San Diego Jewish World~July 10

Syria threatening guerrilla warfare against Israel

By Shoshana Bryen

WASHINGTON, D.C (JINSA)—Syria, under pressure from the UN Tribunal investigating the murder of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and under additional UN (plus Lebanese, French and American) pressure to halt the flow of weapons and fighters into Lebanon and Iraq, has issued two sets of warnings: to the south and to the west. To Israel and to Lebanon.

A Ba'ath official told The New York Sun, "If Israel doesn't vacate the strategic Golan Heights before September, Syrian guerillas will immediately launch 'resistance operations' ... Damascus is preparing for Israeli retaliation following Syrian guerilla attacks and for a larger war... (The unnamed Ba'ath official) said that in the opening salvo of any conflict, Syria has the capability to fire 'hundreds' of missiles at Tel Aviv. 'Syria passed repeated messages to the U.S. that we demand the return of the Golan either through negotiations or through war. If the Golan is not in our hands by August or September, we will be poised to launch resistance, including raids and attacks.'"

As for Lebanon, the UN appears finally to be taking reports of Syrian infiltration seriously, including consideration of changing the mandate of UNIFIL to guard the border. Arab and Iranian press reports say Syria has told its citizens to leave the country. Hezbollah has been unable to translate last summer's military stalemate against the IDF into political gains in Beirut, but the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), in a special dispatch, reports that Hezbollah has now, "threatened to establish a 'second government' through 'historical steps' in mid July." Steps supported by Syria, as Syria has supported the Fatah al-Islam terror groups in their fight against the Lebanese Army from inside Palestinian refugee camps.

The IDF takes the Syrian threat extremely seriously, suspending changes in Israeli military personnel abroad and improving ground force operations. But the threat from Syria is likely to be primarily missiles, including chemical warheads. To that end, the Israeli government has moved defense funds to the Home Front Command, but acknowledged that the situation of gas masks for the population is unacceptable. Syria is known to have Scud-D surface-to-surface missiles, which were tested in coordination with Iran, and is believed to have Chinese C-802 missiles of the sort used against the IDF/Navy last summer - courtesy of Iran as well.

Syrian propaganda is already blaming Israel for any future war. The New York Sun quotes the Ba'ath official saying Syria "has 'proof' Israel is also readying for a war. 'We hear about special Israeli trainings to take Damascus. We see that Israel is reestablishing bases of the Israeli army in the Golan that are unusual and not needed except for war. We believe the Israeli government has an interest in confronting Syria to rehabilitate its image of losing to Hezbollah,' he said."

War in the Middle East has a way of building its own momentum. Junior Assad, a pawn of Iran, may believe he has no choice but to continue his bluster against two countries closely associated with American interests in the region - Israel and Lebanon. Israel will have to take seriously any Syrian move against Lebanon, and the U.S. will have to take seriously any Syrian move against Lebanon or Israel.

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Olmert, Prodi discuss Iran and Palestinians

JERUSALEM (Press Release)—Following are the comments by Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at a news conference on Monday, July 9, with Italy's Prime Minister

"I am very pleased to have the opportunity to welcome you Mr. Prime Minister to the Prime Minister's Residence and to have a serious discussion with you about matters on the agenda for Italy, Israel, the Middle East and the EU. The ties between us go back many years. We first met when you were the EU representative. While most of your activities were in Brussels, you always showed great interest in the Middle East and Israel and already then I was very active in efforts to upgrade Israeli-EU relations. Thanks to the agreement that we reached on Israeli exports, including those from the West Bank, we achieved a breakthrough in Israeli-European relations, which have become much more important, significant and fruitful.

I very much appreciate the fact that you were the first European Prime Minister to call me after the fighting in Lebanon and that you offered to send Italian soldiers to the multi-national force that is currently fulfilling an important role in southern Lebanon. The Italian military is doing very important work and the commander of UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon is an Italian general. You certainly have an important role vis-à-vis this presence and this decision.

At our two meetings, at our long meeting yesterday evening and at today's as well, we discussed Israel-Palestinian Authority (PA) relations. We both agreed that a special effort must be made to improve relations with the Palestinian government. While we both believe that Gaza is an inseparable part of the Palestinian entity, it is clear and self-evident that we cannot countenance the violent aggression of the Hamas terrorist organization that has taken over Gaza; we very much hope that the situation will change. We discussed the efforts that must be made to strengthen the moderate forces in the PA in order to lead – in the end – to the beginning of a meaningful diplomatic process that can also lead us to talks about political horizons between us and the Palestinians.

Of course, we also discussed regional threats, the Iranian issue that concerns us so much. Mr. Prime Minister, I greatly appreciate your very determined and aggressive position not to compromise with those elements that threaten to undermine stability in our region and which threaten the existence of the State of Israel. Your remarks to me on these issues were warm and encouraging, and attest to the depth of your friendship with Israel. On behalf of the State of Israel and the Government, I welcome you and thank you for your friendly visit."

The preceding story was provided by the office of Prime Minister Olmert

IDF arrests Tanzim 'operative' in Nablus raid

NABLUS, West Bank, Palestinian Authority (Press Release)—In a joint IDF and ISA activity this morning a special IDF force arrested the head of several cells operating in the city which belong to Tanzim, an offshoot of Fatah. During the activity the forces arrested another wanted Tanzim operative and uncovered two handguns and five matching ammunition clips.

