Is this guy really a Rabbi? He bears an awful resemblance to those wishing to eradicate every Jew.
Michael Lerner (rabbi)
In Tehran they got his name wrong (Rabbi Mike Turner).
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8710221392
Rabbi: Israel's Reaction to Hamas Missiles Inappropriate |
| TEHRAN (FNA)- Editor in Chief of the New York based Ticon magazine, reacting to Gaza Strip crisis that has left behind thousands of innocent civilians, including over 200 children and infants so far, said in an interview with London based Times magazine Saturday that Israel's reaction to Hamas missiles has been most inappropriate. |
| Rabbi Mike Turner referring to the 500 Israeli citizens allegedly killed by Hamas missiles and 200 more wounded by them according to Zionist news sources, added, "Hamas might have caused inconvenience for Israel, but it can by no means be considered a serious threat against the Jewish state's security." ================================================================= http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090111/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_white_phosphorusRights group: Israel uses incendiary bombs in GazaJERUSALEM – Human Rights Watch said Sunday that Israel's military has fired artillery shells with the incendiary agent white phosphorus into Gaza and a doctor there said the chemical was suspected in the case of 10 burn victims who had skin peeling off their faces and bodies. Researchers in Israel from the rights group witnessed hours of artillery bombardments that sent trails of burning smoke indicating white phosphorus over the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. But they could not confirm injuries on the ground because they have been barred from entering the territory. The chief doctor at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza said he treated several victims there with serious burns that might have been caused by phosphorus. He said, however, that he did not have the resources or expertise to say with certainty what caused the injuries. The substance can cause serious burns if it touches the skin and can spark fires on the ground, the rights group said in a written statement calling on Israel not to use it in crowded areas of Gaza. Military spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich refused to comment directly on whether Israel was using phosphorus, but said the army was "using its munitions in accordance with international law." Israel used white phosphorus in its 34-day war with Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006. The U.S. military in Iraq used the incendiary during a November 2004 operation against insurgents in the city of Fallujah. An AP photographer and a TV crew based in Gaza visited Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Sunday and recorded images of several burn patients. One of them, Haitham Tahseen, recalled sitting outside his home with his family in the morning when something exploded above them. "Suddenly, I saw bombs coming with white smoke," said the man, whose burned face was covered with medical cream. "It looked very red and it had white smoke. That's the first time I've seen such a thing." His cousin, in another hospital bed, was more severely burned, with patches of skin peeling off his face and body, and had to be wrapped with thick white bandages. The hospital's chief doctor, Youssef Abu Rish, said the burns were not from contact with fire, but he couldn't say what sort of substance caused them. He said information he collected on the Internet indicated it could have been white phosphorus. White phosphorus is not considered a chemical weapon, and militaries are permitted under laws of warfare to use it in artillery shells, bombs and rockets to create smoke screens to hide troop movements as well as bright bursts in the air to illuminate battlefields at night. Israel is not party to a convention regulating its use. Under customary laws of war, however, Israel would be expected to take all feasible precautions to minimize the impact of white phosphorus on civilians, Human Rights Watch said. "What we're saying is the use of white phosphorus in densely populated areas like a refugee camp is showing that the Israelis are not taking all feasible precautions," said Marc Garlasco, a senior military analyst for the rights group. "It's just an unnecessary risk to the civilian population, not only in the potential for wounds but also for burning homes and infrastructure." Garlasco was among researchers on a ridge about a mile (1.5 kilometers) from the Gaza border who observed the shelling from a 155mm artillery unit on Friday and Saturday. Some of the burning trails of smoke caused fires on the ground that appeared to go out after a few minutes, said Garlasco, who formerly worked at the Pentagon where he was in charge of recommending high-value targets for airstrikes during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Each 155mm shell contains 116 of what Garlasco described as wafers doused in phosphorus that can be spread over an area as large as a sports field, depending on the height at which it detonates. The phosphorus ignites when it comes in contact with oxygen. Human Rights Watch has not been able to confirm whether there have been any civilian casualties from phosphorus. The group has a consultant working for it inside Gaza but he has been unable to move around due to the danger. Foreign journalists have also been barred from entering Gaza. Garlasco said photos published Thursday in British newspaper The Times showed Israeli units handling American-manufactured white phosphorus shells with fuses on them. |
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112 comments:
THE Arab League and most of the world are beside themselves with anger over the incessant Israeli bombardment of Palestinian held Gaza strip. They are also perplexed by the failure of the UN to come up with a resolution restraining or condemning Israel from continuing the attacks.
From a human rights perspective, all those against the war are right. From a war scenario there’s nothing wrong with Israel’s action as it is Hamas who brought it upon themselves by first refusing to extend the ceasefire and then being the first to fire rockets into Israel for about a week. Besides in a war there are always casualties, be they civilian or military.
The prospect of most deaths being civilian is raised by the fact that Hamas, being a guerrilla organisation, will obviously allege all casualties are civilians because it’s a common strategy for such forces to always shield themselves behind civilians making it difficult for regular forces to distinguish and isolate the two! Who in their right mind doesn’t know what the Israelis are capable of militarily?
My heart bleeds for the Palestinians who are now the victims of their leaders’ lack of sense and vision. I think it is now time the Arab League spares us the mantra of being the occupied and take a leaf from the other non-Hamas faction which tried everything in it’s power to stop Hamas from committing suicide by starting a costly war both in terms of human life and resources.
Now it’s the Gaza infrastructure which is receiving severe battering. How can Hamas celebrate the capture of an Israeli soldier when the casualties on their side — both civilian and militant — run close to a thousand?
As for the UN impasse, I would like to remind the Arab League, Asian nations, Africans and all dictatorships that here’s what happens when the UN needs to act to protect civilians and a few misguided nations with veto powers are left to decide on behalf of their comrades. From the look of things it is the USA and probably Britain which vetoed the resolution.
Not long ago the Asian nations, China, Russia, South Africa and some Latin nations beat their chests when the UN was called upon to act on Zimbabwe and the Sudan and these nations, with questionable democratic credentials themselves, shouted hoarse that they don’t interfere in sovereign nations. Is Israel not as sovereign as Gaza, Zimbabwe, the Sudan and DRC? Instead of consulting the UN, why doesn’t the Arab League prescribe Arab solutions as they intend to do with Sudan’s Al Bashir? Can’t they ask for “African solutions” as these two continents prefer non-interference?
Not that I’m supportive of Israel’s actions. Neither do I support Hamas’ lack of foresight.
Taking the action closer to home, inasmuch as I would like President Robert Mugabe to go, I would be the first to defend him if the opposition calls for an armed struggle against him as the stakes are heavily in favour of him and it is the civilians who will come face-to-face with his fire power because it is us who voted him out so he won’t hesitate to decimate us.
So to all the Palestinians in Gaza and all people who are fighting against oppressive regimes, I urge them to rebuke their leaders when they talk tough as these guys will sacrifice ordinary people while they flee into exile.
It is time that the UN, AU, Arab League, SADC and all other such bodies do away with veto powers but use majority rule to implement drastic resolutions as a few nations will stop progress just to spite other nations’ suggestions. Take Russia and China for instance.
These two will stop at nothing to oppose US solutions in the Security Council regardless of the suffering of Third World countries. Now our very own African “Big Boy” — South Africa — has sadly joined the “Veto League” whenever dictatorships are discussed. Zimbabwe ended up exporting to SA everything from cheap labour to cholera because of this stupid camaraderie!
Llodza
GlenView, Harare
Israel targets Gaza tunnels - 11 Jan 09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bON0eMJDc9c
"Israel would say, "what would any normal country do if they were threatened by rocket fire? They would act".
"But Israel is not a normal country, it is an genocide occupying country, a colonial country and the people of Gaza are under siege. palestine are under siege day after day, months after months and years after years for the past 60 years.
You mean to tell me, in the past 50 years that the Palestinians had MOST of control of the land in Gaza/West Bank, not ONE school, theater, park, museum, apartment building or ANY of their own infrastructure could have been built? When you spend half your time fucking your 4 wives in your refugee camp tents and half your time throwing fucking rocks at Jews, the only person to blame for your poverty and lack of independent state is YOURSELF. FUCK palestinians! There was no Pali state pre-1948!
aljazeera is nazi propaganda. anti human rights, unless its a terrorist killing an american or jew, anti women rights, anti religious freedom, pro genocide when its infidels doing the dying!
Jimmy "Adolf" Carter - a bigot, chauvinist, racist and drek of the earth. Carter's love affair with the Palestinians is well documented. Here we have a former U.S. President who's mindset is the same as Hamas.
A President Obama, we musk ask ourselves, how will his policies differ on Israel than from that of his predecessors? Do we have another Jimmy to deal with?
================================
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/08/jimmy_carter/
Jimmy Carter
user-pic
By Todd Gitlin - January 8, 2009, 4:14PM
Jimmy Carter makes a powerful case in the WP that "the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided." Neither Israel nor Hamas comes across blameless, in his account, but in his irritatingly level-headed way (and without the thundering abuse routinely handed out by his detractors) he makes a case that Israel could have done better protecting its south from rockets without going to war than it has done by going to war. His account of back-channel talks with Hamas last year is very spare and compressed, and in some particulars confusing--confusing about who in Hamas said what, and when, and what Israeli officials said. But he does succeed in reminding us that Hamas wanted resumption of full-scale supply delivery into blockaded Gaza and that Israel declined. How wise was that?
Depressingly and predictably, the Post's online reader comments immediately plunged into vicious capital-letter abuse. If Carter is wrong about what Hamas was demanding, I'd like to hear some evidence.
In any event, Matt Yglesias anticipates that the cognoscenti will now full-throatedly declare that "as everyone knows Carter is a raging, Jew-hating, Israel-bashing bigot" and invites us to "note the irony that Carter is the most-loathed of US Presidents among Israel hawks, but the Camp David accords he sponsored have done more to advance Israeli interests than anything any president's done since Harry Truman recognized Israeli independence."
Yes, more than George W. Bush, hard as that may be to believe. Matt gets a lot of abuse too, though not as much as Carter, who actually brokered a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.
Meanwhile, Hamas has lost no prestige either in Gaza or on the West Bank. According to Alistair Lyon of Reuters, the Israeli attack on Gaza is doing Israel's partner Abbas any good:
"There is a sense of fear in the West Bank. People are lying low," said International Crisis Group analyst Nicholas Pelham.
"The psychological impact of the Gaza campaign is going to be major in the West Bank, but at the moment it is being held in check by security measures. The pressure is mounting."
It's not mounting in favor of Abbas and the PLO.
Can we please fast-forward to January 21?
Worth a read: by Eric Trager
- Commentary - http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs -
Carter on Gaza
Posted By Eric Trager On January 8, 2009 @ 5:34 PM In Contentions | 66 Comments
In today’s Washington Post, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter gives his [1] take on the current fighting in Gaza. Of course, it can all be summarized as follows: had everyone only listened to me when I was in the Middle East earlier this year, the war would have never taken place. And, consistent with his previous analyses on all things Middle Eastern, the one party that particularly deserves reprobation for failing to heed Carter’s sage advice is—you guessed it—Hamas.
Yeah, right:
…After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government.
Since we were only observers, and not negotiators, we relayed this information to the Egyptians, and they pursued the cease-fire proposal. After about a month, the Egyptians and Hamas informed us that all military action by both sides and all rocket firing would stop on June 19, for a period of six months, and that humanitarian supplies would be restored to the normal level that had existed before Israel’s withdrawal in 2005 (about 700 trucks daily).
We were unable to confirm this in Jerusalem because of Israel’s unwillingness to admit to any negotiations with Hamas, but rocket firing was soon stopped and there was an increase in supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel. Yet the increase was to an average of about 20 percent of normal levels. And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza. …
What’s more disturbing: Carter’s contention that Hamas would accept “any” peace agreement negotiated between Israel and Mahmoud Abbas, or his apparent belief that Hamas was building a harmless “defensive” tunnel in Gaza? Either way, Jimmy’s musings make you wonder whether he [2] got the memo—or, in this case, the many memos on Hamas’s historic refusal to recognize Israel and use of tunnels for transporting offensive weapons. Indeed, you almost forget that Carter was once U.S. President and still runs a policy center—so not only does he get the memos, but he probably also gets a full daily news briefing!
All of this is to say, for the [3] umpteenth time, that Jimmy Carter’s ability to [4] embarrass is a constant source of [5] personal amazement.
i just got off the Phone with Barrack Obama. he informed me he will not accept my proposal for a lucrative sum.
House of Representatives
Rod Blagojevich impeached for abuse of power
The Illinois House of Representatives impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Friday for abuse of power, including a charge that he tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat. Blagojevich dismissed the impeachment, the first ever of an Illinois governor, blaming it on long-standing conflicts with House lawmakers.
From the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs:
What's Behind Western Condemnation of Israel's War Against Hamas?
Efraim Karsh
* With a unanimity that has become all too familiar, politicians, the media, NGOs, and church leaders across the globe took their cue to denounce Israel's legitimate act of self-defense against one of the world's most extreme terror organizations. This chorus of disapproval is in stark contrast to the utter indifference to far bloodier conflicts that have been going on around the world.
* Why do citizens in democracies enthusiastically embrace a radical Islamist group that not only seeks the destruction of a fellow democracy but is overtly committed to the substitution of a world-wide Islamic caliphate for the existing international order?
* Decades of mistreatment of the Palestinians by the Arab states have gone virtually unnoticed. Only when they interact with Israel do the Palestinians win the world's attention.
* The fact that international coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict has invariably reflected a degree of intensity and emotional involvement well beyond the normal level to be expected of impartial observers would seem to suggest that it is a manifestation of longstanding prejudice that has been brought out into the open by the conflict.
* The Palestinians are but the latest lightning rod unleashed against the Jews, their supposed victimization reaffirming the millenarian demonization of the Jews in general, and the medieval blood libel - that Jews delight in the blood of others.
A Tidal Wave of International Indignation
No sooner had Israel opted to stop Hamas' attacks on its civilian population, after years of self-imposed restraint, than it was confronted with a tidal wave of international indignation. With a unanimity that has become all too familiar when it comes to the world's pronouncements on Israel, politicians, the media, NGOs, and church leaders across the globe took their cue to denounce this legitimate act of self-defense by a sovereign democracy against one of the world's most extreme terror organizations, overtly committed to its destruction, which for years had been raining down thousands of rockets and mortar shells on civilian communities (not to mention the long string of suicide bombings).
Echoed by the international media's blanket coverage of Israel's response in Gaza, but not Hamas' murderous ideology and actions, this chorus of disapproval over the Jewish state's "disproportionate" use of force is in stark contrast to the utter indifference to far bloodier conflicts that have been going on around the world, from the long-running genocide in Darfur, with its estimated 400,000 dead and at least 2.5 million refugees, to war in the Congo, with over 4 million dead or driven from their homes, to Chechnya, where an estimated 150,000-200,000 have died and up to a third of the population has been displaced at the hands of the Russian military. None of these tragedies saw protesters flock into the streets of London, Paris, Berlin, Milan, Oslo, Dublin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Washington, and Fort Lauderdale (to give a brief list), as has been the case during the Gaza crisis.
Arab Mistreatment of the Palestinians Went Unnoticed
How can this be? Why do citizens in democracies enthusiastically embrace a radical Islamist group that not only seeks the destruction of a fellow democracy but is overtly committed to the substitution of a world-wide Islamic caliphate (or umma) for the existing international order based on territorial nation states? Not because of compassion for the Palestinians, whose plight has never attracted genuine international interest, especially by the Arab states (and for that matter, the Palestinian leadership), whose decades of mistreatment of the Palestinians have gone virtually unnoticed.
Between 1949 and 1967, Egypt and Jordan ruled the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank respectively. Not only did they fail to put these populations on the road to statehood, but they showed little interest in protecting their human rights or even in improving the quality of their life - which is one of the reasons that 120,000 West Bankers moved across to the East Bank of the Jordan and about 300,000 others emigrated abroad between 1949 and 1967.
Nobody in the international community paid any more attention to this than they have more recently to the ongoing abuse of Palestinians across the Arab world from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon, a country which was condemned in a June 2006 Amnesty International report for its "long-standing discrimination and abuses of fundamental economic and social rights of Palestinian refugees."
Nor has there been any international outcry when Arab countries have massacred Palestinians on a grand scale. In 1970 King Hussein of Jordan ordered the indiscriminate bombing of Palestinian refugee camps in the course of putting down the Palestinian uprising during "Black September." This left between 3,000 and 5,000 Palestinian refugees dead. But the fact that Hussein killed more Palestinians in the course of a single month than Israel managed to do in decades was never held against him or dented the widely held perception of him as a man of peace. As the supposedly pro-Palestinian journalist Robert Fisk put it in his recent memoirs, King Hussein was "often difficult to fault."
Again, more than two decades ago Abu Iyad, the number two man in the PLO, publicly stated that the crimes of the Syrian government against the Palestinian people "surpassed those of the Israeli enemy." While in the wake of the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, Kuwaitis not only set about punishing the PLO for support of Saddam Hussein's brutal occupation by cutting off their financial support for Yasir Arafat's overblown and corrupt organization, but there was also a widespread slaughter of Palestinians living in Kuwait.
This revenge against innocent Palestinian workers in the emirate was so severe that Arafat himself acknowledged: "What Kuwait did to the Palestinian people is worse than what has been done by Israel to Palestinians in the occupied territories." Yet there was no media coverage or specially convened UN meetings because it is only when they interact with Israel that the Palestinians win the world's attention.
Only Palestinian Interaction with Israel Wins World Attention
In other words, the extraordinary international preoccupation with the Palestinians is a corollary of their interaction with Israel, the only Jewish state to exist since biblical times, a reflected glow of the millenarian obsession with the Jews in the Christian and the Muslim worlds. Had their dispute been with an Arab, Muslim, or any other adversary, it would have attracted a fraction of the interest that it presently does.
On occasion, notably among devout and/or born again Evangelical Christians, this obsession has manifested itself in admiration and support for the national Jewish resurrection in the Holy Land. In most instances, however, anti-Jewish prejudice and animosity, or anti-Semitism as it is commonly known, has served rather to exacerbate distrust and hatred of Israel. Indeed, the fact that the international coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the libels against Zionism and Israel, such as the despicable comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa, have invariably reflected a degree of intensity and emotional involvement well beyond the normal level to be expected of impartial observers would seem to suggest that, rather than being a response to concrete Israeli activities, it is a manifestation of longstanding prejudice that has been brought out into the open by the vicissitudes of the conflict.
There is another side to the ledger. For millennia Jewish blood has been cheap, if not costless, throughout the Christian and Muslim worlds, where the Jew became the epitome of powerlessness, a perpetual punching bag and a scapegoat for whatever ills befell society. There is no reason, therefore, why Israel shouldn't follow in the footsteps of these past generations, avoid antagonizing its Arab neighbors and exercise restraint whenever attacked. But no, instead of knowing its place, the insolent Jewish state has forfeited this historic role by exacting a price for Jewish blood and beating the bullies who had hitherto been able to torment the Jews with impunity. This dramatic reversal of history cannot but be immoral and unacceptable. Hence the global community outrage and hence the world's media provision of unlimited resources to cover every minute of Israel's "disproportionate" response, but none of the devastation and dislocation caused to Israeli cities and their residents.
Put differently, the Palestinians are but the latest lightning rod unleashed against the Jews, their supposed victimization reaffirming the millenarian demonization of the Jews in general, and the medieval blood libel - that Jews delight in the blood of others - in particular. In the words of David Mamet, "The world was told Jews used this blood in the performance of religious ceremonies. Now, it seems, Jews do not require the blood for baking purposes, they merely delight to spill it on the ground."
Zionism Failed to Solve the "Jewish Problem"
To make such an argument will no doubt be dismissed as "Zionist propaganda" by many opponents of Israel. But in fact this not only runs counter to the prevailing wisdom among Israeli academics and intellectuals, for whom such arguments are anathema, but it also challenges one of the most fundamental tenets of Zionism - that the creation of a Jewish state, where the Jewish diasporas would congregate and become normalized, would solve the "Jewish problem" and ameliorate, if not eliminate altogether, the phenomenon of anti-Semitism.
What this line of thinking by the founding fathers of Zionism failed to consider, however, is that the prejudice and obsession that had hitherto been reserved for Jewish individuals and communities would be transferred to the Jewish state. As the poet Heinrich Heine, himself a convert from Judaism, once wrote, Judaism is "the family curse that lasts a thousand years" and no matter how much it has tried, Israel has never been able to escape this disturbing reality.
A saddening thought indeed. But is there any other explanation as to why, sixty years after its establishment by an internationally recognized act of self-determination, Israel remains the only state in the world that is subjected to a constant outpouring of the most outlandish conspiracy theories and blood libels; whose policies and actions are obsessively condemned by the international community; and whose right to exist is constantly debated and challenged not only by its Arab enemies but by segments of advanced opinion in the West?
* * *
Professor Efraim Karsh is Head of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Studies at King's College, University of London, and a member of the Board of International Experts of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. His recent books include Islamic Imperialism: A History (Yale University Press, 2007).
the only language these terrorist pigs understand is a military response by Israel so harsh and deadly it wipes them completely out.
Saddleback Pastor: Domestic Abuse Not Reason for Divorce
By Jennifer Riley
Christian Post Reporter
-
Correction appended
Physical abuse by one’s spouse is not a biblical reason for divorce, says a pastor at Saddleback Church in southern California.
Tom Holladay, teaching pastor at the megachurch founded by best-selling author Rick Warren, says the Bible only gives two cases where divorce is acceptable: abandonment and a physical affair.
“I wish there were a third in Scripture having been involved as a pastor with situations of abuse," Holladay said in an audio clip posted on Saddleback Church’s Web site. "There is something in me that wishes there were a Bible verse that says, 'If they abuse you in this-and-such kind of way, then you have a right to leave them.'"
