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Vol. 1, No. 132

Sunday Evening, September 9, 2007

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Israel and Middle East

Peres urges Israeli and Diaspora Jews to unite in 'Tikkun Olam'

Portugal's FM Amado, as EU Council president, visits Israel

Olmert assures Shoah survivors he is working on aid proposal for them

UNESCO honors environmental curriculum created by Weizmann Institute of Israel

The Peres Diary: Entries from Sept. 5-6 official visit to Italy

Europe

Knife attack on Chabad rabbi in Frankfurt
draws angry condemnation from AJC

Lithuanian Jewish Heritage Foundation receives dormant NYC banks accounts

United States of America

Chertoff tells steps taken to prevent attacks by terrorists from abroad

Features

Jewish Grapevine

Greater San Diego County

Donald H. Harrison: Israel and San Diego County are interwoven, not just connected

Letter-to-Editor: Airport shoving incident or not, this party activist remains a big-time Bob Filner fan

Rosh Hashanah Greeting
Peres urges Israeli and Diaspora Jews to unite in 'Tikkun Olam'

JERUSALEM (Press Release)—As we stand upon the threshold of the Jewish New Year and as I assume the Presidency of the State of Israel, I would first and foremost like to share with you my deepest and most sincere desire for the continued prosperity, security, intellectual wealth and wellbeing of the Jewish people throughout the world, and that of all those who seek peace and tolerance.

It is a time for unity — both at home and abroad.

Within the wider framework of the dilemmas and challenges we face in the New Era, the Jewish people are called upon to deal with issues and questions pertaining to our existence, our role in global initiatives and the shaping of our own identity.

For many years, Israel had been perceived as a global “problem.”. Today, global challenges are as much on the Israeli agenda as they are issues which trouble the entire world. It is thus called for that we work together to address these and future challenges — not merely to respond to them, but to dream and to create... to come up with strategic priorities, as profoundly as our people have demonstrated throughout history... to believe and to carryout... It is only via the consolidation of our efforts — those of Israel and the Jewish people —that we may truly lend a hand to shaping the future and the wellbeing of our people.

Living in a globalized world, “reality” inevitably becomes a dynamic and forever changing phenomenon, within which different communities are faced with varying circumstances and challenges. The Jewish people must not neglect the importance of collecting the single voices throughout the Jewish world and combining them into a comprehensive and meaningful whole. Our responsibility, as a people, is to allow for all such voices to be heard. We must, both in Israel and throughout the Diaspora, learn the art of sensitivity and wisdom, which may allow us to extract the potential embedded in such voices. Our aim, throughout this process, must remain to promote an intellectual as well as qualitative partnership for the good of our people.

It is an inherent part of the Jewish heritage to seek global responsibilities within the framework of Tikkun Olam. Despite its small size, Israel has proved that it is capable of creating a unique economy.

Similarly, it has become a global pioneer in the realm of scientific development. It is crucial that Israel continues to carve out a role for itself in the sphere of global science and technology and to serve as a pioneer in the infinite search for solutions to global challenges in the fields of education, telecommunications, agriculture, global warming and more. The Jewish people throughout the world have been, and continue to serve, as the backbone to such achievements. Together, the State of Israel and the Jews of the Diaspora have the inherent potential to contribute to forwarding peace and prosperity on a global level in general, and to consolidating Jewish existence in particular.

In order to make the aforementioned aspirations into a reality, regional partnerships must be nurtured and all available natural and human resources wisely used, in a bid to promote regional economic development and education for peace. No opportunity can be missed and every lead must be followed, in order to promote peace among ourselves and with our neighbors. Simultaneously, we must take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of Jewish life wherever it may be.

The State of Israel deeply values the participation of the Jewish communities around the world in the process of ensuring its wellbeing. Of particular value is the continued participation of the Jewish youth of today, and the leaders of the future. While we must continue to proudly cherish the Jewish heritage and ethics of our forefathers our sights must also be set upon our children- for we must pave the way to their integration and growth within the New Age.

Indeed, we stand on the Edge of the Present. We still face all manner of challenges and the greatest is not to let galloping prospects pass us by. This is our resolve. This is our prayer.

With Rosh Hashana at our doorstep, I convey, once more, my warmest personal wishes to you, your families and your communities for a year of peace and wellbeing.

Sincerely, Shimon Peres

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Israel and Middle East

To the readers of
San Diego Jewish World
(and to its contributors and editor), we wish you all a sweet, prosperous and, most of all, healthy New Year.
L'Shana Tovah!
Hal & Eileen Wingard

Portugal's FM Amado, as EU Council president, visits Israel

JERUSALEM (Press Release)—Mr. Luis Amado, Foreign Minister of Portugal, was due to arrive today on an official three-day visit to Israel.