Nidal Tahsin Darwish Fakia was funded by Hezbollah and by operatives in the Gaza Strip. The infrastructure which he commanded was involved in hundreds of bombing attacks, kidnappings, suicide bombings and shooting attacks in the Nablus region, to which dozens of IDF soldiers fell victim. One of its central operatives, Amin Lubadeh, was the leading manufacturer of bombs and explosive belts in the Samaria region and masterminded numerous terror attacks in Israel before he was killed during an attempt to arrest him in April 2007.

Among the attacks carried out by Fakia's infrastructure were a bombing attack on July 17th 2006, in which Staff Sergeant Oshri Damri was killed, and another on June 28th 2007 in which an IDF officer was severely injured.

The infrastructure operating under Fakia manufactured and delivered explosives, bombs and explosive belts to various terror organizations in Nablus.

Cells operating under Fakia were recently involved in planning mega-terror attacks in the Israeli home front.

The preceding story was provided by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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Border restrictions crippling Gaza economy,

U.N. Undersecretary John Holmes reports

UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. (Press Release)—The continued closure or restrictions of border crossings is threatening the Gaza Strip’s economic sustainability, forcing most factories to close or operate at reduced capacity and depriving farmers of key export income, United Nations relief officials warned today.

“We need to see all crossings at least as operational as they were before 9 June, or risk facing serious social, economic and humanitarian concerns,” Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said.

Israel has closed or restricted the handful of border crossings with the Gaza Strip since deadly intra-Palestinian violence – which has since subsided – erupted early last month. Some 1.4 million people live within Gaza’s 360-square-kilometre area.

Enough humanitarian imports were allowed into Gaza during the week ending last Thursday to meet about 70 per cent of minimum food and other supply needs, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a press release. This is a sharp rise on the previous week, when about 21 per cent of needs were being met.

But OCHA said three quarters of Gaza’s factories are either closed or operating at 20 per cent capacity, placing the direct livelihoods of about 30,000 people in jeopardy and causing at least $500,000 of business losses each day.

The border closures and restrictions are also stopping agricultural products from being exported, depriving farmers of income and leading to an overabundance within Gaza – and thus a drop in price – of such items as tomatoes, melons and apples.

The cancellation of the Gaza customs code by Israeli authorities has also meant that more than 1,300 containers of commercial materials destined for Gaza remain stranded at Israeli ports, and essential items such as milk powder, baby formula and vegetable oil are now in short supply.

Restrictions at some crossing points are being eased, OCHA reported. The Karni crossing is open for wheat grain imports and the Nahal Oz fuel pipeline has been opened to allow supplies of diesel, petrol and cooking gas to be delivered.

The UN, the Palestinian Authority and Israel are also working to install two conveyor belts at Kerem Shalom, a crossing point between Gaza and Egypt, and to widen the area there for truck-transfer operations. Once the belts are installed and the area widened, the crossing should be able to handle 150 truckloads of goods each day, up from the current limit of 20.

Kerem Shalom is the only viable crossing for Palestinians wanting to re-enter Gaza from Egypt since the Rafah crossing point was closed last month, OCHA said. But Kerem Shalom remains closed to the more than 6,000 Palestinians trying to return from the Egyptian cities of Al Arish and Sheik Zoueid, patients in Gaza are unable to enter Egypt for medical treatment and another 400 to 700 remain stranded in the open near the Rafah border.

Mr. Holmes said UN officials in Egypt were working to provide assistance to those people who are stranded at the border, “but the importance of lifting current border restrictions cannot be over-emphasized.”

The preceding story was provided by the United Nations

University of Haifa researcher foresees this conversation:
'Get off your cellphone!' 'But mom, I'm studying my math!'

HAIFA, Israel (Press Release)—Prof. Michal Yerushalmy of the Institute for Alternatives in Education of the Faculty of Education at the University of Haifa, says there’s yet another application for cell phones: learning mathematics.

The applications that Prof. Yerushalmy developed, in cooperation with Arik Weizman and Zohar Shavit of the University of Haifa Computer Science Department with support from Eurocom Israel, can be installed on most cellular phones on the market today. When installed, they enable cellular phones to function like computers which, among other things, are able to perform mathematical functions at different levels – from elementary school geometry to high school level calculus. The applications were developed specifically for the educational system, and they can be used like any application installed on a cell phone. The availability of the medium means that students are no longer reliant on computer classrooms in the school and that educational opportunities are as mobile as students are.

"I believe that mathematics needs to be learned in creative ways, and not by memorization and repetition. Just as physics and biology labs teach through experimentation, I believe that there should also be math labs, where learning is experiential," said Prof. Yerushalmy. According to Prof. Yerushalmy, computerized math labs like these have been developed in the past, but the cost of computers and the limited availability of computer classrooms limited their use. Cellular phone applications are accessible to both teachers and students on the school campus, on the way home or just about anywhere else.

Using cellular telephones provides another advantage: enabling creation of a community of learners. The applications enable users to send graphs and formulas to one another as short text messages (SMS), allowing them to work together to solve problems and involve any number of people to share in the learning process.

A pilot research project, recently completed in the University of Haifa Faculty of Education, evaluated students' use of the applications. As part of the research, participants recorded simple occurrences such as the speed of a dripping faucet, buses pulling away from a bus stop and a number of other events with the video cameras on their cell phones. They were then instructed by Dr. Galit Botzer, who conducted the research, to turn their video clip into a mathematical model using the applications available on their cell phone.

"It was important for us to see whether or not the students actually do use their phone as a medium for communication to help solve the problem. We found that they did indeed use text messaging to send one another information, questions and comments at different times and from different places. Our next step is to engage in more intensive research, and to develop additional, unique applications for cellular phones," said Dr. Botzer.

