.
Nearly half of the 15 council members did not participate in the meeting, but the council promised to offer a response later Friday.
Prior to the meeting, Rabbi Moshe Rachberger, a rabbi in a Haifa neighborhood, rejected the complaints of farmers that strict adherence to halakhic (Jewish law) practices is being imposed in 12 cities. The farmers have taken their case to the High Court of Justice.
"There are only two or three cities where the rabbis are not willing to accept the sale permit [heter mechira], and two or three cities is not significant to the citizens of Israel. Are the residents of Herzliya or Ashdod complaining?" he said.
Herzliya's rabbi, Rabbi Yitzhak Yaakobowitz, told Haaretz Thursday that the decision to impose Mehadrin produce, which costs significantly more, has not harmed the residents.
He claims that the residents of Herzliya "are all happy about this."
When asked about the petition to the High Court, the rabbi said that "it is all about someone who wants to benefit from the petition."
B”H
"It is all about someone who wants to benefit from the petition," Rabbi Yitzhak Yaakobowitz said.
Yes, he is right—on all accounts. Everything is about who benefits from the issuing the kasrut—and I’m not talking spiritual benefits.
This is big business! Whomever controls the kashrut controls the money.
M
-----
Last update - 16:32 19/10/2007
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/914886.html
Legislators from Kadima and the National Religious Party threatened the Chief Rabbinate Council Thursday that unless a solution is found to the crisis over shmita produce in secular communities, they would initiate a bill to remove the Chief Rabbinate's monopoly over kashrut licenses.
The crisis emerged following what appears to be a decision by rabbis in secular cities to strictly enforce a ban on produce produced by Jews during the shmita year, a sabbatical year in which the land in Israel is supposed to lie fallow. The rabbis demand that shops and restaurants wishing to retain their kashrut license must offer only imported fruits and vegetables with the strictest kosher approval (Mehadrin).
Representatives from the Chief Rabbinate Council met Thursday with Kadima and NRP MKs to discuss the crisis. The MKs warned that unless the rabbinate provides a solution to the impasse, which reached a crisis point when kashrut licenses were withdrawn from shops, the Knesset would propose a bill to remove the council's monopoly on the issuing of kashrut licenses.
Nearly half of the 15 council members did not participate in the meeting, but the council promised to offer a response later Friday.
Prior to the meeting, Rabbi Moshe Rachberger, a rabbi in a Haifa neighborhood, rejected the complaints of farmers that strict adherence to halakhic (Jewish law) practices is being imposed in 12 cities. The farmers have taken their case to the High Court of Justice.
"There are only two or three cities where the rabbis are not willing to accept the sale permit [heter mechira], and two or three cities is not significant to the citizens of Israel. Are the residents of Herzliya or Ashdod complaining?" he said.
Herzliya's rabbi, Rabbi Yitzhak Yaakobowitz, told Haaretz Thursday that the decision to impose Mehadrin produce, which costs significantly more, has not harmed the residents.
He claims that the residents of Herzliya "are all happy about this."
When asked about the petition to the High Court, the rabbi said that "it is all about someone who wants to benefit from the petition."
An Orthodox lawyer, a convicted killer and a quest for freedom
-----
B"H
Something positive before Shabbat.
M
-----
Thursday October 18, 2007
by stacey palevsky
staff writer
http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/33802/format/html/displaystory.html
Joshua Safran promised his client he wouldn’t cut his hair until she was out of prison. He guessed he’d grow his tight brown curls for three months, maybe five, tops.
Eighteen months later, in February of this year, his hair grazed his shoulders, scratched his neck and frizzed on rainy days. The style was so un-lawyer-like that it never failed to spark the question: Why?
It was a visual pledge to his client, he’d explain, that he would not rest until she was released from prison for a murder she says she didn’t commit.
His hair was so long, “I felt like I was wearing my anxiety about the case at all times,” he said. “I felt like the case was haunting me. I could never get it out of my mind. It wasn’t healthy.”
So Safran, who is modern Orthodox, assembled a beit din — a Jewish court — to consider the merits of cutting his hair, even though Deborah Peagler remained in prison. Could he break his promise?
After some debate, the three judges determined that Safran needed to reconcile the broken vow with Peagler, not with God. He went to her and they came up with a compromise.