FM Amado will meet with Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, President Shimon Peres, Minister of Defense Ehud Barak and MK Yossi Beilin. FM Amado will also meet with Quartet Middle East representative Tony Blair, who is currently in Israel.

Within the framework of his position as current President of the Council of the European Union, FM Amado will hold discussions on issues concerning the Israel-EU relationship. He will also be briefed on the latest developments in the region.

Mr. Amado will arrive in the region after attending a "Gymnich" meeting - the informal meeting of foreign ministers from the EU member states. (The name Gymnich comes from the German castle north of Bonn, which provided the setting for the first ever meeting of this kind, during the German EU Presidency in 1974.)

The preceding was provided by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Olmert assures Shoah survivors he is working on aid proposal for them

JERUSALEM (Press Release)—Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this evening (Sunday), met with representatives of Holocaust survivors organizations and said that the Government is still formulating the basket of solutions for needy senior citizens in the State of Israel, including refugees from the Holocaust.

Therefore, the meeting that was to have been held with them before the holidays has been postponed until afterwards. In any case, the basket of solutions will be submitted so that – if it is so decided – it may be included in the 2008 budget. Thus, there will be no delay in implementing the plan. The aforesaid representatives received the Prime Minister’s remarks with understanding.

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

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UNESCO honors environmental curriculum created by Weizmann Institute of Israel

REHOVOT, Israel—Blue Planet, a curriculum package for middle school students written by Weizmann Institute scientists on the link between man and the environment, has won recognition by UNESCO as a worldwide model in environmental studies. This international organization is promoting and financing the translation of this program into various different languages, as well as its distribution throughout schools worldwide.

The book Blue Planet was launched by UNESCO’s Deputy Assistant Prof. Andras Szollosi-Nagy, Director of the Division of Water Sciences; Weizmann Institute Vice President of Resource Development Prof. Israel Bar-Joseph; Prof. Nir Orion from the Science Education Department, who developed the program together with his former student Dr. Orit Ben-Zvi Assaraf; and the Weizmann Institute’s Prof. Dan Yakir, Head of the Environmental Sciences and Energy Research Department.

The program focuses particularly on the water cycle in the Earth’s ecosystems, and is intended for use as an effective learning tool through its wide and systematic approach, including various activities, experiments and field work that will help develop students’ thinking skills and understanding.

The ceremony was held in the EcoSphere - a unique educational glass-enclosed geodesic dome located at the Weizmann Institute’s Clore Garden of Science, where a Spanish version of the book was presented to the UNESCO representative. In the near future, the authors of the book plan to visit Latin America where they will help teachers implement this educational program into their own curriculums. The book will then get translated into Chinese and three other languages.

The preceding story was provided by the Weizmann Institute via Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Peres Diary

Sept. 6: Conferring with Italy's Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema

ROME (Press Release)—The President of Israel, Shimon Peres, met this morning with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Massimo D’Alema, after a series of meetings, which he held with Prime Minister Prodi, President Napolitano and Deputy Prime Minister Rutelli.

In his meetings this morning President Peres said that Italy, like other European countries, cannot continue the policy of turning a blind eye towards everything connected with the nuclear armament of Iran, which has become the supplier of arms, ideology and money to almost all of the world’s terrorist organizations. “Time is running out,” said President Peres and emphasized that the flow of nuclear arms to terrorist organizations will lead to a global disaster.

The President noted, with satisfaction, the remarks of the Foreign Minister of Italy that nuclear weapons must not land in the hands of the Ayatollahs. It should be noted that President Peres also raised the issue of isolating the Hamas and stated that the Hamas is an active branch of Iran in the Gaza Strip. Israel cannot intervene on events there and the leadership in Gaza must decide if they are going to provide food for their children or missiles, said President Peres and added that Prime Minister Olmert and Chairman Abu Mazen are making supreme efforts to reach an agreement and to promote the peace process.

Foreign Minister D’Alema said, after his meetings in the region with Palestinian, Israeli and Arab leaders, “I feel that this is the first time that the leaders really want peace and the conference must be planned with the utmost seriousness, as it can be an important step towards a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. There are high expectations of the summit and it must not be a disappointment.”

President Peres requested the help of the Foreign Minister of Italy on the issue of the kidnapped soldiers, as he did in his meetings with the Prime Minister of Italy, who promised to raise the issue of the kidnapped soldiers in his meeting today with the Vice President of Syria, Farouk-al-Sharaa.

It should be noted that last night President Peres participated in a ceremony in the great synagogue in Rome where 2000 member of the Italian Jewish community received him with loud applause, waving flags of Israel and hundreds of posters with photos of the kidnapped soldiers calling for their release.