More information can be found on the website: www.math4mobile.com . The program can be downloaded and further explanations and ideas for its use are available on the site. Once the program has been downloaded, it can be shared with others by sending a text message with a link to the site. Download the program and you, too, will carry a math lab in your pocket.

The preceding story was provided by the University of Haifa
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San Diego rabbi describes congregational trip to Israel: educational, fun and extremely busy

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal

WASHINGTON, D.C (Press Release)—Congressman Robert Wexler (Democrat, Florida), a senior member of US House Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe, was joined by 90 of his colleagues in sending a letter to newly-elected French President Nicholas Sarkozy urging him to advocate for the addition of Hezbollah to the European Union’s (EU) terrorist list, as well as the official French list of terrorist organizations.

The letter details the threat posed by Hezbollah to shared European and American interests in the Middle East, as well the domestic threat posed by Hezbollah to France and within the EU. The letter also explains the far-reaching impact an EU designation would have on Hezbollah, including thwarting its European fundraising operations and ending the continued channeling of money to Hezbollah operatives in Europe from Iran.

“It is clear that Hezbollah has taken advantage of its operational freedoms in Europe to fundraise and coordinate acts terror, and its designation as a terrorist organization by the European Union is long overdue” Congressman Wexler said. “At a time when the United States and the EU are working together to thwart Iran’s nuclear development and punish Iran for its brazen defiance of the UN, we must also work together to confront its proxy organization – Hezbollah. I call on the EU to join the United States, Canada and the Netherlands in adding Hezbollah to its terrorist list, and I am hoping that President Sarkozy will demonstrate leadership on this issue.”

Last week, Congressman Wexler traveled to France, where he urged French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and President Sarkozy’s Chief Diplomatic Advisor Jean-David Levitte to add Hezbollah to the EU terrorist list. In his capacity as Chairman of Subcommittee Europe, Wexler held a hearing that focused exclusively on adding Hezbollah to the EU terrorist list on June 20.

Members signing the letter {editor: with members of our Jewish community boldfaced): Wexler, Gallegly, Ackerman, Pence, Royce, Sherman, Saxton, Engel, Lantos, Ros-Lehtinen, Allen, Barrett, Bean, Berkley, Berman, Corinne Brown, Henry Brown, Burton, Cardoza, Carnahan, Chabot, Cleaver, Coble, Cohen, Costa, Courtney, Crowley, Cubin, JoAnn Davis, DeLauro, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Donnelly, Ellsworth, Fossella, Foxx, Frank, Frelinghuysen, Giffords, Gillibrand, Gonzalez, Gene Green, Gutierrez, John Hall, Alcee Hastings, Hensarling, Higgins, Hodes, Holden, Honda, Israel, Kagen, Kirk, Klein, Levin, Linder, Mack, Maloney, Marshall, Matsui, McCarthy, McHugh, McMorris Rodgers, McNulty, Michaud, Candice Miller, Christopher Murphy, Patrick Murphy, Tim Murphy, Myrick, Nadler, Poe, Renzi, Rothman, Linda Sanchez, Schakowsky, Schiff, Schwartz, Sessions, Shimkus, Sires, Souder, Sutton, Tauscher, Terry, Van Hollen, Wasserman Schultz, Watson, Waxman, Weller, Joe Wilson, Wolf, Wu.

An index for those who think political pork is unkosher

ENCINITAS, California —Washington’s Examiner’s editorial today introduces the newspaper’s new Porkbusters.org Earmark Reform Index, which in its debut focused on the U.S. Senate, with the House members’ scores to be posted next. Linked is an Excel spreadsheet of the twelve 2005-2007 votes upon which the Index is based, with the vote of each senator.

Earmarks are spending measures anonymously inserted by lawmakers in appropriations bills, with no accountability to prevent the funds from going to a senator or congressman’s campaign donors, favored special interests, family members, or present or former staff members.

Particular earmarks may, still, be justifiable expenditures of the public purse. But, if so, they should be voted upon in the light of day and not inserted in the dark of night or Congressional stairwells.

Particular senator’s votes may, still, be justifiable as considered or, even, as needed to accomplish larger legislative goals. But, if so, a pattern of opposition to earmark reform is more indicative of a leaning toward secretive undue spending. Earmark reform requires that all spending go through normal deliberative channels, be transparent, and explicitly voted upon.

During my auditing days, my first target would be the petty cash account. Although relatively minor amounts, the willingness to engage in chicanery there was usually a pretty good indicator of willingness to be irresponsible in larger things. I reminded senior management – and was backed -- that serious punishment was called for as much for the failure to be trustworthy, indeed the stupidity of jeopardizing one’s own lucrative career for a relative pittance indicating a telling lack of managerial competence, as for the act itself.

Overall, Republican senators scored better than Democrats, but there are significant exceptions from both sides of the aisle.

One of my favorites is that Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI ) scores best among Democrats, consistent with his campaign spending regulation philosophy that money itself corrupts politics. At least there’s consistency. But, after Feingold and Evan Bayh (D-IN), the rest of the Democrats in the Senate fall below mediocre and plummet to way below par in opposing earmarks or their reform. At least, 16 Republican senators manage better than 50% scores, and another 17 manage Gentleman’s “C” or “C-“, with some notable old-bulls – moderates like Susan Collins (R-ME), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), along with more conservative Trent Lott (R-MI) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) falling into the basement of earmark murkiness. This may better indicate the hold that earmarks have for senators to benefit their small state or aid their electoral or legislative prospects.