Safran would schedule a haircut and ask his friends and relatives to make a pledge and guess the weight of his shed locks. The stylist cut 4.2 ounces, and the guessers’ donations helped the lawyer raise $1,000, which Peagler requested be used to start a nonprofit to help battered women.
For half a decade, Safran has worked to free Peagler from prison. She was convicted in 1983 for the murder of her husband. He had abused her for years, but that evidence was never presented in court. Battered woman’s syndrome was not considered admissible evidence until 1992, when California law recognized abuse as a defense in murder trials.
Peagler’s case resurfaced in 2002, when California passed a groundbreaking law giving women incarcerated before 1992 the opportunity to have their sentences reconsidered, by showing that the outcome of their trial could have been different had evidence of domestic violence been presented in court.
Berkeley resident Safran and colleague Nadia Costa, both land-use lawyers, took Peagler’s case on a pro-bono basis. They work at the Walnut Creek office of the international law firm Bingham McCutchen. Everyone assumed the case would be relatively speedy.
Instead, it has consumed 2,000-plus attorney hours over the past five years.
It has also become the subject of a documentary-in-progress, footage of which the lawyers have screened to Jewish audiences to raise awareness about Peagler’s story.
Throughout, the case has severely tested Safran’s faith — in God and the legal system.
But he and Costa now have reason for renewed hope. The state Court of Appeal in July issued an important ruling in their favor. Now it’s up to Attorney General Jerry Brown to decide Peagler’s fate. He recently filed a second extension to respond; Safran and Costa believe he’s “on the fence.”
It’s not the first time the lawyers have been hopeful. Their first petition, which took three years to put together, looked to be successful, but was ultimately denied.
Brown can file for infinite extensions. So Safran and Costa wait. If this appeal, their third, is denied, it means walking through another legal maze, either in the California Supreme Court or federal courts.
The lawyers say they are prepared for that. They won’t stop fighting until Peagler can walk out of prison forever.
“We have a team mantra: People are made to persevere,” Costa said. “That’s how you find out who you are. It has kept us going, and certainly for Debbie, when things get out of her control, she releases that and mentally puts it in a box marked ‘God To Do.’”
Safran has an easy smile and a slight belly. He often wears blue shirts that brighten his Pacific blue eyes. His thick beard has a reddish hue.
On the surface, it appears Safran and Peagler have little in common.
He is devoutly Jewish — a wealthy, white lawyer who embraces the eco-ethos of his Berkeley community. She is a black Christian, stuck behind bars, praising the Lord so ardently she’s known as “church lady” to the other inmates.
But go deeper, and they are quite alike.
Their faith is equal in intensity. They grew up in poor families, she in Florida and he in a tiny town in Washington state. Both have been on the front lines of domestic abuse: Peagler was a victim of her husband’s near-torturous abuse, and Safran’s mother was abused by his stepfather when he was a child.
“Deborah’s case reminded me of my mother’s situation,” Safran said, “except that my mother was able to run away.”
Safran’s Judaism colors all aspects of his life, and he has a gift for steering conversations toward Jewish ideas. This includes big concepts like social action and justice, and the mundane, like tying your shoes (which Safran has used as an opportunity to explain that Jewish law requires tying the left first, motions that mirror laying tefillin.) His talmudic trivia runs deep.
Taking on Peagler’s case was personal.
“There is a specific injunction in the Torah that says we are obligated to redeem captives — people who are incarcerated unlawfully,” he said. “It’s the kind of mitzvah you can break Shabbat to accomplish.”
Not that he does that very often. Shabbat is the only day of the week he does not work. He turns off his Blackberry and his bosses and clients know not to call.
He spends Saturday mornings either at Berkeley’s Congregation Beth Israel or Beit Midrash Ohr Ha Chaim. Afterward, his wife, Leah, and three daughters come home, play games, dance and sing. Saturday evenings often find them celebrating the traditional “third meal” over a vegetarian spread with friends and neighbors.
But Peagler’s story has found a way into his home life.
“My 4-year-old daughter plays this game where she puts a character in prison. Sometimes she has a Deb character,” he said. “Her solution is always for the prisoner to come stay at my office or our house.”
Safran was born in San Francisco. When he was 4, his mother learned that someone was knifed to death on the slide at their neighborhood playground in the Mission. That was enough urban living for her. They slowly traveled north over the next two years, finally settling in Skagit County, Wash., near the Canadian border.