President Peres opened by saying, “I have never felt as Jewish as I feel this evening.”

* *

Sept. 5: Meeting Italy's President Giorgio
Napolitano on the Middle East situation

ROME (Press Release)--The President of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres, on an official visit in Italy, met September 5 with the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, and discussed with him a series of central issues concerning Israel and Italy.

President Peres, at the outset, thanked the President of Italy for his public fight against anti-Semitism and added that deep and friendly relations exist between Israel and Italy and that Italy can play a central and dominant role in the peace process in the Middle East.

President Peres conveyed his thanks to the people and the government of Italy, which was the first to send her soldiers to South Lebanon, which contributed and is continuing to contribute to the stability and the quiet in the region. Yet, President Peres warned his host that Iran is nearing the point of no return and that the day is not far off when she will have an atom bomb. A real danger exists in this situation for the peace of the world, as the greatest danger is nuclear arms in the hands of terrorist organizations, the result of which will be that no person in any country will be able to live in tranquility.

“The European Union must act strongly and resolutely against Iran and must immediately impose the strongest economic sanctions.”

In the past, the President noted, the use of economic leverage contributed to the nuclear disarmament of countries, such as South Africa, Libya, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazahkstan.

“Time has become critical. The world does not have the privilege of waiting and of being late.”

In the Palestinian context, President Peres told the President of Italy that the Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, and the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Mazen, are meeting on a permanent basis and that very good relations exist between them, based on mutual respect. Likewise, the two parties are making a true effort to present at the international peace conference a Declaration of Principles, which will create trust between the two peoples.

Regarding the severance between Gaza and the West Bank, President Peres noted that it is an internal Palestinian issue and that Israel does not intend to intervene.

President Peres repeated and emphasized that Israel evacuated all its citizens from the Gaza Strip in a difficult and painful process and, despite all this, the Hamas is continuing to fire missiles into Israel and to harm innocent citizens.

“The Hamas does not want negotiations, nor peace but the control of a Persian, religious extremist hegemony over the entire Middle East,” said President Peres

In his meeting President Peres devoted a special part to the issue of the kidnapped soldiers: Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev and asked the President of Italy to personally use all his influence for the Red Cross to meet with the kidnapped soldiers in order to bring a sign of life to their families from their beloved ones. The President added and emphasized that it is a humanitarian issue and that the families are subjected to inhuman suffering.

The President of Italy, Napolitano, said that the transferring of a sign from the kidnapped soldiers to their families is a human issue and not a political one and that he intends to promote the request in every possible way. The President of Italy added that he congratulates President Peres for choosing Italy as the first country to which he is paying an official visit as the President of Israel and that Italy wants to be involved and dominant in attaining peace in the Middle East.

“A real opportunity has now been created to attain peace in the Middle East but the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians must be direct, without mediators and without disturbances. Israel and the Palestinians must reach clear-cut achievements and agreements which will be presented at the peace conference and avoid turning the conference into a photo-op conference, which has no purpose and future.”

President Napolitano added that, without a clear achievement in the peace conference, Abu Mazen is likely to be severely harmed and that extremist streams in the Palestinian Authority will raise their heads.

President Napolitano also said that he praises Israel on the wide consensus, which has been created between the right and the left regarding the wish for peace and the recognition that, at the end of the process, two states will be established for two peoples.

The President of Italy added that in Italy there is also a strong and steadfast consensus, which includes all the parties, regarding Israel’s right to live in full security.

At the end of the meeting President Peres invited the President of Italy to pay a State Visit to Israel on the occasion of Israel’s 60th Independence celebrations. At the end of the luncheon, the President of Italy warmly embraced President Peres and said that he hopes that next time they will meet in Israel.

The office of Israel's President Shimon from time to time releases accounts of his official activities. We have been publishing them as they are made available.

Europe

Knife attack on Chabad rabbi in Frankfurt
draws angry condemnation from AJC

BERLIN (Press Release)—The American Jewish Committee wishes Rabbi Zalman Gurevitch a speedy recovery after an unidentified man attacked him on a Frankfurt street yesterday. “It is a shock that anyone could be the victim of such a treacherous knifing, even more so to hear that someone would assault a rabbi,” said Deidre Berger, director of AJC’s Berlin Office.

The stabbing of Rabbi Gurevitch, director of the Chabad Center in Frankfurt, and the attack earlier this year at the Chabad School in Berlin, “remind us of the fragility of security for Jews in an environment where there are ongoing manifestations of anti-Semitism and far too much silent acquiescence,” Berger wrote in an email letter yesterday to Rabbi Yehuda Tiechtel, head of Chabad in Germany.