Regardless, for me, it’s as true now as it was then that the willingness to countenance secretive spending, even of amounts relatively small to the overall federal budget, is a good indicator of the willingness to irresponsibly spend larger amounts. In this case, the ultimate senior management is the voters. The Earmark Index will help guide voters to determine which senators can be trusted to be responsible with the public purse and purpose.

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Bronfman Foundation's "Why Be Jewish Conference" will
bring some top Jewish thinkers to Park City, Utah, July 29

NEW YORK, New York (Press Releases)— The Samuel Bronfman Foundation announced its schedule for the conference “Why Be Jewish?” being held July 29– 31 in Park City, Utah. Adam Bronfman, the Foundation’s managing director, and Rabbi Eliyahu Stern, the conference coordinator, will serve as hosts. Participants in the conference’s three days of presentations, study and discussion include an international group of leading Jewish writers and thinkers, who seek to place ideas, values, and long-term vision at the forefront of Jewish philanthropy and public policy planning

The conference will commence on the evening of Sunday, July 29, with a presentation on “The Requisite Polemic to Why be Jewish: In Praise of Jewish-Christian Disputation” by Charlotte Fonrobert, Associate Professor in the Religious Studies department of Stanford University, and author of Menstrual Purity: Rabbinic and Christian Reconstructions of Biblical Gender.

The lead plenary session of the conference, presented by The Samuel Bronfman Foundation in conjunction with Temple Har Shalom, is a public conversation on: ‘Why be Religious in an Age of Fundamentalism?” and will feature French intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy, Israeli spiritual leader Tova Hartman and American literary critic Leon Wieseltier. The conversation begins at 8pm on Monday, July 30 at the Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City, Utah, and is open to the public.

Eliyahu Stern said, "We have assembled some of the finest minds in the Jewish world today with the hope of changing Jewish identity discussions from an issue of the quantity of Jews to a more substantive conversation on the quality, content and core values that animate Jewish life."

Additional panels throughout the three-day conference will include a Monday evening dinner panel on “Inter-Faith Marriage, new Anti-Semitism and the Redefinition of Jewish Peoplehood,” presented by Avi Weiss, Founder and Dean of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, and David Ellenson, President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. As well as a final presentation, on Tuesday morning: “Truth and the Possibilities of Learning in Identity Fashioning” by Leon Wieseltier.

The preceding story was provided by the Bronfman Foundation

Israeli diplomats in U.S. to drive hybrid vehicles

NEW YORK (Press Release)—The American Jewish Committee today praised the Israeli government for its decision to convert its diplomatic vehicles in the U.S. to hybrid-electric technology.

“This forward-thinking initiative reflects Israel’s deep, ongoing contribution to the environment and global security,” said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris. “We commend Sallai Merridor, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., for his leadership on this issue, which helps further diminish our dependence on oil from hostile sources. Let us hope that other nations, particularly those that have been outspoken on energy and environmental matters, will follow Israel’s laudable example.”

AJC has long been a leading advocate for energy independence. The agency’s Fuel-Efficient Vehicle Bonus Program, which provides cash incentives to its employees to purchase new hybrid cars, was the first program of its kind offered by any non-profit organization in America.

To learn more about this program, and AJC’s overall green efforts, visit www.ajc.org.

By Judith Apter Klinghoffer

CHERRY HILL, New Jersey—It would be, oh, so comforting to assume that civilization is destined to march on regardless of the best efforts of its opponents. I watch Islamist anti-democratic, anti-freedom forces threaten novelists like Salman Rushdie, Danish cartoonists and even the Pope. I recognize the strategic manner in which Muslim states help intimidate “infidels” and their governments. I am alarmed by the appeasement-dominated responses of the intellectual elites, the free media, democratic governments and international organizations. Still, it all seems so passé. It seems much more reasonable to heed Bill Kristol’s advice to stop agonizing and be happy for ultimately civilizations prevail. Haven't they so far?

No. Not in cases in which they were defeated militarily. History is written not only by the winners but also by surviving civilizations. A lost civilization hardly leaves any traces. It is usually followed by a Dark Age. Consider the drastic consequences of the end of the Bronze period in the Eastern Mediterranean also known as the Greek Dark Ages. Recent scholarship attributes it to the military defeat of “high tech chariot” armies by “low tech” barbarian foot soldiers of uncertain origin. Egypt alone escaped the devastation though it also suffered decline. That Dark Age lasted 400 years and included the loss of written language. Consequently, the era has no history, only archeology:

The great palaces and cities of the Mycenaean were destroyed or abandoned. The Hittite civilization collapsed. Cities from Troy to Gaza were destroyed. The Greek language largely ceased to be written. . . . The Greeks of the Dark Age lived in fewer and smaller settlements, suggesting famine and depopulation, and foreign goods have not been found at archaeological sites, suggesting minimal international trade.

The Roman Civilizations similarly ended with a barbarian conquest ushering in the Dark Age with which we are most familiar. It, too, lasted hundreds of years and persisted in some parts of Europe for longer than generally assumed. And yet, as Edward Deering Mansfield (writing under the pseudonym “A Veteran Observer”) noted in a New York Times article on July 3, 1863, to ask "Shall the Dark Ages Return?" as he himself did, seemed audacious:

What an audacity! Ask wonderful Europe, in this wonderful age of wonderful things, whether it may not return to the Dark Ages? Ask an American, in this best, greatest and most glorious country which ever floated on the tide of time, whether it may not go back to the Dark Ages? The very question startles us with its audacity.