Physical abuse, he defined, is someone “literally” beating another person up regularly.
"I don't mean they grab you once. I mean they've made a habit of beating you regularly,” he clarified.
But while Holladay believes divorce is not a biblical option in cases of domestic violence, he strongly recommends the couple to separate. During the separation, the couple should undergo counseling and try to mend the marriage, he said.
“Separation combined with counseling has been proven to provide healing in people’s lives,” the pastor said, noting that his church, Saddleback, offers such a program.
“There is no where in the Bible that says you should put up with abuse,” he emphasized. There is no where that says it is an “attitude of submission to let someone abuse you.”
It is logical to think that divorce will offer an escape from the pain, the pastor acknowledged, but in reality it doesn’t. The pain of a broken marriage continues for the rest of a person’s life.
After a divorce, there is an “immediate release” from pain and people can think that freedom and joy are coming back into their life. But in the long term, the pain recurs every time the two former spouses deal with the children or communicate. And even events in a new marriage can trigger painful memories.
Holladay recommends instead of the “short-term solution” of a divorce that will involve long-term pain, people should endure “short-term pain” and find “God’s solution” for “long-term gain.”
The pastor explained that God understands the pain of a difficult marriage. The nation of Israel in the Bible is depicted as the bride of God, but Scripture also expresses in great detail the pain of God as Israel tries to divorce itself from its spiritual husband.
Through the Bible, people can see that God understands the pain of a hurtful marriage and can offer comfort, strength, perspective and wisdom to those also suffering from such a relationship, the pastor said.
“Does God expect us to live with this pain? No,” Holladay stated. “I think he expects us to ask him for wisdom to do the things that would cause the pain to begin to be solved. He says we're one and as Christians, as believers, the Bible says a husband is to sacrifice for his wife and the wife is to respect her husband."
"So if that's not happening," he continued, "I think you have not only the right but also the responsibility to keep pushing for that, to not just settle for the pain."
For those who had a divorce before accepting Christ as their savior, Holladay said God does not hold them accountable because the person did not know it was wrong. And to those who divorced their spouse after becoming a believer, he said some of them will reflect that divorce seemed right at the time but now seems more of a selfish response than anything else. To those people who admit they made the wrong choice, he noted that they should know God forgives sin.
Correction: Saturday, January 10, 2009:
An article on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009, about a pastor saying that domestic violence is not a biblical reason for divorce incorrectly attributed the comments to Rick Warren, the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. The Christian Post later confirmed that the unattributed audio clip was of Tom Holladay, teaching pastor at Saddleback Church.
So Allah is the greatest?
Why did his prophet have sex with a 9 year old girl?
Why does his have to promise sex in the after life to encourage people to follow him?
Why didn't he know the earth revolved around the sun? or was spherical? or that mountain are made by earthquakes?
Seems like your god would lose on "are you smarter then a 5th grader" and lose badly.
everyone keeps questioning about HAMAS, smuggling weapons from egypt.. but no one is questioning Israel for having nuclear power, and using prohibited subtances and weapon on palestinians..killing hundreds, including children and womens..
What is so terrible about 'abuse'? I like to call it Chinuch.
---------------------------
Missing boy's uncle says he witnessed verbal and physical abuse
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
One night about four years before Adam Herrman disappeared from his adoptive parents' Towanda home at age 11, Adam's uncle did something that haunts him, he says.
Over the years, Sam Bush said, he repeatedly saw his older sister, Valerie Herrman, scream and curse in Adam's face, slap him, strike him with a belt and throw him down. Sometimes, Bush said, he tried to intervene but backed away because he thought it would bring more abuse to Adam..
As former Agriprocessors' CEO Sholom Rubashkin awaits trial in Dubuque County Jail, Jewish leaders across the U.S. continue to denounce the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Northern District of Iowa for invoking Israel's Law of Return as one condition that makes him a flight risk.
A group of high-profile Jewish rabbis will visit Rubashkin in Dubuque today, and then address the issues surrounding his detainment. They will be accompanied by Rubashkin's attorney, Guy Cook, of Des Moines law firm Grefe & Sidney.
"The Law of Return applies to every one of the 5 million Jews in this country," Cook said. "It creates 'de facto' dual citizenship. In essence, what the prosecution is saying is that the first question that should be asked at every detention hearing is 'are you Jewish?' This violates the equal-protection clause under the Constitution."
Rubashkin, 49, of Postville, Iowa, was first arrested Oct. 30 on federal charges of conspiracy to harbor undocumented aliens for profit, aiding and abetting document fraud, and aiding and abetting aggravated
News You Can Use
At 2 p.m., a group of rabbis will publicly call for Sholom Rubashkin's release on the Iowa Street side of the Dubuque County Jail.
The rabbis, who represent several prominent Jewish organizations, will explain why they believe the imprisonment is discriminatory against Jews.
Planning to attend are Rabbi David Zwiebel, Agudath Israel of America; Rabbi Pesach Lerner, National Council of Young Israel; Rabbi Yaakov Wasser, Rabbinical Council of America; Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum, Rabbinical Alliance of America, Igud Horabbonim; Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Orthodox Union and Rabbi Shimon Hecht, National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education.
identity theft. He was released on conditions that he wear a GPS ankle bracelet, limit his travel to the Northern District of Iowa, surrender his passport and his wife's passport, and provide a $1 million appearance bond with $500,000 to be secured.
On Nov. 14, Rubashkin was arrested at his Postville home by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Deputy U.S. Marshals on a charge of bank fraud. At a subsequent hearing, the prosecution argued successfully that Rubashkin is a flight risk based on the discovery of a travel bag with $20,000 cash and travel documents for family members. They also said two former Agriprocessors workers are believed to have fled to Israel. While Cook disputes several points of the prosecution's argument, it is the Law of Return aspect that has created the furor.
"We're not complaining about Judge Scoles, who made his decision based on the arguments that were presented to him," Cook said. "He said too much emphasis was being placed on this Law of Return, but the prosecution brought it up. We will be filing papers today to put into context some of the arguments made to keep Mr. Rubashkin detained. Looking at the facts through the prism of the Law of Return affects how you look at the case. It's like saying too much emphasis is being placed on the fact that you are a black man."
Cook said the defense has offered "over-the-top" conditions to secure Rubashkin's release, including 24-hour surveillance at his expense and a pre-signed extradition document that would ensure his return to the U.S. should he leave the country.
"He doesn't have a drivers license. He doesn't have a passport. He's offered to wear a GPS device. It would be a dishonor to his faith to flee," Cook said. "He is not a flight risk."
The main argument, however, is that using the Law of Return as a basis for detainment is unprecedented. Cook said he spoke to the public defender for the Southern District of Manhattan, which is home to a large Jewish population, and was told the Law of Return has not come up in a detention hearing.
"It's never been used where you might expect it, but it is used in Dubuque and Cedar Rapids, Iowa?" Cook said. "The way the government has treated this is offensive; not only to Jews, it should be offensive to everyone. It's out of whack."
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa was not available for comment.
If convicted of bank fraud, Rubashkin faces a maximum sentence of 30 years. The harboring charge carries a maximum 10-year sentence, as does the charge of document fraud. The aggravated identity theft charge, carries a mandatory consecutive two-year imprisonment.
exposemolesters would get a kick out of this. These religious nuts care more about "modesty" than kids being sexually abused.
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3654758,00.html
El Al to launch kosher flights for haredim
Ultra-Orthodox reps ask airline to operate special flights that would include separation between men and women, male flight attendants and no movies
Kobi Nahshoni
Israel's largest airline company is currently in negotiations with representatives of the ultra-Orthodox sector on operating special flights for the haredi public with full separation between men and women, male flight attendants and no movies during flights.
Also on Buses
Haredim plan kosher bus line to Western Wall / Uri Gilhar
Members of extreme ultra-Orthodox stream collecting money to establish new service offering complete separation between men and women, to compete with Egged's buses
Full Story
Several months ago, the "Rabbinic Committee for the Sanctity of the Shabbat" and the "Council for the Purity of the Camp" approached El Al and asked that the company operate special flights during the sector's busy seasons, starting this Passover.
The rabbis told the airline that during Pesach tens of thousands of yeshiva students studying in Israel return to the United States to visit their families, while many haredi families arrive from abroad to spend the holiday in Israel. They demanded that the company introduce "kosher flights" that would be suited for the needs of the ultra-Orthodox public.
El Al initially declined the request, explaining that the move was not financially viable, but later decided to allow the separate flights. El Al CEO Haim Romano said in response: "We're not talking about regular flights; any group of people can rent a plane and adjust the conditions to the passengers' requirements."
Head of the "Rabbinic Committee for the Sanctity of the Shabbat" Rabbi Yitzhak Goldknopf told Ynet: "We reached an 'in-principle agreement with El Al CEO Haim Romano regarding the special conditions, and we consider it to be highly serious and credible.
"An agreement between two sides always overpowers technical and bureaucratic obstacles. I think this move would prove worthy for the company, and not only on the financial level."
Goldknopf added: "We congratulate El Al's heads for their willingness to accommodate the needs of the haredi public and for supporting this initiative.
In a conversation with Ynet, Romano stressed that "there would be no discrimination and haredi passengers would not pay less." He said that the company already operates special flights for various groups, and is considering doing so ahead of Passover.
Rally against Hamas. Good to see this. Almost the entire universe is anti-Israel. We need people to rally and speak out against thugs of this nature.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jan/12/gaza-israelandthepalestinians
The sign taped to the front of 10-month-old Ezra Wiesenberg read: "The IDF don't hide behind me! Stop Hamas abuse of children shields." Strapped to his mother Ann's chest, Ezra and his family had travelled with thousands of other Jews to London's to Trafalgar Square in London yesterday for a pro-Israeli rally calling for peace in the Middle East but also supporting the Israeli government's actions in Gaza.
Across the street, behind a cordon, the Rabbi Avraham Greenberg took his Israeli passport from its plastic wallet and slowly set it on fire with a gas lighter until its ashes floated around him. He explained to the small crowd on the pavement that he had been born in the state of Israel but he was ashamed to hold a passport from that country. He stood with more than a dozen Orthodox rabbis who joined in chants of "Judaism here to stay, Zionism no way".
But many more thousands of Jews attended in support of the rally rather than opposing it, waving Israeli flags and placards saying End Hamas Terror and wearing Stars of David on their faces.
Henry Grunwald, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told the crowd, which was estimated at 15,000 by the organisers: "We are the people who want peace and who want life for Israel." The chief rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, gave a message to Hamas: "Stop wanting Israel to die, start wanting your children to live. Why, Hamas, do you hold in contempt, not only Israeli lives but Palestinian lives?"
To applause, Ron Prosor, the Israeli ambassador to the UK, said: "The age of terrorism must be brought to a close so that together we can build an age of peace. Our soldiers are doing their duty with honour, dignity and sacrifice."
Listening to the speeches, Myer Malin, an 85-year-old Normandy veteran from Pinner in London, stood wearing his own medals and those of his father, who fought in the first world war. "I have come in support of Israel because they are under attack by Hamas and they have been unfairly represented in the press and media generally. Hamas provoked a war quite deliberately, the way they seized power in Gaza is comparable to the way Hitler seized power in Germany – they got themselves in a good position with the welfare service and promptly evicted the opposition.
"In this case, I think there is no such thing as disproportion, if you have got a war to fight then you fight."
Tania Schwartz, from north London, was furious and wanted to know where the media had been "for the last eight years when the rockets have been landing in Israel". She shouted: "Do you know that kids there wet the bed from fear? The moment the rockets stop, the Israeli soldiers will stop, they are desperate to get out of there and get home. But if it doesn't stop, the next time it will be Tel Aviv and Israel will be extinct."
Standing nearby, David Fordham, 49, from Hatch End, said his reasons for coming were very much different to those of Schwartz. "Some of us are here not because of Israel, but because we are concerned for our Jewish kids on the street, because there are Muslim kids who think if they beat up a Jewish kid or smash up a Jewish shop they are striking a blow for Kashmir or Palestine. People are shouting deaths to Jews and running amok in Golders Green. We are saying " Jews cannot get pushed around in this country". I have got kids at university and I am really concerned for them."
As the crowd around the square's frozen fountains sang the British and Israeli national anthems, Ann Wiesenberg, originally from New York, said of the protest sign on her baby son: "We feel that very often Hamas is actually putting children in front of them. We are highlighting the point that the IDF don't hide behind ci©vilians. They are putting their own soldiers at risk so as to kill as few civilians as possible."
Her husband, Andrew, said: "Hamas terrorism is like a cancer really – unfortunately. When you treat cancer you kill some of the innocent blood cells. We regret any loss of human life. The cancer analogy is very important – you don't stop before you finish the course of treatment, otherwise it will come back stronger."
As he spoke, a well-dressed middle-aged woman walked past – clearly not having planned to attend the rally – and shouted: "Shame on you Israel."The crowd, marshalled by hundreds of officials from the Community Security Trust, the organisation in charge of security for Britain's Jews and their institutions, as well as by the Metropolitan police, mostly dispersed after an hour, though a die-hard bunch lingered to exchange shouts across the barricades with the counter demonstrators. They pushed at the fluorescent yellow line of police officers that held them in as a speaker with a megaphone said: "now you know what it is like to be squeezed into a small piece of land and pushed by an oppressor".
©The rally followed a large protest against the military action in Gaza in London on Saturday, during which violent clashes broke out.
Whistleblower publishes manual for parents on detecting child abuse
Lydia Cacho's celebrity was apparent from the get-go last Thursday night in the trendy Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City, where the journalist launched her new book "Not With My Child" (Con Mi Hij@ No).
When your humble correspondent arrived for the launch at the beautiful bookshop Libreria Rosario Castellanos, the raven-haired writer was posing for an all-male squad of newspaper photographers. In a country where journalists are killed for poking their noses into dark places and challenging the powers that be, Cacho has become something of a hero for doing just that and surviving, albeit by the skin of her teeth.
The photo session was brief, and then it was on with the business of launching her latest book -- a manual for parents in Mexico to help them recognize if their children are being abused and, if so, what they can do about it. That might seem like a rather strange subject for a book, but it is the product of Cacho's rather harrowing experience.
The sexual abuse of minors is a topic she has specialized in, and Cacho has been the victim of harassment due to her investigations into the issue.
She was a relatively unknown journalist until she published a book in 2006 that alleged the existence of a child sex ring in the southern state of Cancun, after which she was illegally arrested and harassed by some of the powerful men she implicated in "Los Demonios del Eden" (see more details of the case here).
She catapulted to fame when she challenged her aggressors by going public and filing a legal action against them -- although it was ultimately unsuccessful.
Since then, Cacho has become something of a symbol for the issue of the repression of journalists and freedom of expression in Mexico. Her last book, "Memories of a Disgrace (Memorias de una Infamia)" detailed the events that unfolded after the publication of "Los Demonios del Eden."
Speaking to a packed auditorium on Thursday, Cacho said that after "Los Demonios del Eden" was published, she was inundated by more than 3,000 e-mails from people who were worried their children were being abused, or who knew their children had been abused and didn't know what to do about it. That prompted her to write "Not With My Child," which she says is an effort to answer the questions she received from her anxious public.
"My intention was that it would be as though I was accompanying the people reading it," said Cacho.
She was joined on Thursday by journalist Carmen Aristegui, herself no stranger to being silenced. Her prominent and critical morning talk show on the capital's W Radio was cut last January after five years on air (read the details here). At the time, the outspoken broadcaster, who continues to host a show on CNN Espanol, said that she suspected her head had been called for by powerful members of President Felipe Calderon'€™s administration. Aristegui launched a new show on a different network this morning.
She commended Cacho on Thursday for seeking solutions and changes to the problem of child abuse in Mexico.
"We know it"s there and is something that we have to confront," she said.
"Not With My Child" includes chapters on the history of pedophilia and the sexual abuse of children, as well as how to negotiate Mexico's ineffective justice system. Cacho says that building strong social networks is one of the most important means of detecting and putting a stop to child abuse in Mexico.
"Not With My Child" is published by Editorial Grijalbo, of Random House Mondadori.
-- Deborah Bonello
If Orthodox Rabbis want to make a case for poor Sholom, they should begin with that question.
Not only is Sholom Rubashkin not a flight risk, he wants the opportunity to face his accusers, said a group of Orthodox Jewish rabbis on Monday in front of the Dubuque Law Enforcement Center where Rubashkin is being held on multiple federal charges.
"To run away at this particular time, with all of the accusations that have been made against him, would be tantamount to an admission of guilt," said Rabbi Yaakov Wasser, of East Rutherford, N.J., first vice president of the Rabbinacal Council of America. "He feels he has a very strong case to make and would like the opportunity to make it."
Rubashkin's attorney, Guy Cook, of Des Moines, said Rubashkin is not a coward. He wants to face the charges and present his case in court, Cook said.
Some neighborhood rioters made a big fashtink at Shoprite claiming the magazines on the shelf by the checkout counters are immodest and causing yidden to sin. The manager was polite but firm when he responded it was their right not to shop there as it was their right to keep displaying what and where they deemed appropriate.
Because some frummies think they are more righteous than the next, they portray an arrogant attitude in the name of frumkeit that causes a chillul hashem. When goyim hate us, this is one of the reasons why.
Hey frummies, I have a solution. Shop at Goldbergs or any of the other hundreds of "kosher" supermarkets.
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Long live Palestine! I am a Jewish Palestinian. I believe Hitler, Arafat, Hamas, Hezbollah, Stalin and Bin-Laden never meant to hurt us. They are misunderstood. We must negotiate with such men.
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Reply to John Nichols and Michael Lerner on Gaza
As the horrifying results of Israel’s attacks on Gaza have become known —bodies lying in the streets of Gaza, houses destroyed, universities bombed and more—many people from different political viewpoints are opposing this slaughter.
In an article entitled “Obama Should Engage Now for Middle East Peace” (posted 12/29) on The Nation’s website, John Nichols, the magazine’s Washington correspondent, argues that there is “nothing surgical” about Israel’s attacks, citing the deaths of children by Israeli bombs. "But Nichols then goes on to favorably quote Jeremy Ben-Ami, from the group J Street, saying that the Israeli assault is “justified” and “understandable” because it is a response to attacks by Hamas. Ben-Ami argues as “a friend of Israel” that Israel’s targeting of civilians and disproportionate use of force is counterproductive."
Nichols’ arguments are similar to those put forward by many others (see for example Michael Lerner’s essay “Israel in Gaza”). Despite their intentions, and we believe that Nichols, Lerner and others are sincerely outraged by the Israeli assault, the thinking and logic being put forward here is very wrong and prevents people from really understanding what is behind Israel’s massacre and what it will take to put an end to such horror.
Those who are outraged at the Israeli atrocities need to get to the root of the problem, the fundamental injustice of the existence of Israel and the role of its main backer, the U.S.—and act on this.
Israel Has No “Right of Defense”
Nichols and Lerner do not like the Israeli response. They think it is disproportionate and counterproductive from Israel’s point of view.
But, wait a second! First of all, this is accepting the upside-down narrative put forward by Israel, the U.S. and the mainstream media—that Hamas broke a six-month truce by firing some rockets into Israeli territory and that Israel is only responding to this provocation. In fact, the reality is that it was Israel that broke the truce when it bombed inside Gaza’s territory, killing six Palestinians in early November. And then Israel followed this with a heartless tightening of the already brutal siege of Gaza, cutting off fuel and even supplies from humanitarian agencies that the people in Gaza are dependent on, creating a humanitarian crisis.
But, to really get at the root of the problem, it is necessary to take a step back from the current situation and look at the origins of the state of Israel and the brutal dispossession of the Palestinian people. One can no more understand the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians by looking at the firing of rockets by Hamas into Israel than you can understand the genocide of Native Americans by looking at an attack by Native Peoples on a settler wagon train. And such a narrow, non-historical view has in fact been repeatedly used to justify the genocide of Native Peoples.
Israel is a settler colonial state founded on the dispossession of the Palestinian people. As part of “founding” the state of Israel almost a million Palestinians (half the population at that time) were brutally forced from their land, villages and homes, fleeing with only the possessions they could carry. Many were raped, tortured, and killed. To ensure there would be nothing for the Palestinians to return to, their villages were so well razed that few visible remnants remain. There were 31 documented massacres; 531 villages and 11 urban neighborhoods were emptied of their inhabitants. (See centerfold on Nakba.)
The current military assault is an ongoing extension of all this. About a million of Gaza’s residents are registered with the UN as refugees. The Israeli military occupied the Gaza for 38 years during which time the people had no rights. As a result of the blockade imposed by Israel over the last two years, malnutrition affects 75 percent of the people in Gaza. People do not have access to medications. Electricity is only available for a few hours each day, causing raw sewage to back up into the streets.
So, we’d like to suggest an analogy to Nichols and others: What Israel is doing in Gaza is like the Nazis confining people in the Warsaw ghetto during World War 2 and then when people rebel, the Nazis say, “Aha—we are being attacked and anyone who says anything about the situation has to first agree on that—and before anything can be done to resolve the situation, the people in the Warsaw ghetto have to stop attacking us.”
Claims of “self-defense” on the part of Israel, even when they are coming from people who oppose the attacks on Gaza, serve to cover up for and silence criticism of the very real crimes carried out by the state of Israel over the last 60 years, and which are being intensified now. They hide the essential truth of the situation and as a result they hold people back from the kind of determined and passionate resistance that is urgently needed.
Can the U.S. be a Force for Good in the Middle East?