“I know that you will not let such an attack deter your plans to create a strong Chabad presence in Germany,” wrote Berger. “I wish you continued strength in your mission to spread the spirit of Judaism in a country where it was once nearly extinguished.”

The preceding was provided by the American Jewish Committee

Lithuanian Jewish Heritage Foundation receives dormant NYC banks accounts

NEW YORK (Press Release)--The New York State Banking Department and The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) has announced the transfer of two dormant Lithuanian Holocaust era bank accounts, previously held by Citigroup, to The Foundation for the Lithuanian Jewish Heritage, a non-profit institution based in Vilnius, Lithuania.

"I am pleased to see the funds from these accounts going to a foundation that will allocate them to a cause consistent with the bank’s original purpose," said Superintendent Richard H. Neiman on September 6. "I would like to thank Citigroup, and all those involved, for coming together and negotiating a resolution that best serves the Jewish community of Lithuania. As one whose father emigrated from Lithuania in the early part of the century, this announcement has special meaning to me."

The Holocaust Claims Processing Office (HCPO), a division of the New York State Banking Department, was approached by Citigroup to assist with researching two dormant Holocaust era bank accounts. The HCPO determined that the original holder of these accounts was the Centralinis Zydu Bankas Kooperacijei Remti Lietuvoje (Central Jewish Bank for Furtherance of Cooperatives in Lithuania). The Bank, founded in 1921 with the help of the JDC, coordinated the work of dozens of local cooperative "Jewish Peoples Banks" (Volksbanks) to help rebuild Jewish life in Lithuania after World War I. The Bank also granted small loans to Jewish business owners and merchants until 1940.

Due to the destruction of the Jewish community of Lithuania during the Holocaust no successor could be identified, despite extensive research efforts by the HCPO. (Jump to continuation)

United States of America

Chertoff tells steps taken to prevent attacks by terrorists from abroad

WASHINGTON (Press Release)—With the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attack approaching, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff described to the House Committee on Homeland Security on September 5 some of the steps that have been taken against terrorism. A portion of his report dealt with steps taken to deal with “individuals who seek to enter this country and do us harm.” Following is a transcript of that portion of his speech:

The first of these priorities deals directly with individuals who seek to enter this country and do us harm.

Expanding our Perimeters/Intercepting Our Enemies Overseas

In response to this threat, our strategy begins by expanding our perimeters so that America’s actual borders are not our first line of defense. Our aim is to intercept dangerous enemies abroad, before they reach our borders.

In order to do this, we need relevant information about travelers. To that end, this July, we reached a Passenger Name Record (PNR) agreement with the European Union in which the EU agreed to continue to provide our Department access to pertinent data from airliners on passengers taking transatlantic flights to and from the EU. We also collect this information on arrivals from other regions as well.

And just last month, responding to a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, we enhanced our Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS) by publishing a final rule requiring international air and sea carriers to provide Customs and Border Protection (CBP) passenger manifest information prior to boarding, rather than when planes are already in flight, and cruise ships are underway.

Obviously, our PNR and APIS initiatives work in tandem. With both of these types of information, combined with the Automated Targeting System for Passengers, we have identified overseas passengers who have posed a real danger and prevented them from entering our country.

Since 9/11, PNR data have helped us significantly in combating potential threats.

In April 2006, at Boston’s Logan Airport, CBP officers used PNR information to identify two passengers whose travel patterns exhibited high-risk indicators. During the secondary interview process, one subject stated that he was traveling here on business for a group that is suspected of having financial ties to Al Qaeda. The examination of his baggage revealed images of armed men, one of them labeled “Mujahadin.” Both passengers were refused admission. (Jump to continuation)

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Features

The Jewish Grapevine

JEWISH POLITICAL FIGURES

● U.S. Sen. Russell Feingold (Democrat, Wisconsin) is among those senators who have become alarmed by dropping water levels of the Great Lakes. He wants the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the U.S.-Canada International Joint Commission to investigate quickly to decide what can be done.

●U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Democrat, California) said the Foreign Operations Bill approved on Sunday by the Senate includes a provision putting restrictions on the sale or transfer to other countries of cluster bombs. Too often, she explained, they cause deaths of innocents when utilized in civilian areas. She and Sen. Patrick Leahy (Democrat, Vermont) were co-sponsors of the provision.

● U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (Democrat, California), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has written to U.S. Interior Secretary Dick Kempthorne "to question the Department of Interior’s refusal to comply with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 requirement to study the effects of coal bed natural gas production on surface and ground water resources in six western states, and insisted that the Department comply with the law," according to a committee news release.