There, they lived out a back-to-the-land lifestyle — off the grid, without a telephone, running water or electricity. The only other Jew in town was Bob Shapiro, who owned the Dali Llama Llama Ranch.
Safran was the brunt of jokes in elementary and middle school. He was different — he didn’t attend church on Sunday mornings, his relatives didn’t hail from Scandinavia, his hair was curly, his nose big.
He regarded Christianity with disdain until he met Peagler.
“I always felt like an outsider, and that made me depressed. But when I could put a name on it — that I was Jewish — it made me feel the opposite,” he said. “I felt like, I do belong. I’m not an outsider. I’m part of the Chosen People.”
For years he read (by kerosene lamp) every book the local library had on Judaism, Jewish history and Israel.
When he scored high on his PSATs, his mailbox filled with college brochures. One from Oberlin College caught his eye. It asked: “You think one person can change the world? So do we.” He chose Oberlin.
Soon he realized he wanted to be more than a “library Jew.” He got involved in Oberlin’s Jewish community, then spent two summers in Israel before studying abroad for a year. After graduation, he studied at yeshivas in Safed, Beersheva and Jerusalem. “I wanted to study my own people’s law before I studied American law.”
He moved to California to attend U.C. Berkeley’s Boalt Hall College of Law, graduating in 2001.
By that time, he had become Orthodox, which to him “felt like the only spiritually complete path,” he said. “I wanted to get involved in something that came out of the ancient spirituality of the land of Israel. I wanted to go to the source. My feeling is that only a traditional approach gives you that perspective.”
Deborah Peagler was born in 1960 in Pensacola, Fla., and was raised by her grandmother. But when Peagler became pregnant at 15, her grandmother told her she had two options: marry the baby’s father or have an abortion.
Neither seemed right to Peagler. She moved to south central Los Angeles to live with her mother, but quickly fell in with a bad crowd.
Soon after giving birth to a baby girl, she met Oliver Wilson. He was charming, kind. He took her out on dates, gave her presents and acted like a father to her daughter.
But the relationship curdled as Wilson grew increasingly violent and abusive. He beat her, forced her into prostitution and threatened to kill her and her children if she left him.
Six years after they first met, Wilson was beaten to death. Peagler was convicted of first-degree murder.
The prosecution claimed Peagler hired two neighborhood thugs to kill Wilson. Peagler claims she never asked them to kill Wilson, nor promise them money.
“Even though I hated him and I was mad at him, I still didn’t want him dead,” Peagler said in a statement she made on video while in prison. “I just wanted him to leave me alone.”
Evidence of Wilson’s abuse was never presented at trial.
Safran and Costa connected with Peagler in 2002 thanks to the Habeas Project, a coalition of nonprofits created after California passed a law giving a small number of jailed, battered women another chance to plead their cases, reduce their sentences or be released for time served.
Peagler is one of 80 women for whom the Habeas Project has assigned a lawyer.
When Safran and Costa began to collect evidence, they found that at the time of the trial, the district attorney’s office sought the death penalty. Based on this and excluding evidence of her husband’s abuse, her public defender instructed her to plead guilty to first-degree murder to avoid death row. She did and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
After taking Peagler’s case, Safran and Costa met with the Los Angeles district attorney’s office. Based on the new evidence and a thorough review of the case files, that office concluded voluntary manslaughter more accurately represented Peagler’s level of culpability. At that time, voluntary manslaughter carried a sentence of two to six years.
On July 28, 2005, the district attorney wrote to Safran and Costa agreeing to release Peagler from prison.
She was so thrilled she started looking through furniture catalog, thinking about what kind of couch she would buy, imagining a night’s sleep in her own room.
District Attorney Steve Cooley later changed his mind. (A spokesperson at the D.A.’s office said they do not to comment on any case that is under appeal.)
Safran and Costa considered suing over the matter, but that would have been an entirely separate case.
“The hardest day of my life was going to Debbie and saying, ‘Guess what? You were denied. You’re not getting out,’” Safran said.
Peagler is held at the Central California Women’s Facility, a 640-acre prison in Chowchilla, about 40 miles north of Fresno.
She lives among 4,325 inmates, more than double the number the prison was designed to hold. It is the country’s largest women’s prison.
Peagler has been an exemplary prisoner, her lawyers say.