Nichols, Lerner, and others call on U.S. officials to “urgently engage with Israel, regional parties, and the international community to bring about an immediate halt to the rapidly escalating hostilities in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel.” Arguing that this is in our interests as Americans because (Nichols quoting J Street’s Ben Ami) “...we too stand to suffer as the situation spirals, rage in the region is directed at the United States, and our regional allies are further undermined. Our goals must be a Middle East that moves beyond bloody conflicts, an Israel that is secure and accepted in the region, and an America secured by reducing extremism and enhancing stability. None of these goals are achieved by further escalation.”
First, the United States is not standing above the fray, a force for peace in the abstract. The U.S. has built up an empire of world domination—an empire based on imperialist control of a network of neo-colonies around the world. Over and over again the U.S. has resorted to the most brutal methods to defend its interests—from the war in Vietnam to backing murderous Contra mercenaries and death squads in Central America. A foundation of this empire has been its control over the strategic region of the Middle East and its large oil reserves. Over recent years, the domination of U.S. imperialism has been increasingly challenged by Islamic fundamentalist forces, and the U.S. launched the so-called “war on terror” to restructure the Middle East in a way that is more favorable to U.S. domination. To carry this out, they unleashed and continue to carry out a murderous war in Iraq that has killed an estimated one million Iraqis.
To be clear, the program of Hamas is not about liberating Palestine as a secular state free of imperialist domination; Hamas represents forces that would restructure the oppressive relations that enslave the people of Palestine within an Islamic theocratic framework. But it is U.S. imperialism (often, as in this case, acting through Israel) which has done by far the greater damage and poses the greater threat to humanity.
Second, whatever efforts the U.S. has been involved in to broker some deal over the decades in the Middle East have all been meant to stabilize the region under U.S. domination. All U.S. proposals have come down to strengthening and legitimizing the Zionist state of Israel, while spitting on the rights of the Palestinian people, reducing them to living in isolated, desperate conditions and even walled-off entities with no real political or economic independence.
And third, but not least, it’s way past time for progressive people to be clinging to false hopes and self-deceptions about the role of the U.S. and to be identifying their interests with what’s “good for America in the world.” The interests of the masses of the people here and around the world lie in opposing every move of the U.S. to strengthen empire on the backs of the masses. Rather than promoting illusions that the U.S. will step in and solve the problem, it’s time for people– particularly those of us in the U.S.—to stop thinking like Americans and to uncompromisingly oppose the U.S. godfather in the Middle East and its Israeli enforcer.
What About Obama?
Nichols argues that President-elect Obama “should be openly counseling the Bush administration to use every diplomatic avenue to promote a ceasefire and, above all, to urge against an Israeli invasion and occupation of Gaza.”
As Nichols himself notes, Obama is doing nothing of the sort; in fact, through his spokespeople he has expressed nothing but support for Israel’s actions.
But no one who has with open eyes watched and listened to Obama during the campaign should be surprised by this at all. In fact, there is no reason at all to think that Obama’s position on Israel will fundamentally be any different than that of Bush.
In his speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Obama said, “As president I will never compromise when it comes to Israel’s security” and declared his “unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security.”
Obama went on to say “that starts with ensuring Israel’s qualitative military advantage. I will ensure that Israel can defend itself from any threat—from Gaza to Tehran. Defense cooperation between the United States and Israel is a model of success, and must be deepened. As president, I will implement a Memorandum of Understanding that provides $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade—investments to Israel’s security that will not be tied to any other nation. First, we must approve the foreign aid request for 2009. Going forward, we can enhance our cooperation on missile defense. We should export military equipment to our ally Israel under the same guidelines as NATO. And I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself in the United Nations and around the world.”
Here we see Obama arguing for an even more massive build-up of Israel than has taken place in recent years. And Obama’s comments about “not tied to any other nation” is a declaration that he will not use this aid to pressure Israel in any way.
At bottom, Obama’s positions are based not on justice and peace but on the interests of the U.S. empire—which he is poised to preside over. To think that Obama will act on something other than those interests is a dangerous illusion.
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People who look with horror at what Israel is unleashing in Gaza need to understand the source of all this and deeply understand the injustice at the core of Israel’s existence and the role that it has played as a brutal enforcer for imperialism in a strategic region. And people need to do this as they act, energetically and boldly, to politically resist this atrocity.
STOP THINKING LIKE AMERICANS,
START THINKING ABOUT HUMANITY!
http://revcom.us
In part. For the full article go here:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Progressive-Rabbi-Michael-by-Rob-Kall-090102-637.html
Plus, there was the actual involvement of the emerging Israeli army, the Haganah and Palmach, that together expelled over 100,000 Palestinians from their homes in a variety of cities in the central area of what had been Palestine. Then you get the Palestinian refugee situation in which hundreds of thousands of refugees have left their homes - imagining that they might be able to return to their homes when the war is over and Israel, after the war was over, refuses to allow them to return, fearful that these people come back and be a fifth column who are working to overthrow the newly created and fragile State. So you get the outrage of Palestinians who are by international law have every right to return to their homes, but who are actually being precluded from doing so by the newly created state of Israel, that believes that these Palestinians are largely, if not totally, hostile to the existence of the State of Israel. And so, from there you get an ongoing struggle between these two communities, which intensifies after the 1967 war, in which Egypt and Syria pose a threat and make noises as though they going to invade and destroy the Jewish state and Israel, in a surprise attack, manages to prevent that from happening and, in fact, to conquer parts of previous Palestine that had been under Arab control - namely the West Bank and Gaza, as well as sections of Syria, the Golan Heights.
KALL: And Egypt…
LERNER: But from there on, that’s 1967, you get an Israeli occupation taking place, at first in a relatively soft and benign way, but, as more and more Israeli right-wingers decide to move to the West Bank and Gaza and create settlements there, you get an intensified anger from Palestinians, which anger then is responded to by tighter and tighter levels of oppression and lack of freedom of movement and, in general, an oppressive set of rules which allow the creation of roads especially for the Jewish settlers, and Palestinians not allowed on those highways; the inability of Palestinians to---
A waiter was charged with felony harassment after he played a recording of people chanting in Arabic at a Jewish wedding on Long Island, Newsday reports.
Stephen "Buttafuoco has said he didn't know that his cell-phone recording of a pro-Palestinian rally, which he was playing for a friend, was also being broadcast over the reception hall's sound system for hundreds of guests at the Woodbury Jewish Center on early on the morning of Jan. 4," the paper says. "Police say those who heard it became alarmed that a terrorist attack was imminent."
Buttafuoco, 23, pleaded not guilty to the hate-crime charge.
"The actions that I took were not very well thought through, but they were definitely not intended to be malicious in any way, shape or form," he tells the Daily News. "I feel horrible."
boy oy boy. i vuz elmost goin te go to paris letzte vocht. now ich veis dat i must daven beyechidus. it is not secheldick to put myself in a mokom shel sakonoh.
Rav Lipa Margulies is an Honorable man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdRY0qSi4lM
Prosecutors said Thursday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Bernard Madoff's office desk that he was ready to send out to his closest family and friends at the time o...
Anything short of a complete wipe out of Hamas thuggery and the liberation of Gilad Shalit גלעד) שליט) should be considered a colossal failure. When someone's house is on fire, does the fire department extinguish 3/4 of the flames?
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http://www.debka.com/index1.php
Hamas-Gaza bows to Damascus leaders' veto against Egyptian ceasefire terms
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
January 12, 2009, 6:46 PM (GMT+02:00)
The Gaza Hamas faction failed Monday, Jan. 12, to persuade its Damascus leaders to accept the Egyptian ceasefire terms and was ordered to carry on fighting in the Gaza Strip. This setback followed 48 hours of optimism in Jerusalem and Cairo where it had been hoped that, with their backs to the wall, the Palestinian extremists would submit to the tough Egyptian-Israeli ultimatum. It is now up to the Israeli defense cabinet to decide whether Israeli forces stand still on their present battle lines or go forward to the crunch, which means entering Gaza City proper and capturing the Philadelphi smuggling corridor.
DEBKAfile's intelligence sources report that Egypt has signaled discreetly that it is not averse to Israel broadening its operation in Gaza.
Earlier Monday, Jan. 12, DEBKAfile reported:
Israel and Egypt are playing hard ball with the Hama delegation who arrived in Cairo Saturday to seek a ceasefire in Gaza hostilities. This is reported by DEBKAfile's military sources Monday, Jan. 12, Day 17 of the Gaza offensive.
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert said Monday: We are closer than ever before to ending the rocket fire and getting Hamas' arms traffic under control.
As Israel tightened its military pressure with added reservists units, Egyptian intelligence minister Gen. Omar Suleiman rejected Hamas negotiators' appeal for compromises and told them the deal on offer was take-it-or-leave-it: Accept or face an all-out Israeli assault on all fronts.
DEBKAfile's analysts note that this was the first time the Egyptian government has used Israeli military gains as currency to further its national interests, namely, breaking the back of an Islamist movement deemed a destabilizing element for the Mubarak regime.
Suleiman informed the Palestinian delegation that Israel was holding out for Hamas to collect all its rocket and missile stocks and weapons in the hands of other Palestinian terrorist groups and turn them over to a third party. This party would also take charge of security in the Philadelphi Corridor.
Hamas would be given a month to implement the handover, but no longer.
Israel was also adamant about retaining its army on the battle lines held in the Gaza Strip when the ceasefire goes into effect until a new military mechanism is put in place on the Philadelphi Corridor and has proved capable of effectively stemming the arms traffic entering through tunnels from outside sources.
Some of the smuggling is still going on - but at a much reduced pace since the Israeli aerial bombardments began 17 days ago. The number of firings has dropped from 60 to 23.
The Hamas negotiators also ran into a blank Egyptian wall when they proposed setting a six-month time cap on the proposed ceasefire and reopening the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Sinai as a face-saving gesture to mark the onset of a truce. Suleiman said firmly that Rafah would reopen only when all six Gaza crossings into Israel were reactivated by Palestinian Authority personnel and European military monitors.
He said that Cairo was consulting with Jerusalem on the possible transfer of the two halves of Rafah - the Gazan and the Egyptian - to the Palestinian Authority and its chairman, Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas.
Sunday, an Egyptian military plane ferried the Hamas-Gaza delegation to Damascus to seek the endorsement of hardline Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal for the truce terms dictated by Egypt and Israel. Gen. Suleiman directed them to pass this message on to Meshaal: Give up your illusions; Hamas' only remaining option now is to bow to the Middle East Quartet's primary condition: Recognize Israel.
Israel's negotiator Amos Gilead put off his mission to Cairo from Monday to await the return of the Hamas-Gaza delegates from Damascus. All parties are clear that a negative Hamas response will signal the onset of the next stage of Israel's Gaza offensive.
Who is Shammai Engelmayer? is he another one of these know-it all conservativemeisters?
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Hypocrisy and the Jewish future
Shammai Engelmayer • Columns
Published: 09 January 2009
Why are there are so many disconnected Jews in America and elsewhere, including Israel? I am not talking only of the number of unaffiliated Jews, which is disturbingly above the 50 percent range. Included, too, are many of the so-called affiliated — so-called because they are only nominally connected.
Keeping the faith
This is not simply a numbers game. The Jewish world is beset by problems, from the high cost of Jewish living generally, to the skyrocketing cost of Jewish education specifically, to a growing elderly population in need of services for which there is little money, to a diminution of Jewish identity, to a growing segment of the adult Jewish community that is ignorant of what being Jewish really is all about. These are not problems that can be resolved easily in the best of circumstances. They are impossible to resolve if well more than half of us do not relate to them in the first place.
There are, of course, a great many complicated reasons for this disconnectedness. To my mind, however, one reason overrides so many others: The sense out there that Jewish leadership, and specifically religious leadership, is characterized by hypocrisy. Judaism is what the rabbis say it is — and what they say it is perceived as being based either on political motivations or on financial ones, or both.
Sadly, there is much truth to this — too much truth, in fact.
In Israel, for example, Conservative and Reform rabbis stand shoulder to shoulder in opposing any attempt to narrow the definition of who is a Jew. On the other hand, Conservative rabbis generally do not automatically accept Reform conversions, which are considered “incomplete,” and under no circumstances accept patrilineality as valid for Jewish identity. In other words, they want the state to accept what they themselves cannot accept.
The issue is compounded by the divisions within the Orthodox rabbinate in Israel. Not only are Conservative and Reform conversions considered invalid, the non-Zionist wing of the Orthodox rabbinate considers the conversions of the Religious Zionists to be invalid. Is it because the Zionist rabbis do not know what the requirements are for conversion? No, it is because the Zionist rabbis are Zionists.
Thus, last year, a panel of three non-Zionist judges on the High Rabbinical Court threw out hundreds of conversions performed by Israel’s Conversion Authority between 1999 and 2003. Why? Said the three-judge panel, the Zionist rabbis “see in conversion a sacred commandment as part of their national responsibility...; conversion is a means of improving the spiritual situation of the entire Jewish nation living in Israel. It is a way of bringing Jews closer to their Judaism. [Yes, you are reading that correctly; bringing Jews closer to their Judaism apparently is not a good thing if the people doing it are Zionists.] But, in reality, for dozens of years now, the vast majority of converts via the Conversion Authority remain gentile in their behavior, except for the performance of rituals, which remain for these converts empty of spiritual content.”
(These issues will be discussed more fully in a future column or two.)
“Born” Jews living on the fringes of Jewish life see such things and roll their eyes in disgust. And well they should.
We are not free of such things here, either. Currently, we are being treated to two distinct and serious scandals — the Rubashkin/Agriprocessors meat processors mess and the alleged Bernard Madoff scam.
In the Agriprocessors case, the question is whether individual aspects of halacha can be independent of each other. If the letter of the law is followed in the slaughtering process, or in food preparation, does the violation of other aspects of Jewish law, such as those that set labor standards, invalidate the kashrut of the meat? Consider these two cases:
Case One: A restaurant serves kosher foods exclusively and these foods are certified by recognized authorities. The preparation is also done according to Jewish law. As part of the ambience of the restaurant, however, music is played in the background. It is music that people can dance to, although there is no room in the restaurant for anyone to do any dancing. Should that restaurant be certified as kosher?
No, say some kashrut authorities. The fact that the music has the potential to encourage dancing is sufficient to deny kashrut certification. The same is true if employees do not dress in a manner acceptable to these certifiers.
Case Two: Agriprocessors violated with abandon a variety of civil and criminal laws and halachic requirements. Among other things, it was accused of abusing animals, gross labor law violations, and bank fraud. Should Agriprocessors be denied kosher certification?
The same certifiers who would deny certification in places where music that might be danced to is played made clear that none of what Agriprocessors did affected the kashrut of its meat. Other rabbis concurred. Thus, “Lapses of business ethics, animal rights issues, worker rights matters — all of these have no effect whatsoever on the kosher value,” Agudath Israel’s Rabbi Avi Shafran recently told a Yeshiva University-sponsored conference.
Music you can dance to does help determine “the kosher value,” but forcing 16-year-old girls to work 20 hours a day does not.
Enter the Madoff scandal, in which a number of Jewish organizations and philanthropies were severely hurt, some fatally so.
According to Rabbi Benjamin Blech, an associate professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and an outstanding authority on Jewish law, “ritual alone is not the sole determinant of our Judaism.” As he recently told The New York Times, “it must be combined with humanity, with ethical behavior, with proper values, and most important of all, with regard to our relationship with other human beings.”
Does this not apply equally to the Rubashkin/Agriprocessors case?
Conservative rabbis, meanwhile, present a mirror image to all this. On the one hand, they insist that Torah-based labor practices and ethical rules should apply to whether something is kosher, regardless of the potential economic impact. On the other, precisely because of the economic impact, it took more than two years for the Rabbinical Assembly Committee on Jewish Law and Standards to issue a responsum requiring ethical labor standards in the workplace.
Rabbis of all stripes seek to have it both ways on issue after issue. Religion has less to do with it than politics, ideological advantage, or turf protection.
The disconnected are neither blind nor deaf. They see and they hear, and they want no part of it.
And their numbers grow each year — because the marginally connected are no less able to see and hear and feel abandoned.
Shammai Engelmayer is rabbi of the Conservative synagogue Temple Israel Community Center in Cliffside Park and an instructor in the UJA-Federation-sponsored Florence Melton Adult Mini-School of the Hebrew University. He is the editor of Judaism: A Journal of Jewish Life and Thought.
Yisroel Belsky
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (February 2007)
Yisroel Belsky is a rabbi in the United States who has served with the Orthodox Union since 1987. He resides in Brooklyn, New York. He is one of several roshei yeshivas in Yeshiva Torah Vodaas. He also serves as the rabbi of Camp Agudah.
He is the son of Rabbi Berel and Chana Belsky. His maternal grandfather is Binyomin Wilhelm, the founder of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas.
Rabbi Belsky received his semicha from Yeshiva Torah Vodaas in 1962, and from Rabbi Moshe Feinstein in 1965. He also studied in Beth Medrash Elyon for a number of years.
[edit] Works
* Piske halakhot (Brooklyn 2002) - responsa
* Einei Yisroel on Chumash (currently Bereishis, Shemos, and Devarim) (Kiryat Sefer 2005, 2006, 2008 respectively) - Lectures edited and adapted by Moshe Armel and Reuven Mathieson
* Sha'alos U'Teshuvos Shulchan Halevi, questions and answers on a wide variety of topics, (Kiryat Sefer 2008)
* Rabbi Belsky also answers moral questions on a series called "Honesty" found on Torah.org.
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=229460
Not only is Sholom Rubashkin not a flight risk, he wants the opportunity to face his accusers, said a group of Orthodox Jewish rabbis and his attorney on Monday in front of the Dubuque Law Enforcement Center.
http://www.debka.com/index1.php
DEBKAfile - We start where the media stop
Iran recruits Somali pirates to replenish Hamas arms stocks
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
January 13, 2009, 12:38 PM (GMT+02:00)
DEBKAfile's military sources reveal a secret war waged by the US, Israel and Egypt to shut down Iran's serpentine maritime routes through the Red Sea and Suez for refilling Hamas' depleted arsenal by sea. After Hamas lost an estimated 60 percent of its weapons stocks to Israeli bombardments, Iran enlisted Somali pirates to step up the flow of smuggled hardware to Gaza. Tehran is rearming the Palestinian Islamists at top speed to persuade them to carry on the war against Israel and not surrender to Egypt's ceasefire terms.
According to our military sources, the Iranian sealift is conducted along three routes:
1. The Iranian segment: Iranian freighters from the Persian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas sail to the Gulf of Suez. Some are intercepted by the American warships patrolling the sea against Somali pirates. US Marines board the ships and confiscate any weapons cargoes in their holds. But not all are caught; some of the Iranian freighters, especially the small vessels, escape the anti-piracy net.
Western intelligence informants report that in the past week, Iranian agents hired Somali pirates to rendezvous with their freighters before they entered the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, offload the weapons and carry them in small Somali craft to Eritrea. The pirates have strong ties with Eritrea.
The Iranian freighters sail straight back to Bandar Abbas to reload.
2. The Eritrean route: Some of the Iranian arms freighters put into the Eritrean port of Assab to unload the cargoes, which are then consigned to Sudan, where the authorities turn a blind eye, for transit to southern Egypt. At that point, they are picked up by Egyptian smuggling gangs and carried by boat to Sinai shores.
3. The European route: The Balkan ports at Montenegro and Croatia are the starting points for freighters laden with containers carrying weapons for Hamas - mostly mortars and anti-air and anti-tank missiles. They head for the Suez Canal where they drop their cargoes overboard for waiting pirates' boats to collect.
DEBKAfile's military sources reveal that Iran's seaborne arms corridor to Hamas depends heavily on three Sinai Bedouin tribes: The Tarabin, which controls areas adjoining the Israeli and Gazan borders; the Tiyaha, which rule central Sinai; and the Azazmeh, whose wide spread covers northern Sinai, the Israeli Negev, Jordan and Syria. They form a human chain to relay the Iranian shipments, including heavy Grad rockets, into the Gaza Strip.
http://www.survivorsforjustice.org/Gui/Content.aspx?Page=Home
Survivors for Justice
We are survivors of childhood sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community and their advocates who are committed to offering guidance and support to victims seeking justice through the criminal and civil legal system.
We also advocate for legislation to extend the statute of limitations and open a one year window to offer all abuse victims the ability to file civil lawsuits against their abusers and their protectors.
You can reach us at info@SurvivorsForJustice.org
http://www.survivorsforjustice.org/Images/122208-sfj-amicus%20app%20to%20supreme%20court%20of%20israel-addresses%20removed.pdf
Breaking News
SFJ files Amicus Curiae Brief with the Supreme Court of Israel asking for extradition of Avrohom Mondrowitz
Read press release on Mondrowitz extradition.
Almost 10,000 images of the sexual abuse of a young woman accused of murdering her stepfather in country Victoria were seized by police after her arrest last year, a court has heard.
The woman was this afternoon committed to stand trial for murder in the Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to the charge during a committal hearing in Shepparton Magistrates Court.
Detective Senior Constable Barry Gray told the court the 9743 images and six movies were stored on CDs, DVDs and memory cards found in the shed belonging to the girl's dead stepfather.
The images span four years from January 2004 - when she was 14 - until February 2008, shortly before the man's dismembered body was found.
Detective Senior Constable Gray, of the police homicide squad, said some of the movies and images he had seen depicted oral sex and vaginal sex.
He told the court one image showed the accused tied to a chair with cable ties.
The woman's stepfather was shot in the head with his own shotgun in March last year after demanding oral sex from the accused at gunpoint, Detective Senior Constable Gray said.
The court heard the woman later dismembered her stepfather's body with a hand saw, before disposing of the parts in a camping ground near Shepparton.
The woman's defence lawyer, Peter Chadwick, told the court "there can be no doubt as to [her] sexual abuse".
The abuse had been videotaped and photographed for four years in nearly 10,000 images by the stepfather she was accused of murdering, he said.