Still, should it have then, or now? Not if we understand that a Dark Age does not mean a return “to the days of cowled priest, belted knights and feudal barons.” Instead, it means a return to an era when people “were straitened by the limitation of thought”; when “the thought and feelings of men worked in the same groove, and everything outside was ignored.” The groove to which he refers was set by the Catholic church whose claims to universal superiority were backed by the state. Hence, the Dark Ages were not all dark but the light was constricted. Consequently, Mansfield points out, “the Latin Church, the Latin law and scholastics were well enough, to be believed and confided – while outside of them was a wilderness of heresy and barbarism.” Think inquisition then; Communists, Fascist and Islamist ideological/religious police yesterday and today. (Jump to continuation)

Jews in the News
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Like you, we're pleased when members of our community are praiseworthy, and are disappointed when they are blameworthy. Whether it's good news or bad news, we'll try to keep track of what's being said in general media about our fellow Jews. Our news spotters are Dan Brin in Los Angeles, Donald H. Harrison in San Diego, and you. Wherever you are, if you see a story of interest, please send a summary and link to us at sdheritage@cox.net and we'll acknowledge your tip at the end of the column. To see a source story click on the link within the respective paragraph.

*Former Disney executive Michael Eisner who wants to buy Topps Co., has won over the board of the trading card concern. Its members urged shareholders not to accept a buyout offer from its rival company, Upper deck. The story by Mike Freeman is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*Aaron Feldman, embattled owner of Sunroad Enterprises, has been engaged in a mediation with representatives of the City of San Diego conducted by retired Superior Court Judge Robert May. But with San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and City Attorney Mike Aguirre saying the top two floors of his controversial building must be removed to comply with Federal Aviation Administration guidelines, period, outsiders wonder just what the mediation could be about . The story by David Hasemyer and Jeff McDonald is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*Joan Jacobs is among a group of collectors who have voted in favor of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego acquiring a few new pieces for its collection. Society columnist Burl Stiff tells the story in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

* U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (Democrat, Michigan), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is crafting legislation to require most troops to withdraw from Iraq within 120 days of its final passage. The story by Noam N. Levey is in today's Los Angeles Times.

*Although television actor and former U.S. senator Fred Thompson is being touted as the great Conservative hope, during his eight years in the Senate he occasionally aligned with liberals such as Sen. Russell Feingold (Democrat, Wisconsin) with whom he co-sponsored campaign reform legislation. The story by Janet Hook is in today's Los Angeles Times.

*U.S. Rep. Steve Israel (Democrat, New York) heard proposals while touring the Middle East that the Karni crossing between Israel and Gaza be rebuilt on the Palestinian side to better aid the flow of vital goods for Gaza's 1.5 million people. But currently, with Hamas in control of the area, he reports that Congress has zero interest in funding such a program. The combined New York Times News Service and Associated Press story on the Gaza situation is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

U.S. Rep. John Conyers (Democrat, Michigan), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, urged President Bush to allow his aides to testify about the events leading up to the decision to commute the sentence of I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. The Associated Press story by Charles Babington is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*Columnist Jackson Diehl says there is an element of wishful thinking in Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's belief that the more economic pressure put on Gaza, the more likely it is Palestinians will rise up and overthrow the Hamas government. His column is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (Republican, Pennsylvania) suggests that if Congress takes President Bush's administration to court to gain access to internal documents that might divulge why eight U.S. attorneys were fired, the case could go on so long that Bush would finish his term without it ever being resolved. Therefore, he said, Congress should find some compromise over the issue. The story by Richard B. Schmitt is in today's Los Angeles Times.

*Vincent Tannazzo, a former security guard for comedian Joan Rivers, said he once heard murder defendant Phil Spector rant that all women "deserve a bullet in their heads," about 10 years before Lana Clarkson died of a gunshot wound at Spector's home. The story by Copley News Service reporter Matt Krasnowski is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*State Senator Darrell Steinberg (Democrat, Sacramento), considered one of the top contenders to succeed State President pro tempore Don Perata, has opposed a bill by potential rival Sen. Alex Padilla (Democrat, Pacoima) to have the state determine whether public utility companies could operate more efficiently if they were privatized. The story by Patrick McGreevy on the utility controversy is in today's Los Angeles Tmes.

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News Sleuths:

Watching the media gathering and reporting the news of Jewish interest

Date: July 10, 2007
Place: U.S. State Department.
Time: 12:35 p.m., Washington DC time
Briefing Officer: Sean McCormack, spokesman for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Source: State Department transcript
Subjects: Palestinians, Israel

>>

QUESTION: Another subject? In the Palestinian territories, President Abbas called for the deployment of an international force in the Gaza Strip. Do you think it's a good idea and how he’d work and --

MR. MCCORMACK: I'm not sure that we’ve taken a hard look at that. Anything that President Abbas proposes with regard to maintaining law and order, I think people have to take a look at though. I'm not sure that you're going to find too many forces willing to go into what I expect is a non-permissive environment.

The focus should be on building up functioning, capable, responsible Palestinian security forces that are capable of functioning in both areas. Now, I know that right now that's a difficult proposition with respect to the Gaza, but that's really where the main weight of our focus is and the main weight of our effort.

QUESTION: But it's not the first time this subject comes up --

MR. MCCORMACK: It's an idea that has been circulating. I'm not sure it's gotten a lot of traction at this point. But look, people, serious people, come up with ideas and they float them. Of course, we'll take a look at them. I can tell you where the main weight of our effort is right now, and I think where the focus of our efforts will be. The Palestinians want to see Palestinians help maintain law and order. They want to have their own state. They want to have their own institutions that function. They want to be able to take pride in the fact that those institutions are functioning on behalf of the Palestinian people. So that's really where our focus is, and I think for President Abbas as well as the Palestinians—Palestinian leadership.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. MCCORMACK: Yes.