● U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden (Democrat, Oregon) and Norm Coleman (Republican, Minnesota) were among a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators calling on Thursday for a $50 billion national bond issue to finance construction and repair of roads, bridges and rail lines. "The Build America Bonds Act is a creative solution to a critical problem,” said Wyden. “By giving Americans the opportunity to invest in the nation’s infrastructure, these bonds will not only create jobs, they’ll save lives ... Although often overlooked, the bridge collapse in Minnesota demonstrated what can happen when infrastructure is not sustained. This is a problem that cannot be ignored and I am proud to be a part of legislation that takes serious aim at it."”

Greater San Diego County

____________________
The Jewish Citizen
by Donald H. Harrison

Israel and San Diego County are interwoven, not just connected

SAN DIEGO—Whenever the mail brings a bulletin from a local congregation or Jewish organization, I find myself smiling about the future of my two young grandchildren, whose extended families live both here and in Israel.

How the bonds between Israel and the Greater San Diego area have grown and become strengthened over the years! Activities celebrating our relationships in so many realms—political, economic, cultural, social, athletic—have become so numerous that it's hard to keep track of them all, much less to participate or to attend everyone.

It was not always so. There were times since Israel's establishment almost 60 years ago that a San Diegan could easily attend every Israel-related event, and still have time left over—plenty in fact. Certainly the Jewish citizens of the two areas were aware of each other, and wished each other well, but there wasn't the sense, then, that one feels today that the two areas have been bound up together in a common destiny.

From the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), my mail brought a flyer entitled "Israel Connection," in which Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal of the Conservative Tifereth Israel Synagogue was a featured columnist. He writes for San Diego Jewish World too, so naturally I was quite interested in what he would have to say. In his AIPAC column, Rosenthal suggested that during the approaching High Holidays, we should not only invite into our sukkahs friends and families, but also policy makers who can help "our brothers and sisters in Israel and elsewhere" deal with the threat from Iran.

In other words, if any of you are friendly with your local congressman or congresswoman, be sure to invite them and their spouses over for a meal in the sukkah.

The mail also brought from the Government of Israel's Economic Mission, in cooperation with the firm of Mintz Levin, an invitation to attend a program at the Lawrence Family JCC from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on September 18, about Israel's Economic Achievements. Featured speakers will be California State Controller John Chiang and Director General Yarom Ariav of Israel's Ministry of Finance. If you're interested in attending this event, call Efrat Granot at (858 320-3017.

I also recently received the September editions of Tidings from Congregation Beth Israel and Pathfinder from Temple Solel, as well as an email bulletin from Tifereth Israel Synagogue. All had Israel-related activities to report

In the Beth Israel bulletin, I read an article by Dr. Roger Acheatel about the "OneFamily" program in which the Reform congregation "adopts" an Israeli family that has been enduring hardship. Currently, the congregation is helping Ben Friedman, who was wounded in an attack on the Rosh Hair Restaurant in Tel Aviv. Shrapnel injuries make it painfully difficult for Ben to walk and have taken their psychological toll as well. But now Friedman and his wife, Sivan, are receiving financial assistance from the congregation's membership. What a nice mitzvah!

From Tifereth Israel Synagogue, I received the e-news that Israeli dancing will be taught the evenings of September 16 and 23 by Paul Kalmar—one of several such programs at San Diego area synagogues.

And finally, in Pathfinder, I read with delight that Temple Solel, a Reform congregation, will be sponsoring Oct.19-21 an Israeli Art Exhibit and Sale featuring selections from the Safrai Gallery in Jerusalem. According to the bulletin, "this exhibition and sale will include 2,000 works of art by 100 Israeli artists."

Who do we praise for this growing inter-relatedness? I believe a great deal of the credit goes to the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County and to its Israel Center. From forging a special relationship with the Sha'ar Hanegev area of Israel involving exchanges of teachers and Jewish professionals and San Diego's participation in that region's budgetary process, to pulling out all the fundraising stops during the Second Lebanon War to help embattled Israel, UJF has been there.

I also would give a large amount of credit to the national Operation Birthright Program, which week in and week out has been sending our youth on free trips to Israel so that they can feel and absorb the emotional connection between our two areas.

Our community currently is in the planning process of a mega-celebration for Israel's 60th anniversary which will occur in May. The journalism class I am now teaching at San Diego Jewish Academy will be involved; I hope you will be too. To offer your help, please call the UJF's Israel Center at (858) 571-3444.

I thank you; my wife Nancy thanks you; and I know if they were old enough, so too would my grandsons Shor, 6, and Sky, 6 months. L'shana tova!

San Diego Letter

Airport shoving incident or not, this party activist remains a big-time Bob Filner fan

Editor, San Diego Jewish World:

I live in Pacific Beach near Bay View Terrance Elementary school. The same school that I attended over 55 years ago. (Which just goes to show how far I've come in life.) I'm also a volunteer Democratic precinct organizer for my neighborhood. My small community tends to be a bit on the scruffy side, The vast majority of the residents here are young apartment dwellers, with a few small home owners, such as me scattered in between. My neighborhood precinct is represented in Congress by Representative Susan Davis.