She earned an associate’s degree on Wednesday, Oct. 17. She has worked in an electronics manufacturing plant and helped lead a battered women’s support group. She’s become increasingly religious, and Safran and Costa say she’s a spiritual, nurturing leader to other women.
Still, all three of her requests for parole have been denied.
The lawyers visit every other month. Upon arrival, they check in at the visiting counter, pass through a metal detector and two motorized chain-link fences, and meet their client in a designated attorney room.
The rooms are cinderblock enclosures about the same size as those a potential pet owner might sit in while playing with dogs at an animal shelter.
Yoav Potash has recorded some of those visits. The Berkeley-based filmmaker is working with Costa and Safran to document aspects of Peagler’s case, and has screened some of the footage throughout the Jewish community — appearances that have given the lawyers a chance to speak publicly about their legal battle.
Potash and Safran are longtime friends. “I met Joshua at a time when he wasn’t fighting to save anybody’s life, when he was more carefree,” Potash said. “He was just as energetic and intelligent and funny as he is now, but all those energies are being channeled in a different way. Now he has a lot of pressure. I think he does very well in all his obligations, but I know he also feels the stress.”
Safran’s eternal optimism about the Peagler case wavers when he admits how difficult it has been to juggle the responsibilities of dad, observant Jew, attorney and crusader for justice.
He is often at the office until 11 p.m. or midnight, working on his regular caseload. His pro bono work tips the scales — about every other month he finds himself pulling all-nighters.
The work has put added pressure on his home life. Last year, his firm halved his holiday bonus, since his pro bono work consumed so many more hours than expected. The lost income equaled two of his daughters’ yearly tuition at Contra Costa Jewish Day School and Gan Ilan preschool.
But Judaism and family are still his priorities, and observing Shabbat provides him with a sense of calm and balance, he said. During the rest of the week, he tries to lay tefillin before he leaves for work at 7:30 a.m. If he’s home, he leads his daughters in a bedtime Sh’ma.
He finds time for the three daily prayers when he can — in the car or during 2 a.m. walks after a long day at work. It’s in those prayers he recites Matir Asurim, a prayer to “free those who are bound.” The Peagler case has breathed life and warmth into what otherwise could be a rote prayer, he said.
“I came to peace with the fact that this case might be something I work on for the rest of my life,” he said. “But it will all be worth it when Debbie gets out.”
When that day comes, Safran plans to bring his daughters to the jail to watch Peagler walk out a free woman, so they can see why Daddy spent so many late nights at work.
When that happens, Peagler has said she first wants to see the stars and hear the ocean, simple delights that have evaded her for 24 years. She wants to make up for lost time with her sister and two daughters. And she wants to work with female inmates and survivors of domestic violence.
“Her faith makes me feel less depressed about our failures thus far,” he said. “I can tell myself that I have succeeded because even though we’ve so far lost in court, we’re spreading a gospel — about God, battered women, gender empowerment and the justice system.
“It makes me feel involved in a spiritual odyssey as well as a legal battle.”
Jewish, legal groups advocate on behalf of battered women
California is the only state with a law intended specifically to help exonerate or reduce the sentences of battered women for crimes against their abusers.
After the law passed in 2002, a coalition of legal nonprofits formed the Habeas Project (www.habeasproject.org) to help women access their new rights. To date, 19 women have been released.
The U.S. Congress also is paying attention to the needs of abused women, in and out of prison.
The Senate is considering legislation to train a national network of volunteer attorneys to represent domestic violence victims who could not otherwise afford legal representation.
In response, Jewish Women International started a petition for supporters of the legislation. The organization hopes to get 5,000 signatures via its Web site, www.jwi.org.
JWI also just launched The Legal Project, which aims to increase the pool of attorneys equipped to represent battered Jewish women on a volunteer or reduced fee basis.
B"H
Something positive before Shabbat.
M
-----
Thursday October 18, 2007
by stacey palevsky
staff writer
http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/33802/format/html/displaystory.html
Joshua Safran promised his client he wouldn’t cut his hair until she was out of prison. He guessed he’d grow his tight brown curls for three months, maybe five, tops.
Eighteen months later, in February of this year, his hair grazed his shoulders, scratched his neck and frizzed on rainy days. The style was so un-lawyer-like that it never failed to spark the question: Why?
It was a visual pledge to his client, he’d explain, that he would not rest until she was released from prison for a murder she says she didn’t commit.