QUESTION: Speaking of the Palestinians, we have a report out of Jerusalem saying that Tony Blair is pushing for a broader mandate and role in his, you know, newly announced position as the Quartet envoy, that he doesn't want to be limited just to the sort of technical matter of capacity building among the Palestinians and that he wants a more explicitly political role to try to help negotiate on issues of peace.

Are you open to former Prime Minister Blair having a bigger role in this?

MR. MCCORMACK: I'm not sure we've heard that from Prime Minister Blair. People sort of dismiss this idea of merely working with the Palestinians to build up their institutions. Well, let me tell you, that is as important as -- what goes in the container is as important as defining what the container is of the Palestinian state, if you want to look at it that way.

So from our perspective, the idea of helping to -- helping the Palestinians to build up respected, functioning, democratic institutions is one of the necessary conditions for a Palestinian state. Of course, we've talked about the political track and that is very important as well, and I expect that Secretary Rice and President Bush are going to remain focused on that.

Of course, Secretary Rice is going to talk to Prime Minister Blair about his thoughts, his insights. I think that's only natural. But I think all in the region and around the world are really going to look to the United States and Secretary Rice for leadership on pushing forward the political tracks, whether that's between the Israelis and the Palestinians or between the Israelis and the Arabs.

QUESTION: You said you're not sure you heard that from Prime Minister or former Prime Minister Blair that he wants a wider role. Can you check whether you've heard that from him?

MR. MCCORMACK: Sure, I'd be happy to. To my knowledge, we haven't. But I'd be happy to.

QUESTION: And then just so it's clear, I mean, the way I read your comments is that even if he was pushing, as we understand him to be, for a wider role, you're not that, sort of, hot on that, you feel like the main emphasis is the institution-building or did I misunderstand you?

MR. MCCORMACK: I think if you go back and look at the transcript to what I said, it's pretty clear.

QUESTION: Wait a minute, no, I'm sorry. It's not clear to me. So you like the idea of him having a wider role or you don't like the idea of him having a wider role?

MR. MCCORMACK: I think I've given you the answer I'm going to give you.

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AJE schedules Tastes of Melton July 17 & 19

SAN DIEGO (Press Release)—Do you know why over 300 adults have attended weekly Melton classes in San Diego? Would you like to find out what is so intriguing? The Agency for Jewish Education is inviting anyone interested to experience a “Taste of Melton” class to see what hundreds of San Diegans already know – that Melton is fun and a great way to learn about all aspects of Judaism. Two Taste of Melton classes are currently scheduled. One will be held on Tuesday, July 17, 10 – 11:30 AM at the Agency for Jewish Education (4858 Mercury St., Suite 100, Kearny Mesa). This same class will be repeated on Thursday evening, July 19, 7:00-8:30 PM at the Lawrence Family JCC. If you would like attend either of these classes, please contact Noah at the Agency for Jewish Education, 858-268-9200 x17, or via email (noah@ajesd.org).

The internationally acclaimed Florence Melton Adult Mini-School is an innovative concept for Jewish learners from all backgrounds, aimed at enabling adults to learn seriously about their heritage and culture in a challenging and inspiring 30-week course of study. Subjects covered include Jewish history, ethics, philosophy and ritual. All classes are text-based, but do not require outside reading. There are no tests, grades or homework. All students completing four Melton classes receive a certificate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Registration is now underway for the Melton class that will begin in early October at various sites around San Diego. More information on the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School may be found on the web at www.fmams.org.il.

The preceding story was provided by the Agency for Jewish Education

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Tifereth Israel sets 'Pray in the Park' Shabbats Aug 3 & 31

SAN DIEGO (Press Release)—Tifereth Israel Synagogue will “Pray at the Park” on Friday evenings, August 3 and August 31, with the public invited to join the celebration of Kabbalat Shabbat at Lake Murray Community Park.

Services begin at 6:15 p.m. and will be followed by a “bring your own” dairy dinner. Children can enjoy the beautiful playground area as well, but attendees are advised to bring blankets and lawn chairs.

Lake Murray Community Park is located at Murray Park Drive and Elmcrest Drive in the San Carlos / Del Cerro area of San Diego.

For any additional information or questions, please contact Beth Klareich at Tifereth Israel at (619) 697-6001ext 108 or by email at program@tiferethisrael.com

The preceding story was provided by Tifereth Israel Synagogue

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As anticipation built for this evening's All Star game (American League 5, National League 4), tennis also was in the news. Unlike the All Star game, there even were some Jewish athletes to talk about. For example, it was divulged that Israeli Shahar Peer will be among the participants in the July 28-Aug. 5 Acura tennis classic at La Costa Resort and Spa. Jerry Magee had the story in the San Diego Union-Tribune, which focused on Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli headlining the event.... And a tennis star of the past, Ben Press, enjoyed quite a bit of nachas during a recent tournament in La Jolla. His granddaughters Paige Press and Paulina Ferrari were winners respectively in the girls 14 and girls 10 divisions.