Just recently, before the airport issue with Congressman Bob Filner, came up, I posed the question to 20 registered DEMS in my precinct.........In your opinion, what elected DEM in San Diego County do you consider to be the strongest and most respected leader? Most of those who responded had to ponder this question before responding. But in due course, eighteen out of twenty, stated, Bob Filner. Of the two who did not, one replied, Donna Frye and another stated, Mike Aguirre. (I did a follow up question that asked, have you ever been involved in any political campaigns.) Answer: No.

I walk two red dogs at least twice daily. I also have red hair. In a neighborhood of mostly young people, I'm pretty hard to miss.) And so it followed that after the Filner airport incident (in which the congressman, tired from a flight and frustrated over long delays, reportedly brushed aside a baggage handler, resulting in a complaint of assault being lodged against him) that two people that I polled waved me over. Question: What was going on with Filner and the airport incident? I replied that had I been there, I too, would have been cheering him on. (A near quote from U/T writer, Gerry Braun.) It's good to know these things.

On Sept 8, I attended a local San Diego County DEM Mini Convention. I've always been a poor bean counter, so it's difficult for me to gage the number of DEMS in attendance. Maybe five hundred? Dunno? I do know this. I took a yellow legal pad with me. And I went from table to table (Edwards supporters, Clinton supporters, Obama supporters, etc. And yes, even Al Gore-to-be drafted supporters. With pad and pen in hand, I posed the same question as I had in my own precinct. The what DEM do you like best in San Diego County question. Consider this was after the airport issue. Answer: Ninety-one out of an even hundred, replied, Bob Filner! With that my self-appointed work was done. Whew! I spent the rest of the day passing out campaign literature for (Assembly candidate) Marty Block and (City Council candidate) Steve Whitburn. And yes, I'm a Filner supporter, Big time!

In closing, I would like to note how very grateful I am to many in the Jewish community in San Diego. My first introduction into political activism took place during the McGovern for President campaign in 1972. I was lucky to have many wonderful mentors. In particular, I wish to thank Rita Luftig for being just wonderful and for taking the time to answer a ton of my naïve questions. Larry Swartz and Joe Stern, both gone now, were wonderful to me as were their wives, Rosalie Swartz and Jean Stern. And it was thanks to Rita and Murray Luftig that I later got to kiss Senator George McGovern (on the cheek).

Rita and Murray Luftig were kind enough to invite me to attend a potluck at their home. That particular event featured the honored quest, Senator George McGovern. In addition, Paula Siegel and Lucy Goldman frequently offered their lovely homes for meet ups in which to promote progressive candidates and other social justice issues.

—Vikky Anders, San Diego

Vick

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Lifestyles

Lithuanian Jews...
(Continued from above)

The Foundation for the Lithuanian Jewish Heritage (Foundation) to which the funds are being transferred was established in 2005, by the Jewish Community of Lithuania and the Association of Lithuanian Jewish Religious Communities, together with the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO). The Foundation was established to cooperate with the Lithuanian government on matters relating to the restitution of Jewish property in Lithuania that was expropriated after 1940. The Foundation, whose mission is dedicated to promoting the development of Jewish cultural, educational and welfare activities, will become fully operational once a new law is enacted by the Lithuanian government for the restitution of Jewish communal property. The JDC, a 93 year-old international humanitarian organization, will hold the accounts in escrow until the Foundation is operational.

"After helping establish the Jewish Central Bank in Lithuania 86 years ago, the JDC once again looks forward to overseeing the transfer of these accounts to continue supporting the Jewish Community of Lithuania," said Steve Schwager, Executive Vice President, JDC. Lewis B. Kaden, Chief Administrative Officer of Citigroup said: "We are pleased to have worked with the HCPO and the NYSBD to transfer these funds to the Foundation for the Lithuanian Jewish Heritage, an organization that will allocate the funds in a manner consistent with their original purpose."

About HCPO
The HCPO was created in 1997 to help Holocaust victims and their heirs, free of charge, recover assets deposited in European banks; unpaid proceeds of insurance policies issued by European insurers; and artworks that were lost, looted or sold under duress. To date, the HCPO has responded to more than 13,000 inquires resulting in 4,774 claims from 45 states and 38 countries and has helped return approximately $63 million in bank claims, more than $26 million in insurance claims, over $5 million in other assets, and settled 16 art claims.