Prosecutor Mark Gamble said the matter should go to trial, telling the court the accused had tried to avoid detection after the alleged murder.
Other witnesses, former school friends of the girl, told the court this morning that they had suspected the young woman and her stepfather had a sexual relationship.
One of the witnesses said she told a school counsellor in 2005 that she thought the girl's stepfather was "hurting her or sexually abusing her".
Another witness said she spoke to a teacher about the relationship between the young woman and her stepfather.
Witnesses said they were not aware that any follow-up action had been taken.
The woman was released on bail at the conclusion of today's committal hearing.
The date of her trial for murder will be set at a directions hearing in Melbourne on January 27.
When is Mondrowitz being extradited? What are the Gerrorists doing to undermine his extradition?
Helen Thomas has an honorable wrinkled face.
_____________________________
There is one famous journalist who’s unafraid to denounce Barack Obama’s agenda. Legendary left-wing journalist Helen Thomas appeared on Tuesday’s Democracy Now on radical Pacifica Radio [1], and denounced Obama’s acceptance of pro-Israel U.S. foreign policy: "I think that Obama, during the campaign, made many promises, as every president, potential president does to Israel, that they seem somehow bounded by their promises, promises to uphold all Israeli goals. I don't see how the U.S. can provide F-16s, gunships, Apache gunships, phosphorus, possibly phosphorus, and cluster bombs and so forth to kill helpless people, children who are starving to death."
Thomas also denounced the White House press corps for bowing to Bush yesterday at his final press conference, offering a "platform of self-defense and self-delusion," and then compared the Israelis to the Nazis: "I remember the rabbi who spoke at the Martin Luther King march on Washington. [Rabbi Abraham] Heschel had a cameo appearance, and he said, ‘The greatest sin of all in the Nazi era was silence.’ When you remain silent to the suffering and the incredible aggression against a people, then you are culpable."
Host Amy Goodman honored Thomas as a legend, and set her up to denounce Bush and Israel:
AMY GOODMAN: Tell us what you wrote in this last column, which is called "History Cannot Save Him." [2]
HELEN THOMAS: Well, I wrote that President Bush is passing on to President-elect Obama two wars and an economic debacle. I call it a depression. And he is arming Israel against the Palestinians in every way in Gaza.
GOODMAN: Do you expect to see a change of policy, Helen Thomas?
THOMAS: I think it's an unconscionable legacy.
GOODMAN: Do you expect to see a change of policy, for example, on Israel and the Occupied Territories?
THOMAS: No, I don't.
GOODMAN: Why not?
THOMAS: Because I think that Obama, during the campaign, made many promises, as every president, potential president does to Israel, that they seem somehow bounded by their promises, promises to uphold all Israeli goals. I don't see how the US can provide F-16s, gunships, Apache gunships, phosphorus, possibly phosphorus, and cluster bombs and so forth to kill helpless people, children who are starving to death.
They control the checkpoints. They control the arrivals and departures, supplies and people. And the Americans-President Bush has remained silent to that suffering. He has blocked by a veto at the UN any stoppage of the warfare, and he continues to supply Israel.
GOODMAN: Helen Thomas, what did you think of President Bush's last news conference?
THOMAS: I thought it was nostalgic. I understood the reporters' soft questions. Obviously, they're all writing about his legacy, wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt as to what his position was. And I think they gave him a platform of self-defense and self-delusion. The whole idea that it was a disappointment not to have weapons of mass destruction? A disappointment? "Significant disappointment," he said.
GOODMAN: Helen Thomas, what would you have asked President Bush if you got a chance yesterday? Did you expect that he would call on you?
THOMAS: No, but I wish that he had, because I would have -- I mean, I would have asked a news question. I would not have gone into the nostalgia, though I'm not criticizing it, because I do think the reporters had to wrap up to find out what he really thought about himself and his legacy. But I would have asked why do you continue to support the killing in Gaza? And that's what we're doing.
I mean, you can't remain neutral. I remember the rabbi who spoke at the Martin Luther King march on Washington. [Rabbi Abraham] Heschel had a cameo appearance, and he said, "The greatest sin of all in the Nazi era was silence." When you remain silent to the suffering and the incredible aggression against a people, then you are culpable.
Goodman then replayed a clip from an interview that turnout Bush spokesman Scott McClellan gave to Pacifica in June, where McClellan traveled so far to the left that he suggested the White House briefing room should be stuffed with Helen Thomas clones:
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, I think we need more Helen Thomases in the press corps, both the national press corps, even in the White House press corps, as well. She is someone who is not afraid to ask the tough questions and hold people accountable for the decisions that are made. So I think that's important to state right up front.
For her part, Thomas was non-plussed by the praise:
GOODMAN: That was Scott McClellan after he stepped down as press secretary. Helen Thomas, are you surprised by his praise?
THOMAS: Somewhat, having been called Hezbollah [by Tony Snow [3]] and everything else probably. Well, I mean, I suppose it's the position that you're trying -- if you -- how can you speak for the President of the United States? I mean, you cannot go off the curve. And so, everything is forgivable. And you always have to understand what position a spokesperson is in. I think it's the toughest job in the White House being a spokesperson for the President and for American policy, which is sometimes very unacceptable.
GOODMAN: What is your assessment of the White House press corps? Has it changed over the decades? And what did you think of the White House press corps that covered-all of the press covering President Bush?
THOMAS: I think they lost their guts after 9/11. No one wanted to ask penetrating questions for fear of being called un-American, unpatriotic. And I think their publishers, wherever they are, maybe Wall Street and so forth, were saying, "Lay off. You know, we're all Americans, and we have to stick together no matter what." So I don't think reporters should – I mean, obviously, the ideal is to seek the truth, no matter where the chips fall.
This is an odd statement from Thomas, who loved Bill Clinton enough to skip over asking the president about Juanita Broaddrick’s rape charge [4] on the day it surfaced in 1999. Instead, she asked Clinton about how he was victimized by his impeachers, about what was learned "from your 13-month ordeal?"
Here’s one more amusing Pacifica passage, in which Thomas insists that she stands simply for justice, and never veers off to extremes:
AMY GOODMAN: Helen Thomas, you were born in Kentucky, your parents, Lebanese Christians. Your Arab American background, do you think that informs-or how does it inform your reporting?
HELEN THOMAS: Of course. I have a background and an understanding of what's happened in the Middle East that a lot of people don't have, because there's been no interest. But why shouldn't I project some of my feelings and so forth? I mean, I have that right, as an opinion column. But also, I hope I seek justice. And I don't think that I go off the highway.
Thomas can even accuse Barack Obama of being heartless to the starving children of Gaza, but she’s not off on some extreme?
Source URL:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2009/01/13/helen-thomas-whacks-obama-being-heartless-israelis-starve-children-gaza
Yeshiva Torah Temimah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yeshiva Torah Temimah is a Haredi yeshiva with branches in Brooklyn, New York and Lakewood, New Jersey that was founded by Rabbi Lipa Margulies.
A May 2006 article in New York magazine, which called Yeshiva Torah Temimah the Harvard of the Jewish world, claimed that Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, a teacher at the school for 30 years, had been a pedophile and molested boys in the school with the knowledge of Rabbi Lipa Margulies who engaged in an alleged decades long cover-up.[1] A $20 million civil case was filed against the yeshiva and Rabbi Kolko, alleging that the yeshiva had concealed the rabbi's actions and had intimidated victims into not reporting the incidents.[2]
On December 7, 2006, and again on September 12, 2007, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko was arrested and charged with several counts of sexual abuse in the first and second degree and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child in three separate episodes.[3][4]
On April 1, 2008, a sixth former student of Yeshiva Torah Temimah, identified as John Doe No. 6, who was enrolled at Torah Temimah between the ages of 11 and 13, filed a lawsuit against the yeshiva and Rabbi Lipa Margulies individually, alleging he was sexually abused by Kolko on a number of occasions at several locations, including in his office at the yeshiva and in the basement of the yeshiva with the knowledge of Rabbi Lipa Margulies.[5]
On April 14, 2008, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a child in exchange for a sentence of probation and counseling.[6]
Cancer is a terrible disease. Please publish this. I know of many Jews suffering from this disease. All it takes is a doctors visit. Do not push it off. Please check yourself out.
You know who I am too, you helped me with chesed and kindness. I am so much more at peace now. I am a admirer of yours and wish you so much hatzlacha in all of your endeavors.
What happened in yob is a great miscarriage of justice. Sex abuse is also a form of cancer that emotionally kills boys and girls for their entire life. Please continue for the sake of my (our) children and generations to come.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported Monday that the death toll had risen from 884 to 910, according to an update from United Nations officials in Gaza. The dead include 292 children and 75 women, the officials said. The number of injured Palestinians stood at 4,250, of whom 1,497 are children and 626 are women.
Bin Laden tape calls for holy war in Gaza
Israeli forces launched artillery fire into south Lebanon and went deeper into Gaza.
Osama bin Laden has apparently issued a new audio recording urging his followers to launch a holy war to stop the Israeli offensive in Gaza, which entered a 19th day Wednesday.
The Times (of London) reports that the recording, which could not immediately be verified as authentic, was posted on Islamist websites.
“God has bestowed us with the patience to continue the path of jihad for another seven years, and seven and seven years,” bin Laden said on the tape dated in the current Islamic month. “The question is, can America continue its war with us for several more decades to come? Reports and evidence would suggest otherwise.”
Bin Laden last appeared in an audio tape in May and also focused on Gaza, calling on Muslims to try to help to end the blockade of the area. The al-Qaeda leader has placed growing emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in recent years.
The conflict that incited Mr. bin Laden’s message deepened and widened on Wednesday as Israeli forces prepared to storm Gaza City while also firing rockets into Lebanon in response to an earlier attack.
England’s Guardian newspaper reports that Israeli troops reached the outskirts of Gaza City.
There was heavy fighting in northern Gaza and around the edges of Gaza City, from where Israeli troops have mounted raids to within a mile of the city centre….
Israel’s military said it hit 60 sites overnight, including the police headquarters in Gaza City that had been hit on the first day of the operation, as well as rocket launching sites, weapons stores and 35 smuggling tunnels under the border with Egypt. Six Israeli soldiers were injured.
But it remains unclear if Israeli forces will launch an all-out attack on Gaza City, according to the BBC.
Analysts say Israel may be holding back from all-out urban warfare in Gaza City.
Intense street fighting could complicate truce efforts and cause heavy casualties on both sides, which they say would be a politically risky move less than a month before Israel’s parliamentary election.
Israel began its offensive Dec. 27 in retaliation for rockets fired into Israel by Palestinian militants in Gaza. Since the fighting began, a series of new fronts seems to have opened up. The Associated Press reports that Israeli troops have shelled south Lebanon.
Israeli forces fired artillery north into Lebanon on Wednesday in response to a rocket attack, and Lebanese troops dismantled more rockets that were set to be fired, Lebanese security officials said.
The exchange was the second since Israel launched an offensive in Gaza against Hamas on its southern flank on Dec. 27 and threatens to ignite a new front in the north.
Israeli forces fear the attack was instigated by the military wing of Hezbollah, a political organization in Lebanon. But Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the attack, according to Haaretz, an English-language daily in Tel Aviv.
Israeli officials have expressed concern that militants in Lebanon could try to open a second front in the Gaza campaign in solidarity with Hamas.
A Hezbollah minister in Lebanon’s Cabinet denied any involvement by the militant group in the firing of the rockets on Thursday. In 2006, Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon fired almost 4000 rockets at Israel during the Second Lebanon War.
Agence France-Presse reports that the Palestinian death toll from the conflict has risen to at least 940, “including 280 Palestinian children.”
A further 4,350 people have been wounded, according to the Palestinian emergency services.
On the Israeli side, 10 soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or by rocket attacks since the Jewish state began its offensive.
As fighting mounts, Israel’s government is divided over how to proceed, reports Haaretz.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak is promoting a week-long “humanitarian cease-fire” in the Gaza Strip. In contrast, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert believes the military operation still has not achieved its goals.
Olmert is delaying a meeting with senior ministers in an effort to allow the military operations in Gaza to continue.
On Tuesday, Olmert did not meet with his “troika” - Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, both of whom support a cease-fire. On Wednesday, he will not convene the political-security cabinet to discuss whether the operations should go on.
International criticism has mounted, according to Agence France-Presse.
The offensive — Israel’s deadliest ever against Gaza — has sparked withering criticism and protests and concern about a humanitarian crisis breaking out in the densely populated territory where half of the population is under 18 years of age.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon is due in Cairo to bolster efforts at a cease-fire, reports Britain’s Telegraph newspaper.
Mr Ban said he plans to step up diplomatic efforts to get both sides to adhere to a UN cease-fire resolution calling for an end to Israel’s air and ground offensive in Gaza and Hamas’ rocketing of southern Israel.
“To both sides, I say: Just stop, now,” he said. “Too many people have died. There has been too much civilian suffering. Too many people, Israelis and Palestinians, live in daily fear of their lives.”
Rachamim b'nei Rachamim,
It's lovely to hear from you! I am impressed with your strength and spirit.
Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun Magazine and co-chair for the Network of Spiritual Progressives, this week will publish a full-page ad in the New York Times urging President-elect Barack Obama to call for a Gaza cease-fire now.
Rest Article:
http://www.examiner.com/x-775-Political-Issues-Examiner~y2009m1d14-Rabbis-fullpage-ad-in-NY-Times-urging-Obama-to-back-Gaza-cease-fire-now
Efrat, Israel — As these words are being written, Israeli 2nd Lt. Aaron Karov, severely wounded in Gaza, is fighting for his life.
According to Jewish tradition, prayers are said for the speedy recovery of someone who is sick when the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, is read in synagogue on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
Second Lt. Karov was married less than two weeks ago, and was drafted into the Israeli army to lead his unit into battle in Gaza, the morning after his wedding to His childhood sweetheart, Tzvi Mordecai.
This past Saturday, before 2nd Lt. Karov was wounded, his father, Rabbi Zev Karov, wrote the lead article in a newsletter that was distributed in synagogues on the Sabbath throughout Israel.
Rabbi Karov wrote his article in the form of an open letter to all of the new couple’s friends and relatives who were angry about the fact that his son had left for battle, the morning after the wedding.
Second Lt. Karov’s thoughts on the day of his wedding, the greatest day in his life, were of concern for the people of Israel, and for the welfare of the soldiers who serve under him.
There were those who pleaded with Rabbi Karov to remind his son the Book of Deuteronomy exempts a newly married man from army service.
Yet in his widely distributed missive, Rabbi Karov noted that the biblical command which exempts a groom from army service does not apply to a mandatory war of defense of the land and people of Israel.
As 2nd Lt. Karov joined his troops on the Jewish Sabbath, more than one million citizens of Israel were warned by the Israel Home Front Command not even to venture out to synagogues because their communities would be under the threat of attack from Gaza terrorists.
“According to Jewish law, in a war of self-defense even a newly married groom must fight,” Rabbi Karov wrote. “More than that, Aaron is a commander who knows his soldiers, has prepared them, and knows what must be done. He couldn’t just leave them on their own. The bride was at first shocked, but then she understood that sometimes personal interests must be second to the common good.”
Rabbi Karov said his son’s actions ran against the tide of today’s generation because so many young people only think of themselves.
Mr. Karov’s family has asked that the people around the world pray for his recovery. His Hebrew name is Aaron Yehoshua Ben Chaya Shoshanna.
In the Jewish tradition, the mother’s name is invoked. Rabbi Alan Schwartz of the Ohev Tzedek synagogue in New York explained to The Bulletin that the mother’s name is invoked in the prayer for the sick because the woman represents the paradigm of prayer in Judaism.
Rabbi Schwartz told The Bulletin that women, throughout the Bible, cry to God for the sake of their children.
Indeed, the motif of how to pray derives from the example of Hannah who, in the first chapter of Samuel, passionately prays for God to allow her the merit of child to bear children.
Hannah’s role model for Jewish prayer is described in the fifth chapter of the Talmudic tractate of Brachot, which means “blessings,” which established the Jewish tradition to move one’s lips in silent devotion during prayer.
David Bedein can be reached at bedein@thebulletin.us
The biggest Chilul Hashem is being perpetrated by the rabonim who are covering molestation up. They should be impeached and ridiculed. Instead they are giving shiurim and mussar. what a joke.
What we neglected to tell you is we included our Hamas compatriots in the death toll.
----------------------------------
The Palestinian death toll from the air-and-ground offensive has risen to at least 1,024, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. A Palestinian rights group said 670 of the dead were civilians.
Signed by:
Rabbi Michael Lerner, Sister Joan Chittister, and Professor Cornel West,
Co-chairs of the Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP): info@spiritualprogressives.org
Zygmunt Bauman
Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak
Lawrence Bragman
Anne Brown
Fritjof Capra
Clayborne Carson
Nicandro Castaneda
Deepak Chopra
Howard Cort
Peter Coyote
Jonathan Demme
Ariel Dorfman
Richard Falk
Peter Gabel
Danny Goldberg
Rabbi Julie Greenberg
Mary Grey
Ashawna Hailey
Hazel Henderson
Robert Inchausti
Rabbi David Ingber
Rabbi Abie Ingber
Mary Ellen Irving
Rev. Jeff Johnson
Mark C. Johnson
Nancy Kass
Barbara King
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum
Jack Kornfield
Rev. Peter Laarman
Annie Lamott
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling
Jaime Longhi
Michael Maccoby
Everett Mendelson
Michael Nagler
Murray Polner
Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan
Matthew Rothschild
Denis Rutovitz
Saskia Sassen
Richard Schwartz
Jeffrey Shapiro
Rabbi David Shneyer
Mark L. Taylor
Yi-Fu Tuan
Jon Basil Utley
Genevieve Vaughan
Rabbi Brian Walt
Alyn Ware
Rabbi Arthur Waskow
Interior Minister Said Siam was killed in an Israeli airstrike that flattened a home in Gaza City. Israel and Hamas both confirmed the death of Siam, who oversaw thousands of security agents and was considered to be among the militant group's top five leaders in Gaza.
Funny how the UN always fights fault with everything Israel does. These "humanitarians" are anti-Semitic and abuse children.
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A United Nations probe collected 217 allegations of abuse of girls and women by peacekeepers in eastern Congo, from sex with teenagers in the back room of a liquor store to threats of "hacking" victims for cooperating with investigators.
The 2006 investigation found many allegations credible and said evidence suggests "frequent and ongoing" sexual exploitation in the region. But it could only establish proof against one of 75 peacekeepers accused of wrongdoing.
Details of alleged incidents dating back to 2004 are summarized in a "strictly confidential" 17-page document.
It is dated Jan. 30, 2007, and was published Wednesday by whistleblower Web site Wikileaks.org. The report has previously been referred to by human rights organizations and the U.N. itself, but not made public. U.N. officials confirmed its authenticity.
Allegations of sex abuse and other crimes have dogged U.N. peacekeeping missions almost since their inception in 1948; the global body has in recent years adopted a "zero tolerance" approach.
The report cited a number of cases where victims may have been pressured or bribed to keep silent. "One victim informed (investigators) that she had received a message from a peacekeeper that he would 'hack them' if he ever saw them again," the report said.
Ten alleged victims, all girls below 18, were living at a liquor store that doubled as a brothel.
The United Nations mission in Congo has 22,000 soldiers and police from dozens of countries. It began in 1999 during a civil war that brought in neighboring countries seeking to exploit Congo's mineral wealth.
It is now the U.N.'s biggest peacekeeping mission and has recently dealt with a conflict partially fueled by festering ethnic hatred left over from the 1994 slaughter of a half-million Tutsis in neighboring Rwanda.
Why have I not been consulted about this ban?
Israel: Arab parties banned from participating in elections
A small portrait of the translator
Thursday, January 15th, 2009 @ 01:03 UTC
by Ayesha Saldanha
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/01/15/israel-arab-parties-banned-from-participating-in-elections/
NEW YORK – A US Airways plane crashed into the frigid Hudson River on Thursday afternoon after striking a bird that disabled two engines, sending 150 on board scrambling onto rescue boats, authorities say. No deaths or serious injuries were immediately reported.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown says the US Airways Flight 1549 had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport enroute to Charlotte, N.C., when the crash occurred in the river near 48th Street in midtown Manhattan.
Brown says the plane, an Airbus 320, appears to have hit one or more birds.
A law enforcement official said that authorities are not aware of any deaths and that the passengers do not appear to be seriously injured.
Henry Grunwald, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told the crowd, which was estimated at 15,000 by the organisers: "We are the people who want peace and who want life for Israel." The chief rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, gave a message to Hamas: "Stop wanting Israel to die, start wanting your children to live. Why, Hamas, do you hold in contempt, not only Israeli lives but Palestinian lives?"
de plane dat vent down in de rivar witout hurting pessngers is ah miricle.if ich ub gevein on it it vood not haev bin git fir me. mit my veight end hi blod prssiure ve vood be having a levyeh to be held dis day at toireh temima mesifteh.
Nancy Brinker returned to the scene of her greatest personal loss and the catalyst for her abiding professional triumph Wednesday when she escorted about 60 diplomats and their spouses to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center as part of her mission to better acquaint foreign dignitaries with America beyond the Beltway.
Brinker, the U.S. chief of protocol and a cancer survivor, started the Experience America series of informal trips to U.S. cities so that ambassadors and heads of mission could get a taste of regional differences and see centers of excellence first-hand.
The former Dallas resident, who founded the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, decided to bring the group to Texas for the fifth and final trip. The trip included a visit to a working natural gas rig, a luncheon with former President George H.W. Bush and a whirlwind tour of the famous hospital where Komen, her sister, spent many months fighting breast cancer almost three decades ago.
Fulfilling a promise
“I have come to know it personally,” said Brinker, whose foundation has raised more than $1 billion for breast cancer treatment and research. “Health care and chronic disease is one of the issues that these ambassadors are interested in, so there’s no better place in the world to bring them.”
