|
|
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
|
AIPAC donors to ask questions on scandal
Top donors to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee will have an opportunity to quiz its leadership and lawyers about the classified-information case against two former staffers.
Several donors have asked AIPAC to explain its decision in recent months to limit funding for the defense of Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, facing trial in April for allegedly receiving and distributing classified information about Iran to an Israeli diplomat, a journalist and to fellow AIPAC staffers.
The defendants rejected AIPAC’s most recent funding offer, saying it barely covers 2005 expenses and fails to take the cost of the trial into account.
A source close to AIPAC said the meeting in Washington late Saturday night for no more than several dozen people in Washington will be an open question-and-answer session. The meeting comes on the eve of the organization’s annual policy conference.
Vouchers for Jewish day schools?
A gathering of Jewish leaders, academics and Israeli Knesset members discussed the possibility of pushing for U.S. government vouchers for private Jewish schools.
The proposal for such funding was suggested by several senior Israeli figures and was criticized by some of the American delegates to the World Jewish Forum hosted at Israeli President Moshe Katsav’s official residence, Katsav’s aides said Tuesday.
Those supporting the idea said such a government subsidy would help lower the high cost of private Jewish day school education. Robert Goodkind, president of the American Jewish Committee, wrote in a letter to the committee that such a proposal would face rejection by many American Jews. “The forum should be aware that a substantial majority of American Jews would be utterly opposed to such change,” he said, arguing such a move could erode the sensitive boundary between church and state in the United States.
Other suggestions for strengthening ties at the forum, a body established by Katsav for dealing with Israeli-Diaspora issues, were founding a worldwide Jewish broadcasting network, an international bank to help finance Jewish education in the Diaspora and a class on Diaspora studies for Israeli high school students.
Judge denies journalists’ motion in AIPAC case
The judge in the classified information case against two former pro-Israel lobbyists denied a motion from a journalism organization to weigh in.
Judge T.S. Ellis ruled Monday that the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press could not file a brief in the case against former American Israel Public Affairs Committee employees Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman because it would not help the court solve any legal issue.
The two men are accused of passing classified information to journalists. The group wanted to present its perspective on the dangers of prosecuting those who give information to journalists, and the effects on freedom of speech and the press.
The judge also ruled against the request of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy. That group wanted to file a brief arguing that AIPAC operates as a quasi-intelligence organization that infiltrates Congress and the White House.
Philanthropist helps injured Iraqi boy
A Jewish philanthropist in Boston paid for the medical care of a young Iraqi boy injured in a 2005 accidental shooting by U.S. troops in Iraq that killed his parents.
Raymond Tye, an executive with United Liquors Limited magnate, established the Medical Aid Foundation with $2.5 million in 2002 to pay for medical costs for children and adults from around the world who can’t afford to pay for themselves. Tye’s personal involvement with 11-year-old Rakan is featured in a Boston Globe series that chronicles the five-month medical treatment Rakan received in Boston hospitals.
Tye is a major contributor to Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Boston’s Jewish federation, and was honored last year by the Anti-Defamation League.
http://www.jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 11:00 PM Permanent Link
 
0 Comments:
<< Home
|
| |