His hair was so long, “I felt like I was wearing my anxiety about the case at all times,” he said. “I felt like the case was haunting me. I could never get it out of my mind. It wasn’t healthy.”
So Safran, who is modern Orthodox, assembled a beit din — a Jewish court — to consider the merits of cutting his hair, even though Deborah Peagler remained in prison. Could he break his promise?
After some debate, the three judges determined that Safran needed to reconcile the broken vow with Peagler, not with God. He went to her and they came up with a compromise.
Safran would schedule a haircut and ask his friends and relatives to make a pledge and guess the weight of his shed locks. The stylist cut 4.2 ounces, and the guessers’ donations helped the lawyer raise $1,000, which Peagler requested be used to start a nonprofit to help battered women.
For half a decade, Safran has worked to free Peagler from prison. She was convicted in 1983 for the murder of her husband. He had abused her for years, but that evidence was never presented in court. Battered woman’s syndrome was not considered admissible evidence until 1992, when California law recognized abuse as a defense in murder trials.
Peagler’s case resurfaced in 2002, when California passed a groundbreaking law giving women incarcerated before 1992 the opportunity to have their sentences reconsidered, by showing that the outcome of their trial could have been different had evidence of domestic violence been presented in court.
Berkeley resident Safran and colleague Nadia Costa, both land-use lawyers, took Peagler’s case on a pro-bono basis. They work at the Walnut Creek office of the international law firm Bingham McCutchen. Everyone assumed the case would be relatively speedy.
Instead, it has consumed 2,000-plus attorney hours over the past five years.
It has also become the subject of a documentary-in-progress, footage of which the lawyers have screened to Jewish audiences to raise awareness about Peagler’s story.
Throughout, the case has severely tested Safran’s faith — in God and the legal system.
But he and Costa now have reason for renewed hope. The state Court of Appeal in July issued an important ruling in their favor. Now it’s up to Attorney General Jerry Brown to decide Peagler’s fate. He recently filed a second extension to respond; Safran and Costa believe he’s “on the fence.”
It’s not the first time the lawyers have been hopeful. Their first petition, which took three years to put together, looked to be successful, but was ultimately denied.
Brown can file for infinite extensions. So Safran and Costa wait. If this appeal, their third, is denied, it means walking through another legal maze, either in the California Supreme Court or federal courts.
The lawyers say they are prepared for that. They won’t stop fighting until Peagler can walk out of prison forever.
“We have a team mantra: People are made to persevere,” Costa said. “That’s how you find out who you are. It has kept us going, and certainly for Debbie, when things get out of her control, she releases that and mentally puts it in a box marked ‘God To Do.’”
Safran has an easy smile and a slight belly. He often wears blue shirts that brighten his Pacific blue eyes. His thick beard has a reddish hue.
On the surface, it appears Safran and Peagler have little in common.
He is devoutly Jewish — a wealthy, white lawyer who embraces the eco-ethos of his Berkeley community. She is a black Christian, stuck behind bars, praising the Lord so ardently she’s known as “church lady” to the other inmates.
But go deeper, and they are quite alike.
Their faith is equal in intensity. They grew up in poor families, she in Florida and he in a tiny town in Washington state. Both have been on the front lines of domestic abuse: Peagler was a victim of her husband’s near-torturous abuse, and Safran’s mother was abused by his stepfather when he was a child.
“Deborah’s case reminded me of my mother’s situation,” Safran said, “except that my mother was able to run away.”
Safran’s Judaism colors all aspects of his life, and he has a gift for steering conversations toward Jewish ideas. This includes big concepts like social action and justice, and the mundane, like tying your shoes (which Safran has used as an opportunity to explain that Jewish law requires tying the left first, motions that mirror laying tefillin.) His talmudic trivia runs deep.
Taking on Peagler’s case was personal.
“There is a specific injunction in the Torah that says we are obligated to redeem captives — people who are incarcerated unlawfully,” he said. “It’s the kind of mitzvah you can break Shabbat to accomplish.”
Not that he does that very often. Shabbat is the only day of the week he does not work. He turns off his Blackberry and his bosses and clients know not to call.
He spends Saturday mornings either at Berkeley’s Congregation Beth Israel or Beit Midrash Ohr Ha Chaim. Afterward, his wife, Leah, and three daughters come home, play games, dance and sing. Saturday evenings often find them celebrating the traditional “third meal” over a vegetarian spread with friends and neighbors.