Brinker, who has served as ambassador to Hungary, was treated at M.D. Anderson for breast cancer. Her late father received treatment there for stomach cancer, and she credited his care for extending his life several years. But it was while in Houston watching her sister struggle that she made a promise to do something to help the women who filled its waiting rooms, as well as spiffing up the waiting room itself.
Since then, the hospital where doctors attacked Komen’s disease and the foundation created in the aftermath of her death have grown exponentially, with both emerging as leaders in their field.
Many memories
Brinker lauded the hospital for its pioneering work and the attention bestowed on every patient.
“I hope you see it in the way I and my family have seen it — as a humane, incredible institution that truly serves the world,” she told the gathering, which included representatives from 38 countries. “I must say whenever people ask me what marks my memory of living in Texas for over 30 years, it is always this center, evoking sometimes very painful memories, but always very good memories of the way (it) has been put together lovingly by the people that built it.”
Brinker said she established the Experience America trips because members of foreign delegations spent most of their time in New York and Washington, D.C., and rarely got to glimpse much diversity of landscape, both physical and professional.
Visitor from Iceland
“The most important thing for us, of course, is to experience America, to come out of the Washington bubble and see the reality of the other parts of the United States,” Hannesson said. “And also to come out of our political bubble and get to know, for instance, this outstanding medical institution. To meet companies, politicians, mayors from all over the U.S. and put together the puzzle that helps us better understand.”
Some of the people Hannesson met for the first time were other diplomats.
“The diplomatic community in Washington is so large we tend to split up in groups,” he said. “I would have never gotten to know them there.”
mike.tolson@chron.com
I am the monster 'Roshe Yeshiva' of yob who covered--up abuse leshem shomayim. Then I cry while making everybody repeat a kapitlache tehilim...
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/396042_lawsuit15.html?source=mypi
Lawsuit alleges president of Seattle U knew of sex abuse
Says Sundborg had access to 'Hell Files'
By AMY ROLPH
P-I REPORTER
Seattle University President Stephen Sundborg is named in a lawsuit alleging that Jesuit leaders covered up the crimes of priests who sexually abused at least 43 Native Alaskan children during the span of four decades.
The lawsuit, filed in Alaskan Superior Court in the city of Bethel, states that Sundborg had access to "Hell Files" -- private church documents detailing things priests had done that were "not good" -- when he was head of a Northwest order of Jesuits from 1990 to 1996.
At a news conference Wednesday, an attorney representing victims of abuse said Sundborg knew a Jesuit priest had sexually abused children, yet allowed that priest to serve in Alaska.
"Alaska was essentially used as a dumping ground for pedophile priests for decades," said Anchorage-based attorney Kenneth Roosa. "It was a pedophile's paradise."
Rabbi Meir Kahane - Speaks @ Yeshivah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdSBxEkW6pk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kFMqFzLyrc
http://www.forward.com/articles/14931/
‘The L Word” — the Showtime drama about a tight-knit group of lesbian, bisexual and transgender women living in West Hollywood, Calif. — kills off its resident Jewess in the January premiere of its sixth and final season. Jenny Schecter’s suspicious death will be the springboard for a whodunit plotline à la the famous “Who Shot J.R.?” mystery of “Dallas.”
Raised in an Orthodox household in Skokie, Ill., Jenny (Mia Kirshner) has been at the center of several storylines in which her childhood traumas are associated with Jewish imagery. As an adult, Jenny takes a job as a stripper, calling herself “Miss Yeshiva Girl,” and is troubled by her observant family’s rejection of her sexuality, which they refer to as a sickness.
“There’s nothing more you can do to make me the person you’re comfortable with, because I’m not going to marry that nice Jewish boy,” she tells her mother and stepfather after they find her in bed with a woman. “I’m not going to have those nice Jewish kids.”
Off-screen, the Toronto-reared Kirshner is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. Her father, now a reporter for The Canadian Jewish News, was born in Germany in a displaced persons camp. When Kirshner was growing up, she said, her house was filled with books about the Holocaust. Even though her family never discussed their wartime and postwar experiences, “I think it shaped who I am,” she told The New York Times in 2004.
Yeshiva invested in Merkin’s Ascot Partners LP, which channeled money to Bernard Madoff, the man now accused of defrauding multiple investors of $50 billion. Madoff served as a Yeshiva trustee at the time of Millstein’s letter. It generally isn’t wise for a school to do business with its own advisers, said Alice Handy, founder of Investure LLC, which manages about $5 billion for 10 schools and foundations.
“It’s preferable never to have a business relationship with a board member,” said Handy, whose company is based in Charlottesville, Virginia, in a Dec. 30 interview. “Under any circumstances, it needs to be fully disclosed. Often you inherit that position when a person becomes a board member. You should always have somebody neutral overseeing that investment.”
Public release date: 14-Jan-2009
Contact: Michael Heller
mheller@aecom.yu.edu
718-430-4186
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Einstein researchers discover a protein that amplifies cell death
A potentially new way to kill cancer cells
January 14, 2009 – (BRONX, NY) – Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have identified a small intracellular protein that helps cells commit suicide. The finding, reported as the "paper of the week" in the January 16th print issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, could lead to drugs for combating cancer and other diseases characterized by overproduction of cells. The research was led by the late Dennis Shields, Ph.D., a professor in Einstein's Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology for 30 years, who died unexpectedly in December.
In response to stress or as a natural part of aging, many cells undergo programmed suicide, also known as apoptosis. Cancer cells often become immortal and dangerous by developing the ability to suppress apoptosis.
A decade ago apoptosis was thought to be directed solely by the nucleus and mitochondria of cells. Dr. Shields' laboratory was the first to show that a cellular organelle known as the Golgi apparatus also plays a role in apoptosis.
The Golgi package proteins and other substances made by cells and direct them to their destination within the cell. A protein called p115 is vital for maintaining the structure of the Golgi. In earlier research, Dr. Shields' group demonstrated that the Golgi's p115 protein splits into two pieces early in apoptosis and that the smaller of these protein fragments—205 amino acids in length—helps to maintain the cell-suicide process.
In the present study, the Einstein researchers identified the smallest region of this p115 protein fragment that is required for apoptosis: a peptide of just 26 amino acids in length that exerts its apoptotic action by traveling to the nucleus.
"Dennis Shields was one of our most outstanding scientists," says E. Richard Stanley, Ph.D., chairman of developmental and molecular biology at Einstein. "His efforts to uncover fundamental mechanisms governing how cells work has led to new ways of thinking about apoptosis, in particular, how the Golgi regulates this process."
###
The paper, by Shaeri Mukherjee and Dennis Shields, is titled "Nuclear Import is Required for the Pro-apoptotic Function of the Golgi Protein p115" and appeared in JBC Papers in Press on November 21, 2008 and in the January 16, 2009 print issue. Additionally, the journal chose the image from the paper for the cover and spotlighted the study's first author, Shaeri Mukherjee, Ph.D., a former student in the laboratory of Dr. Shields.
About Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is one of the nation's premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. It is the home to some 2,000 faculty members, 750 M.D. students, 350 Ph.D. students (including 125 in combined M.D./Ph.D. programs) and 380 postdoctoral investigators. Last year, Einstein received more than $130 million in support from the NIH. This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in diabetes, cancer, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Through its extensive affiliation network involving five hospital centers in the Bronx, Manhattan and Long Island – which includes Montefiore Medical Center, Einstein's officially designated University Hospital – the College runs one of the largest post-graduate medical training program in the United States, offering approximately 150 residency programs to more than 2,500 physicians in training. For more information, please visit www.aecom.yu.edu.
The Yeshiva Bailout Proposal
Let me start by saying that I don’t think I’m breaking a story wide open here. I don’t think I have the exclusive, and I am quite sure you are well aware of what I am about to tell you. Apparently there seem to be some issues with the strength of our economy. Call it what you will—recession, depression, regression, downturn—it all spells B-A-D news for many individuals and businesses. I have heard the current climate of our economy referred to as the “perfect storm” that has long been brewing.
Through years of mismanagement and lack of sufficient oversight in the banking industry and stock market, we find ourselves in a place that many of us thought was a relic of the early ’30s, having no place in our modern-day tech-driven world. In recent months, the financial difficulties of the corporate world have trickled down and have had a profoundly negative effect on individuals in the affected industries and beyond.
For most of the country, an individual family’s highest expense is usually the cost of homeownership. We certainly have seen that subprime borrowers have been unable to keep up with this expense and have defaulted on payments, resulting in massive losses for the banks, who probably should not have approved the mortgages in the first place. However, in the private-school community, the biggest single expense for a large family is often the expense of education. In many cases, over time it exceeds the enormous expense of homeownership and can be the source of immense frustration for parents when trying to meet the requested amounts from community yeshivos and day schools.
For years now, there has been talk of the “tuition crisis.” There has been much debate over whether the crisis is due to tuition that is too high or to improper prioritization of expenses by parents. The argument has been made that it is unfair for a family to spend mid-winter break in Aspen and still ask for a reduction in tuition from their school’s tuition board. But I digress. In truth, amidst this recent global financial crisis there has been a sharp reduction in on-time tuition payments to private schools and a sharp increase in requests for tuition assistance and scholarships.
This has resulted in a tremendous financial crisis for the yeshivos and day schools of the Five Towns and Rockaway. To put it simply, schools, like businesses and municipalities, have projected budgets for the year. Tuition dollars and pledges and gifts make up part of the revenue that allows them to cover expenses such as teacher salaries and the cost of heat and electricity, etc. When the actual revenue is less than the projected revenue due to a decrease in paid tuition dollars or contributions, our schools face a very real crisis.
A recent survey of 22 day schools in the L.A. area, conducted by the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles, identified a total of 170 families in economic distress. 125 students had dropped out of school either just prior to the start of school or during the month of September; 10 students had dropped out of school in October; 60 families had renegotiated tuition for this year; and 99 families had already asked for additional financial assistance for the 2009–2010 academic year. In our area, many schools have lost significant percentages of their endowments as well as revenue from their larger supporters due to their own losses. Yeshivos and day schools in the Five Towns and Rockaway are reporting great concern over how they will be able to remain fiscally solvent.
Now more than ever we need to prioritize our expenses. I will go out on a limb here and state that I believe there are few more worthy recipients of our charitable dollars than the institutions that educate our children and shape our community with the values that we profess to hold dear. Now, when I say “shape our community,” it is because I believe that the responsibility to support these institutions extends beyond the parent body of the school itself to the community at large. Whether an individual has school-age children attending our yeshivos or not, the responsibility is no less diminished.
To add to the problem, Governor David Paterson has recently proposed the elimination of the Comprehensive Attendance Program (CAP) for private schools. This would result in a reduction in funding of nearly $55 million from last year’s budget. Also affected would be the Mandated Services Reimbursement program for non-public schools, further reducing funding for non-public schools by 41 percent. This greatly reduces the revenue that our schools have counted on to cover expenses. These losses are real dollars that go to providing for our children’s education.
It is with all this in mind that I propose a bailout for the yeshivos and day schools of our community. The bailout goes like this: Every family in the Far Rockaway/Five Towns Jewish community (approximately 15,000) makes a commitment to give a contribution, according to its means, of between $100 and $500 to the yeshiva or day school of its choice. In order for it to count, this has to be on top of any other dues like the dinner or capital fund; that money is already part of the school’s budget. If the bailout averages a contribution of $250 per family, it would result in nearly $4 million infused into the Five Towns/Far Rockaway yeshiva/day school system.
Now don’t get me wrong. If you want to give more, by all means do so. But this bailout may be the shot in the arm that our community’s schools need to implement effective long-term financial strategies. Let’s face it: our community schools deserve this a lot more than the insurance or auto industries. Last I checked, our school administrators don’t fly on private jets in an effort to better the workplace.
For New York City residents, it appears that the annual homeowners property tax rebate check of $400 will be in the mail soon. This may be the unexpected extra few dollars that could go toward the bailout. Nassau County residents, keep in mind that, unlike tuition, this is a tax-deductible contribution, and if you act quickly you can get it applied for the 2008 tax year (consult your local tax advisor).
Also, while it is shocking to many, I realize not all of the 15,000 families in the area read my column. Yes, I know it is disappointing, but here is where you come in. Every person should tell three friends to participate in the yeshiva bailout. When making your contribution, make sure to write on the check or tell the person taking your credit-card information that this is part of the bailout proposal, so we can monitor our efforts. And finally, don’t think of it as just a “contribution,” but rather as an investment in the continuity of your community.
Well, that’s it for now. Have a happy Chanukah, thanks for your help, and I’ll keep you posted.
Unpopular but unbowed, President George W. Bush defended his two terms in a farewell address to the nation, claiming successes at home and abroad. (Jan. 15)
Hudson River hero is ex-Air Force fighter pilot
By AMY WESTFELDT, Associated Press Writer Amy Westfeldt, Associated Press Writer 41 mins ago
NEW YORK – The pilot who guided a crippled US Airways jetliner safely into the Hudson River — saving all 155 people aboard — became an instant hero Thursday, with accolades from the mayor and governor and a fan club online.
The pilot of Flight 1549 was Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, 57, of Danville, Calif., an official familiar with the accident told The Associated Press. Sullenberger is a former fighter pilot who runs a safety consulting firm in addition to flying commercial aircraft.
Sullenberger, who has flown for US Airways since 1980, flew F-4 fighter jets with the Air Force in the 1970s. He then served on a board that investigated aircraft accidents and participated later in several National Transportation Safety Board investigations.
Sullenberger had been studying the psychology of keeping airline crews functioning even in the face of crisis, said Robert Bea, a civil engineer who co-founded UC Berkeley's Center for Catastrophic Risk Management.
Bea said he could think of few pilots as well-situated to bring the plane down safely than Sullenberger.
"When a plane is getting ready to crash with a lot of people who trust you, it is a test.. Sulley proved the end of the road for that test. He had studied it, he had rehearsed it, he had taken it to his heart."
Sullenberger is president of Safety Reliability Methods, a California firm that uses "the ultra-safe world of commercial aviation" as a basis for safety consulting in other fields, according to the firm's Web site.
Sullenberger's mailbox at the firm was full on Thursday. A group of fans sprang up on Facebook within hours of the emergency landing.
"OMG, I am terrified of flying but I would be happy to be a passenger on one of your aircraft!!" Melanie Wills in Bristol wrote on the wall of "Fans of Sully Sullenberger." "You have saved a lot of peoples lives and are a true hero!!"
The pilot "did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river and then making sure that everybody got out," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "He walked the plane twice after everybody else was off, and tried to verify that there was nobody else on board, and he assures us there was not."
"He was the last one up the aisle and he made sure that there was nobody behind him."
Gov. David Paterson pronounced it a "miracle on the Hudson."
A woman who answered the phone at Sullenberger's home in Danville hung up on a reporter who asked to speak with the family.
Candace Anderson, a member of the Danville town council who lives a few blocks from Sullenberger, said it was an amazing story and she was proud to live in the same town as the pilot.
"You look at his training, you look at his experience. It was just the right pilot at the right time in charge of that plane that saved so many lives," Anderson said. "He is a man who is calm, cool, collected, just as he was today."
Sullenberger's co-pilot was Jeff Skiles, 49, of Oregon, Wis., a 23-year US Airways veteran.
"He was OK," said his wife, Barbara. "He was relieved that everybody got off."
___
Associated Press writers Haven Daley in Danville, Calif., Lisa Leff in San Francisco, Colleen Long and researcher Susan James in New York contributed to this report.
The United Nations singles out Israel while Hamas terrorists kill innocent Palestinian in Gaza. If they valued life, why would do they slaughter each other at weddings just because they banned music. Sounds like A. Schor and A. Friedman would fit right in. WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1M4eH9Kk7I
Hamas terrorists kill innocent Palestinian in Gaza
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=29804
Lerner says:
'This violation of human rights is happening on a daily basis'
US rabbis urge Obama to push for Gaza ceasefire
Rabbi Michael Lerner calls on upcoming Obama administration to hold talks with Hamas despite pressure from Israeli lobby.
PACIFICA – A coalition of American rabbis and other religious, cultural and community leaders bought a full-page ad in the New York Times on Wednesday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for President-elect Barack Obama to convene an international Middle East peace conference, Democracy Now! reported Thursday.
The initiative was led by Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun magazine. Lerner said the group had to buy ad space because the nation’s major newspapers are not giving room for this perspective.
"We’re demanding an immediate ceasefire, but we’re also asking for President Obama to take an immediate leadership in convening an international conference," said Rabbi Lerner.
The US rabbi criticized Senator Hilary Clinton for rejecting talks with Hamas.
"The direction that was laid out by Senator Clinton yesterday, that she said Obama and she agreed on, which would call for—would say that there are no negotiations with Hamas until Hamas recognizes the state of Israel, which, of course, is not going to happen—Hamas is going to be agreeable to a ceasefire, and maybe a long-term ceasefire, twenty or thirty years, but it’s not going to recognize Israel, so this policy is a non-starter. It’s a stupid policy. And it’s exactly in reverse of what Obama said he would do during the elections, when he was saying he would negotiate with people, including Iran and Syria, despite the fact that he abhorred their policies," noted Rabbi Lerner.
"Why, in Israel, do we have the one time when he won’t negotiate, won’t talk to Hamas? Well, of course, the answer is obvious. It’s that the Israel lobby, combining extremely right-wing Jews in this country with a powerful Christian Zionist movement, have blocked out of public discourse all of the moral sentiments of the American public, which would be outraged at what’s going on in Gaza at this moment and, more generally, understand that the best interests of Israel and Israeli security lies in reconciliation with the Palestinian people, not in trying to wipe them out," explained Rabbi Lerner.
The US rabbi said that the best interest of Israel lies in peace and reconciliation with the Palestinian people.
"But the pressures that have been brought upon [Obama] during the campaign and now afterwards are immense. You cannot underestimate the amount of push that is going on all around him," Rabbi Lerner explained, in reference to the Israel lobby.
"Those of us who really care about the security of the Palestinian people and the Israeli people need to stand up and speak very loudly at this time and to ask President Obama to intervene, to intervene directly, and to not listen to all those forces that are saying to him, 'Forget about the Israel thing. Don’t risk your political capital on Israel-Palestine. Turn to other issues'," said the US rabbi.
"This moral outrage, this violation of human rights, is happening on a daily basis right now, and we need leadership right now."
Too lenient??? I didn't even serve a day in Jail...
Aide’s penalty for sex abuse too lenient
January 16, 2009 07:49 am
— A substitute teacher’s aide at Franklin Central School pleaded guilty Monday in Delaware County Court to sex charges involving students in exchange for just one year behind bars and probation.
We’re positive we are not the only ones outraged by the results of such a plea bargain.
In fact, John Hubbard, assistant district attorney, may be in the running for understatement of the year when he said the teenage victims and their families accepted but were not pleased with the outcome.
Robert R. Becker Jr., 36, of Franklin, pleaded guilty to thirddegree rape, endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree attempted sexual abuse. The plea deal means a sentence of one year in jail, 10 years of probation and registration as a sex offender.
The deal was contingent on two more guilty pleas Thursday, in which Becker admitted committing first-degree sexual abuse.
We certainly understand the desire to save the victims from the trauma of reliving their involvement with the criminal. However, based on Becker’s allocution, he is not taking responsibility for his actions and apparently doesn’t understand the trust implicit in his role an school educator.
The investigation of Becker’s criminal activity began when one girl came forward around the start of the school year. Then two more girls came forward, and later two more, until, according to Delaware County District Attorney Richard Northrup, all told, there were five victims.
Franklin Central School Superintendent Gordon Daniels has said that Becker was a substitute teacher’s aide who had worked five or six times at the school during the 2007-08 school year. He was also a volunteer assistant junior varsity boys basketball coach for the last two seasons.
Since the Becker criminal acts came to light, the school’s guidance office is working with the school resource officer to instruct students on personal safety and avoiding child abuse, Daniels said.
The infrequency of Becker’s employment at the school hints at his predatory nature. All those victims and just five or six days of work. Since Becker, however, seemed to blame his victims for allegedly coming on to him, it’s was clear he was not aware of the seriousness of his actions, which included sex with a student, fondling another and kissing yet another.
Given his attitude, a year in county jail does not seem an appropriate penalty for the crimes. Could the DA should have pushed a little harder for a plea bargain with a greater sentence while still keeping the victims off the witness stand?
We’ll never know. But after the sex-abuse guilty pleas of Thursday, we have to wonder if this sex offender is being treated way too leniently.
A unilateral cessation of fire approved by Israeli cabinet leaves Israel troops in Gaza
DEBKAfile Special Report
January 17, 2009, 11:15 PM (GMT+02:00)
The Israeli security cabinet in a special meeting Saturday night, Jan. 17, approved by a majority of 11 to 3 a unilateral cessation of fire in the Gaza Strip - but not quite an end to Operation Cast Lead just yet.
DEBKAfile: Israeli forces will hold to their positions in the Gaza Strip for a trial period counted in days to test Hamas' response. Meanwhile, Hamas promises to keep on fighting and shooting rockets, while neither Washington nor Cairo guarantee action to end the flow of weapons to Gaza.
As the cabinet voted, Hamas fired rockets against Ashdod and Ashkelon.
Sunday, a large group of European leaders from the UK, France, Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic descends on Jerusalem. DEBKAfile's sources report they are coming ostensibly to show the flag for Israel, but they will also be on hand to ascertain that the Israeli military quits the Gaza Strip – even without the operation's goals being met – and also that Israel opens the six Gaza crossings as demanded by Hamas.
The plan the European leaders have developed with Egypt provides a $1.6 billion aid package for the Gaza Strip's reconstruction.
