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Monday, December 05, 2005
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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White House goes kosher
The White House koshered its kitchen ahead of its annual Chanukah reception.
Petak Caterers, under the joint supervision of the Bergen County, N.J., rabbinical council and Washington representatives of Chabad, will serve Glatt kosher meat at the dinner Tuesday night. The meeting is taking place early because President Bush and much of the Washington establishment leaves the city around Dec. 25, when Chanukah starts this year.
The White House said it was the first time that First Lady Laura Bush had handed over the kitchen to kosher caterers for a Chanukah celebration; previous kosher caterers brought food in from outside.
“The First Lady said if the function is kosher, it makes it more comfortable for her guests, and it makes it more comfortable for her,” said Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Chabad’s representative in Washington. Bush will meet with Jewish educators before the party, which hosts a cross-section of the Jewish leadership.
DNC opposes divestment
The Democratic National Committee came out against efforts to divest from Israel or the Palestinian areas.
The DNC executive, meeting Monday in Phoenix, passed a resolution declaring “its opposition to efforts to boycott, divest from, or otherwise single out companies for their work in Israel or the Palestinian Authority, and commends members of the Muslim, Christian, Jewish and other faiths who courageously continue to work together to attain a peaceful negotiated settlement to any conflict in the Middle East.” The resolution called efforts to divest from Israel “counterproductive.”
Susan Turnbull, a DNC vice-chairwoman, told JTA that the initiative arose out of a meeting she and DNC Chairman Howard Dean had in October with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Conference leaders told them that efforts by some churches to divest from Israel were a prime concern for the community. Dean “said of course we would do anything to encourage people not to divest,” Turnbull said. “This was universally seen as a measure we need to take as Democrats and Americans.”
Congressional letter urges Rice to stay course
A bipartisan letter gathering signatures in the U.S. House of Representatives urges Condoleezza Rice to maintain her involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The letter, initiated by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the House’s International Relations Committee, and Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), commends the U.S. secretary of state for “for achieving an historic agreement” on opening the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Israel had resisted allowing the border to open, feeling the Palestinian Authority had not sufficiently secured the crossing since Israel left Gaza in September, but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government gave the go-ahead under pressure from Rice.
“We thus hope that you will continue to make peace between Israel and the Palestinians a personal priority, including seeing through the implementation of this historic agreement,” the letter concludes.
Steele goes to Israel
Maryland’s lieutenant governor led a trade delegation to Israel.
Michael Steele announced the creation of the “Maryland/Israel Incubator Partnership” after his Nov. 5-11 visit, a program in which Israeli and American companies will provide each other with free office space for up to six months. Steele is the likely Republican contender for the Maryland seat in the U.S. Senate that opens in 2006. Rep. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), scion of a well-known Maryland Jewish family with strong Israel ties, is one of two Democrats who will likely run against Steele.
http://jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 10:40 PM Permanent Link
 
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