But Peagler’s story has found a way into his home life.
“My 4-year-old daughter plays this game where she puts a character in prison. Sometimes she has a Deb character,” he said. “Her solution is always for the prisoner to come stay at my office or our house.”
Safran was born in San Francisco. When he was 4, his mother learned that someone was knifed to death on the slide at their neighborhood playground in the Mission. That was enough urban living for her. They slowly traveled north over the next two years, finally settling in Skagit County, Wash., near the Canadian border.
There, they lived out a back-to-the-land lifestyle — off the grid, without a telephone, running water or electricity. The only other Jew in town was Bob Shapiro, who owned the Dali Llama Llama Ranch.
Safran was the brunt of jokes in elementary and middle school. He was different — he didn’t attend church on Sunday mornings, his relatives didn’t hail from Scandinavia, his hair was curly, his nose big.
He regarded Christianity with disdain until he met Peagler.
“I always felt like an outsider, and that made me depressed. But when I could put a name on it — that I was Jewish — it made me feel the opposite,” he said. “I felt like, I do belong. I’m not an outsider. I’m part of the Chosen People.”
For years he read (by kerosene lamp) every book the local library had on Judaism, Jewish history and Israel.
When he scored high on his PSATs, his mailbox filled with college brochures. One from Oberlin College caught his eye. It asked: “You think one person can change the world? So do we.” He chose Oberlin.
Soon he realized he wanted to be more than a “library Jew.” He got involved in Oberlin’s Jewish community, then spent two summers in Israel before studying abroad for a year. After graduation, he studied at yeshivas in Safed, Beersheva and Jerusalem. “I wanted to study my own people’s law before I studied American law.”
He moved to California to attend U.C. Berkeley’s Boalt Hall College of Law, graduating in 2001.
By that time, he had become Orthodox, which to him “felt like the only spiritually complete path,” he said. “I wanted to get involved in something that came out of the ancient spirituality of the land of Israel. I wanted to go to the source. My feeling is that only a traditional approach gives you that perspective.”
Deborah Peagler was born in 1960 in Pensacola, Fla., and was raised by her grandmother. But when Peagler became pregnant at 15, her grandmother told her she had two options: marry the baby’s father or have an abortion.
Neither seemed right to Peagler. She moved to south central Los Angeles to live with her mother, but quickly fell in with a bad crowd.
Soon after giving birth to a baby girl, she met Oliver Wilson. He was charming, kind. He took her out on dates, gave her presents and acted like a father to her daughter.
But the relationship curdled as Wilson grew increasingly violent and abusive. He beat her, forced her into prostitution and threatened to kill her and her children if she left him.
Six years after they first met, Wilson was beaten to death. Peagler was convicted of first-degree murder.
The prosecution claimed Peagler hired two neighborhood thugs to kill Wilson. Peagler claims she never asked them to kill Wilson, nor promise them money.
“Even though I hated him and I was mad at him, I still didn’t want him dead,” Peagler said in a statement she made on video while in prison. “I just wanted him to leave me alone.”
Evidence of Wilson’s abuse was never presented at trial.
Safran and Costa connected with Peagler in 2002 thanks to the Habeas Project, a coalition of nonprofits created after California passed a law giving a small number of jailed, battered women another chance to plead their cases, reduce their sentences or be released for time served.
Peagler is one of 80 women for whom the Habeas Project has assigned a lawyer.
When Safran and Costa began to collect evidence, they found that at the time of the trial, the district attorney’s office sought the death penalty. Based on this and excluding evidence of her husband’s abuse, her public defender instructed her to plead guilty to first-degree murder to avoid death row. She did and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
After taking Peagler’s case, Safran and Costa met with the Los Angeles district attorney’s office. Based on the new evidence and a thorough review of the case files, that office concluded voluntary manslaughter more accurately represented Peagler’s level of culpability. At that time, voluntary manslaughter carried a sentence of two to six years.
On July 28, 2005, the district attorney wrote to Safran and Costa agreeing to release Peagler from prison.
She was so thrilled she started looking through furniture catalog, thinking about what kind of couch she would buy, imagining a night’s sleep in her own room.
District Attorney Steve Cooley later changed his mind. (A spokesperson at the D.A.’s office said they do not to comment on any case that is under appeal.)