The millions of tons of cement and supplies will be shipped to Israeli ports and delivered through the Gaza crossings over a period of years. Israel, they believe, will not be able to refuse to reopen the crossings, thereby bringing its embargo of the Gaza Strip to an end.
Israel once again starts a job and leaves it unfinished. This is another band-aid on top of many others. No knockout punch. No Gilad Shalit. And definitely no peace in the near future.
"We will honor our cease-fire as we said last night and will only act to defend ourselves if we see Hamas provocation," the spokesman, Mark Regev, said in response to the Hamas cease-fire announcement.
"We the Palestinian resistance factions declare a cease-fire from our side in Gaza and we confirm our stance that the enemy's troops must withdraw from Gaza within a week," Abu Marzouk said.
"I've been told that the devils have left," said Riyadh Shahadeh, referring to the Israelis. "I'm going back to see how I'm going to start again. I don't know what happened to my house. ... I am going back there with a heart full of fear because I am not sure if the area is secure or not, but I have no other option."
"It's an offensive that ended without achieving its aims," Batya Katar said. "All the weapons went through Egypt. What's happened there?"
"The weapons will continue to come in through the tunnels and by sea," she said.
"Israel's (cease-fire) decision allows it to respond and renew fire at our enemies, the different terror organizations in the Gaza Strip, as long as they continue attacking," Olmert said at the start of the weekly Cabinet session.
"This morning some of them continued their fire, provoking what we had warned of," Olmert said. "This cease-fire is fragile and we must examine it minute by minute, hour by hour."
"The next few days will make clear if we are heading toward a cease-fire or the renewal of fighting."
"Urgent humanitarian access for the people of Gaza is the immediate priority."
Israel's cease-fire "is an important and necessary event but it's insufficient," said Abbas, Hamas' bitter rival and the top leader in the West Bank, the larger of the two Palestinian territories. "There should be a comprehensive Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a lifting of the siege and a reopening of crossings" to aid, he said, speaking from Egypt.
"Hamas has been infiltrated by the Israelis for a long time," one official told The Jerusalem Post. "Hamas is full of spies and corrupt people who are prepared to do anything in return for a few hundred shekels."
ATTENTION RABOSAI: LAST HOPE TO FREE POLLARD IS NOW!
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/01/prweb1877794.htm
White House Comment Lines Jammed with Calls for George W. Bush to Release Jonathan Pollard Now Before Leaving Office
White House phone lines have been jammed with requests for a presidential pardon for American spy Jonathan Pollard before George W. Bush leaves office. It is widely believed that Pollard received an usually harsh sentence for his crime of spying for an American ally. Five years after Pollard's conviction, Aldrich Ames was charged and convicted of the crimes that had been blamed on Pollard. In fact, while a CIA officer and analyst, Ames wrote the report that convinced Pollard's judge to sentence Pollard to life in prison. Yet 22 years later, Pollard remains in Federal prison.
Washington, DC (PRWEB) January 16, 2009 -- The White House has been flooded with calls from around the world asking for the release of Jonathan Pollard. Joseph Lerner, co-founder of Independent Media Review and Analysis (IMRA) reported his experience calling the White House phone lines...."I just called the White House and couldn't get through to the comments line. It has been busy for days. But I did get through to a general operator who told me that for the past 2 weeks the majority of calls they have been receiving have been on behalf of Jonathan Pollard; and the President is very aware of the fact that thousands of people around the world care about seeing him pardoned and freed. So I said to her tell him to act on it!"
"Be Blessed" says one of Israel's Chief Rabbis, if George W. Bush pardons Jonathan Pollard.
As quoted in Jerusalem Post, January 10, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, former Chief Rabbi of Israel, encouraged US President George W. Bush to free imprisoned Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. In a letter to the US president, Yosef wrote: "One of the most important mitzvoth (commandments) in Judaism is redeeming captives. At this opportune time, I offer my humble request on behalf of the Jews of Zion that Your Excellency release our brother, the prisoner Jonathan Pollard, who is serving a sentence for spying on behalf of the State of Israel. His health is deteriorating. Please answer my request affirmatively and you will be blessed from the heavens," continued the letter. "The creator of the world who has accompanied you in your struggle to achieve world peace will grant you mercy and grace for many days and years of long life."
Rabbi Mendel Katz, who has specialized in work with Jewish prisoners though out the United States stated, "Pollard is being treated differently than another person in the judicial system accused of a similar crime." When asked about the possibility of a presidential pardon, Katz said, "One must stand up for what is right regardless of how politically correct it is. We have to be able to sleep at night."
22 Legislators Throughout NYC Appeal To President Bush For Pollard Pardon
In the waning hours of George W. Bush's presidency, Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn), in conjunction with 21 of his legislative colleagues throughout New York City, today affixed their signatures to a letter sent to President Bush beseeching him for a pardon for Jonathan Pollard. The legislators' letter states in part, "As elected officials representing diverse constituencies throughout New York City, we write to you concerning a grave injustice which can only be made right by you. With the end of your presidency drawing near, we ask for your clemency on behalf of Mr. Jonathan Pollard in the form of a presidential pardon. While we in no way condone his acts of espionage, nor underestimate the gravity of Mr. Pollard's crime, the lifetime sentence imposed on Mr. Pollard is unduly severe and inconsistent with the sentences awarded to other Americans convicted of similar offenses. We believe after more than two decades, any knowledge Mr. Pollard possessed no longer poses a danger to national security, and considering the exceptional circumstances surrounding his case, he has long since paid his debt to society."
Pollard was seemingly blamed in 1986 for damage to American Intelligence agents later found to be the work of convicted spy Aldrich Ames in 1991.
Pollard was sentenced to life in prison on one count of espionage on March 4, 1987. The prosecutor complied with the plea agreement and asked for "only a substantial number of years in prison". However, Judge Aubrey Robinson, Jr. imposed the life sentence after hearing the statements of then Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger and the Director of Central Intelligence. Before sentencing, Secretary Weinberger delivered a 46-page classified memorandum to the sentencing judge. Many speculate that the Weinberger memorandum outlined treasonous activities by Pollard, due to the overwhelming assertion by U.S. defense and intelligence officials that Pollard should stay imprisoned for life. Pollard never faced treason charges however. Ames blamed Pollard for the execution of at least 10 American agents in the Soviet government. Only the most reliable information emanating from a highly-placed mole in American intelligence could have induced the Soviets to eliminate these people.Yet It was actually Ames, according to the FBI, who was responsible for all these deaths.
According to The Jerusalem Post in September 28, 1994 "With Soviet help, Ames managed to divert attention from his own betrayal by pointing a finger at Pollard as the source of information which fell into Soviet hands. According to this disinformation, the secrets Pollard gave Israel were transferred to the KGB by Soviet spies in the Israeli government. It was thus that senior administration officials were persuaded the damage Pollard did to the US was of monstrous proportions. And it was for this reason they strenuously opposed a presidential pardon for a man who was sentenced to life in prison though he never betrayed US secrets to America's enemies".
More evidence Master Spy Aldrich Ames, years before his capture, pointed the finger at Pollard to avoid his own capture
As reported in the FORWARD, Washington - December 11, 1998 by Seth Gitell "'With the White House engaged in a review of whether Jonathan Pollard should be released, a former staff member of the Senate Intelligence Committee is blaming convicted spy Aldrich Ames for giving Pollard a bad rap. The former staffer, Angelo Codevilla, is joining a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dennis DeConcini, in calling for Pollard's release. The men are challenging the bulk of the intelligence establishment, which favors keeping Pollard in prison. Mr. Codevilla's call for the release of Pollard comes amid a flurry of intelligence activity around the case. These people don't know anything about the intelligence business." Central to Mr. Codevilla's thesis is that Pollard is being wrongly blamed for the deaths of American operatives in the former Soviet Union. "Some of the accusations involve the lost of agents in Russia. Those losses were later attributed, and rightly so, to Aldrich Ames," Mr. Codevilla said. "It is significant that the man who wrote the damage report on Jonathan Pollard was none other than Aldrich Ames himself."
Even Weinberger, before his death agreed Pollard's done his time.
According to David Twersky as published in The Forward (NY), January 29, 1993," President Reagan's former defense secretary, Caspar Weinberger, had quietly removed his objections to executive commutation for the American Jew who is serving a life sentence for spying for Israel. Mr. Weinberger's word that he would not object to commutation was passed during a last-ditch effort to win clemency from President H.W. Bush. The clemency plea was made by Leonard Garment, the former Nixon White House counsel, who met with the White House counsel, C. Boyden Gray during the waning days of the Bush administration. Years earlier, a letter from Weinberger, then-Defense Secretary to President Reagan to the sentencing judge in the case, Aubrey Robinson, is widely thought to have brought down a life sentence in the Pollard case, even though the United States had agreed not to seek one. Mr. Weinberger was himself recently pardoned by Mr. Bush for his alleged perjury in the Iran - Contra affair."
Jonathan Jay Pollard is a convicted Israeli spy and a former United States Naval civilian intelligence analyst. Pollard waived the right to trial as part of a plea deal for himself and pleaded guilty and was convicted on one count of spying for Israel. He received a life sentence in 1987 with a recommendation against parole. He was incarcerated at the federal penitentiary in Marion, Illinois in solitary confinement for seven years, then transferred to Bunter Federal Correctional Institution in North Carolina. Israel granted Pollard citizenship in 1995 but publicly denied that he was an Israeli spy until 1998. The sentence was appealed because Pollard's cooperation had been encouraged with a promise of leniency which was not granted by the court. (Judges are not obligated to follow recommendations of prosecutors.) But in 1992, the U.S. Court of Appeals (on a 2-1 vote) upheld the sentence. At the time of Pollard's sentencing there was a rule that mandated parole at thirty years for prisoners like him if they had maintained a clean record in prison. That parole date would be November 21, 2015.
To communicate with President George W. Bush before he leaves office January 20, 2009,
White House phones are no longer taking messages.
Instead,
Fax the White House at: 202-456-2461
or
Send email to comments(at)whitehouse.gov
.
Links for more information on organizations that support Pollard's release::
www.jonathanpollard.org/
www.freepollardnow.com
Contact: Michael Rose
Center for Release and Pardon
1000 Colubine Drive
Frederick, MD 21701
352-376-8173
309-420-1107 (fax)
Email: rosefouryou (at) cs.com
###
Contact Information
MICHAEL ROSE
Center for Pardon and Release
http://www.freepollardnow.com
352-376-8173
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http://www.malesurvivor.org/myths.html
Adapted from a presentation at the 5th International Conference on Incest and Related Problems, Biel, Switzerland, August 14, 1991.
Myth #1 - Boys and men can't be victims.
This myth, instilled through masculine gender socialization and sometimes referred to as the "macho image," declares that males, even young boys, are not supposed to be victims or even vulnerable. We learn very early that males should be able to protect themselves. In truth, boys are children - weaker and more vulnerable than their perpetrators - who cannot really fight back. Why? The perpetrator has greater size, strength, and knowledge. This power is exercised from a position of authority, using resources such as money or other bribes, or outright threats - whatever advantage can be taken to use a child for sexual purposes.
Myth #2 - Most sexual abuse of boys is perpetrated by homosexual males.
Pedophiles who molest boys are not expressing a homosexual orientation any more than pedophiles who molest girls are practicing heterosexual behaviors. While many child molesters have gender and/or age preferences, of those who seek out boys, the vast majority are not homosexual. They are pedophiles.
Myth #3 - If a boy experiences sexual arousal or orgasm from abuse, this means he was a willing participant or enjoyed it.
In reality, males can respond physically to stimulation (get an erection) even in traumatic or painful sexual situations. Therapists who work with sexual offenders know that one way a perpetrator can maintain secrecy is to label the child's sexual response as an indication of his willingness to participate. "You liked it, you wanted it," they'll say. Many survivors feel guilt and shame because they experienced physical arousal while being abused. Physical (and visual or auditory) stimulation is likely to happen in a sexual situation. It does not mean that the child wanted the experience or understood what it meant at the time.
Myth #4 - Boys are less traumatized by the abuse experience than girls.
While some studies have found males to be less negatively affected, more studies show that long term effects are quite damaging for either sex. Males may be more damaged by society's refusal or reluctance to accept their victimization, and by their resultant belief that they must "tough it out" in silence.
Myth #5 - Boys abused by males are or will become homosexual.
While there are different theories about how the sexual orientation develops, experts in the human sexuality field do not believe that premature sexual experiences play a significant role in late adolescent or adult sexual orientation. It is unlikely that someone can make another person a homosexual or heterosexual. Sexual orientation is a complex issue and there is no single answer or theory that explains why someone identifies himself as homosexual, heterosexual or bi-sexual. Whether perpetrated by older males or females, boys' or girls' premature sexual experiences are damaging in many ways, including confusion about one's sexual identity and orientation.
Many boys who have been abused by males erroneously believe that something about them sexually attracts males, and that this may mean they are homosexual or effeminate. Again, not true. Pedophiles who are attracted to boys will admit that the lack of body hair and adult sexual features turns them on. The pedophile's inability to develop and maintain a healthy adult sexual relationship is the problem - not the physical features of a sexually immature boy.
Myth #6 - The "Vampire Syndrome"Ñthat is, boys who are sexually abused, like the victims of Count Dracula, go on to "bite" or sexually abuse others.
This myth is especially dangerous because it can create a terrible stigma for the child, that he is destined to become an offender. Boys might be treated as potential perpetrators rather than victims who need help. While it is true that most perpetrators have histories of sexual abuse, it is NOT true that most victims go on to become perpetrators. Research by Jane Gilgun, Judith Becker and John Hunter found a primary difference between perpetrators who were sexually abused and sexually abused males who never perpetrated: non-perpetrators told about the abuse, and were believed and supported by significant people in their lives. Again, the majority of victims do not go on to become adolescent or adult perpetrators; and those who do perpetrate in adolescence usually don't perpetrate as adults if they get help when they are young.
Myth #7 - If the perpetrator is female, the boy or adolescent should consider himself fortunate to have been initiated into heterosexual activity.
In reality, premature or coerced sex, whether by a mother, aunt, older sister, baby-sitter or other female in a position of power over a boy, causes confusion at best, and rage, depression or other problems in more negative circumstances. To be used as a sexual object by a more powerful person, male or female, is always abusive and often damaging.
Believing these myths is dangerous and damaging.
* So long as society believes these myths, and teaches them to children from their earliest years, sexually abused males will be unlikely to get the recognition and help they need.
* So long as society believes these myths, sexually abused males will be more likely join the minority of survivors who perpetuate this suffering by abusing others.
* So long as boys or men who have been sexually abused believe these myths, they will feel ashamed and angry.
* And so long as sexually abused males believe these myths they reinforce the power of another devastating myth that all abused children struggle with: that it was their fault. It is never the fault of the child in a sexual situation - though perpetrators can be quite skilled at getting their victims to believe these myths and take on responsibility that is always and only their own.
For any male who has been sexually abused, becoming free of these myths is an essential part of the recovery process.
Did anybody witness actual penetration?
-
Warrenville man is under arrest for molestation
1/15/2009 1:34 AM
By KAREN DAILY Staff writer
A Warrenville man is in jail on allegations he sexually assaulted two boys at an Aiken County residence over the span of two years, assaulting the victims on a number of different occasions during that time frame, officials say.
Stacey O. Cooper, 35, of Warrenville is charged with criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 11, exposure of private parts in a lewd and lascivious manner and two counts of committing a lewd act on a child under 16.
A sheriff's office deputy said the two boys were siblings, but would not say how the accused child molester knew the two, saying it could potentially identify the victims.
Investigators said one child was under 11 and the other under 16.
A social worker in Summerville contacted deputies after one of the victims told her that the suspect would go into his room, fondle himself and then try to force the boy to perform sex acts on him.
The victim told the social worker the man attempted to touch him on a number of occasions.
He then disclosed that the suspect had been assaulting his brother as well, officials said.
Investigators said they learned the assaults occurred on a frequent basis, and at times wile the suspect was intoxicated.
The arrest warrants give detailed accounts of the alleged assaults, saying the time frame spanned from February 2004 through February 2006.
Cooper was arrested Tuesday and booked at the Aiken County detention center.
Contact Karen Daily at kdaily@aikenstandard.com
http://www.leader-vindicator.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20243523&BRD=2758&PAG=461&dept_id=572984&rfi=6
Most perpetrators of sexual assault are someone the family or child knows
DuBOIS - Despite the stereotypes of a stranger in a trench coat hanging around the playground, in more than 90 percent of sexual abuse cases, the child and the child's family know and trust the abuser.
"What we see and statistically what has been proven, is most of your perpetrators are someone the family or the child knows. They're somebody that knows your habits - who knows when you're not going to be home and when you're going to be home - so they can take advantage," Billie Jo Weyant, director of Citizens Against Physical, Sexual and Emotional Abuse, said. "That's why a lot of times kids are so afraid to tell. Even adults can be afraid to tell. You don't know what that person has threatened those children, young adults and adults."
Since most children seek approval from adults, they are vulnerable to abuse.
"The use of physical force is rarely necessary to draw a child into sexual activity. Offenders know this and take advantage of children in this way," Diane Kuntz, executive director of Prevention and Service for Sexual Assault through Guidance, Empowerment and Support, said. "They often groom children for sexual assault. The grooming process includes building trust, bestowing favors, alienating others, demanding secrecy and violating boundaries. Usually, sexual abuse begins gradually and then increases over time. It is rarely a one-time incident and often continues for years."
PASSAGES and CAPSEA have differing perspectives regarding the increase of services provided to child victims of sexual assault and their families.
PASSAGES was founded in 1980 as The Rape Crisis Center, and is dedicated to the provision of free and confidential services to the survivors of sexual assault throughout Clarion, Clearfield and Jefferson counties.
Kuntz said since 1995, the number of children seen at PASSAGES has nearly doubled, along with the number of service hours provided.
"In the past year, PASSAGES has provided 560 hours of services to 93 children," Kuntz said. "According to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, there were 4,562 substantiated cases of child sexual assaults in Pennsylvania in the 2005-06 fiscal year. In addition, sexual violence centers throughout the Commonwealth served 37,353 individuals. Of those served, 10,147 were child victims."
Even though these numbers may seem staggering, Kuntz said 88 percent of child sexual abuse is never reported to authorities and sexual assault is the violent crime least reported to law enforcement.
CAPSEA is committed to providing confidential service to victims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse in Elk and Cameron counties as well as to victims of all other serious crimes in Elk County.
Weyant said of the 1,708 new victims the organization provided assistance, accompaniment and transportation to between 2007 and 2008, the number involving child sexual assault fluctuates.
"Sexual violence and child sexual assault - this is something that is not going to go away in the next 10 years. On a positive note, me being here almost 19 years, I have seen many strides in the legal system, victims services," Weyant said. "Prevention is key. Adults have to educate themselves and children need to be made aware from day one with age appropriate information."
Weyant said when victims services, law enforcement, the judicial system and other agencies work together and share information, abuse is more likely to be noticed and more victims can be helped. She stressed that when agencies share information, they are not disclosing private information, but talking about the issues and how to help victims.
"There was a time when I first started when you said 'sexual assault' and people said 'that doesn't happen around here.' People wanted to just hide," Weyant said.
Kuntz agreed the "taboo" surrounding sexual assault is being progressively combated by increased awareness and education.
"Since 1995, the number of prevention/education programs provided in our service area has dramatically increased. In fiscal year 1994-95, PASSAGES provided 138 programs to 3,927 participants. In the 2007-08 fiscal year, Passages provided 785 programs to 15,438 of our area's youth," Kuntz said. "Talking about it is preventing it while assisting victims in coming forward. The more that people understand how common the problem really is, the easier it is to talk about. Thus, allowing victims to heal and helping to prevent sexual violence by raising awareness."
Weyant said in her 19 years of working in victims services, she has also seen an improvement in the way details surrounding child sexual abuse are reported by the media. As an example, she recalled a high profile case in the early 1990s.
"So much detail was given (in the local newspapers) - the little girl's name, street address, the mother's name was in it. It was horrible because those people no longer had a safe haven," Weyant said. "I think the press has improved greatly."
She said because of the press coverage, that trial had to be moved to another county in the eastern portion of the state. As a result, the family had to find their own means for travel, food and lodging.
In comparison, psychologist and Project Point of Light Director William Allenbaugh II said if too much detail about the crime is published, it has the potential to hurt the victim.
"From a victim's perspective, the concern I have with the graphic depictions are the problems it can create for victims. If victims are in grade school, middle school, high school, even though they aren't named, people quickly put two and two together," Allenbaugh said. "I think it creates another obstacle for them to overcome. Victims can survive, but it is a process, and it gets more complicated when other people are aware of what went on."
Project Point of Light was developed in 1986 as a joint effort of Clearfield and Jefferson counties' adult probation offices and the State Board of Parole in Altoona and Butler. It is an outcome-based program which targets adults and adolescents who experience difficulty as a result of inappropriate sexual behavior. Services are also available to victims and non-offending parents.
From a perpetrator's perspective, Allenbaugh said he doesn't know how the details of a crime would serve any purpose, especially since they are already provided by affidavit to those who are working with the offender.
"I would have concern with the vividness more so for the victim than the perp," Allenbaugh said.
The average age at which children are sexually abused is between 7 and 13.
Allenbaugh said the youngest children he has worked with in the past year were 5 year olds.
"Look for a major change in where they (a child) are at. We see kids a lot of times who are sexually abused who experiment with siblings, such as trying to perform oral sex on their sisters - beyond what should be known," Allenbaugh said. "It could also be that they are seeing porn at home, which in my opinion is another form of sexual abuse."
Sexual abuse is defined as any sexual act between an adult and a minor or between two minors where one exerts power over the other. Sexual abuse of children can include forcing, coercing or persuading a child to engage in sexual activity or to participate in non-contact acts like exhibitionism, exposure to pornography, voyeurism or talking sexually by phone or Internet.