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{Marc Kligman, who combines being a sports agent with his life as an observant Jew, invites you to listen. Click on the ad above for more information}
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By David Strom

SAN DIEGO—Tikkun olam is a Hebrew phrase that translates to “repairing the world.” It is important in Judaism, and is often used in non-Orthodox Jewish circles to refer to the political concept of social justice. (Definition from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.) In Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, Humanist, and other organized forms of secular Judaism, Tikkun olam has taken on political and religious significance in that it implies that Jews should work towards social justice. Many American Jews are not alone in their work towards making this a better world to live in. Others, like Michael Moore the director and author of SiCKO, join them in the struggle to improve the healthcare for all Americans-an act of Tikkun olam.

Forty-six million Americans are without medical insurance. Millions of others are inadequately insured. Healthcare reform is on the lips of many, including our politicians. President Bush proposes to use tax deductions to help people buy individual plans. (What good is a tax deduction if you don’t pay taxes?) Our Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, wants to make it mandatory for everyone in his state to obtain insurance and would force employers who don’t provide coverage to pay into a fund. Presidential candidates talk about reforming the health delivery system. These public officials, or at least the most media visible, are, in effect seeking to expand the customer base for a highly profitable industry.

It is a part of Tikkun Olam to provide coverage to the uninsured, to provide medical care for all Americans. But why do the politicians assume that coverage has to come from for-profit providers? Despite the overwhelming evidence from other industrialized countries-as clearly shown in SiCKO-and even domestic programs such as Medicare that show government run health plans are much more efficient, the U.S. political class seems to be on a mission to save private insurance. Why?

When voters in Californians had a chance to vote for a State funded “single payer health plan” in the 1990’s, they voted it down. What would or could make people with no health plans or inadequate ones, and there are millions of them in California, vote to turn away a plan that would give them complete coverage? Some who read this might think the answer is, more or less, complex. It isn’t, as the movie SiCKO demonstrates. The insurance companies defeated the ballot measure.

They spent millions in advertising. The media blitz frightened and confused many who could have benefited from a “single payer plan.” Millions of dollars went to the coffers of politicians. Citizens were told a “huge State bureaucracy” would be created, and it would take “freedom of choice” from the patient, as if we have “freedom of choice” under your HMO or uninsured: All of us know that HMO’s and other health plans have bureaucracies and tons of paper work for patients. People were told that the new medical bureaucracy would be costly and wasteful of their medical dollars. (Currently over twenty-five cents of every dollar spent in privatized insurance plans goes for administrative costs. In Canada and Medicare in the U.S. the cost is about three cents.)The insurance companies were portrayed as the good guys who have our interests at heart.

Michael Moore’s movie SiCKO documents, informs, and debunks the above false claims of the insurance companies. The movie is about the value of a government funded “single-payer health plan” for all Americans. This is, of course, not the first time Americans have been struggling with reforming the nation’s medical plan/s.

In the 1930’s, while the Roosevelt Administration focused on retirement benefits and unemployment insurance, and medical insurance. But even though there was talk of including medical coverage in the first drafts of the social security legislation, a plan for government-funded medical insurance was not included. Hospitals and doctors, struggling to survive the Depression, set up private group insurance plans to bolster demand for their services.

In 1945, after the end of World War II, there was great momentum toward expanding some form of health insurance. President Truman proposed a national program establishing a right to medical care and protection from the “economic fears” of illness. But opposition to government involvement in healthcare emerged, this time reinforced by the “socialized medicine” hysteria trotted out by the American Medical Association, the American Legion, the insurance industry and other reactionary groups.

President Clinton, when “all was said and done” gave us a renewed interest in HMO’s. That was the best his administration, with a great deal of input from Hillary, and Congress could come up with. HMO’s grew very rapidly in the 90’s, but have slowed down in the current century.

SiCKO, the movie, handles the “socialized medicine” scare nicely. Libraries, post offices, public schools, highways and bridges are not privatized, but socialized. They have high consumer appeal and we are still a “democracy.” The real question Moore poses then is this: Why can’t the United States, the richest democracy in the world, provide its citizens with universal health care? The World Health Organization ranks the U.S. (privatized medical coverage) at #37. This is well below all the leading industrialized Western nations that have universal health coverage (“socialized medicine”). Cuba, a nation crippled by our decades old blockade (including medical supplies and drugs) has a lower infant mortality rate and longer life span. Americans are shorter than Europeans and, partially, the lack of good health coverage for all Americans is to blame.

Michael Moore’s SiCKO is informative and entertaining. It is a first class documentary challenging our broken privatized American healthcare system. Moore’s movie, while not touching on “who pays,” points out the U.S. spent more per capita on medical care than any other nation. Yet, it gets fewer bangs for its medical buck. It is understandable why the film distresses the health insurance industry; it is equally understandable why they are pouring millions of dollars into the coffers of politicians of both major parties. Hillary Clinton has gotten over $800,000 dollars from them, Rick Santorem even more.

If Moore’s movie helps to make us more active in fighting for universal health coverage then it is a happy addition to the struggle for Tikkun olam.

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Dark Ages do not end abruptly or peacefully. Thought police periodically expand and contract but once entrenched may take decades, indeed, centuries to eradicate. Military victory often precedes their demise. The powers that be in Italy or Spain (which had wide ranging colonies) did not decide that the Inquisition has outlived its usefulness. It was Napoleon’s soldiers who finally opened its Spanish prisons. A look at Goya’s drawings or a glance at the testimony of Colonel Lehmanowsky should convince doubters that the dreaded institution had not become a kinder, gentler one by 1809:

These cells were places of solitary confinement, where the wretched objects of Inquisitorial hate were confined year after year, till death released them from their sufferings, and there their bodies remained until they were completely decayed, and their rooms had become fit for others to occupy. Flues or tubes, extending to the open air, carried off the effluvia. In these cells we found the remains of those who paid the debt of nature: some of them had been dead apparently but a short time, while of others nothing remained but their bones, still chained to the floor of the dungeon. . . .