About JDC
Founded in 1914, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) gives global expression to the principle that all Jews are responsible for one another. Working on behalf of North America’s Jewish federations, JDC is dedicated to rescuing those in danger, providing relief to Jews in distress, and revitalizing Jewish communities. JDC is committed to helping Israel’s most vulnerable citizens overcome the social challenges they still face through special partnerships and innovation. In the spirit of "healing the world," JDC also offers non-sectarian disaster relief and longer-term development assistance worldwide. More information can be found at www.jdc.org.

About NYSBD
The New York State Banking Department is the regulator for all state-chartered banking institutions, virtually all of the United States offices of international banking institutions, all of the State’s mortgage brokers, mortgage bankers, check cashers, money transmitters and budget planners. The aggregate assets of the depository institutions supervised by the Banking Department are more than $1.8 trillion.

In addition to regulating banking institutions, the Banking Department is active in informing and educating all New Yorkers on banking matters. To contact the Banking Department, please call 1-877-BANK-NYS or visit our Web site at www.banking.state.ny.us.

The preceding was provided by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

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Chertoff...
(Continued from above)

PNR and APIS will help us identify previously known overseas enemies before they can board a plane bound for our country and fingerprinting can also be useful in this process. Under our US-VISIT program, millions of non-citizens arriving here through ports of entry have their fingers scanned and then checked against the fingerprints we have from prior entries and their visa records in order to make sure that they are to whom the visa was granted and they’re not felons or terrorists.

But what about detecting unknown enemies? Recently, we’ve taken a quantum leap forward and are poised to identify them for the first time. We are transitioning to 10-print collection, which we will run not only against databases of known dangerous individuals, but also against those we’re collecting from battlefields, safe houses, and terrorist training camps around the world. This creates a powerful deterrent against any terrorist seeking to enter our country from any of these places.

Through our US-VISIT program, we’re also continuing to run terrorist and criminal watch list checks, often across multiple databases maintained by separate agencies. Our goal is to ensure that US-VISIT is interoperable with the FBI fingerprint database. We’re integrating our watch lists and recently we created the Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP) to enable people who have been mistakenly placed on such lists to petition to be removed from them.

Secure Identification

Through PNR, APIS, and US-VISIT’s 10-fingerprint initiative, we now have critical new or enhanced tools to help us identify lethal enemies -- including those previously unknown -- from among the numerous travelers who arrive from overseas.

But what do we do about enemies who deliberately masquerade as legitimate passengers? We address the critical need for secure travel documentation.

The 9/11 Commission spoke directly to this issue when it wrote these words, “[S]ources of identification are the last opportunity to ensure that people are who they say they are and to check whether they are terrorists.”

The Commission put it well when it added, “For terrorists, travel documents are like weapons.”

Indeed, when we investigated the 9/11 attacks, we discovered that 18 of the 19 perpetrators had been issued U.S. identification documents and that some of these documents had been obtained fraudulently.

Fraudulent documents are undeniably a growing problem. Since 2005, our CBP officers have intercepted more than 90,000 fraudulent documents and apprehended more than 60,000 people trying to enter our country with such documents.

Our CBP officers must wade through nearly 8,000 different kinds of travel documents we currently accept at our land border. There is no way these officers can quickly or effectively tell whether those documents are real or fraudulent. Obviously, this puts our nation at risk.

In response to this problem, in January of this year, we implemented our rule for the air travel portion of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. WHTI requires people traveling to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda to present a passport or other approved identification document in order to enter or re-enter the United States. Secure documents are a national imperative that will prevent dangerous people from entering our country using fraudulent identification. WHTI will enhance our ability to assess threats and confirm identity at ports of entry, while continuing to facilitate lawful travel and commerce.

In June of this year, we published the proposed rule for WHTI’s land and sea portion.

Border Security

Over the past year, we have continued our efforts to secure our homeland by taking strong steps to secure our land borders.

Since President Bush took office, our nation has added 5,000 new Border Patrol Agents, bringing the current total to more than 14,000. By the end of 2008, we will have more than 18,300, double the number we deployed before 2001.

Moreover, as part of Operation Jump Start, thousands of National Guard members have been deployed to the southern border since June of last year. Up to 3,000 Guard members will continue this operation through July of next year.

We have also been putting more infrastructure in place. Today we have nearly 113 miles of fencing and 112 miles of vehicle barriers have been erected along the southern border. By the end of the current fiscal year, we expect to have 150 miles of fencing in place.

Besides adding more boots on the ground and more infrastructure, last year we abolished the practice of catch-and-release at the border and replaced it with catch-and-remove. We ended the practice in which non-Mexican aliens who were first apprehended were then let go after receiving a notice to appear in court. They are now being detained for as long as it takes to send them back to their home countries.