Weyant said there are victim crisis centers in every county in Pennsylvania.
Once a victim discloses, he or she can call CAPSEA and a trained volunteer or staff member is available 24 hours for immediate crisis intervention.
One of the first concerns of the CAPSEA representative is to make sure the individual is safe and to assist in getting them medical attention or referrals to meet their other needs. CAPSEA volunteers and staff can also serve as accompaniment and support to the victim.
"We don't do anything that victim or survivor doesn't want us to do. We let that person take the lead," Weyant said. "Also, people who initially call us don't have to disclose their name. We can assist an anonymous call, and all of our services are free of charge."
Once the first response is handled, CAPSEA can also provide ongoing crisis, options and empowerment counseling and make referrals to other organizations and services.
PASSAGES also has a 24-hour hotline. The organization offers individual and group counseling, medical accompaniment, legal advocacy through the entire legal process, and other information, referral and educational programs.
Weyant has been involved in sexual assault education for many years.
"I tell people anytime someone discloses that they have been victimized, it is never the fault of the victim. Do not act shocked or act like you don't believe that person. If people don't know what to do or where to turn, please call us. That is what we're here for," Weyant said. "It is a horrendous thing to go through, but when that person is in need of help and can find there are people who aren't going to judge them and are going to be in their corner with them, I think that is such a boost to helping that healing process start."
When sexual assault occurs, if it is not dealt with, it can be like a contagion that plagues other areas in that victim's life and of society as a whole.
Weyant and Allenbaugh said many cases of sexual assault start when victims are children and go on into adulthood. Allenbaugh works with victims through victim witness, Children & Youth Services and self referral.
"I work with a lot of victims in their 50s who are now trying to deal with what happened to them as kids and never reported it because back in those days it was just something you didn't talk about," Allenbaugh said. "Women have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go."
An information packet from PASSAGES said early sexual victimization can result in life-long problems. The degree of trauma depends on age and personality of the child, the nature of the relationship between the child and offender, the nature and duration of the abuse, and the way disclosure is handled, especially the degree of support a family offers.
Allenbaugh added that with older adults who have been sexually abused, some of the signs may be substance abuse, becoming obese as a way to avoid becoming close with people, lack of trust, depersonalization and lack of self esteem. Prostitution, delinquency, suicide, depression and sexual fears and dysfunction are also often associated with early and long-term abuse.
A pattern of victimization can continue into future generations. Women abused as children sometimes marry men who will abuse their children. Men abused as children may continue the cycle of victimization as abusers.
"There is no simple checklist I know of (to be able to realize someone is being sexually abused). You have to look at the individual because there are so many different variables that can occur," Allenbaugh said. "The younger you catch it, the better."
---
Reported by Katie Weidenboerner, Tri-County Sunday. Email: katiew@thecourierexpress.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYb5PWW3xiY
Militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza fired salvoes of rockets into southern Israel on Sunday, defying a unilateral cease-fire called by Israel. (Jan. 18)
Barack Obama's choice of clergy is an honorable one.
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/features/faith/story/394443.html
Muslim woman, rabbis to pray at inaugural service
British Jews attacked for pro-Gaza solidarity
By Emily Dugan
Sunday, 18 January 2009
British Jews have been attacked for expressing support for Palestinians suffering under Israeli military strikes in Gaza. Police confirmed yesterday that they have provided protection to a number of people believed to be victims of UK-based Zionist extremists angered by expressions of solidarity with Palestinians.
Israel's assault on Gaza has prompted a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in Britain, with more than 150 incidents reported by the Community Security Trust (CST), an organisation for the protection of Jews. But the past two weeks have also seen aggression within the Jewish community towards those sympathetic to the plight of Gaza.
Rabbi Elchenon Beck, 39, was among six rabbis expressing support for Gaza's Palestinians who were set upon by a gang of what they allege were Zionists while walking back from opposing rallies outside the Israeli Embassy on 6 January. "They were shouting and pushed someone to the floor, so we called the police," Rabbi Beck said. "All the time they are trying to intimidate us, but we get used to it."
Rabbi Aharon Cohen, a Palestinian sympathiser and member of the anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta, had his letter box destroyed by a powerful firework after attending the peace march in Manchester this month.
Mark Gardner, of the CST, said it had not kept records of attacks within the Jewish community, but condemned those using the situation in Israel to justify violence in Britain.
"There's passionate political debate," he said, "but what's vitally important is that it does not spill over so that we become participants in a war by proxy."
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/88234
Protesting Against Israel or Actually Hating Jews?
Richard L. Cravatts Ph.D.
January 18, 2009
The anti-Israel demonstration of some 200 to 300 people outside the Ft. Lauderdale courthouse on December 30th , which took place on the same day in other major American and European cities, gave Palestinian supporters yet another excuse to decry Israel: this time because of its recent incursions into Gaza to counter strike Hamas personnel and infrastructure, and the Jewish state´s attempt to stop the barrages of 6300 rockets that have rained down on southern Israel since 2005.
The members of A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition: Act Now to Stop War & End Racism and the Muslim American Society who attended Tuesday´s demonstration apparently were not sufficiently concerned when rockets and mortars were launched almost daily into Israel from Gaza by Hamas, aimed at civilian targets for no other reason than the intended victims were Jews. Once Israel retaliated with targeted strikes against Hamas, however, and some 400 Palestinians were killed (most of whom were Hamas terrorists), civilian casualties were immediately elevated by Israel´s worldwide critics to "crimes against humanity," "genocide," and "disproportionate" responses.
What was particularly revealing, and chilling, about the Ft. Lauderdale demonstration was the virulence of the chants and messages on the placards, much of it seeming to suggest that more sinister hatreds and feelings—over and above concern for the current military operations—were simmering slightly below the surface. Several of the protestors, for instance, carried signs saying "Nuke Israel," a sentiment that was also shouted out to pro-Israel counter-demonstrators standing across the street.
Now the notion of using of a nuclear device to eliminate Israel and thereby attempting to kill its roughly 5 million Jews is not a unique one, since words to that effect are regularly uttered, among others, by Iran´s raving president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who dreams of such apocalyptic final solutions. What is unique is the morally-defective logic that would enable someone to justify a second Holocaust, the mass murder of Jews, on the basis of Israel having defended itself from years of rocket attacks and having killed several hundred murderous terrorists in the process. Making the Middle East free of Jews, Judenfrein, is exactly what Hamas, the group of murderous thugs being cheered on by the demonstrators here, ardently longs for; Hamas´ charter, in fact, expresses as one of its core tenets that Israel should be eliminated, that "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."
Other protestors were less overt in their angry protestations, carrying signs and shouting out the oft-heard slogan, "Free Palestine," or, as it is generally expressed when the odious messenger has sufficient time and space, "Palestine will be free, from the river to the sea." That phrase suggests the same situation that the nuclear option would help bring about, namely that if "Palestine" is "liberated," is free, there will of course be no Israel between the Jordan River and Mediterranean, and no Jews.
So the careless talk about the so-called "occupation" of the West Bank and previously of Gaza, or disputes over the 1967 borders, or the division of Jerusalem, or the construction of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria is obviously all meaningless, merely a smokescreen put up by the enemies of Israel to disguise the fact that they have no intention of living peacefully in their own state beside a Jewish one because they have no intention of letting the Jewish one exist. Hamas´ charter announces quite clearly "that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up."
The most frightening incident during the demonstration, caught on video tape by Tom Trento, director of the Florida Security Council, and one which reveals the actual nature of the naked hatred of the pro-Hamas demonstrators, involved a Muslim-American woman in headscarf who was taunting the (presumably) Jewish counter-protestors across the street. She first screams that someone´s "mother is a whore," but finding that a little ineffective she then reaches for something that captures the particularity of the event and screams, "Go back to the ovens. You need a big oven. That´s what you need," suggesting, in a rather insensitive way, that if Hamas is not able to eliminate Jews in the Middle East successfully, wouldn´t it be convenient to be able to ship Jews back to the crematoria of the Nazi´s Final Solution?
This demonstrator´s ugly and revealing comments expose what many have thought of Israel´s most virulent critics for some time—that if you scratch the surface of an Israel-hater long enough, you will eventually find a Jew-hater lurking below. Even critics of Israel as odious as Ahmadinejad never publicly admit that they despise Jews. He merely loathes the "Zionist regime." The argument always goes something like this: it´s not that they hate Jews; it´s only Zionism or Israeli policies they abhor.
So the British university lecturers union can call for boycotts of Israeli academics because of Zionist policies; or two American professors can write about an ominous "Israel Lobby" while they actually question the motives, and loyalty, or American Jews; or a former American president can accuse Israel of "apartheid" as opposed to peace; or Arab states and the UN can continually denounce the alleged ongoing "ethnic cleansing" or "genocide" of the Palestinians at the hands of the brutal Zionist regime; and all of them can escape what should be painfully obvious: that they despise and want to dismantle Israel not because its policies or actions are so beyond acceptable standards of nationhood, but precisely because Israel is, and always will be, the Jew among nations.
Why will no president pardon me?
--------------------------------
WASHINGTON – In his final acts of clemency, President George W. Bush on Monday commuted the prison sentences of two former U.S. Border Patrol agents whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer ignited fierce debate about illegal immigration.
MORE than FIFTY cases of child sex abuse are reported to police every day, shock statistics reveal today.
And experts warn the figure could be only the tip of the iceberg.
The level of abuse, revealing 20,758 complaints of offences against children in 2007, was uncovered by the NSPCC in a Freedom of Information request to all 43 police forces in England and Wales. Only Greater Manchester failed to respond — but figures from the others showed that a quarter of victims were aged ten or younger.
More than 800 offences involved children up to age four. In 163 cases, the kids were two and under.
The offences against under-18s included rape, gross indecency and incest. There were six times more girl victims than boys.
Yet experts say the recorded figures don’t reflect the true scale of child abuse.
The NSPCC’s Phillip Noyes said: “These figures are shocking. It’s a grim picture — but this is only a snapshot.
Suffering
“Our research shows many more abused children’s suffering never comes to light.”
Home Office data on all sexual offences shows 53,540 were recorded that year.
No separate information is given on the level of child abuse — even though police keep the figures.
Mr Noyes added: “If we’re able to get these details every year, it will build a more accurate picture and we can make more efforts to protect children.”
To its shame, Greater Manchester refused to provide the information because it would have taken more than 18 hours and cost more than £450 to compile.
GMP’s Chief Superintendent Mark Robinson said: “There is no mandatory requirement for forces to comply.”
m.sullivan@the-sun.co.uk
Rubashkin attorney Guy Cook said Saturday in an e-mail to The Associated Press that Rubashkin's defense team would be presenting witnesses to back up claims that Rubashkin was not a flight risk.
Cortney Love's attack on Jews is preposterous. How dare she insinuate that money is the essence of each and everyone of us. Does she get such an impression based on the way we cover-up rabbi on-boy child molestation?
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01162009/gossip/pagesix/loves_anti_semitic_ravings_150395.htm
"We are still ready and capable of firing more rockets. We are developing the range of our rockets and the enemy will face more, and our rockets will hit new targets, God willing," said Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas' military wing.
"We reserve the right to act in Gaza," Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Israeli television. "If they lift up their heads and shoot, we will return with great force because that is what you do against terror organizations."
Doesn't sound that bad. Tranquility Bay and Isaac Hersh deserved each other.
In this case too, the abuse was justified because no parent would use 2-by-4 boards, metal pipes, plastic pipes, plastic spoons and whips unless the kids deserved it.
----------------------------------
Two of the older sons disclosed the abuse to Salem Rabbi Avrohom Perlstein, who notified authorities, as well as a leader at the temple, Les Gutfreund.
"Something was off," Perlstein said during his testimony. He said he'd often ask his wife after spending time with the family if she noticed anything amiss, because "they seemed so normal."
In June, the injuries observed on the children were described in a report by Marion County Sheriff's Detective Martin Bennett: "below the ear, red in color and swollen, about the size of a person's hand."
'Something out of a horror story'
The list of weapons used to beat the children was repeated continually during trial: 2-by-4 boards, metal pipes, plastic pipes, plastic spoons and whips. A heavy, three-foot-long metal pipe and a fiberglass segment of a tent pole — long, thin and with a knotted elastic cord dangling from one end — was shown to the jury as evidence.
Sometimes, the children said, the beatings would revolve around the moods of their parents.
In her opening statement to the jury, Marion County prosecutor Sarah Morris described the children's home life as "something out of a horror story."
Gaza war's outcome determined in first 4 minutes
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
January 19, 2009, 9:12 PM (GMT+02:00)
The Israel air force demolished two key Hamas war systems in the first 4 minutes of its massive offensive on Gaza Saturday morning, Dec. 27, DEBKAfile's military sources report. The bombers destroyed six mosques in Gaza City which held the terrorists' biggest weapons arsenals and scores of "beehives" containing launchers primed for the simultaneous, automatic release of hundreds of powerful rockets against Israeli cities.
These launchers were rigged for precision-targeting in Israeli town centers. They were operated by a unit of 300 special Hamas operatives trained for their mission at a Syrian military bases under the instruction of Hizballah rocket specialists.
The aerial offensive knocked out 80 percent of the rockets Hamas had prepared to launch and saved Israel's southern cities. The Palestinian Islamists were left only with inferior projectiles. Therefore, 98 percent of the hundreds of missiles they managed to fire in the 22-day war missed their targets and exploded in open ground.
Answering questions about the extreme destruction wrought in Gaza and the high number of casualties – more than 1,300 - Israel commanders described combat conditions as the most complicated they had ever faced: Every second apartment building was booby-trapped and every third building concealed arms caches. Weapons were concealed under children's beds and in basements. Inside of fighting out in the open, Hamas gunmen by and large avoided engaging Israeli troops, relying on these death traps.
Monday, Jan. 19, the second day of the ceasefire, the second-echelon of the Hamas leadership emerged from their fortified bunkers after three weeks underground, claiming they had vanquished the Israeli enemy. The top leaders remained invisible. The homeless people picking their way through the rubble for their broken possessions were not exactly welcoming.
One of the reasons many go off the derech is because of those who failed them. For example: A child is touched by his rebbe and no one wants to get involved or believe it really happened. Or another guy wants to be loved and he is shunned by "Frum" people who always put him down because he wears jeans and a kipah srugah. Why the hostility? This just a tip of the iceberg. These two situations happened to individuals who I know and i blame the Rabbis who just watched silently and refused to get involved when they cried for help.
Anyone want to go to the woods with me? I have nothing to do on Wednesday. Let's go catch us some Quail:
SNL: Dick Cheney's Exit Interview With Diane Sawyer (VIDEO)
"Saturday Night Live" opened with Diane Sawyer interviewing outgoing VP Dicky Cheney. No matter what he's asked, Cheney regrets nothing.
Starting with topics like Iraq, Sawyer (Kristen Wiig) asks Cheney (Darrell Hammond) increasingly irrelevant, sympathetic questions. Cheney answers every question with a negative.
Sawyer: "We recently learned that my assistant has separated from her husband. Isn't that regrettable?
Cheney: "In my opinion, no."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsGPI_t-wko
Eilat IDF Special Forces Unit
I must respond to Carolyn Clark's Saturday letter to the editor headlined "Israel bears some blame in Gaza." In addition to disregarding an obvious point - Israel's right to defend its citizens against Hamas' constant rocket attacks from the south - Clark's piece reflects a total ignorance of Middle East history.
She recklessly states, "Palestinians are an occupied people and Israel is the occupier." From where does this come? In actuality, the West Bank and Gaza - which some erroneously call "occupied territory" - were part of a Jewish state since the time of David and Solomon in biblical days. It continued to be part of Greater Israel during the British Mandate over Israel from 1920 to 1948.
After the Arabs gained control of these areas in the War of 1948, Israel regained its charge of them in the Six-Day War of 1967. Since then, it has attempted to relinquish them in negotiation (as it did with Gaza in 2005). How on earth does one call Israel an occupier?
Clark has every right to submit a letter about this conflict. But she should know the history before she does it.
Rabbi Ronald D. Gerson
• Rabbi Ronald D. Gerson serves Congregation Children of Israel in Athens-Clarke County.
Hamas is a filthy terrorist organization who would like the world to believe they were victorious when in reality they got their butts kicked
________________________________________
Although Israel scored a decisive battleground victory, Hamas claims its own triumph because it managed to withstand the intense Israeli assault and fired hundreds of rockets into the Jewish state throughout the fighting.
Thousands of Hamas supporters turned out to celebrate in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, raising their forefingers in the air as a sign of loyalty to the militant group, and waving the movement's iconic green flag. Bearded organizers in yellow vests kept the crowd in order and pro-Hamas music blared from loudspeakers.
Around 800 people showed up for a pro-Hamas demonstration in the northern Gazan town of Beit Lahiya, the site of heavy fighting.
"For us, this was a victory," said Mohammed Abu Awad, 24, a university student.
But the owner of a coffee stand near the Gaza City rally criticized the festivities.
"We can't talk about real victory because there were thousands of martyrs and we didn't liberate anything," said Jawdat Abu Nahel. "It's no time for a parade."
Israelis, Palestinians hand Obama first challenge
The Associated Press
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
JERUSALEM: It's only inauguration day, but Israelis and Palestinians have already handed President Barack Obama his first international powder keg.
In Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, people are now waiting to see how the new U.S. leader handles it with differing degrees of cynicism, suspicion and hope.
Seemingly timing its withdrawal to Tuesday's inauguration, Israel has already pulled most of its troops out of the ravaged Gaza Strip after a deadly three-week offensive aimed at halting years of militant rocket fire. But the crisis is not over, with reports of shooting along the border, and with Israeli soldiers poised to resume the assault if Gaza militants break a fragile two-day-old cease-fire.
As Americans gathered in Washington, D.C, to celebrate the beginning of Obama's term, Gazans continued to pull their dead from the rubble. Across the region, rage at Israel has grown with a Palestinian death toll that Gaza health officials and the U.N. say has inched over 1,300, at least half of them civilians. Thirteen Israelis were also killed during the offensive.
Palestinians largely see the U.S. as tilted unfairly toward Israel, and many remain pessimistic about the new administration.
"I'm sure that it's going to be the same. I never get any hope from the American side that they will give any peace for the Palestinians," said Mohammed Jabri, a physician in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Some of Obama's views, like his stated willingness to talk to Iran, have suggested to some that U.S. policy could shift, as have more ephemeral differences like his family's ties to Islam and his race.
Others have pointed to his expressions of support for Israel and the strong Israel backers — his chief of staff and secretary of state, for example — he included in key jobs in his administration.
Obama promised to be involved in Middle East peacemaking "from day one," and he might have to deliver. Strong U.S. prodding will be necessary for a long-term arrangement to keep the peace in and around Gaza and to move Israelis and Palestinians closer to a peace agreement.
The front page of Yediot Ahronot, Israel's biggest daily newspaper, portrayed the grinning first couple over an English headline: "Good luck."
The internationally backed agreements hammered out over the past week to end the fighting remain vague, their crucial details apparently unresolved. Though Israel says it delivered a military drubbing, Hamas — which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization — is still in control of Gaza, has claimed victory and could emerge stronger.
Hedva Bar-Yohai, a 22-year-old supermarket employee in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, a favorite target for rockets from Gaza militants, said Obama would be jumping head first into the "sick bed" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"He's getting a pretty shabby inheritance," she said.
Unofficially, Israel's government has been concerned that Obama might take a more detached approach, especially in comparison to the unyielding support the country received from his predecessor. But the country was enthusiastically following the lead-up to the inauguration, which pushed the Gaza fighting off the front pages for the first time since the offensive began with a massive air bombardment on Dec. 27.
"We, in our little corner, in the Middle East, in Israel, are tensely waiting to see whether you will continue the tradition of American presidents of recent generations and will view us as allies, as your forward aircraft carrier in this bloody part of the world," read an editorial in Yediot Ahronot.
Some in the Gaza Strip hope Obama will be more supportive of the Palestinians. "We hope his arrival will bring good for our people. We are optimistic and we hope that he could show sympathy toward us, more than others," said Hani Saad, 58, a tailor in Gaza City.
In Ramallah, Palestinian political analyst Ghassan Khatib said Obama would certainly be an improvement.
"The current administration has been so damaging to the Middle East, things cannot be any worse," he said. "You can't exaggerate expectations, but the little things will make a difference."
Both sides might have to wait before the new president gets around to dealing with their problems.
Obama faces more pressing issues and is likely hoping that the tentative Gaza cease-fire struck over the weekend will hold and give his administration some breathing room, said David Ricci, a political scientist at Hebrew University and an expert on U.S. politics.
"The American economy is on his mind, and I'm sure he thinks that if we in the Middle East have lived with this for 60 years we can handle it for a little while longer," he said.
‘They didn’t have time to go’
IN HIS ADDRESS to the pro-Israel rally at the East Brunswick Jewish Center, Sael Abecassis outlined the trauma among children, including his own siblings, who are exposed to daily missile attacks in his native Sderot and the accompanying warning sirens that signal they have 15 seconds to find shelter.
Abecassis, 22, the oldest of four children, completed his military service in February as a sergeant major and is serving a year in New Jersey as an emissary of the Jewish Agency for Israel. His father is the assistant principal of a high school in Sderot.
He recalled six years ago when the siren went off as his cousin, Ela, was walking with a group of young people, including her brother Tamir, then 12.
“They didn’t have time to go” to the shelter, said Abecassis.
“As the Kassam hit, she jumped on her brother to save him,” he said. “She died after a week in the hospital.”
Abecassis lived only 50 yards away and ran to the scene after hearing the blast. The memory of what he saw haunts him to this day.
“Her brother kept screaming, ‘Ela, Ela, wake up,’” Abecassis said. “In three years in the army, I never saw anything like this.”
