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Friday, March 10, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Senate rejects travel ban
The Senate rejected an amendment that would have restricted congressional travel.
The Senate voted Wednesday against an amendment offered by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that would have banned travel paid for by lobbyists, but would have allowed trips by educational groups and non-profit institutions.
Pro-Israel groups have been working to ensure that the original bill, which remains under debate, does not include a ban on non-profit travel, which would hamper their ability to send lawmakers to Israel.
Jewish groups also have said that it’s important to allow lawmakers to visit other international locales, like Sudan, and communities around the United States, to meet with Jewish audiences and see how federal funds are spent
BBC criticizes itself over story
BBC officials censured the corporation’s online news service for a biased report about the Israeli-Arab conflict.
The BBC’s board of governors said a report published late last year failed to give a balanced account of a U.N. resolution regarding the 1967 Six-Day War, the Guardian newspaper reported.
The report said the resolution called for Israel’s withdrawal from areas seized during that war, when in fact it called for a land-for-peace settlement and did not envision full withdrawal.
The BBC instituted a panel to investigate its Mideast reporting following complaints from pro-Israel groups that the corporation’s coverage is biased.
Jewish groups push for travel
A Jewish leader urged Congress not to ban or limit privately funded congressional travel.
"Given the global responsibilities of the United States, it is now more vital than ever for members of Congress to be as well informed about the rest of the world as possible,” said William C. Daroff, vice-president for public policy and director of the Washington office of United Jewish Communities, during his testimony before the House Rules Committee Thursday. “We believe there is no substitute for seeing conditions firsthand and meeting foreign leaders and citizens in person, something that a staff memo or Capitol Hill hearing cannot possibly convey."
Bush reaches out to philanthropists
President Bush met with philanthropic leaders and social service providers to encourage corporations and private foundations to broaden their support for faith-based groups.
The meeting was about "using the bully pulpit of the presidency to inspire corporations and private foundations to view faith-based organizations as partners of philanthropic work,” said Mark Charendoff, president of the Jewish Funders Network, who attended the closed-door meeting Thursday. "It´s a simple question of who can get the best results," Charendoff told JTA. The president also addressed a larger audience of about 1,500 in a separate meeting.
A large number of Jewish groups oppose faith-based initiatives, because of concerns that using federal money for religious charitable organizations violates the separation of church and state.
Aznar: Make Israel a NATO member
Spain’s former prime minister said Israel should become a member of NATO as a warning to Iran.
If Israel becomes part of the Western alliance, Iran “will behave differently,” Jose Maria Aznar said at a conference organized Thursday by Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, one of NATO’s two main military commands. Aznar is now a security analyst.
In recent months, the president of Iran has alluded repeatedly to a desire to destroy Israel. NATO officials have said that the issue of Israel joining the alliance is not being considered right now.
Jewish studies program gets government money
A U.S. university received a $500,000 matching grant from the U.S. government to support its Jewish studies program.
The money given by the National Endowment for the Humanities to Johns Hopkins University will go toward collections and a librarian for its Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Jewish Studies Program.
The matching grant will go into effect if the program can raise $2 million from non-federal sources before 2009.
http://www.jta.org/
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