Recently, we awarded the contract for SBInet, the high-tech component of our border security efforts. It includes the building of a virtual fence with a full array of ground-based radar, cameras, and unmanned aerial systems. Through Project 28 in Arizona, we are in the process of deploying and validating the first 28 miles of what will be another key element in our border security strategy.

Building the virtual fence should fuel the progress we’ve been witnessing at the border, chiefly the decline in illegal border crossings, since launching our other initiatives. Over the past fiscal year, overall apprehensions by our Border Patrol have fallen by 20%. Northern border apprehensions have declined by 7%, while southwestern border apprehensions have dropped by 21%. Moreover, Border Patrol OTM apprehensions are down 39%. Yuma Sector apprehensions have plunged by 68%, Del Rio Sector apprehensions by 48%, and El Paso Sector apprehensions by 40%.

A recently released Pew research report concurred that apprehensions have been declining since the second quarter of last year. The study also indicated that foreign-born Hispanic employment showed the smallest increase since mid-2003. And it revealed that after rising steadily for several years, the growth in remittances to Mexico slackened markedly in mid-2006 and the rate of remittance growth diminished through the first quarter of this year. Taken together, these measures strongly suggest that cross-border migration from Mexico continues to decline significantly.

Interior Enforcement

As mentioned, our battle to protect America from dangerous individuals begins overseas. It does not, however, end at our land borders. It is the job of our ICE agents and officers to ensure that those who have succeeded in crossing our border illegally, including those who pose a threat to our security, are apprehended and removed to their home countries. In fiscal year 2006, ICE removed a record 198,511 illegal aliens from the country.

Over the past year, we have stepped up our efforts to hold employers accountable for illegally hiring some of these individuals. Indeed, ICE has made 3,942 administrative arrests and 790 criminal arrests in worksite enforcement cases this year alone.

E-Verify

Most employers do not want to hire illegal workers. To help them avoid doing this inadvertently, we have a voluntary program, called E-Verify, that lets them check the work status of their new hires online. This system compares information from the I-9 Employment Verification form, which establishes work eligibility, against the Social Security Administration and DHS immigration databases. The system is quick, easy, and free and more than 21,000 employers rely on it.

Last month, we announced our intent to expand this successful system. Beginning on October 1, 2007, all federal departments and agencies must begin verifying new hires through E-Verify. We also are encouraging contractors in enroll in E-Verify. In addition, we plan to modify our Homeland Security Acquisition Manual to include a vendor’s participation in E-Verify as a consideration during the DHS procurement evaluation process. Finally in order to prevent document fraud and identity theft, E-Verify will include a photo screening tool. This tool will work by allowing an employer to check the photo on the Employment Authorization Document or Permanent Resident Card presented by their new hire against the photo DHS has for that document from the 14.8 million photo images stored in DHS immigration databases.

SSN/No Match

As part of our announcement about expanding and enhancing E-Verify, we also issued a final regulation that outlines specific steps employers should take upon receiving a “no-match” letter from the Social Security Administration informing them of an employee whose name and Social Security Number do not match government records. There can be many causes for a no-match, including clerical errors and name changes. One potential cause might be a submission of information for an alien who isn’t authorized to work in the U.S. and who may be using a false Social Security number or a Social Security number assigned to someone else.

This regulation is currently in litigation and we are defending it vigorously.

Legal Immigration

Thus far, we’ve focused on how we’re enforcing our immigration laws so we can secure our borders and protect our country. Through our U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), we are also committed to creating a more efficient, effective process for those who are seeking to come here legally.

By the end of September of last year, USCIS reached a tremendous milestone. Its caseload backlog dropped to less than 10,000 from a high of 3.8 million cases in January 2004. In addition, over the past year, it developed and implemented a new fee schedule which will give it the necessary resources to process more than 7 million immigration cases annually.

Thoughts on Immigration Reform

No summary of our progress in protecting America from harmful individuals would be complete without some brief comments on the comprehensive immigration reform bill that stalled in the U.S. Senate.

The failure of the Senate bill to become law meant the defeat of a number of vital, constructive provisions. I want to focus on two of them that could have strengthened our efforts to protect our country from its enemies.

The first of these was the Temporary Guest Worker Program (TWP), which would have established a steady, legal, temporary channel of workers whose skills were in demand by our economy. The second provision sought to deal with the 12 million people who were already here illegally. Those who arrived prior to January 1 of this year and were willing to step out of the shadows, obey the law, and pay a penalty, would have been granted a work visa, renewable after four years, and an opportunity to return to their home country four years later after the first renewal and apply for a green card.

Both provisions would have freed our immigration enforcement officers to focus more of their time and effort on apprehending violent criminals, drug traffickers, gang members, and potential terrorists

The preceding was provided by the Department of Homeland Security