Safran and Costa considered suing over the matter, but that would have been an entirely separate case.
“The hardest day of my life was going to Debbie and saying, ‘Guess what? You were denied. You’re not getting out,’” Safran said.
Peagler is held at the Central California Women’s Facility, a 640-acre prison in Chowchilla, about 40 miles north of Fresno.
She lives among 4,325 inmates, more than double the number the prison was designed to hold. It is the country’s largest women’s prison.
Peagler has been an exemplary prisoner, her lawyers say.
She earned an associate’s degree on Wednesday, Oct. 17. She has worked in an electronics manufacturing plant and helped lead a battered women’s support group. She’s become increasingly religious, and Safran and Costa say she’s a spiritual, nurturing leader to other women.
Still, all three of her requests for parole have been denied.
The lawyers visit every other month. Upon arrival, they check in at the visiting counter, pass through a metal detector and two motorized chain-link fences, and meet their client in a designated attorney room.
The rooms are cinderblock enclosures about the same size as those a potential pet owner might sit in while playing with dogs at an animal shelter.
Yoav Potash has recorded some of those visits. The Berkeley-based filmmaker is working with Costa and Safran to document aspects of Peagler’s case, and has screened some of the footage throughout the Jewish community — appearances that have given the lawyers a chance to speak publicly about their legal battle.
Potash and Safran are longtime friends. “I met Joshua at a time when he wasn’t fighting to save anybody’s life, when he was more carefree,” Potash said. “He was just as energetic and intelligent and funny as he is now, but all those energies are being channeled in a different way. Now he has a lot of pressure. I think he does very well in all his obligations, but I know he also feels the stress.”
Safran’s eternal optimism about the Peagler case wavers when he admits how difficult it has been to juggle the responsibilities of dad, observant Jew, attorney and crusader for justice.
He is often at the office until 11 p.m. or midnight, working on his regular caseload. His pro bono work tips the scales — about every other month he finds himself pulling all-nighters.
The work has put added pressure on his home life. Last year, his firm halved his holiday bonus, since his pro bono work consumed so many more hours than expected. The lost income equaled two of his daughters’ yearly tuition at Contra Costa Jewish Day School and Gan Ilan preschool.
But Judaism and family are still his priorities, and observing Shabbat provides him with a sense of calm and balance, he said. During the rest of the week, he tries to lay tefillin before he leaves for work at 7:30 a.m. If he’s home, he leads his daughters in a bedtime Sh’ma.
He finds time for the three daily prayers when he can — in the car or during 2 a.m. walks after a long day at work. It’s in those prayers he recites Matir Asurim, a prayer to “free those who are bound.” The Peagler case has breathed life and warmth into what otherwise could be a rote prayer, he said.
“I came to peace with the fact that this case might be something I work on for the rest of my life,” he said. “But it will all be worth it when Debbie gets out.”
When that day comes, Safran plans to bring his daughters to the jail to watch Peagler walk out a free woman, so they can see why Daddy spent so many late nights at work.
When that happens, Peagler has said she first wants to see the stars and hear the ocean, simple delights that have evaded her for 24 years. She wants to make up for lost time with her sister and two daughters. And she wants to work with female inmates and survivors of domestic violence.
“Her faith makes me feel less depressed about our failures thus far,” he said. “I can tell myself that I have succeeded because even though we’ve so far lost in court, we’re spreading a gospel — about God, battered women, gender empowerment and the justice system.
“It makes me feel involved in a spiritual odyssey as well as a legal battle.”
Jewish, legal groups advocate on behalf of battered women
California is the only state with a law intended specifically to help exonerate or reduce the sentences of battered women for crimes against their abusers.
After the law passed in 2002, a coalition of legal nonprofits formed the Habeas Project (www.habeasproject.org) to help women access their new rights. To date, 19 women have been released.
The U.S. Congress also is paying attention to the needs of abused women, in and out of prison.
The Senate is considering legislation to train a national network of volunteer attorneys to represent domestic violence victims who could not otherwise afford legal representation.
In response, Jewish Women International started a petition for supporters of the legislation. The organization hopes to get 5,000 signatures via its Web site, www.jwi.org.
JWI also just launched The Legal Project, which aims to increase the pool of attorneys equipped to represent battered Jewish women on a volunteer or reduced fee basis.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)