In other cells we found living sufferers, of both sexes and of every age, from three score years down to fourteen or fifteen years, all naked as when born into the world, and all in chains! Here were old men and aged women who had been shut up for many years. Here, too, were the middle aged and the young man and the maiden of fourteen years old!"

The Colonel goes on to describe the liberation:

In the meantime it was reported through Madrid that the prisons of the Inquisition were broken open, and multitudes hastened to the fatal spot. And, oh, what a meeting was there-it was like a resurrection! About a hundred, who had been buried for many years, were now restored to life. There were fathers who had found their long-lost daughters, wives were restored to their husbands, sisters to their brothers, and parents to their children; and there was some who could recognize no friend among the multitude. The scene was such as no tongue can describe.

If any of this sounds familiar. It should. The scene is recreated in Milos Forman’s movie, Goya’s Ghost . Apparently, Forman was thinking about the Prague spring which like the Spanish one was followed by another “winter.” The only difference was that the inquisitors returned to Prague with the help of Soviet tanks and to Madrid with the help of British guns. They also returned to Italy where as late as 1858, Italian police kidnapped a Jewish six year old on the order of the grand inquisitor. Oh, yes, his parents like other Jews lived in a Ghetto. The defeat of Napoleon and the French revolution also meant that Jews who were let out of the Ghettoes by Napoleon were returned to them by the “Holy Alliance.” They were freed by the new unified Italian army in 1870 though returned to it and "liquidated" by the Fascists and Nazis. One can only speculate of the effect these centuries of living under thought police had on Catholic populations around the world. The Museum of the Inquisition Lima is the most popular in Peru.

History books may not dwell on the subject but Western thinkers living in the middle of the 19th century knew all too well the sorry state of freedom in Europe and, hence understood just how important the survival of real democracy in America was. And real democracy cannot have slavery of any kind as a basis of its institutions.

Mansfield writes:

In America we have no philosophy but the philosophy of politics; but in that, we are superior to all the world; and it is that which keeps the American mind alive. But we are going back in time. This rebellion is a consequence of the reaction against freedom. If it were confined to the mere masters of Negroes, and to an attempt to secure them where they are, it would not be unnatural, nor would it necessarily react upon free thought in the North. But this is not the fact. It is an attempt to make Slavery (whether of white of black) the foundation of political institutions. It is, therefore, a direct and positive reaction against the principles of the American Revolution.

Nor is it confined to Slave States. Every man in the Free States, of any intelligence, who engages in the peace party and sympathizes with Southern institutions, is a reactionist against American institutions. It is a reaction against real Democracy. The Roman Emperors were formally elected as Roman Consuls, keeping the name of the old Roman magistracy, when the thing itself had ceased to exist and only Emperors ruled. Such is the exact fact with those who, under the name of Democracy, are seeking the overthrow of Democracy by the overthrow of Freedom. This is the undisguised fact. Do you wonder, then, that men ask: Are we to have a return of the dark Ages?

No. I am not surprised. The Dark Age did not return because Abraham Lincoln did not flinch. He won the ideological battle in the only way it can often be won, militarily. Since then astute observers have asked the question when they contemplated Communist and Fascist victories and they may as well be asking the question now. For liberty, hence, civilization is currently under a three prong attack.

One prong consists of Islamist barbarians, Al Qaeda types, who, like barbarians from time immemorial, excel in exploiting the military and institutional weakness of civilized democracies.

The second prong consists of Fascist/Communist/Islamist tyrannies such as China, North Korea or Iran who feel threatened by the success of democracies. They enjoy sitting back, watching the barbarians soften up the democracies despite knowing that they are bound to be the barbarians' next victims.

The third prong consists of transnational elites who assume that the Islamist barbarians do not pose a real threat. Their goal is to bring about a world run by international institutions not directly accountable to the “uninformed masses.” Indeed, as they consider powerful civilized democracies, most especially the US, to be their most formidable opponent, these transnational elites do not shy from cooperating with Islamists and tyrannies by legitimizing their demands that free speech, i.e., thought be circumscribed.

It should not be forgotten that previous dark ages were limited geographically, a future one may not be. In the past, enlightenment in one part of the world helped end a dark ages in another. But in the age of globalization this may prove much more difficult. Hence, the stakes today are higher than they have ever been. So, following Mansfield one may ask, shall we go backwards? Shall free institutions fall? Shall the world and its hopes fall with us? In other words, will the Dark ages return? In 2004, I would have answered the question similarly to the way Dean Acheson answered it in 1951:

It seems to me ... that we are better off than we were a year ago . . . But there are no grounds for complacency . . . The outcome in the contest between a better future and a return to the Dark Ages is still undetermined.

Unfortunately, in 2007 we are worse off than we were three years ago. I still hold on to the belief that the American people love liberty too much to give it up and, as they have done before, they will snatch victory from the jaws of current defeats. So, why can't I be happy? Because with each and every passing day the price for defeating the forces of darkness is getting higher and higher and ultimate victory less and less certain.

Dr. Judith A. Klinghoffer is a senior research associate in the department of Political Science at Rutgers University, Camden. She was a senior Fulbright fellow in Denmark and is the co-author of International Citizens' Tribunals: Mobilizing Public Opinion to Advance Human Rights and the author of Vietnam, Jews and the Middle East: Unintended Consequences. She runs the History News Network blog, Deja vu.