To drive home the point, Rabbi Bennett Miller of Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick, a frequent visitor to Sderot, asked the children attending the rally to count to 15 with him.
“Can you imagine there are children who have 15 seconds to get to safety, who can’t go to school, who can’t go outside and play — simply because they are Jews?” he asked.
5 years old is a good age. I wish they would have invited me to join.
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Cumberland woman charged with sex abuse of child
The Associated Press
7:19 PM EST, January 19, 2009
Allegany County investigators have charged a woman with taking part in the sexual abuse of a child from the time the boy was five years old.
Linda Sue Green, 53, of Cumberland was arrested today and charged with sex offenses, child abuse, perverted practice, second-degree assault, and contributing to the condition of a child. She is being held on $500,000 bond.
Last week, her husband, Kenneth Dow Green of Cumberland was arrested and charged with sex offense of a minor, child abuse and other sex offenses.
Authorities said Linda Green took part with her husband in the sexual contact with the youth from 1991 until 2008.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
DES MOINES (AP) -- Former Iowa kosher slaughterhouse manager Sholom Rubashkin has been named in a new 99-count federal indictment.
Rubashkin is already being held on federal charges of bank fraud, harboring illegal immigrants, document fraud and identity theft. The new indictment adds charges of money laundering and violating an order from the U.S. secretary of agriculture.
The indictment, filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, also names Rubashkin's company, Agriprocessors, and three co-defendants -- Brent Beebe, Hosam Amara and Zeev Levi -- who worked at the plant in Postville.
Rubashkin's attorney, Guy Cook of Des Moines, said Friday that Rubashkin denies all charges contained in the indictment. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office said a news release would be issued later in the day.
Charges against Rubashkin and others have followed a May 12 immigration raid at the plant that resulted in the arrest of 389 people. In addition to the federal charges against Rubashkin, Agriprocessors and top managers have been accused of violating state and federal laws dealing with child labor, wage requirements and safety rules. The company filed for bankruptcy protection and has been appointed a third-party overseer.
The indictment filed Thursday alleges that Rubashkin and the others conspired to hire illegal immigrants to work at the plant and helped them obtain false identification to hide their illegal work status.
Rubashkin and the others also are accused paying undocumented workers off the books and in cash to conceal their work at Agriprocessors. And in some cases, they were charged with placing workers on the payroll of a separate company, identified in court records as "H.E.," to hide the fact the workers were employed at Agriprocessors.
Rubashkin separately with the company is charged with 14 counts of bank fraud, and 41 counts of false statements and reports to a bank.
He also was charged with 10 counts of money laundering in which he is accused of conducting financial transactions involving proceeds from unlawful activity, knowing that the transactions were designed to conceal the source of the proceeds.
According to the indictment, Rubashkin and Agriprocessors caused checks from a third party to be deposited into an account at Decorah Bank and Trust Company.
Rubashkin also is named in 20 counts of willful violation of order of the secretary of agriculture. He is accused of ignoring cease and desist orders from the U.S. secretary of agriculture over the company's alleged failure to pay the full purchase price of livestock as required by law, and for failing to deposit checks issued in payment for livestock in the mail before the close of the next business day.
Rubashkin, who has pleaded not guilty to previous charges again him, has sought to be released from jail but a judge has rejected his request citing fears that might flee the country to Israel.
Prosecutors argued that Israel's "Law of Return" would make if difficult for Rubashkin to be returned to the U.S. to face charges, but Cook argued in an earlier hearing that Israel's law would allow him to return and that the focus on Israel and the threat of Rubashkin fleeing there amounts to anti-Semitism.
Amara, a manager on the poultry side of the plant, is named individually in one count of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. The indictment indicates that he moved to Israel in June 2008 to avoid prosecution.
http://webstar.postbulletin.com/agrinews/293606107506415.bsp
To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=86570
By Aaron Klein
WorldNetDaily
JERUSALEM – Wars are won or lost based on which side achieves its goals. In the case of Israel's three-week offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Jewish state made many impressive gains but largely failed to achieve its major objectives.
At the beginning of the conflict, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced two main goals for waging war on Hamas – to decisively smash the terrorist group's ability to attack Israel; and to stop Hamas' rocket attacks from Gaza aimed at nearby Jewish communities. Neither goal was met.
Olmert later announced a third goal – to change the situation on the ground so that Hamas will not be able to continue smuggling weapons into Gaza from neighboring Egypt. This goal is on the road to failure.
(Story continues below)
With regard to denting Hamas' capabilities, during the past 23 days, Israeli air strikes targeted both symbolic Hamas institutions, such as government buildings, and the group's military infrastructure, including rocket caches, police stations, explosives factories, and about 200 of an estimated 600 smuggling tunnels between Gaza and neighboring Egypt. Although the IDF will not confirm the percentage of Hamas' military infrastructure wiped out, defense sources said Hamas lost about 30 percent of its rockets and a sizable portion of its explosives development program.
But the sources said Hamas' estimated 6,000-man force trained in Hezbollah-like guerrilla tactics is still largely in place along with the majority of the group's underground bunkers. In addition, 60 percent of its rocket arsenal and most of its weapons caches are well-stored. Crucially, many components of Hamas' military wing are stored underground and remain safely tucked away.
The IDF only launched two portions of a planned, three-stage assault on Gaza. The first stage was Israel's continuing aerial bombardment of Hamas targets, which the terror group admits dented its government infrastructure and which Israeli sources said resulted in some damage to the group's military capabilities. The second stage began about two weeks ago, with some ground troops entering Gaza, taking up peripheral positions in central and northern Gaza and mounting some small offensives and special operations within Gaza City and select northern Gaza camps.
But defense sources say to deal a decisive blow to Hamas' ability to attack Israel, the IDF must embark on an extensive, large-scale ground operation that would clean out central and northern Gaza of Hamas' intact military wing. Now that a cease-fire has been announced, it seems Israel will not continue its offensive – meaning Hamas' military infrastructure is largely still intact.
Still, Israel destroyed so many Hamas buildings (the Israel Air Force almost ran out of targets), the group's ability to govern on the ground has been badly damaged, since it doesn't have many government compounds from which to rule. Hamas' government infrastructure, including office buildings, police headquarters, even financial institutions, was badly damaged. Hamas will find it difficult to immediately assume the kind of authority it boasted in Gaza starting in 2007, when Hamas seized control of the territory from the U.S.-backed Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel also scared into hiding some Hamas leaders with its eliminations of top Hamas members, including Siad Siam, the chief of Hamas' executive force, a Hezbollah-like guerrilla militia heavily involved in terrorism. But Hamas leaders are quite used to living under assassination threat. When the IDF fully withdraws, Hamas' military wing chiefs will come out from their shells. Some already have.
Olmert's stated goal of destroying Hamas' ability to rocket Israel fell short. This is obvious since Hamas fired an average of 33 rockets per day every day during the entire conflict, and reportedly shot at least 20 rockets and eight mortars since making its cease-fire declaration yesterday.
Hamas' rocket arsenal is depleted by about half, and many of its rocket factories were taken out by the IDF. Crucial to bleeding Hamas dry is for Israel to find a way to halt the rampant weapons smuggling from Egypt to Gaza. Indeed, this was one of Olmert's stated goals. But it will not be achieved.
Israel is negotiating an international monitoring mechanism it hopes will stop Hamas from smuggling weapons from neighboring Egypt into Gaza. But previous international monitors stationed along the Egypt-Gaza border fled their duty and repeatedly failed to stem Hamas' weapons smuggling. The monitors were stationed at the border following Israel's 2005 evacuation of the Gaza Strip.
Even if a beefed-up international force is established inside Gaza – and this is not the plan – it is not clear whether such a force would do its job. Currently, a 13,000-strong UNIFIL force in southern Lebanon has done little as the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia has rearmed in the area, many times in full view of the international troops, according to Israeli defense officials.
Meanwhile, Olmert today made some farcical claims, telling the Israeli media Hamas would find it difficult to continue smuggling weapons into Gaza and that the IDF controlled the northern Gaza Strip – the area from which most rockets are launched into the Jewish state. On the ground, the IDF does not control the entire northern Gaza, as clearly evidenced by Hamas' continued ability to fire rockets from that zone.
Hamas of course has declared "victory," which is overstating things. Hamas' "victory" was by default since its only goal was to survive the IDF beating. It achieved this not due to its might but because the IDF will not be launching the third stage of its attack, which would have devastated Hamas.
One real Hamas victory, though, is the international legitimacy the group received during the past few weeks. According to WND's Hamas sources, the group was in direct contact with Italy, France, the EU and U.N. representatives, many of whom, the sources said, expressed willingness to bring Hamas into the fold and out from isolation.
In the outcome of this war, a clear winner or loser cannot be determined. Both sides gained and lost. But if we are to judge based on which side achieved its objectives, Israel clearly did not win.
Hamas for now will probably scale back its rocket attacks against Israel, since it's in the group's best interests not to provoke any further IDF operations. But when the time is right and when its arsenal has been replenished, Hamas will resume its war to destroy the Jewish state.
Why do the Palestinians' (a name the Greeks gave the regiion 2000+ years ago) have less of a standard to live up to? Why is it when they commit these acts of horror, they are not called upon the table by the UN?
It is disgusting that anyone should condemn the Israeli's for defending themselves after countless years of bombing, blatant murder, suicide missions... all because they are 'impoverished'? Why don't they as Arrafat what he did with all the BILLIONS of Dollars he stole from them?
Peanut Problems For General Mills, Kellogg
Miriam Marcus, 01.20.09, 3:00 PM ET
There will be far fewer of those peanut butter snack crackers in lunch boxes across the United States now that the FDA and the CDC have found the source of a salmonella outbreak that has affected 43 states.
General Mills, Kellogg and other food makers may be facing costs amounting to millions of dollars as companies recall products made with peanut butter paste amid a salmonella outbreak that has killed at least six people and sickened more than 470 others across the country.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traced the outbreak to a Georgia plant owned by Peanut Corporation of America, a wholesale manufacturer of peanut products for distribution to institutions and food companies. Salmonella, a bacterium, is the most common cause of food poisoning in the U.S., causing diarrhea, cramping and fever.
The FDA and the CDC said the outbreak had only been found in peanut butter paste products so far, and that no peanut butters had been contaminated. The agencies added that consumers should avoid eating peanut butter products until the problem has been rectified.
Minneapolis-based General Mills is the latest company to make recalls, saying Monday it was recalling two flavors of snack bars that contain peanuts: Larabar Peanut Butter Cookie and JamFrakas Peanut Butter Blisscrisp. The company added that the recall did not affect any other products it makes.
Last Week, Kellogg recalled 16 products including several under its Keebler and Famous Amos brands. The company said Monday that federal authorities have confirmed that salmonella was found in a single package of its peanut butter crackers: Austin Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter, which has previously been recalled. Kellogg Chief Executive A. D. David Mackay said the company would evaluate its processes "to ensure we take necessary actions to reassure consumers and rebuild confidence in these products."
Additionally, Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products, a division of St. Louis-based Ralcorp Holdings, recalled several brands of peanut butter cookies it sells through Wal-Mart stores.
David Beal, a process industries consultant from North Carolina-based TBM Consulting, likened the recalls to incidents involving e.Coli-tainted spinach in 2006 and China's tainted milk scandal in 2008, and said they could potentially cost the companies involved millions of dollars. (See "Eat That Tomato!" and "FDA Seeks Root Of Spinach Problem.") Most food companies followed FDA guidelines, but had not implemented quality controls across their companies, he said. "They're doing what needs to be done, as opposed to what could be done," he said, noting that implementing tougher controls for ingredients and processes would ultimately cost less than the damages linked to the recalls.
Food companies involved in the peanut product recalls had mixed stock reactions Tuesday. Shares in General Mills were up 0.3%, or 16 cents, to $60.74, in early-afternoon trading; while Kellogg?s shares were up 1.7%, or 76 cents, to $45.39. Stock in Ralcorp, however, was down 2.2%, or $1.28, to $57.48.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this article.
"I hope all of you will remember what this campaign and hopefully this presidency is all about," Obama said. "It's about you, pitching in, working together, trying to get past our differences in order to create the kind of world we want to pass on to our children and America."
Eleventh child on way for 'rampant rabbi' with seven 'wives'
A man known as the "rampant rabbi" is awaiting the arrival of his eleventh child.
Philip Sharp, 48, already has seven “wives” - none of whom he has actually married - and ten children by four of them.
And Mr Sharp, a former rabbi at a Messianic Jewish synagogue in Hove, Sussex, will become a father for the eleventh time in September.
He claims that God told him he was an Old Testament king and should build his family to strengthen his religious faith.
He has created a harem of women, whom he declares to be his wives after they have slept with him.
Mr Sharp claims £800 a month in child benefits. He said the family was struggling with the cost of living and that his £60,000-a-year haulage firm had been hit by the recession.
"Each child makes things a little tighter, but I won't stop having kids," he told Closer magazine.
"We've had to make cutbacks and whenever another wife announces she's pregnant my initial reaction is always, 'How will we cope financially?'"
He said he expected to make further additions to his family, after the eleventh child is delivered by his latest wife Tracey, 42.
"After 15 kids I'm used to the process, but I still get emotional and excited about getting to know someone new," he said. "I don't think Tracey's baby will be the last.
"It's not up to me to decide how many children we have. With God's blessing there will be many more."
Worshippers arrested for rioting near rabbi's grave
Eight ultra-Orthodox men hurl items, break windows near Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai's tomb on Mount Meron in protest of site's renovation
Hagai Einav
The Safed Police arrested eight ultra-Orthodox men from Jerusalem early Tuesday on suspicion of rioting near Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai's tomb on Mount Meron in the Upper Galilee.
Safed Police Superintendent Amos Shimoni told Ynet, "The worshippers came, broke windows and hurled item. The eight men were arrested, and an initial investigation revealed that they were rioting in protest of changes taking place on the site as part of the place's regularization.
"We view any cases of strife and violence at the grave site with extreme severity, in this case as well," he said.
The police were expected to ask the Safed Magistrate's Court to extend the eight men's remand.
Several months ago, the High Court decided to establish an administration which would supervise the Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai grave site, headed by Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz.
The tomb attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. The Lag B'Omer celebration sees a record-high number of visitors, with more than half a million people arriving from Israel and abroad.
Last September, groups of worshippers clashed near the grave over the control of the site. In one case, two people were moderately injured in a squabble over the placing of peddling stands in the area.
Following the high number of brawls, Northern District Police Commander Major-General Shimon Koren decided about half a year ago to station regular forces at the grave site to break up any riots.
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/eisemann_moshe.html
CALL TO ACTION: Case of Rabbi Moshe Eisemann and Ner Israel Rabbinical College and High School
There have been serious allegations of clergy sexual abuse made against Rabbi Moshe Eisemann. The allegations against him include boys both under and over the age of 18. Due to confidentiality issues, the Baltimore Jewish Times could not disclose a great deal of the details in their September 1, 2007 article "When Whispers Get Louder", regarding Rabbi Eisemann.
Ner Israel Rabbinical College and many of the rabbonim in Baltimore refuse to handle this case appropriately. For these reasons The Awareness Center, Inc. is demanding the following:
1.
Rabbi Moshe Eisemann immediately be move off the campus of Ner Israel.
2.
Rabbi Eisemann cease teaching and or tutoring students in his home or else where.
3.
Rabbi Moshe Eisemann have absolutely no contact with children or male adults under the age of 40. (According to Jewish custom, forty is the age in which a man is considered mature enough to study Kabbalah and less likely be able to be sexually manipulated by an sexual predator).
4.
Rabbi Moshe Eisemann be immediately evaluated by a licensed mental health professional who specializes in sex offenders. The professional must be approved by The Awareness Center, Inc. to insure the professional is not biased nor associated with Ner Israel any other individual or organization.
5.
Artscroll/Mesorah publications cease and desist from publishing, selling or distributing any books created by Moshe Eisemann.
6.
All books written by Moshe Eisemann be banned by every yeshiva (seminaries) in the US and abroad.
7.
Rabbi Moshe Eisemann not be allowed to leave the United States.
8.
Ner Israel Rabbinical College finance a team of child abuse experts who will evaluate all past and present students of Rabbi Moshe Eisemann to determine if there are any more survivors. The team of experts will be approved by The Awareness Center to insure things are handled properly and appropriately.
Contact The Following:
Ner Israel Rabbinical College (and High School):
Phone: 410-484-7200
*
Rabbi Aharon Feldman - Rosh Yeshiva (Head of the School)
*
Rabbi Beryl Weisbord - Dean of Students
*
Rabbi Sheftel Neuberger - President
*
Rabbi Yaakov Hopfer - Shearith Yisrael (Glen Ave. Shul):
*
Phone: 410-466-3060 Fax: 410-367-9183
Artscroll/Mesorah Publications
Phone: 718-921-9000 Fax: 718-680-1875
*
Rabbi Nosson Scherman, the General Editor
*
Meir Zlotowitz - Founder of Artscroll Publications
“On the morning of September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked our Nation,” the Bush bio reads. “President Bush took unprecedented steps to protect our homeland and create a world free from terror. He was grateful for the service and sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform and their families. The President believed that by helping build free and prosperous societies, our Nation and our friends and allies can succeed in making America more secure and the world more peaceful.”
Do you believe I helped these soldiers? Even if not, isn't this a heartwarming story?
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/129532
Chief Rabbi Confirms Gaza Miracle Story
Tevet 24, 5769, 20 January 09 09:38
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) Former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, recovering from a life-threatening disease, prayed several times at the Tomb of the Biblical Matriarch Rachel before the recent war in Gaza. Informed that an “old woman” saved IDF soldiers’ lives in Gaza, he said, “Did she mention that I sent her?”
The story was first told by Rabbi Lazer Brody, a rabbi in Ashdod who “devotes his time to spreading faith around the globe via Breslov Israel and the Emuna Outreach organization” that he founded. Rabbi Brody told Israel National News that he receives many phone calls in the framework of his work – including a particularly noteworthy one about two weeks ago. “The caller, an Israeli man, was clearly knowledgeable about how IDF infantry troops operate,” the rabbi and former IDF special-unit veteran said, “and this is what he told me:”
‘My son is in the Givati Brigade, and his unit’s job is to clean out areas around Gaza City. Outside one house, a woman dressed in black appeared and started yelling at them in Arabic, ‘Ruchu min hon – Get out of here! It’s dangerous!’ The troops thought she might be trying to protect her family, but they didn’t want to take chances; the company commander called the regiment commander, and they went on to their next target. There, too, the same woman appeared and gave the same warning. The soldiers thought she probably came somehow through the tunnel network that Hamas had set up between houses, and one of the soldiers even yelled at her… Then they went to a third house – and the same woman appeared again. This time, all the soldiers froze.
‘The soldiers then hooked up with a Golani Engineering force whose job it was to blow up houses that were found to be booby-trapped. My son’s unit asked them to check these three houses – and they found that all three of the houses that the woman had warned them away from had been booby-trapped.”
The story did not receive high-level confirmation, though it made the ranks of the rumor mills - and many dismissed it as just that. Then, on Monday night of this week, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Tzfat and son of former Chief Rabbi of Israel Mordechai Eliyahu, was teaching students in Machon Meir in Jerusalem about the sublime level of soldiers fighting on behalf of Israel. In this connection, he said:
“There are soldiers who have been telling that in some places where they went in, there was a woman who told them not to enter certain buildings because they were booby-trapped, and that she said her name was Rachel... I asked a certain Yeshiva dean about this story, and he told me that it wasn’t a ‘made-up story,’ but that he actually knew one of the soldiers involved, and he told me his name.
Click here to hear Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu telling the story in Hebrew
"Then the Yeshiva dean asked me if it was in any way connected with the fact that my father, Rabbi [Mordechai] Eliyahu, had left the hospital before the war and went to pray not once, not twice, but three times at Rachel’s Tomb, and went nowhere else to pray? I told him I didn’t know, but that I would ask.
“In truth, I was a little bit afraid to ask him, because he usually dismisses these kinds of stories… But I decided to go, and I asked him, ‘Do you remember that you told us one time about Rabbi Shalom Mutzafi, of blessed memory, during World War II, when the Germans seemed about to enter the Holy Land, and he prayed at Kever Rachel against the decree, and he said that he actually saw Rachel praying. [My father] said yes, he remembers.
“So I told him about this story that I had heard, and I asked him, ‘Should we believe it? Is it truth?’ And he said, 'Yes, it’s true.’ I asked him to explain, and he said - in these words: 'I told her: Rachel, a war is on! Don’t withhold your voice from crying [based on Jeremiah 31,14-16]! Go before G-d, and pray for the soldiers, who are sacrificing themselves for the Nation of Israel, that they should strike - and not be stricken.'
"I told him, “Well, you should know that she really did that.” So he asked, “Did she mention that I sent her?”
“Everyone should then make his own calculation,” Rabbi Eliyahu the son then continued. “If this is the great level of the soldiers, and if this is the great power of prayer, then how can anyone say anything against them?...”
Hi all. It is an honor to be appointed to secretary of State. On my agenda is kissing Suah Arafat and accepting bribes from the New Square community with the blessings of the Skverer rabbe.
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By a 94-2 vote, the Senate this afternoon confirmed former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's nomination to be the next secretary of State.
That means Clinton, a Democratic senator from New York, will soon officially be giving up her seat in that chamber.
Here's how our post began, at 3:45 p.m. ET:
On the floor of the Senate a moment ago, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., said he expects a vote on the confirmation of former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to be secretary of State will happen around 4 p.m. ET.
Clinton was not included in the group of new Cabinet secretaries who were confirmed by voice vote last week because some Republicans -- led by Sen. John Cornyn of Texas -- wanted to air concerns about potential conflicts of interest raised by former president Bill Clinton's international foundation.
Kerry said the vote today will be by roll call.
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